Parmesan Crusted Zucchini Dippers

Closet Cooking yet again makes an appearance on my dinner table. I love that guy, I really do. He’s into everything I am: eating seasonally with global recipes. Here is one of his latest, faithfully reproduced by yours truly: Parmesan Crusted Baked Zucchini Sticks with Marinara Sauce. For the sauce, I did my new favorite recipe of throwing a bunch of chopped tomatoes, ½ onion, a handful of baby carrots chopped, fresh basil, oregano and parsley, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and wine into a casserole dish. Put that in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, then blend in a food processor (or immersion blender – my new best friend) and you have delicious sauce. OH, don’t forget to add 1 can tomato paste, parmesan and ½ tsp of sugar. Those are important.

Incidentally, I didn’t put all of the parmesan bread crumb mix into the bowl. I put in a little, used it up, and put in a little more when I needed it. Now I have a reserve of uncontaminated parmesan breadcrumbs in a ziplock baggie that I can dredge fish in, or chicken, or pork, or anything else that would taste good baked in breadcrumbs (and really, what doesn’t taste good baked in bread crumbs?).
But onto the recipe, which makes use of late summer’s finest. --AnglophileLV


Parmesan Crusted Baked Zucchini Sticks with Marinara Sauce
(makes 4 appetizer sized servings)

Ingredients:1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used Italian style)
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano (grated)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 pound zucchini/courgettes (sliced into sticks and pat dry)
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 eggs (lightly beaten)

Directions:
1. Mix the bread crumbs, parmigiano reggiano and oregano in a bowl.
2. Season the zucchini with salt and pepper.
3. Dip the zucchini in the egg and then dredge in the bread crumb mixture.
4. Place the zucchini on a baking sheet in a single layer with the skin side down.
5. Bake in a preheated 425F oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

This tomato sauce recipe is a little different - you chop all the vegetables and roast them in the oven. The bacon and balsamic vinegar give it a more round and complex flavor, which is why I left out the tomato paste when I made it. I think next time I'll try adding a half can of tomato paste for texture and color. But, as is, this is really good and very easy. There's nothing like home-made tomato sauce in summer. The basic recipe is from Closet Cooking, my second favorite food blog, but I added a lot more tomatoes, parmesan and used more fresh herbs. --AnglophileLV

Roasted Tomato Sauce - adapted from Closet Cooking

Ingredients:
8 medium tomatoes quartered
1/2 small onion chopped
3 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
A dash of whatever red wine you’re drinking with the meal
5 sprigs fresh oregano (a small handful)
a small handful of fresh basil
3 pieces bacon chopped (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
fresh parsley (chopped)
1/2 C fresh grated parmesan

Directions:
1. Place the tomatoes, onion, garlic, oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, basil, bacon, salt and pepper in a bowl and toss to coat.
2. Place the mixture in a baking dish and bake in a preheated 350F oven for about 45 minutes.
3. Place the mixture in a food processor.
4. Use the food processor or immersion blender to chop the sauce to the consistency that you desire.
5. Toss with the fresh parsley, parmesan and pasta to serve.

Pizza Sandwich a la LV

Bon Appetit gets credit for giving me the idea, but their recipe didn't go nearly far enough. They left out key ingredients, and that I cannot forgive. And they make their recipes unnecessarily difficult just to be 'more gourmet than thou,' which I find annoying. A few shortcuts never hurt anyone. So, here is my recipe for their idea (which was a good one): The Pizza Sandwich. Make it the night before and take it to work the next day - oh so deliciously practical. --AnglophileLV

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 Tb extra-virgin olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, pressed
2 6-ounce cans tomato paste
2 tsps sugar
1 tsp dried oregano (or 2 fresh sprigs chopped)
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
4 ciabatta rolls split (Costco makes great ciabatta bread!)

LV's Twist:
4 Slices mozzerella (BA hasn't heard about pre-sliced cheese yet, so this one's mine)
2 cups mixed greens

shredded chicken
Fresh basil to taste
Thin sliced salami (or pastrami) to taste
Sundried tomatoes to taste
Pine nuts to taste

Directions:
Heat 4 Tb of the olive oil and the garlic in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat for about a minute, until the garlic is golden. Stir in tomato paste, sugar, oregano and salt. Cook until tomato spread starts bubbling. Remove from heat and let cool.

Spread 1 tsp tomato spread on top and bottom halves of rolls. Layer the rest of the ingredients (mozzerella, mixed greens, fresh basil, sundried tomatoes, salami, pine nuts). Cut in half, put it in the fridge, and your lunch is MADE for tomorrow.

Be the envy of all the other kids at the lunchtable.

