Kale Pesto with Fusilli

Summer is many months away, but I find myself dreaming of the bunches of fresh basil I picked from the garden (yes, we have gardens in Brooklyn!) last summer. In an effort to bring a bit of summer sunshine to the kitchen, I made kale pesto instead of classic basil pesto – lacinato kale is one of my favorite fall and winter vegetables. No, it’s not quite basil, but it will do for now, as we wait for the snow to melt and the spring buds to finally open. (Is it just me, or has this winter seemed to last forever?)

I recently had a version of this kale pesto at Franny’s restaurant here in Brooklyn, and of course I got a bug to recreate it in my own kitchen. I think this recipe comes pretty close. I used walnuts because I didn’t have any pine nuts on hand (and I have to admit, they’re not my most favorite of nuts) – but pine nuts could be easily substituted. I would hesitate to use anything but lacinato kale for this recipe – I think curly kale would be far too bitter.

This recipe makes a scant 1/2 cup of pesto or less – you only need a tablespoon or so per serving of pasta. It would also be lovely with grilled chicken or fish.

Ingredients:

1 cup lacinato kale, roughly chopped (about 1 small bunch of kale)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons walnuts, lightly crushed
Kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or less)
2 tablespoons Pecorino-Romano cheese
2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Extra cheese for serving (if serving with pasta)

Special Equipment: Food processor

Procedure:

1. Add the kale, garlic, walnuts, and a generous pinch of salt to the bowl of the food processor. Pulse a several times to combine.
2. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil through the feed tube of the food processor. Depending on the consistency you like, you may not use all of the oil, so pour slowly. Run the machine continuously for a minute or two to obtain a very smooth consistency. Add more oil if the consistency of the mixture isn’t smooth.
3. Add the cheeses and pulse to combine.
4. Taste and correct for salt.

Pulled Pork

Hi everyone. I’ve missed you. I’ve been gone for a long time. A digital detox is what I’ve been on. Sometimes you have to step back in order to move forward. Right? But I’m back! And with my return I thought I’d share with you a very easy recipe for pulled pork made in a crock pot. Is there a better way for me to celebrate my return to blog-dom than with pork?? I think not!

A few necessary items about pork, to begin. I used a beautiful bone-in pork shoulder from a local farm. I like to eat meat from local farmers because it’s easier to find out about the way the animal was raised. I get really freaked out about factory-farmed meat, and importantly, I think meat from commercial factory farms tastes different (in a bad way). The only problem is that locally-sourced meat tends to be a lot more expensive than commercial meat. My solution is that I just eat less meat! Less meat, but better quality, more delicious meat. It’s a compromise I’ve made in my life despite my abiding love for all things pork. So. That’s that.

You’ll notice that, aside from the spice rub, this recipe has very few ingredients. Essentially, I’m a lazy cook and I gravitate towards recipes that don’t require a huge amount of prep work, especially on week nights.  I call for 1 1/2 cups of “cola” in the recipe – I used China Cola because it doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup, which is another food-like product that I just don’t fancy. (Do I sound neurotic?) In some places, you can get the big-named sodas with sugar, although you’ll probably have to look hard. The same principle holds true for the barbecue sauce. You can make your own (I like the looks of this recipe) or find good quality, high-fructose corn syrup-free (it’s in everything, seriously) sauce, which is what I did. I usually doctor commercial sauce with extra vinegar because I like a combination of ketchup-based sauce and vinegar-based sauce. A sweet-and-sour approach, if you will. (There are so many schools of barbecue out there – all of them delicious….I don’t want to start any wars here. I think of myself as embracing a pan-barbecue outlook, having lived or spent time in many top-notch barbecue states, such as Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Kansas, and North Carolina.)  You can also vary the spice rub to your liking – I think fennel and sage would be nice additions.

If you don’t have a crock pot, you can put the pork in a low oven (300°F or so) for 4-5 hours (or more, depending on how big your pork shoulder is). Check the meat after 4 hours – if it’s falls apart easily, it’s ready.

Ingredients:
(Serves 6-8 as sandwiches; slightly less as a platter)

For the Spice Rub:
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon maple sugar (or substitute additional brown sugar)
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Pork:
One 2 1/2 to 3 lb. bone in pork shoulder
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
One 12 oz. bottle cola (1 1/2 cups)
1 cup barbecue sauce (plus extra vinegar to taste, if necessary)
Salt

Special Equipment: a crock-pot that can accommodate the meat

Procedure:

For the Spice Rub:

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Place pork in a glass or ceramic baking dish.
3. Rub half of the mixture all over the pork, covering all sides evenly. (You’ll have leftover rub mix. Just cover tightly – it will save indefinitely.)
4. Cover the pork and refrigerate for 3 hours or longer, preferably overnight.

