Category Archives: Italian

Lasagna Beans!

August 21, 2024 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Once again it was 5 p.m. and I was faced with the dilemma of what to make for dinner in a hurry that isn’t pasta. Yesterday on Facebook I was recommended this New York Times recipe, but due to a paywall I wasn’t able to view it so I decided to see what I could come up with.

Using items commonly found in my pantry, I whipped together a one-pan dish that has all the notes I crave from lasagna but without the labor and carbs. This is a flexible recipe. If you wanna add some crumbled Italian sausage, go for it. If you want some spice, add dried chili flakes. But no matter what, this dish is sure to be a family favorite.

Lasagna Beans – a super quick recipe to satisfy that pasta craving

Prep/cook time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup marinara sauce
2 packed cups of fresh baby spinach
2 cans white beans, drained
1/4 cup pre-made pesto sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste
2/3 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated parmesan
Fresh basil, for serving
Crusty bread, for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450F. While the oven is heating, place a medium cast iron pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Toss in the garlic, turn heat to medium-low, and cook until garlic is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the marinara and baby spinach, turn to medium-high, cover, and cook until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir in the beans, pesto, and salt and pepper. Cook until it starts to bubble. Evenly sprinkle on the cheeses.

Place the pan into the preheated oven and bake for 8 minutes, or until bubbling. Turn on the broiler and let broil until the cheese starts to brown, just 1-2 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with torn pieces of fresh basil. Serve with slices of toasted crusty bread.

Cooking, Italian, Pasta

Colcannon Ravioli

March 17, 2024 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

It’s St. Patrick’s Day and although I don’t really have much of a connection to this day, I thought it would be fun to serve something festive for dinner.

I’ve made colcannon in the past, which is a traditional Irish potato dish with cabbage, and as I was leafing through an Alice Waters cookbook I saw a recipe for potato and spinach ravioli and I thought it would be the perfect dish for St. Patrick’s Day. I didn’t follow her recipe, but made up my own and after boiling the ravioli I sautéd them like pierogis.

Spinach and Potato ravioli in a garlicky cream sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the pasta dough:

225 grams 00 flour
75 grams fine semolina flour
3 eggs
1 teaspoon olive oil

For the filling:

1 pound potatoes, any variety (I used a combination of russet, new potatoes and fingerling)
8 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup cream, divided
salt and pepper, to taste

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup cream
salt and pepper, to taste
zest of 1 lemon

Special supplies:

Small food processor or immersion blender
Potato ricer (you could use a potato masher but it won’t be as smooth)
KitchenAid pasta roller adapter (or a hand cranked version would work too)
Ravioli cutter (or a pizza cutter would work)
Shot glass
Large spider strainer (a slotted spoon would work)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl or on a clean, dry countertop, combine the flours. Make a well in the center and add the eggs and olive oil. Whisk the eggs and oil till scrambled, slowly incorporating the flour. Mix into a rough ball and knead for 10 minutes. Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside for at least 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into roughly the same sized pieces. Boil in salted water until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Place the squeezed spinach and 2 tablespoons of cream in a food processor and run it till the spinach is puréed. You may need to add a little more cream to get it going. When the potatoes are done, drain them and press through a potato ricer into a medium mixing bowl. Add the spinach, Parmesan, butter, remaining cream and salt and pepper. This should be a relatively homogenous consistency. Add more cream if necessary to make it smooth. Place mixture in a gallon zip top bag and refrigerate until cool.

3. Time to assemble the ravioli. Tear a small handful of dough away from your pasta ball and flatten it with your hand. Set the pasta roller on the largest setting and run the dough through. It’s ok if it tears apart a little. Roughly fold the dough into thirds and run it through again on the same setting. Repeat this three or four times until your dough is smooth.

4. Adjust the roller to the next thinnest setting and run the dough through once. Repeat this step making the roller thinner each time until you’ve run it through the thinnest setting.

5. Place the sheet of dough on a clean counter top. With a ravioli or pizza cutter, cut the sheet in half, across the width, not the length.

