Lemon Chicken with Pine Nuts and Olives

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 whole lemon (zest of)
• 4 whole chicken legs (backbone attached)
• 1 rib celery
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 leek
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 lb chicken bones (or use backbone attached to chicken legs)
• 1/3 head garlic
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 3 cups cold water
• 1/4 bunch parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• kosher salt (to taste)
• freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 tbsp onion
• 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1/3 cup green olives
• 2 cups short stock (or dark chicken stock)
• 1 pinch saffron
• 1 lemon (juice of)
• 1 tbsp (heaping) honey
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro
• freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

To marinate the chicken, pour the olive oil, crushed red pepper flakes and lemon zest into a large dish and stir to combine.

Prepare the chicken by first cutting off the backbone. Set the bones aside. Trim off any excess fat from the chicken and discard. Using the heel of a heavy knife, cut the bones into 2" -inch pieces. Refrigerate all of the bones for making the short stock later.

Coat the chicken in the marinade. Cover and place into the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, or preferably overnight.

To prepare the short shock, start by roughly chopping the celery, carrots and onion. Clean and roughly chop the leek and set everything aside.

Heat a medium pot over high heat. Once hot, add the oil, followed by the bones. Let cook for a few minutes, without touching them, until you get a nice golden color. Be careful when turning, as the fat may splatter up. Let the bones caramelize on the other side. Then add the vegetables and garlic cloves. Let the vegetables cook for a few minutes. Once they start to color and soften, deglaze with the white wine. Once the wine has reduced, add the water, parsley, bay leaf and peppercorns. Bring this to a very gentle boil, then turn down and let simmer for about an hour.

For a nice, clear stock, skim off any impurities while it's gently simmering. Make sure the stock doesn’t boil.

Preheat your oven to 350° degrees Fahrenheit. Place the pine nuts onto a tray and toast until golden, about 4 to 6 minutes. Once the pine nuts are done, set them aside and turn the oven up to 375° degrees Fahrenheit.

Heat a large, oven-proof fry pan over high heat. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Once the pan is hot, add the oil, and place the chicken skin-side down. Fry the chicken on the first side until golden brown. You may need to turn the heat down slightly. Season the backside with salt and pepper and once the chicken has nice color, turn it over. Place into the oven to finish cooking for approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

To prepare the mise en place for the sauce, first grate the onion. By grating the onion, it will easily dissolve into the sauce. Grate the ginger right over the onion. Next, mince the garlic. Remove the pits from the olives and slice. Set everything aside, while you check the chicken.

Strain the stock and skim off any excess fat from the top, if there is any. Discard most of the fat from the fry pan. Place the pan over medium heat and add the onion, ginger and garlic. Scrape up any bits from the bottom and let cook for a few minutes or until soft and translucent.

Add the saffron and lemon juice. Let this reduce for a minute or so, again scraping up any bits. Add the chicken stock and let simmer until it has reduced by about half. This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes.

Roughly chop the cilantro. Once the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly, add the honey, olives and pine nuts. Turn off the heat and add the butter. Taste for seasoning and add the chopped cilantro just before you are ready to serve.

Bistecca al Pepe Verde (Green Pepper Steak)

Ingredients:

4  5 oz. each Beef Tenderloin
2 Tbsp. green peppercorn coarsely crushed (Use black if you cannot find green)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. cold butter
1/2 cup cognac
1/2 cup cream (use the Crema Mexicana non agria, it is the closest cream to the Italian cooking cream)
Salt to season

Let beef stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, season with salt and some peppercorn.
In a pan add the oil and heat it until is almost smoking. Add the meat and sear the beef 3-4 minutes per side over medium high heat. Remove the steaks from the pan and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Drain the excessive grease from the pan, add the butter and the remaining peppercorn and cook over medium high heat for 1 minute. Add half of the cognac and stir. reduce heat to low, add cream and stir gently, then add the rest of the cognac. Stir, pour on the beef tenderloin and serve immediately.

Linguine con Salsa Sveltina

                             

Love this recipe! It's my mom's friend Nadia recipe. Growing up I used to go visit "aunt Nadia" in Padova and she used to teach me lots of good healthy ways to cook pasta. The Sveltina (quicky) sauce  is a light sauce perfect for a hot summer dinner. Fast, light and delicious.

