Tag Archives: Italian

Pesto Trapanese

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Tis the Season

It’s the dead of Winter here in Chicago. As I write this, it’s 3* and the wind chill is well south of 0*. If ever there was a time for comfort food, this would be it. Most often, that would mean a stew or soup or a baked casserole of some sort — lasagna comes to mind. This time around, however, I’m going in a different direction altogether. I need me some Summertime and its name is Pesto Trapanese.

I first saw Lidia Bastianich, of Lidia’s Italy fame, prepare pesto Trapanese and it has since become a Summer staple of my diet. Like so many of her recipes, a few simple, fresh ingredients are combined to create authentic Italian fare. This dish, in particular, has many of the same ingredients of a fine marinara, with one critical difference. It is a pesto and, therefore, not cooked. The result is a pasta dish that screams “Summer!” Literally prepared in minutes, the flavors are fresh, like you just picked the basil and cherry tomatoes moments before — and come August, that is exactly what I do. So, when Winter’s winds howl and “Snow” is mentioned in just about every weather forecast, I turn to pesto Trapanese for my escape and it’s Summer in the City  — well, for one meal, anyway.

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Pesto Trapanese Recipe

Ingredients

Fresh Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup slivered, blanched almonds
  • 2 1/2 cups (3/4 lb.) cherry tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup whole basil leaves
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • pinch red pepper flakes, more to taste
  • 1 pepperoncini, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 lb cooked pasta (spaghetti or linguine)
  • 1/2 cup “pasta water,” held in reserve if needed
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Summer on a Plate

Directions

  1. Toast almonds over medium heat in frying pan atop stove, 2 – 4 minutes.
  2. Add almonds, cherry tomatoes, basil, garlic, salt, red pepper flakes, & pepperoncini into food processor or blender and run for about 1 minute.
  3. Remove spout and gradually add olive oil until fully incorporated.
  4. Mix with cooked pasta. Add some/all of reserved pasta water if pesto is too thick.
  5. Add grated cheese, mix well, and serve immediately.

Notes

  • Pesto may be made in advance and reserved for a couple of hours at room temperature, before being added to freshly cooked pasta. If its use is delayed longer than that, it should be refrigerated and may be kept up to 2 days.

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Passatini

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Passatini Soup

Let me start this post by stating that, when I was a boy, my Mom was the coolest Mom on the block. After I’d spent a morning hard at play, manufacturing Creepy Crawlers with my Mattel Thingmaker, guess what she served for lunch? Worms. That’s right, WORMS! How cool was that? Granted, we didn’t have actual worms for lunch but we did have passatini, a far more appetizing and tasty alternative. Sometimes called passatelli, passatini are noodles, of a sort, made with bread crumbs & cheese instead of flour and lightly flavored with lemon rind and nutmeg. The noodles themselves are extruded using a special press, a large-holed ricer, or a meat grinder. Once made, they can be added immediately to a pot of boiling stock or placed in single layers on baking sheets to be frozen. After a couple of hours, the now-frozen passatini may be gently placed into a container and stored in an area of the freezer where they won’t be disturbed. As you may have guessed, these noodles are more delicate than most and care needs to be taken when storing them. On the other hand, this recipe can be halved easily, thereby eliminating the need for freezing altogether. Whether freshly made or previously frozen, a steaming bowl of passatini is a meal fit for the coldest of Winter’s days. And if you happen to be serving children of a certain age, you, too, can be as cool as my Mom.

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Passatini Recipe

total time: approx.  30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 cups bread crumbs
  • 1 to 1 1/2 cups grated cheese (parmesan or romano)
  • 1/2 tbsp lemon rind
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • chicken stock (vegetable stock may be substituted for a vegetarian diet)
  • grated cheese for serving

Freshly Pressed

Directions

  1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. Add eggs and mix until a dough is formed. (I use my stand mixer and paddle attachment.)
  3. Form into a ball, cover, and let dough rest for 10 minutes.
  4. Using a large-holed potato ricer or meat grinder, extrude the passatini and place in a single layer on baking sheets, to be used immediately or frozen for later use, as explained in my comments above.
  5. Bring a pot of stock to boil, add the passatini, and reduce to a medium simmer. When the passatini begin to float, cook for 3 to 4 minutes more and serve.
  6. Be sure to have grated cheese available for you and your dinner companions.

Variations

I’ve seen recipes for passatini that include ground meat and even bone marrow, although I’ve never tasted them prepared in that way. I like my worms just the way they are.

