Lent = More $$$ in the bank and less turkey sandwich lunches for the hub.

Who knew that Lent and eating on a budget could combine forces to create such an easy and delicious dinner?!  Normally I serve fish on Friday’s during Lent, but when salmon filets or tilapia aren’t on sale, pasta is certainly a more economical alternative.  I load it up with mozzarella cheese, so Gus isn’t completely deprived of protein for one night.  Aside from being budget friendly, this dish doesn’t require much prep time in the kitchen.  Plus, baked pasta dishes freeze very well, so Gus already has some lunches waiting for him in the freezer…all they need now is a lil’ suga from his doting wife.  A brown bag lunch isn’t complete in my house without 1). a schmoopie love note and 2.) a piece of candy.  You’ll never go back to buying lunch again once you get a lunch a la Cucina di Daniella style.

 

 

Veggie Pasta Bake

• 1 lb. Penne Pasta (really any noodle will do…penne and rigatoni happen to be my favorites in this type of dish though)
• 3 cups Marinara Sauce (The Italian in me will tell you that it better be Grandma’s homemade sauce…but if you’re in an extremely dire situation, then I would point you to the nearest jar of Classico Sweet Basil sauce…not that I would know anything about any type of jarred pasta sauce.  I swear, Grandma.)
• 1 box Frozen Chopped Spinach
• 1 can Diced Tomatoes (Grandma’s sauce is very smooth, so I like to add a can of chunky tomatoes when I make a veggie pasta to make it a bit more hearty)
• 2 cups Baby Portabella Mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 1 small Onion, chopped
• 2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cook the pasta according to the package, or al’ dente and set aside.  Steam the frozen spinach in the microwave and drain any excess water from the cooked spinach. 
2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a saute pan.  Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft.  Add the mushrooms and lower heat to medium low.  Cook until the mushrooms reduce to half, then season with salt and pepper.  (Don’t season before the mushrooms cook down or you’re shrivel them up into little salty sponges.)
3. In a casserole dish, spoon about 1/2 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom.  Add 1/2 the pasta, then layer with 1/2 the spinach, mushrooms, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Repeat the layer with the remaining ingredients. 
4. Cover the casserole dish with tin foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil after 30 minutes of cooking and continue to cook for another 15 minutes uncovered or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. 

A little Italian lesson. And no, I’m not teaching you how to curse in Italian.

Today’s post is part Italian lesson, part recipe.  You can’t make this recipe if you can’t pronounce it properly.  I won’t allow it.  Now, what is the name for a delicious, toasted, garlic bread covered with a savory topping?  If you answered “Bru-shet-a”, I’m ashamed of you.  Go away and just come back in a couple days when there is a recipe that you can pronounce.  If you answered “Brus-ket-a”, you may proceed.  And stay tuned because in a few weeks, we’ll go through the same lesson, but this time with Gnocchi…and I’m warning you right now that if anyone says “Yonky”, I’m just going cry. 

Now that we can all pronounce it the correct way, we can move on.  Bruschetta is a simple Italian appetizer that is the perfect party food, as it’s easy to make and looks oh so pretty on a platter.  It’s also very easy to prepare the toppings ahead of time and then just toast the bread and assemble as your guests arrive.  Traditional Bruschetta is made with a tomato, onion, basil topping, but any savory topping will work, so feel free to express your culinary creativity with this dish.  For a recent dinner party, I prepared the traditional topping, as well as an Artichoke topping.  I also added different types of cheeses to mix it up a bit.  There are no rules when it comes to Brushetta, except when it comes to how you pronounce it.  And I’m a stickler, but you’ll thank me later. 

 

 

 

Traditional Bruschetta

• 1 Baguette, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
• 2 large cloves of Garlic, peeled
• 3 Plum Tomatoes, seeded
• 1 small Onion
• 20 fresh Basil Leaves
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil for drizzling
• Coarse Salt
• Optional to sprinkle on top: Crumbled Goat Cheese, Grated Pecorino Cheese, etc.

 

1. Preheat broiler to high.  Assemble bread on a cookie sheet.  Rub the garlic cloves over each slice and brush lightly with olive oil.  Char bread on each side under the hot broiler, but watch it carefully.
2. Dice the seeded tomatoes and place in a small bowl.
3. Dice the onion and add to bowl.
4. Chop the basil very finely and add to the bowl.
5. Add a drizzle of olive oil and a generous sprinkle of coarse salt.  Gently toss to coat.
6. Spoon topping on toasts and add cheese if you like. 

 

Artichoke Bruschetta

• 1 Baguette, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
• 2 large cloves of Garlic, peeled
• 2 jars of Marinated Artichoke Hearts
• 1/4 cup Flat Leaf Parsley
• 1/4 cup fresh Basil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese (Please don’t use the stuff in the green can.  You will hurt my feelings.)
• 2 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

 

1. See above on how to prepare the garlic toasts.  I don’t want to type it twice and I’m too lazy to copy and paste.
2. Drain the artichokes, reserving about 2 tbsp. of the liquid they were packed in and place them in the food processor.  Add the reserved liquid, olive oil, parsley, basil, cheese and salt/pepper.  Process until mixture is a coarse puree. 
3. Spoon the mixture on the toasts and sprinkle with extra Parmesan cheese.