For the Pulled Pork:

1. Layer the onion slices on the bottom of the crock pot.
2. Place the pork on top of the onion slices.
3. Pour in the cola.
4. Cover the crock pot. Set the crock pot to “high” and let cook for 4 to 5 hours, or until the meat is falling apart. (Start checking the meat after 4 hours. It should start releasing a lot of liquid fat after a couple of hours.)
5. Once the meat is done, remove it from the crock pot and let cool slightly. Pour off accumulated fat, onions, and liquid and discard. Give the crock pot a quick wipe with paper towels.
6. Once the meat is cool enough to handle, shred into “pulled” pieces using your fingers or a fork, discarding bone and gristle as you go.
7. Return meat to cleaned crock pot. Add the barbecue sauce and optional vinegar, to taste. (Chile flakes would also be nice if you like it spicy.) Set the crock pot to warm.
8. When meat has re-heated, serve on buns or as a platter with collard greens, biscuits, or cornbread.

Notes: This recipe is easily doubled or even tripled – if you have a big enough crock pot!

Starters and Nibbles

Spicy Crock-Pot Apple Butter – Serve with cheddar or brie (or any cheese that is cheddar-or-brie-like) and crackers. Can be made several days in advance. Uses the crock-pot, which frees up your stovetop and oven. Would also be a nice sauce with turkey. And a nice host(-ess) gift.

Spicy Crock-Pot Apple Butter

Chicken Liver Mousse – Quick and easy to make. Can be made several days in advance. Serve with toast squares, crackers, or sliced baguette.

Chicken Liver Mousse on a crunchy little toast square

Manchego Cheese, Quince, and Walnut Crostini – Make the quince jam (or buy it) in advance. Toast the bread in advance. Easy to assemble.

Manchego, Quince, and Walnut Crostini

First Course

Easy Golden Beet Soup with Buttery Croutons - Serve as a first course. Beets can be roasted several days in advance. Soup can be made and refrigerated 1-2 days in advance (without the croutons, of course). Swirl a bit of heavy cream or yogurt on top for an elegant little touch. When I make a large meal like Thanksgiving dinner, I serve creamy soups like this in teacups – it’s just the right amount of soup so your guests aren’t stuffed before the main course.

Golden Beet Soup with Buttery Croutons

Quick Breads

Bacon Muffins – quick and easy to bake. Can be made 1 day in advance.

Bacon Muffins

Irish Soda Bread with Brown Butter, Rosemary, and Black Pepper – Quickbread (no yeast) – takes only a few minutes to mix. Can be made 1-2 days in advance.

Irish Soda Bread with Brown Butter, Rosemary, and Black Pepper

Cheddar-Sage Biscuits – Can be made 1 day in advance and re-heated. Sage goes nicely with turkey.

Cheddar Sage Biscuits

Sides

Broccoli Raab with Pecans – can be made 1-2 day in advance and re-heated.

Broccoli Raab with Pecans

Mashed Potatoes - can be made several hours in advance. Hold in a metal bowl over simmering water. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Add more cream or milk before serving if the potatoes have dried out a bit.

Mashed Potatoes

Cranberry Sauce with Bourbon – can be made up to a week in advance. Made in the oven so it frees up your stovetop. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Cranberry Sauce with Bourbon

Roasted Romanesco Cauliflower – can be made several hours in advance. Pop back in the oven for a few minutes to re-heat. Grate some Parmesan over the cauliflower for a little more richness.

Roasted Romanesco Cauliflower

Kale and Ricotta Salata Salad – believe it or not, this salad can be made several days in advance. Unlike lettuce, the kale is hearty enough to not get slimy under the weight of the vinaigrette. Flavors actually get better if made a day in advance. Can be served cold or at room temperature.

Raw lacitano kale for Kale and Ricotta Salata Salad

Dessert

Apple Pie with Boiled Cider – pie can be made one day in advance. I usually serve apple pie with this Calvados Ice Cream (it’s heaven). You can omit the boiled cider to save time. Add a bit more sugar to compensate.

Apple Pie with Boiled Cider

Bourbon Milkshakes – can’t really be made in advance, but really easy to make using store-bought ingredients. And a perfect ending to your fabulous Thanksgiving meal. Give yourself a round of (bourbon-y) applause!

Bourbon Milkshake

Bolognese Sauce with rigatoni

“Bolognese” sauce is a funny thing. The sauce is not just found in Bologna – most towns in the Italian region (Emilia-Romagna) have their own version, some quite different from one another. Even in Bologna there is little agreement on ingredients or a standardization of the recipe – the old joke is that if you asked 100 people in Bologna for their sauce recipe, you’d get 100 different versions. At its essence, Bolognese sauce is a minced- or ground-meat “sauce” (and I use that word loosely, for reasons explained below) cooked with a sofrito (onion, carrots, celery) and usually with some type of wine and some form of tomatoes. I’ve seen recipes with white wine, with red wine. With mostly ground beef, with only ground beef, with mostly ground pork, with a mixture of the two, and with beef, pork, and chicken livers. With whole tomatoes, or with tomato puree. Lots of recipes add milk during the cooking, some tell you to stir in bechamel sauce at the end instead. The only consistent aspect of any Bolognese sauce recipe is that it must, must, must be cooked for a long time – upwards of two hours or more.

