Ten Minute Dinner

This is the easiest, quickest (other than calling for take out) dinner you will ever make it and it's delicious.  It was inspired by a recent cooking show that I was watching.  Olive pesto.  Much like regular basil pesto, this is an uncooked sauce so in the amount of time it takes you to boil pasta, that's how long this dish is to make.

I used linguine because it's my favorite and what I had on hand, but I think it would be pretty great with a wider pasta, like a pappardelle.  So get your big pot of water on to boil and make your pasta.  Don't forget to salt your water when it comes to the boil.

While the water is boiling and the pasta is cooking, drag out your food processor.  Now, you can chop everything with a knife or you can use a mortar and pestle if you prefer.  The food processor makes very quick work of this though so that's what I went with.   You will need about a cup of pitted olives.  I used Kalamata, but I think any good olive would be good.  Just don't use canned olives.  It definitely won't come out the same.  Frankly I wanted to use oil cured Moroccan olives, but they are difficult to pitt so I went with the already pitted Kalamata's.  You will also need a clove or two of garlic, the juice of one lemon, a small bunch of fresh basil (about 10 leaves or so) and a small bunch of fresh Italian parsley (about 1/4 cup).  There is no need to add salt to this because the olives are plenty salty.  But you may want to add some pepper to taste.

Put it all in the food processor and pulse until you have a small chunky consistency.  You don't want it completely smooth but a little texture is nice.

And here's the thing, this is so fast that you even have time to do the painful task of washing the food processor before the pasta is even done!   So set your sauce aside in your favorite zebra bowl and get that pain in the ass thing washed before dinner.  You'll be so happy you did, trust me!

Once the pasta is done, drain with just a little of the pasta water left in the pan (not much, just about a 1/4 cup but you can hold some more aside in case you need it).  And then toss the pasta and the olive pesto in the pan (or a big pasta bowl if you prefer).  

This is absolutely going into my go to recipes.  It was so easy and so good!   I suspect I will make it often and tweak it as I go.  I think it would be great with the addition of pine nuts or maybe some Parmesan cheese (although we did add it to the top after it was done).  Possibly the lemon zest in addition to the juice.  Maybe even some anchovy or hot pepper flakes.  The possibilities are endless!!!

Mangia!

Butternut oh Butternut, Where For Art Thou Butternut

With the possibility of another demo at the Copley Creekside Farmer's Market, I needed to come up with something fall in flavor.  After all, my demo was set for Oct. 10 (unfortunately I have since had to cancel, but for a very good reason).  So I decided I would try my hand at a butternut squash pasta sauce.  I'd actually never heard of such a thing until I saw a jar of it in the grocery store.  And loving butternut squash as I do, I had to try and make this.

It seems easy enough really, take a butternut squash and cut it in half.  Scoop out the seeds and then place it cut side down in a roasting pan with about 3/4 cup to 1 cup of water and roast at 350 for about 40-45 minutes.  My thinking was that I would roast it and then puree it and add whatever else to it after that for flavoring.  And while the squash is roasting, I threw in a few shallots to roast as well.  Two medium sized shallots was perfect.  I do these like I do garlic... cut off the top, place them in aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil.  Roast for 40 minutes or so, or until nice and soft.  They will squeeze out of the skin just like garlic does.

You can check to make sure it's done by piercing it with a knife.  If the knife goes in and comes out easily and cleanly, you're good to go.  Let the squash cool a little before handling it again and once you are able to touch it without burning yourself, peel off the skin.  Cut it into chunks and then chuck it in a blender with the roasted shallots.  You can use sauteed onions if you don't have shallots.

Now... what to add?  Well add the cooking liquid if there is any left, first.  This is a sauce after all, you don't want it the consistency of baby food.  If there isn't enough liquid left in the pan add a little more water or chicken broth to the sauce.  I would say you want at least 3/4 cup of liquid added to the squash in the blender, total.  From there I added salt, pepper and about 8 fresh sage leaves.   I happen to really love the flavor of butternut and sage and I had sage on hand.  But if you don't, you can use parsley.  I also added about 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil just for kicks and half a cup of grated Parmesan cheese and then let the blender rip on puree until it was all blended and smooth.

After my linguine was done cooking, I strained it and then put the squash sauce in the pasta pan to heat back up a little and then added the pasta, cooking them together for about 5 minutes tops.

