parmigiano

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Antipasto? Make it a salad!

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antipasto salad

I love antipasto ingredients. All the big tastes of the savory best. Olives, cheeses, salumi, artichoke hearts, crusty bread, tomatoes, and…whatever you like.

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extra special tomatoes at Rialto Market in Venice

What do you put together for an antipasto platter? Well, just throw it in a bowl and make it a salad.

I make sure ingredients are cut or torn into bite-sized pieces. I make croutons for that crusty bread presence. And include my favorite brand of artichoke hearts (Trader Joe).

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Trader Joe artichoke hearts

Even if you don’t add greens to your usual antipasto platter, a few green leaves in this salad ups the ante. I use bitter (and lovely for the bitterness) dandelion greens.

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dandelion greens

Slices of endive are nice, too. And maybe some baby arugula. But don’t make it a green salad…think of it as just an accent of green crunch. (A bright lift of some fresh herbs like mint or basil makes it sing even sweeter.)

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mint

Season all with salt & pepper. Add some drizzles of olive oil, and a few shakes of your favorite vinegar. Not only is it tasty…it’s pretty!

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antipasto salad

Antipasto Salad w Olives & Chunk Parmigiano

1 small bunch Italian greens — dandelion or baby escarole, cleaned & chopped to bite-sized

1/2 cup pitted green & black olives

1/2 cup parmigiano, cut into small chunks

1-2 sprigs mint leaves, torn

2-3 baby cucumbers, rinsed, sliced, cut into chunks

1/2 cup cherry toms, sliced in half

1/2 cup salami, cut into chunks

1/2 cup artichoke hearts, cut in half

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup favorite vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

Mix all the salad in gradients in a medium serving bowl. Add the olive oil & vinegar. Toss to coat. Season with salt & pepper. Toss to coat. Serve.

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Will the real Alfredo please stand up?

My Dad with his father from Sicily, his stepmother from Sicily, and his sister Vera

My Dad with his father from Sicily, his stepmother from Sicily, and his sister Vera

My Dad’s name was Alfredo. Alfredo Bernani Ernani Licitra (I might be missing one name). He was named after a character in the Verdi opera “La Traviata”…Alfredo Germont.

But dad was not the inventor of Fettuccine Alfredo. (Neither was Signor Germont.)

Fettuccine Alfredo

Fettuccine Alfredo

There are a couple of Alfredo’s running around Roman Italian history who say they created the dish. And two restaurants in Rome (not too far from each other) are named “Alfredo” …each claiming to be the originator.

An Alfredo restaurant in Rome

An Alfredo restaurant in Rome

If you’re in Rome you may as well try them both. If you’re not in Rome here’s a recipe for you to try.

When I teach Fettuccine Alfredo in my cooking classes people are surprised to discover the recipe has no cream. No. Cream. It’s a creamy dish. But you don’t use cream.

So how does the pasta get so lusciously creamy?

Butter.

butter

butter

And parmigiano.

parmigiano

parmigiano

And pasta water. That’s it.

pasta water

pasta water

There’s a little finesse to acquire. The right softness of the butter. Adding the right amount of cheese and pasta water. At the right moment. Enthusiastically tossing.

Becoming a master happens fast. And then you get to eat it, too.

True Fettuccine Alfredo 

1 lb. fettuccine

½ lb. unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature

2 – 2 ½ cups grated parmigiano

salt & pepper to taste

Fill a large pasta pot with water and bring to a boil. Add salt. Add fettuccine. Stir with a large fork (to keep strands from sticking together) until the water comes back to a boil.

Meanwhile, slice the butter into thin pats and lay them out in the bottom of a large shallow serving bowl. Hold bowl over boiling water to soften butter (not melt it).

Cook fettuccine until al dente. Reserve ¾ cup of the pasta water. Drain pasta.