“Sauce” is a word used rather loosely here, because Bolognese sauce is not what most of us outside of Italy would consider “saucy”. That is, Bolognese sauce is much “drier” than your typical pasta sauce. In general, Italians use quite a bit less sauce than we do in the U.S., and Bolognese sauce has quite a bit less liquid than other sauces. (You’ll probably just have to make it to see what I’m talking about.) In the pictures above, I’ve actually used a lot more sauce than you’d normally see on pasta in northern Italy, but even in my version the sauce isn’t glopped on top of the pasta, but rather mixed in so that it coats all of the pasta bits equally. Bolognese sauce in northern Italy is served with tagliatelle (a wider, fettuccine-like fresh egg noodle), in lasagna, with tortellini, or with dried pasta such as rigatoni (shown in the picture above) or penne. It is never, ever served with spaghetti (that is a British adaptation). If you use dried pasta, don’t rinse it after cooking. You don’t want to rinse off the starch that clings to the pasta – this is what allows the sauce to adhere to the pasta.

This recipe is a partial adaptation of a recipe I translated from a book I picked up on a recent trip to Bologna – Laura Rangoni’s La Cucina Bolognese, although I made quite a few alterations. If you are fat-phobic, this is not the recipe for you! There is a huge amount of pork fat (and other fats) in this recipe. Using pasture-raised pork and beef (and butter from grass-fed cows) helps reduce the amount of “bad” fat, but still. There is a LOT of fat in this recipe. If you want to stay true to the recipe but reduce the amount of fat in it, you can skim off the fat at the end (it will separate out from the rest of the sauce) or you can refrigerate the sauce overnight and de-fat it after the fat has solidified. Don’t remove all of the fat, though, because the fat is what really coats the pasta and creates a “saucy” feel in the mouth.

A few last words about ingredients: make sure you dice your sofrito (onion, carrot, celery) as finely as possible – you don’t want big chunks of celery or carrots in your final sauce (they’re supposed to sort of melt into the sauce after the long cooking time). This recipe calls for prosciutto cotto and pancetta. Prosciutto cotto: literally, “cooked prosciutto”,  prosciutto cotto is exactly that – prosciutto that has been cooked. It is sold like other deli meats. If you can’t find prosciutto cotto, you could substitute good-quality ham. If you can’t find pancetta (sometimes referred to as Italian bacon – but only because pancetta is made from pork belly – other than that, there is little similarity), omit it. Don’t be tempted to use American (smoked) bacon – you’ll ruin the balance of flavors in the sauce. If you find pancetta, have your deli man (or woman) slice it thinly to facilitate you chopping it into tiny, tiny bits. I used La Quercia pancetta (normally I’d never say “domestic” and “pancetta” in the same breath, but La Quercia’s pancetta is truly delicious and comes from humanely raised pigs).  And finally,  I prefer Bionaturae brand of tomato puree, but if you can’t find a good puree, you can simply open a can of high-quality whole tomatoes and puree them in your food processor or blender. Strain the seeds using a fine-mesh strainer if you like.

Ingredients:
For 6-8 servings

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, very finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and very finely chopped
2 ribs of celery, very finely chopped
3 ounces pancetta, very finely chopped
4 ounces (1/4 pound) prosciutto cotto, very finely chopped
1 pound grass-fed ground beef
3/4 pound sustainably-raised ground pork
1 cup dry white wine
1 1/4 cups tomato puree
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 lb. pasta for serving
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for serving

Procedure:

1. In a large, heavy dutch oven, add the butter, olive oil, onions, carrots, and celery. Saute over medium heat until the vegetables have softened (but not browned – turn down the heat if they start browning), about 10 minutes.
2. Add the pancetta, and cook and stir over medium heat for another 5 minutes.
3. Add the prosciutto cotto and cook and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes more.
4. Add the ground beef and the ground pork, breaking up large chunks with a fork. Cover the pot and cook over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes, or until all the pink is gone from the meat, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the white wine, turn the heat up to medium-high, and let cook until most of the wine has evaporated, 15 minutes or so.
6. Stir in the tomato puree.
7. Turn the heat down to medium low and simmer for 2 hours or longer, stirring occasionally. The fat will separate from the sauce at the end of cooking. If the mixture becomes too dry during cooking, add a bit of water, a few tablespoons at a time. Don’t add salt until the very end, keeping in mind that the cured pork products add quite a bit of salt to the sauce.
8. Cook your pasta of choice, drain, and toss with the sauce, stirring well to coat each piece of pasta. Top with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Note: You can cook the sauce in a crock-pot instead of on the stove – add all ingredients to the crock-pot at step 7. Cook on low heat for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Add water if the mixture becomes too dry, as discussed in step 7.