6. Cut a hole in the corner of the bag containing the filling and place about 1 teaspoon of filling on one half of the pasta sheet. Repeat so you have them evenly spaced on the dough, about 6-8 on the sheet. Place the other half of the dough on top and gently press the air out between the sheets without smashing down the filling. Use a shot glass to center the filling and lightly press down (don’t cut through the dough with the shot glass). This makes the ravioli look more uniform.

7. Use your ravioli cutter to cut out 6-8 ravioli. Pick up each ravioli and make sure the edges are sealed. Pinch any areas that look separated. Place on a semolina lined tray. Cover with foil.

8. Repeat steps 3-7 with the remaining dough and filling.

9. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Just before the water is boiling, place a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil and butter. Add the garlic and cook till fragrant, turning down the heat to prevent the garlic from burning, about 1 minute. Add the cream, stir, and turn off the heat while you cook the ravioli.

10. Add the ravioli to the boiling water, gently stirring with a spider strainer. Boil the ravioli for 3-5 minutes, until al dente. Remove one ravioli and cut off a corner to see if the dough is cooked to your liking.

11. Heat the sauté pan again over medium-low heat. Remove the ravioli from the water using the spider strainer, give it a good shake to remove excess water, and place into the sauté pan. Gently toss the ravioli till they are all coated with the sauce. Add salt, pepper and lemon zest to taste. You could either serve right away or continue cooking the ravioli until they ever so lightly brown, like pierogis.

12. Serve the ravioli with a drizzle of cream and a grind of pepper.

Cooking, Italian, Pasta

Quick Weeknight Pasta with Broccoli and Buttered Bread Crumbs

February 25, 2024 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Sometimes I want pasta and I don’t have a lot of energy to cook. Last night I threw together a simple pasta dish with broccoli bits and buttered fresh bread crumbs. It came together in about 15 minutes and was everything I wanted. I happened to have a bag of brown rice macaroni, which ended up being really delicious. You could use any kind of small pasta shape.

Quick Weeknight Pasta with Broccoli and Buttered Bread Crumbs

Serves 2-3
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1-2 slices good quality white sandwich bread (to make about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs)
5 ounces small pasta (about 1 1/4 cup)
3 ounces fresh broccoli, chopped into small bits (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon sun dried tomato oil
1 teaspoon good quality olive oil
1 tablespoon sun dried tomatoes, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Freshly grated parmesan cheese, for serving

Instructions:

Bring a salted pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, tear up your bread into chunks and place in a food processor. Process until they are crumbs, but not too fine. Set aside.

When water is boiling, add your pasta and stir occasionally. Set a timer and cook until al dente. Meanwhile, heat butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add bread crumbs, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Turn down heat a little and stir frequently until crumbs are golden brown. Set this mixture aside.

When there are 4 minutes left on your timer, add the broccoli bits to the pasta. When pasta is cooked to your preference, drain.

Wipe out the sauté pan with a paper towel and add the sun dried tomato and olive oils. Heat over medium and add the garlic and sun dried tomatoes. Cook for about a minute, stirring, until garlic is fragrant. Add the drained pasta and broccoli and the parsley. Stir until everything is combined. Adjust for salt.

Plate the pasta and sprinkle each serving with grated parmesan cheese and the toasted breadcrumbs. Serve immediately.

Cooking, Italian, recipes, soup

White Bean + Tomato Stew

October 6, 2023 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I pretty much want pasta all the time. It’s my Achilles heel, so to speak. But my body probably shouldn’t have pasta all the time. So here’s a recipe I tossed together that gives off perfect pasta vibes but uses canned white beans instead. It’s not a stew, exactly, but I didn’t know what else to call it.

White Bean + Tomato Stew: a quick meal to satisfy that pasta craving

Serves 4
Cook time: 20 minutes or so

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 onion, chopped
6 ounces crimini mushrooms, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons white wine or sake
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
pinch of dried red pepper flakes
1 cup marinara sauce
1/4 cup cream
1 can white beans, drained
2 handfuls fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup chopped pistachios

Directions:

Melt butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms. Cook until onions are soft and mushrooms have released their liquid, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Deglaze the pan with the white wine and let it bubble for 1 minute. Add the dried basil, dried oregano and dried red pepper flakes. Pour in the marinara and cream, bring to a simmer and turn heat to low.

