mushrooms

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More Quick Vegetable Ideas

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The vegetable factory keeps cranking in my kitchen. So many of these dishes have been cooking in my family’s kitchens for many years. Try them out!

One: Broccoli with Garlic and Vermicelli. Basically boiled broccoli with a boost from garlic, olive oil, and the addition of a comforting handful of pasta.

Two: Crunchy Zucchini Slices with Mint. Here’s how to wake up zucchini!

Three: Stuffed Mushrooms. Turn mushroom stems into tasty mushroom stuffing.

Four: Mini Peppers with Crunchy Breadcrumbs. These are so delicate, and a savory surprise flavor pop.

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Broccoli with Garlic and Vermicelli

Vege Broccoli1 bunch broccoli

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 pound (or handful) vermicelli or capellini

salt to taste

Cut off the broccoli stems, discard. Cut up broccoli heads into florets with some stem attached. Rinse under cool water.

Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water. Bring to a boil. Add a drizzle or so of olive oil and some salt. Add broccoli. Break up vermicelli into 1-2-inch pieces. Add to pan. Bring back to a low boil and cook until broccoli and pasta are tender, about 10-12 minutes. Drain. Adjust for seasoning — if needed, add more salt and/or another drizzle of olive oil.

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Crunchy Zucchini Slices with Mint

Vege Zucchini Slices1 large zucchini, or 2 small

2 eggs

1/4 cup grated parmigiano

1 cup AP flour, or self-rising flour

olive oil for frying (about 1/4 cup in all)

salt to taste

1-2 mint sprigs, stems discarded, leaves torn into smaller pieces

Trim the stem ends off of the zucchini. If large, cut zucchini in half crosswise. Then cut each half into thin slices.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs with grated cheese. Add some salt. Add flour to a different (medium shallow) bowl. Season with salt.

Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan. When hot. Dredge a few slices of zucchini in the flour, then coat each with egg mixture. Add to oil, repeat with more slices until they fill pan in one layer. Fry on each side until golden. Let drain on paper-towel-lined plate. Repeat with remaining slices, add more oil to pan if needed. Season fried slices with a little salt.

Transfer cooked slices to serving plate. Garnish with mint.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Vege MushroomsCheck out this easy recipe from an earlier post of mine:

https://chefpaulette.net/2019/10/13/easy-stuffed-mushrooms/

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Mini Peppers with Crunchy Breadcrumbs

Vege Peppers Bread2 cups mini bell peppers

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced

2-3 sprigs fresh Italian parsley, stems discarded, leaves rough chopped

Salt to taste

Olive oil for drizzling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the stem tops off of the peppers, discard. Slice peppers in half lengthwise, clean out and discard seeds and membrane inside. Line a baking pan with foil. Drizzle a little olive oil on foil to coat.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together breadcrumbs, garlic, and parsley. Season with salt. Drizzle some olive oil to make a “wet sand” consistency.

Fill each pepper with breadcrumb mixture and place each one on the prepared pan in one layer. When pan is filled with stuffed peppers, drizzle a little olive oil on top. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, until peppers are tender and breadcrumb is golden. Serve hot or at room temp.

Enjoy!!

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Four Quick Stovetop Vegetable Dishes

Ahhhh! Some nights you just can’t figure out what to do for a vegetable dish. Well, here are 4 suggestions that seem to pop up at our house pretty often. And we love them all. And we’re happy to see each one return to the table time and again. AND they are easy. They are quick. And they are all inventions of my mom! (Believe me, she knows what she’s doing.)

Escarole with Cannellini Beans and Garlic. This is a green that makes me super happy. It’s got just a hint of bitter, and the leaves are smooth and crunchy. With the beans (there’s your protein!) and some garlic, it’s almost a meal in itself.

Mushrooms with Peas and Shallot. Mushrooms are almost a super food and high on the umami meter. Peas add a pop of green and pop! in your mouth and the shallot aromatic pulls all the flavors together.

Zucchini Fritters. You’ll sit up and take notice once zucchini is fried. Frying brings out the best of zucchini and these fritters are like little comfy pillows for your taste buds.

String Beans and Potatoes. String beans, green beans, take your pick– all the same. I like to use the skinny french beans, but the regular Mr. Green Jeans string beans are perfect. The added potatoes give a nice starchy smoothness.

Try one, try all. Let me know your faves.

Escarole with Cannellini Beans and Garlic

Escarole and Beans

1 head escarole

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 15-ounce can cannellini beans

salt to taste

Clean the escarole: discard any outer leaves that are bruised. Rinse the head well (into the center, too) and drain and pat dry. Tear leaves into just a little larger than bite-sized pieces (or as you prefer).

