WOW! Where has the summer gone? I guess I missed most of it. Between my shoulder issues and then Michael breaking a bone in his foot, I haven't been on here in forever. I've been playing nurse-maid.
In any case I'm back and starting back with one of our (MY) quickie favorites.
Yes, the famous Spinoccoli Pizza.
Well this is a pizza that Michael turned me on to and I can never have it often enough. Michael frequented Pizzaria Unos way back in the day and has replicated this pizza ever since. Then when he and I met he made it for me and it has become one of my frequent requests. (You've just got to love a man that will take over the kitchen and cook for you.)
Spinach, broccoli, and garlic on a white sauce covered in cheese.
More cheese please.
I could have a slice of this at least once a week for lunch and never tire of it.
(you will decide how much of each of the ingredients you want to use depending on your preference)
Directions
Assemble by layering first the sauce, then your spinach, broccoli florets, and the garlic. Sprinkle red pepper flakes over veggies. Load with cheeses and bake in a 450 degree oven until crust is crispy and chesses are bubbling.
(If you are really short on time you could buy a jarred Alfredo sauce.)
Spring has sprung here in North Carolina. Halleluiah! Some rain and mildly cool weather in the forecast, with warm sunny days interspersed. Some of the trees are even starting to bud with new leaves. I'm so happy to be past the freezing snow days now. I can even pull out my shorts and sandals now. Yay!
This is a recipe I had never tried before, pepperoni in baked ziti? Really? Yeah, well thanks to my Dad I am now hooked.When I first got here to N.C. my Mom and Dad took me out to one of their favorite little italian restaurants up here. (Michael was in Willmington doing his training and I was here alone.) My Dad always orders the same thing when they go there. Baked Ziti. One bite and I knew I had to make this at home.
I do hope if you love baked ziti that you will give this a try. I know you will love it as much as we do. My Dad and I are certainly addicted to it. Carla and Michael
Hello everyone. Last minute Annie here. Yeah, I think if I were to have a nickname that would have to be it. I am always the procrastinator. Always waiting until the last minute. I have had all week to cook and instead I have spent most of my time here at the computer surfing. Or flipping through what seems like hundreds of cookbooks looking for several different recipes that I want to make over the next few weeks. Meanwhile an entire week has passed and I've got nothing. Now it's the last few hours for me to post something for IHCC's post this week for Giada's soul warming comfort food.
This is one of those foods for us. Giada's Short Ribs with Tagliatelle Tortellini. Both Michael and I love our beef short ribs. We make them on a regular basis and have cooked them many different ways. This is one that we use most often, as you just can't beat having luscious juicy sauce to mop up with some good bread. Besides that, you can serve these short ribs over just about any type of pasta, polenta, potatoes, or rice. Trust me we have!
This recipe can also be made in a quick version using dried herbs and a good bottled sauce as I did this time or in the longer version in the original recipe as I have done in the past when time has permitted. Trust me I have made it both ways and anyway you decide to make it you will definately be pleased. You will notice though I forgot to put the chocolate out when rushing to get the photos, however I assure you I did not forget to add it to the sauce. It is the secret ingredient you know. Also note there is no pancetta out either. Didn't have any so I used bacon instead. This is a really adaptable recipe and I am sure you will enjoy it no matter which way you choose to make it. Just don't leave out the chocolate or the wine. Otherwise you can make simple substitutions as you see necessary. I am giving you the original recipe here and you can figure it out from there. Darn. Now I have to replenish my stash of beef short ribs.