Ingredients (for 5 servings)

1 pack linguine

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 pint sliced cherry tomatoes

1 cup chopped fresh basil

4 gloves chopped garlic

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tsp sugar

Sea salt

Pepper

Grated Parmesan cheese

Some basil leaves to garnish 

Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, in a large saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Add tomatoes, chopped basil, chopped garlic and stir well. Add broth, sugar and cook for 4 minutes. Season with sea salt and pepper. Add linguine, toss to combine and serve. Add Parmesan cheese on pasta after it is served on plates. 

PASTA CREATIVA (CREATIVE PASTA)

Few days ago I had to bring a dish for a potluck and I decided to create a new recipe. The ladies loved this pasta, they kept talking about it over and over and they asked me to share the recipe so here it is. I couldn't figure out a name for it, but since it is a new creation and as you see there are plenty of ingredients, I figures the "Creativa" name is appropriate.

5-6 servings

Ingredients

1 pack thin spaghetti (I use Pasta Barilla)

3 eggs

½ cup milk

1 cup steamed mushrooms

1 cup Parmesan cheese

2 cups cubed cooked meat (I used roasted pork loin, but you can use ham, bacon, or any meat you like)

6-7 cubed Roma tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

Half medium white onion

1 cube Knorr chicken bouillon (caldo de pollo)

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup finely chopped Italian parsley

4-5 finely chopped chives leaves

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Kosher or sea salt (both natural salts, I used Kosher salt, less saltier since i used the chicken bouillon. Table salt is sodium chloride combined with iodine, and anti-caking compounds to make it pour by preventing it from absorbing water from the air)

Couple pinches of dry red pepper

Chop garlic and onion in small pieces and sauté them in the olive oil. Add the chicken bouillon. Stir well, cook for about a minute, and add the steamed mushrooms, parsley, meat, tomatoes, chives. Cook on medium for about 25-30 minutes, stirring frequently. While the sauce is cooking, start the water for the pasta. Add ¼ cup of vegetable oil to the water so pasta will not stick together.

Add salt. In a bowl mix the eggs, milk, oregano, red pepper and Parmesan cheese. Let it sit there until pasta and sauce are ready.

Make sure you cook your spaghetti “al dente” that means you drain them right at cooking time that's suggested on the box (Barilla Thin Spaghetti cooking time is 6 minutes)

Drain pasta, add the sauce mixture, mix well. Add the egg mixture (the heat of the pasta will cook the eggs) mix fast and well, you want the eggs mixture to stay creamy.

Serve with a side of salad of your choice and garlic bread, and enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas with White Sauce

2 whole chicken breasts, cooked and shredded 1 lb. Monterey Jack cheese, grated 1 (3 oz.) can (mild) chopped green chilies 2 cans cream of chicken soup 1 pt. sour cream 

1 can of corn 

2 cup of rice 1/2 lb. Cheddar cheese, grated 1 dozen flour tortillas 

Boil rice. While rice is cooking, toss together: chicken, Jack cheese, and chilies. Mix together soup and sour cream. Heat salad oil in a fry pan over medium heat. Fry each tortilla very quickly on both sides (only to soften). Put about 1/4 cup of chicken filling in center. Add 1 tablespoon soup mixture. Fold sides in, and then roll. Drain corn, mix it with the rice. Make a rice bed on the bottom of a casserole pan. Place enchiladas , seam down, on the rice. Repeat with each tortilla. Spread the remainder of soup over all. Top with Cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Gnocchi alla Romana

Ingredients:

1 l. (1/4 gallon) milk
200 g (1 cup) semolina
250 g  (1/2 lbs) of cheese (eg Fontina cheese)
100 g (1/2 cup) butter
2 eggs
30 g  (3 tbsp) breadcrumbs
Nutmeg to taste

A fast, simple and economic dish .

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 F.
Boil the milk with about 1/2 of the butter, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. After lowering the flame, pour the semolina and keep stirring. Stir in the eggs.
After two or three minutes, the meal will begin to thicken.
Remove from heat and pour into a large pan lined with parchment paper.
With the help of a wet spoon, spread a uniform layer thickness of about 1/2 inch.
Once the meal is cooled, cut out of the disks using a mold or a glass. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and arrange the diskettes, slightly overlapping. Distributed on the gnocchi the grated cheese, some butter and breadcrumbs. Place in the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, until it has formed a golden crust on the surface. Measures: For a more varied flavor, combined with more types of cheese, such as Asiago and Fontina.