Summer Vegetable Frittata

Wow, that was quite a long blogging break I took. I felt guilty every day for not blogging. (I was on vacation in North Carolina with my family. It was fun. I was too busy boogie-boarding to blog.)   I know a frittata isn’t the most super exciting foodstuff I could trot out after a bit of time away, but they are quite easy to make once you’ve got the technique down, and they are quite useful in using up extra summer vegetables. They keep well and can be served hot, at room temperature, or cold, so they make great next-day leftovers. (Frittata sandwiches are good.) Frittatas are just open-faced omelettes – or maybe I should say that omelettes are just folded frittatas? (Although I went to a French culinary school, I tend to side with the Italians on most food-related historical matters.) Like omelettes, frittatas are lovely because you can put all sorts of things in them – stuff you have on hand, interesting stuff you find at the farmer’s market, leftover stuff. In this recipe, I use beet tops – don’t throw them away! They are delicious! (You can cook them like spinach or swiss chard, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and a few drops of red wine vinegar, and eat hot or at room temperature.)

A (long) note about frying pans: I have my own method of making frittatas that may or may not be Italian-approved. I use a non-stick frying pan – I realize that a lot of people are wary of using non-stick because of the chemicals involved in making the pans, so if you’re one of those people, you can use a non-non-stick frying pan. Just note that you’ll have to use extra oil or cooking spray to keep the frittata from sticking to the bottom of your pan. (I have it in my mind that as long as I don’t cook food in non-stick pans over super-high heat or in a super-high oven, I’ll be OK. This may or may not be scientifically accurate, but it’s what I tell myself.)  You also must make sure that you pan is oven-proof – that is, that the handles are metal with no plastic whatsoever. Otherwise you’ll destroy both your pan and your oven, probably. And the smell of burning plastic is not yummy, not at all. You don’t need a special $90 frittata pan with hinges, or any other special equipment. In fact, I don’t even turn my frittatas, but you can if you like. (This will all become clear in a moment.) I prefer a thinner frittata, but if you like your frittatas a bit thicker, you can use a smaller-sized frying pan. You’ll have to cook your frittata a bit longer.

Last little note. Get yourself some good eggs. See in the picture how yellow the frittata is? That’s not photoshopped, my friends! It’s just the fine quality of the eggs, which I bought from a New Jersey farmer at my local farmer’s market. You will notice a huge difference in taste, color, and texture. I swear. Also – you don’t have to use the vegetables I did. Use whatever you want – spinach or chard instead of beet greens, heirloom tomatoes instead of cherry, any herb mix that tickles your fancy, peas…pretty much anything in season is good in a frittata. I used baby patty-pan squash that I sauteed first with a bit of oil and Thai chili-garlic sauce – I’ve shared the method with you below. Zucchini or yellow squash would be an excellent substitute.

Ingredients:
(For one 10-inch diameter frittata – serves 4 for breakfast, lunch, or dinner)

For the sauteed patty-pan squash:
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
2-3 baby patty-pan squash, sliced thinly
1 teaspoon (or more) Thai chili-garlic sauce (you can use smooth Sriracha, but I prefer the thicker chili-garlic sauce) or other hot sauce with 1/2 clove of finely chopped garlic

For the frittata:
6 fresh eggs
1 tablespoon milk (skim milk is OK)
3-4 large beet green leaves, tough stems discarded, washed and chopped
3/4 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
1-2 tablespoons mixed chopped herbs – I used a combination of basil, mint, parsley, and chives
Sauteed patty-pan squash (see above)
Other vegetables or greens, as desired (I threw in some arugula flowers from my garden) (optional)
1 tablespoon Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (optional)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (or more, see note above about pans)
Kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper

Special Equipment: 10-inch diameter non-stick oven-proof frying pan (see note about pans above), a rubber spatula

Procedure:

For the sauteed patty-pan squash:

1. Heat the oil in a small, heavy sauté pan over very high heat until hot, but not smoking.
2. Add the patty-pan squash and sauté over high heat until the squash is browned in spots, but still a bit firm – 1-2 minutes.
3. Turn the heat down to medium and stir in the chili-garlic sauce (or add the garlic clove and the hot sauce), stir for 30 seconds, then immediately remove from heat.
4. Cool before adding to the frittata “batter”.

