Orecchiette with Broccoli, Roasted Garlic, Mushrooms & Caramelized Onions

and toasted pine nuts, fresh basil, in a lemon butter sauce.......

Figured the name of the pasta was too long to be a title, because all ingredients are important in this pasta, not just the 4 main ones.

Well I was trying to come up with a pasta to make with Orecchiette and Broccoli - something light and vegetarian.. I was having dreams of the orecchiette and broccoli rabe dish I'd had from Savarino's Cucina (a little italian place in Nashville) and wanted to take the concept but make it something different. So after a little internet research, I came across a few ideas and ended up with this dish. It's a tad time consuming due to the nature of the ingredients, but it's super easy and very tasty and I've already made it twice this week!

Orecchiette with Broccoli, Mushrooms, & Light Lemon Butter Sauce
serves 4

• 1lb orecchiette pasta
• 2T veg. oil - or olive oil
• 1-2c broccoli, cut into bite size florets (depends on how much broccoli you like)
• 1/2lb cremini mushrooms
• 1 small vidalia onion (or sweet onion if you're not a southerner)
• 1 head of garlic, roasted*
• 1/4c pine nuts
• 1 lemon
• 2-3T butter
• a small chunk of parmigiano cheese
• fresh basil
• salt & pepper

1. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast pine nuts, about 5 minutes. WATCH THESE CAREFULLY. If you walk away and forget - you've ruined your pine nuts. You want them to turn a nice golden brown.
2. Chop up your onion into medium size pieces. Using the same skillet you toasted the pine nuts in, let the pan cool down a little and then add about 1T of oil to the skillet and throw in the onions. Season with some salt & pepper (I actually add about a 1/2t of sugar to help with the caramelization). Cook the onions until they start to get nice and soft and a nice golden color. While these are cooking, wash and slice your mushrooms.. Once the onions have started to turn a golden color, add a little more oil and add in the mushrooms. Season again with salt & pepper. Continue to cook for about 10 minutes, so mushrooms have caramelized with the onions.
   
3. While you're cooking the onions & mushrooms, heat up your pot of water for the pasta and in a smaller saucepan, steam the broccoli florets until tender. Once the water for the pasta has come to a boil, salt the water generously and add in the pasta. Cook until al dente (about 13 minutes). Drain pasta and return the pasta back into the hot pot. Zest the lemon over the pot, throw in the butter, and squeeze half the lemon over the pot - you may use more if your lemon is small, but I found I didn't want the lemon to over power the dish, so I only used half a lemon.. Stir together until butter has melted. If you want, you can save 1/4c pasta water and add it in, it will help make the sauce a little "thicker". At this point, grate some fresh parmigiano cheese over the pasta - about 2 tablespoons should suffice. Stir to melt the cheese. Chop up the roasted garlic and add it to the pasta - also add in your broccoli, caramelized onions/mushrooms, and toasted pine nuts. Chop up some fresh basil and add it in as well.

*to make your own roasted garlic, you can take a whole head of garlic, slice off the top of it to expose all the cloves within.. drizzle olive oil over it, wrap it in aluminum foil and put it in a 400 degree oven for roughly 30 minutes - may take more time depending on the size. The cloves should be soft when you press it. Let cool until you can safely handle it and then ease the cloves out of their skin... you can usually squeeze them out.
OR can you cheat (like we did) and buy whole cloves of roasted garlic in the prepared foods section at whole foods.


So yeah - its just kind of a cook a bunch of things then throw it all together into a pot and there's your pasta. Its pretty tasty! Well worth the effort.
Oh and don't forget to enjoy it with a nice glass of refreshing wine. mmmmmmmmmmm pinot grigio.....

Enjoy!
Posted by Lauren

Stromboli

I have to admit I got this idea off of Martha Stewart... again. I know - I need to quit watching daytime television. They also had a recipe in her Everyday Food magazine - another reminder that I was craving some stromboli. When I mentioned I was making it to Lindsay - she was instantly reminded of how her best friend from middle school - Erin's - mom (I don't know how to properly say that sentence... ) Anyway - I, too, remember one time eating at their house and having this.. So it brings back pleasant memories for Lindsay, and hopefully it will create new ones. How corny is that!
So a little bit about Stromboli... It's very similar to calzones... and you may even feel like you're eating a calzone when you eat this.. but its different in the sense that instead of creating a little "hot pocket" with the pizza dough, you actually roll out the dough.. sprinkle ingredients over it.. and then you roll it up into an oblong log and bake it. So if you're familiar with making like jelly rolls or something to that nature, its a very similar process. Ingredients are limitless - you can use marinara or pesto... ricotta or mozzerella... meat or veggies... You choose!