Easy Saffron Shrimp Risotto

Normally, I wouldn’t use cooked shrimp in this recipe. The purist in me wants everything done from scratch, and raw shrimp should be thrown in at the last minute to contribute their flavor to the risotto. But, what I have is frozen pre-cooked shrimp. And since I’m poor, that’s what I’m bloody well using, and it still tastes very good. --AnglophileLV

Ingredients
28 ounces chicken stock
1 tablespoon grapeseed or vegetable oil
1/2 a small white onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1 cup white wine
Large pinch of saffron, small pinch powdered ginger
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Squeeze of lemon
20 cooked shrimp (5 per person)

Bring stock to a low simmer in a medium pot. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat for 1 minute. Cook garlic and onion until the onion is translucent.. Add rice and a pinch of salt. Sauté until rice is slightly tanned. Add wine; bring to a simmer, stirring, until rice has absorbed most of wine. Add 2 ladles of stock to rice; simmer, stirring, until rice has absorbed most of stock. At this point, add the pinch of Saffron. Continue adding stock, allowing rice to absorb it before adding the next ladleful until the stock is gone. Stir in butter. Turn off heat. Stir in grated cheese, then add shrimp until they are hot. Cover and let sit 2 minutes. Divide among 4 bowls and squeeze fresh lemon over each. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

*I added some finely chopped green onions for some color, since I had some on hand that needed to be used.

Tangy Gourmet Potatoes

My brother came up with this recipe. We tried it out on beans and broccoli but both of those veggies couldn't hold the marinade too well. We had a bag of potatoes (fingerlings + baby reds + purple potatoes) lying around and well, best thing to do: grill 'em up in the oven.

I didn't measure ANYTHING, here's an estimate

Ingredients

Potatoes
Fresh lime juice - 1 tbspn
extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbspn
italian seasoning (spices like oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc.) - 1 tspn
garlic powder with herbs - 1 tspn
Salt - 1/2 tspn (to taste)
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tspn

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Mix everything but the potatoes.
3. Coat the potatoes with marinade and bake in oven for about 30-40 minutes.

Enjoy with other grilled veggies or as is.

Lasagna

I really love lasagna. What there not to love? Gorgeous layers of cheese, meat, pasta...sorry, I think I zoned out for a bit there. I was gifted a cookbook with simple American recipes by my friend Bryan a few years ago when I had just started to cook. I was really wary of cooking Italian or anything "American" back then, but this book changed that. So, thanks Bryan.

Lasagna is generally made with some sort of ground meat. Of course, one could avoid the meat altogether and make it with veggies and cheese. I have yet to try that version out. Maybe when I finally take the plunge and turn vegetarian...

I'm using ground chicken in this recipe. I've used ground turkey before so anything works, really.


Ingredients (Serves 8, very easily)
1lb Ground chicken/meat
6 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Onion -finely chopped
1 Tspn Italian Seasoning
Salt to taste
Ricotta Cheese - about 1/2 of a 150z container (I didn't really measure. this depends on how much you put in. )- 1.5 cup
Mozarella - 4-6oz (Again, didn't measure but had an 8oz packet on hand)- Maybe 1.5 cups
Parmesean Cheese - 1/2 cup
Lasagna pasta - about 12 (cook according to directions on box)
Olive Oil - 1tbspn
Marinara (or any Pizza/Tomato) Sauce - 12 oz (give or take; I used store-bought)

Optional : Button Mushrooms (I had to finish a carton before it rotted)

Method:

1. Heat up the olive oil in a pan. To it add the onions and saute for about 3 mins. Add the garlic and italian seasoning. Saute until onions are translucent. Ensure you don't let the garlic burn. If adding mushrooms, add at this point. Also add salt.

2. To the above, add the minced meat. Saute until cooked and begins to brown.

3. Add tomato sauce (marinara) to the pan and bring to a boil. You sauce is now done.

To assemble lasagna, use an appropriate baking utensil and
(i) thin layer of the sauce.
(ii) layer of pasta noodles
(iii) ricotta and mozarella on top of noodles.
(iv) sauce on top of the cheeses
(v) back to (ii) and repeat.

(vi) the last layer should be a layer of pasta noodles. top this off with a generous layer of pamesean cheese.

Baking instructions:
Set oven to 425 and pre-heat for about 5 minutes. Cover your work of layered art and cook for 10 minutes. Then remove the covering and bake for another 10 mins or until the top is a nice golden brown.

That's it! Serve with salad and garlic bread!


excuse the crappy picture again. I really need to get used to my camera.