 

It turned out quite nicely.  It had a creamy richness without adding any cream at all.  In fact, aside from the added cheese, this is actually a pretty healthy recipe... no cream, no butter.  I think the only thing I would do differently when making this again is add more sage.  It kind of got lost in the sauce.  This one butternut squash sauce recipe was enough for a pound of pasta.   Top with extra chopped sage if you like and some grated Parmesan.

If you make it, let me know how you like it!  

Mangia!

Pesto is the Quiche of the '80s

Last week when I received my bi-weekly farm share I was thrilled to see a big bag of basil.  Now, I grow my own basil but for whatever reason, no matter what variety I buy, I don't get those big luxurious pesto making leaves.  I get a lot of small leaves, tons in fact, but not those big succulent leaves that I really equate with pesto.  So when I saw that bag pesto was the only thing I had in my mind for it.

First step, wash it. 

Isn't it gorgeous?  It's washed, spun and then stems removed and then it doesn't really look like as much as I thought it was going to be.  So I went out and picked some of mine to add to it, and also in this weeks basket I also got some sage so I put that in.  Hey why not huh?  

So into the food processor it goes.  And to it I added four big cloves of garlic (also in the basket).  I didn't have any pine nuts so I added almonds, which I did have (about a handful)

And then set the thing a whirrin!  Once all the ingredients are chopped nicely I began to drizzle in the olive oil with the processor running.  I would say all in all, about three quarters to one cup of extra virgin olive oil was used.

In total, I got about a cup of pesto.  Maybe a little more. You're probably wondering where the Parmesan is.  Well, I forgot it!   I totally forgot to put it in so when it was done I stirred some in. 

Now, what do with this pesto now that it's made?   Of course you can also make pasta.

But I have also used it on grilled chicken...

And I even put some in the calzone I made (broccoli rabe, sausage, leeks and provolone with a little pesto mixed it)

 

Mangia!

Garden Love - Swiss Chard

I received a lovely gift, the gift of swiss chard from my father in laws garden.  It seemed like a lot.  But it was beautiful.  One bunch of red chard, once bunch of white.  Fresh, just picked.  Oh my.  I must do something with this glorious bounty!

And then it it me.  Inspiration from my friend Tom.  Last summer Tom did a food demo at the Howe Meadow Farmer's Market and made homemade pasta with swiss chard and bacon.   Ahhh the wheels in my brain started to turn.  I have some thick cut paprika bacon from Al's Quality Market in my freezer, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to be used.  This was it!

I've taken to cooking bacon (when I actually have it in the house, which is rare) on a sheet pan in the oven.  It always cooks perfectly and there is far less mess than if you cooked it in a frying pan on the stovetop. 

Ain't it perty?

While the bacon is bakin, I cleaned (thoroughly!) and chopped the swiss chard and put it in a hot pan (a big one, that's a lot of chard) with some olive oil.  Sprinkled it with salt and pepper and then occasionally gave it a mix.  

 It doesn't take long for the chard to wilt down to a fraction of what it was.  Then add some chopped garlic.  I used about 4 cloves.  If the pan gets too dry, add a little chicken stock.   You want to make sure the stems get tender but don't want to cook the chard into oblivion either. 

And in another pan, boil some water for your pasta.  I didn't make my own, but I did use one of my favorite shapes, orecchiette. It's perfect for this dish. 

When the bacon is done to crispy perfection (no wimpy limpy bacon please!), chop it up and toss with the swiss chard/garlic.

And then toss in your pasta and enjoy!   This is how I roll people!

Buon Cibo mia Amici

Zucchini Parm

It's zucchini season and while I don't grow it myself, I get plenty of it from family members who do.  Just last week my brother told me he had picked 14 and there were more that were ready.  The FIL also grows it and gets enough to share.  Me, whenever I tried to grow it, I got none.  I don't know why that is, I do very well with everything else I've grown.  But whatev, I'm not lacking in the zucchini department by not growing it myself.

I had some leftover Damn Pasta that I made with paccheri pasta.  Paccheri is a very large tube shaped pasta and I urge you to find it (I get it at West Point Market for all you in the Akron area), especially if you're going to make that damn pasta.  With damn pasta, the bigger the pasta shape the better it comes out.  Anyway, I had some leftovers but not enough for two so I needed to make something to go with.  And seeing that big zucchini sitting on my counter I thought, "hey how about some zucchini parm?"  Sounds good.

