Paula's Baked Spaghetti

It's mighty quiet out there...I'm wondering if you all are cooking at all. I have to say this time of year I start to crave those "inside" meals. I am tired of figuring out what to throw on the grill and I just want a casserole. So I made Paula's Baked Spaghetti this week, and realized I had never posted the recipe here. It's one of my favorite take-to-a-new-mom or bereaved family meals. I know a lot of people get lasagna and other Italian-type casseroles at those times, but Paula's Baked Spaghetti beats 'em all hands down.

I usually make this recipe exactly as written, except I don't use as much of the salt (both varieties) and I add a little more sugar. Otherwise, it's perfect. When I made it this week I did not have a green pepper, and really didn't miss it, but I do like it with if for nothing other than color. I also subbed spaghetti because I did not have angel hair pasta and I am trying not to run to the store every time I am out of an ingredient. "Make do" is my new motto.

This dish is one of the ones in Paula Deen's very first cookbooks that she serves at her restaurant. If I ever actually went there to eat, I would hate to think I would order this dish, of all the wonderful food she serves, but I just might.

Paula Deen's Baked Spaghetti

serves 10

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2 c. canned diced tomatoes

2 c. tomato sauce

1 c. water

1/2 c. diced onions

1/2 c. diced green pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

1 ½ t. Italian seasoning

1 ½ t. Lady's House seasoning

1 ½ Lady's Seasoned salt (I use Lawry's, but see note about about using less)

1 ½ t. sugar (I use about 1 ½ T.)

2 small bay leaves

1 ½ pounds ground beef (I use about 1 pound just to make it easy)

8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 cup grated monterey jack cheese (sometimes I use mozzarella)'

In a stockpot, combine tomatoes, sauce, water, onions, peppers, garlic, parsley, seasoning mixtures, sugar and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour.

Crumble ground beef into a skillet and brown. Drain off fat.

Add ground beef to tomato sauce and simmer for 20 minutes.

While the sauce simmers the second time, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

Cover a 13x9x2 pan with a thin layer of sauce. Then add half the pasta, half the sauce, half the cheese and repeat. Bake for 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Source: modified from The Lady & Sons, Too! (modified for brevity of directions)

An Italian Feast Day meal

I had a heart-to-heart with myself recently. I had to decide whether or not I was going to keep using this space, because  I was still taking photos of food and making mental notes about recipes, but after a day my mental notes were gone, and sometimes I even lost track of the recipe. Not very organized, I know. But every meal I made would result in the same internal battle about whether or not I want to continue writing in this space.

Ultimately, I decided to keep it up. I love cooking, and I love integrating food into the liturgical year, so that is what I hope to continue doing.

Today is the feast of St. Anthony of Padua. I tend to tie my meals together with the feast day with ethnic food, because it's easy and it's fun. I have to make dinner anyway, so I'm really not adding anything extra to my workload.

Today's saint, St. Anthony of Padua, is one of my favorite saints. My oldest son chose him as his patron, and he is one of the saints I call on most often --"Tony, Tony come around..." That poor man never has a moment's peace. Padua is in Italy and so tonight's feast was Italian. You could use this menu for any Italian saint, however, and there are many.

The pasta dish was one I had pinned a couple months ago to "test drive" for my second son who will be living alone next year. It was so simple and delicious -- clean plates all around.

The vegetable is a seasonal sort of treat. My friend Katie (my egg lady) sent some zucchini and garlic scapes along with my eggs this week. I had never cooked garlic scapes, but they were very tasty, and I'll definitely try them again.

With a loaf of ciabatta garlic bread (purchased), the meal was complete, and so easy.

Skillet Baked Ziti

1 T. olive oil

1 T. minced garlic

1 t. dried red chili flakes

 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

3 T. dried basil

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

3 cups uncooked penne or ziti

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella
1-2 T. sliced fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

In a 12-inch skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat.

Add garlic and red chili flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 

Add tomatoes and a pinch of salt; reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, or until tomatoes break down a bit.

Add the broth and dried basil and return to a simmer. Add pasta and cover; cook according to package directions for just firm (12-15 minutes).

Remove lid, season with salt and pepper, and stir in Parmesan. Sprinkle mozzarella over top of pasta.

Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 8-10 minutes.

Sprinkle with basil and serve hot.

(If you are using a pan that has a plastic handle, cover handle with foil before placing it in the oven)

Source: modified from Serious Eats via College East 101

Zucchini and Garlic Scapes

1 T. coconut oil or unsalted butter

2 medium zucchini washed and sliced about 1/4 inch thick

6 garlic scapes, rinsed and cut in half or three pieces

salt

Heat oil or butter in large skillet over medium high until hot.

