Now that we're in Lent, and Catholics are looking for meatless Friday meals, I thought I should post some more vegetarian options. Vodka sauce has become very popular in the last decade, with good cause -- it's rich, delicious, but not too heavy. And best of all, REALLY easy to make! The recipe below will easily cover an entire pound of pasta.
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, well crushed, but not cut up any further
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (Optional)
1 pint of half and half (you can use heavier cream, but I prefer the lighter texture of half and half)
1/2 cup good vodka (doesn't have to be the most expensive kind, but don't use rot-gut quality)
1/3 cup of freshly grated pecorino or locatelli romano cheese
Saute the garlic in olive oil, over medium heat, just until it starts to turn every so slightly brown. Then remove the actual pieces of garlic but leave the flavored oil. Add the pepper (black and red) to the oil and saute for 30 seconds. Then turn the heat up to high and add the vodka -- let it come to a rapid boil and immediately turn the heat down to medium/low. You want to boil off the alcohol, but not evaporate the liquid. Then add the tomatoes and once that is heated thru and starting to bubble a little, turn the heat to low and add the half and half. Let it warm through, but do not bring to a boil or it may curdle. Once it's warm, whisk in the romano cheese and then toss with pasta.
Any kind of pasta is fine, but I like penne or rotini best. But it's also wonderful on stuffed pastas such as ravioli and tortellini.
Serve with more romano on the side for those that like their pasta extra-cheesy.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
A great dinner party
Last Saturday, I was supposed to have all my local work colleagues for dinner. In anticipation and preparation, I assembled a big lasagna and eggplant parmigiana during the week. All the other foods were purchases (antipasto, salad, etc) and I was ready to go!
Then came the snow -- people couldn't get out or get to our neighborhood. Rather than miss a beat, we invited some neighborhood families to dinner and two of them accepted. It was a fabulous evening!
Lit a fire in the fireplace; had copious red wine and food; casual clothes; and 5 kids occupying each other so that parents could (mostly) relax and take it easy.
Much as I missed having my work friends over, we had such a great time -- it reminded me of the neighborhood where I grew up where everyone came together during blackouts in the summer, blizzards in the winter, and any other natural phenomenon to enjoy the time together.
Had we not had all the food ready, I still would have invited folks over for pot luck . . . so the next time you're snowed in, think about having a dinner party -- trust me, everyone will be happy to participate!
Then came the snow -- people couldn't get out or get to our neighborhood. Rather than miss a beat, we invited some neighborhood families to dinner and two of them accepted. It was a fabulous evening!
Lit a fire in the fireplace; had copious red wine and food; casual clothes; and 5 kids occupying each other so that parents could (mostly) relax and take it easy.
Much as I missed having my work friends over, we had such a great time -- it reminded me of the neighborhood where I grew up where everyone came together during blackouts in the summer, blizzards in the winter, and any other natural phenomenon to enjoy the time together.
Had we not had all the food ready, I still would have invited folks over for pot luck . . . so the next time you're snowed in, think about having a dinner party -- trust me, everyone will be happy to participate!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Eggplant Parmigiana
An Italian staple -- so good, so filling, and when done the way I make it, a lot less fattening than it usually is :) (Don't get me wrong - it's still not a diet food, but there are far fewer calories than usual and you won't ever miss them!) The quantities below will feed 8 and probably still provide left-overs and like all Italian food, it always tastes better heated up the next day!!!
Ingredients:
2 large eggplants
2 cups of Italian seasoned bread crumbs to which you add 1/2 cup grated parmigiana cheese (doesn't have to be the high quality stuff for this recipe)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1.5 pounds of mozzarella cheese, either grated or ground up small in a food processor
Sauce (either marinara if you want it to be vegetarian, or the sauce made with meatballs and sausages if you want a richer flavor -- serve the meet on the side!)
No-stick cooking spray
Slice the eggplant into circles about 1/8 inch thick. (You don't have the peel it, though you can if you like -- and forget everything you've ever heard about salting eggplant -- totally unneccessary).
