Spaghetti Con Capicola E Pangrattato

Spaghetti Con Capicola E Pangrattato was suppose to be Spaghetti with Speck and Bread Crumbs. I was searching the deli counter for Speck. That is what the recipe from La Cucina called for. The deli person said maybe Capicola would work... And it did!
This had a nice spicy bite to it.

Ingredients -
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 ounces Capicola, cut into small cubes
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram, chopped
6 tablespoons fine plain bread crumbs
1/2 pound spaghetti
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method -
In a large skillet, heat half of the butter and oil over medium heat until butter is melted. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 7 minutes.
Add Capicola and marjoram: cook, stirring, 3 minutes more. Transfer onion mixture to a plate. In the same skillet, lightly brown bread crumbs in the remaining butter; add onion mixture and stir to combine.
Remove from heat, and cover to keep warm.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil. Add spaghetti and cook to al dente; drain. Transfer spaghetti to skillet with onion mixture, toss to combine, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Best part about this dinner are the leftovers. What shall we do with them? Stay tuned...

Almost forgot to mention what we had as a starter. Stuffed Scallops. I purchased them at Robert's Food Center. They had the sale where you get 20% off your entire meat purchase with a coupon that was in our local paper. I love this sale. We stock up with usually enough meat to last us until the next sale.

 

Hunter Style Chicken, Pollo All Cacciatora

I love when I find recipes that I have all the ingredients already in the house. Don't get me wrong I love grocery shopping! I have made this quite often. It is perfect to reheat when you get home from work.

The recipe in the La Cucina, The Regional Cooking of Italy cookbook.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sliced onions
1 lb. carrots, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
3 1/2 lbs chicken, cut in pieces
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 lb, ripe plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped (I used a can of diced tomatoes)
chicken broth, if necessary
salt and pepper
Method
Heat half of the olive oil in a large pan and add the onions, carrots and celery. When they have taken on color remove them and set them aside. Put pieces of chicken in pan with remaining olive oil and when pieces have colored add the white wine. When the wine has evaporated add the tomatoes and reserved vegetables. Continue cooking over low heat for about 40 minutes, adding a little broth if necessary. Adjust for salt and pepper.

Calzone Barese Olive and Ricotta

Another meatless Friday. I was looking through my previous posts and found this one - Calzone Barese Olive and Ricotta. It was from the cookbook, La Cucina: Regional Cooking of Italy.

 Another submission for Cookbook Sundays!

I had forgotten what a great crust this was. And I liked the idea of one big calzone. The filling is so flavorful. The olives and onions make a great sauce.

For the dough:
2 cups all purpose flour plus more if needed
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeas dissolved in 2 tbsp. warm water
Extra-virgin olive oil

For the filling:
1 medium onion, sliced
3/4 lb. ripe plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup pitted and chopped black olives
4 oz. ricotta salata, passed through a sieve
Salt and pepper

Pour the flour onto a flat surface and work it together with the yeast mixture, a dash of salt and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Knead the dough, turning and folding it onto itself, until it becomes soft and elastic, adding water by the tablespoon as necessary - you my need to add as much as 3/4 cup. Then cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Grease a baking dish.
In a sauce pan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil and saute the onion until is almost transparent, then add the tomatoes. Cook the sauce down for a few minutes then add salt, pepper, and olives. Remove the pan from the heat and add the ricotta salata and mix well.
Roll the dough on a floured board into two sheets, one larger than the other. With the larger one line the greased pan. Pour in the sauce, spread it out, and cover with the other sheet, folding the edges over each other. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the top is golden.

Chicken Cacciotore

Wow it is cold out! I was so glad I was able to walk in the house and find a pan of Chicken Cacciotore on the stove. I made it this weekend along with a few other meals (love the freezer). This is the first time this year, okay it is only the 3rd of January, that I have made this. By year I meant this fall-winter season. I seem to cook different things in the fall and winter. I would never make Chicken Cacciotore in July. That is when we grill. But I digress...

The recipe came from La Cucina, The Regional Cooking of Italy cookbook. Yes more red peppers. They were on sale this week.

The pasta may look familiar. It was leftover from Sunday night. We had it last night too with the Sausage and Peppers. No waste this year.

Fettucine With My Favorite Things

Dinner started out being just Fettucine Alfredo. Then I went to the store and saw Broccolini and decided to add veggies to the mix. Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Red Bell Pepper and the Broccolini were sauteed along with some diced Pancetta (I did say my favorite things). I used the recipe for Fettucine Alfredo from La Cucina for the sauce. I added a little of the pasta water at the end. It was a nice looking dish and quite good.