Risotto alla Zucca - Pumpkin Risotto

Ingredients (6 people)

1 Lbs Pumpkin Pulp
1 Lbs Rice
8 Cups Vegetable Broth
3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
6 Tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Medium Branch Fresh Rosemary
1/4 Cup Butter
Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg Powder

Brown the garlic in the butter, add the pumpkin (if you use fresh pumkin, make sure to cut the pupl in small pieces), cook for five minutes.
Add rice, stir it for one minutet. Pour in the hot vegetable broth and cook for 15 minutes (or until broth is, absorbed by the rice) stirring occasionally. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.
When rice is ready, remove from stove and mix in the parmesan cheese. Serve.

Risotto agli Asparagi - Asparagus Risotto

Ingredients

for 4 people
400 grams (approx. 2 cups) rice, preferably arborio
1 lb. (450 g) asparagus
1/2 of a medium onion, minced
1 qt (approx. 1 liter) vegetable broth
2 cups (250 ml) water
2 Tbsp. butter (approx. 30 g)
2 Tbsp. olive oil (approx. 30 ml)
1 cup (approx. 100 g) grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Cut the bottom 1/3 off of the asparagus spears and cook them in salted boiling water for 10-12 minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside.
Melt the butter in a wide saucepan over low heat. Add the olive oil and the minced onions and sauté for 5 minutes, paying attention that they don’t brown. Add the rice to the onions, and stir until all grains are coated in the oil and butter. Let the rice toast in the sauté for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cut the tips off of the cooked asparagus, and chop the spears into 1/4 inch (just over .5 cm) pieces. Discard any tough parts of the spear, and add the tips and chopped asparagus to the rice and onion mixture. Stir together.
In a separate saucepan, bring the vegetable broth and water to a boil. Adjust the heat of the rice mixture to medium-low, and add the broth to the rice one ladle at a time, stirring well in between until the rice absorbs the liquid and the risotto assumes a creamy consistency. Be patient; this process will take 30-40 minutes. When the last of the liquid is absorbed, stir in the grated Parmigiano. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and serve immediately with a dusting of Parmigiano on top.

Risotto alla Milanese

Ingredients

7 cups chicken broth (homemade stock or low-sodium store-bought)
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp saffron threads
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup finely minced onion
2 cups carnaroli or arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Bring broth to a boil in a large pot and set aside at a simmer on the stove. Boil 1/2 cup water and pour into a glass measuring cup; add saffron threads and set aside. Heat oil in a large, deep skillet. Add onion, and sauté until soft but not brown, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the rice, making sure to coat each grain, and let toast for just a minute. Remove pan from heat, and stir in the wine. It will bubble up, so keep your distance! Return the pan to the heat. When the liquid is absorbed, begin adding broth, 1 ladleful at a time, letting each bit of liquid be absorbed. After 2 cups are added, stir the saffron water into the rice. Continue adding broth, reserving 1/4 cup at the end. Remove from heat. Add butter and cheese, and stir vigorously for 2 minutes. Add in reserved 1/4 cup broth and stir to desired creaminess. Season to taste with black pepper, and serve immediately.

Penne Rigate al Provolone dolce - Penne Rigate with Sweet Provolone

 

 

Ingredients for 4 people
 
1 Pack of Penne Pasta
1 Cup Butter
1 Cup Sweet Provolone, Grated
1/4 Cup Tomato Sauce
3 Tbsp Chopped Parsley
Black Pepper
 
Cook the pasta. In a saucepan melt the butter, add the tomato sauce, the provolone and a pinch of black pepper. Mix well until the provolone is completely melted. Add to cooked pasta immediately. Sprinkle with parsley.

Farfalle alla Ricotta - Butterfly Pasta with Ricotta Sauce

Ingredients for 4 people
 
1 Pack Farfalle Pasta (I use Barilla, Buitoni or De Cecco, these are real Italian brands)
1 Chopped Small Onion
1 Fresh Parsley Bunch, Chopped
5 1/2 oz Ricotta
1 Lbs Peeled and Chopped Roma Tomatoes (you can use the can whole tomatoes for a quicker version)
3 Tbsp Extra vergin Olive Oil
Salt for the pasta's water
Black Pepper

Cook the farfalle following the box instructions, do not overcook, pasta is always better "al dente".

While the pasta is cooking, brown the onion in the olive oil, add the parsley and stir for a minute. Add tomatoes and cook on medium- high for 10 minutes, stirring the sauce very often. Add the ricotta cheese, stir well until it looks creamy.
Add to pasta, mix sauce and farfalle adding a pinch of black pepper.

