Tommaso’s Sinful Delights

This is a great dish to make when you don’t have a lot of time on your hands or just don’t feel like cooking much.  All of these items should be in your pantry already.  The olives and capers give the sauce a nice tang and salty flavour.  Serve with your favorite pasta and a simple salad as a meal or as a side dish. 

Tip:  The trick to making your sauce stick to pasta is adding a little of the pasta water to your sauce.  Pasta water acts as a thickener and your sauce will bind to the noodles better. 

Puttanesca Sauce

2 TBSP Olive Oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup pitted Greek olives, chopped
2 TBSP capers
1 TBSP anchovy paste
1 TBSP Italian seasoning
28 oz tomato puree
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to directions on package. 

Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat in a saute pan.  Saute garlic for 1 minute.  Add olives, capers, anchovy paste and  herbs, and saute for a minute more.  Add tomato puree and simmer for 10 minutes. 

When your pasta is al dente, drain reserving 1/2 of water from the pasta.  Toss pasta and the 1/2 c pasta water in the  sauce.  Stir until pasta is coated.

Serve with fresh parmesaean cheese.

I absolutely love manicotti, but making it can be laborious.  I’ve discovered an easy way to make it without boiling  and trying to fill slippery noodles.

Baked Manicotti

-1 8-oz. package of manicotti shells (about 14)
- 2c whole-milk ricotta
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 c fresh basil
1/4 c fresh parsley
-2/3c grated Parmesan cheese, divided
-2/3c grated mozzarella, divided
-2/3c grated provolone, divided
-1 10oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
-1TBSP Emeril’s essence (recipe in another post)
-1 egg
-salt and pepper
-6 cups red sauce (recipe in another post)

Preheat oven to 350. 

Combine ricotta, 1/3 c each of the grated cheese, thawed spinach, egg, essence, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Stir with a spatula until combined.  Spoon 1 cup of red sauce in the bottom of a casserole.  Prepare a pastry bag and fill with ricotta mixture.  Fill each manicotti tube with ricotta filling and place on top of sauce in casserole dish (you may need 2 casserole dishes.)  Repeat until you have used all of the shells.  Spoon 1-2 cups of red sauce until shells are are fully covered.  Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 50 minutes.  Remove aluminum foil and bake 10 minutes longer until cheese is lightly browned on top.

I had a craving for pears and almonds, so I decided to put them together in a crostata.  The result was a delicious, flaky pastry that’s to die for. 

Pear Almond Crostata with Apricot Glaze

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 TBSP light brown sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp salt
10 TBSP cold butter
3 TBSP ice cold water
1/4 cup almond paste*
2 Bosc pears peeled, halved, cored and cut lengthwise into slices*
3 TBSP apricot preserves
1 tsp raw sugar

Combine flour, brown sugar, lemon zest and salt in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until combined.  Add cold butter and pulse until coarse meal is formed.  Slowly add water 1 TBSP at a time, pulsing until dough forms into a ball.  Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Roll the dough out on parchment paper (about 12″ diameter.)  Transfer dough to a baking sheet.  Spread almond paste on top of the dough leaving a 2″ space on the edge.  Fan the pear slices in a circle covering the layer of the almond paste with one slice in the center.  Gently fold the edges of the pastry crust inward so that it comes to the edge of the pears, but not covering them.    Microwave the apricot preserves for 15 seconds to soften.  Using a pastry brush, gently coat the pears and the edges of the crust with the preserves.  Sprinkle raw sugar on the edges of the crust.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.  When finished, allow to cool on the baking sheet for 1o minutes.  Transfer crostata to a cooking rack.  Serve warm.

*Notes:

-If almond paste is too hard to spread, microwave it for 20 seconds to soften.
-Prepare pears just before adding on top of crostata so they don’t turn brown.

Polenta Crusted Chicken

2 TBSP olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup polenta or cornmeal
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F . Grease a 9″ x 13″ casserole dish with olive oil. 

Season both sides of chicken breasts with garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Set aside three bowls to dredge chicken.  Place flour in one, beat 2 eggs, plus 1 TBSP water in another and mix polenta and paprika in the third.  Take each breast of chicken, dredge in flour, then egg mixture, followed by a coating of the seasoned polenta.  Repeat for remaining breasts of chicken. 

Place in oiled casserole dish and drizzle top of breasts with olive oil.  Bake for about 50 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 180°F  and top is golden brown.

 Zucchini blossoms are a real delicacy.  They’re only available during the summer, so you grab them whenever possible.  Note that most grocery stores will not carry zucchini blossoms.  You’ll have to go to a specialty food market, farmer’s market or any Italian market (in my case,  I went produce shopping in my parent’s garden.)  Instead of the traditional filling comprised of ricotta, I’ve filled mine with herbed goat cheese (just as I had at Front Street in Provincetown last summer.)

Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed with Herbed Goat Cheese

6 zucchini blossoms (preferably female — with fruit on blossom.)
6 oz goat cheese (at room temperature)
sprigs of fresh thyme (approx. 1 TBSP)
sea salt and pepper
2/3 c flour
1 cup plain seltzer water
48 oz vegetable oil
1 c olive oil
1 c red sauce (recipe in prior post)

Preheat oven to 300°.  Heat oil in a large saucepan and slowly bring to 350°. 