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Marinara Sauce

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Spaghetti Squash Marinara

It seems that there are as many marinara sauces as there are cooks on TV. Everyone has a version and all that I’ve tried are equally good. Today I’d like to share a recipe that I learned from a PBS cooking show some 20 years ago.  I’ve long-since forgotten the show/chef’s name but I learned this marinara to serve with a very special lasagna. (You can find the lasagna recipe HERE.) Like any good marinara, this sauce can be used in any number of dishes.

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Marinara Sauce Recipe

total time: approx.  1:45

Ingredients

  • 1 – 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 – 15 oz can tomato sauce
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 3 carrots, diced or grated
  • 1 celery stalk, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 tsp dried marjoram
  • 1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 cup dry red wine

Directions

  1. Add oil to a medium sauce pan and heat over a medium-high heat. Add pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes.
  2. Place carrots, celery, and onion into a food processor and run until well-chopped. (This will prevent large chunks of carrot, celery, or onion in your sauce.)
  3. Add chopped carrots, onion, & celery to the pan and sauté until the mixture just begin to caramelize, about 8 to 10 minutes. (If you like, add sliced mushrooms midway through.)
  4. Add garlic, season with salt, pepper, & parsley and sauté for 2 minutes.
  5. Add crushed tomatoes, sauce, marjoram and wine. Stir to thoroughly combine.
  6. Bring to boil, reduce to a soft simmer, and cover.
  7. After 45 minutes, remove cover and continue to simmer for another 45 minutes.
  8. Add basil just prior to serving.

Variations

This sauce originally accompanied a lasagna recipe that included mushrooms. That’s why mushrooms aren’t among its ingredients. If you intend to use this recipe for something other than that particular lasagna recipe, feel free to add mushrooms –sliced or otherwise — about 5 minutes after the carrot, onion, & celery have been added. Continue sautéing as indicated above.

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Gobbi (Cardoni)

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Whether you call them gobbi, cardoni or cardi, in Italian, or cardoons, in English, this vegetable may look like celery — on steroids! — but don’t be fooled. Gobbi are actually a distant cousin of artichokes and their tastes are surprisingly similar. Moreover, like the artichoke, gobbi have thistle-like characteristics which must be dealt with before serving.

Gobbi

To begin, you may need to discard one or two of the outer stalks if they are too large or have been badly bruised. Like celery, the inner stalks of the bunch will grow lighter in color and more leafy as you get closer to the center. Although some may enjoy the leaves, my family does not and trims them away. The back of the stalks have long filaments or strands running their full length, similar to celery. These, too, may be trimmed and a vegetable peeler can handle them. The last parts of the vegetable to be trimmed are the stalks’ edges. A knife or vegetable peeler will get the job done. Once a stalk is trimmed, it should be cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces and then placed in a bowl of cold, acidulated water. (That’s a fancy term for water into which the juice of a couple of lemons has been added.) This will help keep the pieces from turning brown as you trim the remaining stalks. Once trimmed, you’ll need to address gobbi’s inherent bitterness, which reportedly grows stronger as the plant matures. This can be easily countered by blanching the pieces in boiling, salted water. The length of time required depends upon your taste preference, for the longer they’re blanched, the less bitter they become. You may wish to let them go until they are just about fork-tender. Personally, I don’t mind a little of the bitterness to remain. The rest of the recipe is easy enough to follow.

If you’ve glanced at the recipe below, you may have noticed that it is practically the same as was described in an entry that detailed Mom’s method of cooking Vegetables. So, why a separate post for this one? Well, gobbi are seasonal, arriving in groceries & markets around Thanksgiving and leaving shortly after New Year’s Day. Whenever I see it, I’m reminded of the Christmases of my youth. Unfortunately, it’s been some time since I’ve come across gobbi in a supermarket, the last being 4 or 5 years ago. That time, I bought what little was available and shared my find with Zia. This year, out of the blue, I found it in no less than 4 markets. Why the sudden surge in availability is beyond me but I did take advantage of the situation. As often as I could, I bought some, cleaned & blanched it, and then froze it for future meals. Admittedly, I may have overdone it but, then again, who knows whether it will be back next year? I might as well feast on it while I can. Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be sure to bring some to Zia, too.