One of the bonuses of living in my neighborhood is that I have a little Italian market down the street, that sells fresh, homemade mozzerella.. and I have a local pizzeria that will sell you their fresh, unbaked pizza dough. I highly recommend using local ingredients if possible whenever cooking a meal... it just makes things taste better for some reason. I know Lindsay has access to a local pizzeria that sells dough.. I'm sure she's got plenty of cheese shops, too! But I feel like these homemade ingredients are far better than purchasing store bought.

Stromboli
serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1lb pizza dough, thawed if frozen
• 1/2c marinara sauce
• 1/2lb fresh mozzerella (or shredded if you can't find fresh)
• Flour for rolling out pizza dough
• Salt & pepper
• Any assortment of ingredients such as these (which are the ones we used):

• broccoli
• mushrooms
• onion
• roasted garlic
• italian sausage
• roasted red peppers
• etc...

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
   
2. Divide pizza dough into 4 equal portions. If you feel like the dough you have is a little small, then you may be able to only get 3 portions out of it. With your hands, try and shape each portion into about a 3" by 4" oval. Roll out to try and get it to be about 6" by 8" rectangle. Its ok if its not perfectly this size. If you have trouble rolling it out and it keeps springing back in place (I had this issue!) let the dough rest a few minutes and try again. I eventually gave up and pretty much stretched the dough using my hands. Again, doesn't have to be perfect.
3. Once you have the dough rolled out, spread a couple spoonfuls of marinar sauce over the dough and spread, leaving about a 1/2" border around all the edges. Then sprinkle with your ingredients, trying not to over load it! This is important... keep in mind you will be rolling this up! So used ingredients that were cut into smaller pieces to make the rolling easier. Once you've put your veggies/meat on.. sprinkle the cheese over the top and season with salt and pepper. In order to roll up your stromboli, start with the smaller narrow end and roll, tucking in ingredients as you go. Finish with the seam side down. You don't need to worry about sealing the sides or anything. .. just leave it be. Cut 2 vents in the top to allow steam to escape.
4. Place stromboli on a foil-lined baking sheet OR on a pizza stone if you have one. (When using a pizza stone, I find it best to sprinkle cornmeal over the stone to prevent sticking as well as giving the pizza a nice crispy crunch to it). Place in preheated oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes.. depending on the thickness/size of your stromboli. You want the outside to be nice and brown and crispy. And if you're using a pizza stone, make sure you preheated the stone for at least 20 minutes, too.

If making this for 2 - fear not... leftovers are just as good!

Enjoy!
Submitted by Lauren

Butternut Squash & Pancetta Risotto

Risotto is one of those amazing and extremely versatile ingredients. You really can work with whatever vegetables, herbs or meat you have on hand. Sometimes I do zucchini, walnuts, and nutmeg. Other times I'll do champagne, pear and pecorino cheese. Risotto is the perfect comfort food for any evening. It can either be dressed down for a relaxing night at home or dressed up to impress your friends at a dinner party.

Furthermore, It's one of the few meals I make when I really feel like I can be creative and I'm not scared of how it will turn out. Just pick your favorite ingredients, a wine (red or white!), find some aged cheese such as pecorino and parmesean, pull out the chicken stock and you're ready to go!

I'm sure Lauren touched on this when she posted her risotto recipe, but please beware that you cannot try and do a lot of multitasking while making risotto. It requires constant love and attention. You must continue to stir despite the heat of the stove or weakness of your arm. Just keep going until it's a creamy perfection!

I realize that this is more of a recipe made in fall or winter, but living in San Francisco squash is available most of the year and we never seem to have warm nights. I always enjoy a good risotto and I hope that you do too.

Ingredients:

Butternut Squash

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 pound squash, cut into 3/4-inch cubes, divided
  
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• dash of cinnamon
  

Risotto

• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 pound pancetta, small dice
• 1/2 cup minced shallots
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
  
• 2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves
• 1/2 cup white wine

Directions

For the butternut squash: In large skillet melt the butter over medium heat. Add half of the squash and season with salt. Cook for 6 minutes until golden on all sides. Add brown sugar and cinnamon and cook until the squash is caramelized and tender, but not mushy. Set aside and keep warm.

For the risotto: Bring chicken stock to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and keep warm. Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan add the pancetta and the remaining squash and saute until lightly browned. Add the shallots, stirring until softened.

Pour in the arborio rice and cook for a few minutes, stirring until well coated and the rice becomes somewhat translucent.