Place the drained pasta on top of the butter and sprinkle 1/4-1/3 cup of the cheese on top. Using a large fork and spoon (or two forks) toss the pasta quickly, coating it with the butter and cheese. Add some of the pasta water—about half. Continue to toss. Add more cheese, sprinkling it lightly, tossing, sprinkling lightly again. Add the other half of the water. Keep tossing until the pasta is coated in the creaminess of the butter-cheese-water combination. Add more water if it’s too thick of a mixture. Taste for seasoning. Add some black pepper. Serve hot.

Rome: umbrella pines and ruins

Rome: umbrella pines

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Got Eggplant? Here’s a very quick parmigiano!

eggplant

eggplant

Okay I’ll admit it. I’m not a big fan of eggplant. (Please don’t boo so loudly.) I’m Italian-American and 3 quarters of my background is Sicilian and Sicilians love eggplant. But I’m not one of them.

However. There are times when an eggplant dish just hits the spot. I try hard to make that happen so that even I like eggplant.

Here’s one of those dishes/times.

It all came about because an eggplant in the refrigerator was going to turn from good to bad. I had to cook it quickly and didn’t want to take too much time doing it.

I sliced the eggplant thinly (peel and all). Placed the slices in one layer on a sheet pan (foil-lined), drizzled olive oil, sprinkled salt & pepper. Baked it till soft and a bit golden. (400 degrees, about 20 minutes)

sliced eggplant ready for the oven

sliced eggplant ready for the oven

I made a quick tomato sauce. Sautéed minced onion in olive oil and I had a few mushrooms, so I broke them into small pieces and added them to the sauté. (As well as a few minced sage leaves-happened to have some.)

onion & mushrooms

onion & mushrooms

A splash of white wine, let it evaporate, then a 15-oz can of crushed toms.

crushed tomatoes

crushed tomatoes

quick tomato sauce

quick tomato sauce

In a casserole dish I spread some sauce. Layered the eggplant. Sprinkled some shredded mozzarella and some grated parmigiano, more sauce, and repeat. (I also happened to have some cooked broccoli rabe in the fridge, so I put that in! Totally optional.)

building the eggplant parm

building the eggplant parm

 

eggplant w cheese

eggplant w cheese

Bake for 25-30 minutes. It’s GOOD. This eggplant I like. Tastes rustic, earthy, old world. My kind of eggplant.

baked eggplant parmigiano

baked eggplant parmigiano

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Asparagus. Easy. With 3 Levels of Tasty.

Asparagus w 3 Flavors

Asparagus w 3 Flavors

I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets nervous if there isn’t a green dish somewhere amongst the dinner menu. I need to have at least one dish that has green in it. Or a whole bowl of green all by itself. Broccoli rabe is my first go-to green. I love Swiss chard, too. String beans. Escarole. Dandelion. And even romaine for a salad.

Then there’s asparagus. What an unusual animal. No other green quite like it. A tall, completely edible (almost), stalk. Ever see how they grow? They rise from the earth like mini-skyscrapers (yet I’m sure they have no interest in going any higher than your knee and even that’s “stretching” it). And, yes, ancient people loved them, too. There’s a recipe for asparagus from Apicius (Roman Empire gourmand with a fondness for recording recipes…thank you!): “…immerse in boiling water backwards,” which reminds me there is even cookware made especially for cooking asparagus (I’ve never used any). Wikipedia just told me that Romans would even freeze asparagus up in the snowy Alps so they’d have plenty for the Feast of Epicurus (no, not the website).

I make asparagus a million different ways. They cook so fast so they pop up as the green at the table often. Here’s one way that gets you asparagus PLUS 3 flavors (1. garlic 2. lemon 3. parmigiano) all in one.

First: peel and slice (thinly) 3-4 cloves of garlic. Heat a little olive oil in a small sauté pan. Add the garlic slices. Sauté till they become deep brown. You’ll be doing what everyone always says “DON’T do.” Cooking garlic to dark brown. Trust me. It becomes chewy and yummy, not bitter. Lift garlic out of oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Don’t throw out the oil.

Rinse and dry a lemon. Cut lemon into 1/4-inch tiny pieces. Peel and all.