Add zucchini and scapes and cook for about 20 minutes, flipping zucchini to brown both sides.

Season with salt and serve hot.

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Asparagus Risotto

I am linking up with Pam and Sarah again, for Making it Count.

As Sarah mentioned in her post, the Internet is a great place to go to find recipes. I would hate to be a cookbook publisher these days, because, frankly, I almost never go to a cookbook for a recipe anymore.

I have mentioned several times already that I am doing a trial of wheat-free eating, just to see if I feel better -- fewer aches and pains and more energy. Unfortunately I have not seen (felt) any results yet, so it's a little frustrating to keep it up. But, I'll give it a couple more weeks before I hang it up. I think, as of today, I am going to go oat-free as well.

There is nothing like giving up a main staple in my diet to get me up off my rump and hunting for new recipes. I find it especially hard at breakfast to find an alternative, but dinner, too. I really rely on good homemade bread to supplement our meals around here.

Besides potatoes, especially mashed, there are a couple of side dishes my family really enjoys -- polenta and risotto. We usually eat polenta with sauce, but risotto is good with grilled summer food. Actually I could eat it as a main dish, but my guys are meat-eaters, so it's relegated to a side dish. This week I had a hankerin' for some asparagus, so I looked for a basic risotto recipe that contained asparagus. This recipe was really, really good. In fact, after I added it to the menu and bought the ingredients, I had a risotto dish for dinner at a local Italian restaurant when I went out with a friend. It was a risotto with roast chicken, carmelized onions, and broccolini. It was good, but this risotto from Simply Recipes was waaay better. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it was so good.  I was planning to add frozen green peas to it as well, but when one kid started making noises about the asparagus, I decided I better not push my luck. At least the asparagus pieces were large enough to pick out. The only change I made was to substitute red onion and two cloves of garlic for the shallots because the grocer was out of shallots.

And by the way, except for cutting the onion and asparagus, my 10-year-old daughter made this dish. If she can do it, you can do it!

Asparagus Risotto

4-6 side servings

2 T. unsalted butter, divided

1/2 cup chopped shallots (or 1/2 cup chopped red onion and two minced garlic cloves)

1 cup arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine 

About 4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut in 2-inch pieces

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

(If cooking gluten-free, use gluten-free stock.)

In a 3 or 4 quart saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon butter on medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for a minute or two, until translucent. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring until nicely coated.

While the shallots are cooking, bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.

Add the wine to the rice. Slowly stir, allowing the rice to absorb the wine. Once the wine is almost completely absorbed, add 1/2 cup of hot stock to the rice. Continue to stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, adding more stock in 1/2 cup increments. Stir often to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 20-25 minutes. 

With the last ladle of stock, add the asparagus. Turn off the heat.

Note the stock amount given is approximate. You may need a little more or less. If you end up needing more stock and you find yourself without, just use water.

Gently stir in the Parmesan cheese and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

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Lidia's Polenta

During the hot summer months I don't often make a dish that requires a long, slow simmer on the stove. Not only does a long, slow simmer heat up the kitchen, but those heavier meals are often too heavy for hot weather (even when the house is air conditioned). Occasionally, however, a simple meal like polenta and sauce is a nice dish to enjoy on a rainy summer day -- one like this recipe for Lidia's Polenta.

Polenta is a simple dish to prepare, and paired with a really good jarred pasta sauce (or some homemade sauce you stashed in the freezer) and some sauteed Italian sausages, a tasty treat even for a summer evening.

On the evening we ate this meal, I browned some fresh Italian sausages in some olive oil in a large skillet, opened a jar of Tyler Florence's Vodka sauce, poured it over the sausages and simmered them for a half hour or so. Then I sliced the sausages and served them, with the sauce,  over a spoonful of this wonderful polenta, with Parmesan cheese. Simple and delicious (and inexpensive).

I omit the bay leaves when I make it, but other than that, I make it as written.

Lidia's Basic Polenta

2 c. milk

2 c. water

1 T. unsalted butter

1 bay leaf (optional)

2 T. coarse salt (I start with less until I taste it)

1 1/2 c. coarse yellow cornmeal (or polenta if you can find it labeled as such)

In medium saucepan, combine milk, water, butter, bay leaf and salt. Heat to simmer over medium flame. Slowly sift cornmeal into pan through fingers of one hand, stirring constantly until polenta is smooth and thick and pulls away from sides of pan when stirred, about 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf.