Turn the heat to high and add the white wine, simmer until mostly absorbed.

Add the hot stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until absorbed by the rice. It is very important that you continue to stir and do not add the next batch of liquid until the first one is absorbed. If I have the time, I'll even do it at 1/4 cup at a time to really allow it to slowly absorb the liquid. Continue to add stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring to release the starch. Check rice for doneness after 18 minutes, rice should be al dente but cooked through.

Stir in sage, kosher salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Gently fold in the squash. Serve immediately. Garnish with a few more shavings of cheese and a sprig of sage.

Buon Appetito!
- Lindsay

Penne with Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes

Here's a recipe that's one of my go-to recipes for week nights as it's quick, light, and fresh.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces penne pasta
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 pounds thin asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups (about 9 ounces) cherry tomatoes (preferably heirloom tomatoes)
  
• 1 cup shelled fresh peas
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 lemon, zested
  

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta water.

While the pasta is cooking heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large saute pan. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the asparagus, season with the salt and pepper, and cook for 3 minutes until slightly soft. Add the cherry tomatoes and peas. Cook for 2 minutes. Pour the chicken stock into the pan and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook until the tomatoes start to burst and the stock is reduced by half, about 3 minutes.Take a microplane out and zest the lemon on top of the pasta. Stir to mix.

Add the cooked pasta, ricotta, and 1/2 of the Parmesan to the saute pan with the vegetables. Toss well, adding reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta. Garnish with the remaining Parmesan and chopped basil.

Buon Appetito!
- Lindsay

Mmmm . . . Meatballs

So they say a way to a man's heart is through his stomach, right? Well I typically stick by that rule so my man sticks by me. Honestly though, nothing makes me happier than seeing Zach clean his plate after one of my meals and then turning to me to see if he can scrounge up what I didn't finish. I kinda stole this title of this post from a restaurant Zach and I went to the other night. They had a pizza which they quite rightly named, "Mmmmm Meat." But to hear Zach order it with such enthusiasm was really the best part as I'm sure most diners just say, "I'll have the meat pizza, please."

One of Zach's favorite meals, behind 24 oz homemade chocolate shakes and matzo ball soup, is meatballs and spaghetti. I was never really a fan of meatballs growing up simply because I never really ate it. However, I realized that this really is a simple and satisfying meal. Even better, I usually have most the ingredients on hand so it's cheap and easy to make too.

When I make this I pretty much throw the ingredients together depending on how much I have on hand or how I'm feeling. A lot of it I feel is simply based on personal preference of how seasoned one like their meatballs or how fluffy or dense they prefer them to be.

Ingredients:
nocoupons

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (pork, turkey, veal, or a combination thereof works too)
  
• 3/4 cup of dried bread crumbs
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 extra-large egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup minced onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• Vegetable oil for cooking
  

Directions:

Place the ground meat(s), bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, onion, garlic, and egg in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have roughly 12 meatballs.

Pour vegetable oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan.

Here you can either choose to make your own sauce (which if I had the time to do all of the time I would all of the time) or you can just add your favorite jarred marinara. I decided to deglaze the pan with some red wine I had on hand to scrape up all the yummy brown bits and then add the meatballs back to the pan along with the sauce and a touch of water to keep the sauce for hardening. Cover and simmer the meatballs on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the they are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan.

Buon Appetito!
- Lindsay

Zeppole!

So when Lindsay and I were on vacation, we had the habit of watching Giada while getting ready for the evening and one of her episodes was on Italian street food. Of course, I wanted to make all of it that night! I think Lindsay has already made the sausage and peppers... and I, of course, jumped straight to the dessert! Donuts! So a few things to note before starting this recipe - which I should have paid attention to prior to making them - the basic dough for this recipe is actually at Pate a choux.. So when you're cooking the butter and flour on the stove.. don't treat it like its a roux (like i did.. and only cooked it for maybe 2 minutes because i thought it looked done). You'll want to stir it constantly and cook it for at least 5 minutes, until the dough is starting to stick to the bottom of the sauce pan. Also - you'll want to follow the instructions on dropping tablespoon size balls into the oil.. any bigger and the center will definitely be doughy!

(Recipe courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis)
Ingredients:

• 1 vanilla bean
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 stick butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• Olive oil, for frying (I used canola oil instead, olive oil is too expensive and I didn't want that flavor throughout my donuts!)