Mix together the eggs and milk and dip the eggplant in that, and then cover it with breadcrumbs.
Lay them on a baking sheet that you've sprayed liberally with the no-stick cooking spray, and spray the tops of the eggplant when you're done as well.
Bake these in a 425 degree oven until they just start to brown.
Line a large baking dish with 2 ladles of sauce. Then cover with a layer of cooked eggplant, 1/4 of the cheese, and then a thin layer of sauce (about 1 ladle). Repeat this process twice, and cover the top with a generous layer of sauce and the remainder of the cheese.
Cover loosely with foil (put in a few toothpicks if you need to make sure the foil doesn't stick to the cheese) andbake in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes if you're putting it in at room temp or higher. If it's in the fridge( and this can be assembled days in advance), put it in for about an hour. It's done when the edges are bubbling and you can't stick your finger into the middle for more than a split second without recoiling. Remove the foil for the last 10-15 minutes so it gets slightly browned on top.
Let it sit for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 large eggplants
2 cups of Italian seasoned bread crumbs to which you add 1/2 cup grated parmigiana cheese (doesn't have to be the high quality stuff for this recipe)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1.5 pounds of mozzarella cheese, either grated or ground up small in a food processor
Sauce (either marinara if you want it to be vegetarian, or the sauce made with meatballs and sausages if you want a richer flavor -- serve the meet on the side!)
No-stick cooking spray
Slice the eggplant into circles about 1/8 inch thick. (You don't have the peel it, though you can if you like -- and forget everything you've ever heard about salting eggplant -- totally unneccessary).
Mix together the eggs and milk and dip the eggplant in that, and then cover it with breadcrumbs.
Lay them on a baking sheet that you've sprayed liberally with the no-stick cooking spray, and spray the tops of the eggplant when you're done as well.
Bake these in a 425 degree oven until they just start to brown.
Line a large baking dish with 2 ladles of sauce. Then cover with a layer of cooked eggplant, 1/4 of the cheese, and then a thin layer of sauce (about 1 ladle). Repeat this process twice, and cover the top with a generous layer of sauce and the remainder of the cheese.
Cover loosely with foil (put in a few toothpicks if you need to make sure the foil doesn't stick to the cheese) andbake in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes if you're putting it in at room temp or higher. If it's in the fridge( and this can be assembled days in advance), put it in for about an hour. It's done when the edges are bubbling and you can't stick your finger into the middle for more than a split second without recoiling. Remove the foil for the last 10-15 minutes so it gets slightly browned on top.
Let it sit for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Pasta al'Amatriciana
This is a fabulous and easy sauce that is native to Rome. It's not one that needs to be simmered for a long time and the ingredients are minimal -- it's a standard Friday night meal for us (accept during Lent), especially if we have anyone joining us for dinner. It's that easy, and that good . . . .
3-4 ounces of pancetta, diced
1 medium onion (I prefer red, but white or yellow are fine too), diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Saute the pancetta in the olive oil until it starts to brown ever-so-slightly. Add the onion and salt and continue sauteing until the onion is translucent. Then add the rest of the ingredients and cook over medium-low flame for about 10 minutes.
Toss with one pound of pasta and serve with fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese on the side.
Bucatini (a thick spaghetti with a microscopic hole in the middle) is the traditional pasta served with this sauce, but whatever pasta you like best or have on hand will work just fine.
3-4 ounces of pancetta, diced
1 medium onion (I prefer red, but white or yellow are fine too), diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Saute the pancetta in the olive oil until it starts to brown ever-so-slightly. Add the onion and salt and continue sauteing until the onion is translucent. Then add the rest of the ingredients and cook over medium-low flame for about 10 minutes.
Toss with one pound of pasta and serve with fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese on the side.
