Recipes One

We have really been enjoying soups this winter.  It seemed like my kids werent quite at the age to enjoy soup or to be able to eat it very well last year, but this year, weve been eating soup probably once a week, if not more.  There are few things I love more on a cold day than a big pot of soup!



I first tried this soup at my mother-in-laws house over Christmas.  They had made it before we got there, so we had some leftovers and thought it was really good.  I just made it myself this week and it was even better than I remembered!  And so simple and easy!  There are very few ingredients, but the taste is incredibly delicious.  I changed a few things, but not much.  Its very creamy without any cream, and its soooo so satisfying.  I made these muffins to go along with it - because my husband likes me to find any excuse to make these as often as possible :) - and a big salad and it was the perfect wintry meal. I just the leftovers for lunch today and it was so good I had to get on here and post the recipe!

A note about leeks:  They are surprisingly very sandy and dirty, so make sure you wash them thoroughly before using.  I found the easiest way was this: chop of the dark green ends (you dont use that part) and the root, and then cut in half length-wise.  Chop/slice the leeks all up and then put them in a large bowl of cold water.  Swish them around a lot so the sand falls to the bottom and then let them sit for a few minutes to let any more dirt sink.  Have a colander handy and scoop the leeks into the colander to drain off the excess water.  That should do the trick!

Potato Leek Soup

1/4 c. butter
6 leeks, trimmed and chopped (see note above)
4 c. chicken stock (1 quart)
4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tsp. sea salt, or to taste
black pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add leeks, stir, and cook until soft, about 10-15 minutes.

Stir in chicken stock and potatoes and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Pour about half of the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full.  Hold down the lid with a towel and pulse a few times and then leave it on long enough to puree.  Add the pureed half back into the pot with the rest of the soup.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.  There are so few ingredients, so make sure you get your seasonings right.  Potatoes need a lot of salt, so dont be afraid to keep adding it until it tastes great!

Source: Adapted from Allrecipes

A couple of weeks ago my Mother and Father went on a cruise with our cousins, Jane and Pat from Arizona. The night they arrived we knew they would be hungry after all that traveling. This is the dish I created for us all to share together the night before they left for their cruise. It took me a while to write up the recipe and now that its been a few weeks Im hoping that I didnt leave anything out. Its actually pretty basic and any vegetable can be substituted, so it would be fine to use this recipe as a guide.

Id like to give a special thank you to Jane, Pat and the rest of my family for inspiring this delicious dish!


Pasta Bella Familia

Ingredients:

2 packages cremini mushrooms
2 cans artichoke hearts
3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 cup kalamata olives, sliced
sundried tomatoes in oil, sliced
1 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 bags spinach, chopped
1 handful parsley, chopped
Approx 1 cup white wine
chicken broth
2 pounds penne
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:

Sauté onions and garlic in a combination of extra virgin olive oil and oil from sundried tomatoes. Add mushrooms and try not to stir too much so they will get some color. Once they are soft add tomatoes and cook until they break down and become soft and release their liquid. Add sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and olives. Let them heat through and then add spinach tossing until coated with oil. Add more oil as needed. Add white wine and let it cook down until liquid has reduced by about half, then add chicken broth. Taste and add salt and pepper.

Boil pasta in salted water until al dente. Toss pasta with veggies and parsley.

Note: Vegetable broth can be substitued for chicken broth if you are vegetarian.

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School lunches are right around the corner,
and these muffins are SUPER moist (they taste even better on day two and three as long as you keep them covered well) AND they are packed with flavor!!

Make a batch of these for  school lunches, or a bake sale or share them at work. You will love this muffin!!!

 This recipe goes together quickly and easily and the muffins bake up with nice round tops covered with a sweet streusel topping. Makes 18 muffins. I dont even use a mixer for this recipe, just a hand whisk works well.

2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon (see substitution note below)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs slightly beaten
(1) 15 ounce can of pumpkin
1/2 cup canola oil
2 cups cooking apples (peeled and chopped small)

Preheat oven to 350°. In large bowl, mix dry ingredients until well combined, set aside.

In another bowl, whisk all of the wet ingredients until smooth, then stir in the chopped apples by hand. 

Mix the bowl of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Spoon batter equally into paper lined cupcake pans. Top with streusel topping (optional) (recipe below) and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350°.

Muffins are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

STREUSEL TOPPING   (optional)
2 tablespoons flour
¼ cup white sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
4 teaspoons melted butter

Mix streusel ingredients with your fingers until you get a dry crumbly topping. Put a little on each muffin before you bake.

NOTE: You can substitute 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon-ginger-nutmeg combination.

NOTE: Let muffins cool down a little, but before they are entirely cold, cover with plastic wrap. Muffins should be stored covered.

NOTE: Recipe says to bake for 35-40 minutes. My oven cooked these in 35 minutes exactly.

Is it just me or does every celebrity have a cookbook these days? Of course, Im not going to let that stop me from checking out their cookbooks and trying their recipes. Its just makes me think, maybe I should write one. HA! Anyway,  I recently watched Gwyneth Paltrow on The Rachael Ray Show and she made a popular recipe that I think we all have our own version of, Pasta with Zucchini. Gwyneth uses lemon and basil that I think are great additions but she doesnt use any garlic. I just couldnt make this dish without it and sauteed some garlic in fresh extra virgin olive oil after the zucchini was fried. I liked tossing the zucchini in flour because it helped keep the zucchini crispy but it clouded the oil. Thats not a problem just replace the oil if you come across the same issue. The recipe suggests serving with lemon wedges which is a nice touch but I also added the juice of one lemon to the oil.

Gwyneths recipe was published in Food and Wine Magazine April 2011.

