On today’s menu we have Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus!
These were pretty easy to make; they only took about 20 minutes total. I chopped off the tough ends of the asparagus, steamed them, rolled them around in a little pepper, wrapped them with Di Parma Prosciutto, stuck them in the oven for 5 minutes (400 degrees), and voila!
Very simple, very tasty. Great party appetizer.
-Johnny
On today’s menu we have a Sweet-Potato Tortelli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce.
I’m pretty psyched about this dish. I made everything from scratch!
This was my first time making my own pasta and I must say, it’s dang fun.
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Sweet-Potato Tortelli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce
Makes 1 serving
Dough
3/4 cup Semolina Flour
3/4 cup Unbleached Flour
(1 1/2 cups combined)
2 eggs
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water
Filling
1/2 sweet-potato, halved length-wise.
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Sauce
1 cup butter - room temperature
5 fresh and furry sage leaves
Directions:
Combine flour, eggs, olive oil, and water until it looks like a dang piece of dough. Knead about 10 minutes. Refrigerate in a sandwich bag at least an hour. Roll pasta out into a super thin sheet and use a pasta cutter to cut out the circles.
Place sweet-potato orange side down on a baking sheet and place in oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until tender. Use an oven mit so you don’t burn off the index finger of your left hand. Scoop out “meat” into a mixing bowl, mash, then mix with the butter, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.
Place butter into a small sauce pan over medium heat and melt until nutty brown. Drop sage leaves into pan and swirl. It is ready when the butter is deep brown and foamy. Be careful not to burn the butter!
Fill the circles with the sweet-potato mixture and place another circle on top, sealing the edges with a little water.
Bring a pot of water to boil, salted, and place tortelli’s in. They’re ready when they rise to the top, al dente.
Have sauce on low heat. Drain pasta water and pour tortelli’s into the sauce.
Eat immediately.
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I kind of mixed and matched different recipes for things that I found to come up with the above. Savory and Sweet.
Yum!
-Johnny
On today’s menu we have Asparagus Milanese!
Yesterday’s trip to Central Market provided me with a bounty of fresh spring veggies, one of which pictured above. Asparagus, oh how I love thee.
I normally pass on breakfast in the morning, but today I was feeling it. This dish takes about 10 minutes to make and is jam packed with lovely vitamin c and protein to start your day. Beautiful green asparagus packed neatly in a large center stand at Central Market is a lovely sign that spring has indeed sprung. Pair that with some Parmesan-Reggiano and fresh eggs right out of the chicken’s booty and you’ve got yourself a nice little breakfast. Light, healthy, delicious.
Asparagus Milanese
Remove the tough ends of the asparagus and then cook them in a pot of boiling water for 4 minutes until they’re soft. Prepare eggs sunny-side up. Sprinkle Parmesan-Reggiano onto eggs and asparagus liberally. Salt and pepper to taste.
Voila!
-Johnny
On today’s menu we have Giada’s Prosciutto-wrapped Scallops.
The scallops were massaged with a sun dried tomato, basil and olive oil mixture and then wrapped in a thin slice of Prosciutto. After being cooked in the oven for 15 minutes, they were then placed over a bed of balsamic drizzled arugula.
Veryy good. Just make sure you don’t over salt anything when you do your season steps. Keep in mind that Prosciutto is already salted.
Delish!
-Johnny
On today’s menu we have the Pats losing the Super Bowl, err…Angel Hair Bolognese.
On this day of mourning, it is only natural to want a no hassle comfort food. I had some left over angel hair pasta nests from my scallops so I decided to whip up a simple ragu/bolognese sauce to throw in with it. It’s basically just tomatoes, basil, garlic, onion — nothing complicated.
A sad day indeed. We still love you Pats.
-Johnny
After a long holiday week of overeating caramel pie, S’mores cookies, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, apple crisp, haystacks, and cinnamon rolls sent me in a sugar haze, I was definitely craving (and in need of) some vitamin filled soup. Giada’s never let me down before, nor did she this time with her Winter Minestrone. Delish.
