Orecchiette, Butternut Squash and Kale Pasta

Does anyone else not want to look at food at the moment?  I don't even want to eat anymore but I have to suck it up and eat again because we are having our Pig Roast and tamales on Friday.

I have a couple of new desserts that I'm trying out on Friday so cross your fingers we get a bit of sunlight so I can get a photo of them.  All etiquette is going out the window too, if I have to cut those desserts up and taste test them I will.

Feeling bloated and miserable from the previous weeks' food extravaganza I had this bright idea to get in some exercise and a vacation at the same time.  I suggested Disneyland to the family.  We can admire all the holiday lights and soak up some of Southern California's sunshine while we are at it I promised them.

I had been dreaming of lying on a beach with warm tropical breezes, palm trees swaying in the background and a nice cold Pina Colada in my hand.  Instead I was plummeted from 100 feet in the air at warp speed to what I was sure was certain death.  Although the kids sure did think it was fun, or perhaps it was just me they were laughing at.

Orecchiette, Butternut Squash and Kale Pasta

1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2" cubes

1 bunch kale, stemmed and chopped

4 ounces chopped pancetta

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

3 tablespoons butter

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound orecchiette pasta

1/2 cup pasta water - reserved

Grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (if you don't the butternut squash will stick badly). Place the cubed butternut squash on the tray and bake for 25-30 minutes until tender.  Stick a knife in a piece and if it goes in easily it is ready.  Let cool and set aside.

Put a large pot of water with a little salt on to boil.  Once the water is boiling, drop the pasta in and stir, cook for 8-10 minutes.

To a large skillet add the olive oil and pancetta and cook on medium heat until the pancetta is barely starting to brown.  Add the garlic and turn the heat down to medium-low.  Stir for a minute then add the kale, put a lid on the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring after each minute. Add salt and pepper now.

Once the kale is wilted add the butternut squash to the skillet, add the butter and pasta water and stir together, then add the drained pasta.  Stir gently so you don't break up the squash.  Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4.

Try this pasta, it's much tastier and way less scarier than those roller coasters.  If you happen to be in the neighborhood on Friday, I happen to know where there will be a ton of food just waiting to get eaten.

Enjoy,

Gina

Raviolis with Three Cheeses

The girls love pasta and cheese, oh heck who am I kidding; I do too! I just recently started making my own pasta dough. I never had the chance to learn from my grandparents; they passed when I was young.

One day while perusing the aisles of Ross with my mom, we spotted a pasta-rolling machine for $19, my mom said, "You need that." Good enough reason I figured to start making my own dough. Did I forget to mention sometimes I have more ambition than sense? The day I decided to make these I also decided to make sauce and go back and forth to my daughter's cheer camp an hour away, twice.

Robbyn and I wanted to recreate my Grandpa's ravioli recipe, but the unappetizing gray didn't sit well with either of us; so cheese it is.

Egg Pasta Dough

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or "00" flour if you can find it)

4 large eggs

1 tsp. salt
Semolina flour. for dusting pasta and surfaces

Combine flour, eggs and salt in food processor till a ball is formed. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. You can do this step by hand, but come on; I already had a hard enough day.

When ready to roll, cut dough into 8 pieces, run through machine starting on 1, keep flouring your dough, up the dial 1 at a time and make 4 or 5 passes. Place sheets on floured silpats or floured kitchen towels to dry a little while you make filling.

Cheese Filling

4 ounces ricotta cheese

8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 large egg

1 tsp. dried parsley

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/8 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

Combine cheeses, egg, parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg in bowl. Fill pasta sheets by small teaspoonful, barely 1-inch apart and brush pasta dough along bottom and sides of each cheese mound with water to seal.

Fold dough back over and press along sides of each cheese mound with your fingers to seal. Cut with fluted pastry cutter or knife.  Place the finished ravioli on a baking sheet dusted with more flour or semolina and let dry for 30 minutes or so prior to boiling.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a vigorous boil and drop raviolis in two batches, cook each batch for 2-3 minutes.

I got about 4 dozen out of this recipe. I have a great Brandywine Marinara recipe you can use for these, click here if you'd like to give it a try.

Enjoy,

Gina

Turkey Piccata and Our Pig Roast Preparations Begin!

I don't know about you but one too many Christmas cookies are sitting around my middle, literally. I thought maybe you would enjoy a light and healthy dish instead; the fact that it's fast to prepare doesn't hurt either. My Grandfather loved using veal, but I'm just not a fan.  So when I make Piccata I like to use turkey cutlets.  This is a comfort dish for me; I love licking the sauce off the plate, don't lie and pretend you don't do that when you eat something really good.