Add the beans and baby spinach; cook until spinach is wilted, just a few minutes. If stew is too thick, add in a little more cream. Stir in the parmesan cheese and add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle on the parsley and pistachios; serve immediately with a drizzle of good olive oil.

Cooking, Italian

Tomato Farrotto with Spinach and Ricotta

September 19, 2022 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

I love pasta. Whenever my bestie Kelly comes over for dinner we usually make a pasta dish. In an effort to try and eat more healthily I decided last time she came over to cook something with equal flavor to my usual pasta craving but with a healthier grain: farro.

I put together a farrotto dish, which is made just like risotto but with the ancient grain farro, which is high in fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Much like risotto, this recipe requires a lot of stirring, but with a best friend by your side and a couple of glasses of wine, the time goes by quickly.

I splurged for high-quality ricotta to dollop on top and sprinkled it with fresh chopped basil for that extra-special touch.

Tomato Farrotto with Spinach and Ricotta

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

2.5-4 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup minced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced marinated tomatoes (or 2 tablespoons tomato paste)
1 teaspoon Trader Joes umami seasoning (optional)
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
splash of white wine
1 1/4 cups uncooked farro
2 cups chopped baby spinach
1 generous cup of grated parmesan
2 tablespoons half and half or cream
fresh ricotta, to serve
chopped fresh basil, to serve

Directions:

In a small saucepan, combine 2.5 cups stock and the crushed tomatoes. Cook till simmering and keep on low flame. Meanwhile, heat a large pan over medium high with the butter. Sauté the onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and the marinated tomatoes and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Deglaze with the splash of white wine.

Add the dried farro, umami seasoning, dried basil and oregano and cook until farro is lightly toasted, just a couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper (I recommend skipping the salt if you used the umami seasoning).

Add a couple of ladlefuls of the hot stock/tomatoes to the pan and stir. Turn down the heat till the pan is at a low simmer. When much of the liquid has been absorbed into the farro, add another couple of ladles of the stock/tomatoes. Continue this until the farro is al dente, about 45 minutes, stirring often. You will need to heat up more stock after you’ve run out of the stock/tomato mixture. I can’t say exactly how much you’ll need. It just depends how much liquid the farro absorbs.

When farro is cooked through, add the chopped spinach and cook until spinach is wilted, a couple of minutes. Turn off heat and add the parmesan and half and half.

Serve with dollops of ricotta and chopped fresh basil.

Cooking, Italian, recipes, soup

Hearty Italian bean and pasta soup: Pasta e Fagioli

September 22, 2018 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

It’s officially fall and after an unusually sunny early September, the weather finally settled into the typical cool, windy Alaska autumn.

It’s perfect soup weather. There’s something so satisfying about making soup from scratch. Usually I have all the ingredients I need and it’s a therapeutic process to chop, sauté and simmer until you have a meal that warms you through and through.

The recent issue of Cook’s Country magazine has a simple recipe for Pasta e Fagioli. I made it this week and added my own flair to the recipe. If you don’t have pancetta, you could use 1 pound of loose Italian sausage instead to give this soup a different dimension.

Hearty Italian Pasta and Bean Soup

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2, 15-ounce cans of white beans such as cannellini
olive oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 celery ribs, chopped fine
2 carrots, washed and chopped fine
2.5-3 oz. pancetta, chopped fine
pinch of salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons tomato paste
4 garlic cloves, minced
dash of red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried basil
4 cups chicken stock
4 ounces mini pasta shapes such as shells or ditalini
3 handfuls baby super greens, chopped
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Drain one can of beans and set aside. Place one can of beans, liquid and all , in a blender and blend till smooth.

In a dutch oven or large saucepan, add a glug of olive oil and heat until oil is shimmering. Add the onion, celery, carrot, pancetta, salt and pepper and cook until veggies are soft, about 10 minutes.

Add tomato paste, garlic, and pepper flakes and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the stock, basil, and pureed beans. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes.

