16 posts tagged “italian”
Let me first get a favor out of the way because I am selfish like that. ;) Remember those savory crepes with mushroom and goat cheese filling I made? I would really appreciate if you voted for them on the Ile de France site (and by voting, I mean rating them highly at the bottom of this page right here). If I win first (which doesn't look terribly promising right now, but as with voting of any type, I remain cautiously optimistic), I will be giving away a gift card on my blog, so there could be something in it for you, too! I think there is something a little...strange...going on with the voting right now but you didn't hear it from me. Someone may have to demand a recount!
Now that I've finished campaigning for your vote, let me share with you one of our staple meals. This meal was probably the second or third entry ever in this blog, but I had no picture (and, well, no readers) so I thought I would share it again. This is pretty much a chicken piccata, but without capers and with mushrooms. OK, so it's not really piccata but it's close enough.
I used to really dislike capers, which is why I started making this dish sans capers. I have to say that, now, I actually like capers but I never really think to buy them and this dish is pretty standard in our household so it's been left untouched. Tom and I like mushrooms. A lot. So we use a half pound for just the two of us. Normal people would probably use that for 4 chicken breasts. We are not normal and would probably be even happier using an entire pound.
To add a little oomph to my orzo, I stirred in some pesto (again, from the freezer. I cannot emphasize the greatness of freezing pesto in cubes enough), which was a great complement to the lemony chicken.
Chicken with Lemon Mushroom Sauce
Serves 2
2 Tbsp. flour
small sprig of thyme, chopped, or about 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
2 chicken breast halves
1/2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 lb. sliced cremini mushrooms
1 small shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice (about one lemon)
1/4 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
Season the flour with the thyme and salt and pepper. Lightly dredge the chicken in the flour mixture. Heat a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat and add the butter and oil. Add the chicken and cook through, about 4-5 minutes per side. Set aside and keep warm.
To the pan, add the mushrooms and shallot and saute until the shallot is transparent. Add the garlic and cook an additional 30-60 seconds.
Add the wine to the pan, and as it's reducing, start scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the lemon juice and chicken broth and reduce the mixture by about half.
Nutritional information (for a 4.5 oz chicken breast half): Calories: 270 / Fat: 8.2g / Saturated fat: 2.7g / Carbs: 11.8g / Fiber: 1g / Protein: 32.5
Leftover tourlou tourlou? Make a frittata.
Tom was working late the other day and his work provided dinner for him, so I was on my own. I was too lazy to make a full meal, so I took the last of the tourlou tourlou, added 2 beaten eggs and a splash of milk and made a mini frittata. Then I sprinkled it with some feta cheese and stuck it under the broiler. A delicious Greek twist on this Italian classic.
Also, this is not particularly related to this post, but I thought I would share anyway, seeing as my commentary about the frittata was a little shortish and, well, dull (not that I am promising riveting commentary below). I love Greek yogurt. I think it's one of the best things on the planet. It's so tart and creamy. It's just unmatched by any other yogurt. Even the fat free variety is totally indulgent. But the thing about it is, it's expensive. And with prices on pretty much everything continuing to rise, I can't always justify buying the yogurt that costs 3 times as much as the other yogurt.
So, I've been trying to alternate between Greek and regular. Now, I normally only strain yogurt if I am making something like tzatziki but I decided to strain my plain yogurt this time because the texture of regular fat free yogurt when you are used to Greek is more than a little offputting. And by offputting, I mean, pretty nasty.
So I strained the yogurt overnight (that's a strainer lined with a cheesecloth, over a bowl)...
and the next morning, this is what I found in the bowl.
Ick. No wonder I can't get behind this stuff. Mind you, this was after I already poured off the liquid at the top and had already eaten a serving earlier in the day. Anyway now that it's strained, it's much better. It's still not Greek yogurt, but it's better than the runny tasteless mess I had the day before.
My few and far between updates lately have probably clued you into the fact that things around here have been pretty busy. I think we've spent half the month of July out of town and this will probably be my only post this week, too, because we have some dinner plans and also are going to Lollapalooza this weekend. Hopefully if I make it back (I'm getting too old and it's far too hot for me to be going to a 3-day outdoor festival), things will start picking up around here in August.