Tomato Sauce with Atomic Italian Meatballs

I don't eat beef anymore and I avoid Lasagnas, meat sauce, and meatballs in Italian restaurants. But I used to eat beef a long, long time ago and am familiar with the tastes of the above dishes. oh my, so good. Using ground turkey or chicken makes a great substitute in my opinion and I use it to recreate these yummy dishes. I recently bought ground chicken and after making my nuclear sheek kababs, I still had some meat left over. I decided to try out Italian meatballs!
Most meatball recipes I looked up used eggs to bind the meat or perhaps to keep 'em moist. Either way, I'm not a fan of cooking with eggs so my recipe is a little different. I have paired this post with a tomato sauce recipe from LV.

sidenote: If you haven't caught on by now: Atomic implies insane amounts of garlic and nuclear implies insane amounts of garlic AND other spices. I should patent this usage.


Atomic Italian Meatballs: Makes about 10 medium sized meatballs (Approximated the amounts here. since it was my first time making it, I wasn't paying attention to the amounts)

1/2 lb of Ground chicken
1/4-1/2 cup of bread crumbs ( I make my own bread crumbs: normal wheat toasted, ground with italian spices and you got it, garlic powder)
italian seasoning (oregano, basil, thyme, whatever you have on hand) - 1tspn or so
fresh garlic - minced about 5-10 cloves (yea, i was serious about the "atomic" bit)
Garlic + Herb powder - 1/2 tspn (definitely optional at this point ;) )
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil to pan fry the meat balls and about 1-2 tspn to mix in with the meat
Parmesean cheese - 1/4-3/4 cup.

1. Basically, you mix everything thoroughly including the 1-2tspn of olive oil. I let this sit for about 10-15 minutes. Roll into balls of desired size; i kept them medium because I wasn't sure how long they take to cook and i wanted them thoroughly cooked before I added them to my sauce.

2. In a non-stick shallow pan add olive oil to coat bottom and let it heat up on medium heat. Add the meatballs and slow cook them on medium-low. Cover them to ensure they remain moist.

3. After about 10 minutes (give or take) they should be done. I would recommend doing just one test meatball first to taste and make sure that the seasoning is fine.

4. drop into tomato sauce (I used store bought in the above picture) and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Serve over a bed of cooked pasta.


Here is a recipe for homemade tomato sauce from LV:

8 tomatoes (I leave the skin on, but you can remove it too)
1/4C olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 chopped carrot
A handful each: fresh parsley, fresh basil, and fresh oregano--chopped
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4th tsp ground red chilli peppers
1/2 tsp cumin
1 Bay leaf
3 Tb Red wine
1/2 Tb corn starch
1 can tomato paste (I've tried leaving this out, but trust me, put it in)
***Optional: lemon zest, extra carrots, zuchinni, parmesan
****Tip: if you have parmesan rinds, add them in while the sauce is
cooking and scoop them out at the end for extra flavor.

Directions:
1. Marinate the Chef
2. Saute garlic, onion, carrot, bellpepper and bay leaf in the olive
oil in a very large pot.
3. Add all the other ingredients except for the corn starch and tomato paste.
4. Simmer for 2 hours.
5. Mix wine with corn starch and stir into simmering sauce. Add tomato
paste until the sauce looks and tastes right to you.

Tuscany Lamb Chop Skillet (from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)

Summer makes me crave Italian food. Warm breezes, tan skin, blue skies and clay pots bursting with basil—it’s not hard to imagine that I’m in Tuscany right now. This recipe has incredible flavor, even though it uses canned beans and canned tomatoes that any genuine Italian woman would shun. Oh well, I’m English and we can’t cook worth beans. Cannellini beans, that is… --AnglophileLV

Ingredients:
Lamb Chops
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped or torn into small pieces
Olive oil
1 can Italian Stewed Tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans

1. Coat lamb chops with the chopped rosemary and cook in a skillet with the olive oil and garlic until done. When done, put on a plate and cover to keep warm.
2. Drain the cannellini and add to the skillet with the whole undrained can of Italian stewed tomatoes. Add a little more rosemary and heat thoroughly.
3. Plate the tomato and bean mix and top with lamb chops. Garnish with fresh rosemary.

Chardonnay Chicken with Pasta

This is my new favorite pasta recipe. Well, second favorite; my heart will always be with the bourbon based sauce with Italian Sausage, chicken, and mushrooms served over penne or stuffed shells (Shout out to Cafe Italia up in Davis ).
Alright straight to my modified version of this recipe

Serves 1-2 (2 people, if you add sides like a salad and generous helpings of steamed veggies)

Ingredients (I didn't exactly measure...)