Line a sheet pan with foil and drizzle a little olive oil over it. Snap the woody ends off the asparagus (or cut them all off in one fell swoop). Lay out the asparagus on the sheet pan in one layer.  Drizzle more olive oil (don’t forget the garlic oil). Sprinkle more salt. And a little pepper. Sprinkle lemon pieces.

Roast in 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes until tender or crisp-tender. Transfer asparagus and lemon pieces to serving plate and sprinkle golden garlic. Toss to combine. Add a dusting of about 1/4 cup of grated parmigiano.

Oh. Yeah. Enjoy.

About 15 minutes later witness the great mystery that’s been observed since early man. Asparagus pea (yes, I just spelled that wrong. Just couldn’t say the other word around food).

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Need Cozy from the Cold? Pasta with Meatballs.

Pasta with Meatballs

Pasta with Meatballs

It’s freezing out there. Literally. And to the depths of freezing, too. Run and hide is all we can do. And the best place to hide is in the kitchen.

Here I am. Hiding. Stirring a pot. Chopping an onion. Mushing together some meat. It’s indoor sports with a decidedly yummy intention. (As opposed to outdoor sports: did you see Aaron Rodgers yesterday in 3-degree temps playing 60 minutes of football…read: 3 hours?…I choose indoor sport.)

This is the dish that used to be reserved for Sundays. I used to wake up on a Sunday morn (we’re going back here to kid, maybe even teenage days) to the aroma of a Sunday sauce: meatballs (plus usually some pork element) simmering in a tomato sauce. This aroma was accompanied by warm Sunday Kaiser rolls that my dad picked up from the bakery (which I slathered with butter). While mom stirred the sauce. And my sister, Nina, made a sauce sandwich.

But these frigid times call for better-than-weekday mundanity. I want my Sunday sauce NOW.

It’s not hard to make Sunday sauce. You may have heard tales of the elaborate stand-on-your-head antics that Italian-Americans do to make this concoction. Not necessary. You can stay upright. Let me show you how.

First The Meatballs.

Bread soaking

Bread soaking

Take 2 slices of sliced bread (usually white) (but here I’ve used Publix Italian multigrain sliced bread). Peel off the edges and break up the middle part into small pieces in a small bowl. Cover with milk. Let soak for about 10-15 minutes until nice and wet. Drain. Add mushed up wet bread to a medium mixing bowl with 1 lb. of ground chuck. Add 1/4 cup grated parmigiano, 1 egg, salt & pepper, 1/4 cup or more minced parsley. Stir with a fork to mix (or dive in now with hands).

meatball mixture

Meatball mixture

Line a sheet pan with foil. Shape meat into 1 or 2-inch balls and place on pan.

Meatballs

Meatballs

Roast in 400 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes until cooked through and starting to brown.

Then The Sauce:

Diced onion w garlic

Diced onion w garlic

Dice a small onion. Mince 2 cloves of garlic. In a large saucepan, heat some olive oil. Add the onion and sauté until softened. Then add the minced garlic. Saute 1-2 minutes more. Add a 1/4 cup of dry white wine. Let evaporate. Then add your tomatoes. What tomatoes you wonder? Well, any, really.

Canned Tomatoes

Canned Tomatoes

I used 2 28-oz cans: Cento crushed and Nina whole peeled plums (I cut them up while still in the can with a pair of scissors). Let the sauce simmer on medium low until bubbly. Season well with salt & pepper (add some hot pepper if you like, too). Let bubble for about 20 minutes.  When meatballs are done, put them in the sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes more.

Fusill

Fusill

Boil your pasta (I’m going to assume you’ve got that part. If not, ask me). I used fusilli lunghi. I LOVE this pasta (and it was a favorite of my dad’s). You can’t find it everywhere. If you’re local to Nashville, I know you can find it at Coco’s Italian Market.

Drain pasta when done. Get it coated with sauce. No pasta drowning in sauce here. A simple coating with a bit extra per serving. Add a few meatballs to each serving and dust with grated parmigiano. So easy. VERY good.

You can even make this in the summer when you’re hiding in the kitchen from the heat.

Grated Parmigiano

Grated Parmigiano