So I started off with a pretty big zucchini and cut it in fairly thick slices.

I usually set up a breading station with flour, egg and then bread crumbs, but I skipped the flour step this time.  I went from egg (2 beaten eggs) to bread crumbs (about a cup of seasoned bread crumbs with a quarter cup of grated Parmesan cheese added).

And then to the frying pan with about 1/4 inch of canola oil nice and hot.  I have made these without frying and they turn out pretty damn good.  You can check out the baking method HERE.

They don't have to be fried very long.  Keep an eye on it.  And turn when they are browned on the bottom.

I made these pretty thick so they didn't cook the whole way through before they browned on both sides and that worked out pretty perfectly.  When they got to this stage I popped them in a 350 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes and they were perfect.  Well almost.  They just needed one more thing.  Some smoked mozzarella.  Place a piece on top of each zucchini parm and let it melt in the oven for a few minutes.

 

You can serve these with a side of spaghetti (or Damn Pasta like I did), orzo, or whatever you want.  You can even put them on a sandwich with some crusty Italian bread.  Oh damn these are good!   The smoked motz added a whole lot.  You can certainly use a regular mozzarella, but why not give the smoked a try?    

 

Buon Cibo mia Amici.

Don't Fear the Broccoli Rabe

Have you ever been at the grocery store and spotted something that looks kind of like broccoli, but the florets aren't tight and there are a lot of leaves on it?  Well pick it up and put it in your cart!   It's Broccoli Rabe (also known as Rapini) and this slightly bitter green is one of the best things ever.  Both in taste and for your health.  It should be perky, not wilty, with sturdy florets and clean firm green stems. 

Sauteed in some olive oil with lots of garlic, it's a beautiful side dish on it's own (or on top of a roast pork and provolone sandwich like DiNic's in Philadelphia... quite possibly the worlds most perfect sandwich).  But generally how I make it is with some pasta and Italian sausage. 

Get your big pot of water for your pasta on to boil and then take about half a pound of bulk Italian sausage (if you can't find bulk, just buy it in links and squeeze it out of the casing) and brown it in a big skillet with a little olive oil to get it moving along on medium high heat.

You can certainly use a full pound of sausage if you want.  Actually I usually do, but I'm trying to cut back on the fatty foods so I'm only using half a pound.  As it starts to brown, move it around and keep it crumbled.  You should have some big chunks and some small, but all separate and not stuck together. Reduce heat to medium and add about five (more or less, depending on your taste) chopped garlic cloves.  Mmmm garlic.   Don't give the garlic a chance to burn, that would be really bad, so as soon as you start to smell the aroma of cooking garlic, add half a cup of white wine.   I generally add wine to most of my pasta dishes, but if you don't like to cook with wine you can use chicken stock.

The wine will cook out and just leave behind beautiful flavor.  While all this is going on, your water is probably starting to boil so throw in some salt (I do it by hand but if I had to measure I'd say at least a Tablespoon if not more), and the pour in your pasta.  Traditionally, this dish uses Orecchiette pasta, or little ears, and it's a good one to use.  But alas, I didn't have any in the house so I opted for Farfalle.  Once the pasta is in the pot and you give it a good stir, take your cleaned and roughly chopped broccoli rabe and put it on top of the pasta.  You just want to blanch the rabe, which is to say, boil it for about 20 seconds or so.

After it's blanched, scoop it out and put it in the skillet with the cooked sausage.  Don't worry about draining it, the water that's left on it is just fine in the pan. 

By now the wine is all cooked down and the pan needs the moisture of the rabe.   Once all the rabe is in, add salt and pepper to taste, stir it around with the sausage and when the pasta is done, reserve about a half to one full cup of the cooking liquid and then drain the rest.  Add the pasta to the skillet and reduce heat to low.  This is why you want to use a big skillet.  Give the pasta, sausage and rabe some stirring or if you're adventurous, toss it together.  If it's too dry, add some of the pasta water to and stir again. 

Serve with a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil on top and some grated Parmesan or Romano. Does it get any better?

Buon Cibo mia Amici.

Muffaletta This Pal

Just the word Muffaletta makes my mouth water... that combination of good crusty Italian bread, olives and garlic and herbs and cheese and capicola and ham and and ..... ohhhhhh ecstasy!   I love it, love it all, crave it, want it right now.   But as I strive for healthier living, I needed to find a way to have all those amazing flavors and still be kinda healthy... sort of.  Maybe.  I could be fooling myself here, but go with it, don't harsh my buzz.