For the frittata:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and a generous pinch of salt until the eggs are uniform (i.e., you can’t distinguish between the yolks and the whites).
3. Stir in the beet greens, tomatoes, herbs, cooled squash, any other vegetable your heart desires, and the optional cheese. Add a few grindings of black pepper. Stir gently to combine evenly. (Some of the heavier vege like the tomatoes will sink to the bottom. This is OK.)
4. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in your skillet. When hot (but not smoking – never smoking) add the egg mixture.
5. Stir the mixture with a rubber spatula until the mixture starts to set, taking care to distribute the vegetables evenly if they’ve migrated to one side of the pan or another. Stop stirring when you see the edges of the eggs start to set. This will take a varying amount of time depending on your pan and your heat source.
6. When the eggs have set 3-4 inches in from the edge of the pan (i.e., the eggs are set around the outside, but there is still a round jiggly bit in the middle), remove from the stovetop and stick in the oven. At this point, if you’re using a smaller pan, you might want to consider flipping the frittata. (I never do because it’s a pain and the egg mixture sets up just fine without flipping, but it’s up to you.)
7. Cook the frittata in the oven until the center is set. This will also take a varying amount of time – start checking after 5 minutes. When you shake the pan, you should see absolutely no jiggle action in the center of the egg mixture.
8. Carefully remove the pan from the oven (remember the handle will be super hot) and immediately slide the frittata from the pan onto a cutting board or plate. (This is where using a non-stick pan is useful.) If not using non-stick, you may need to loosen the edges of the frittata with your rubber spatula.
9. Cut the frittata into wedges and serve hot or at room temperature. Extra hot sauce on the side is nice.

Lamb Burgers with Cheddar and Spicy Onion Marmalade

Lamb and cheddar and kale and mint and onion and spiciness! I feel like I don’t even have to write an introduction to this recipe. Except to say that I may like lamb burgers better than beef burgers. And that the lamb burgers would be good with a dollop of Greek yogurt instead of the onion marmalade (or maybe both?). Or with homemade ketchup.

One more thing: I want to talk to you about cooking the onions for the Spicy Onion Marmalade. You don’t want to brown them. Nope. What you want to do is to coax out their natural sugars and caramelize those sugars until you get a reduced, soft, marmalade-y texture. It takes a long time, so be patient.

Oh, and one last thing. If you’re not familiar with harissa, go out and get yourself some, stat. It’s a spicy North African paste made from chiles and spices. Sometimes I make my own, but more often than not I use DEA brand, in the yellow tube.

Ingredients:

For the Spicy Onion Marmalade:
2 large red onions, peeled and thinly sliced into half moons
2 large yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced into half moons
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped
3 whole dried chiles (I used chile de arbol, but you can use any small, hot, dried chile) or 1 teaspoon dried chile flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon honey

For the Lamb Burgers:
1 pound pasture-raised ground lamb
1 tablespoon harissa
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 clove garlic, very finely chopped (or pressed in a garlic press)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
15-20 fresh mint leaves, washed and dried, torn if large
1/2 cup baby kale leaves
White cheddar, to taste
Whole wheat rolls or hamburger buns

Special Equipment: Grill pan or grill (optional)

Procedure:

For the Spicy Onion Marmalade:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy saute pan over medium heat until hot. Add the onion slices and stir to coat. Add the thyme, chiles, salt, and a few grindings of black pepper. Turn the heat down to low.
2. Cook the onion mixture, stirring occationally, until the onions have cooked down and have caramelized (see note, above), about 45 minutes. Add a tablespoon of water if you notice the onions sticking to the bottom of the pan.
3. Stir in the honey and the balsamic vinegar to taste. Taste and correct for salt.
4. Remove any remnants of the whole chiles (if using) before serving.

For the Lamb Burgers:

1. Preheat the grill pan or the grill. If not using a grill pan or grill, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saute pan.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the lamb, the harissa, the cumin, the coriander, the garlic, and the salt. Mix gently with your hands (do not over mix or your burgers will be tough). Form into 4 even balls, then flatten the balls slightly.
3. Place the lamb patties on the grill pan, on the grill, or in the saute pan. Cook until grill marks appear, 3-4 minutes. Flip patties over and cook on the other side for another 3-4 minutes for medium rare. (Cook longer for a more well-done burger.)
4. Toss the mint leaves and baby kale leaves together. Place each burger on a warmed roll or bun, top with cheddar cheese, a dollop of the spicy onion marmalade, and the kale and mint mixture. Serve hot with additional harissa, if desired.

Makes 4 small burgers.

Winter Vegetable Crostata with Goat Cheese and Thyme

March is so hard. Here in Brooklyn, the weather is starting to warm up, making me think about strawberries, asparagus, ramps, garlic scapes, peas, favas – argh!  Did I mention I’m sick of winter? I’m making lemonade out of lemons here by continuing to celebrate winter’s bounty – yams and winter squash and beets and Jerusalem artichokes and onions, sprinkled with thyme, green onions, and goat cheese, and all baked into a buttery crust. Maybe I’m not ready to say goodbye to winter after all. (OK, that was a lie, I’m totally ready.)

This is one of those recipes that is infinitely adaptable. You could add (or subtract) any number of seasonal vegetables. A couple of thinly sliced and sauteed mushrooms would be nice. Chopped and lightly sauteed cabbage or kale would be good. Marjoram or oregano instead of thyme would be lovely. Roasted potatoes would be delicious. Shallots or garlic would be a tasty addition. Acorn squash instead of kabocha would be delectable. I’m running out of adjectives – but you get the idea. If you can’t get your hands on a good aged balsamic vinegar, you can reduce a cheaper balsamic in a small saucepan for a few minutes until a bit more syrupy.