Turkey:

1 lb. turkey cutlets

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. cracked black pepper

1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 lb. pasta, whatever shaped you would like

Step 1:
Fill a large pot 2/3 full with water and a couple of teaspoons of salt and bring it to a boil.  Drop your pasta in when the water is at a rolling boil.  Cook for 7-10 minutes, depending on the shape of the pasta.

Step 2:
On a plate combine flour, salt, pepper and rosemary.

Step 3:
Lay a piece of plastic wrap on your counter and lay turkey cutlets on top.  Cover with another piece of plastic wrap and pound with the flat side of a meat tenderizer.  You want to leave them about 1/2" thick. Then dredge each cutlet in the flour mixture and set aside.

Step 4:
To a large skillet add butter and olive oil.  Heat on medium heat and when the butter is starting to turn color add the turkey cutlets.  Cook for 2-3 minutes on one side then flip and cook the same on the other.  Remove from the skillet and set aside, drain remaining oil from the skillet.

Lemon - Caper Sauce:

juice and zest from 2 lemons

1/2 cup white wine

2 tbsp. capers

3-4 tbsp. Italian parsley, chopped

2 tsp. all-purpose flour

Step 5:

To the skillet on medium high heat add wine, lemon, and capers.  Add flour and whisk it in, cook for 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and add parsley.  Put cutlets back in sauce and combine with the pasta.

Here is a little tip for you:

I love buying fresh herbs, to help them keep a little longer in the fridge I wash them really good, let them dry, then place them on paper towels before placing them in a large Ziploc bag and putting in the fridge.

I really don't know where this year went, must be a sign of aging or something.  I guess it's true, time flies when you are having fun.  Thank you to all my old friends and to all my new.  Writing all these recipes for you this year has been my extreme pleasure and I'm looking forward to the New Year.  

Most of you have packed up your decorations and cleaned up the holiday aftermath.  I'm preparing for our next Christmas celebration.  When I married my husband I also married his traditions, including their celebration of the day Christ was born, which they celebrate on January 6.  It's a big feast and my husband roasts a whole pig and I make homemade tamales and lots of other goodies.  If you are looking for a really good dinner, this will be the place to be.  Call me and I'll let you know how to get on the V.I.P. list!  

Wishing all of you A Happy New Year!

Serves 4.

Gina

Pasta e Fagioli with fresh Cranberry Beans

I was shopping at one of my favorite farm stands the other day when I found some fresh Cranberry beans or Borlotti beans as they are known in Italian. I just knew I wanted them, hadn't settled on what I was going to do with them.

I was sifting through them looking for some nice ones when this older Italian gentleman sorting green beans next to me gives me the eye. He tells me he is going to make minestrone, with the hand up and eyebrow at the same time. After rattling off recipes and hearing about his grandchildren, pasta e fagioli it is; seriously that was the extent of my excitement for the day!

Cranberry beans they are so cool to look at when fresh, too bad they turn brownish/gray when cooked. You are going to want to shell them and boil them in a little salted water for about 20-25 minutes and drain them, before adding them to your soup.

They are easy to shell, run your fingernail along the spine and they will open right up. You just want the inside beans not the pod.

Ingredients:
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
4 ounces chopped pancetta
1 box low-sodium chicken stock
5-6 black Russian heirloom tomatoes, skinned and crushed (use whatever variety you can find)
2 zucchini, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. fresh cranberry beans (if you can't find these (1) can rinsed cannellini beans will work great)
1 cup cooked pasta
Couple of sprigs of fresh Thyme
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat a large stockpot on medium, add olive oil. Add pancetta and cook for a couple of minutes until some of the fat is rendered. Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic, cook for 5-7 minutes till softened. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add zucchini, beans, tomatoes, pasta, thyme (leaves only, not stems), salt and pepper.

Turn the heat down to simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes longer. I like my veggies still crisp, if you want yours a little softer, just leave it on for another 5-10 minutes.

Tip for the tomatoes: Cut an X on the bottoms and dip in boiling water for a minute or two till the skin is loosened, put in ice water to cool, then peel.

You can grate some fresh Parmesan over the top before serving, but I like to make some Parmesan crostini. Slice a sourdough baguette on the diagonal, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with grated Parmesan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, bake in a 350 degree F oven for 10-15 minutes till crisp.

Serves 6.

Enjoy,

Gina