Pasta salad.  Why not?  Just substitute the deliciously fatty Italian meats, for pasta.  Sacrilege you say!?  Try it first!

I first took a red bell pepper and roasted it off.  You can do this on a grill, in a broiler, on a stove top, in a freakin toaster oven if you want.  Just do it.  Don't buy it.  It's cheaper and tastes better when it's done fresh.  After that's done, give them a chop and toss them in your big bowl that will hold all your ingredients.  Now come the olives.  I only used one kind and Muffaletta generally has several, but when you're talking Kalamata, why mess with a good thing.  I would bathe in Kalamata's if I could.  Wow, a Kalamata olive bath.  That's something to aspire to.  Anyway, yeah... as I shake myself out of my reverie, add a big amount...a cup?  two cups?  Use your judgment, of Kalamata olives, chopped.

From there, I added the fresh mozzarella.  Now I suppose if you must, you can add a lesser motz, but why would you want to?  Soft, creamy, yummy fresh mozzarella!   Don't be an idiot.  Fresh is best, make this your mantra.

Cut in cubes, and add to the olives and peppers.  And then, ahhhh a bounty from my garden.  Chives, basil, Italian parsley, tomatoes, tomatoes and more tomatoes! 

What you see here are a couple San Marzano's, a couple Green Zebra (did you honestly expect me not to have zebra tomatoes?) and 16 Black Cherry's.  I only used the Black Cherry's (and the herbs) for the salad.  The rest will be used in something else or just eaten with some extra virgin olive oil and that crusty Italian bread I mentioned earlier.

So, 16 Black Cherry's.... true, I'm sure most of you don't have a giant 6 foot tall Black Cherry tomato plant in your yard, but if you do, use them!  If not, another fresh tomato would be fine, or as a last resort, grape or cherry tomatoes from the grocery.  And then pile on the herbs.  Don't be shy, add them to where you may even think it's too much.  It won't be, trust me.

A pound of whatever pasta you like is needed here.  You can use anything.  Don't feel confined to using tri-color rotini or whatever most pasta salads are made from.  I did use a tri-color farfalle because I had it on hand, but you can use anything ... penne, cavatappi, orzo, whatever.  And now the dressing.  I use my standard 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and that's it.  There is so much good stuff in this salad, but it's also big so you may need more dressing.  Probably not a full double recipe but more.  Season as you go of course, but there is no need to be aggressive with the salt, the olives add a lot.

Enjoy the hell out of it... make it often!  Buon Cibo mia Amici

Spring Has Sprung Some Asparagus

The best thing about spring is probably the asparagus. Well ok, the sunshine is pretty nice too. But ahhh asparagus. I've blogged several asparagus recipes through the years, like this one and this one, and this one. The one I'm posting today, is classic Kathy. It's how I cook, it's the way I make things. It's nothing innovative or new. It's just yummy.

So we start out as I start out so often lately, with the roasting of the shallots. What can I say, I haven't yet fallen out of my shallot kick. Although, the leeks have been catching my eye lately.


Take 2-3 whole shallots, cut off the ends, drizzle with olive oil and wrap in foil. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 35-45 minutes. They will come out soft, sweet and oh so very delicious! They will slide right out of the outer skin.

While the shallots are roasting, roast the asparagus too.


Trim off the ends (bottom) of each stalk and then take rinsed asparagus and put in a pan. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and place in the 350 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes, until lightly browned.


While the asparagus and shallots are roasting, saute the mushrooms. I use Baby Bella's as my go to mushroom. They have a bit more character than button and are comparable in price. Saute with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.


When the mushrooms soak up all the oil, instead of adding more I like to splash in a little wine, but if you don't like wine you can always add a little chicken stock. Let the mushrooms get soft and a just starting to brown. Then added the already roasted shallots and asparagus to the pan.


You should also be boiling your water for the pasta while the roasting is going on. I used one of my fave pasta shapes Orecchiette and I actually found it in a whole wheat variety. What luck!



Orecchiette takes a little longer to cook than other pastas so be sure to read the package instructions if you go with this shape. But you can use any shape you want.... long, short, round, whatever. It's all good.

When all your ingredients are done, pasta is drained, toss it all together. You may want to add a little olive oil if the pasta looks dry or some of the pasta water. Top with some Parmesan or Romano cheese and enjoy!