Source: Lidia Bastianich

Homemade Pasta

Years and years ago my mother-in-law bought me a pasta roller (like this) for a gift. I enjoyed having such a "gourmet" piece of kitchen equipment, and I used it some, but it was sort of relegated to the kitchen equipment which we use only for special occasions. Ironically, I still made homemade noodles by hand, but the pasta machine was put away in a basement cabinet.

This past Sunday, I planned spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and then I realized I had no dry pasta. I dislike going to the grocery store so much I went down to the basement and dusted off the pasta machine. When I was finished cutting the spaghetti I realized I had invested very little time, actually, and after we ate I realized how much I love homemade pasta. There is just no comparison. Homemade pasta is so tender and tasty and wonderful. I actually have no good words to describe it. You really must try it. If you don't own a pasta machine, maybe you can put it on your Christmas list (there are an awful lot out there in all price ranges).

I use the food processor to make my pasta dough and it's really super easy -- three ingredients: flour, salt and eggs (cheap, too!). From start to finish it takes less than two minutes to make the dough. It takes less then 20 minutes to roll and cut it. It may not be practical every night, but it's not so tough with just a wee bit of time. Your family will love you for it, so consider it a labor of love.

Homemade Pasta

serves six for dinner

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2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 t salt

4 eggs

Place flour and salt in bowl of food processor. Crack eggs into a measuring cup with a spout. Turn machine on and pour the eggs through the feeding tube. Let run for about 30 seconds until dough gathers in a ball. Pull dough out and put machine back together. Turn it on and, tearing off balls of dough (small enough to feed through the tube, but not too small), feed them into the machine one at a time, but fairly quickly. Let the machine run until dough gathers in a ball again.

Remove ball of dough from machine and wrap in plastic wrap. You can use it right away in a pinch, but it will be better if you let it rest for 30 minutes.

Unwrap dough after rest and cut into 10 or so pieces (see photo).

yes, it is that yellow

Flour each piece lightly and set rolling side of pasta machine on the lowest setting. Roll each piece through once. 

 

Set the machine on a higher setting, two or three notches above the lowest. It really depends on what kind of pasta you are making at this point. I wanted spaghetti, so I set it two notches above, leaving it a little thick.

Keep each piece floured lightly as you work with them and cut them in half as necessary to keep them from being too long and unmanageable. 

After all pieces are the desired thickness, it's time to cut. I used the most narrow setting for spaghetti. If you wanted fettuccine, you would use the wider setting. For angel hair, I would use the narrow setting and a very thin sheet of dough.

After flouring each sheet, feed them through the machine to cut it. Lay each bunch on a floured surface. Let sit for about 30 minutes. 

Bring several quarts of water to a boil, salt. Add pasta, in thirds, to the water and stir to prevent sticking, until all pasta is in water. Cook for two to three minutes until desired texture. Drain.

Creamy Italian Chicken Noodle Soup

I made this soup last Sunday and then enjoyed the leftovers for several days' lunch. My husband fussed about it, didn't really enjoy it -- but then, he's really not a soup guy. Steak, potatoes, salad? Yes. Soup? No. Don't pay any attention to his opinion. This soup was wonderful and the kids enjoyed it too, even though it had "green stuff" in it. My son's girlfriend really raved about it, but then she's a college freshman living in a dorm and has a great new appreciation for anything that doesn't come in a can or freezer box. ;-)


It's a super easy recipe, though I can't say it's a particularly healthy with all that half & half. I guess if you're just having a light supper of soup and salad, however, it's not that bad. The recipe came from Taste of Home Cooking (not to be confused with Taste of Home) and I modified quite a bit. First, I did not use gnocchi -- that sounded way too heavy -- hence the new name. Second, I was cooking a whole chicken so I made my own broth, but you could certainly use canned broth and a rotisserie chicken for a short cut. Third, I doubled the butter, flour, chicken broth and parsley for the extra quantity. It stretched nicely. And tasted great leftover.

Creamy Italian Chicken Noodle Soup

 serves 8

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1 1/2 cups ditalini or other smallish pasta

1/2 cup butter
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 ribs celery, finely diced
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup flour
2 cups half and half
2 cups milk
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced (I shredded mine is small bits and I like that texture instead of chunks)
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
2 T. fresh parsley, minced

salt and pepper to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Cook and drain pasta. Set aside.

Heat butter over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Saute the onion, celery, carrot and garlic until the onion is translucent. Add the flour and cook for about a minute. Add the half and half and milk. Bring to a simmer, then add the chicken.

