Manfrigul Pasta Balls

Tonight I made Chris a Fried Pepper Panini and we both had some soup.

The soup was from... La Cucina! Manfrigul Pasta Balls. Interesting soup. The recipe comes from the Emilia-Romagna region. Fun to make, loved the little pasta balls and I have enough leftover soup for at least 3 lunches this week. The pasta was made with flour, eggs, Parmigiano, lemon zest and nutmeg. Just a delicious soup.

For breakfast this morning I made Whole Wheat muffins. The muffin recipe comes for the Mark Bittman blog. There was a video for the recipe and I was writing down the ingredients as he went along but I noticed on the video he had an egg out on the table but did not mention using the egg. I knew something was not right. It had to have an egg but he always mentions all the ingredients... So I checked another site for a Wheat Muffin recipe, Joy of Baking, and found a recipe very close to his and it used 2 eggs. So that's what I did. They are the most delicious muffins I have ever had. When I put the pan in the oven the pan was so heavy but the baked muffin is as light as air. Well maybe not as light as air but not that heavy.

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!

Pasta with Meat Sauce

Easy to prepare when I have the sauce in the freezer. The portion of sauce we had was a little light so we added some Paul Sorvino Marinara Sauce to it.

Sausage and Cherry Tomato Bake

I had made this dish last year and it was as good as the last time it was made. The recipe comes from the Jamie Oliver book, Jamie At Home. I did make sure we had enough bread because the sauce is delicious.

Pane Cotto Escarole and Beans Casserole and The Bird Station

Have you ever dreamt of Escarole and Beans. Well I have. I have been looking forward to making this for a couple of weeks now. The recipe comes from The New Haven Register and I posted it last April. The greens, the beans, the bread. It's the stuff dreams are made of. At least my dreams.
Big news from The Bird Station blog. "Wingscapes", the company that makes the "Bird Cam" motion activated camera which I gave Chris for Christmas featured one of his photos on their website and their FaceBook page! Congratulations Chris!

Braised Beef Short Ribs

I took a break from the La Cucina cookbook today. I actually revisited some older blog posts that I had bookmarked. Tonight's dinner comes from Smitten Kitchen, Braised Beef Short Ribs. There are certain meals that remind me of winter and Short Ribs is one of them. Probably because having the oven on for 3 hours in the summer is not going to happen. This is an easy to prepare dish. The house smelled so good today. Kramer was beside himself trying to get to the ribs. Archie did not seem to notice...

As a side dish I made one of my favorites, Roasted Cauliflower. The last time I had Roasted Cauliflower was when I got it from La Rosticceria. I loved it and I wanted to try to make it myself. I found a recipe which seemed close to what I had from La Rosticceria. It was as good. Yippee! The recipe if from the FoodNetwork.com. We also had mashed potatoes.

Did a bit of baking this weekend. I made Hot Cross Buns. I got the recipe from my sister who got it from our mom. They came out perfect, nice and moist. Hot Cross Buns are the best part of Lent.

Homemade Rough-Cut Pasta with Leeks

Has anyone seen the film Food Inc? It will make you rethink your trip to the grocery store.

Tonight's recipe came from La Cucina. Its crazy how the recipes in this book are pretty simple to make and the results are so good. Homemade Rough-Cut Pasta with Leeks, Maltagliati Di Porro, from the Piedmonte region. I have been trying different homemade pasta recipes. Tonight I tried Giada de Laurentiis's recipe. 3 cups flour, 4 eggs, 1 tbsp. salt and 1 tbsp. olive oil. Winner! Next time I will try the recipe in La Cucina. That one calls for olive oil and lard... I checked online and Crisco is good substitute for lard and there is a now a non-trans fat Crisco.

Anyway back to the recipe...

For the sauce:
2 tbsp. butter
4 leeks, cleaned and sliced in rounds
1/2 cup heavy cream
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt

Roll out pasta in a thin sheet (set machine to last setting) and cut in medium-size squares. (Note: Have plenty of space set aside to spread out dish towels sprinkled with flour to place your cut pasta).
Meanwhile, heat the butter in a pan over low heat. Saute the leeks until softened.
Cook the pasta in lightly salted boiling water.
Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the leeks. Stir in the cream, add the cheese and serve hot.

We had a nice bottle of Coppola 2006 Syrah-Shiraz. I could really taste the black cherry and strawberry. Just not sure what a currant tastes like.

Cod with Peppers

This should have been Sole with Peppers but amazingly the 2 stores I went to were out of sole. So Cod was substituted. Once again a recipe for La Cucina. This comes from the Calabria region. The recipe was simple and very good. Very, very good.

Ingredients
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced (oops I forgot to add this)
3/4 lb. sweet peppers, cored, seeded and minced
1 2/3 cups chopped fresh plum tomatoes (I used a can of plum tomatoes)
2 lbs. sole, cleaned, rinsed and dried
Salt

Heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the onions and garlic until they take on color, then add the peppers and tomatoes
Cook at low heat for 15 minutes, then add the sole.
Add salt to taste, cover the pan, and cook at low heat, shaking the pan from time to time.

For dishes sides I sauteed spinach and made some minute rice.

Vegetable Soup with Squash and Barley

Zuppa Di Legumi Con Zucca E Orzetto, Vegetable Soup with Squash and Barley, from the Puglia region. Another recipe for La Cucina.
When Chris first saw the soup he did not seem impressed. After his 2nd bowl I knew it was good. And was it good. I had Roasted Butternut Squash in the freezer and White Bean Puree from a previous soup. I used the puree with a little vegetable broth so we had another meatless meal.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
4 oz. yellow winter squash, peeled and cut into cubes
2 cups broth
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
1 garlic clove
1 medium onion
1/2 lb. legumes (chickpeas, cannelli, and/or cranberry beans), cooked, liquid reserved
6 oz. barley cooked in water
1 tsp. chili-pepper flakes or 1 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
Peasant-style bread, slice and toasted
Salt

Method
Heat half of the olive oil in pot; add the squash and saute until it begins to take on a little color.
Add the broth, and simmer until the squash is done; set aside and keep warm.
Chop together the celery, carrot, garlic and onion. Heat the remaining olive oil in a pot and saute the vegetables; add the legumes and their water, then add the squash and barley.
Adjust for salt and add chili pepper flakes or parsley. Serve with slices of toasted peasant-style bread.