Gnocchi di Patate al Burro e Salvia - Potatoes Dumplings (from scratch) with Butter and Sage

Small dumplings (Gnocchi) are one of the oldest preparations in the history of food, recorded as far back as cookbooks of the thirteenth century. In a fragment of a book of the 1300s there is a recipe for gnocchi written in the Tuscan dialectal language .

In spite of the long description, gnocchi are very easy to prepare. Gnocchi can be dressed with many sauces, but are especially good with pesto, Amatriciana sauce, Ragu', four cheeses, butter and fresh tomato sauce, or very simply butter and sage as in this presentation. The taste of the butter - sage dressing is very delicate and will enhance the taste of the gnocchi. Gnocchi are also one very refined dishes, worthy of the most sophisticated menus.

 

Ingredients

 

for the gnocchi2 lb (approximately 1 kg) whole old russet potatoes, unpeeled2 cups (approximately 300 gr) flour1 egg (optional)1 tablespoon salt

for the dressing
2 oz (60 gr) butter4 - 5 fresh sage leaves3 oz (90 gr) freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

Wash the potatoes, place them in a large stock pot filled with water, and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are soft without overcooking to prevent them from breaking. Cooking time may vary depending on the size of the potatoes. Peel immediately while potatoes are still hot and mash them on a work surface using a potato masher or a food mill.

 

When the potatoes are still warm but cool enough to be handled, shape them in a mound with a well in the center.

 



Add 1 cup (150 gr) of the flour, the egg, and salt. Draw the ingredients together and mix to form a dough.

 

 



At this point the dough will be sticky on your hands. Sprinkle a little of the remaining flour on the dough and work the dough with your hands until the potato dough incorporates the flour.

 

 

Continue adding flour a little at a time and kneading the dough, until the potato dough is no longer too sticky. The dough must be soft and fluffy: avoid incorporating too much flour.

 

 

 

Cut the dough into four pieces. Sprinkle the work surface with a little flour, and place the first piece on it.

 

 

 

Roll the dough into one or two long sticks approximately 3/4 inch (2 cm) in diameter. 

 
Then cut the sticks into pieces 3/4 inch (2 cm) long.

Roll the pieces in your hands to give them a rounded oval shape.

 

 

Roll the pieces along the prongs of a common fork using one finger, in a way that the side of the piece running along the fork will be ruffled and the side you are pressing with your finger will be a little concave.

 

 

Fill a stockpot three quarters full with water, bring to a boil, and add salt. When the water is at a fast boil, drop the gnocchi in a few at a time to avoid damaging them. The gnocchi will fall to the bottom of the pot.

 

 

In a skillet large enough to contain the gnocchi, place the butter and sage leave. Turn heat to medium to melt the butter.

 

 

After about 1 – 2 minutes the gnocchi will come up to the surface, and this will be the sign that they are cooked. Don't drain gnocchi in a colander as you would do with pasta. Gnocchi are very soft and may be damaged. Instead remove them as soon as they float to the surface, with the help of a large slotted spoon or strainer, draining thoroughly.

 

 

Transfer the gnocchi to the skillet and sauté briefly, stirring gently with a large spoon, until the gnocchi are fully covered by the butter.

 

 

Transfer to a serving dish, top with the grated parmigiano cheese. Serve hot at once.

 

Shrimps and Asparagus Risotto

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:
5 tbs. butter
1 onion –diced
1 1/3 c risotto rice
1 glass dry white wine
2 qt. shrimp stock –hot
40 asparagus tips –steamed
8 oz. large shrimp –peeled and cleaned
¼ tsp. garlic powder
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:
1) Heat up 3 tbsps. Of the butter in a large heavy bottom sauté pan. Add the leeks with a pinch of salt and sauté until they start to soften about 5 minutes. Add the rice and allow to toast for a few minutes until opaque then add the wine and simmer until absorbed almost completely.
2) Start adding the stock a ladle at the time, just enough to cover the rice. When almost all of it is absorbed add more stock and stir often. Once the rice is tender remove from flame and stir in 1 tbs. of the butter and adjust seasonings with the salt and pepper. Allow to rest.
3) Season the shrimp with the garlic powder and some salt and pepper. In a large sauté pan heat up 1 tbs. of the butter and sauté the shrimp until it turns pink and curls up and is no longer opaque.
4) Gently fold the cooked shrimp and asparagus into the risotto reserving a few pieces of each for garnish. Divide into 4 plates and serve warm.