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan. Add garlic, let cook for about 2 minutes, but don’t let it color. Add the escarole. Season escarole with salt and toss until it begins to wilt. Add beans. Toss to combine, cook until leaves have wilted completely and are tender to the bite, about 4-5 minutes more. Adjust seasoning if needed. Add a little more olive oil if too dry. Serve.

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Mushrooms with Peas and Shallot

Mushrooms and Peas

8 ounces whole white mushrooms, or baby bella

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1 shallot, peeled and sliced

1 cup peas (you can add frozen peas right into the recipe)

salt to taste

Rinse mushrooms to remove any loose dirt. Slice mushroom into thick(ish) slices.

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan. Add shallot, let cook for a minute. Add mushrooms. Let cook at a lively simmer for about 3 minutes. Stir in peas. Season with salt. Cook until peas are cooked through and mushrooms are cooked, about 2-3 minutes more. Serve.

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Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini Fritters

2 small zucchini or 1 medium-large

2 tablespoons flour

1 egg

1/4 cup grated parmigiano

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

salt to taste

Trim the stem end from the zucchini. Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. Transfer grated zucchini to a medium mixing bowl. Add flour, egg, and cheese. Season well with salt. Stir to combine.

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan. When hot, spoon a couple of tablespoons zucchini mixture per fritter into the oil. Fill pan with fritters in one layer. Cook at medium high heat. Let them brown on the first side, then flip them to brown on the other. About a minute or so per side. Drain them on paper towels. Sprinkle a little more salt when the come out of the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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String Beans and Potatoes

String Beans and Potatoes

1 pound string beans, tipped

1 medium russet potato (or golden potato), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

2 garlic cloves, peeled

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

salt to taste

Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water. Bring to a boil. Add olive oil and some salt. Add string beans, garlic, and potatoes. Let simmer for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Drain and serve. (Add a drizzle of olive oil if you’d like and season with some more salt if you’d like.)

🙂 All YUM.

 

 

 

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Easy Stuffed Mushrooms

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Baked Stuffed Mushrooms

When I make stuffed mushrooms it’s always a last minute thought. And that’s okay. Because it takes near nothing to do.

You can make this recipe with 5 mushrooms, 12 mushrooms, 20. As long as you have a shallot (my favorite for this) or an onion (and some breadcrumb) you’re ready. Turn on the oven to 375 or 400. Line a sheet pan with foil. And go!

They are so tasty, and look so enticing and elaborate, you’ll never use a mushroom in any other way. (Well, of course, you will.)

Easy Stuffed Mushrooms

12 medium to large white or cremini mushrooms (I love having the usual array of mixed sizes)

1 shallot

Olive oil for sautéing and drizzling

1/2 cup panko

2-3 sprigs parsley, leaves minced, stems discarded

salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Line a sheet pan with foil. Drizzle a thin film of olive oil on foil. Gently pop out the stems of the mushrooms and line up the empty caps on the sheet pan. Mince up the stems. Peel and mince the shallot. Heat a tablespoon or so of oil in a medium frying pan. Sauté the chopped stems and shallot. Season with salt and pepper. When softened — about 2-3 minutes — add the breadcrumb & parsley. Drizzle a little more olive oil. Stir and coat crumbs with mixture. Add a little more salt. Take off heat. Let cool for a minute or so.

Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over caps, and very lightly salt caps. Using a small spoon, spoon mixture into caps until heaping. Place pan with mushrooms in the oven. Bake for about 10-15 minutes until tops are golden or lightly brown.

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Baked Stuffed Mushrooms

 

 

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Not All Gnocchi are Created Equal

Gnocchi alla Romana

Gnocchi alla Romana

Good thing for that! What would we do without a variety of gnocchi? There are a lot out there. In my kitchen alone — with the wonderful cooks that come to cook with me — we’ve made ricotta gnocchi (several varieties: spinach, tomato, herb-infused), potato gnocchi (also in many renditions: rosemary-infused, chive-infused), butternut squash gnocchi, sweet potato gnocchi, purple sweet potato gnocchi, and gnocchi alla Romana.

That last one is the wild sibling who doesn’t like to conform. It’s nothing like its brothers and sisters. It’s out there on a limb, enjoying its solitary freedom. And we get to enjoy it, too.

Gnocchi alla Romana is closer to polenta than those other little pillow gnocchi. It’s made from semolina flour. Stir it into simmering milk, with salt, pepper, grated cheese, butter, nutmeg, egg yolks…keep stirring until thickened. Then spread it out on a buttered sheet pan.

smooth the batter

smooth the batter

Chill it or let it set at room temperature until firm. Cut out circles…

cut out circles

cut out circles

Layer them in a buttered casserole dish…

layered in casserole dish

layered in casserole dish

Sprinkle with grated parmigiano and diced fontina cheese. Bake until bubbly and golden…

baked gnocchi alla romana

baked gnocchi alla romana

You can eat it just like that. And swoon. But sometimes I up the ante by topping it with a tomato-sausage-mushroom ragu.