While the oil comes to temperature, gently clean the blossoms and remove the pistil.  Be careful not to break the flower.  Clean zucchini blossoms and cut the fruit into 3 strips. 

In a separate bowl, whisk soda water into flour until blended.  Set aside.

Mix together softened goat cheese, thyme and season with salt and pepper in a bowl.  Stuff each blossom with a heaping tablespoon of the goat cheese mixture.  Twist each top to seal.  

When the oil reaches 350°, gently dip the stuffed blossom into the batter to fully coat and place in oil with a slotted spoon*.   Fry until golden brown and crispy (about 3 minutes.)  Place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels and put in heated oven while you fry the remaining blossoms.  Once all the blossoms are done, sprinkle with sea salt and serve immediately with red sauce for dipping.

*Note: If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test to see if the oil is ready by seeing if the batter sizzles in it.

Chicken Parmesan is one of my favorite dishes.  It’s simple to make, but the traditional way of making it is anything but healthy — fried and loaded with gooey cheese.  I thought of a way to reduce the calories and fat content by a significant amount.  In this recipe, I used the same method as I do for grilled breaded pork chops (in a previous post.)  Grilling breaded meat infuses so much smoked flavor into it and it accompanies the red sauce perfectly.  Top this with some fresh basil and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and dinner is complete in under a half hour.

Grilled Chicken Parmesan

4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 c Italian style bread crumbs
4 TBSP olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 lb of your favorite pasta
2 cups red sauce (recipe in prior post)
1/4 c fresh basil leaves, chopped

Preheat grill on high.  Salt and pepper each side of the chicken breasts.  Coat liberally with olive oil.  Place breadcrumbs in a separate bowl.  Fully coat all sides of the breasts with breadcrumbs.  Place breasts on the preheated grill.  Grill chicken 8-10 minutes per side. 

While chicken grills, bring a pot of water to a boil.  Salt the water and cook the pasta until al dente.

Heat red sauce in a small saucepan on a medium flame until simmering.

Place pasta on plate with some red sauce, then a chicken breast.  Pour more sauce on top and sprinkle with fresh Parmesan cheese and basil.  Enjoy!

I’ve made braciola quite a few times using many different recipes, but found it to be never quite right.  I finally hit the nail on the head with this one when I literally threw ingredients in a bowl and into the oven.  This is a satisfying recipe that takes not time at all.

Braciola

2 1/2 -3lb boneless top round roast, thinly sliced into pieces
1 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
6 TBSP olive oil
1/4c grated Romano cheese
1/4c grated Parmesan cheese
1/4c fresh basil, chopped
1/4c fresh parsley, chopped
1TBSP essence (recipe follows)
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch of salt
2 cups red sauce (recipe in a previous post)

Preheat oven to 350°F. With meat tenderizer, pound each slice of beef into thin slices.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs, 1/4c olive oil, basil, parsley, Romano and Parmesan cheese, essence, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine. 

Coat a casserole dish with 2 TBSP olive oil.  Take the thinly pounded slices of meat and put about 2TBSP of bread crumb mixture on one end.  Roll tightly and place in casserole dish, seam side down.  Continue doing this until you make all the rolls.  Pour red sauce over rolls and sprinkle remaining bread crumb mixture over the top.  Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbling.

Emeril’s Essense

2 1/2 TBSP paprika
2 TBSP kosher salt
2 TBSP garlic powder
1 TBSP pepper
1 TBSP onion powder
1 TBSP cayenne pepper
1 TBSP dried oregano
1 TBSP dried thyme

Mix together and store in an air tight container.  Makes almost 3/4c.

Most people I speak with are deathly afraid of making risotto.  It’s one of the easiest things you’ll ever make.  I call it a labour of love because it is labor intensive.  Most people are scared of the unknown, so here’s all you need to know: You just have to stand there and stir for 30 minutes, that’s it!  Really, it’s that simple. 

So, if you have a strong arm (or some help in the kitchen) there’s no reason for you not to make this tasty dish.  Now, go enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Basic Risotto with Fresh Basil

2TBSP olive oil
4TBSP butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 1/4c arborio rice
4c chicken stock
1/2c dry white wine
1c grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
2 TBSP fresh basil, chopped

Heat chicken stock in a small sauce pan until boiling.  Turn flame to low and keep simmering during cooking process. 

Heat oil and 2 TBSP butter in a large sauce pan on medium-high heat.  Saute onion until soft (about 5 minutes.)  Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes, stirring so it doesn’t brown.  Add rice and saute for 1 minute (it will make a crackling noise.)  Add wine and cook until rice absorbs it, stirring constantly.  Add 1 cup stock to rice and stir until absorbed.  Continue adding stock to rice mixture, 1/2c at a time until you’ve used all 4 cups (about 25-30 minutes.)  Stir constantly throughout the process otherwise the rice will burn. 

Turn off heat.  Add Parmesan cheese and 2 TBSP butter and stir until melted.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve topped with fresh basil.