Bucatini (a thick spaghetti with a microscopic hole in the middle) is the traditional pasta served with this sauce, but whatever pasta you like best or have on hand will work just fine.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Linguine Al Vongole
Linguine with clams is one of my favorite dishes. I prefer white sauce, and that's the recipe that I'm posting here, but at the bottom, I'll let you know how you can make it really quickly.
I'm going to give you the cheap and easy way to do this -- with canned clams. If you want to go more gourmet and high end, you could definitely use fresh clams from your local fishery. If so, figure that you'll need 1 pound of clams for every two people you're feeding.
1 large can of whole baby clams
5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons of fresh Italian flat leave parsley, minced
1 cup of dry white wine
2 tablespoons fresh cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
The juice of 1 lemon, and the zest of half of that lemon
1 pound of linguini
About 5 minutes before your pasta is done, saute the garlic in 2 tablespoons of oil and add the salt so that the garlic will essentially melt, but not burn. Once the garlic is fully soft and translucent, turn up the heat to high, add the wine, and boil rapidly for a minute to cook off the alcohol. Then turn down the heat, add all the rest of the ingredients except for the remaining olive oil and clams and stir.
Then put the cooked pasta into the sauce (remembering to cook your pasta for 1 minute less than al dente), and add the clams and the juice they are packed in. Toss together over low heat for about a minute or two, add the last of the olive oil before the last few tosses, and serve.
If you are using fresh clams, once your wine is boiling, add the clams, put a cover over the pot, and let them steam for about 4 minutes until all the shells are open (discard any that don't open as those clams aren't good to eat). Then finish off as above. You may need to add a bit of bottled clam juice to the mixture if it's not "wet" enough to really coat the pasta.
For red sauce: Bring 1/2 cup of white wine to a boil for 1 minute and then add 1 cup of marinara sauce from the recipe posted in August 2009 (http://foodislove-judy.blogspot.com/2009/08/recipe-for-marinara-sauce.html), and a can of whole baby clams and the juice they are packed in. Warm this up an toss with a pound of pasta.
A comment on grated cheese:
In Italy, it's practically sinful to put grated parmigiana on anything that has fish or seafood in it, the thought being that the cheese overwhelms the delicate taste of the fish or seafood. This sauce is definitely not lacking in flavor, so you can do without it. That being said, I LOVE grated cheese on my pasta and indeed, have often been accused of loving pasta so much just because it gives me an excuse to use grated cheese. I routinely put it on my linguine with clam sauce (except in the most upscale of Italian restaurants where I know better than to even ask), and absolutely love it :)
I'm going to give you the cheap and easy way to do this -- with canned clams. If you want to go more gourmet and high end, you could definitely use fresh clams from your local fishery. If so, figure that you'll need 1 pound of clams for every two people you're feeding.
1 large can of whole baby clams
5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons of fresh Italian flat leave parsley, minced
1 cup of dry white wine
2 tablespoons fresh cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
The juice of 1 lemon, and the zest of half of that lemon
1 pound of linguini
About 5 minutes before your pasta is done, saute the garlic in 2 tablespoons of oil and add the salt so that the garlic will essentially melt, but not burn. Once the garlic is fully soft and translucent, turn up the heat to high, add the wine, and boil rapidly for a minute to cook off the alcohol. Then turn down the heat, add all the rest of the ingredients except for the remaining olive oil and clams and stir.
Then put the cooked pasta into the sauce (remembering to cook your pasta for 1 minute less than al dente), and add the clams and the juice they are packed in. Toss together over low heat for about a minute or two, add the last of the olive oil before the last few tosses, and serve.
If you are using fresh clams, once your wine is boiling, add the clams, put a cover over the pot, and let them steam for about 4 minutes until all the shells are open (discard any that don't open as those clams aren't good to eat). Then finish off as above. You may need to add a bit of bottled clam juice to the mixture if it's not "wet" enough to really coat the pasta.