Ante upped.

gnocchi alla romana w mushroom ragu

gnocchi alla romana w mushroom ragu

Gnocchi alla Romana – Semolina Gnocchi

3 cups milk

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, and extra for the pan

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup semolina flour

½ cup grated Parmigino  plus extra for sprinkling

3 egg yolks

¼ lb. fontina cheese, cubed or sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large saucepan, heat the milk, butter, salt, pepper, and nutmeg to just before simmering. Pour in the semolina in a thin stream whisking as you go. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir constantly, cooking for about a 5-8 minutes until it thickens. Stir in the grated cheese and the egg yolks and combine well.

Pour mixture into a buttered shallow pan. Smooth mixture evenly to about ½-inch thickness. Allow to cool until it becomes firm.

Butter a medium baking dish. With a biscuit cutter or glass, cut the semolina into circles. Layer the circles in the baking dish with each circle overlapping a bit with the next. Sprinkle the fontina. Sprinkle with some grated cheese. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until the cheese has melted and the top is golden brown.

Crumbled Sausage & Mushroom Ragu

1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms

3 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 Italian sausages, out of their casings

2 pints white or cremini mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, diced

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

salt & pepper to taste

Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl. Cover with boiling water. Let sit for 15-20 minutes. Lift out mushrooms and chop finely. Reserve mushroom water.

In a large saucepan. Heat the olive oil. Add the sausage meat and cook until browned, breaking up chunks into smaller pieces. Add the sliced mushrooms and the chopped porcini mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are cooked through. Add the garlic and onion. Cook until onion softens a bit. Add the crushed tomatoes. Bring to a simmer. Season with salt & pepper. Simmer slightly covered for about 45 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Frittata. The Chameleon in the Kitchen.

mushrooms and tomato

mushrooms and tomato

They say accessories make the outfit. Well, how would you accessorize eggs?

I start with what’s in the refrigerator. OR I see what’s in the refrigerator and think: “that would make a great frittata.”

So to accessorize my eggs I’d sometimes choose mushrooms, or potatoes, or peppers, or tomatoes, or leftover pasta, or herbs and onion. Or all of that.

Today the chameleon took on the color of tomato and mushroom. And eventually well-goldened egg.

Mushroom Tomato Frittata

Mushroom Tomato Frittata

And even tho this chameleon couldn’t blend so as to disappear against the background of the kitchen, it, nonetheless, looked…splendid.

I started by heating some olive oil in a stainless sauté pan. Added some sliced mushrooms…

sautéing mushrooms

sautéing mushrooms

…cooked till softened…

cooked mushrooms

cooked mushrooms

…cracked 4 eggs and whisked with parmigiano and salt and pepper…

whisking egg with parmigiano

whisking egg with parmigiano

…put eggs in the pan with mushrooms…….added tomato slices. Cooked over medium heat until bottom was set…

tomatoes in frittata

tomatoes in frittata

…then put under broiler for 3-5 minutes until golden….

cooked frittata

cooked frittata

DON’T FORGET THE HANDLE ON THE SAUTE PAN IS OVEN-HOT….when you take it out use a potholder and then leave the potholder on the handle to REMIND yourself it’s hot!

Loosen frittata from pan and slide onto a serving dish. Cut into wedges. Hot or room temp (even cold). Yay. Yum.

frittata serving

frittata serving

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Easy Peasy Pasta

Orzo pouring in...!

Orzo pouring in…!

It’s the kind of pasta you eat when you’re hungry and you want to eat something fast. You want it to be ready in the time it takes water to boil and pasta to cook…about 20 minutes.

Why not choose orzo? Get it cooking in boiling salted water. Then open the refrigerator.

What’s there?

Maybe: a few grape tomatoes. A small bunch of broccoli. A few mushrooms. On the patio is a patch of arugula growing in a pot.

impromptu sauce ingredients

impromptu sauce ingredients

There’s garlic. Or onion. Or both. Salt & Pepper. Cut up & cook up all in a saute pan with a little olive oil.

Saute

Saute

When orzo is done, drain it, and keep a bit of pasta water. Add orzo to the saute pan.

Cooking orzo

Cooking orzo

Drizzle some olive oil. Mix to combine. Add some pasta water to moisten if needed. Season. Add grated cheese (parmigiano). Kick off your shoes. Sit down. Watch TV. (Glass of wine?)  Comfy.