The original Cucina…Cucina di Nonna.

There is just nothing more comforting than my Grandma’s sauce and meatballs (well, technically they are turkeyballs, but turkey is still a meat so meatballs it is).  A couple of years ago, I actually spent the whole day with Grandma to watch her make sauce and meatballs, so I could take copious notes and make them myself.  If your Grandma is anything like my Grandma, then you know what I mean when I say copious…Grandma doesn’t exactly follow a recipe.  It’s all in her head and everything is “as much’a you like”.  That cooking lesson at Grandma’s was priceless and I’m so happy that I’ll be able to pass on the recipes to my children one day.  Notice that I said my children…so that would exclude all of you loyal blog readers.  I love you, but I love my Grandma more so the sauce and meatball recipes are staying in la famiglia. 

Since I am a sweet Italian woman, I won’t leave you totally empty handed.  What else do you need if you are having sauce and meatballs???  PASTA!  Making your own pasta is not really that difficult, it just takes a lot of time and patience.  The end result is well worth the aching back and the flour covered kitchen.  The ingredients are simple, and with just a bag of flour and a carton of eggs, you can go from this…

 

To this…

 

To make pasta, I use my Kitchen Aid Mixer to help with the mixing, and the Pasta Attachment to do the rolling and cutting, but don’t let that fool you…you will still be standing over the machine, covered in flour for a couple hours.  If you don’t have a Pasta Machine, then forget it.  Crazy old Italian Nonna’s might roll and cut pasta by hand, without any help from a machine, but that is just nuts.  Either splurge on a Pasta Machine to help with the work or go buy some Buitoni in the refrigerator section of the market.  I won’t tell anyone. 

On this particular night, I was serving Pasta for 9 people, so I tripled this recipe and in typical Daniella fashion, had enough leftover for another dinner party for 9.  The good news is that while making fresh pasta is a lot of work, it freezes very well so make more than you need, and you can enjoy it for weeks to come. 

 

Fresh Semolina Pasta

• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 cups Semolina Flour
• 6 extra large eggs
• 1 tsp. Olive Oil
• Pinch of Salt

 

1. In your mixer, sift together all the flour and salt. 
2. Create a deep well in your flour and add the eggs and olive oil.
3. Set the mixer on the slowest speed and using the paddle attachment, mix for 30 seconds.
4. Add the dough hook attachment and mix on medium low speed for 2 minutes. 
5. Remove the dough and knead by hand for 5 minutes on a well floured surface.
6. Divide the dough into grapefruit size balls and wrap each ball in plastic wrap.  Set aside for 30 minutes. 
7. Once the dough has rested, remove the plastic wrap from each ball, cut into four slices, and flatten each slice to 3/4″ thick. 
8. Roll each slice through the #1 setting and fold in half.  Repeat several times. 
9. Switch to #2 setting and send the dough through. 
10. Switch to #3 setting and send the dough through. 
11. For fettuccine, send the dough through the #4 setting and then lay the dough flat on a floured surface.  For thinner noodles, such as spaghetti or capellini, send the dough through till the #7 or #8 setting. 
12. Repeat process for each slice until you have all the dough rolled out into long sheets of pasta. 
13. Attach the fettuccine cutter and send each sheet through to cut the noodles.  Hang on a laundry drying rack, flour sacks, a shower rod, a broom stick between two chairs, or any other household item that will dry pasta. 
14. Allow the pasta to dry for at least one hour and then either store in the refrigerator if you will be cooking it within 2 days or freeze it for long term storage. 
15. When you are ready to cook the fresh pasta, boil 6 quarts of water and add 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. olive oil.  Cook the noodles al-dente or for about 6 minutes. 

A West Coast Cooking Lesson from Yours Truly.

I certainly have been a blog slacker lately, but I do have a good excuse…I recently returned from a trip to Seattle, where I visited my dear friend, Niki.  One of the very first places she took me was Pike Place Market.  This place puts my little Farmer’s market to shame!  Gus is lucky that we don’t live in Seattle, or else our grocery bill would be outrageous with all that fresh seafood and produce at my fingertips!  I knew that I could not leave the West Coast without preparing a meal with all those beautiful ingredients, so we returned a couple days later for the goods.  After eyeing the seafood counter, I knew I would definitely need to take advantage of the huge shrimp and decided on a pasta since it’s simple and Italian, and those are the kind of things that I do best.  I also found some beautiful Heirloom tomatoes at the produce stand and Buffalo mozzarella in the Italian market, so Caprese Salad it was!  Such an easy, simple salad, but the fresh ingredients really make this one stand out.  Plus, easy and simple were Nik’s favorite words when it came to the kitchen…

Niki is a wonderful friend with many amazing talents (you should see this girl iron!), but when it comes to cooking…well…let’s just say she is really good at ironing.  I’m kidding.  Kinda.  In her defense, she is good at baking and made my Mama’s Snickers Cake last year all by herself!  (after a little education on Devil’s Food Cake, but we’ll keep that between me and you, Nik.)  She is definitely open to learning about cooking though, so we decided to have a little cooking lesson with all our Pike Place goodies and make an Italian Feast for dinner.   She was the best little curly-headed Sous Chef that I could have asked for, and not only was the meal was excellent, but Nik discovered she’s pretty talented with a knife!  An hour in the kitchen and the girl could chiffonade basil!  I definitely see a marriage proposal in her future now that her boyfriend knows that she’s got one Italian meal under her belt!    It was a wonderful trip with good meals and even better company.  Nik, you can be my Sous Chef anytime…especially when you cut up all the onions, so I don’t cry and ruin my eye makeup!

