Lamb Patstitsio

 

Food 52 hosts weekly contests to see who can make the best dish in a given category.  A while back, they hosted a best baked pasta contest. This recipe won, and has become one of my favorite comfort food dishes. It takes some time, but is actually quite simple and totally worth it. 

Pasta & Meat:

• 1 lb penne pasta (I have also made this with my new fave pasta, gemelli, and it was great)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2lb ground lamb
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 1/2 c red wine
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• zest of one lemon 
• The recipe actually calls for 1/2 tsp ground sumac. I can never find this spice where I live, but the google machine told me I could sub in lemon zest. I have never had it with sumac, but the lemon zest really makes this dish awesome, so I don't think I'm missing anything.
• 1 tsp dried mint
• 2 cups water
• 6 oz crumbled feta

Cheese sauce:

• 6 tbsp butter
• 1/2 c flour
• 3 c milk
• 1/8 tsp cayenne 
• 1/4 c grated parm

- Cook the pasta, leaving it with a slight bite. Drain the pasta and mix it with the tbsp of butter.
- Cook the lamb and the onions- I like to do this separately so that the onions can take a little more time and get slightly caramelized on their own.

- Drain the fat from the lamb and combine the meat with the onions. Add wine and cook the mixture until most of the liquid evaporates.
-Stir in the tomato paste. This step is important- all the mixture to cook for a couple of minutes. This lets the tomato paste kind of "toast" a bit and adds another layer of flavor.
- Add cinnamon, oregano, half of lemon zest (or all of the sumac), mint, and 2 c of water.

-Simmer until this mixture thickens (about 15-20 minutes.) Season liberally with salt and pepper.

-Preheat the oven to 350 while you make the cheese sauce:
-Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan, whisk in the flour.
-Add the milk to the mixture slowly, whisking continuously.

-Cook until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon:

 

- Stir in the cayene and parmesan cheese. 

- In a large bowl, mix the pasta with the lamb mixture. Add in the feta and the rest of the lemon zest.

-**Taste it and make sure there is enough salt. It may just be me, but I have a tendency to undersalt this dish. There are no salty ingredients except that bit of parm in the sauce, so you should make sure there is enough to really highlight all of the flavors. 

- Pour the lamb and noodles into a 9x13 baking dish, cover with the cheese sauce.

- Bake at 350 until the sauce is bubbly and browned in spots- about 35-40 minutes.

- Grab a bowlful, get comfy, and enjoy.....

The best simple tomato sauce- three ingredients

That's right- 3 ingredients!!!!!

I initially read about this recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog. It turns out the food blogging community has been abuzz about this sauce for at least 5 years. Its simplicity and richness have been likened to the sauces served in Rome. So I kinda had to give it a try.

We are talking about a sauce made with tomatoes, onion, and butter. That's right- butter. All of the best chefs admit that the secret to their best recipes is fat. On an episode of Top Chef Masters, the chefs were flummoxed when they had to cook without adding pats of butter to finish their sauces. Just recently, Anthony Bourdain said that a secret of many of the top steakhouses is that they brush their steaks and sliced meats with melted butter before sending them out.... So if ya can't beat 'em..... Make this sauce. Although I will say, the original recipe called for 5 Tbsp, and I've brought it down to 2, so it's practically health food.

Let's get started.


Simple tomato sauce

3 ingredients:
28 ounces canned whole peeled tomatoes
     - I try to get San Marzano, but if unavailable, at least splurge a little on higher quality rather than the store brand. This is one of those times that it is worth it.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium or 1 large yellow onion, peeled and quartered

The original recipe called for just these three items (plus salt and pepper to taste). In the number of times that I have made this since, I have made a few alterations. Some optional add-ins are fresh parmesan cheese and fresh basil-I'll note these additions as we go through the steps.


Pop the tomatoes, onion, and butter in a heavy saucepan. I only had smallish onions, so I used two. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, and then reduce down to keep it at a slow simmer for about 45 minutes. While it cooks, gently squish the tomatoes against the side of the pan with your spoon. Fair warning- watch out for the tomato seeds and juices, they can attack you...

Now for the important part: KEEP THE ONION IN IT. The original recipe called for them to be removed. But why?? These are perfectly cooked, soft, flavorful onions. Use an immersion blender and attack. The cooked down onion makes the sauce rich and creamy- you would swear that cream has actually been added to the sauce. It's so good.