Directions:

Cut open the vanilla bean lengthwise. Using the back of a knife, scrape along the inside of the vanilla bean to collect the seeds. Scrape vanilla bean seeds into a small bowl. Add the 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan combine the butter, salt, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Take pan off the heat and stir in the flour. Return pan to the heat and stir continuously until mixture forms a ball, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the flour mixture to a medium bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed, add eggs, 1 at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Beat until smooth. If not frying immediately, cover with plastic wrap and reserve in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, pour enough oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F.

Using a small ice-cream scooper or 2 small spoons, carefully drop about a tablespoon of the dough into the hot olive oil, frying in batches. Turn the zeppole once or twice, cooking until golden and puffed up, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Toss with cinnamon-sugar. Arrange on a platter and serve immediately.

So again - follow the directions carefully and hopefully they will turn out great! I know mine tasted wonderful, just were slightly doughy in the center. Oh and they puff up pretty big, so I was using a 3 qt. pot (so I could use less oil) and would fry about 5-6 per batch. And instead of draining them first, drop them straight into the cinnamon/sugar mixture before setting on a paper towel! Otherwise the sugar won't stick to them. My next mission is to figure out if I can revive them again... since one batch made about 20 of them (we weren't gonna eat them all!) I saved them in my freezer. I'll let you know if I manage to find a way to reheat them and have them taste as good.

Another quick note - you only scrape out the seeds from the vanilla bean, but the pod itself is still good! don't throw it away! Save it for the next time you're making a dessert in which you can steep a vanilla bean in it. Its too expensive to waste!

submitted by Lauren

Italian Sausage & Fennel Risotto

So on a whim - I decided I wanted to use up my leftover Italian sausage and make risotto with it... started brainstorming on what I thought would go well with it and I thought - fennel and apples! So I set out to get a few extra groceries and stop by the wine store to pick up a nice dry white to go with it and came home to create my dinner.

Italian Sausage & Fennel Risotto

Ingredients:

1/2lb Italian Sausage (i used 2 links)
1 large bulb of fennel, cored and thinly sliced; reserve some fronds for later use
1 large shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small honeycrisp apple, diced into small bite size pieces
2T olive oil
1T butter
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine (such as pinot grigio)
3-4 cups chicken stock
1/4c pecorino romano

Directions:

1. Bring chicken stock to a simmer, and keep warm over low heat. Meanwhile, heat olive oil and butter in a large sauce pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallots and cook for 3-5 minutes, until softened. Remove casings from sausage and add to the pan in chunks and cook until browned on all sides, about 6-8 minutes. Add fennel* while sausage is cooking and then add the garlic.

2. Once the sausage has cooked, add the arborio rice. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly to coat the rice evenly. Add the wine** (probably safest to add the alcohol off the heat), and stir until most of the wine has been absorbed and the pan has been deglazed.

3. Now for the fun part! DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM THE STOVE. You will now need to start adding the hot chicken stock to the risotto in 1/2 cup increments. Stirring constantly until the liquid is mostly absorbed, and then adding another 1/2 cup of stock. You will be doing this for at least 18-20 minutes, but sometimes longer. I do this over medium heat. After you've added roughly 3 cups, you may want to test the rice to see if its done enough for you. You may also like your risotto more soupy, and want to add more liquid. I prefer it to be more like rice, so I like to add as little liquid as possible. Now as for the apple - I added it at three different times, to decide what I most preferred as to how much it was cooked. I think its best to add half of it toward the beginning, and then the other half when everything is almost done. That way you get a little bit of crunch from the apple in the risotto. Its really up to you, but the pieces are small, so it doesn't take long to soften them up.

4. Once the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is done, pull off the heat and add the pecorino romano and chopped fennel fronds. Let cool for a few minutes to set up and serve warm!

* if you've never worked with fennel before, its a lovely vegetable! It smells like fresh anise when its raw, and then when its cooked it has a very delicate, subtle sweetness to it thats just delicious. You will want to cut off the stalks and then halve the bulb lengthwise and remove the core and outer layers that may be dirty and tough. Then you can thinly slice it. Fennel is similar to slicing an onion.

**As for the wine, I used an Italian varietal - Ruffino Orvieto Classico. It had a very crisp, clean, fresh taste and was nice and dry with subtle herbal and floral notes with a bit of a pear taste to it. I thought it would go well with this dish, and it did. I also enjoy it on its own! I tend to prefer to cook with wines from the region the dish would be from.. I think risotto - Italy!

Ok so thats my corny two cents. I enjoyed the meal and will enjoy the leftovers. Unfortunately it was a dish I had to make alone since my boyfriend is a selective vegetarian!

submitted by LAUREN!