Once the mixture becomes thick add the chicken broth. Once the mixture thickens again, add the cooked  pasta, spinach, and seasonings, then simmer until soup is heated through.

Serve with crusty bread for dipping.

Source: modified from Taste of Home Cooking

Penne Franco

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This dish may not look like much, but, oh my, is it flavor-packed! I first enjoyed this pasta dish at Carrabba's on the evening my second son, Joshua, graduated from high school, in May. After one bite I knew I would have to recreate it at home, and as it turns out, it was a breeze to make and tasted just like the original. Doug enjoyed it too, even though he usually doesn't enjoy pasta dishes without sauce (he's a saucy guy!), and though only the two youngest kids were home, they both enjoyed it very much, too (I made them macaroni and cheese and a piece of grilled chicken but neither could resist the smell of this dish).

When I first ate this dish I had it without the chicken, but I did enjoy it with the chicken at home, so I'll make it that way again. This is definitely a meal you could make in under 30 minutes, so keep the ingredients on-hand and try it soon!

Penne Franco

serves 4-6

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7 cloves garlic, sliced

7 T. extra-virgin olive oil
four sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated and sliced in thin slices (or use oil-packed)
8 oz. mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 can artichoke heart quarters, drained
15-20 kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped (according to taste)
3-4 chicken breasts (use the greater amount if you have big meat-eaters)

1 lb. Penne pasta (I used Roman Rigatoni because I forgot to buy penne, but the original recipe included penne)

Salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese, shredded

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt and add pasta, stir and cook until al dente. Keep warm.

Salt and pepper chicken breasts and grill until done. Let sit for a few minutes and then slice crosswise in thin slices. Keep warm.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook mushrooms in a small amount of olive oil until tender (about five minutes). Drain. 

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and saute garlic for about a minute.  Add sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes. Cook until heated through. Add mushrooms, chicken and cooked penne pasta and stir. Make certain all ingredients are hot. Season with salt and pepper. 

Place in serving dish and top with shredded cheese to taste.

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Antipasto

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My favorite appetizer these days is the antipasto platter. Antipasto is the Italian dish that means "before the meal." Not antipasta -- before pasta -- but, before the meal -- pasto. The lovely thing about antipasto is you can use just about anything on the platter. I use several kinds of olives, at least one kind of spicy meat, usually fresh mozzarella, artichokes, pepperoncini, and often marinated mushrooms. If you or your guests are not olive people, or a spicy meat people, there is always something on an antipasto platter that suits your tastes. You can use fresh vegetables, marinated or not, nuts, roasted peppers -- really almost anything goes.

When I make an antipasto, I usually prepare the platter ahead of time (a couple hours), chill it well, and then dress it at the last minute. I use a mild white balsamic dressing, but some folks just drizzle it with olive oil -- whatever floats your boat. If you add artichokes and mushrooms to yours, marinate them in the dressing a few hours ahead of time and then add them when you dress the platter.

Below are approximate quantities for a platter that will feed 6 to 8 people.

Antipasto

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1/2 pound salami and or spicy ham (Cappacola) or prosciutto

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed or sliced in strips

1 jar green olives, drained

1 jar kalamata or other black olives, drained

1 can quartered artichokes, drained and marinated in 3 T. dressing

6 oz. button mushrooms, trimmed and cleaned and marinated in 1/3 cup dressing
small jar pepperoncini, drained

small head bib leaf lettuce, washed

Dressing:

1/2 c. white balsamic vinegar
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced

2 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper

Arrange lettuce leaves on a large platter. 

Arrange olives and pepperoncini on top of lettuce in piles, leaving room for artichokes and mushrooms. Roll meat and arrange between piles of olives and peppers (if you are not serving immediately, it helps to skewer several meat rolls together with toothpicks and leave them that way until serving time). Top with chunks or sticks of cheese. Cover and chill until serving time.

Mix dressing ingredients in a lidded jar (shake vigorously) and chill until serving time (if you are serving artichokes and mushrooms, use dressing to marinate, reserving the leftover dressing).

At serving time, add artichokes and mushrooms to platter. Drizzle platter with leftover marinade as well as that which remains in the jar.

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Sauce and Sausages

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One of my family's favorite dishes is plain ol' spaghetti and sauce. Of course, my homemade sauce is key to that dish, and their most favorite variety is when I add sausage to my sauce, cooking it for several hours, to infuse the flavors of the yummy sausage into the sauce. My sauce is really very simple, and to an authentic Italian, is probably not the real thing, but to my family it's yummy and they are the only ones I have to please.