Add the pasta and drained beans and cook another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. When pasta has cooked for 5 minutes, stir in the greens and increase heat if needs be to remain at a boil. When pasta is al dente, remove pot from heat and stir in the cheese.

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of cheese.

Cooking, Italian, Pasta, recipes

Fresh Fettuccine with Hooligan Marinara Sauce

March 14, 2018 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

My local library was showcasing their newest cookbooks last week. I checked out “Passione: Gennaro Contaldo’s Italian Cookbook” because it looked authentic and, let’s face it, I liked the font. When I saw his simple recipe for pasta dough, I had to try it. Flour, semolina and eggs. It sounded more authentic than pasta dough recipes I’ve made in the past. That he provided the gram weight of the flours made me think it was going to turn out perfectly. And it did.

My friend Ivan came over with a jar of smoked hooligans he and a friend had caught and canned last summer. They tasted a little like anchovies so my thought was to make a simple marinara with the umami flavor of the hooligans in the background. After simmering the sauce for a few minutes I tasted it and knew it needed one special ingredient to make it just perfect – capers. The sauce instantly became a bright, flavorful combination that reminded me of my dad’s puttanesca sauce.

Combine that with the best homemade pasta I’ve ever created and we had a heavenly dish that I think Gennaro Contaldo would be proud of.

Fresh fettuccine with a hooligan caper marinara

Serves 4-6

Ingredients for pasta dough adapted from “Passione: Gennaro Contaldo’s Italian Cookbook”:

300 grams (or 2 cups) all-purpose flour
100 grams (or 2/3 cup) semolina flour
4 eggs

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1, 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
2 smoked hooligans, chopped (sub anchovies)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons capers
handful of fresh basil, chopped

Directions for pasta dough:

In a Kitchen Aid mixer, combine the flour and semolina. Make a well in the center and add the eggs. Using the paddle attachment, mix the ingredients till combined and a shaggy dough forms. Turn onto a counter and knead for 3-5 minutes until a smooth ball forms. It should be firm and not sticky. Dust with flour and continue kneading if it’s too sticky. Divide into two balls. cover in plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.

For the sauce:

In a large skillet, add the oil and heat over medium. Add the garlic and sauté until garlic is soft and fragrant, about two minutes. Be careful not to let it burn. Add the tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper, hooligans and capers. Bring to a simmer. Let simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, while you make the pasta.

Place a large pot of salted water to boil.

Using either a hand-crank pasta roller or a Kitchen Aid pasta roller, begin to make your pasta. Divide each ball of dough into four equal balls, covering the ones you aren’t working with. Flatten the ball with your palm. Run it through the largest setting on the pasta roller. Fold the piece into thirds and roll it through again. Do this about five times till the piece is evenly shaped and smooth. If it’s too sticky dust each side lightly with flour.

Move the roller to the next setting and run the dough through once. Continue running the dough through each smaller setting till it’s the thinnest it can possibly be. On the Kitchen Aid roller it’s setting 8. Drape the sheet of pasta on a laundry drying rack while you continue rolling out the remaining balls of dough.

When all the dough is rolled out, switch to the fettuccine roller. Roll all the sheets onto a tray dusted lightly with semolina. Boil the pasta for just a couple of minutes, until al dente. If your pot isn’t large enough you may need to boil in two batches. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water and add it to the sauce along with the chopped basil.

Drain the pasta and toss with a little bit of the sauce to keep the noodles from sticking. Grate some fresh pecorino Romano cheese over your pasta and serve with a simple salad.

Cooking, Italian, Pasta, recipes

Squash and Spinach Ravioli

October 17, 2017 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Sometimes a dish is too good to blog. I’m so busy eating it I don’t think to photograph it. But then some dishes are so good that I have to make them two days in a row just to blog about it.

Last night a friend came over so I could show him how to make ravioli. I winged the filling by using ingredients I already had: delicata squash, frozen chopped spinach, cottage cheese and pecorino Romano cheese.

These tender, flavorful morsels were so good, I just had to make them a day later and share them with my best friend, Kelly.