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Gobbi Recipe

total time: approx. 30 minutes (includes prep time)

Ingredients

  • 1 head of gobbi, trimmed, cut, & soaking in acidulated water
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • salt & pepper, to taste

Gobbi Sautéed with Tomato & Garlic

Directions

  1. Place gobbi into a large pot of boiling, salted water. Return to boil and then reduce to a gentle simmer.
  2. When the gobbi has reached the desired tenderness and taste, remove from heat and drain away the water. To retain its green color, the gobbi may be placed immediately into an ice bath.
  3. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for no more than two minutes before adding the blanched gobbi. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
  4. Continue cooking until the gobbi are fork-tender and heated through.
  5. Serve immediately.

Variations

  • The recipe, as written, is pretty straight-forward. I like to include a little tomato, “for color.” Just after adding garlic to the frying pan, I’ll add either some diced tomato, a little tomato paste, or, as pictured above, a few cherry/grape tomatoes that have been halved. A little chopped onion or shallot may be added, as well, but if you do,  sauté them for a few minutes before adding the garlic.

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Fiocchetti

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Fiocchetti

I was trying to find a recipe when I ran across one that I hadn’t thought about or tasted in decades. Fiocchetti are a sweet treat that Mom would make for us kids on occasion and I’ve just learned that they’re a popular item throughout Italy during Carnivale. (Who knew?) Depending upon where you are in Italy, fiocchetti  may be called: “chiacchiere”, “manzòle”, “bugie”, or “risole”. No matter what you call them, basically, they’re all the same: thin strips of sweetened dough that are deep-fried and coated with sugar. After reading that description, you can probably guess why Mom only made them for us “on occasion” and no more often than that.

“Fiocchi”

The word fiocchetti is derived from the word fioccho (pl. fiocchi) or ribbon(s). The strips, if left alone before frying, do indeed look like pieces of ribbon. Mom, however, would pinch each strip in its center, making them look like over-sized farfalle. She referred to them as either angel wings or bow ties. I can remember eating one, alone in my room, that I had stolen from the stove top while Mom was distracted. (Yeah, like a six-year-old would be able to pull off anything in that kitchen with Mom standing right there.) It was a recurring theme in our house. Mom would be cooking some treat and we three juveniles would be falling over each other trying to steal away a sample or two. It’s a wonder that any of them ever made it to the table.

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Fiocchetti Recipe

total time: about 90 minutes, includes 60 minutes for dough to rest.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus as much as 1/4 cup more
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 tbsp rum
  • 1 tbsp confectioners sugar
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • oil for frying
  • additional confectioners sugar

Directions

  1. Mix together all ingredients and combine as if making pasta. Form a large ball.
  2. Put 1/4 c flour on work surface and knead dough, using as much of the flour as necessary to create a smooth and shiny dough. This should take about 10 minutes
  3. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
  4. Roll out dough until very thin and cut into strips about 6 inches long and from 1 to  3  inches wide, depending on your preference. If you like, pinch the center of each strip to create a bow-like shape.
  5. Deep fry in hot oil that has reached 350*. It should only take a minute or two for them to turn golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.
  6. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar before serving.

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Mom’s Chicken (that’s not really) Cacciatore

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I Dig It Mom's Way

Traditionally, pollo alla cacciatore (hunter-style chicken) features chicken, pan-braised in a tomato sauce with mushrooms, served over pasta, very often spaghetti. I say “traditionally” because this is not the cacciatore Mom made. Her recipe did not result in a tomato sauce and Mom never served this dish over pasta. Although I will agree with the purists who’ll be quick to point out that this is not a true cacciatore, I very much prefer it Mom’s way if, for no other reason, than that I already make a number of tomato-based sauces. Making another one with chicken holds little interest for me. All of this doesn’t mean that tomatoes aren’t used in this recipe. I’ll add a diced tomato or about a tbsp of tomato paste “for color,” as Mom would say. Additionally, this recipe uses chicken thighs with the skin-on and bone-in because the combination adds so much flavor to the final dish. Of course, you may use whatever chicken parts you wish, with or without skin or bones, but your choices may affect cooking times. Use an instant read thermometer when in doubt. If you do not wish to use wine, one cup of chicken broth/stock may be substituted.

