SHOW-STOPPING SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Posted in Beef, Pasta & Noodles by sallybr

If you’re tempted to skip this post because spaghetti and meatballs are too pedestrian, don’t do it! This was the best dinner I’ve cooked in weeks! The first bite took me back to a small Italian trattoria where I had this dish years ago. These meatballs are tender, moist, flavorful, and the tomato sauce (note: contains neither onion nor garlic) gets a lift from the addition of capers. It’s so simple that you’ll be shocked at how flavorful it is! The recipe comes from the latest issue of Food and Wine, with small modifications that, modesty aside, worked quite well. It was a perfect dinner-date recipe for Saturday night. Uncork the chianti and let the music play…

SPAGHETTI AND ITALIAN MEATBALLS IN TOMATO CAPER SAUCE
(adapted from Food and Wine, original recipe from Massimiliano Alajmo)

for the sauce:
1 can of whole, peeled tomatoes (28 oz)
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs capers, drained and chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper

for the meatballs:
1/2 cup white bread, crust removed, roughly diced
3-5 Tbs milk
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground beef
1 egg, beaten
8 pitted kalamata olives, diced
1/8 cup freshly grated Parmiggiano cheese
2 Tbs fresh parsley leaves, minced
1 tsp salt

Puree the tomatoes in a blender or food processor. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, add the capers and oregano. Simmer for a couple more minutes, season with salt and pepper and keep warm while you prepare the meatballs.

Cover the bread with milk: soak it well. Drain any excess and reserve the bread. In a large bowl, mix both types of meat, add the softened bread, egg, olives, cheese, parsley, and salt. Wet your hands with cold water and very gently form the mixture into 1.5 inch diameter meatballs. You can prepare the meatballs hours in advance.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or aluminum foil) and bake the meatballs in a 400F oven for 20 minutes, turning them once during baking. Remove them from the oven, and transfer to the skillet with the tomato sauce. Gently simmer the meatballs and sauce together for 10 to 15 minutes over gentle heat.

Meanwhile, boil some spaghetti, drain, place back in the pan and add some of the tomato sauce. Place back on top of the stove to heat pasta and sauce together for a couple of minutes. Transfer to a serving dish, add the meatballs, and serve with fresh Parmiggiano cheese.

(makes 15 meatballs, 3-4 servings, depending on who is eating… 😉

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: My modifications involved baking, instead of frying the meatballs, and simmering them in tomato sauce afterward. This is my secret to great meatballs, without the harsh outer surface often associated with the fried version. I’ve seen (and tried) recipes in which the meatballs are cooked in the sauce from beginning to end, but the oven-roasting in my version intensifies their flavor and color.

I also increased the amount of black olives in the meatball mixture. The original recipe called for two olives (!!!!). Sorry, but two diced olives in a pound of meat doesn’t do it for us, Kalamata-lovers that we are. Feel free to adapt to your own tastes.

Chef Alajmo has two other recipes that made my mouth water in this issue of Food and Wine: Risotto with Capers and Espresso, and Pappardelle with Smoked Butter and Herbs. Makes me want to catch a plane to Italy and reserve a table for two at his restaurant, Le Calandre.

ONE YEAR AGO: Korean-Style Pork with Cabbage Slaw

26Oct2010

DONNA HAY’S THAI-INSPIRED DINNER

Posted in Pasta & Noodles by sallybr

Cover of Off the Shelf

I’ve had my eyes on this recipe ever since I spotted it in one of my favorite blogs, “Lisa is Cooking.” In fact, this particular post was the final push for me to order Donna Hay‘s book, and I’m glad I did, it is loaded with ideas for quick but flavorful meals. I was hoping to have leftovers for my lunch, but we could not stop eating it until the serving bowl was clean. Still, there are far worse problems to have in life… 😉

CHILI CASHEW CHICKEN NOODLES
(adapted from Donna Hay’s Off the Shelf)

7 ounces thick rice noodles (200g)
2 T peanut oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
4 red chillies, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup sugar
3 chicken breasts filets, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
2 T fish sauce
2 T soy sauce
2 T lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Cook the rice noodles in boiling water according to the instructions in the package (around 3 minutes), drain and rinse with cold water. Reserve. (You can coat them very slightly with a very small amount of peanut oil to prevent sticking).