A torta Giada made inspired me to make this dish because I had all the ingredients on hand. Well, okay, that's not actually true. I discovered just as I was about to throw my spaghetti into the boiling water that I really only had 6 oz. of pasta. And then I realized I just had about 1/3 cup of sundried tomatoes. And I never have parmesan cheese - I always opt for more flavorful romano. And, well, you guessed it. I didn't have fontina, either.
But no matter. This torta or spaghetti frittata or pasta quiche or whatever you want to call it (my husband, who always comes up with really unappealing names for dishes regardless of them being good, has dubbed this "spaghetti frisbee") is a really basic, versatile dish that you can pretty much throw anything you want into.I decided to replace some of the egg with half and half because I needed to use it up before it spoiled. I also added some chicken sausage to bulk this up and add a little protein. And of course I added nutmeg because I personally do not think a white or egg sauce is complete without nutmeg. This was simple and good. A nice crispy outside with a creamy inside. I increased the sundried tomatoes in the recipe below because I do think mine needed a few more. I think some caramelized onions would also be a great addition to this.
Spaghetti Frisbee
Serves 4
6 oz. spaghetti, cooked and cooled
2 tsp. olive oil, divided
2 links (1/2 lb.) Italian chicken sausage, casings removed
1 oz. smoked gouda, grated or shredded
2 oz. pecorino romano, grated
pinch of nutmeg
1/3 cup half and half or cream
2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/2 Tbsp. butter
salt and pepper (I actually used zero salt - odd for me - because of the cheese & sausage)
Heat 1 tsp. olive oil in a pan and then crumble the sausage into the pan, cooking until done. Set aside to cool.
Mix together the cheeses, nutmeg, half and half, eggs & some freshly ground pepper. Toss the mixture with the cooled pasta and then stir in the sausage and the sundried tomatoes.
Preheat the broiler. In a nonstick skillet (mine was 10"), heat the remaining tsp. of olive oil and the butter. Transfer the spaghetti mixture to the skillet, pressing to form an even layer. Cook until the bottom is golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the broiler to finish cooking and crisp up, about 5 more minutes. Allow to cool slighly before inverting onto a platter and slicing into wedges.
Nutritional Information Per Serving (with whole wheat pasta & Trader Joe's chicken sausage): Calories: 389 / Fat: 18.4g / Saturated: 6.5g / Carbs: 36g / Fiber: 5.7g / Protein: 24.1g
Well, as many of you may have heard by now, Chicago experienced some major storms and tornadoes last week. As a result, we were without power for about 35 hours. You know what that means? We lost everything in our fridge/freezer, save for a condiment and vegetable or two. Ugh, I hate wasting food! On Thursday night, when we first lost power, I cooked by candlelight, mainly because we were starving and had limited (read: no) other options but also because I am a little bit crazy. So, we had some linguini with asparagus, grape tomatoes, lemon and cheese. And that was the last time I cooked.
This lack of cooking has apparently taken its toll on me, even in my sleep. See, most people have dreams about friends or relatives, even celebrities and animals. Me? I had a dream last night that I shared an apartment complex with some of my favorite foodies in the blogosphere--Jenn the Leftover Queen, Amanda at Figs Olives Wine and Kate over ate Little White Lies. Now, tell me that wouldn't be the best apartment complex ever. Talk about some great food. But like I said, I'm a little bit crazy.
Anyway, back to business. You may have noticed I have been trying recipes a lot more than I usually do. This is do largely to the fact that we got a new computer and when I was transferring my favorites over I realized I had entirely too many recipes saved that I wanted to try, so I am slowly making my way through some of the more intriguing ones.