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Mom’s Chicken (that’s not really) Cacciatore Recipe

total time: about 75 minutes.

yield: 5 or 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg chicken thighs (5 or 6 thighs), with bone-in and skin-on
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 slices of bacon (or 1/4 lb. of pancetta),  chopped
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 large yellow or sweet onion, halved and sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1 bell pepper, cut into strips
  • 8 oz. crimini or button mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 tomato, diced, or 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 – 3 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 cup white wine (or low-sodium chicken stock/broth)
  • 3 tbsp capers (optional)
  • 3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
  • salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

  1. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan with lid over medium heat. Add bacon/pancetta and cook until crisp and the fat is rendered. Remove meat from pan and drain over paper towels.
  2. Meanwhile, season chicken with salt & pepper. Place flour in a plastic bag, place 2 chicken pieces in bag, and shake to coat. Remove chicken to a plate and repeat until all the chicken is coated with flour.
  3. Once the bacon/pancetta has been removed from the frying pan, increase the heat to medium-high and add the chicken pieces, skin-side down. Sauté until chicken is lightly browned, about 5 – 6 minutes, turn the chicken pieces over, and sauté until they, too, are lightly browned — another 5 minutes or so. Remove chicken to a plate.
  4. Remove all but about 3 tbsp of oil from the frying pan. Add the onion and begin sautéing. Lightly season with salt & pepper. Use a wooden spoon to clean the pan’s bottom of the brown bits. (These are where the flavor is.)
  5. After about 5 minutes, add the garlic & bell peppers and continue sautéing.
  6. After 5 minutes more, add the mushrooms.
  7. 5 minutes later, add the tomato/paste and sauté for 2 – 3 minutes. Season lightly with salt & pepper.
  8. Return the bacon/pancetta to the pan, season with the rosemary, return the chicken to the pan, and add the wine.
  9. Bring the pan to a boil before covering and reducing heat to medium-low.
  10. Continue cooking for 45 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. (Use an instant read thermometer if in doubt.) Periodically, throughout the cooking, slightly shift the chicken pieces to prevent their sticking/burning. If the pan looks too dry, add a little water/chicken broth.  A few minutes before serving, sprinkle the capers over the pan’s contents. Taste the sauce to see if salt or pepper is needed.
  11. When finished cooking, remove to a serving platter and garnish with parsley.

Variations

Strictly speaking, I do not have any variations for this recipe. It’s pretty much the same recipe that Mom used. Where we part ways is in the serving. As was mentioned earlier, Mom never served her cacciatore over pasta.  On the other hand, I’m a pasta fanatic and I’m always on the look-out for ways to include pasta in a meal. For me, this recipe is delicious when served over wide noodles that have been buttered and lightly sprinkled with freshly chopped parsley. And on those extremely rare occasions when I’m not in a pasta mood, I’ll serve it atop polenta. Either way is aces in my book.

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Cherry Tomato Sauce

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Grape Tomatoes

After years of renting, buying my home meant that I could finally grow tomatoes and, for the first few Summers, I grew only Roma (plum) tomatoes. Come August, I’d start making pasta sauce using my very own crop. I never had enough of them to make a big pot of Bolognese, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make a sauce. Several years later, I started growing cherry tomatoes along with the Romas. I soon learned that these little tomatoes made a very good sauce and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Before getting to the recipe, let’s talk about some of the ingredients. The recipe starts off with the rendering of either bacon or pancetta. I keep both in my freezer door. If I wish to use bacon for this recipe, I unwrap one end of the bacon package and, with a sharp knife, cut three or four 1/3 inch strips off of the end. When cooked, these will separate into smaller pieces, similar to lardons. When I buy pancetta, I ask for two or three slices about 1/3 of an inch thick, but what I actually receive are slices anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. For this recipe, I use 1 or 2 pancetta slices, depending upon their thickness. Speaking of bacon, it is a source of salt for this recipe, as is the pasta water added in the end. This is why I do not salt the dish until the very end. Similarly, the red pepper flakes bring heat and I wait before using any pepper in the dish.  As for the tomatoes, I’ve used a variety of types with this recipe. The advantage of using cherry or grape tomatoes, however, is that they are relatively good tasting all year-round, unlike their normal-sized cousins. As for the rest of the ingredients, use as much or as little as you like. In other words, make the recipe your own. Vegetarians, for example, would omit the bacon/pancetta but may need to add another tbsp of olive oil. And lastly, as always, the wine is optional.