Serve small wedges as an appetizer or side dish (with roast chicken maybe?), or serve larger slices as a main dish, perhaps with a nice little green salad.

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

Use the basic one-crust pie dough recipe here.
(You can add a bit of whole-wheat pastry flour to the basic recipe if you like.)

For the Filling:

1 small kabocha squash, seeded and cut into eighths or 1 small yam, cut into bit-sized chunks (or use both!)
1 medium red onion, peeled (root left intact) and cut into quarters
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
5-6 small beets, washed and long roots trimmed
Leaves from 2 thyme sprigs
1 large Jerusalem artichoke, scrubbed well and sliced very thin using a mandoline or Japanese slicer
2 green onions (white and green parts), sliced on the bias
4 ounces fresh goat cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Aged balsamic vinegar, for serving

It's a vegetable rainbow - vegetables for the crostata

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. On a large baking sheet, toss the squash or yam (or both) and the red onion chunks with the extra virgin olive oil, a generous pinch of salt, and a few grindings of black pepper. Wrap the beets in tinfoil.
3. Roast the squash (or yams), the onions, and the beets until tender. The squash and the onions will take between 35-40 minutes (depending on how thick you’ve cut them), while the beets (depending on their size) may take up to an hour and 15 minutes or longer.
4. Remove the vegetables from the oven as soon as they are tender. Cool to room temperature.
5. Peel the squash, if using, and chop the flesh into bite-sized chunks. Separate the onions into “petals”. Peel and slice the beets.
6. Turn up the oven to 425ºF. Line a large baking sheet with a silpat or with parchment paper.
7. Roll out the dough to 13-inches in diameter. In the center of the dough disk, layer the squash, red onions, sliced beets, Jerusalem artichokes, and green onion slices, scattering thyme leaves, goat cheese chunks, and a sprinkling of kosher salt between layers of vegetables.
8. Bring the dough up over the vegetables, creating large folds as you go (it doesn’t have to be terribly exact – this is a rustic tart, after all) leaving an open space in the middle.
9. Transfer crostata to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown and the goat cheese is brown in places and bubbly.
10. Grind a bit of black pepper over the crostata. Cut into wedges, and drizzle the vegetable part of the tart with the balsamic vinegar.

Oyster Mushroom Risotto

I have a confession to make. The very first time I made risotto (which was 10 years ago now) it took about 2 hours.  What’s funny is that a basic risotto should be a quick and easy 20 minutes from start to finish. What happened? Looking back now I see that my problem was fear – fear that I would burn the rice, fear that I would screw up the whole dish. So instead I stood in front of the stove and stirred and stirred my little arm off for 2 hours straight. I had the heat on low! It took forever and ever for the liquid to absorb into the rice.  The real key to a quick (and good) risotto is not being afraid to crank the heat. Crank it all the way up, as high as it will go. But whatever you do: don’t step away from the stove! You have to keep stirring, stirring, stirring – but only for 20 minutes. Not 2 hours.

I used mushroom broth for this risotto, which was absolutely delicious, but you can substitute vegetable or chicken broth. If you cook risotto a lot, you’ll get the hang of checking out the way the individual rice grains look as they are cooking: when you first stir them around in the fat, they become translucent with a chalky white core. As they continue to cook, they become less and less translucent, until they are bone white through-and-through. As you get a hang for it, you can actually use the look-see method to test if the rice is done, rather than burning the hell out of your mouth tasting the rice every 2 seconds towards the end of cooking.  When you finally do taste, you want the rice to be not-to-soft, and not-too-hard – al dente, that is.  If you’ve run out of liquid before the rice is sufficiently tender, just add water a ladleful at a time. And if you can’t find oyster mushrooms, this would be equally as good with all button mushrooms. One last tip: if you have a pot with rounded bottom (i.e., a saucier), it makes getting into the corners of the pan easier (uh, because there are no corners) so the rice doesn’t stick and burn.

Oh, and my second confession of the night: I sauteed some of the mushrooms in bacon fat. Yeah, that’s right.

