June 8, 2020 by chefpaulette

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 Broccoli 1 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.

***

Crunchy Zucchini Slices with Mint

Vege Zucchini Slices 1 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 Mushrooms Check out this easy recipe from an earlier post of mine:

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

***

Mini Peppers with Crunchy Breadcrumbs

Vege Peppers Bread 2 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!!

June 3, 2020 by chefpaulette

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.

***

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.

***

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.

***

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.

August 18, 2017 by chefpaulette

What to do with Zucchini

pasta w grated zucchini

I saw a longtime friend of mine on a recent visit to NYC. Gerald Busby is a cherished friend and mentor…AND a great composer. (I’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with him on some music projects.)

Gerald and me at his apartment in the Chelsea Hotel…my painting of the Chelsea behind us!

But Gerald is also a very good cook…so our chatting led to food…and he offhandedly described something he cooked up recently. It sounded so yummy I made it as soon as I got home. I LOVE this recipe: Pasta w Grated Zucchini

Simple. Smart. Delicious.

Here’s how it goes: Put your pasta pot of water on the heat to get it boiling. Then start your zucchini sauce. Chop a medium onion into dice. Sauté in a little butter (and I added a little olive oil, too)…

onions sautéing

Trim the ends of two medium zucchini. Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater.

grate zucchini

When the onion has softened. Add the grated zucchini to the pan.

saute zucchini with onion

Try to coincide with also adding your pasta to the pot of boiling water (salt water first) — about 12 ounces, or even up to a pound of pasta.

I got this pasta while in NYC at Eataly. It’s the Barilla brand that’s made in Italy and it’s rare to see “garganelli” as an egg pasta. So good! I think a cut pasta works best with this recipe.

Sauté zucchini till it starts to simmer, then add a splash of dry white wine. Season with salt, and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened.

Add about a 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Cook till simmering.

add cream to the zucchini, cook until cream reduces some

Reserve about a 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain pasta and add it to the pan of zucchini sauce. Stir to coat, and cook until the pasta and sauce are heated together, and the pasta is well coated. Add a little pasta water, or some more butter or olive oil if it needs moistening.

Transfer to a serving platter. Scatter a little grated cheese. And bring more cheese to the table for individual servings.

Simple. Smart. Delicious.

Pasta with Grated Zucchini

2 tablespoons butter

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 medium zucchini, trimmed & grated

1/4 cup dry white wine

12 ounces – 1 lb. cut pasta (i.e. penne, ziti, garganelli)

1/2 cup heavy cream

salt to taste

grated cheese to taste

Place a pasta pot of water on the heat. Heat the butter and oil in a large sauté pan with about 2-inch sides (to hold pasta later). Sauté onion until soft. Then add grated zucchini.

Add pasta to boiling water (salt water first). When zucchini is simmering, add wine. When zucchini has softened (about 3-4 minutes), add cream. Let simmer till cream reduces a bit. Season with salt.

Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain pasta and add to zucchini sauce. Heat and coat pasta and let cook for about 2 minutes. Add a bit of pasta water or olive oil (or even a bit of cream or butter) if too dry.

Transfer to serving platter. Sprinkle some grated cheese. Bring some grated cheese to the table for individual servings.

August 3, 2014 by chefpaulette

The Zucchini, Peppers, Eggplant Reunion

Zucchini, Eggplant, Peppers

You can use the above picture as a color palette for painting the walls of the rooms of your house. Bright yellow kitchen walls (I have that), Deep red dining room walls (I have that). Eggplant saturated office walls (I have that). And green…green…bedroom walls? (I don’t have that. No green walls.) (But the garden is green!)

Green Garden

The other thing you can do with that basket of wonder is cook it. Especially now when the shelves of the supermarket and the bins of the farmer’s market are spilling over with zucchini, eggplant and peppers. Those veggies just SAY summer (listen closely you can hear them) (they have tiny voices that squeak a little) (except for the eggplant, the eggplant is deep & bass-y). I’ve got a recipe that brings them together into a melange that makes them start singing.

First: cut each vegetable into uniform bite-sized pieces. Line 3 sheet pans with foil. Toss the cut-up zucchini on one, the cut-up peppers on the other, the cut-up eggplant on the third. Drizzle each with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper (add a little hot pepper like “aleppo” if you’re so inclined), and roast each pan in a 400 degree oven until golden and softened.

NOW (in a large mixing or serving bowl) mix them all together. In a food processor (or by all means mince with a knife) pulse some basil and parsley and garlic. Add a little olive oil and season with salt. “Dress” your roasted veggies with the mixture and serve. Hot or room temp (I like room temp best for this).

When you take a bite you’re tasting summer, you’re swallowing the sun. You’re engaging with 3 separately grown vegetables that are finally having their reunion (because they are really lifelong friends…didn’t you know they went to high school together?)

Roasted zucchini, eggplant, peppers

And if you’re at the grill today and your CSA basket is overtaking your home with zucchini, eggplant and peppers, get them on the grill!

grilling zucchini, eggplant, peppers

Slice each veggie. Toss with some olive oil and salt. Grill till grill lines make their appearance and your veggies soften up.

Make the pesto like above but add a bit more olive oil. Serve on a pretty plate (the veggies are, of course, the prettiest) and stare at the beauty for a while. But don’t wait too long. Your taste buds are dying to join the party.

grilled zucchini, eggplant, peppers w pesto

October 10, 2013 by chefpaulette

Zucchini Agrodolce Recipe from Venice

Herbs at the Rialto Market

Here’s a short video of my cooking segment on Channel 4’s More at Midday WSMV-TV Nashville…includes a brief glimpse of video from the Venice trip…but I will be posting MORE soon!

Zucchini Agrodolce from Venice on WSMV TV Nashville

August 17, 2013 by chefpaulette

Cooking Class on the Italian-French Border

Well, actually, we were in Nashville. But the menu was both French and Italian: fresh ravioli stuffed with ricotta-gorgonzola-arugula in a pomodoro crudo sauce, coq au vin, and roasted zucchini flecked with bite-sized lemon pieces (peel and all).

The local Jr. League Transfer Chapter came by for the class and dinner for their dining club night. A terrific bunch of cooks! They were meeting as a pals-get-together, but they were all strangers to me. By the end of the evening they adopted me as an honorary member. Then the limoncello was poured. (Well, no one was interested in espresso!)

chicken sauteed for coq au vin

mushrooms, shallots, carrots for coq au vin

coq au vin

tomato crudo sauce

ravioli

Chef Paulette

A little bit of Italy at home.

Zucchini

Four Quick Stovetop Vegetable Dishes

What to do with Zucchini

The Zucchini, Peppers, Eggplant Reunion

Zucchini Agrodolce Recipe from Venice

Cooking Class on the Italian-French Border

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