Lemony Broccoli Pasta!!!

Ahhh a recipe for you Lenten observers. Being a recovering Catholic myself, I no longer adhere to Lenten observances, but I used to and I know many who still do. So this recipe is very timely in that respect. Plus it's very easy and very yummy. Two big bonuses! So start with the broccoli. I found some gorgeous broccoli last week. It was so fresh the stalks so thin it almost looked like broccolini (which would also be great for this recipe)!




Wash it, and cut it into flowerettes with a nice sized stalk attached. You don't want them too long or too thick. If you have a lot of stalk left, cut those into same sized pieces as your flowerettes. Don't waste them! They are still good. Then place it all in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, give a good stir and put in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Check it after 30, if it's not browned enough, go another 5 - 10 minutes. You don't want it too dark, but you do want it caramelized.


While the broccoli is roasting, you should also be roasting your shallots and boiling your water for the pasta. OK, OK... I know I use shallots a lot. But I love them! They impart such a lovely flavor, especially when roasted. They are sweet and tender and oh, just a whole lot of yum. If don't have shallots or don't like shallots than use garlic and roast it!


Yes, I used three rather large shallots. You don't have to use that much but why wouldn't you? If you got em, use em! To roast, cut off the root end and put the shallots in foil, then drizzle Extra Virgin Olive Oil over them and close up the foil. You may want to double foil them or what I do is after they wrapped in foil I put them on one of those foil pie tins and put the whole thing in the oven. Sometimes the oil can leak out of your foil and cause bad smells and an ugly mess on the oven floor.

When shallots come out of the oven (same time as the broccoli), cool them enough to touch them and then squeeze them out of their skins and give them a rough chop.


Depending on the kind of pasta you use, you'll need between 7 and 10 minutes before the broccoli and shallots are done to cook the pasta. I am using Barilla whole wheat spaghetti. It takes a little longer than regular spaghetti, but not by much.

So when all the ingredients are done at roughly the same time, oh yes... it can be done, mix them all together. Add salt and pepper to taste and about a quarter cup of extra virgin olive oil if there isn't a lot of oil left over in the broccoli pan. You can also add the juice from the bottom of the foil that the shallots were cooked in. Don't waste the yum! You just want to make sure the pasta isn't dry. And wait! Don't forget our lemons! You will need the juice of at least two lemons. If they are juicy lemons, then two, if they aren't real juicy then three. Toss all of this together with some Parmesan cheese and you've got one delicious dinner!

Ricotta Walnut Pesto!

How amazing does that sound? Pretty darn amazing right? RIGHT! It was a Saturday morning and I was watching all my favorite PBS shows... America's Test Kitchen, Cook's Country, Ciao Italia, Avec Eric, Julia and Jacque and of course, Lidia's Italy. It was on Lidia's Italy that Lidia Bastianich was making this wonderful sounding dish. Of course I changed it up a little. Start out with 2 cups of walnuts and 5 cloves of garlic. Pulse them in the food processor (or chop by hand) until they are small pieces but not powdered.


The put them on a cookie sheet and roast at 350 for about 15 minutes. Check them because there is nothing worse than a burnt nut. Once you start to smell them roasting, they should be done or close to it. You can shake the pan around a little to make sure the nuts and garlic are roasting evenly. I don't think Lidia did this step but my thinking was that since this mainly a sauce that is not cooked, the garlic and nuts being roasted can only add another level to it. And I'm not real crazy about raw garlic.

While the nuts are roasting, get a large pot of water boiling for your pasta. I used Gemelli this time. In a large bowl, take a big handful of fresh parsley, chopped. It ends up being about 1/3 cup of parsley. 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. 3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and do not forget to salt and pepper this! This can easily end up kind of bland. You really need to make sure you season the sauce and the pasta water.



Then add one 15 oz. container of ricotta. If you can get fresh, by all means do so. Around here, it's not always easy to come by. And being on a lighter eating regime, I opted for part skim ricotta. Mix all the ingredients together.




By this time the walnuts are probably done so remove them from the oven and allow to cool a little.



Once the pasta is done, reserve some of the cooking liquid just in case your sauce ends up being too thick. And then mix the pasta with the sauce. Add some water if necessary.


And then mix in the walnuts.



It's really wonderful. I had leftovers for several days and the nuts never got soggy.