Pork Tenderloin, Scarole Ibottite & Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I was looking through La Cucina and decided to make recipes from one region this week. This is the start of Campania Week! It seemed logical to start in Campania. So here we go...

Pork Tenderloin was on sale this week. I purchased one and cut 14 slices of of it. The rest of the tenderloin will appear later this week. I breaded the slices in a mixture of flour, rosemary, sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Sauteed the pork in olive oil and finished them off in the oven.

The recipe from Campania was a side dish. Scarole Ibottie, Stuffed and Baked Escarole. I remember my mom making this. Don't remember specifics of her dish but this tasted close to it.

I also roasted some sweet potatoes.

And to go with the pork I made homemade applesauce. I used McIntosh, Pink Lady and Honey Crisp apples. Not sure why I have never made this because it taste much better than store bought.

We had a wonderful bottle of wine with dinner. Cantina Zaccagnini, Montepulciano d"Abruzzo. Nice cherry and vanilla flavors.

For dessert we had Carrot Cake cupcakes that were made by a friend at work. Wendy made these for our Halloween party yesterday. She is bringing in the recipe for the frosting on Monday. It is the most amazing frosting. I picked up some Pumpkin and Ginger Ice Creams from Ashley's. Both were perfect with the cupcake.

What was Archie up to today... Just checking for missed stitches.

Pollo All Cacciatora, Hunter-Style Chicken

This is one of our favorite meals. The recipe is from La Cucina, The Regional Cooking of Italy. I made it for the first time back in January. The polenta was the perfect side. I love the instant polenta.

Potato Gnocchi with Tomato and Pancetta Sauce

First a little background. I have this cat. Kramer, aka the world's best cat. He has been for over 3 weeks now, waking me up at around 3:45 to 4am. He taps at my nose and meows. He does this at 5 minute intervals. Granted I love waking up to see his cute little face but not at that hour. He has a few health issues so needless to say he is spoiled rotten... but he is so cute.

Okay so today I am tired. Luckily I am working from home. I have no idea what I am making for dinner but all I know is that I do not want to run to the store for anything. I look and see that I have potatoes which means I can make gnocchi! I have pancetta and tomatoes and basil which could be the sauce. At lunch I popped the potatoes in the oven to bake. I was finished work by 5:30 and by 7pm we were enjoying a wonderful meal. Chris helped with the sauce, he is better at seasoning things than I am.

So I was looking through La Cucina and all the gnocchi recipes have you boil the potatoes. The recipe I use says to bake them. So that is what I did, it also required less hands on time. The recipe I used is from "From Biba's Italian Kitchen." Biba use to be on the local PBS station and my mom and I use to watch her. My mom gave me her cookbook and actually I think it was the last cookbook she gave me... hmmm. Anyway it is a great cookbook to have in your collection. The recipe is so easy.

Basic Potato Gnocchi

4 large boiling potatoes
1 tbsp salt
1 large egg, beaten in a small bowl
1 1/2 to 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and dry the potatoes. With a knife, make a long, deep incision in the potatoes. Put the potatoes in the oven and bake until they are tender, about 1 hour.

When cool enough to handle, peel potatoes and put them through a potato ricer or mash them with a fork. Put potatoes into a large bowl and season with salt. Add the egg and 1 1/2 cups of flour. Mix the potatoes, egg and the flour together with your hands until the dough begins to stick together.
Transfer the mixture to a wooden board and knead lightly, gradually adding the remaining flour if the dough sticks heavily to the board and to your hands. Knead the dough for 3 to 4 minutes until it is smooth and pliable and just a bit sticky. Divide the dough into several equal pieces. Flour your hands lightly, using both hands, roll out each piece of dough with a light back and forth motion into a roll about the thickness of your index finger. Cut each roll into 1-inch pieces.
Hold fork with its tines against a work board, the curved part of the fork facing away from you. Starting from the curved outside bottom of the fork, press each piece of dough with your index finger firmly upward along the length of the tines. Let the gnocchi fall back onto the work surface. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough until all the gnocchi have been formed. Place the gnocchi on a lightly floured platter or cookie sheet. they can be cooked immediately or stored in the refrigerator, uncovered, for several hours.


The sauce was made by heating up some olive oil and adding diced onions and pancetta. Those were browned and then we added a knob of butter, black pepper, tomatoes and basil. The cooked Gnocchi were added to the pan and dinner was served!