Pasta alla capricciosella -

 

Ingredients

Serves 4-6 people

For 400g (14 oz.) spaghetti, bavette or linguini (or other long pasta of your choice)

• 500g (1 lb) baby squid, cleaned and roughly chopped (see Notes)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and slightly crushed
• Olive oil
• White wine
• 200g (7 oz) cherry or grape tomatoes, split in half (see Notes)
• 100g (3-1/2 oz) mushrooms, roughly sliced or chopped (see Notes)
• 100g (3-1/2 oz) peas, frozen or fresh
• A few sprigs of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper

Directions

In a sauté pan large enough to hold all the pasta, sauté the garlic cloves in abundant olive oil over moderate heat until they are just beginning to brown. Remove the garlic cloves and add the chopped calamari. Season with salt and pepper, stirring so that all the little pieces are nicely coated with the flavored oil. Turn the heat down to very low and cover the pan.

Let the squid braise until it is very tender, about 20-30 minutes for baby squid, 45-60 minutes for ‘regular’ squid. The squid will give off a fair amount of liquid to begin with, but as it cooks it may dry out, in which case add a few spoonfuls of water or wine from time to time to keep things moist. The squid itself should be much reduced in size and darken as its liquid cooks out; this is perfectly normal.

While the squid is cooking, start the pasta water going, then prep your veggies.

When the squid is done, uncover it, increase the heat to medium-high and add the white wine. Let the wine reduce, then add your veggies. Mix well to cover them completely with the sauce in the pan. Season well with salt and pepper as you stir.

Then, once again, reduce the heat and cover the pan. Let the veggies braise until the mushrooms are tender, about another 10 minutes or so. The tomatoes will soften and begin to ‘melt’ into the sauce, but not completely. A minute or two before the end, add half of the chopped parsley.

Just when you cover the pan again, salt the boiling water very well and add your pasta, making sure that . it should be done about the same time as your veggies. When it is done very al dente, add the pasta to sauce in the sauté pan. Lower the heat as low as it will go, and mix it all up so that the pasta is well coated with the sauce. If things are a bit dry or sticky, add some more pasta water to loosen things up. The pasta should not be at all watery but slight ‘slither’ around the pan easily.

Serve immediately in warmed pasta dishes. The best way to do this is to grab a good portion of pasta with some tongs (or a pasta fork) and swirl it into the dish. Then spoon out a nice portion of the sauce, with squid and veggies, too, on top of the pasta. If you like, sprinkle a bit of fresh parsley on top for garnish, perhaps with un filo d’olio—a drizzle of olive oil, no cheese.

Notes

I can find baby squid, pre-cleaned and frozen, in my local supermarket. It is a real god-send. Baby squid (or calamaretti) are much more tender then ‘regular’ squid and have a wonderfully sweet flavor. But if you can only find the larger kind, no worries, it will just need to cook longer to reach that point of perfect tenderness at which the squid becomes almost ‘creamy’. Most squid sold in the US these days comes pre-cleaned.

The recipe does not specify cherry tomatoes, and in summer you could use fresh tomatoes in season. But cherry tomatoes do a very nice job, adding a bit of color and tomato flavor without overwhelming the dish. If you want to add canned tomatoes, add fewer and let the veggies cook longer than indicated above, holding back the peas for the first 5 minutes or so, so they don’t overcook.

As for the mushroom, garden-variety cultivated supermarket mushrooms are fine—in fact, the recipe calls for them—but I like those packs of mixed mushrooms. I would not use expensive wild mushrooms for this dish, however—not worth the price in a simple dish like this, where their taste would, in any event, be playing second-fiddle to the squid.

Raviolini di Pere

This dish is small ravioli filled with a pear sauce. In German it is called Klotznnudl (Antica Trattoria Schönburg).

Dried pears
butter
onions
fresh ricotta cheese
milk
flour
salt
hot water
oil

Boil the pears. When they are done and still hot top and tail then chop very finely.

Add to the paste some onions which have been roasted in butter, the ricotta and a little milk, then mix well.

The ravioli pasta is made from the flour, oil, salt and hot water.

Roll the ingredients into a dough then form the classic ravioli shapes.

On each place a small amount of the pear paste and close with another piece of ravioli.

Cook in salty water with a little oil added and eat with melted butter.