Fried-Zucchini Spaghetti

Ingredients:

1 pound small zucchini, very thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 pound spaghetti
1 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
1/2 cup torn basil leaves
Freshly ground pepper
Lemon wedges, for serving



Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini with the flour and a pinch of salt. In a very large skillet, heat half of the oil until shimmering. Add half of the zucchini and fry over high heat, turning once or twice, until browned and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the zucchini to a paper towel–lined wire rack and season with salt. Repeat with the remaining oil and zucchini.
2. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Return the pasta to the pot and toss with the 1 cup of cheese, the basil and a generous pinch of pepper. Add the reserved pasta water a little at a time, tossing well to coat. Transfer the pasta to a bowl and top with the crispy zucchini. Serve right away with lemon wedges and additional cheese.

  Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

These "Grab-and-Go" mini cherry pies are perfect for large gatherings and family or church potluck dinners. The dough can be made days ahead and baked off when you have some "extra" time, which is a big help.

Guests (at least mine) seem to appreciate PIE at a potluck, but traditional pie can be messy to serve, especially for children. These little "two bite" beauties are perfect. This recipe makes 24 pies, but the recipe doubles easily.

CRUST

1/2 cup butter  (room temperature)
3 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup flour

Mix with electric mixer (I use my stand mixer with paddle attachment) until you get a smooth dough. Wrap it in plastic and chill for about an hour (will also keep well in fridge for several days).

FILLING

(1)  14½ ounce can tart pie cherries packed in water
3/4 cup granulated sugar (divided)
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon corn starch
pinch of table salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (do not leave out)
1 teaspoon butter

Drain the cherries, reserving the liquid. Pulse the cherries in the food processor until fairly well chopped then drain again (I even press on the cherries a little to remove excess liquid): set aside.

 In a saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the reserved cherry juice, HALF of the sugar, the cornstarch and a pinch of salt. Whisk till smooth and bring to a boil. When this mixture gets super thick (it will happen FAST once it starts to thicken), remove from heat and stir in the rest of the sugar, the chopped cherries, the almond extract and butter. Stir until well mixed; let cool while you form the crusts.

 Preheat oven to 375°. Cut the chilled dough into 24 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place one ball in each mini-muffin cup (no need to grease the pan).

Now, you have to use your fingers and push the dough across the bottom and up the sides of each mini-muffin space.  Better yet, if you have tart tamper or something similar, this step will go MUCH faster (just dip it in a little flour between each use).  I use the rounded end of the wooden tool that came with my Kitchen Aid meat grinder, it works absolutely perfectly. Try and get the crust edges just a little taller than the edges of each muffin cup (see 2nd photo).

Fill each mini-crust 2/3 full of the cherry filling. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes on the TOP RACK of your oven.   When the edges of the crust are light golden brown, they are done. 

IMPORTANT:
Dont try to remove the cooked pies from the pan right away. The filling stays hot for a while, so let them cool for a good 25 minutes or so. You can use a butter knife to help "lift" the pies out of the pan. 

BETTER YET: line the mini-muffin pan with mini-cupcake papers and that should solve any/all problems.

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My Grandmother Emilia wasnt Sicilian but my  Grandmother Josephine was. I know that both of them would LOVE this dish. Now please dont be fooled (ahem, STEVE!) this is NOT Spaghettios. My poor Grandmother would roll over in her grave if I ever bought that, ate it, or even smelled it! This pasta shape is called Anelletti which translates to "rings". I guess you could wear them on your fingers! hahaha!

So this dish is very easy to make and a great alternative to baked ziti or lasagna. It doesnt contain any ricotta but you could definitely add some if you like. I think this is a great recipe for entertaining since its so pretty and makes a lot. Dont forget to use a beautiful dish - no aluminum for this recipe! I used my Al Fresco Server and I think it looks stunning! What do you think?

Pasta Forno Siciliano

Ingredients:

2 pounds anelleti
1 pound mozzarella, shredded or cubed
Romano Cheese, grated
About 1 1/2 cups of frozen peas (use more or less or even leave it out)
2 cups seasoned breadcrumbs
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 recipe Moms Meat Sauce (see recipe below)

Directions:

1. Boil Pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until a few minutes short of al dente. The pasta will continue to cook in the oven and will not taste good if its too soft.

2. Mix Pasta with half of the sauce and add more if necessary. It should be moist but not totally wet. (Use the rest for serving.) Add about 3/4 cup of Romano cheese and peas, toss to combine.

3. Heat butter and oil in a nonstick pan until butter is melted. Add breadcrumbs and approx 2/3 cup of cheese.

4. Add half of the breadcrumb mixture to your casserole dish (make sure its a pretty one!) and then add half of the pasta. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Add the rest of the pasta and top with the rest of the mozzarella. Sprinkle the rest of the breadcrumb mixture to the top of the pasta.

5. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Allow pasta to settle before slicing. (I failed to do that and it fell apart a little but still tasted delicious!)





Moms Meat Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lb ground beef
6-7 basil leaves
salt and pepper
garlic powder
Mrs. Dash
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp sugar

Directions:

Brown ground beef in about 1 Tbsp of oil. Sprinkle with garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Use a potato masher or wooden spoon to break up the meat so you dont have any large chunks. Drain oil from meat and set aside.

Saute onion and garlic in EVOO. Return meat to pot and add tomatoes. Swish water in the cans and add about ½ can of water or as needed so it’s not too thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add basil. Let cook for ½ hour, stirring occasionally so sauce does not burn. Taste again for seasoning. Add 1 tsp of sugar or a little more if needed. Allow sauce to cook for ½ hour more and taste again.




Click here for a printable recipe of Pasta Forno Siciliano.