Category Archives: Pasta Dishes

Easy to Prepare, Main Courses, Pasta Dishes, Recipes, Vegetarian Dishes

Orecchiette with Arugula Pesto

I totally believe that arugula is an aphrodisiac as thought in the Roman times, solely based on the fact that I am head over heels in love with it.  The nutty, peppery flavor of the greens, and its ability to work as a crisp salad green or sauteed and cooked to luscious perfection – versatility makes me crush hard core, and baby, arugula has my heart.  When used as a replacement for basil in a quick pesto, you get to see arugula truly shine – just barely cooked by the hot pasta, it goes from bitter to complex and rounded in flavor.  It’s miraculous and ever so sexy.

I use the pesto to dress dainty orecchiette, petal-shaped pasta from the south of Italy.  Named “little ears” in Italian, each bit of pasta is made from a mini fingerprint into a press, forming a crinkly texture that soaks up the pesto.  It’s all about the love with a uniting of Northern Italian sauce (pesto is from Genoa) with Southern Italian pasta (orecchiette are from Puglia).  And I could just be mentioning love because the arugula is wooing me to do so.  Woo away, arugula.  Woo away.

Recipe for

Orecchiette with Arugula Pesto

Ingredients
1 lb. of orecchiette
4 loose cups of arugula
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 c. of olive oil
1/2 c. of grated locatelli (or parmigiano reggiano)
1/4 c. of toasted pine nuts
2 tsp. of freshly cracked pepper
1 tsp. of salt

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook pasta according to package directions.

While the pasta cooks, make the pesto.  Throw cloves of garlic into the CuisineArt and pulse until finely chopped. Add toasted pine nuts and pulse again. Next, add the arugula (stems and all) and chop until the mixture starts to form a paste. Coax the entire mixture into a smooth paste by slowly streaming in olive oil – stop once everything is blended and evenly chopped. Add the grated cheese, salt and pepper and pulse to mix. Taste for salt.

Once pasta is finished, scoop a scant 1/4 cup of pasta water out of the pot.  Drain the pasta and immediately toss with the pesto.  Dribble in a bit of the pasta water, if necessary, to form a sauce.  Top with extra grated cheese and serve.

Cheese Dishes, Easy to Prepare, Pasta Dishes, Recipes, Salads, Vegetarian Dishes

Orzo Salad with Arugula and Mizithra Cheese

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Orzo is like a dependable friend – versatile, mixes well with others, but distinct and fun on its own.  I’m an out and out fan.  In lieu of the traditional radiatore pasta or bowties for a potluck stunner, why not outstanding orzo?  This particular combination features peppery arugula, sweet tomatoes and salty mizithra cheese all gussied up with a light vinaigrette.  It looks sunnier than Miss America in the Sahara desert.

Mizithra cheese is a rather fun addition – a hard sheep milk cheese made in Greece.  It’s salty like feta, but drier and crumblier – perfect for a lively pasta salad.  If you can’t find mizithra, you can certainly use ricotta salata or feta cheese.  Also, try to use the best olive oil you can get your hands on – when you have a recipe with so few ingredients and little to no cooking, it helps to keep the flavors strong.

Recipe for

Orzo Salad with Arugula and Mizithra Cheese

Ingredients
1 lb. of orzo
2 heirloom tomatoes, diced
3 c. of arugula leaves, loosely chopped
1/2 c. of olive oil
6 oz. of mizithra cheese, crumbled
1/4 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of pepper
4 tbs. of rice wine vinegar
3 tbs. of sliced green onion

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt heavily.  Add the orzo to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions.  Drain and cool with running water.  Drain again well and add to a large mixing bowl.  Toss the orzo with the tomatoes, arugula, olive oil, cheese, salt, rice wine vinegar, pepper and green onions.  Chill for at least 20 minutes and then serve.

Cheese Dishes, Main Courses, Pasta Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Pasta with Camembert, Asparagus and Peas

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You should be ashamed of yourself.  I saw you eyeing the pasta on that Olive Garden commercial with hungry eyes.  You know it’s not delicious.  You know it wasn’t actually created in a Tuscan cooking school with Michelin star winning chefs.  Most importantly, you know you can’t trust any place that thinks variety in ingredients is a simple choice between chicken in cream sauce or sausage in tomato cream sauce.  For shame, OG, for shame! Continue reading Pasta with Camembert, Asparagus and Peas →

Easy to Prepare, Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Pasta Dishes

Pappardelle con Cinghiale

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My time spent in Orvieto, Italy, much like the experience of many students studying abroad in college, was all about turning my preconceived notions on their proverbial heads.  I never imagined that following up on a random postcard in my mailbox for a summer “arts” program in the heart of Tuscany would lead to a series of revelations in terms of ingredients, cooking and collecting food memories.  Up until that point, Pizza Hut wasn’t a four letter word, ice cream and gelato could be considered one in the same, and a bottle of wine per person wasn’t considered a reasonable lunch.  But all of that was thrown out the window, and I was utterly spellbound by all of the tastes and sights and experiences surrounding me.  I discovered fava beans, pasta cooked in red wine, tomato-less bolognese, fresh porcini mushrooms and young white wines with ne’er an additive or preservative.  I ate gelato after every meal, and sometimes as my meal, choosing flavors that tasted riper than fresh fruit.  I learned that in Italy, I couldn’t leave the table before finishing the bottle of grappa or limoncello plonked there by the owner, much like a child forced to eat their vegetables before clearing off.  I even taught an Italian movie star to do the robot while simultaneously doing an impression of Julia Child.  I was officially living the life. Continue reading Pappardelle con Cinghiale →

Easy to Prepare, Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Pasta Dishes

Spicy Bucatini with Wild Boar Meatballs

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Meatballs have been getting a lot of play lately.  From the incessant features on the Meatball Shop in NYC, to the meatball entrepreneur Joey on America’s Next Great Restaurant and his “Saucy Balls,” it’s as if ballmania has struck and there isn’t an end in site.  For me, though, meatballs have always played a part in my collective food memory.  Although I never got to know my Sicilian side of the family in person, their customs and traditions were passed down to me through my grandmother and mother.  Making a sauce, or gravy as it’s truly called, involved frying off scores of homemade meatballs, and I’d stand close by for the chance to snag a taste.  Apparently the tradition of searing all of the meatballs but one, and then cooking the last one through to give to someone you love came from my grandmother long before I learned it from my mother.  I like to think of my mom as a kid, indulging in the perfectly seasoned and seared meatball as the most loving of gifts in that it was rooted in tradition.  No kids of my own, I have been known to carry on the tradition with my husband – he himself grew up in a part-Sicilian household as well, and where my fam was doling out tastes of meatballs, his was doing the same thing with his mother’s expertly cooked chicken cutlets.  It’s only fitting that we’re together and I can carry on a legacy of culinary “sharing means caring” traditions.

For those in the know, the secret to a good meatball is a good crust on the outside and a tender, juicy center.  Although I’ll still sear off a meatball or two in a pan with olive oil, I’ve since converted to the baked meatball camp.  You still get the lovely outer crust and it’s a whole hell of a lot less messy since you don’t have to tend to these over a greasy stove top.  Because these babies were a part of my dinner party, the Feast of the Seven Boars, I used a combination of traditional ground beef and the less traditional but gloriously flavorful, wild boar.  If you can’t get your hands on any boar, feel free to substitute ground pork or veal.  Depending on how much time you have, you can simmer these the normal way on the stove in a lovely bath of San Marzano tomatoes OR you can take your sweet time and allow them to bubble away in a crock pot for a few hours OR you can be impatient and cook them in a pressure cooker for a mere 20 minutes.  Any way you cook them, you’ll be treated to a perfectly tender treat meant to be served atop a delicious mess of pasta – maybe some bucatini with a heavy dose of crushed red pepper.  Or you could just eat them straight away and skip the pasta.  It is tradition, you know.

Recipe for

Spicy Bucatini with Wild Boar Meatballs

Ingredients
3 lbs. of ground wild boar (or pork or veal)
1 lb. of ground beef
1/2 an onion, finely minced
6 cl. of garlic, finely chopped
1 c. of grated locatelli
1/2 c. of chopped parsley
1 c. of bread crumbs
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp. of salt
1/2 tsp. of black pepper
1 tbs. of crushed oregano

1/2 tablespoon of crushed red pepper
3 large cans of whole san marzano tomatoes
1/2 c. of chicken stock
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
salt to taste
handful of torn basil leaves
1 tbs. of olive oil
1 tbs. of butter
1 lb. of bucatini, perciatelli or similar long pasta

Preheat oven to 450°.  In a large bowl or a standing mixer, blend the meat, onion, garlic, parsley, eggs, crumbs, salt, pepper and oregano until thoroughly mixed.  Wet hands and form 1/4 c. of the meat mixture into round balls.  Place on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

In a large pot, add the tomatoes and crush gently with a spoon.  Add the garlic, chicken stock and salt and stir.  Add the meatballs and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes – longer if you can stand it.  When the meatballs are just about finished, cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Toss with a cup or two of the meatball sauce, olive oil and butter.  Toss the basil leaves in the hot pasta to wilt and top with some of the meatballs.  Serve with grated cheese and extra crushed red pepper.

Cheese Dishes, Impressive Dishes, Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Pasta Dishes, Recipes

Tortelli with Wild Boar and Stinging Nettles

A little danger in the kitchen can pay off royally – high flames, sharp knives and occasionally some tricky ingredients serve as the makings for many a glorious supper.  Stinging nettles are not nearly as dangerous as they sound assuming that you can play by the rules.  Handled raw, they will mess you up with vicious barbs in your skin.  But once you give them a luxurious bath in some boiling hot water, they lose all their bite.  Why mess with them at all?  Because these lovely greens have an earthy, nuttiness that kicks the ass of spinach any day.

The nettles take a lovely home as the filling for meat tortelli – wild boar is simmered until perfectly tender and blended with mortadella, pancetta and cheese.  Wrapped in homemade pasta and dressed with a light sauce of cream and peas, underneath the delicate flavors lies an air of mystery and danger.  As your guests tuck into these toothsome parcels, feel free to keep the secret of your forays into adventure with the exotic ingredients contained in this recipe.  I mean, you are pretty much the next 007 of the kitchen.  Or at least that’s what I hear.

This recipe makes a large amount of pasta, so feel free to freeze any leftovers for later.  Spread the tortelli on a cookie sheet dusted with semolina and pop into the freezer, making sure that none of the pasta is touching.  If you’re sick of cream sauce for your second go round with these guys, you can use a marinara or vodka sauce to mix things up.  Or, even better, cook in a pot of chicken stock for an exemplary tortellini en brodo (tortellini soup).  For leftover filling, make crepes or buy egg roll wrappers and make canneloni.  Roll a few tablespoons of filling into the wrappers, top with bechamel or marinara and bake in the oven until bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Recipe for

Tortelli with Wild Boar and Stinging Nettles

Ingredients
1 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. butter
1 lb. ground wild boar
2 c. of chicken stock
1/2 onion
3 oz. of pancetta
6 oz. of mortadella
4 eggs
2 c. of grated locatelli
1/4 tsp. of nutmeg
1 tsp. of ground sage
1/8 tsp. of ground rosemary
1 shallot, finely diced
8 oz. of stinging nettles, blanched and chopped
1/4 tsp. of white pepper
salt to taste

1 c. of cake flour
2 c. of all-purpose flour
4 eggs
pinch of salt
1 tsp. of olive oil

2 tbs. of butter
2 tbs. of flour
2 c. of heavy cream
1 c. of milk
1 c. of locatelli, grated
1/8 tsp. white pepper
salt to taste
1 c. of green peas

Optional Equipment
pressure cooker
stand mixer with dough blade
pasta attachment for stand mixer
3 in. ring mold

Begin by making the meat filling.  Melt the butter and olive oil in a dutch oven.  Add the ground boar and onions and cook until the meat is no longer pink.  Add the chicken stock and simmer on medium-low until all liquid has evaporated, about an hour.  Alternatively, you can cook this mixture in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes to save time.  Allow to cool a bit and set aside.

In a food processor, add the mortadella, pancetta, nettles, rosemary and shallots and chop finely.  Add the wild boar and blitz until a smooth puree.  Remove mixture to a large bowl and add the eggs, cheese, nutmeg, sage and white pepper.  Taste for salt (should be on the saltier side) and reseason.  Set aside.

Now to make the dough – and feel free to use your favorite pasta recipe (or pre-made pasta sheets to save time).  In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour and the salt.  Make a well in the middle and add the eggs and olive oil.  Fit the mixer with the dough blade and allow to mix until a slightly sticky but well-mixed dough forms.  Dust the countertop with flour and knead until smooth.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about an hour.

Before I start making tortelli, I like to set up a couple of elements to make the job easier:

  • a small bowl of water for sealing the edges of the pasta
  • a few cookie sheets lined with wax paper and dusted with flour (semolina works well)
  • a little mound of flour to dip the bottoms of each tortelli in after they are rolled (which prevents them from sticking to the wax paper)

Once your prep space is set up, start with the pasta dough.  Take out the dough and cut into four segments.  Grab a hunk of dough and dust with flour, leaving the other three segments wrapped in plastic so as not to allow them to get hard.  Run the dough through a pasta maker, starting with the widest setting and working your way down to the second to thinnest setting (on my pasta machine, that’s #7).  Flour the counter and lay out the sheet of dough.  Cut out circles using a ring mold.

To make the tortelli, take a pasta round and fill with a few teaspoons of the filling.  Brush the edge with a little bit of water and fold into a half moon, pushing out any excess air as you seal the edges.  Take the two points of the half moon and fold them in on each other, squeezing them together to seal.  Dip the bottom of the tortelli in the flour and then place on the cookie sheet.  Repeat until you run out of dough.

Put a large pot of water on to boil.  While it’s warming up, make your sauce.  Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Mix in the flour and stir to form a paste.  Slowly stir in the milk and cream in dribs and drabs, constantly whisking to form a smooth sauce.  Crank the heat up and keep on whisking until the sauce thickens.  Stir in the locatelli, white pepper and salt and turn heat down to low to keep warm while the pasta cooks.

Once the water comes to a boil, drop in the tortelli.  Once they’ve cooked for 3 minutes, toss the peas into the water.  Allow to cook for a mere 30 seconds, and then drain.  Toss the pasta with the sauce, making sure to be careful not to break any of the tortelli, and serve immediately.

Friends Recipes and Hacks, Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Pasta Dishes, Recipes, Soups and Stews

Italian Wedding Soup

Just as ancient tales are easily bungled by funky translations (like Charles Perrault’s original story Cinderella, with confusion over a slipper of glass [verre], squirrel fur [vair] or even iron [fer]…a hot mess that Cinderella was), so too do recipes often have translation mix ups.  Although Italian Wedding Soup, a popular dish in this country, hints at origins surrounding Tuscan weddings, the actual name of the soup is minestra mariata or “married soup” – a reference to the melange of greens, broth, meat and cheese.  An apropos name, given that all of the flavors in this soup blend together into something akin to a warm hug.  I’m all about that marriage, if I do say so myself.

Traditional versions of the soup involve a slow simmering stock that can include soup bones (prosciutto to be super authentic) and a variety of greens and broccoli.  I love this soup with pastina, or little pasta pearls that puff up in the broth, but this version, as inspired by the cracked-out craziness of the Canadian show “Bitchin’ Kitchen” uses cheese tortellini.  If you don’t have tortellini, you can swap it out for ditalini (short pasta tubes) or any mini pasta you’d like.  You call the shots – this is your wedding and I don’t want you getting all bridezilla on me.