This recipe makes a lot. You could certainly cut it in half or even in fourths, but really, just freeze it and you'll have a few meals to spare. Just start with a large pot.

The sausages are really very crucial to this recipe, so pick something you know you like. I go to a special butcher shop just to buy sausages. They come in mild, festival and spicy and I go for the festival which is mildly spicy.

Sauce and Sausage

4 T. extra virgin olive oil
10 Italian sausages
1 T. fresh crushed garlic
3 (28 oz) cans tomato puree
3 (28 oz) cans tomato sauce
1/2 c. sugar (we like our sauce sweet so you might want to start with half that quantity and add more to taste)
1/2 T. salt
1/2 T. seasoning salt (I use Lawry's)
1 T. dried oregano
1 T. dried basil
1 t. dried thyme leaves
1 t. freshly ground pepper
1/2 c. red wine (optional)

Heat pot and add olive oil. Add five of the sausages and cook, turning, to brown. Remove those sausages and add remaining sausages, cooking to brown.



Reduce heat to low. Add all sausages into pan and add garlic. When garlic starts to sizzles (do not let it brown), add puree and sauce to pot. Add sugar and seasonings, and wine. Stir and bring to a simmer. When sauce starts to simmer, reduce to medium low and cover.

Cook sauce, at a low simmer, for two to three hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sauce from burning on the bottom.

Serve sauce over pasta with sausages, or enjoy sausages on Italian buns with sauce.


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Bubbly Garlic Bread

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Last week I made a big pot of red sauce to have with spaghetti and jazzed it up (though the sausage in the sauce was pretty jazzy all by itself) with some of this Bubbly Garlic Bread. I actually prefer plain bread, but given a choice my husband will always choose big fat Bubbly Garlic Bread. It certainly has more calories than plain bread, or even plain bread with butter, but it's very yummy as an occasional treat.

Bubbly Garlic Bread
serves 6 - 10

1 loaf Italian bread, store bought or homemade
1 stick salted butter, softened
garlic powder
8 oz. shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat broiler in oven and place rack on top shelf.
Slice loaf of bread in half length wise (so you have a top and a bottom). Spread half of butter on each cut surface. Sprinkle with garlic powder to taste -- I use about 1 teaspoon for each half.
Divide Parmesan and shredded mozzarella over each half, with the mozzarella on top. Place on a cookie sheet (covered with foil for easy clean up) and place on top rack of oven. Broil, watching so it doesn't burn too much -- a little is o.k. -- until cheese is bubbly. Cut each half crosswise and serve.

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Caprese Salad Skewers

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Last week I was sending all my guys out the door at dinner time with the makings of a tailgate party for a high school football game. I admit I was a little nervous sending all this food with my husband -- he's not much for creating an attractive spread. Frankly, I was afraid he would forget to get most of the food out and it would go untouched. He did a good job, however, and said all the food was gobbled up -- no leftovers at all.

These skewers were sort of a last-minute thought I had while strolling (or racing) through the grocery store. I had bought fried chicken, and made a potato salad, but felt they needed something bright-tasting, but not too heavy. I grabbed a pint of grape tomatoes (actually they were called "cherry," but shaped like grape), 12 oz of fresh mozzarella cheese and a package of fresh basil leaves. I had the rest of the ingredients in the pantry. There is a huge difference between fresh mozzarella and low-moisture mozzarella. Fresh mozzarella has a really great texture, slightly firm but not hard. It has almost a meaty texture.

This salad would be just as good tossed in a bowl, but for a tailgate party the skewers were fun and convenient. Just use some bamboo skewers cut to a desired length -- I just used a few tomatoes and a few chunks of cheese each.

Caprese Salad Skewers

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
12 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup finely snipped basil leaves (or you can roll them and slice them thinly)
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t. salt
1 t. lemon juice
1 t. Dijon mustard
1/8 t. pepper

Rinse tomatoes.
Cut mozzarella cheese in cubes -- about the size of the tomatoes.
Skewer tomatoes and cheese alternately on skewers or toss in a bowl to serve with a spoon.
Mix together vinegar, oil, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice and mustard in a container with a lid. Shake thoroughly to combine. Add basil and mix gently.
Pour dressing over skewers, or ingredients in bowl, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Pizza Rolls

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Lunch is such an issue in my house. My picky children just don't like to eat the same thing all the time. I could eat peanut butter and jelly every day. They balk if I serve the same thing two weeks in a row. Most of the time I just ignore their complaints, but once in a great while I create something new, and to their liking. These pizza rolls were created to shush them. They are just like cinnamon rolls, but with pizza toppings inside instead of cinnamon and sugar. They are really yummy. I used pepperoni and cheese, but you could use cooked sausage, or veggies, or make it into something else entirely -- like corned beef, Swiss and sauerkraut, or ham and Swiss with Dijon mayo -- the possibilities are endless. They would be great to serve at a party or for a ball game on the television.