Both of the recipes from tonight's meal--chicken valdostana with braised lentils--come from Epicurious, but I have modified them both (surprised?), the lentils more than the chicken. I used the same basic ingredients and flavors, but I wasn't a big fan of Epicurious's cooking method, which entailed boiling the celery, onions and carrots with the lentils. I am not one for mushy carrots and, besides, I think sauteing the vegetables gives the dish a better flavor overall. I haven't had lentils in easily a decade. I think they are one of those foods I didn't think I was crazy about. While they are not my favorite, I do think they are a great change of pace and not to mention so good for you. This is a really great recipe for easing your way into lentils and I think it's delicious. It's also a great complement to the chicken voldostana. I am putting a vegetarian tag on this post, not because I think chicken is vegetarian but because I think the lentils are really good and filling and would be a delicious veggie meal.
Below are my versions, also scaled to two portions.
Chicken Breast Valdostana
2 b/s chicken breast halves
2 thin slices prosicutto
flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
1/2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 thin slices fontina cheese
1/4 cup diced tomatoes, seasoned lightly with salt and pepper
2 tsp. grated romano
Preheat oven to 375.
Fit a piece of prosciutto over each chicken breast, so the slice of prosciutto is as close as possible to the size of the chicken breat. Using the back of a knife or the flat side of a mallet, pound the chicken lightly, just to get the prosciutto to adhere.
Dredge the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour.
Heat a skillet over moderate heat and add the butter and olive oil. When the butter is foaming, add the chicken, prosciutto side down.
Cook chicken for about 2 minutes before flipping and browning on other side for an additional 2-3 minutes. Remove chicken.
To the pan, add the chicken stock and wine. Cook over medium high heat until reduced by half.
Place the chicken back in the skillet and top each breast with 1 slice of fontina, 2 Tbsp. of diced tomatoes and 1 tsp. grated cheese.
Put the skillet in the oven and cook until chicken is done, about 15 minutes.
Braised Lentils with Spinach
1/2 cup brown lentils
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. olive oil
1 sprig thyme or a pinch of dried
1 small carrot, diced
1 small piece celery, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
4-5 mushrooms, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup fresh spinach, shredded or chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Place lentils and bay leaf in a small pan and pour cold water in the pan so that it reaches about 3" above the lentils. Cook at a rolling boil until lentils are tender, about 20-25 minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet over moderate heat and add olive oil and thyme. Saute the onions, celery, carrots and mushrooms until tender.
Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add lentils and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and cook until liquid is reduced enough to coat lentils--a couple minutes. Add spinach and cook until just wilted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve: spoon lentils onto a plate, top with chicken and spoon sauce from chicken over entire dish.
I had a decent amount of fresh sage that I wanted to use up before we went out of town for the weekend. Rather than adding a leaf or two to a meal, I decided to go with a pesto so that I could use up more of the sage.
To put a slight twist on the traditional pesto, I made it with fontina and added sundried tomatoes. Then I stuffed it into chicken. We had this with some Kashi pilaf with mushrooms and peas. I really love the Kashi pilaf and recommend it. However, they claim it takes 25 minutes to cook, which makes no sense to me since brown rice is one of the grains in there, and it takes longer than 25 minutes. So, I tend to add a little more liquid (chicken broth in this case) and cook it for 10 or sometimes 15 minutes longer than directed.
I didn't really measure the pesto, but what's below is probably close. Obviously this doesn't make a whole lot, since I was only using it to stuff 2 chicken breasts. But it does use up a lot of sage if you have some around!
Sundried tomato and sage pesto
1 garlic clove
2 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
2 Tbsp sundried tomatoes
handful of fresh sage
3 Tbsp fontina cheese
EVOO (I used some regular EVOO and some oil from the sundried tomatoes; use as much as you want depending on the consistency you are going for)
salt and pepper to taste.
Stick everything in a food processor. Process and you're done :)
For the chicken, I stuffed it with the pesto and seasoned it simply with salt and pepper. I just pan fried it in a little olive oil to brown it and then finished cooking it in a 350 degree oven. Right before I put it in the oven (in the same pan I pan-fried it in), I added a few splashes of chicken broth to make more of a pan sauce, which I spooned over at the end.
Nutritional info for the chicken (using a 5 oz piece of chicken breast and .75 Tbsp EVOO per serving which could be cut down if you don't pan fry it): Calories: 389 / Fat: 23g / Carbs: 6.3g / Protein: 39g
It's not often that my husband requests a meal. Typically, I ask him what he feels like eating the following week and 95% of the time the answer is "I don't care" or "Let me think about it" and he never does. (The other 5% of the time, he asks for chicken marsala.)