Heat the peanut oil in a large wok or frying pan, saute the shallots, chillies, and sugar for 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the chicken and the bell pepper, saute until cooked through and starting to get golden. Add the cashews, fish and soy sauces, lemon juice, return the shallot mixture to the pan, and finally add the cooked noodles.

Cook everything together for a few minutes, stirring to coat the noodles with the sauce. Sprinkle cilantro and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Stir-fries cook in minutes, but they usually involve a huge list of sliced and diced ingredients, which is a hassle on busy weeknights. But, as Lisa mentioned in her blog, it’s not the case for this particular recipe: very few ingredients work together perfectly to bring a delicious dinner to the table in 20 minutes, maybe even less, depending on your knife skills…

This one goes to our regular rotation of meals, we both gave it two enthusiastic thumbs up!

ONE YEAR AGO: Panettone

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23Oct2010

VEGETARIAN LASAGNA

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Weekend Dinners by sallybr

Lasagna: layers of noodles blending hearty Bolognese sauce, melted cheese or bechamel sauce with mushrooms, chicken, sausage…whatever your palate craves, then baked until bubbly and browned on top. The creator of this dish deserves a place in the Gastronomic Hall of Fame. I like to think it was a grandma from Firenze, but some sources indicate that she was actually born in Greece! Whatever the origin, today you will find all sorts of lasagnas, some so streamlined that it’s inappropriate to even keep the name. If you google “vegetarian lasagna” you’ll find yourself sorting through many thousands of hits. I browsed through a few pages for inspiration, but then I made my own version, which even that old Italian grandma would be pleased with.

VEGETARIAN LASAGNA
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 package of lasagna noodles
4 cups white mushrooms, sliced
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper
3 cups milk
3 T butter
4.5 T flour
ground nutmeg
3 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise 1/8 inch thick
lemon juice and zest
1 pound ricotta cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 small package of frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
1 ounce shredded mozzarella cheese
Grated Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese

Boil the noodles according to the instructions on the package (don’t overcook). Plunge the noodles in ice cold water to stop them cooking, drain well and spread on a towel to remove excess moisture. Lay them on a baking sheet brushing them ever so slightly with olive oil if you want to keep the cooked noodles in the fridge for assembling the lasagna later. Cover well with plastic wrap.

Saute the mushrooms in olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper, until soft and all moisture has been released and evaporated. Reserve. Mix a couple of tablespoons of olive oil with some lemon juice, brush the zucchini slices, season with salt and pepper and grill until nicely marked on both sides. Reserve.

Prepare the ricotta filling by mixing the ricotta with the beaten egg and the spinach, seasoning with salt, pepper, and a little lemon zest. Reserve.

Prepare the béchamel sauce: warm the milk in the microwave. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the hot milk all at once, whisking to prevent lumps from forming. Season with salt, pepper, and freshly ground nutmeg. Cook until thickened (about 5 minutes). Reserve (dot with butter and place a plastic wrap over it to prevent a thick film from forming).

Assemble the lasagna: Spread some of the béchamel sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Layer noodles to cover the surface with a slight overlap. Add the mushrooms, and moisten them slightly with a few tablespoons of béchamel sauce. Add another layer of noodles. Layer the zucchini slices over them, add another layer of noodles. Spoon the ricotta mixture carefully on top, add noodles to cover it, and spread the béchamel sauce on top, making sure to cover the whole surface. Add the shredded mozzarella, sprinkle some Parmiggiano, and cover with aluminum foil.

Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes, uncover, and bake for 15 minutes more to brown the surface. If necessary, increase the oven temperature or turn the broiler in the last few minutes. Remove from the oven, let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Most current recipes call for no-boil lasagna noodles. I’ve used them, and in a pinch I’d do it again, but not for a special dinner. It is a little extra work to boil the pasta, but your guests (and you) deserve it. With boiled noodles the lasagna bakes more uniformly and the different layers better enrich each other, so that the final dish becomes more than the simple sum of its parts. It’s gastronomic synergy in action ;-). If you don’t believe me, make two small, identical lasagnas, one by boiling the pasta and the other using the “no-boil” method. Then, let your taste buds be the judge.

Most vegetarian lasagnas use eggplant and mushrooms, a tasty combination. I kept the mushrooms as one layer, but substituted grilled zucchini for the eggplant, because the texture of its skin is much better. My version is lighter on cheese and the béchamel sauce filling, which I mostly reserved to the top of the dish with an appetizing gratin cover.

There’s something inexplicably nice about spending a Saturday afternoon preparing the fillings, cooking the noodles and assembling the lasagna, especially on a huge kitchen counter top with nice music in the background… 😉 I am very pleased with the way my veggie lasagna turned out, and hope that you’ll love it too.

Lasagna freezes extremely well, so we have leftovers conveniently packed in the freezer for our next trip home. They’ll come in handy when we arrive from the airport, a perfect antidote for the “peanut & pretzel treatment” that the airlines inflict on their passengers… 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: Brazilian Pao de Queijo (which happens to be one of my favorite posts)

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9Oct2010

TAKING A BREAK FROM THE NANO-KITCHEN

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Pork by sallybr

We flew back home this week to spend a few days in our own town. I’m in a state of shock, all of a sudden realizing how much space we have. Here we could cook together while dancing, whereas in L.A. we are in a territorial-mode: I even growled at my beloved the other day because he insisted on opening the fridge while I did the dishes. The nerve!

I looked forward to cooking in our home, on a stove with four burners and real flames above an oven that can roast a couple of chubby turkeys side by side. Of course, deciding what to cook for our first dinner was excruciating. After an extensive consultation with 9 cookbooks, I chose a recipe from Barbara Tropp: Chinese cooking at its best…

CAPITAL SAUCE PORK RIBBONS OVER POT-BROWNED NOODLES
(adapted from Barbara Tropp Modern Art of Chinese Cooking)

1 pound boneless pork loin

to marinate the meat:
2 T soy sauce
2 T Chinese rice wine
1 T water
4 t cornstarch
½ tsp sugar
1/4 tsp sesame oil
6 scallions

Sauce ingredients
3 T hoisin sauce
2 T Chinese rice wine
1.5 T soy sauce
5 t sugar
½ t sesame oil

2 T peanut oil

For the noodles:
½ pound long Chinese thin egg noodles
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
6 T peanut oil

Cut the pork into thin slices 1/8 inch thick (against the grain). Cut each slice into ribbons, flattening them slightly with a meat mallet.

In a large bowl, mix the soy sauce, rice wine, water, cornstarch, sugar and sesame oil until thoroughly blended, then add the pork slices and allow to marinade for 1-3 hours at room temperature or overnight in the fridge. Drain well before stir-frying.

Cut the scallions into 2-inch pieces, trimming off the root ends. In a small bowl, mix the hoisin sauce, rice wine, soy, sugar, and sesame oil , stir well to dissolve everything.

Add 2 T of peanut oil to a very hot wok, swirl to coat the pan, add the pork slices and stir fry until opaque. Add the sauce ingredients and continue cooking until the pork is cooked through, then add the scallions and reserve until the noodles are ready.

Preparing the noodles:
Boil the noodles until cooked, but not mushy. Drain, then run through cold water until fully cooled. Shake off excess water and lay the cooked noodles over a dish cloth, blotting it out of excessive moisture. Transfer to a bowl, adding the sesame oil to coat the strands (the noodles can be kept cold at this stage for up to 2 days).