Short Ribs with Tagliatelle Tortellini Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' Everyday Pasta (pg. 115) Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 ounces chopped pancetta (about 1/2 cup)-(bacon)
2 1/2 pounds short ribs
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic
1 (14-ounce) can tomatoes (whole or diced)-(bottled)
1 tablespoon tomato paste-(bottled)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves-(dried)
1 teaspoon dried thyme-(dried)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano-(dried)
1 bay leaf-(dried)
2 1/2 cups beef broth
3/4 cup red wine
1 pound fresh or dried tagliatelle-(tortellini)
4 to 6 teaspoons shaved bittersweet chocolate
Directions
Place the olive oil in a large heavy soup pot over medium heat. Cook the pancetta (bacon) until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes. Meanwhile, season the short ribs with salt and pepper, and dredge in the flour. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta (bacon) from the pan and set aside. Add the short ribs to the pan and brown on all sides, about 7 minutes total.
Meanwhile, combine the onion, carrot, parsley and garlic in a food processor and blend until finely minced. Then add the tomatoes and tomato paste and pulse.
Once the short ribs are browned, carefully add the mixture from the food processor to the pot (along with your bottled sauce). Return the pancetta (bacon) to the pot and stir. Add the rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, beef broth, and wine. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for another hour and a half, stirring occasionally. Remove the meat and bones from the pot. Discard the bones. Shred the meat and return it to the pot. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste.
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 for dried pasta and 2 to 3 minutes for fresh. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the pot and stir to combine. Add the reserved pasta liquid 1/4 cup at a time, if needed, to moisten the pasta. Transfer to serving bowls, top each bowl with 1 teaspoon of chocolate shavings. Serve immediately.
Serves 4 to 6
Lazy, tired, lazy, tired? Not quite sure what I was feeling on this day. Definately, tired. We are in the process of fixing up a home that we will be moving into August 1st. Michael has been laying tile and vinyl, I'm the helper, ripping out old wall paper, etc... Not to mention the cleaning and fixing up the yard. Oh and did I mention that last week the temperature was 98 degrees with a feels like temp of 103? Yeah, I was definately not in the mood to stand in a hot kitchen and cook. Don't get me wrong, we are VERY happy to be moving from a 900 sq. ft. house into a 1500 sq ft. house. I think I could fit this house into the kitchen at the new one (most important room for me, well almost ; )
So to say I copped out and made one of the quickest dinners I think I've ever made (short of take out) is an understatement. In the freezer I had a bag of frozen cheese tortellini, some mild italian sausage and some marinara. This, and a salad with garlic toast made for the fastest meal ever. I couldn't have had take out delivered in the time this was ready.
New tile in our new kitchen. YAY!
Cheese Tortellini with Sausage Marinara
Courtesy of Express Lane by Recipe Addict
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pound ground mild italian sausage
2 cups marinara sauce Mine, I mean Giada's (I make in batches), your favorite recipe, or purchased jarred sauce
1/2 cup red wine, (Riojo is one I use often for cooking)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 pound cheese tortellini, or choose your own pasta
2 inch sprig chopped fresh oregano
4 fresh basil leaves, sliced into thin ribbons, i.e., chiffonade
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Directions
In a medium saucepan heat olive oil over medium high and brown sausage, using a wooden spoon to crumble the sausage as it browns. To the cooked sausage, add the wine and oregano, cook until wine reduces to 1/4 cup. Add marinara sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Let sauce begin to come to a boil and turn down to a slow simmer. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes add cream, basil and parmesan cheese, and stir to incorporate.
While sauce is nearing the last 10 minutes, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook 7 - 9 minutes until tender, stirring occaisionally. Drain pasta and toss with sauce. Serve with extra grated parmesan if desired.
Makes 4 - 6 Servings
You are never very far away from a good, fast dinner if you have a well stocked pantry and freezer.
I don't think I can say enough about this sauce for Ina Garten's Company Pot Roast. Which you can also find in her Back to Basics Cookbook on pages 117-119. On the front jacket she states "Fabulous Flavor From Simple Ingredients". Well let me tell you this was the most fabulous sauce ever. EVER! Just one thing, nothing about it is simple. It is so delicious that "you could put it on the bumper of a car and it would be delicious", to quote a famous Food Network chef. I now call it "Mike-a-licious Sauce". We froze the remaining sauce in small batches and have used it many times over. More on that later. On to the most delicious sauce ever, Ta-Da-----
The ingredients
Flour your roast
Brown and sear
Chop the veggies
Browned roast and bouquet garni
Saute veggies
Add tomatoes, broth, and wine
Lastly add meat back to sauce and simmer
Accompli. Remove meat. Blend sauce to puree.
