Rainy Day Gnocchi: Gnocchi di Patate; Gnocchi di Ricotta; Gnocchi di Zucca

Spent a rainy day here in New Mexico (it rains so infrequently here) making three different kinds of gnocchi: traditional potato/flour gnocchi; light and airy ricotta/flour gnocchi; and roasted butternut/flour gnocchi.

The recipe is basic for all three: start with your signature ingredient: boiled in skin, peeled and riced potatoes; a container of ricotta cheese; seeded, quartered, roasted, peeled and riced butternut squash.

To each add a little salt (add an optional dash of nutmeg to the ricotta and the butternut squash).

Add flour a little at a time and mix lightly with your hands until a moist uniform dough forms; do not knead or over mix. Let rest covered with a damp dish towel for ten minutes or so.

Work with pieces the size of an orange while the rest of the dough stays covered. make the dough onto a rope by rolling with the fingers and palms on a LIGHTLY floured board until the rope is about the thickness of a hot dog.

Cut the rope into about 1-inch pieces and score each gnocco with a fork, rolling the piece forward and making a dimple in each gnocco. Place on a tray and freeze or cook in boiling salted water until they float to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon, spider scoop or small strainer.

Little pillows of delectable goodness.

Serve with your favorite sauce: potato gnocchi with tomato sauce; ricotta gnocchi with butter and grated parmigiano; butternut gnocchi with browned butter and sage.


Here are the details:

Uncle Gregorio’s Gnocchi

Approximate proportions:  

3 lbs Idaho or Russet (baking) potatoes

1 lb of flour

salt

A potato ricer (A kitchen tool for pressing cooked potato through holes creating a course mash)

Wash and boil the potatoes whole with the skins till just cooked (a fork will just go through easily). Do not over-cook.  Allow the potatoes to cool then peal the skins off (the skins should slide off fairly easily).

Press potatoes through the ricer onto a floured board.

Add a little salt (about 1 tsp).

Add flour to the potatoes a cup or so at a time and mix gently by hand until the dough forms and is soft but not sticky – do not knead or over mix. 

Note: It is helpful to let the dough "rest" for 20-30 minutes so the flour absorbs moisture.

Cut off a piece of dough about the size of a large orange and using your palm and fingers roll the dough on the floured board forming a long “rope” about the diameter of a hot dog.

Cut the pasta rope into one-inch pieces and, still on the floured board, flick each of the gnocchi with your finger (or the back side of a fork) leaving an indentation in the center.   Place the gnocchi on dinner plates. Continue till you have used up all the dough. 

Boil a large pot of water, add salt. Boil batches of the gnocchi a plate-full at a time.  Slide the gnocchi gently off the plate into the boiling water and when the gnocchi rise to the surface, remove them with a strainer, spider, or slotted spoon. 

Place each batch in a bowl or serving dish into which you have ladled some of your favorite homemade tomato sauce.  Continue till all the gnocchi are cooked, adding more sauce as you add each batch. Serve immediately.

Instead of tomato sauce, toss with melted butter and Romano cheese.

Variation: Gnocchi di Ricotta

2 lbs ricotta cheese

All-purpose flour

Salt

Mix enough flour with the ricotta to make a soft light dough as with potatoes.

Make the gnocchi and cook as in the above recipe.

Turkey Tetrazzini alla Casa

My philosophy of cooking is that a recipe is merely a suggestion. 

Most everything I cook is del giorno (or d'jour for you French chefs) based on what I have on hand. Or alla Casa - the way I do it at my house.

We recently had Turkey Tetrazzini at a friends' home and it was delicious.  As I had leftover turkey from Christmas dinner, I figured I'd give it a try...sort of. I looked up recipes on the web. Ok, well, I use those as suggestions.

So I got a pot boiling for the fettuccine (had no egg noodles) and put some broccoli in the microwave to cook al dente. (We eat a lot of broccoli).

I just happened to have about a half pound of Baby Bella mushrooms (small Portabellas) so I sliced them up and put them into my cast iron skillet along with a sliced onion and two chopped cloves of garlic and plenty of olive oil. 

I also happened to have one small eggplant (I recalled Pasta alla Norma). So that got peeled, diced and sautéed in the skillet as well. As things got cooked to soft I added about two tablespoons of butter. (I never understand recipes that call for unsalted butter, then add salt) and let that melt into the mixture.