So when Tom actually gave me a suggestion for once, I had to make it. Sure, he picked lasagna, one of the more fattening and annoying to assemble things on the planet. But still, it was a suggestion and we hadn't had lasagna in a really long time. It sounded good to me, too.
To lighten the lasagna up a bit, I used 95% lean ground sirloin for the meatsauce (sort of counteracted by my use of supah-fatty sausage but that's OK), low fat ricotta, low fat mozzarella and whole wheat lasagna noodles. We had this with some sauteed spinach (extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice).
Elly's Lasagna
1 lb. lasagna noodles
1 (15 oz) container Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
parsley, to taste
ground pepper, to taste
1 batch meatsauce (recipe follows)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 350.
Boil lasagna noodles in salted water until al dente.
In a small mixing bowl, mix together ricotta, romano, beaten egg, black pepper and parsley.
Spray a little oil over a large baking dish. Spread a thin layer of meatsauce over the bottom and then layer the lasagna as desired, alternating noodles/ricotta/meatsauce. End with a thin layer of meatsauce.
Top with mozzarella cheese.
Cover with aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10.
Meatsauce
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground sausage or 2 Italian sausage links, casings removed
1/2 can (3 oz) tomato paste
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 cup beef broth
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
oregano, to taste
basil, to taste
parsley, to taste
salt (a tsp or so, to taste) and pepper
In a large saute pan, heat the oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant.
Add the sausage and ground beef, crumbling and browning. Drain.
Add the remaning ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Simmer covered (or uncovered, for a slightly thicker sauce) for an hour or longer.
I actually found out we were going to our friends' for lunch, so I ended up doing everything up until the simmering part and then throwing it in the crockpot on low until I was ready to assemble the lasagna later. I knew I wouldn't want to do all that work after getting home from lunch. This is the first time I have done meatsauce in the crockpot and it turned out wonderfully.
If you make 8 slices (and they are definitely good sized), this comes out to about 500 calories and 20g fat per slice which really isn't THAT bad for lasagna. It would be a lot less fat without the use of sausage but 1. my husband loves sausage so I had to include at least a little and 2. sausage was buy one get one free at the grocery store. Those BOGOs always get me!
I could not get a good picture of one piece to save my life. Aren't the first couple slices always the sloppiest?
Saltimbocca is Italian for "jumps in the mouth." Veal saltimbocca is one of my favorite dishes. The flavors are just so wonderful and I don't eat a lot of veal so it's always a treat.
I decided to do a take on the ingredients in a saltimbocca other than veal or chicken, and put them in a ravioli dish. I stuffed wonton wrappers with a prosciutto-fontina mixture and made a sage wine sauce over the top.
This was my first experience with wonton wrappers. Lesson learned: the cook up REALLY quickly. And they are probably a lot easier than making/rolling your own dough (but not as thick and probably not really as good...not that I would know what my homemade pasta tastes like since I have never made it).
Filling (makes about 12 ravioli)
2-3 oz diced prosciutto
1/2 cup shredded fontina cheese
2 Tbsp grated romano or parmesan
1 egg yolk, beaten
salt (optional; I don't recommend a lot as the prosciutto and cheeses are salty)
ground pepper
Mix all ingredients together.
Spoon into wonton wrappers. Brush edges of wrapper with water (I just use my finger) and then bring together the edges to form a triangle.
Drop into salted boiling water and cook for about 3 minutes. I used Giada's trick of boiling these in a deep, low saute pan so they had some room to move.
Sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp butter
handful of fresh sage
1/2 cup white wine
squeeze of fresh lemon
splash or two of half and half or heavy cream
salt and pepper
Heat a skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Add in the sage and cook for a minute or two before adding the garlic. Cook an additional minute.
Add wine. Increase heat a little and cook until liquid is reduced by half. Squeeze in fresh lemon.
Pour in half and half or cream and cook to warm and thicken.