The best sauce you will ever make!
Mike-a-licious Pot Roast
Adapted from Ina Garten's Back to Basics Cookbook
Ingredients
1 (4 to 5-pound) prime boneless beef chuck roast, tied
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour
Good olive oil
2 cups chopped carrots (4 carrots)
2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
2 cups chopped celery (4 stalks)
2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 to 4 leeks) (omitted)
5 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 cups good red wine, such as Burgundy (omitted - used a Rosso Marsala)
2 tablespoons Cognac or brandy (omitted)
1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes in puree (substituted with other tomato products)
1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 chicken bouillon cube
3 branches fresh thyme
2 branches fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Pat the beef dry with a paper towel. Season the roast all over with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Dredge the whole roast in flour, including the ends. In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the roast and sear for 4 to 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn and sear the other side and then turn and sear the ends. This should take 4 to 5 minutes for each side. Remove the roast to a large plate.
Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the Dutch oven. Add the carrots, onions, celery, leeks, garlic, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper and cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned. Add the wine and Cognac and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, bouillon cube, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Tie the thyme and rosemary together with kitchen string and add to the pot. Put the roast back into the pot, bring to a boil, and cover. Place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours, until the meat is fork tender or about 160 degrees F internally. Turn the heat down to 250 degrees F after about an hour to keep the sauce at a simmer.
Remove the roast to a cutting board. Remove the herb bundle and discard. Skim off as much fat as possible from the sauce. Transfer half the sauce and vegetables to a blender or a food processor fitted with the steel blade and puree until smooth. Pour the puree back into the pot, place on the stovetop over low heat, and return the sauce to a simmer. Place 2 tablespoons flour and the butter in a small bowl and mash them together with a fork. Stir into the sauce and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring until thickened. Taste for seasonings. Remove the strings from the roast, and slice the meat. Serve warm with the sauce spooned over it.
I know that many,many people have made and blogged this recipe. I just want to tell you, if you have never, ever tried this you must try it immediately. I will personally make this time and time again as it is flawless.
We agree to disagree. Ever have one of those nights? You want one thing for dinner and they want something else. We had agreed on the italian sausage, except he wanted subs and I wanted pasta. So I decided he was going to have pasta as a side. And that was that! Besides, I had purchased two of the more expensive jarred marinara suaces and was dying to try one of them. I chose to try the Alessi. I almost always choose the Bertolli sauces which are often on sale. The Alessi is twice the price at a little more than $7.00 a jar. I don't think I will be buying the Bertolli anymore. Wow is all I can say. Definately worth the money. Don't get me wrong I often make a large pot of sauce either from my garden fresh tomatoes or from organic canned tomatoes, and then freeze in dinner size portions. But in a pinch this sauce is great. I give it 5 stars. A little fresh basil thrown in at the end, magnificent. So here is our simple compromise.
I love these Italian Sweet Sausages.
Though I really do miss my Italian Deli (in another state).
GRRR!
Shells and my new favorite sauce.
Chop peppers, onions, and garlic.
In a tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat brown sausages.
Remove from pan and set aside.
Turn heat down to medium.
Saute vegetables for about 5 to 8 minutes.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Add sausages back to pan with the vegetables
and worchestershire
sauce.
Cover and turn heat to low.
Let cook for about another 20 minutes.
(Giant pan, no lid.)
Nicely sauteed vegetables.