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Cherry/Grape Tomato Pasta Sauce Recipe

total time: approx.  30 – 45 minutes

Ingredients

Grape Tomato Sauce

  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes, or more to taste
  • 2 – 3 slices of bacon, or, 1 or 2 slices of pancetta, diced large – omit if vegetarian
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 3 – 4 cloves garlic, diced or grated
  • 3 oz. (approx) red wine
  • 6 or 7 button or crimini mushrooms, sliced, or more to taste
  • 2 – 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 – 3 cups cherry tomatoes (approx 3/4 lbs), grape tomatoes may be substituted
  • 3 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
  • 3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped – more for garnish
  • grated parmesan cheese
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • 1 lb pasta

Simmering Sauce

Directions

  1. Fill a large pot (at least 4 quarts) with water and place over high heat. Once boiling, add salt and cook your pasta, timing it to be ready when the sauce is cooked to your liking. The pasta should be slightly undercooked and will finish cooking when it is mixed with the sauce. Reserve 1 cup of the water in which the pasta was cooked.
  2. Place olive oil in a frying pan and heat over medium-high heat.
  3. Add pepper flakes to frying pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add the bacon/pancetta and cook until fully rendered, about 6 minutes — less if not frozen.
  4. Add onions and cook until translucent, about 5 – 7 minutes.
  5. Add garlic and continue cooking for no more than 1 minute. Do not burn the garlic.
  6. Add the wine and reduce until most has evaporated.
  7. Add mushrooms and sauté for about 5 more minutes.
  8. Add tomato paste and sauté until the air is scented with the smell of roasted tomatoes, about 2 – 3 minutes.
  9. Add the tomatoes, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low.
  10. Check the pan after about 5 minutes to see if the tomatoes have started to burst. When about 1/3 of them have burst, use a potato masher or broad wooden spoon to carefully smash all the tomatoes. The tomato juices are very hot and will burn if allowed to squirt on you.

    Pasta Fresca

  11. The sauce is now ready when you are. Its taste will vary depending upon how long you allow the tomatoes to cook.
  12. Add the basil and parsley and stir. If necessary, add some of the reserved pasta water so that your sauce has the consistency that you prefer.
  13. Season with salt & pepper, to taste.
  14. Add the cooked pasta to the frying pan, mix to coat, and cook until pasta is al dente, about 1 – 2 minutes.
  15. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley and parmesan cheese.

Variations

I’ve seen variations of this recipe prepared by a few of TV’s chefs. Rachael Ray added a twist that I first saw a few years ago. She roasted the tomatoes before adding them to the other ingredients. Although I do not remember her specifics, I pre-heat my oven to 425*, place the cherry tomatoes on a baking sheet, sprinkle them with a little olive oil, and mix them by hand to help coat them all with the oil. The tray is placed in the oven and the tomatoes roasted for about 20 minutes or until they burst. I then remove the tray from the oven and add its contents to the frying pan instead of the raw tomatoes. This is an alternative definitely worth trying.

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Spinach-Ricotta Stuffed Shells

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New ShellsLet me be clear about something. I love stuffed pasta shells. A cinch to make, they are the perfect blend of ricotta cheese, spinach, & pasta. I realize that some may feel that the same could be said for lasagna and they’d be correct, for the most part. My family’s lasagna recipe, however, doesn’t include ricotta, making it relatively unique, as far as lasagna goes. What’s more, we use very little ricotta in other recipes so these shells are a real stand out. In my last post, I described making ricotta and shared a recipe that yields about 2 pounds of the cheese. Well, that’s a lot of ricotta, as I soon found out. When all was said and done,  I had filled four 9 x 9″ aluminum cake pans with 12 shells apiece. (1 tray was destined for the oven; 2 for delivery to friends; and 1 was frozen.) I used that cooking experience as a guide for today’s recipe and halved the recipe, using 1 pound of ricotta. By the way, if you’re vegetarian or limiting red meat in your diet, use a marinara sauce instead of one with meat.

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Spinach-Ricotta Stuffed Shells Recipe

total time: about 90 minutes. yield: about 24 shells.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound fresh ricotta (1/2 of home-made ricotta recipe)
  • 1 – 10 oz. pkg frozen chopped spinach, cooked and well-drained
  • 1 c grated parmesan cheese
  • 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 quart pasta sauce, marinara or meat-based
  • water
  • 1 box jumbo pasta shells, cooked following package directions, reserved in cold water.
  • 1 cup grated mozzarella, or more to taste

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350*. Butter one9 x 13″ baking dish/pan.
  2. Place ricotta, spinach, parmesan cheese, eggs, salt, and nutmeg into a bowl and combine, either by hand or using a stand mixer, until well-blended.
  3. Add about 2/3 of the sauce to the baking dish with a little water.
  4. One by one, fill each shell with 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp of the filling mixture and place in the baking dish.
  5. When the tray is filled, drizzle remaining sauce over the tops of the stuffed shells. Sprinkle with mozzarella and cover with aluminum foil.
  6. Place on oven’s center rack and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 15 minutes more.
  7. Remove from oven, let rest at least 5 minutes, and serve.