Season to taste with salt and pepper
To keep myself from eating the entire loaf of French bread I bought yesterday, I decided I had to plan a meal for tonight that would use it up. That way, I would be dinnerless if I was a piggie and ate it all :)
I decided to go with a fresh, summery panzanella salad with lemon-basil vinaigrette. We had this with some grilled flank steak. Nothing terribly exciting there. Just marinated it with some Mediterannean flavors and grilled it.
The salad makes 2 big portions, or 4 smaller portions
Panzanella Salad
4 oz (about a 5" long chunk) French or other day-old bread
1 Tbsp EVOO
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 vine ripened tomatoes, cut into chunks
1/2 large cucumber, cut into chunks
2 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers
4 stalks asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-2" pieces
8 kalamata olives (which I forgot to add until after I took the pic :)
Lemon basil vinaigrette (recipe follows)
Make the vinaigrette first so the flavors can meld as you are prepping the rest of the salad.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add asparagus and cook until just tender, about 2 minutes max. Immediately put asparagus into an ice bath to stop the cooking.
Cut bread into 1" pieces. I decided to leave about half the crust on, but that's your call. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the EVOO and the garlic, cooking until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add bread and a pinch of salt. Toss the bread around to coat with the oil and cook until browned, about 6 or 7 minutes (alternatively you could spray/drizzle the bread with the oil and bake in a 300 degree oven for 8-10 minutes). Remove the garlic.
Toss asparagus, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, peppers and feta and toasted bread with vinaigrette and serve.
Lemon-basil vinaigrette
Now, most vinaigrettes recipes call for anywhere from a 1:2 to a 1:4 ratio of vinegar to oil. However, I really love a tangy, acidic vinaigrette so I tend to go for the exact opposite. The added bonus is there is less fat :)
1 clove garlic
1-2 Tbsp fresh basil
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, or to desired consistency/taste
Combine garlic, basil, lemon juice and vinegar into a food processor. Pulse until garlic and basil are in small pieces.
Stream in olive oil until desired consistency.
Tonight I made chicken cacciatore. Hmm, not much else to add to this blog other than it was delicious, so I will just get on with my recipe ;)
Chicken Cacciatore
Chicken (I used 2 thighs and drumsticks which I skinned)
1/3 cup flour (optional)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (I used half a red and half a green)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup white wine
1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
fresh basil
Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper. If desired, dredge in flour. Heat olive oil in saucier. Add chicken pieces and brown on all sides. Remove from pot.
Add onions, pepper, and mushrooms to saucier. Cook about 4 minutes before adding garlic. Cook an additional minute.
Stir in wine. Scrape up browned bits and allow liquid to reduce by about half.
Add diced tomatoes, chicken broth, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer.
Return chicken pieces to the pan. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes (depending on what cut of chicken you are using).
Top with fresh basil and grated cheese.
We had this over whole wheat spaghetti.
Tonight I made chicken marsala, one of Tom's favorites. Usually I serve it with orzo or mashed potatoes, but I had no potatoes and since we will probably have a pilaf tomorrow, I decided to make it with pasta (well, orzo is a pasta, but I made it with a...longer...pasta). I used whole wheat fettuccini and after it was cooked, I tossed it with a little butter, thawed frozen peas, and some fresh pecorino. I cut some of the oil/butter out of the marsala and it came out just as good :)
Chicken Marsala
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1.5 tbsp butter, divided
1 tbsp olive oil
8 oz fresh sliced mushrooms (I like to use cremini)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp dry sherry
1/2 cup marsala
1/4 cup chicken broth (optional; I never use it as I like more wine flavor)
salt and pepper to taste
Heat pan and melt .5 tbsp butter with olive oil over medium or medium-low heat.
Meanwhile, mix together flour, oregano and basil onto a plate or in a freezer bag. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, and dredge in flour mixture, shaking off excess. Add to butter/oil and cook until done, flipping once. Remove and keep warm.
Add the remaining butter to the skillet. Add mushrooms and garlic and saute about 2 minutes.
Add sherry and marsala. Crank heat up to medium-high and cook until liquid is reduced by about half.
Stir in chicken broth, and season to taste. Add chicken back in to warm through.