Polpette Di Pane (Bread Balls in Tomato Sauce)

Yesterday I had was flipping through La Cucina and came upon the recipe for Polpette Di Pane (Bread Balls in Tomato Sauce). I had a half loaf of Italian bread just sitting on the counter. I had some tomatoes that I wanted to use up so I made the recipe. The recipe is from the Puglia region of Italy.

The bottle of wine behind the jar of tomatoes is my dad's wine!

Later in the afternoon I was going through some Bon Appetit magazines and came upon the article, Less is More, Italian Style, in the May 2010 issue (the story is not available online). It was about Puglia region and the creativity of Italian peasant food. The style of cooking is, according to the article, cucina prover, "cuisine of the poor." And the most important commandment is: Waste nothing and stretch everything. Gee it reminds me of the stories both my parents told of growing up in the Depression. My dad grew up on a farm and I am sure that was the commandment in his mother's kitchen.

This is a meatless meal but I added some Sausage with made with Provolone and spinach the the dish. It was such a wonderful dinner.

Polpette Di Pane
(Bread Balls in Tomato Sauce)

1 1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
3 1/4 San Marzano Plum tomatoes, seeded and crushed
1 tbsp. chopped basil
1 1/4 cups extra virgin olive oil
5 large eggs, beaten
1 tbsp. grated pecorino
About 6 oz. stale bread (not too soft, not too hard: about 2 days old, grated
Salt

Prepare a sauce by cooking the onions and tomatoes in a pan over low heat without seasoning; when they have released their liquid but not colored pass them through a food mill. Return them to the pan and cook again for about 10 minutes with 1 teaspoon basil (or parsley), 1/4 cup olive oil, and salt. (I do not own a food mill so I used an immersion blender to puree the sauce.)
Mix the eggs in a bowl with salt, cheese and the rest of the basil. Add the bread and work together to form a soft dough. Make the dough into balls, then flatten them. Heat the remaining olive in a pan and saute the bread balls until golden. Drain on paper towels then add them to the tomato sauce. Cook for 10 minutes at low heat.

Hunter-Style Chicken

This evening I went to a cooking demonstration at Quattros in Guilford. For $40 the chef demonstrated the preparation of a Stuffed Shrimp appetizer, Gnocchi with Vodka Sauce, Tilapia Florentine and Vanilla Crepes. He prepared each meal at a large table with all of us gathered around and then we were served each dish. Just to see how he made the gnocchi was worth the price. Interestingly he uses a recipe very close to the one I use. which uses baked potatoes! Anyway more on that when I prepare the dishes for Chris.

Meanwhile, Chris was home this evening with a pan of Hunter-Style Chicken. And guess where the recipe was from.... La Cucina. I had made this back in January. There are 3 versions of this recipe but we both loved this one so at some point I will try the other two.

I think a pink nosed kitty would like to try some of that chicken!

Pasta E Fagioli

When I was little I use to hate having Pasta E Fagioli. My dad use to tell me that the beans were ice cream beans. I was very gullible. Now I look forward to having it for dinner. I am still in search of what I would consider the perfect recipe. This recipe came from La Cucina and is from the Campania region. The recipe called for celery and I thought why not add carrot too. I actually liked the carrot the best. It was good, Chris had seconds, but I was not blown away by it. So the search continues...

What is this? More info to come...

Halibut and Seafood Stew and Zeppoles

From La Cucina... Halibut and Seafood Stew. This was first recipe from this book that we did not go nuts over. It seemed like it should be delicious but it did not make either one of us say, "Wow!" But out of all the recipes I have made from the book this was the first one that did not get that response.

But all was not lost because today was the Feast of Saint Joseph, (the foster-father of Jesus, not Saint Joseph the worker). Anyway we had Zeppoles for dessert. I love food traditions!

The Best Calzone Recipe Revisited

A week ago I made a calzone that I said was the most delicious calzone I had tasted. Well I made it again for tonight's dinner. This time I used the leftover meat from the Stuffed Flank Steak we had on Saturday. What a great way to use up leftovers. I added ricotta salata cheese and some black olives to the filling. The crust is wonderful.

Barley Soup

Turning to page 139 of La Cucina we find the recipe for tonight's dinner, Minestra Di Orzo or Barley Soup 1. There are 5 Barley Soups recipes in the book. This one is from the Valle D'Aosta region. Another simple and delicious meal. I love this cookbook!