At this point, I like to add that parm. Specifically, a liberal dose of freshly grated parm, approx 1/4 cup. It mellows out some of the acidity and adds a little bit of a nutty-salty flavor. And it's just darn tasty. Once fully cooked, chop up some fresh basil, stir it in the sauce, and find the best way to get it into your mouth. Below, I have tossed it with my favorite pasta, gemelli. The unique figure-8 shape just grabs the sauce, making it the perfect vehicle to get the sauce into your face. I pounded some chicken breasts to about 1/2 ", did a quick egg dip and breaded with panko, pan-fried them with a little splash of EVOO, topped them with some sauce and fresh mozz and popped them under the broiler.



Finished product:

 I have made this sauce many, many times and it has never failed to impress.  It is fresh and tangy, clean and light, and totally full of flavor.

If you miraculously end up with any leftover sauce, you can even make baked eggs using the same method I did with leftover tomatoes and onions at the end of this recipe. Yum.

Chicken Ragu with Cheesy Polenta

 

I recently purchased the special edition of Gourmet magazine (The Italian Kitchen). I like to go through new food magazines and bookmark recipes that I would like to try out. As I was paging my way through this particular magazine, I found myself marking almost every single page. I will be featuring several of the recipes over the next month or so, or you can order the book for yourself  here. 

I got home from work later than anticipated, so I went with one of the faster recipes for my first foray into the Gourmet Italian yummy-ness. It's officially called Quick Chicken Ragu and they suggest you serve it with polenta. I chose to make my polenta cheesy because- well, what isn't improved by adding "cheesy" to the beginning??

Well, let's get started, shall we?

Quick Chicken Ragu with Cheesy Polenta

2 tbsp EVOO

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2/3 c diced pancetta

1 tbsp finely chopped sage

1 1/2 tsp finely chopped rosemary

1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 celery rib, chopped

1 c light dry red wine (I used a Pinot Noir)

1 14 or 15 oz can diced tomatoes in juice, drained (I used the ones with basil and garlic added)

Sea salt & black pepper

2 c chicken stock

3/4 c of some milk product (heavy cream is probably the most tasty, but I used skim milk and it was still really good)

3/4 c polenta (corn grits)

1//4 c grated parm

chopped mozz to taste (I'll talk about this in a bit)

Ok, toss all the ingredients into a pot and cross your fingers......

I'm just kidding.

- Heat the oil and butter in a 12 inch skillet (mine was about 2 inches deep and was perfect for this.) Get it good and hot (but not smoking) and toss in the pancetta. This is the one part of the recipe that allows you to get it good and crisp, so let it cook for a couple of minutes. 

- Add sage and rosemary and cook for 30 sec

- add chicken and cook until it's no longer pink on the outside. The recipe said 2-3 mins, it took me about 4-5.

 

Add onion, carrot, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are soft- about 5-7 minutes.

  

Add wine and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced (about 10 minutes). During this time, start the polenta. 

Polenta

So here is the thing about polenta. There are 5 bijillion opinions about what to use if the container doesn't actually say "polenta." After some internet research, I determined that "corn grits" are the closest to what is packaged as polenta. Corn grits are coarser ground- corn meal is typically much finer and won't have the same texture.  (see a recipe I will probably post tonight or tomorrow for blueberry corncakes- using corn meal.) Keep in mind I live in a small midwestern town and if you live in an actual city with actual markets that carry these kinds of things, you probably won't have to worry about this (as yours will just be labeled "polenta".) 

The recipe suggested that I not use instant polenta, so I bought "corn grits" that do not claim to be instant. I put  the chicken stock (I used the same condensed stock I used in this recipe) and skim milk in a slope-sided pan and brought it to a rolling boil. I reduced the heat to a simmer and whisked in the polenta. At this point, it is supposed to simmer for 30 minutes and slowly thicken. MY polenta, however, thickened immediately (like instant cream of wheat.) So I either have a magic stove or managed to buy instant polenta. I actually had to add a little extra milk to thin it out a bit because it tightened up so fast. I shut off the heat and put the lid on while I finished the ragu recipe..

  

 

Add the tomatoes, sea salt, and pepper to the chicken mixture. Let it simmer and thicken for about 10 minutes- I took this opportunity to slice some bread, pour some wine, and get the plates ready. 

 

 

I then grated a buuuunch of fresh parm and chopped some fresh mozzarella and tossed it into the warm polenta. It was very tasty. However, it also became a bit of a stringy, gooey mess :) The main problem was dishing it up (wish I had  thought to take a pic here.) So as long as you don't mind the ooey gooey fantastic stretchiness of melty cheese in your polenta, go nuts with the mozzarella!! 