Olive oil, garlic, onion, mushrooms, eggplant

Then I added about two or three tablespoons of flour (I never measure) to coat the veggies and absorb the butter like doing a roux. I looked for an open bottle of white wine, alas I only had a little dry vermouth, about two fingers left in the bottle, so that got added and mixed in to begin the sauce. Then a large splash of 2% milk (cream is way too heavy for me). The sauce thickened. Added pieces of turkey meat to heat in the sauce.

We had a little take-out container of sour cream in the fridge, about three tablespoons, and that went in along with some more milk to thin the sauce as it was thickening.

I had about 1/3 of a container of ricotta cheese, so that too went into the sauce. A little salt and pepper and finally Turned off the heat and added a few tablespoons of grated parmigiano (or was that Romano cheese that I grated last week?)

Butter, Flour, Vermouth, Sour Cream, Milk, Ricotta

When the pasta was al dente I drained it over the broccoli in a large colander (to re-warm the broccoli) and returned it to the pot. I spooned the Tetrazzini sauce over it and tossed it well.

DINNER'S READY! 

More grated cheese at the table and Leon and I pigged out. Found some white wine in the garage (where it is cool).

I think we both went for thirds tonight. 

Served with Fettuccine and Broccoli

Someone's Paesano's Shrimp

A neighbor and friend raves about the Shrimp Paesano in San Antonio and laments that it is so far from Cochiti Lake. I decided to attempt the dish for him and found a number of recipes on line. I'll just say that it is not a fun recipe...it takes real precise timing to get the shrimp cooked but not over cooked while preparing the sauce and having the pasta done and ready to serve. And if you are on cholesterol medication, double the dose before consuming this dish. Two sticks of butter for four people! More than I generally use in a month.

Because this is not MY recipe, I'll just give the links to recipe variations.  http://www.grouprecipes.com/94879/shrimp-paesano.html

also http://www.cooks.com/recipe/9y08o0kb/shrimp-paesano.html

also https://andshecancook.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/paesanos-shrimp-for-ali/

also http://thechefinmyhead.blogspot.com/2010/01/shrimp-paesano-my-way.html

also http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/shrimp-paesano-52065981

also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nrBlPwRhnw&t=165s

Note that in the video, the cook does not use egg yolk in the sauce; the other recipes do. I tried it with the egg yolk.

Antipasto was breaded zucchini and pizza squares.

 Sautéing the shrimp that have been soaked in half-and-half and dredged in flour.

 Melting the butter into the lemon juice and egg yolk.

 Keep the shrimp hot under the broiler - but not too long.

 Served over capellini (angel hair) pasta

Forgot to get pictures of dessert which was fruit - lightly sugared strawberries with kiwi fruit and cantaloupe and lazy chef cannoli: broken waffle-style ice cream cones to dip in sweetened ricotta cheese with a dash of vanilla and generously sprinkled with mini-chocolate chips and topped with lemon zest.

Summer Salad "alla Carbonara"

Here's a quickie:

Decided to make a salad for a picnic. A pasta salad sounded good, but I hate making the traditional old elbows with a ton of mayonnaise.

Some of the items I had on hand were bow tie pasta (farfalle), boiled eggs, asparagus, pancetta, red onion, green olives, parsley, black pepper.

To the cooked pasta I added chopped red onion and cut up lightly sautéed/steamed asparagus, 4 cut up boiled eggs, black pepper and olive oil and tossed the whole thing together. Then I cut up some pancetta into square chunks and fried the pancetta in a little olive oil and garlic and fresh ground black pepper till it was chewy/crispy.

Add the pancetta to the salad along with some halved green olives and some fresh parsley. Drizzle a bit more olive oil on top and toss.

Pasta Salad alla Carbonara

Another Variation On The Classic Carbonara (With Asparagus, Eggs and Pancetta)

I've done Carbonara before with step-by-step photos.  (Click on the Link)

Here is another variation - this time, instead of adding mushrooms (which is not the Classic Recipe either - the classic is just olive oil, pancetta and eggs and black pepper) I've added asparagus which is in the markets now, thanks to springtime in South America, I presume.

Asparagus is a perfect companion to eggs and "bacon" - in this case, pancetta.

I sautéed the garlic and the diced pancetta.