 

 

 

Caprese Salad (a fancy name for Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Salad)

 

• 2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick (Heirloom is best if you can find them, if not then On the Vine tomatoes are a good alternative.)
• 1 lb fresh Buffalo Mozzarella, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 15-20 leaves of fresh Basil (If you have mad knife skills like Nik, then feel free to chiffonade your basil.  If the word chiffonade scares you, then you can just leave the basil leaves whole.)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil for drizzling
• Balsamic Vinegar for drizzling (this one might be controversial…I love the bite of the vinegar, but some people might prefer to leave this out.)
• Salt/Pepper to taste

 

1. Layer alternating slices of tomato and cheese on a large platter.  Add a basil leaf in between slices or sprinkle the basil chiffonade over the top.  Drizzle with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar.  Season to taste. 
2. That’s it.  You really can’t screw this one up. 

 

 

Shrimp Penne in a Tomato Cream Sauce

 

• 1 lb. Shrimp, deveined and peeled
• 3/4 lb. Penne Pasta
• 3 tbsp Butter
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 small Onion
• 3 cloves of Garlic
• 1/2 cup Dry White Wine (Don’t use something that you wouldn’t drink!)
• 12 oz can Crushed Tomatoes (If you can find San Marzano, use it!  You will thank me later.)
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 tbsp fresh Flat Leaf Parsley
• 1 tbsp fresh Basil
• Salt/Pepper to taste

 

1. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. Olive Oil.  Add the shrimp and cook for a few minutes until they are just opaque.  Watch them carefully!  They are too expensive to overcook!
2. Remove the shrimp to a plate and let cool for a couple minutes.
3. Dice the onion and mince the garlic.  (or if you are me, tell your Sous Chef Niki to do it.  See picture above. )
4. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. Olive Oil.   Add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat, until soft. 
5. Remove the tails from the shrimp if you haven’t already and chop the shrimp into bite-size pieces.  Set aside. 
6. Once the onion and garlic have cooked down a bit, add 1/2 cup of White Wine to the skillet and allow it to evaporate for a few minutes.  Stir occasionally. 
7. Add the crushed tomatoes to the skillet and stir.  Add the heavy cream and stir until it is fully combined.  Simmer over low heat. 
8. Cook the penne until al-dente, drain, and set aside.   
9. Add the shrimp into the sauce and season to taste.  Chop the parsley and basil and add the herbs to the skillet. 
10.  Add the penne to the sauce and stir to combine. 
11. Top with fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano and serve with a nice, crusty bread.  Mangia!

Chicken Marsala with Extra Fungi

I love me some fungi.  Thankfully I married someone who loves mushrooms as much as me.  This dish is chockful of them and while the chicken is good, the sauce is really the star.  Typically Chicken Marsala is served with a breaded breast of chicken and usually is accompanied with pasta…while that is delicious, it certainly isn’t doing anything nice to our arteries or thighs.  I typically pair this verision with a salad and steamed green veggie…and we don’t even miss the breading or pasta from the original.  Or at least, we just keep telling ourselves that so we can enjoy more of those Best. Chocolate. Chip. Cookies. Ever. 

 

 

Chicken Marsala “Daniella-ified” (aka, the healthy version)

• 4 skinless, boneless Chicken Breasts, pounded 1/4 inch thick
• 3 cups Baby Portabella Mushrooms (I told you we loved shrooms…feel free to cut back this amount or substitute any variety of mushrooms)
• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3/4 cup Marsala Wine
• 1/4 cup Chicken Broth
• 2 Shallots, minced
• 2 cloves of Garlic, minced
• Salt/Pepper/Italian Seasoning

 

1. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil over medium heat.  Season the chicken with the Salt/Pepper/Italian Seasoning and lightly brown in skillet.  Once both sides are lightly brown, remove chicken from pan. 
2. Add the remaining 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the skillet.  Add the shallots and garlic to pan and let them cook for about 30 seconds. 
3. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until the edges are golden brown. 
4. Once the mushrooms have cooked down, add the marsala wine to the skillet.  Be sure to scrap the bottom of the skillet, so all the browned bits end up incorporated into the sauce.  Bring the wine to a boil.
5. When the wine has reduced to half, add the chicken broth to the skillet.  Continue to cook until sauce slightly thickens.
6. Once sauce has thickened, add the chicken breasts back to the pan and contine to cook for about 5 minutes.   
7. Season to taste and garnish with chopped basil.