Pizza Rolls
serves 6

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1 cup warm water
2 t. yeast (or one package)
2 T. sugar
2 T. olive oil
1 t. salt
3 - 3 1/2 cups flour (amount needed depends on brand of flour and humidity)

6 oz. package sliced pepperoni
8 oz. package shredded pizza cheese (or mozzarella)
14 can pizza sauce, or 2 cups homemade

Combine water, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 c. flour, oil and salt and mix with dough hook until dough forms (or if mixing by hand, with a spoon). Add flour, 1/4 c. at a time, kneading at low speed until a smooth elastic dough forms,
about 5 minutes, in mixer (or if kneading by hand, turn onto floured surface
and knead until smooth and elastic). Place in a greased bowl, turning once. Cover and let rise about one hour, until doubled. Punch down. Roll dough out into a rectangle 24 inches long and about 10 inches wide on a lightly floured surface.

Spread with about 2/3 cup sauce. Place pepperoni and cheese in bowl of food processor and pulse until chopped finely (but not pureed -- see picture of mixture). Spread pepperoni mixture over sauce. Roll up from long side and pinch edges to seal.



Cut in half and then cut each half in half. Cut each quarter into three pieces for a total of twelve rolls. Place rolls in a greased 13 x 9 pan. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. and when preheated, bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until rolls are golden brown and when poked in the middle look completely baked.

Let cool for 10 minutes or so and serve with leftover sauce warmed up.

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Tiramisu Cake

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This cake is a celebration and nothing less. It's just a slight challenge to create, a beauty to behold, and a delight to taste.

I was having a dear friend and her husband over for dinner one night several months ago and I wanted a special dessert. These are very special friends, and she was bringing dinner for us, an Italian dish, her specialty, so I wanted a special dessert to compliment her dish. I thought about Tiramisu, but I wanted something more special even than Tiramisu. So I decided on the flavors of Tiramisu, with the beauty of a high, cream-filled cake. The recipe is my grandma's Hot Milk cake, which creates a tender, if slightly dry, crumb. It's perfect for soaking up all the sweet coffee syrup. To the whipped cream I add a small amount of instant vanilla pudding, which keeps the cream nice and firm so the cake lasts for a few days without the cream puddling all over.

I made this cake again recently for the faculty luncheon at our school, and it was just as well received. I made a special effort to write down every measurement and every step so I could share it with you. A few notes: the first time I made this cake (when I took the pictures) I baked it in two pans and sliced them in half horizontally. The second time, I baked it in three pans and had three layers instead of four. This decision is entirely up to you. The four layers certainly look pretty, but slicing the cake in half is another step -- and not necessarily an easy one. In the future, I will bake in three layers, but that's you're call. Also, If you would rather not use alcohol in this cake, you can substutute all coffee syrup. It's very little alcohol (no one could get tipsy on it, not even children) and I enjoy the flavor.

Tiramisu Cake

serves 12-14

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1 cup milk
½ cup butter
4 eggs
pinch salt
2 cups sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. vanilla

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 T. instant vanilla pudding
¼ cup powdered sugar
8 oz mascarpone cheese, softened
1 t. vanilla
⅔ cup strong coffee, cooled
½ cup sugar
¼ cup Marsala wine

3 cups heavy whipping cream
4 T. instant vanilla pudding
½ cup powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla

2 oz semi-sweet chocolate

Grease and flour two (or three) cake 8 inch pans (9 inch can be used, but bake for a shorter time). Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Scald milk. Add butter and let cool.

Beat eggs and salt for about 2 minutes until very foamy. Slowly "rain in" sugar, pouring slowly over the eggs. Slowly add flour and baking powder, mixing thoroughly. Slowly add milk and butter mixture and vanilla, thoroughly mixing.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake -- 30 minutes for two pans, 22 minutes for three pans, until toothpick comes out clean. After 10 minutes, remove cakes from pans. Cool completely.


Cut off any hard edges of cake. I find that a kitchen shears work great for this task.


Dissolve sugar in coffee, heating coffee is necessary. Add marsala wine. Cool.

Place one layer of cake (if baked in two pans, split cakes in half horizontally for a total of four cakes) on plate. Tear foil or waxed paper in thin strips and place under cake around edges of cake to keep plate clean.



