Gnocchi alla Romana

Quite different from the well known potato gnocchi we serve with pasta sauce, these gnocchi are made from semolina and cut in circles then baked.

3 Tbsp Unsalted butter, melted
1/3 C Grated Parmesan
3 Egg Yolks
4 C Milk
Pinch Nutmeg
1 2/3 C Semolina flour
Prepare
Line a 12 X 10 inch cookie sheet with baking paper or parchment
In a small bowl beat together butter, egg yolks and grated parmesan
Season Lightly with salt and pepper and set aside
In a large saucepan heat milk, add nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.
When milk is just beginning to boil lower heat and add semolina in a steady stream stirring as you pour.
Over low heat continue to cook for about 10 minutes or until all milk has been absorbed and mixture pulls away from side of pan in one mass.
Remove pan from heat
Beat in egg yolk mixture till smooth.
Spoon mixture quickly onto lined cookie sheet
Smooth with knife dipped in cold water to achieve an even thickness.
Set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 350 f and grease a 7 X 10 shallow baking pan (lasagne pan)
After cooled enough to handle lift semolina slab from cookie sheet
Peel off parchment and cut into circles using a 1 1/2 inch round cookie cutter dipped in cold water.
Arrange Circles slightly overlapping in lasagne pan.

Topping:
3 Tbsp Butter, melted
1/3 C Heavy Cream
1/3 C Parmesan, grated

Blend butter and heavy cream.
Pour over Gnocchi and sprinkle with Parmesan

Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown
Serve
Can be prepared up to 2 days previous and stored in refrigerator in either slab form or ready cut circles.

Grilled Cod

Cod is a fleshy, moist fish that grills well without becoming dry. You could probably substitute other fish with this recipe, but the cooking time will vary.  Cooking time will be shorter for thinner filets (flounder, sole..) and longer for thicker, denser fish (salmon, halibut, swordfish..).

Heat your grill. Get a large piece of heavy duty alum. foil and spray with nonstick spray.  Place your fish filets on the greased area. Drizzle with olive oil.  Season generously with S&P and a few shakes of Old Bay seasoning.

On top of the fish, place thinly sliced tomatoes, thinly sliced onions, sliced/chopped fresh basil and again, season with salt and pepper.    Bring up the foil and close it over the fish, sealing it so that the heat stays in the packet (& cooks the tomato/onion).  Place the packet on the hot grill - cover the grill and set a timer for 15 minutes.   Carefully open the foil - if the fish is done you will see it 'separating' (flaking apart), indicating that it's fully cooked.   If you take a fork and pierce the fish in its thickest part - it should easily flake apart... if not, re-cover and cook another 5 minutes or so, checking until it's done.

Carefully remove the packet from the hot grill  (I slide a sideless cookie sheet under the packet and shimmy it on - you can gently use a spatula if you need help!).  

Pasta and Broccoli

The first time I tasted this great pasta dish was at my buddy Nicky's house. 

I loved it and went home and told my mother I wanted it often.

Ingredients
1 LB Pasta. You can use any pasta you like. Shells seem to be the most commonly used.
1 Lb Bag Frozen Broccoli Florettes (Fresh is great but for this dish and the sake of simplicity I like frozen.)
1/2 C Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic Chopped or if you prefer, sliced thin.

Cook
In your pasta pot cook pasta to directions on pkg.
In a saucepan cook Broccoli per directions on pkg.
Aglio Olio (Garlic and Oil)
Two minutes before pasta is to come out of the pot lightly brown garlic in a skillet.
(Do not let garlic get too brown, go for lightly golden.)

Drain pasta and Drain Broccoli
Place both in large bowl
Cover with aglio olio and toss well.
Sprinkle with some Parmesan 

Serve.

Wild Rice with Cranberries

I made this for Thanksgiving quite a few years ago and it was a hit!

Cook 1-1/2 cups wild rice according to package directions (Trader Joe's is top-notch!). Continue preparation while the rice is cooking (approx. 1 hour).

Chop a half lb. of bacon and fry until it's crisp. Remove bacon to a plate - dump out grease except for 2 tbplsp. to leave in the pan. *****

In the bacon grease, saute: a med. size finely chopped onion, 2 stalks finely chopped celery, 2 medium carrots also finely diced. Saute vegetables until they're cooked and quite soft. To that, add a medium Granny Smith apple (peeled and finely diced) and 1 cup dried cranberries and saute another couple minutes until the apple is softened.

Lower the heat and add 2 teasp. of balsamic vinegar & 4 Tblsp. apple cider OR apple juice, stirring well.

After the rice is cooked, drain it and add the cooked vegetable/fruit mixture, stirring well. Season with plenty of freshly ground black pepper and some salt. Stir in the reserved bacon. This side dish is good served warm or eaten cold.

***** If you want to go vegetarian, forget the bacon. Put a couple Tblsp. oil (veg/olive) in a pan and go from there.

Rigatoni Sorrentino

This dish was said to be a favorite of Frank Sinatra. It's fast and easy if you have some marinara sauce on hand

Photo by: Frank Angelieri

 

 

 

Ingredients
4 c Marinara Sauce
1/2 Lb ricotta cheese
1 Lb Rigatoni, cooked al dente per directions on pkg
2 c Shredded mozzarella
1 1/2 c Grated Parmesan
Directions
Preheat broiler In a large saucepan, bring the sauce to a boil.
Remove from heat, pour half the sauce into a bowl, and reserve. Add ricotta and cooked rigatoni to saucepan with the sauce, mix to combine, and bring to simmer over low heat.
Spoon the hot rigatoni mixture into a baking dish and cover with reserved sauce.Top with the shredded mozzarella and grated Parmesan
Broil until the cheeses have melted, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Serve immediately

Beans and rice

In a medium sized stockpot or dutch oven over med. heat, add 1/4 cup olive oil- heat & add a large chopped white onion, 4-6 long stalks of chopped celery, a large chopped green pepper or two & 6 cloves of chopped garlic. Saute, stirring occasionally until onions are translucent. Add 4 large chopped tomatoes, a 12 oz. can of tomato sauce, 1/2 cup tomato paste & 1-1/2 cups water - add seasonings (salt & fresh ground pepper, 2 tsps. of fresh chopped thyme, several tsps. of fresh chopped basil, 1/2 tsp. dried oregano, 1/4 tsp. ground cumin, 1/4 tsp. cayenne or more, depending on your heat preference). Simmer for a half hour, stirring now and then. To the tomato sauce, add 2 cups of cooked black beans, 4-6 cups of cooked pinto and/or red beans and simmer another half hour. Season with more S&P to taste.

Cook white or brown rice - spoon beans over rice. Don't be afraid to 'over-herb' this - if you like a more savory, spicy, amped up flavor, be bold and go big!!

Mango Avocado Salsa

This is a very refreshing salsa which I like to use to spruce up grilled fish or fowl. It takes the boring out of grilled chicken breast. Or... 
You can use it to top off anything you like.

Ingredients:
1 Mango, diced
1 Avacado, diced
1/2c Sweet onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 med Jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 small Red Chile, (hot serrano or finger pepper,) seeded and chopped
1/4c Crushed pineapple with juice
1 med Roma tomato, diced petite
1/2c Cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste

Prepare:
Mix all ingredients in bowl.
Store covered until ready to use.
Serve at room temp or chilled

Store in refrigerator up to 3 days, but use this up. The avacados will tend to darken over time, the lemon juice will slow this process but use it within a few days.