(DO NOT USE BACON!!!! Nothing imparts the saltiness and taste of real pancetta and smoked bacon is just nasty in this dish)

Then I added the asparagus which I had cut into about one-inch pieces and let them cook "al dente" - no mushy asparagus here.

I had prepped the eggs, beaten them well with black pepper and had the pot of water boiling with the pasta. Use spaghetti, linguini, white or whole wheat, even fettuccine. Work quickly to get all the ingredients ready at the same time. Drain the pasta and toss immediately into the beaten eggs. Add in the asparagus and pancetta garlic sauce.

Sprinkle on grated Romano or Parmigiano cheese.

Dinner was ready! And so were we!

I cooked almost a pound of linguini and Leon and I ate ALMOST the whole bowl. Benni had the rest.

Carbonara is perhaps my favorite pasta dish next to traditional tomato sauce with meatballs, sausage and pork.

YUM!

Shrimp & Orzo; Zucchini & Fresh Tomato Salsa - Party Leftovers Into A Meal

Sorry, we ate the whole thing before I even thought about posting this, so there are no photos. 

On Labor Day we had a a houseful of folks over for cookout and a kind of pot-luck.  People brought salads, desserts, appetizers and there was a lot of stuff left.

I had made "Italian Salsa" to go with the corn chips: diced fresh garden tomatoes, garlic, finely diced jalapeños, parsley, basil (NO CILANTRO) and a little sugar.

My cousin Rose had made a nice casserole of orzo and there was a good portion left.

Another guest brought cooked shrimp and there were 12 - 18 shrimp left.

There was a plastic container with lots of sliced onions untouched by the burger lovers.

I'll make it brief. This is just an example of how you might create something wonderful from what's in the fridge. And it was done in less than thirty minutes - probably closer to twenty.

My cooking mind went to work, thinking basically "shrimp" "garlic" "orzo" but I needed a vegetable:

I put a handful of sliced onion into a skillet with a little olive oil to sauté.

[I'm not sure anything I cook is sautéed as the flame is always on "high" - as the song goes: I never do anything "Nice" and "Easy" just "Nice" and "Rough"]

I went out to the garden to get swiss chard but instead decided on two medium size zucchinis. I cut them up and tossed them in with the onion. Let them cook a bit, even get just a little golden color on some of the zucchini slices.

Ah! I remembered the Italian Salsa, so I put two or three ladles of that juicy tomato and jalapeño and basil mixture in to cook with zucchini.

While that simmered, I peeled and chopped some garlic, sautéed that in olive oil and tossed in the left over cooked shrimp and let them get good and garlicky.

Then I added a couple of ladles of orzo with a little water so it would steam-heat. I kept stirring it all so it wouldn't burn.

When it was heated through we had delicious zucchini with tomato-jalapeño and garlic shrimp with orzo.

Didn't matter if the zucchini mixed in with the shrimp and orzo because it was even better that way than keeping each separately! A little parmesan cheese on top. Yum.

Oh, was that good!

So, have a party! Use up those left-overs! Be creative! Dinner's ready!

Home Made Egg Noodles with Cauliflower and Tuna

Pasta all'uovo con Cavolfiore e Tonno.

I had intended to make a tuna noodle casserole tonight but didn't get to the market for noodles and cream of mushroom soup. Actually I was going to use fresh mushrooms to avoid any additives and fat that might be in canned soup unless it was labeled "organic and all natural" which my local IGA does not specialize in.

So I decided to use what I had on hand - and ended up skipping the casserole all together.

Now I haven't made home made egg noodles in a long time, but it is really easy. The hardest part is cleaning up. Although I try to keep flour confined to a small area, I tend to be a bit messy and, well, there's white all over the counter and me.

To get back to what I did have on hand: Eggs, flour, canned tuna,  a nice big cauliflower, garlic of course, red pepper flakes, olive oil, Italian flavored bread crumbs.

So I decided on home made egg noodles with cauliflower and tuna. To be honest I had some doubts about how this combination would taste, especially after I added the tuna...

I didn't take pictures while I was cooking - only the final dish - nor did I measure it all out. If you need details on home made egg noodle manufacturing you can check out  How to make egg noodles at this website.

I used 3 large eggs and about 2 to 2.5 cups of flour. Just break the eggs into the mound of flour and stir with a fork until the flour is incorporated a little at a time. Continue until a a soft/stiff dough forms, just past the sticky stage. Let the dough rest a few minutes, roll out thin (1/8 inch or less) on a well floured board, cut into strips or squares. Do not pile up the noodles - keep them separated and lightly floured until ready to cook.

This amount  turned out to be enough for four people or three hungry people. We had leftovers again. Here's the rest of the recipe.

Cut up the cauliflower and immerse the florets in a pot of boiling, salted water for about 4 minutes and removed all the florets with a slotted spoon and set them aside. Keep the pot boiling.

Saute two or three cloves of garlic in some olive oil - enough to cover the bottom of a large cast iron skillet - and add a good teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Cook on high heat until the garlic just begins to brown, lower heat and add three cans of tuna, drained. You don't want to fry the tuna - just heat it through. Add the cauliflower and toss it well to coat the cauliflower with the garlic oil.

Put the noodles into the salted boiling water and cook until two or three minutes after the noodles come to the surface. Remove noodles with a slotted spoon into serving dishes and top with the cauliflower and tuna mixture. Add a little pasta water to make a "sauce" and top with a dusting of Italian bread crumbs which give just enough flavor to make this dish actually better than I had anticipated.

Another simple, delicious and nutritious meal. Dinner's ready! Buon appetito!

Ratatouille and Sausage with Pasta

Diced onion, peeled and diced eggplant, diced zucchini, diced mushrooms (optional) diced garlic.   This all goes into a hot skillet with olive oil, (in batches if making a lot).  Return everything to the skillet, add salt, pepper, parsley and basil.  Add canned tomatoes or tomato puree.

Serve with whole wheat pasta and fried Italian sausages.

Pasta With Bacon and Eggs? OR Linguine alla Carbonara con Funghi

I know I've done this one before, but it was almost a year ago and is worth repeating, I think.  At least it's worth having again.

This is called Carbonara (I won't explain the origin of the term, if you're interested, you can check Wikipedia HERE).  I first learned about this dish from the Romagnoli's Table, a Public TV Cooking Show in the early/mid seventies.

If you go to most any "Italian" restaurant today and order Spaghetti alla Carbonara, you will get a dish loaded with cream and very heavy.  The Romagnoli's recipe does not call for cream and all the flavors of the pancetta, black pepper, egg, and cheese create a delightfully salty-meaty-slightly sweet taste on the palette.

I have been known to tinker with a good thing, adding some other favored ingredient, like mushrooms.

So here is my Linguini alla Carbonara con Funghi: You will need Spaghetti or linguini, pancetta (Italian bacon, NOT smoked), olive oil, garlic, Crimini (Baby Bella) mushrooms, black pepper, eggs.  So  bacon and eggs are not just for breakfast anymore.

I'm trying to be more healthy, so I'm using whole grain pasta.  Whole wheat pasta used to be heavy and chewy, but now Barilla makes a good whole grain pasta that tastes and feels like white pasta.

Put your pot of salted water on to boil.

Cover the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil, saute some garlic in it.

Pancetta

Dice up five or six thick slices of pancetta and add to the skillet.  Saute until browned slightly, not really to a crisp.  Remove the pancetta from the skillet, leave the oil and drippings.

Cut up 8 oz of Crimini mushrooms (you can use white mushrooms, but the Baby Bellas have a nice meaty taste.  Add the mushrooms to the skillet and saute in the oil/pancetta fat left in the pan.  Add more olive oil if needed.  When the mushrooms are cooked through and tender, return the pancetta to the skillet.  Keep warm.

Now the water should be boiling so you can throw in a pound of pasta.  Set your timer for al dente.

Meanwhile crack 2 or 3 eggs in a large bowl and beat them well with a whisk.  Add fresh ground black pepper.  Add a little more pepper.  Whisk.

When the pasta is done, drain it in a colander and IMMEDIATELY toss it with the beaten egg mixture which will be cooked by the hot pasta.  Really, it's OK.  I'm not dead yet.

Add the mushrooms and pancetta and toss again.

Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese.

Benissimo!
AS GOOD AS THIS IS, IT IS NOT GOOD AS A LEFT-OVER!

Pasta e Fagioli in 15 Minutes or Less

As if there weren't enough dialects in Italy,American-Italians had to invent another one.  You've heard of Pasta Fazool? The sound of that hurts my ears.