Variations Instead of spinach, cooked & chopped Swiss chard or broccoli rabe (rapini) may be added to the cheese before stuffing the shells. For a cheesier dish, use a few tablespoons of chopped, fresh basil or parsley in place of the spinach.

Notes

Extra shells may be frozen using either of 2 methods:

  1. Perhaps the easiest way to freeze them is to place the stuffed shells on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Place the tray in the freezer and, after at least 2 hours, remove the shells and place in a container suitable for storage in the freezer. I wouldn’t suggest freezer bags because the pasta shells get rigid when frozen and bags may not offer enough protection. When you wish to cook them, treat the frozen shells as you would fresh and place them in a baking dish filled partway with sauce. Cover with foil, pace on center rack, and bake for 1 hour in a pre-heated 350* oven. After 1 hour, remove foil and insert tip of knife into the cheese of one of the shells in the middle of the tray. After a few seconds, remove knife and feel tip. If it’s just warm, cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes more. If the knife tip is hot, continue baking, uncovered, until the cheese on top is to your liking. If the knife tip is cold, the cheese isn’t heated. Put foil back onto the tray, cook for another 15 minutes, and test again.
  2. Alternately, you can prepare the shells in a tray as normal but put them in the freezer instead of the oven. Later, place them, covered with foil, in a 350* pre-heated oven for 1 hour. Refer to the prior note for testing the shells for doneness.

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Home-Made Ricotta Cheese

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One night in the Fall of 2009, I was having trouble sleeping so I did what I always do: I surfed the web. Eventually, I came across a cheese-making site, then another, and another. At the time, I had no idea that so many varieties of cheese could be made at home. While some – gorgonzola, cheddar, parmesan, etc. — are a bit too involved for me to attempt, I have made mozzarella, cream cheese, ricotta, mascarpone, and goat cheese, not to mention butter and herbed yogurt cheese. Although I’ve no intention of blogging about my cheesy exploits, earlier today I followed a recipe from a cooking show that produced a great batch of ricotta. Because of its simplicity and delicious results, I thought I’d devote today’s entry to the making of ricotta. For those interested in making cheese at home, I’ve listed below a few websites that I’ve used as sources for both information and supplies.

Yum!

Recently, I watched a program hosted by Boston’s Brass Sisters. They planned to make their special lasagna for the firemen of a nearby firehouse and needed to buy ricotta. They went to Capone Foods, where the owner, Albert Capone, not only sold them what they needed, he shared his recipe for making ricotta. I made some earlier today and it ranks among the best ricotta that I’ve ever tasted and is certainly the easiest to make.  Looks to me like it will be stuffed shells for dinner tomorrow night.

Before attempting to make this cheese or any within my recipe collection, please refer to my Cheesy Stuff page. Chock full of cheesy details, it provides information about ingredients, cleaning/sterilizing equipment, spices & seasonings, a few tips, and sources for supplies and information.

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Albert Capone’s Homemade Ricotta Recipe

total time: 30 minutes to prepare, at least 2 hours to drain.

yield: about 2 lbs. – recipe may be halved easily

Ingredients

  • 1 gallon whole milk
  • 1 pint heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp table salt
  • 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar

Directions

  1. Combine milk, cream, and salt in a large non-reactive pot over medium heat.
  2. Stir often to prevent scorching as you bring the temperature up to 185*.
  3. Add the vinegar, stir for 15 seconds, and heat for two more minutes before removing from heat.
  4. 15 – 20 minutes later, use a small sieve or slotted spoon to remove the floating curds and place them in a cheesecloth-lined colander to drain.  Place colander over a bowl in refrigerator and drain for at least a couple of hours or overnight.  The longer you allow it to drain, the more firm the results.
  5. Remove the ricotta from the cheesecloth, place in airtight containers, and refrigerate. Ricotta will last up to 2 weeks.

Note: Always be careful if you add fresh herbs to your newly made cheese. Although fine if served relatively soon, the fresh herbs may be a source of contamination and cause your cheese to spoil prematurely. Of course, if the freshly herbed cheese is then cooked, the “threat” is reduced.