Whip one cup cream with 1 T. instant pudding and 1/4 cup powdered sugar until stiff, adding vanilla at the end. Gently fold in softened mascarpone cheese until completely incorporated.

Carefully and slowly, drizzle coffee syrup on top of cake, with a spoon or measuring cup with a spout, a little at a time until cake is fairly soaked (using less the one fourth for four layers and one third for three layers).


Top with one half -- for three layers, one third for four layers -- of whipping cream mixture and spread to edges. Using a microplane or small openings on a hand graters, grate a thin layer of chocolate over top of each layer of cream and cheese mixture.



Top with another cake layer, drizzling with coffee syrup, topping with whipping cream mixture and chocolate. If using four layers, repeat, using all the mascarpone cream in between the layers. At last layer drizzle with syrup.

Whip 3 cups cream with 4 T. instant pudding, 1/2 c. powdered sugar and vanilla. Whip until stiff. Frost tops and sides of cake with a thick layer of whipped cream. Grate chocolate over the top at the end. Remove foil or wax paper strips. Chill several hours or overnight (preferably) before serving.

Lidia's Meatloaf with Ricotta

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I almost titled this post "Yum." I guess I think that title applies to most everything I post here, but when meatloaf, the ultimate comfort food, rises to the level that Lidia raised it. Oh, "yum."

Think moist, cheesy, tender, tasty. I never knew meatloaf could be so good. It could be that we were just really hungry, and maybe that meat tasted especially good on a Friday, but for meatloaf, it was purty, darned good. The recipe makes a lot, though, so halve the recipe or share (I took a whole meatloaf to the neighbors, much to their delight). I split the meatloaf mixture and baked it in two 13 x 9 pans (shaped into loaves) to speed up the baking and make it easier to share. I also omitted the nutmeg because my husband does not care for it in savory dishes.

Sorry, not a good photo -- It looks like meatballs, which is really what it tastes like.

Lidia's Ricotta Meatloaf
serves about 12

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1 cup milk
3 cups day-old bread
3 pounds ground beef
3 large eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
1 pound drained fresh ricotta (about 2 cups), plus more for the sauce if you like (my ricotta was pretty dry, so did not need to be drained -- I used low-fat)
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
½ cup grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano- Reggiano (I used Parmesan-Romano)
¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I omitted)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ pound fresh mozzarella, cut in ½- inch cubes (about 2 cups)
¼ cup extra- virgin olive oil
4 to 5 cups tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 375º. Pour the milk over the bread cubes in a bowl, and let soak for a few minutes, until the bread is saturated.

Squeeze the soft bread a handful at a time, pressing out as much milk as you can (discard milk, or give it to a pet), then tear bread into small shreds and toss back into the bowl. Crumble the ground beef into the bowl, and add the eggs, ricotta, scallions, grated cheese, parsley, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Fold and toss everything together, and squeeze the mixture a few times between your fingers to distribute all the ingredients evenly. Scatter the mozzarella cubes on top, and fold and mush them throughout the loaf mix.

Brush the roasting pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil (or two pans if you plan to split the meat) . Gather the meat mixture in the bowl, turn it into the pan, and shape it into a fat oval loaf. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover the pan with foil—tent it so it doesn’t touch the meat—and bake 45 minutes.* Remove the foil, and continue to bake until the meatloaf is browned all over and completely cooked through, another 1 hour and 30 minutes or so. (If you check the loaf with a meat thermometer, it should reach a temperature of 160º.) Remove the roast from the oven, and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Heat the tomato sauce to a simmer in a saucepan as the meat rests. Turn off the heat, and, if you like, stir ½ cup or so fresh ricotta into the sauce. Cut the loaf crosswise in the pan or on a cutting board, in slices as thick as you like. Serve on warm dinner plates, topped with a spoonful or two of sauce, and pass more sauce at the table (or, for family- style serving, arrange the slices on a warm platter, topped with some of the sauce).

* To split the meat and bake two loaves, bake tented for 20 minutes, then remove foil and bake for 40 minutes, or until meat thermometer registers 160 degrees F.

Source: Lidia Bastianich

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Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

Back to working on my backlog of recipes, this one I prepared on Christmas Eve. My niece Rachel is a vegetarian and I am supposed to avoid tomato products because of the IC. I planned Baked Ziti and Italian sausages for the rest of the gang, so I was really happy when I found this recipe in a Family Circle magazine. It was really very good, and so different from the ziti that most of my company had a little of both (or a lot as the case may be). It's not exactly low in fat, but it's probably lower than beef and cheese lasagna. And with the vegetables, it probably has greater nutritional value.