Squash and spinach ravioli

You will want/need a pasta rolling machine for this recipe – or a wine bottle and a lot of patience.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients for the dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs + 1 yolk
2 tablespoons milk
pinch of salt

Ingredients for the filling:

1 medium delicata squash (sub pretty much any other kind of squash here)
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 cup cottage cheese (sub ricotta if you’d like)
1/2 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Cut each half in half. Scoop out the seeds and rub all over with olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes or until flesh is pierced easily with a fork. Remove from oven and cool.

While squash is cooling, make the dough. Place the flour in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Add the eggs, milk and salt to the well and whisk together, slowly incorporating the flour until a shaggy dough forms.

Remove from bowl and knead on a floured surface for a couple of minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic. If it is too wet, add more flour. If it’s too dry, add a little more milk. Continue to knead for a few more minutes, then wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.

Heat a small pan with the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Place into a medium mixing bowl. Squeeze as much of the liquid out of the spinach as you can and add to the bowl. Scrape the squash into the bowl and add the rest of the filling ingredients. Mix with a fork until well combined. Set aside.

Set up your pasta roller and put it on the biggest setting. Take a palm-sized piece of dough and pat it flat. Run it through the pasta roller one time. It may be tough but it’s ok to press it through unevenly. You’ll be using this largest setting to knead the dough for you.

After the first time through, fold the dough in half and run it through again. Continue folding the dough and running it through four or five more times. Now advance your pasta roller to the next setting and run the dough through once.

Continue narrowing the roller and running the dough through once each time until it’s your desired thickness. Each pasta maker is a little different. With my KitchenAid roller I go to setting 6.

Lay your dough on a lightly floured surface or drape it on a bamboo clothes drying rack while you finish the other pieces of dough.

Now it’s time to assemble your ravioli. First, put a salted pot of water on to boil. Take one strip of pasta and place 1 teaspoon of filling across the bottom of one side, about one inch apart with a 1/2-inch space from the edge.

Fold the long side of the dough in half over the filling and start pressing lightly all around, pushing out air as you go. Press around all the filling so the pasta sticks to itself.

Using a pastry scraper or pizza cutter, cut your dough into individual ravioli. Be sure to cut the long edge because the cutting actually seals the pasta.

Boil your ravioli in two batches. Once the pot returns to a boil, simmer the pasta for just a few minutes until it’s al dente. I like to take a ravioli out of the pot and cut off a corner to test the doneness.

Use a large slotted spoon or spider to remove the ravioli from the pot. Place into shallow serving bowls. Top with a little butter, good olive oil, more pecorino Romano cheese, and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper. Serve with green beans and Italian sausage.

Cooking, Italian, recipes

Baked Tortellini Skillet

October 2, 2017 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I’m cutting to the chase with this recipe. This baked tortellini skillet has all the flavors of lasagna without the cumbersome noodle wrangling. Plus the cheese from the tortellini adds some extra flavor to the overall dish.

This is a perfect weeknight meal!

Baked tortellini lasagna

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

6 oz. dried cheese tortellini
6 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2/3 cup whole milk cottage cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan
2.5 cups marinara
salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the tortellini three minutes shy of their recommended cooking time. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a 12-inch oven-safe pan. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Sauté until the moisture is evaporated and the mushrooms start to brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Mix together the cottage cheese, 2/3 cup mozzarella, 2/3 cup Pecorino Romano, and salt and pepper to taste.

Coat the bottom of the pan with 1 cup of marinara. Toss in the tortellini and spread out evenly in the pan.

Next add the cheese mixture, spreading it out with a rubber spatula. Layer on the mushrooms, then another 1.5 cups of sauce. Top with remaining cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes until bubbly and slightly browned. Serve with Italian sausage and a simple garden salad.

Cooking, DIY, Italian, recipes

Homemade Pancetta

September 24, 2017 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Now that summer has come to a close, my family takes to the kitchen to stock up for winter. Blueberry jam, cranberry marmalade, crabapple sauce are some of what we use with our annual harvest, but lately my dad’s been experimenting with bacon and pancetta.

If you haven’t been introduced to my father, he is the owner of Sausage Mania, a website with thorough tutorials on sausage making, lox, pesto and more. Here’s a photo of the Sausage Meister in action: