bruce-ket-aaaaaa

it never gets old. i love it.

i like mine with lots of fresh garlic and lots of fresh basil. the bread for me is key.

Ingredients:

1 loaf baguette (splurge and get a nice one), sliced 1 inch

3 tomatoes, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

1 cup of basil, chopped

s&p

good olive oil

butter

1)* In a hot pan, heat 1 tbsp of butter and some olive oil enough to thoroughly coat the pan. Once the butter is melted and heated through, toast the baguette slices. Drop them in and let it soak up some of the butter and oil (a few seconds), then turn them all over and let that side toast up first. Flip and toast the other side until it’s golden brown.

2) Combine the tomatoes, basil, garlic, and shallots. Season with s&p and add as much olive oil as you like.  I like to add a good amount because I love the way all the ingredients marinate the olive oil.

3) Top the baguette slices with the mix.

*You don’t have to toast the bread in butter and olive oil.  It’s an indulgent step for me and personally  makes everything taste that much better.

 

laˈzaɲa

yummm. whoever invented lasagna is a genius. i love you. thank you.

Ingredients:

1 lb dried lasagna noodles

olive oil

1 lb ground beef

1 lb italian ground sausage (can use the links, just remove the casings)

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

couple sprigs of fresh oregano, chopped

2 (16 oz) cans tomato sauce (the large cans)

1 1/2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste (the small cans)

1 egg

1 quart of ricotta cheese

1 lb of  fresh mozzarella

1/2 cup grated parmesan

Extra mozzarella and parmesan to sprinkle on top

s&p

1) Cook the lasagna noodles in plenty of boiling salted water until pliable and barely tender, about 10 minutes. Make sure you keep your eye on teh lasagna and use tongs to make sure the noodles don’t stick. Drain the noodles and coat with olive oil so they don’t stick and don’t dry out. Be generous.

2) In a large pan, cook beef and sausage  and season with some s&p.

3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

4) In another pan, saute garlic and onions. Season with s&p.

5) Add garlic and onions to the meat and mix in the tomato paste.

5) In a mixing bowl, mix ricotta parmesan and the other half of the herbs. Stir in the egg and season with s&p.

The fun part!

In a 13×9 pan, ladle some tomato sauce then layer 4 lasagna noodles overlapping each other lengthwise and one noodle on each side to create corners.

Add 1/2 of the ricotta mixture and spread evenly with a spatula. Then spread 1/2 of the meat mixture. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella. Top with another ladle of sauce and spread evenly. Repeat one more time.

Then, top the last layer with noodles. Press down to force out any air bubbles. Then top with another ladle of sauce and mozzarella and parmesan.

Bake for 1 hour. Let the lasagna rest for 30 minutes (it’s easier to cut).

*Clearly, Trav and I cannot eat a whole lasagna so I froze half of it. It keeps about 2 months. It’s better to freeze it uncooked though but of course I did not do that. oh well.

Shrimp w/ Cannelini & Pancetta and Baked Polenta with Mozzarella

Beretta is a sorta new restaurant in the Mission that does ‘Delfina’ style pizza.  I say their pizza is ok but their appetizers are amazing! We went back awhile ago and among the many things we ordered these 2 stood out: scampi with pancetta & cannellini and baked polenta with gorgonzola. soooo, i decided it didn’t seem that difficult and i would try recreate it since i started craving it immediately.

Shrimp with cannelini & pancetta:

Ingredients:

10 medium sized shrimps shells off and deveined (no frozen!)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 lemons

2 shallots, diced

2 tsps red pepper flakes

1 tomato, diced

1/4 cup basil, chopped

1 can of white/cannelini beans

1/4 cup of italian parsley, chopped

1/2 cup of pancetta

2 tsps, dried oregano

s&p

olive oil

1) Marinate the shrimp with s&p, olive oil, 1/2 of the minced garlic, and 1/2 lemon juiced for about 10 minutes to an hour

2) In a large skillet, cook the shrimp literally about 1 minute on each side. overcooked shrimp is never good and set aside.

3) In the same pan, cook the pancetta until it starts to get crispy and set aside leaving some of the fat.

4) In the same pan, add the shallot and garlic and saute for about 3-5 minutes.

5) Add the red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute.

6) Add the tomato and saute for about 3 minutes.

7) Add the drained beans, basil and oregano. Cook for 5 minutes. Taste and see if it needs more s&p.

Stir in the shrimp just to reheat and add the rest of the lemon juice.

9) Garnish with the parsley and basil and serve with some crusty baguette.

Baked Polenta with Mozzarella:

Ingredients: 

I could not for the life of me find polenta anywhere not TJ’s, not Safeway, not Whole Foods, not even a specialty store – there must have been a polenta shortage that particular day, so I used instant Polenta. The only thing they had at Safeway.

1 log of fresh mozzarella

2 cups of tomato sauce (i used from my reserves)

1) In a baking dish, ladle the 2 cups of tomato sauce on the bottom

2) Cut the polenta into 1/4 inch thick slices and arrange in the baking dish. Sprinkle a little s&p

3) Cut the mozzarella into thick slices but thinner than 1/4 inch thick and layer on top of the polenta. Sprinkle with a little s&p.

4) Bake in the oven according to the polenta package instructions. Check to make sure the mozzarella is nice and melted and bubbly.

What made the dish at Beretta was the polenta and sauce. I couldn’t find the right polenta but the instant satisfied my craving and got the job done. The tomato sauce reserves I used covered up for the instant polenta and of course the cheese.

Sausage & Artichoke Pasta

Awhile ago I found a really simple but delicious recipe for homemade marinara/tomato sauce.  You can freeze it and have several different combinations of pasta dishes.  I had artichoke hearts and italian sausage so that’s what I used.  I also like eggplant, mozzarella, italian sausage, fresh basil with this tomato sauce as well. It’s super easy and versatile.

Tomato Sauce:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

s&p

2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes

4 to 6 basil leaves

2 dried bay leaves

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

1) In a large pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft about 2 minutes.

2) Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.

3) Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. Sometimes tomatoes can taste a little acidic so if it does add some of the butter.

4) Let the sauce cool and blend until smooth in a blender or a hand held blender.

*This will make about 6 cups of sauce so you can freeze the rest for up to 6 months. I usually use about 1 cup for a 1/2 pound of pasta so you can freeze in portions if you want.

Artichoke & Sausage Pasta:

Ingredients:

frozen artichoke hearts, 1 package

Italian sausage (hot), 2-3 links

1/2 pound of thin spaghetti

1/4 cup of basil

1/4 cup of pecorino romano

s&p

1) Remove the sausage from the casings and saute breaking it into small pieces.

2) Cook the artichoke hearts according to the package directions.

3) Cook the pasta.

4) Reserve about 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Toss 1 cup of the tomatoe sauce, sausage, artichoke hearts, basil and pecorino. Taste and add more s&p if necessary.

5) Plate and top with more pecorino and basil.

Salmon & Arugula Pasta with Cream Sauce

Salmon & Arugula Pasta with Cream Sauce:

Ingredients:

2 filets of salmon

2-3 cups of heavy cream

12 tbsps of butter

half a bag of arugula

1 cup of grated pecorino romano

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 lb of pasta (your choice, better with a short pasta like penne, rigatoni, bow tie, etc)

1) Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water with salt and some oil.

2) Season the salmon on both sides with s&p and in a saute pan, heat some olive oil and when the pan is hot, sear the salmon and cook for about 4 minutes on the first side and then about 2-3 minutes on the other side. Break salmon up into pieces.

3) In a small pot on medium heat, add 2 cups of the heavy cream and butter and heat for about 3-5 minutes. Season with s&p.

4) Toss everything together, the pasta with the cream sauce, arugula, and salmon.

5) In a small pot, add the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, lemon zest, s&p and heat through about a minute. Then add to the pasta.

6) Top with the grated pecorino romano.

(stuffed mushrooms – next entry)

Mozzarella Fritta with Sage Butter

Trav and I went to Delfina the other night (one of our fav pizzerias) and they had this delicious fried mozzarella wonder so I decided I wanted to eat them again and added my own little twist. Some sage butter.

Ingredients:

Fresh mozzarella, diced into crouton sizes

baguette, diced into crouton sizes

butter

sage

Batter:

1 cup flour

1 cup soda water

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp baking powder

I like this batter because it’s much lighter and crispier than other kinds. The consistency should be more on the watery side and not too thick.

Sage butter:

Melt about 3 tbsps butter on low heat with a few sage leaves so that sage infuses with the butter.

Fry:

Use skewers or toothpicks and add the mozzarella and bread, alternating. Dip it in the tempura batter and deep fry until golden brown. As soon as they’re done, season with salt and drizzle the sage butter over the top and serve right away.  It’s so good when the mozzarella is all delicious and melty.

sorry the pictures are a little blurry.

when you’re lazy

when you’re feeling kind of lazy but still want something good…

tomato basil pasta

everyone’s got a version, here’s mine.

Using a big sauce pan, heat up a good amount of olive with a good amount of garlic…mmm…garlic. let the garlic flavor the olive oil so don’t have the heat too high because the garlic will burn.

when you smell the garlic smelling all yummy, add about a can of canned tomatoes, i like the canned cherry tomatoes. let it come to a boil, reduce heat, and taste and flavor with salt.  if it tastes really acidic or a little too tomatoey, add some butter. i like to add it anyway but it’ll help.

mix in whatever pasta you like. i like using angel hair. taste and season with more salt if needed.

serve with fresh basil and parmesan/pecorino. lots of it. mmm cheese.