Recipe for

Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs. of ground beef
1 lb. of pork
1 small hoagie roll
1/2 c. of parsley leaves
1 egg
1/4 c. of parmesan
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper
1 clove of garlic, very finely minced
pinch of oregano

8 c. of chicken stock
baby spinach
cheese tortellini or ditalini

In a food processor, grind up the hoagie roll, parsley leaves and garlic.  Toss into a standing mixer or mixing bowl and blend with the beef, pork, egg, parmasean, salt, pepper and oregano.  Roll into very small meatballs, about 1/2 of a tablespoon of filling at a time.  Set aside.

In a pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil.  Add the meatballs and let simmer away in the soup for at least 20 minutes.  Grab another pot, fill with water and bring to a boil.  Salt the water and chuck in the cheese tortellini or ditalini pasta, cooking according to the package directions.  Drain.

To assemble the bowl of soup, add a handful of baby spinach and 1/2 c. of pasta to a large soup bowl.  Ladel over the broth and meatballs, top with some cracked pepper and parmasean cheese.

Cheese Dishes, Meat Dishes, Pasta Dishes, Recipes

Lasagna Bolognese

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This one, my darlings, is a labor of love.  With a toothsome, slow-simmering bolognese in the style of Marcella Hazan (which some might even call blasphemy for even mentioning her name in conjunction with a sauce that is not her exact recipe – to which I proffer that there are as many bolognese recipes as there are mammas in Bologna making their personal “secret” recipes) and a creamy bechamel in lieu of layer of ricotta and mozzarella, this true take on lasagne bolognese is something special.

Don’t be deferred by the time it takes to make this (at least 5 hours) and the list of ingredients – you’ll have lasagna for 6-8 comfortably, plus extra bolognese to dress around two pounds of pasta, so expect to not have to cook for some time afterwards while relishing in the glorious Italian leftovers.  The only time saver in the bunch comes in the form of the no-boil lasagna sheets – these babies, though instant, are lovely in their thin, delicate texture.  Much better than dealing with blubbery, curly edged classic lasagna noodles and far more refined in taste.  Though this is work, it’s very rewarding, and those that get to sample a bit will make you realize that maybe all that time was well worth it. Continue reading Lasagna Bolognese →

Pasta Dishes, Poultry Dishes, Recipes, Soups and Stews

Chicken Soup with Noodles

From an early age, I’ve been a sucker for blubbery noodles in chicken soup.  Doughy and dumpling-esque, these treats could be a meal of their own, languishing in a bath of shredded chicken, carrots, celery and light broth.  We used to go to this restaurant in the mall near our house that was an all-you-can-eat soup and salad buffet.  The main draw for me was always the chicken soup, and I cursed the little crocks there to use for the soup because they just couldn’t contain all the noodle majesty that I was looking for.

Years later, a trip to the substandard Sweet Tomatoes (I know, I should have known) brought back memories of my earlier favorite.  They make a Chicken Noodle that brags about just being chicken and noodles, which would be fine if the soup weren’t flavorless.  And yet, it comes so close to awesomeness with their perfectly doughy, homemade noodles.  I actually had my husband get me two takeout containers of the stuff and scoop out mostly noodles, bring it home and add it to homemade broth of carrots, onions, celery and parsley.  Divine!

But not worth setting foot in a Sweet Tomatoes.  Why couldn’t I make these wondrous babies at home?  Well, after a little research on the web and a little inspiration from For the Love of Cooking, I was able to recreate happiness in a pot.  I’ve officially had my cake and eaten it too.  If by cake, we’re talking about a big ol’ bowl of chicken noodle soup.