I modified the recipe just a little bit and mine is below. It's a little complicated, but then, if you've made meat and sauce lasagna, it can be long and involved, too. Nothing is too tough, just a little involved. The only step that gave me trouble was the mushroom sauce. I had a hard time getting it seasoned the way I wanted. It is where the dish gets a lot of its flavor, so make sure it tastes good. Mine needed a lot of salt to get there. A dash of garlic powder, too.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
serves 8

2 medium-sized zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch coins
2 medium-sized yellow squash, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch coins
1 large sweet red pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 large red onion, trimmed and cut into 1-inch wedges
3 T. vegetable oil (olive or other)
1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
8 oz. white mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
1 T. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
2-3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. minced fresh parsley
2 T. minced fresh basil
12 dried lasagna noodles
6 oz. Fontina cheese, shredded
2/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
8 oz. shredded mozzarella

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat 2 large rimmed baking sheets with vegetable oil.

Place zucchini, squash, red pepper and onion in a bowl and toss with 2 T. vegetable oil. Spread in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle vegetables with 1/2 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Roast at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until edges are browned. Remove from oven and transfer vegetables to a bowl.

Pulse mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms to skillet. Cook, stirring, for 6 minutes or until all liquid has evaporated. Reduce heat to medium; stir in garlic and remaining 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper; continue to cook 1 minute.

Add butter to skillet and cook until melted. Add flour and cook 1 minute, stirring. Add milk and nutmeg to skillet and increase heat to medium-high. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove skillet from heat and stir in the parsley and the basil. Taste, and season to taste.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook noodles according to package instructions, about 9 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.

Coat a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Stir together Fontina and Parmesan. Spread 1/2 cup mushroom sauce into bottom of baking dish, then place 3 noodles in dish. Pour another
1/2 cup sauce over noodles, then sprinkle 1/3 of the vegetables and 1/3 of the cheese mixture over sauce. Repeat layering twice. Top with three noodles, pour the rest of the sauce over top and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese.

Cover dish with nonstick aluminum foil and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Raise heat to 500 degrees, Remove foil and cook for another 12 minutes or until browned. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Makes 8 servings.

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Braciole

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I mentioned in my menu post that I planned to make Braciole for college boy on Sunday. If you've never had Braciole, it's an Italian dish of beef rolled with herbs and bread crumbs and cheese tucked inside and simmered in tomato sauce. It's one of college boy's favorite dishes and he brought his room mate home to enjoy it as well. When I prepared it I had my camera handy to photograph the steps -- all but the eating!

This recipe is a process and not a short one. It's also messy -- so don your apron before you get started. I recommend having every thing in place before you begin (mise en place), because once you start, you don't want to have to touch kitchen cabinets or drawers (I did wash before I handled the camera).

This recipe is based on the one found in Cooking with My Sisters by Adriana Trigiani. It's the first recipe for braciole that I ever tried and I've modified it a little for our taste.

Braciole
serves 8 to 10

4 lb. top round steak, 1/4 inch thick cut into 4x6 inch slices (mine were thicker this time, but they were all the grocer had available -- that just means more pounding for me)
2 c. chopped Italian parsley
1/2 c. chopped basil
1 c. seasoned bread crumbs
3 T. minced garlic
1 1/2 c. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (at the price of Parmigiano-Reggiano, I just use the stuff in the green can)
salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
⅓ c. olive oil

big pot of sauce (my recipe can be found here)


In small bowls, combine the parsley and basil, set aside; combine the bread crumbs and garlic, set aside, place the Parmesan cheese.
Cut your cooking string -- about 2 feet for each piece of meat.



With your meat mallet, pound the meat to tenderize it and thin it out -- being careful to avoid making holes.


These were not quite as thin as I like, but they were as thin as I could get them without making huge holes. Try to find thin pieces to begin with and then you don't have to pound them to smithereens!


Sprinkle each piece of meat with the herb mixture -- making sure you have enough for each piece.
Then sprinkle with bread crumbs, and then cheese. Salt and pepper goes on top of the cheese.


Roll the meat, tuck in the ends, and secure with twine.



Brown the meat in olive oil over a low temperature and turn it gently.



Transfer meat to pot of basic spaghetti sauce and simmer for 60 to 90 minutes, or until tender.

Bye bye baby.


To serve, remove the meat from the pot and place on cutting board. Remove the twine and let the meat cool for five minutes. Then cut in 2-inch slices, like a jelly roll and arrange on a platter by itself or with other meats from the sauce.

Adapted from: Cooking With My Sisters

Easy printer version

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