Ingredients:

3-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3/4 pound oyster mushrooms, fibrous stems removed, mushrooms torn in half if very large
1 pound button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large shallot, finely diced
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 cups mushroom, vegetable, or chicken broth
1 cup water
2 cups arborio rice
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons parsley, very finely chopped

Procedure:

1. Combine the broth and the water in a medium saucepan and heat to simmer over medium heat.
2. In a large, heavy saute pan, heat 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over high heat until very hot, but not quite smoking.
3. Add about 1/3 of the mushrooms, taking care not to crowd the pan. Saute the mushrooms over high heat until golden brown in spots, adding a small pinch of salt halfway through cooking.
4. Remove sauteed mushrooms with a slotted spoon and set aside, and repeat with the remaining mushrooms, adding the additional 2 tablespoons of olive oil per batch. Set mushrooms aside. Taste and correct for salt.
5. In a large saucier or pot set over medium heat, add the butter, the 1 tablespoon olive oil, and the finely chopped shallots. Cook and stir until the shallots are softened, 3-4 minutes (do not brown).
6. Add the rice. Stir until all of the rice grains are coated in the fat and have become translucent around the edges, about a minute.
7. Crank the heat to high and immediately add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth. Stir the rice, making sure you get into the corners of your pot with your spoon, so the rice doesn’t stick. Continue stirring until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Add another 1/2 cup of broth and keep stirring.
8. Continue adding the broth, 1/2 cup at a time, adding more only when the last 1/2 cup has been absorbed, until rice is al dente. (Depending on the rice, you may use all of the liquid, or you may have some liquid left over. Or you may need to add additional rice. Keep an eye on the rice, tasting a grain at a time if you need to, to determine when the rice is done.)
9. Stir in about three-quarters of the reserved sauteed mushrooms. Add the 1/3 cup Parmigiano, and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Taste and correct for salt.
10. To serve: spoon risotto into a bowl. Top with some of the remaining sauteed mushrooms, a sprinkle of chopped parsley, and a few grindings of black pepper. Serve with additional grated cheese on the side.

Chicken Soup with Homemade Pasta

This is a dish borne out of necessity. I am feeling a little sickly with a sore throat, so I thought a bit of homemade chicken soup couldn’t hurt. But I wanted noodles in my soup, dammit! Because it’s approximately 2 degrees outside, I really, really didn’t want to go to the store to get egg noodles. So, I searched and searched for an easy egg noodle recipe and came up with – Manfrigul. A specialty of the Romagna region of Italy, these babies are like little bits of chewy, noodle-y deliciousness very well suited to floating around in a chicken soup. And guess what? They don’t require a pasta maker!

Like the title suggests, this is a fairly easy recipe – “fairly” easy because I use split chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken, making the separation of the meat from the bones just a bit easier and the whole shebang just a bit quicker. You don’t have to make the homemade pasta, but trust me, they’re really not terrible to make. Because there aren’t a lot of various chicken parts in the recipe, the broth is on the lighter side. If you want a more robust broth, throw in some chicken necks, wings, or backs into the soup, or substitute low-sodium, high quality chicken stock for the water. The Parmesan cheese crust adds a bit more flavor. Oh, and you can make your pasta while your soup is simmering, just to give you something to do while you’re waiting.

One last thing. I have a serious, serious issue with mushy pasta in my chicken soup. I hate it. I hate mushy pasta in my soup almost as much as I hate the monopoly cinnamon has on apple-based desserts. Which is to say, seriously. So, what I do to remedy this situation is to cook the pasta separately from the soup. Some may say that you lose flavor that way, because pasta cooked in soup absorbs all of the soup-y goodness. Yes, this is true. But hear me out. I really like eating soup for a couple of days after I make it, since I usually make big batches. Pasta cooked in soup and then eaten the next day gets really mushy and is an abomination. Abomination, I say! (Feel free to ignore my ranting and cook your pasta directly in your soup.)

Manfrigul pasta. Looks a touch like corn.

The Manfrigul recipe is adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, a book that you should immediately buy and read cover-to-cover.

Ingredients:

For the soup:
1 small onion, peeled and cut into quarters
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into 3-4 large pieces
2 celery ribs, chopped into 3-4 large pieces
4-5 thyme sprigs
4-5 parsley sprigs
1 bay leaf
7-8 whole black peppercorns
2 gloves garlic, very papery outer skin removed (leave unpeeled)
1 teaspoon salt
2 bone-in chicken breasts (also called “split” chicken breasts)
4 quarts water
1 small Parmesan cheese crust, waxy outer coating scraped off with the back of a knife (optional)
Additional salt to taste
Freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for serving

For the pasta:
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more to (possibly) add to the dough and for kneading
2 eggs, lightly beaten with a fork

Procedure:

For the soup:

1. In a large dutch oven or similar vessel, add the onion, carrots, celery, thyme, parsley, bay leaf, peppercorns, garlic, and the salt. Pour in the 4 quarts of water. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Add the chicken breasts, and boil for 7-8 minutes. A bunch of grey-ish foam will rise to the surface. Skim the foam off and discard it.
2. Immediately turn the heat down to the lowest setting, and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the chicken breasts and let cool slightly. Leave the broth a-simmering.
4. Separate the meat from the chicken bones and set aside. Add the optional cheese crust and a pinch of salt. Return the chicken bones to the pot and continue to simmer for another 20 minutes.
5. Remove the carrots, celery, and onion. Chop the vegetables into bite-sized pieces.
6. Strain the soup through a fine-mesh strainer into a big bowl or similar vessel. Return the broth to the pot and add your chopped vegetables.
7. Shred the chicken with your fingers, or chop (however you like the chicken in your chicken soup) and add back to the pot.  Taste and correct for salt. (You will probably have to add quite a bit of salt at this stage. Don’t be afraid, unless you have a physical problem with salt. I guess you can be afraid if you do.)
8. Simmer away until you’re ready to cook your pasta.