1 chicken breast, cubed into bite sized pieces
1/4 cup(or a tad bit more) all-purpose flour
1/2tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1-1.5 tbspn extra virgin olive oil

Sauce:
1tbspn e.v.o.o
2-3 garlic cloves, finely minced (yes, I know the original recipe added 4 cloves to 4-6 breasts and I'm adding it to 1 breast. Sue me. Garlic rules me)
1/2 tspn dried Italian spices (My bottle has thyme, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, and basil)
1/2 cup Chardonnay
1/4-1/2 cup Chicken stock (I dropped a bouillion cube in boiling water and added that)

Also some cooked pasta (I used fettucine noodles)

Method:
Before I go further: I LOVE dishes that can be cooked in one pan.
1. Heat the 1.5 tbspn of olive oil in a frying/stir-fry pan (medium high heat)
2. Mix the flour, salt, and pepper to make a dry batter.
3. Coat the pieces of chicken with above batter and place in frying pan.
4. 2-3 minutes on each side and it should look like its just beginning to brown. Remove from the pan and place in a bowl and set aside.
5. In the same pan,add 1tbspn of olive oil (at this point you could also add a dash of butter as the original recipe calls for, but I left it out) and let it heat up.
6. Add minced garlic and saute for about a minute. To this add the spices as well. Saute for another minute. The aroma at this point should tingle your senses.
7. Add the chicken back and stir so it is covered with the garlic and spices [1minute].
8. Add 1/2 cup of Chardonnay (be careful, alcohol and fire..) and let the alcohol cook off. Iit will take about 5 minutes. The sauce will begin to thicken.
9. At this point, add the 1/4 cup of chicken stock and cook until sauce thickens to desired consistency.
10.Pour over pasta and ENJOY! maybe with some fresh toasted roasted garlic bread.

Sidenote: garnish with Parmesan+Romano or not! Really great either way.

Fettuccini Carbonara

Fettuccini Carbonara is one of those dinners you can slap together with what you probably already have in the fridge and it still looks and tastes gourmet as hell. And men love it. I first learned the recipe from my old boyfriend, who knew how to cook precisely two things for the sole purpose of impressing women. It worked, but not for long. I ditched the boyfriend, but kept the recipe. It was a good trade in my opinion. --AnglophileLV
Fettuccini Carbonara for 2

2 slices bacon, fried and broken into pieces
2 eggs
¼ c. parmesan
½ c. milk
Pepper to taste (don’t need salt—the parmesan is salty enough)
Parsley for garnish

You will need a metal bowl and a big pot that the metal bowl can rest on.

Boil the fettuccini according to package directions, about 8 minutes. While this is boiling, beat the eggs, cheese, pepper and milk in the metal bowl until well blended. Place the bowl over the boiling pot and stir CONSTANTLY until it thickens. This is the tricky part, because you need to make sure that it does not turn into scrambled eggs. This means taking it off the heat if curds start to form. If you stir constantly, the consistency should start to get thick and creamy. At this point it’s cooked, and the pasta is probably done also. Drain the water from the pasta and put the pasta back into the big pot. Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss with the bacon bits and some chopped parsley. That’s it! You’re done. And making your own cream sauce is way impressive.

Acorn Squash Risotto

Risotto – technically a Northern Italian specialty hovered over by wrinkly brown-skinned grandmothers wielding wooden spoons, throwing pinches of this and dashes of that like fairy godmothers with pixie dust –has been whole-heartedly adopted by the British. In 1885, The Pall Mall Gazette mentioned “a useful description of how to cook risotto, a delightful dish too rarely seen in England,” and evidently the craze took off from there. Now Risotto is on every menu, and done extremely well, though I do suspect the dairy-crazed Brits of adding cream to their recipes where none is needed. They add cream to everything…
--AnglophileLV

Acorn Squash Risotto
Serves 3

3 cups chicken stock
1 Tb olive oil
1 Tb butter
1 large shallot
1 winter squash, scooped out and cubed
2 garlic cloves
¾ cup Arborio rice
¼ cup dry white wine
Pinch of nutmeg
1/8 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp Fresh parsley
1 tsp chopped fresh sage
2 sprigs thyme
Fresh ground pepper

1. Have the stock simmering on low heat in a saucepan.
2. Pierce the skin of the acorn squash with a knife and microwave for 6 minutes – this should cook it completely
3. Heat the oil or butter over medium heat in a large, heavy nonstick
frying pan and add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion begins
to soften, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the Arborio Rice and stir until it changes to a golden color – don’t burn!
5. Stir in the wine and stir constantly until the wine is absorbed. Then add a ladleful of the simmering stock and stir.
6. When the first ladleful of stock is absorbed, add another and keep stirring. Repeat until all the stock is gone, one ladle at a time. This process can take around 25-30 minutes. You don’t *actually* have to stir continuously for the entire time, but stir often and keep the heat on medium low.
7. Cut the cooked acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and peel off the skin as much as possible (watch out for your fingers, because it’s probably still hot). Chop the squash into square-ish chunks and set aside.
8. Taste the risotto to see if it’s cooked through – it should be chewy, but not hard in the middle. If it’s done, then stir in the parmesan, fresh ground pepper, nutmeg, parsley, sage and thyme leaves.
9. Add the squash, stir, and when everything is piping hot together, serve.