Anyhow, here's a very quick recipe that is actually very good.  I'm not a big fan of canned soups with the large amount of sodium, corn syrup and who knows what else, but Progresso Tomato Soup is good, even if it does have some questionable ingredients.

Get some olive oil and garlic going in a skillet.

Open some cannellini beans and a can of Tomato Soup....no, no, not the Campbell's...

Boil a third to a half pound of pasta like the box says - Choose a shape that will fit in a spoon, like elbows or shells.  I swear, the shape does make a difference in the taste of any pasta dish!  I'm using shells here.

Put the can of beans into the oil and garlic, add fresh black pepper, a bit of oregano.  Heat through for a few minutes.

When the pasta is done, drain it; return it to the pot and combine it with the beans and the tomato soup.  Add some fresh basil.  Bring to a simmer for a few minutes.

Serve with grated parmigiano cheese.

Lunch is ready!

Traditional Christmas Lasagna

We almost always had lasagna for Christmas when mom and dad were with us.

This is a actually a simple dish, but it takes a few minutes to assemble.

Start with a good tomato sauce, we use a meat sauce made with beef or meatballs, sausage and roast pork cooked in tomato/ tomato puree as I've described elsewhere.

This holiday I made three pounds of lasagna, with three pounds of ricotta, a pound and a half of mozzarella  and probably 4 sixteen ounce cans/jars of tomato.  I don't bother with tomato paste as the puree is really fine for the job.  (Tomato paste is really just condensed and preserved tomato puree to reconstitute when making sauce).

In addition to sauce you'll need: Pasta, Ricotta cheese, Eggs (one per pound of ricotta), grated Romano or parmigiano cheese, salt, pepper, dash of nutmeg, shredded mozzarella.  Combine ricotta, eggs, grated cheese, seasoning.  Cook pasta.  Layer sauce, pasta, ricotta mixture, mozzarella, sauce, pasta, etc.  Top the last layer of pasta with sauce, mozzarella and parmigiano.  Cover with foil and bake at 350.  Lasagna ALWAYS takes longer to heat through than it should.

Note the Ricotta in a tin - the way it used to be sold
before plastic containers

 Unfortunately I forgot to get pictures of the assembly or the finished product before it was half gone...

Dessert was Mom's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Discordant Courses

Some foods that are perfectly good, just don't complement one another.  But given what's in the fridge and garden, they make their way to the table.  Tonight's dinner was a composition of green bean and tomato salad with basil (all from the garden), swiss chard (from the garden) with beans and sausage and some homemade sweet potato gnocchi that were in the freezer and needed to get cooked.

The three made for a rather discordant melody of flavors.  Oh, well.  We're not starving.

Colorful Garden Bean and Tomato Salad

Swiss Chard, Cannellini Beans and Sausage
(See Escarole and Beans elsewhere on this blog)

Sweet Potato Gnocchi
(see recipe elsewhere on this blog)

The Sum of the Parts

Pasta alla Prima Verdura - First Vegetables of Summer

Pasta, First Vegetables of Summer as we don't really get vegetables in the "Primavera"

We had this tonight, but I made it yesterday except for the actual pasta.  It's a variation on chicken cacciatore or chicken with peppers.  It takes a few pots and pans.

First fry up some chicken parts - I used chicken legs and some boneless breast.  Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder while cooking.  Cook thoroughly but do not overcook.  Also fry up some Italian sausages.

In a large saucepan add a half to two thirds or all of a can of tomato puree or for a lighter sauce, use whole or crushed tomatoes.  Add four or five leaves of fresh basil.  Add the chicken and sausage and bring to a simmer.

In a separate pot saute some garlic in olive oil.  Add a sliced onion.  Then add a medium zucchini or a small zucchini and a small yellow squash.  Add two or three handfuls of green beans (stringless, Romano, yellow or any other variety - I mixed all of the aforementioned) cleaned and cut in half.  Stir the veggies occasionally while cooking over medium/high heat.  They should produce a bit of their own juices to steam in but do not overcook.

Once the vegetables are steamed through, add them to the tomato/chicken/sausage sauce.  Simmer until the chicken is easily removed from the bone.

Serve over pasta.  Garnish with shredded mozzarella and parmesan.