For red sauce: Bring 1/2 cup of white wine to a boil for 1 minute and then add 1 cup of marinara sauce from the recipe posted in August 2009 (http://foodislove-judy.blogspot.com/2009/08/recipe-for-marinara-sauce.html), and a can of whole baby clams and the juice they are packed in. Warm this up an toss with a pound of pasta.
A comment on grated cheese:
In Italy, it's practically sinful to put grated parmigiana on anything that has fish or seafood in it, the thought being that the cheese overwhelms the delicate taste of the fish or seafood. This sauce is definitely not lacking in flavor, so you can do without it. That being said, I LOVE grated cheese on my pasta and indeed, have often been accused of loving pasta so much just because it gives me an excuse to use grated cheese. I routinely put it on my linguine with clam sauce (except in the most upscale of Italian restaurants where I know better than to even ask), and absolutely love it :)
Alfredo Sauce
In Italian, Alfredo should mean heart-attack on a plate because that's how rich this sauce is :) While I'm not a fan of cream sauces, I've made this many times to much praise. It's REALLY easy to make and horrifically decadent.
1 stick of butter
1 cups of cream (you could substitute half and half, but not whole milk)
1 cup of grated parmigiano cheese
1 tablespoon of fresh cracked black pepper
1 pinch of (preferably fresh) ground nutmeg
Melt the butter and stir in the cream. Don't let it boil, but heat it until it becomes very warm, just shy of boiling. It can bubble ever so slightly without ruining the sauce. Gradually whisk in the cheese until it dissolves into the cream and butter. Add the seasonings (there should be no need for salt as the cheese has plenty in it), and toss with pasta. Fettucini is the traditional pasta of choice for this sauce, but don't let yourself be limited -- tortellini, gnocchi, and many other types of pasta are also great.
1 stick of butter
1 cups of cream (you could substitute half and half, but not whole milk)
1 cup of grated parmigiano cheese
1 tablespoon of fresh cracked black pepper
1 pinch of (preferably fresh) ground nutmeg
Melt the butter and stir in the cream. Don't let it boil, but heat it until it becomes very warm, just shy of boiling. It can bubble ever so slightly without ruining the sauce. Gradually whisk in the cheese until it dissolves into the cream and butter. Add the seasonings (there should be no need for salt as the cheese has plenty in it), and toss with pasta. Fettucini is the traditional pasta of choice for this sauce, but don't let yourself be limited -- tortellini, gnocchi, and many other types of pasta are also great.
Pasta Fagiole
Often called "pasta vazool," this is a great Italian staple that can be made either as a soup, or as a sauce for pasta. I have a slightly unconventional recipe that I've developed -- I hope you like it!
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of dry white wine
1 can of cannellini beans (white kidney beans)
1 can of artichoke hearts (quartered)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Start making the sauce only after your pasta is boiling away, as it's not something that should cook very long.
Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil for 2-3 minutes and turn the heat up high for a few seconds -- just as the onions and garlic begin to get the faintest bit brown, add the white wine and get it up to a quick bubble to burn off the alcohol. Let it cook for about a minute and then add the rest of the ingredients. As soon as you have the sauce stirred together, add the pasta and toss it all together, continuing to cook for another minute or so. (You should drain your pasta at least 1 minute before the recommended time for al dente pasta, as this process will finish the cooking process).
Serve with grated cheese and enjoy!
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of dry white wine
1 can of cannellini beans (white kidney beans)
1 can of artichoke hearts (quartered)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Start making the sauce only after your pasta is boiling away, as it's not something that should cook very long.
Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil for 2-3 minutes and turn the heat up high for a few seconds -- just as the onions and garlic begin to get the faintest bit brown, add the white wine and get it up to a quick bubble to burn off the alcohol. Let it cook for about a minute and then add the rest of the ingredients. As soon as you have the sauce stirred together, add the pasta and toss it all together, continuing to cook for another minute or so. (You should drain your pasta at least 1 minute before the recommended time for al dente pasta, as this process will finish the cooking process).
Serve with grated cheese and enjoy!
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