After further sugar binging ensued last night for New Years Eve, soup may be on the menu for tonight as well.
-Mel
On today’s menu we have a Tomato and Hot Italian Sausage Risotto followed by a Warm Apple Crisp a la mode. Mel and I teamed up to make both dishes.
The Risotto includes onions, garlic, diced tomatoes, hot Italian sausage, and wilted spinach. We topped it with fresh grated Parmesan Reggiano.
The warm apple crisp was super easy to make. We peeled 6 Braeburn apples and layered them on the bottom of a baking dish and topped that with our crust mixture. Then we just popped it in the oven for about 30 minutes and voila! Warm Apple Crisp a la mode.
I love the smell of apple crisp. Both dishes were great!
-Johnny
Todays recipe came, once again, from Giada De Laurentis. I was looking to use up some near-expiration feta, and had been on the lookout for an easy spaghetti recipe for quite some time. I was struck by how few ingredients this one had, and the many rave reviews the recipe received. It was indeed very simple and flavorful, just as the reviews promised, but I’m not sure I’d make it again; however, it’s a great recipe if you happen to have Meyer lemon olive oil on hand, and need to use up some feta cheese. Make sure to splurge on the good stuff oil-wise, the lemon flavor is what really holds the dish together.
Spaghetti with Sauteed Onions, Feta, and Herbs
couresy Giada De Laurentis’ Everyday Italian
1 pound spaghetti
4 tablespoons Meyer lemon olive oil (recommended: Da Vero)
2 large red onions, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rings
2 teaspoons chopped fresh marjoram
8 ounces feta cheese, cubed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until tender and beginning to brown, about 15 minutes adding salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the marjoram, and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the cooked pasta and the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and toss with enough reserved cooking liquid, 1/4 cup at a time, to moisten. Toss with the feta cheese. Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to bowls and serve.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, even though Johnny and I failed to do a Thanksgiving related post!
-Mel
On today’s menu we have a pan seared sea scallop on a nest of angel hair pasta, accompanied by a roasted red bell pepper sauce.
The sauce is comprised of roasted red bell peppers, skins removed, then pureed. Cayenne pepper, sour cream, salt, parsley, and lemon zest/juice are also included. It’s got a great sweetness to it that really complimented the scallops natural sweetness.
The wine paired with this dish was another bottle of the Cottage Road Chardonnay that I picked up a few weeks ago. It also would have done well with a Riesling or Gewürztraminer to play off of the mild spiciness, but just make sure they aren’t too fruity or they will take away from the delicate taste of the scallops. That’s why a nice crisp and dry chardonnay hits the spot!
I love how it turned out!
-Johnny
On today’s menu we have an Insalata Caprese on a bed of sautéed basil, sun dried tomatoes, onions, and lemon juice. I topped the dish with a garlic pesto and extra virgin olive oil - as per Italian tradition. The whole thing is over a drizzle of balsamic reduction.
For those who don’t know, Insalata Caprese is a salad of tomato, mozzarella di bufala, basil, and olive oil (literally translated - ‘Capri salad’ - Capri is an Italian island) . As the aforementioned tradition goes, sun dried tomatoes and vinegar have no place in this dish, but I added them because I am the executive chef of my kitchen and could throw in a piece of watermelon and top it with chocolate frosting if I dang well pleased. Haha. Plus the only recipes I could find were kind of boring, sticking to it’s 4 main ingredients.
So! I made my own.
The wine that I paired with this dish was inspired by our new friends Nick and Sarah over at www.bordeaux-undiscovered.co.uk. It was a white Bordeaux from the Chateau Tour de Mirambeau Reserve 05′ produced by Despangne. I’ll be reviewing it and giving tasting notes in the next ‘This week in wine’ entry.
De-licious.
-Johnny
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