Recipe for

Chicken Soup with Noodles

Ingredients
1 egg
1/3 c. of milk
2 c. of flour
1 tsp. of salt
1/2 tsp. of white pepper

ingredients for chicken soup (chicken, celery, carrots, bay leaves)

In a standing mixer, add egg, milk, salt and pepper.  Mix until blended and then add flour.  Mix on low to medium setting until a dough is formed and a ball gathers around the bowl.  Remove dough from the mixer and knead a bit on a flat surface to gather up dough – very briefly, only about 30 seconds.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough into three portions.  Using a pasta roller (or for me, the pasta attachment for my Kitchenaid) roll out the dough on the widest setting until silken and 1/8 of an inch thick.  Move dough to a sheet of wax paper and cut into strips with a cookie cutter.  Know that your noodles will double in size once cooked, so for blubbery ones like I like, I cut them into 1/4 in. by 2 in. lengths, for 1/2 in. by 4 in. noodles once cooked.  Let noodles rest on the wax paper for an hour or so (you can let them hang out while you tend to your soup) to dry a bit.

Make a pot of chicken soup by either following this recipe for homemade chicken soup or by warming 4 quarts of chicken stock with 2 finely sliced carrots, 2 finely sliced celery stalks and a few fresh bay leaves.  Shred the meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken and add to the soup.

Drop the noodles into a pot of hot broth and cook until tender all the way through, about 45 minutes.  If you’ve cut your noodles thinner, they will cook faster.  I sometimes cook the noodles up to an hour to get them super tender like dumplings.  The longer you cook, the more broth that is absorbed and the more tender your noodles.

Cheese Dishes, Main Courses, Pasta Dishes, Recipes, Vegetarian Dishes

Easy Pumpkin Ravioli

I got your memo.  The one about wanting to have more time for your various hobbies (costume-making for squirrels, jetskiing in ascots and sweet dance moves) all the while still being able to dine like a king.  Well, how about artisan tasting ravioli on a trailer park budget and minimal cooking knowledge.  I’m talking basic – like let your kids take care of this one.  Come to think of it, it’d be even better to use that cheap labor and get back to the garden gnome sculpting with full force.  But I digress…

This recipe leverages a few key ingredients to simplify the whole process and keep the taste profile elite.  Wonton wrappers take the place of hand-rolled pasta, and canned pumpkin replaces freshly roasted (and time-consuming) roasted butternut squash.  Topped with the simplest of sauces of butter, sage and cracked pepper, you’ve got some exemplary eating with absolutely no work.  You can even elevate the level of class with a cheap ravioli cutter (a modest $3-5) for crimped edges that make the pasta look as if they were purchased from the Italian grocer.

Once you have this filling down (which should take you all of 5 seconds) consider stirring in caramelized shallots, crisped pancetta or even gorgonzola into the mix.  Have fun, experiment and enjoy all the extra time you’ll have for the wining portion of the wining and dining.

Recipe for

Easy Pumpkin Ravioli

Ingredients
15 oz. of whole milk ricotta
1 egg
1/8 tsp. of black pepper
1/4 tsp. of white pepper
1 tbs. of olive oil
4 tbs. of puréed pumpkin
1/3 c. of parmesan cheese
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of salt
wonton wrappers
1 egg beaten with 1 tbs. of water

1 stick of butter
1 bunch of sage

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil.  In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, 1 egg, pepper, olive oil, cheese, pumpkin, nutmeg and salt.  Create a work station with a space to assemble the ravioli next to a lightly floured cookie sheet.  Take a wonton wrapper and brush the edges with egg beaten with water.  Heap a tablespoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper and then top with another wonton wrapper.  Gently press the edges together to adhere and then trim the edges with a ravioli cutter to flute the edges.  Set aside on the cookie sheet and repeat until all filling is used.

In a skillet, melt the butter until it starts to foam and turns a deep golden.  Add the sage leaves and gently cook until crisp.  Keep warm as you cook the ravioli.

Cook the ravioli in the boiling water for a quick 1-2 minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon and immediately add to the melted butter to slick them down with the sauce.  Continue to cook the ravioli in small batches and add to the sauce.  Serve warm.