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1 leek, cut in thin strips
1 medium, cut in thin strips
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 carrot grated
1/2 cup Pearl Barley
1 bay leaf

Method
Heat the butter in a saucepan over low heat until melted. Add the leek and onion and cook until the leek begins to soften. Add the potatoes and carrots and cook for 10 minutes, then cover with boiling water. When the mixture returns to a boil, add the barley and bay leaf. Let cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 1 hour, until the barley is tender.

We had some left over Arborio rice from the other night so I made some Suppli (Rice Balls) from Simple Italian Snacks as a side dish.

Tuna Sauce with Spaghetti

This was dish my mom use to make during Lent on Friday nights. I found this recipe from La Cucina. The recipe is from Sicilia. The book uses fresh tuna fillet. But there is a side note saying you can use canned tuna, which is what my mom used. And I was sure I had spaghetti... alas no spaghetti but I had Buctani. That worked.

Ingredients
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 10 1/2 oz can tuna in oil, drained and cut into small pieces
4 cups tomato sauce (recipe is at the end of this entry)
2 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 lb. cooked spaghetti or whatever pasta you have
salt

Method
Prepare the tomato sauce and when it is nearly finished add the tuna and parsley. Cook together for 10 minutes at low heat and use this sauce on the spaghetti, making certain that each servings gets a quantify of tuna.

This is a very basic recipe for tomato sauce. It is similar to the recipe in La Cucina but I use canned tomatoes and not as much oil.

1 large onion, thinly slice
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp. chopped basil (or parsley)
salt

Saute the onions in the olive oil until almost transparent. Add the tomatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add the basil and salt. The recipe in La Cucina adds more olive oil to the sauce at this point.

Parmesan Chicken and Tortelli Filled with Swiss Chard

Today I was reading the Mark Bittman blog, Bitten which lead me to a recipe for Parmesan Chicken. There was a video featuring Mark Bittman and Jamie Oliver. I knew the last name would get your attention. This was so simple to make. It came out moist and the flavors from the herbs and lemon peel were delicious. I used organic chicken for this dish.

As a side dish we had Tortelli Filled with Swiss Chard, a recipe from La Cucina. The recipe comes from the Emilia-Romagna region. I made these last weekend and froze them. I did cheat with this recipe by using Wonton Wrappers for the dough instead of making fresh pasta.

Ingredients:
For Filling:
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 1/2 lbs ricotta
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 egg
pinch grated nutmeg
salt

For the Sauce:
1 cup unsalted butter, melted (I only dused 1/2 cup, 1 stick)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Method:
Clean the greens, cutting away the stalks, and boil them just until bright green. Remove them from the water, squeeze them dry, and leave to drain. Combine the ricotta with the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and butter. Chop the boiled greens and work together with the cheese mixture along with the egg, a pinch of salt and nutmeg. Arrange small amount of filling on the wonton wrappers and fold to form the Tortelli. Cook the Tortelli in lightly salted boiling water for 15 minutes or until they float (this took my tortelli only 5 minutes, I tasted one and it was cooked), then drain thoroughly. Combine the melted butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Arrange some of the tortelli in a single layer in a deep bowl. Spoon over some the sauce and repeat the layers using all the tortelli.

This was a big hit. There was a comment about the green stuff in the tortelli but they seemed to disappear.

We had a bottle of Fat Cat Pinot Noir with the meal. It was a simply delicious Saturday night meal.

Monkfish with Olives

Tonight we had Squardo Alla Matalotta, Monkfish with Olives from La Cucina. The recipe is from Sicily. My mom put monkfish in her sauce for Christmas Eve. I don't think I have used it in a recipe before. The dish had wonderful flavors. The recipe called for 2 lbs of fish but I used 1 lb for the two of us. The other ingredients I used the amounts the recipe had listed.

Ingredients
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 med onion, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced (I did not mince the garlic, just cut it in half for easy removal)
12 green olives, pitted and chopped
1 tbsp. capers
2 tbsp. flat leaf parsley
A few basil leaves
1/2 cup tomato puree (I added more than a 1/2 cup)
2 lbs monkfish or halibut fillet, sliced

Method
Heat the olive oil in a pan and saute the onion and garlic.
Add the olive, capers, parsley, basil and tomato puree.
Stir, then add the fish and cook for 15 to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the slices.

We had couscous and zucchini and yellow squash as side dishes and Chris picked up a nice bottle of Gouguenheim Valle Escondido Torrontes.

And speaking of Chris, he has some great pictures of the birds who have visited our yard posted on his blog, The Bird Station. I can't wait for the Hummingbirds to come back!