Italian Sausages and Peppers
Ingredients
1/2 each tri-color bell pepers plus 1/2 green bell pepper (for a total of 2 whole bell peppers),
sliced julienne style
3 - 4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons worchestershire sauce
1 package sweet italian sausage
Directions
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil and brown sausages on all sides. Remove sausages and set aside. Reduce heat to medium and add onions and garlic. Saute until just tender. Add peppers, worchestershire sauce, salt, and pepper to taste to pan, saute 5-8 minutes to soften peppers. Add sausages back to pan and cover. Cook over low to medium low heat for 20 minutes longer, until peppers have wilted and sausages are cooked through.
Serve on toasted hoagie rolls or over pasta.
Serves 4
I know this is too simple and ridiculous to post, however I wanted to point out an easy way to please everyone with one meal. Normally I would have put the sauce into the pan with the sausages and peppers, except Michael didn't want sauce on his hoagie. It's all about the compromise.
Okay, so we were in the mood for pizza. A really good pizza. In this city we do not have a "GOOD" Pizza Restaurant. Nope, we haven't found one yet. Sooo, Michael decided he was going to make one. Yes, from scratch. Hey there's a first time for everything. He's done fettuccine from scratch, but never pizza. Can I just tell you it was so "GOOD", that I never want another cardboard pizza again. He has truly turned me off of pizza in the box. He found a recipe he liked for Jamie Oliver's Pizza Dough and figured he'd give it a try. It sure sounded simple enough and you know what? It was and here's how he did it.
Assemble your ingredients.
Sift your flours and salt together
and make a well in the middle. In a large measuring cup, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and let it sit for a few minutes.
Then pour it into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing and when it starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour dusted hands (and yes, this is the "messy" part of it).
Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough. Place the ball of dough in a large flour dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and set in a warm room for about an hour until it doubles in size. When your hour is up remove the dough and knead it again (punching the dough down) to push the air out.
Rested and ready to shape.
We divided the dough into two pieces and wrapped one and stuck it in the freezer to use another time.
Press out to your desired shape. We made a standard round as we have a pizza stone and didn't need to use a sheet pan to cook it in.
Add your desired toppings.
Perfecto!
Pizza Dough
Excerpted from Jamie at Home
from Jamie Oliver
Ingredients
7 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo "00" flour or 5 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo "00" flour, plus 2 cups finely ground semolina flour
1 level tablespoon fine sea salt
2 (1/4-ounce) packets active dried yeast
1 tablespoon raw sugar
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
Sift the flours and salt onto a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a large measuring cup, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.
Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.
Now remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands - this is called punching down the dough. You can either use it immediately, or keep it, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge (or freezer) until required. If using straightaway, divide the dough up into as many little balls as you want to make pizzas - this amount of dough is enough to make about six to eight medium pizzas.
Timing-wise, it's a good idea to roll the pizzas out about 15 to 20 minutes before you want to cook them. Don't roll them out and leave them hanging around for a few hours, though - if you are working in advance like this it's better to leave your dough, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator. However, if you want to get them rolled out so there's 1 less thing to do when your guests are round, simply roll the dough out into rough circles, about 1/4-inch thick, and place them on slightly larger pieces of olive-oil-rubbed and flour-dusted aluminum foil. You can then stack the pizzas, cover them with plastic wrap, and pop them into the refrigerator.
This recipe was cut in half to make two large pizzas.
Toppings
1/3 cup Colavita Garden Style Sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounces cooked italian sausage, casing removed
4 ounces cooked chorizo, casing removed
1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach
1/3 cup button mushrooms, sliced
20 slices pepperoni
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Assemble your toppings onto the dough and bake for 10 - 15 minutes, in a 450 degree preheated oven.
By keeping this ready made dough in the freezer, we will never order another lousy take out pizza again. The taste was over the top delicious. The most time spent is letting the dough rest for the hour at which point you can be browning off the sausage and chorizo. Or if you choose other toppings that do not require cooking beforehand, you can browse around your favorite foodie blog posts, or whatever you choose to do in that time. So if you are looking for an easy dough for pizza and calzones this is one for you to try. I know we will be making this often and keeping it on hand from now on. Michael and Carla
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