Slicing the pasta disk

For the pasta:

1. Add the flour to a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in your beaten eggs. Using three fingers on your dominant hand (I’m serious), start pulling in a bit of flour from the “walls” of the well into the eggs. Mix it up a bit with those three fingers.
2. Continue pulling in flour and mixing with your fingers until a dough forms.
3. Add additional flour until the mixture starts to feel less sticky. It’s almost 100% likely that you will need to add additional flour, as the flour to egg ratio really varies according to humidity and the like in your kitchen. Just add a little bit of flour at a time – it’s so much easier to add more than to remove flour (which is, actually, impossible).
4. When you’re feeling pretty good about your dough, wash your hands, dry them really, really well, and stick your finger into the dough mass. It should come away fairly clean. Now, you knead.
5. Add just a bit of flour to your board. Start kneading your dough (fold it up, push it away with the heel of your hand, rotate a quarter turn either clockwise or counterclockwise, repeat). Knead for 7-8 minutes straight. At the end of this kneading, your dough should feel super soft, like a baby’s butt.
6. Pat the dough ball into a round about 1 1/2 inches tall. Spread a clean dishcloth out on your counter. Using a super sharp knife, cut the dough disk into very, very thin slices. As you cut a slice, transfer it to your waiting clean dishcloth. (Don’t be tempted to cut them all at once. They stick together and then you will have to re-form and pat out your dough ball. Trust me on this one.)
7. Dry your pasta slices, turning each of them a few times, until they’re no longer sticky (but not hard as a rock). This took about 30 minutes. (Note: I found that it was easier to cut the pasta slices into thin strips after they had dried for about a half an hour. Then I allowed the strips to dry an additional 5 minutes or so before proceeding to the next step.)
8. Using your sharp knife, chop the pasta slices into bits about the size of a piece of barley. You may need to separate some of your pasta bits from one another if your dough is still a bit sticky.  (You can also use a food processor for the chopping, according to Marcella, but I didn’t try it.)
9. Cook the Manfrigul in a bit of salted, boiling water (or in your soup, I suppose) for 5-7 minutes, or until they are tender. Add the pasta to your soup, top with grated Parmigiano, and enjoy (a little chopped parsley would be kind of nice, too).

Easy Two Bean Chili with Masa Harina

This is my go-to chili recipe. It’s simple, easy to make, and lends itself to other vegetable additions (like zucchini), and to variations in the type of beans in it. I always use local grass-fed ground beef – its flavor is so much…beefier, and it’s a lot leaner, too.

I ripped off the idea of adding masa harina to the chili from a good friend whose chili happens to be super delicious. The masa thickens the chili and adds an extra bit of savory depth of flavor. You can easily omit if you don’t happen to have masa on hand. (Don’t be tempted to use cornmeal. It won’t work, trust me.)  The only chili-related bone of contention in our household is what the consistency of chili should be. My husband likes it soupy. I like it a little thicker. Sometimes I compromise and make it the way he likes it. Sometimes. You can vary the consistency to your taste by omitting the water or adding an extra bit of masa harina (to make it thicker). Add a little more water, or omit a tablespoon or two of masa if you like it a little soupier.

The best thing about chili: it tastes so much better the next day, or even the day after that. It’s also really good with homemade tortillas. (Since you’re using masa harina anyway – why not?)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, finely chopped (ribs and seeds removed, if you don’t like spicy)
1 clove garlic
7 tablespoons good-quality chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 pound grass-fed ground beef
One 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, crushed with your hands (I use fire-roasted canned tomatoes)
One 24-ounce bottle tomato sauce (I like Bionaturae brand)
1/2 cup water (optional, see above)
2 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons dried masa harina, dissolved in 3 tablespoons water (optional)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Garnish: sour cream or yogurt, shredded cheese, chopped onions, cilantro (optional)

Procedure:

1. In a large, heavy pot, add the olive oil, onions, red bell pepper, and jalapeno over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until vegetables are soft, 6-7 minutes (do not brown).
2. Add the garlic and stir one minute.
3. Add the chili powder, cumin, and coriander, and stir one minute.
4. Add the ground beef, a good pinch of salt, and couple of grinds of black pepper. Break up the beef with a fork and continue cooking until the beef has lost most of its raw, red color.
5. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and optional water, and bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.
6. Add the kidney and the pinto beans. Simmer the chili for another 20 minutes. Taste and correct for salt.
7. Stir in the masa dissolved in water and bring back to a gentle boil. Turn down the heat and simmer an additional 5 minutes.
8. Serve with any or all garnishes listed above.