Heat a 12 inch skillet over high heat, add 5 T oil, and heat until a strand of noodle sizzles if gently dropped on the pan. Coil the noodles evenly on the hot pan, starting at the edges, and working your way through the center. Press them with a spatula, cover the pan, then cook until the bottom is browned (5-7 minutes).

Loosen the browned noodles, slip them out of the pan, transfer to a serving platter. Mound the pork on top of the noodles, and serve immediately.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Barbara’s original recipe calls for deep frying the pork before the final stir-fry. I have done this “oil velveting” in the past, but this time I simplified it and cooked the pork all the way through in the wok. The main reason: we are home for just a few days, I didn’t want to deal with the leftover oil. Is there a loss of quality in the final dish? In all honesty, yes. Velveting does wonders to improve the texture of stir-fries (as I mentioned before here), so if you can do it, follow her advice and deep fry the pork for a minute, remove it from the oil, drain it well, and add it to the wok AFTER you add the sauce and heat it up.

This is not a light recipe – obviously, any time you brown noodles on a frying pan, their calories will be multiplied by a factor of 2. However, sometimes it is good to indulge, so enjoy it without guilt, and cut back on excesses for a couple of days. 😉

Note to self: try the “water-velveting method” in this recipe.

ONE YEAR AGO: Chocolate Chip Cookies

30Sep2010

DREAMING of BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

Could it be the one we harvested from our garden? Was it one from the farmer’s market, so perfectly shaped, with a shiny skin that gave me pause before putting a knife into it? No. The butternut squash of my dreams – and I hope you can stand the truth – was sold in plastic bags, uniformly cut, in a grocery store. Confession heals the soul, so now I feel good! 😉 I must explain, that since 1995 I’ve lived in a place devoid of food stores such as “Trader Joe’s” and “Whole Foods.” Although our “Native Roots Market” and “Forward Foods” are local delights, whenever our travels took us to a city blessed with TJs, we’d make a point to stop by and collect enough goodies to tide us over for a few months. However, fresh produce and planes don’t mix, so I had to “walk on by” all the tempting veggies and just look. Look, look and dream about how nice it would be to buy that cute bag of perfectly diced butternut squash, and enjoy its succulence without risking my fingertips. Here in LA we have 5 Trader Joe’s and 2 Whole Foods within driving distance, so when I spotted that little yellow bag I grabbed it and drove smiling all the way home …. beside the butternut squash of my dreams!

PASTA WITH ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH, ARUGULA AND RICOTTA
(from the Bewitching Kitchen, inspired by Donna Hay)

pasta of your choice
butternut squash, cut in chunks
drizzle of olive oil
a few sage leaves
1/2 cup ricotta cheese (full fat, please)
fresh arugula, preferably baby leaves
zest of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Turn your oven to 400F, open the bag of butternut squash, admire how nice each piece looks, and spread them all in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil, season with salt and pepper, scatter a few fresh sage leaves over it, mix it all to coat all pieces with some oil, and roast for 20 minutes, until soft and starting to get brown at the edges.

Meanwhile, boil salted water to cook the pasta. In a large bowl, place the arugula and ricotta cheese, breaking it up with a fork. Season with salt and pepper. When the pasta is cooked, reserve some of the water, then place the pasta over the arugula/ricotta mixture, mixing it all very well. Add the butternut squash, lemon zest, and a little of the pasta water in case the mixture seems too dry. Adjust the seasoning, and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Due to the constraints of our nano-kitchen, I search for all sorts of shortcuts when preparing dinner. Pasta sauces that don’t need much cooking are now my best friends. I got the inspiration from a cookbook that recently arrived in the mail: Donna Hay’s Off the Shelf. She only used ricotta and arugula, but butternut squash and sage sounded like a nice way to round out the pasta. As far as cheese goes, ricotta is light, so I recommend the full fat version.