So after wrestling with the polenta and getting most of it into the bowl, I topped it with the ragu mixture- then tossed a little extra parm on top, just for fun. It was verrrrry hearty and filling. I would suggest a side salad, but I'm not sure you would end up eating it. We used some crusty bread to soak up some of the extra sauce and even that was a bit too much :) 

 

Overall,  a fantastic recipe and I can't wait to try the others from Gourmet.

Quick caprese pasta night

Ok, I am a huuuuge fan of anything that combines basil, mozzarella, and tomato. You toss a little EVOO and S&P and I'm thrilled. You add balsamic and.... well, let's not go there.


I needed a quick and easy meal for last night based on what we had in the house because neither of us had the time or energy to hit the grocery store at dinner time. I found: leftover chicken thighs from the other night's ragu, fresh basil and sage from the same, somewhat stale french bread, fresh mozz and parm, lovely tomatoes on the vine, and angel hair pasta. Here's what happened:

(Chicken not pictured..... oops)

This is such a simple recipe that is still filled with tons of flavor- and relatively light and healthy.

Pasta caprese with chicken and breadcrumbs:

(This recipe was perfect for 2- adjust accordingly)
Stale french bread- I used about 1/4 loaf for a yield of 1 1/2 c of breadcrumbs
Handful of angel hair pasta
2 medium on-the-vine tomatoes
 Approx 5-6 large basil leaves(to taste) , roughly chopped
Approx 4 small sage leaves, chopped fine
1 large or 2 medium cloves of garlic, chopped
About 1/2 c EVOO
Fresh mozz to taste, chopped (I used about 2 oz.)
Fresh parm to taste, grated

S&P
Chicken of any sort (I had 4 small boneless, skinless thighs)
Marinade of choice
     - I used good seasons italian dressing made with
red wine vinegar


I started by getting  the chicken going- I put the thighs in a baggie and put about 2 tbsp of the italian dressing in with them. If you have never had it before, Good Seasons is the stuff that comes in packets in the dressing aisle. I make it with red wine vinegar and don't add water (I just sub extra red wine vinegar instead.) I love love love this dressing when I don't have time to make my own. It is also great for pasta salads...

While they marinated, I started making the breadcrumbs. I have read quite a few articles lately extolling the virtues of  the breadcrumb as a textural tool in pasta dishes, so I figured, "what the heck."



I ripped the leftover bread into chunks and fed them to my food processor. I processed them until the whole thing was nothing but a pile of crumbs:

I spread them out and tossed them in the oven at 350 deg F and...promptly forgot about them. I think they were probably in there for about 10-15 minutes before I caught a whiff of toasted bread and took them out. Fortunately, they were the perfect shade of golden brown and had a great crunch. At this point, you could toss them with a little EVOO and season them at will with whatever gets you all excited. I opted to leave  them as-is. I wanted the dish to be simple and the only herbs to be those in the pasta.


Back to the chicken- I only had time to let them marinade for about 30 mins. I took them back out and tossed them into my awesome non-stick searing pan with a little EVOO. I had them at a relatively high heat and seared them on both sides. I then tossed them in to the oven at 350 to finish them off. It took about 12 minutes- by the time I was done with the pasta (below), they were perfectly cooked and ready to go.

Moving on to said pasta- I brought a pot of generously salted water to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil, I chopped the tomatoes, basil, sage, mozz, and garlic. All but the garlic went into a bowl and hung out for a few minutes. Once the water boiled and the pasta was in, I put the garlic in a small saute pan and poured the olive oil on top with the burned on medium heat. I cooked the garlic in the olive oil until it was just slightly fried/toasted. Don't let it get too brown! Otherwise, you will have bitter garlic.

Nobody likes a bitter garlic...

Now here is where the magic happens- take the pan with the garlic and hot oil and pour it right on top of the tomato mixture in the bowl. You should hear a very satisfying sizzling noise as you do this.

By this time, your pasta should be done- using tongs, take it straight from the pot and toss it in the bowl with the tomato/oil mixture. You can also toss in a little of the pasta water if it is too tight. Grate some fresh parm on top and mix it all together. At this point, you will also want to add S&P to taste.

Plating: Dish up half of the pasta in each bowl (with plenty of tomatoes, herbs, and cheese). Scatter a generous handful of breadcrumbs on top. Slice chicken into strips and place on top of the pasta.

And Voila! A super easy Mediterranean-style dish that is yummy, filling, and comforting...