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Cheesy Stuff

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Home-Made Fettuccine, Linguine, Capellini

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This is more an informational page than a recipe. As such, it only involves making the pasta noodles. Should you wish to see the pasta dough recipe, please refer to Mom’s Pasta Dough recipe.

Fettuccine

As was mentioned in the pasta dough entry, Mom cut the sfoglia by hand for much of my youth. Occasionally, I’ll do it myself although, to be honest, the width of my noodles aren’t nearly as consistent as were Mom’s. Whereas hers were perfect trenette, mine are more a collection of the various noodle sizes known to Man. Either way, thick or thin cut, you just can’t beat the taste of home-made pasta.

Although I follow Mom’s recipe for making the dough, I roll it into sheets using an attachment for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, before using a hand-cranked machine to cut the noodles. Mom, as has been mentioned, used a machine with a hand-crank to roll out her dough and cut it into noodles. Both types of rolling devices work under the same principle. The dough is passed between 2 rollers, which are manually set at varying widths. Using the Kitchen Aid attachment as a guide, the no. 1 setting is where the rollers are at their widest, producing a very thick sheet of dough; no. 10 setting will produce an extremely thin dough strip. The relative thickness of the dough strips will depend upon their eventual use. When needed for lasagna, I stop after they’ve passed through the no. 5 setting. For noodles, I stop after setting no. 6. I use the same setting for large ravioli but will use no. 7 for small ravioli, where there isn’t so much filling. Zia, on the other hand, prefers to use no. 5 for her lasagna and noodles, with no. 6 being used for all of her ravioli. Again, let your own palate be your guide.

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Home-Made Fettuccine, Linguine, Capellini

total time: approx.  45 minutes (includes drying time)

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbs. fresh dough, made using Mom’s Pasta Dough recipe
  • extra all-purpose flour for dusting the work surface and pasta sheets

Directions

  1. Be sure the dough has been allowed to rest at least 15 minutes before starting to roll it.
  2. Using a knife or dough scraper, separate a ball of dough, roughly the size of a very large egg. With your hands, flatten the dough somewhat, making a square. Set your machine’s rollers to the widest setting and dust the rollers with flour.
  3. Place one edge of the dough between the rollers and turn the crank, causing the dough to grow thinner as it passes through the rollers. Lightly flour the dough, fold it in half upon itself, and pass it through the rollers again. Repeat this, without adjusting the rollers, a few times.
  4. Get another dough “egg” and repeat steps 2 & 3. In fact, get as many dough “eggs” as you are comfortable handling. Just remember to keep the remaining dough covered while you work with the “eggs.”
  5. Once you have rolled a few “eggs”, adjust the rollers to the next setting and pass each dough sheet through the rollers. If the dough is at all sticky, dust the sheets with flour. When all the sheets have been rolled, fold each in half and send through the rollers again.
  6. Adjust the rollers and repeat Step 5, again and again, until the strips are the desired thinness. You shouldn’t need to flour the strips between passes through the rollers.
  7. At this point, the dough strips will need to dry a bit before cutting. This could take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, or so. Much depends on your home’s temperature and humidity. If the strips aren’t dry enough, the freshly cut pasta will stick together and you’ll need to separate the noodles by hand. Just as strips that are too moist are a problem, so are strips that are too dry. In the latter case, the dough will crack & break during the cutting process. The dough strips need to be pliable.
  8. Once the sheets are suitably dried, pass them through the cutting rollers on your machine. Work the crank with one hand as you catch the noodles with the other. The freshly cut pasta may be lightly formed into bird’s nests or spread out on baking sheets, table tops, or floured towels. The pasta may be cooked immediately or allowed to dry completely, which should occur relatively quickly. If heat and humidity are a problem, freeze the freshly cut pasta to prevent mold from developing. Your pasta will store for weeks, whether dried or frozen, but the sooner used the better.

Variations

The steps outlined above use a machine to cut the fresh noodles. You can, if you like, try cutting them by hand. Take a strip of dough and fold it in half, thereby reducing its length by half. Fold it again in half, then again, and again, and again. The result should be a multi-layered dough strip about 2 – 3 inches wide. This is called sfoglia. Starting at one end and using a sharp knife, cut strips as thin as you like. Once the entire sfoglia has been cut this way, unfold the thin strips and these are your noodles.

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