Category Archives: 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.

Hearty Italian Pasta and Bean Soup

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2, 15-ounce cans of white beans such as cannellini, rinsed
1 cup water
olive oil
2 medium onions, 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
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 garlic cloves, minced
dash of red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried basil
4 cups chicken broth
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:

Place one can of rinsed beans and the water 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 broth, basil, other can of beans, and pureed beans. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.

Add the pasta 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:

He hasn’t added pancetta to his site yet so I thought I’d take this opportunity to post on his behalf.

Continue reading Homemade Pancetta →

Cooking, Italian, recipes, soup

Weeknight alphabet vegetable soup

April 4, 2017 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

When was the last time you had alphabet soup? Now that I think of it, I can’t remember ever having it, yet I always see the cute bag of dried alphabet pasta at the grocery store and think about making it.

My 5-year-old son has been showing an interest in cooking lately so we went to the library last week to check out kids cookbooks. One of the recipes was a tomato-based alphabet soup. He really wanted me to make it.

Fast forward to 4:30 p.m. today when I was driving home with zero plans for dinner. Thankfully I had already done the shopping for this meal. It came together in a jiffy!

This soup is packed with flavor and nutrition. The reason for the flavor? Pancetta and parmesan rind. Both add wonderful depth to the soup.

I also made chicken meatballs and dropped those in while cooking. I didn’t include the recipe for those, but you could use Italian sausage or any meatball recipe you prefer.

The verdict? My son and husband gobbled up this soup! Plus, we all had fun trying to spell words in our bowls. So much fun.

Alphabet soup with vegetables

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

3-4 oz. pancetta, diced small
1 medium onion, diced
3 carrots, diced small
3 celery stalks, chopped
4-5 leaves of swiss chard, chopped
1, 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 cups beef stock
2 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups frozen green beans
1 chunk of parmesan cheese rind
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 can of canellini beans, liquid reserved
2 tablespoons flour
6 oz. dried alphabet pasta, or small pasta of your choice
1 pound of meatballs or Italian sausage

Directions:

Add a little olive oil to a large dutch oven and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the pancetta and sauté until cooked but not browned. Add the onion, carrots, chard and celery and cook till onions are translucent, about 7 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, beef stock, chicken stock, bay leaf, garlic powder, oregano, basil pepper flakes, parmesan rind and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper. Cover, bring to a simmer and turn heat to medium-low. Add raw sausage or meatballs and simmer, partially uncovered, for about 15 minutes. Add the frozen green beans and return to a simmer for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain the beans and reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid. Whisk the flour into the bean liquid and add this to the soup to thicken it slightly.

Add the beans and pasta to the soup and simmer for 7 minutes or until pasta is done.

Serve with generous amounts of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

appetizers, Cooking, Italian, recipes, side dishes

Perfect stuffed mushrooms

February 12, 2017 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

The best stuffed mushrooms | a simple recipe from alaskaknitnat.com — Photo Credit: Stacy Spensley Flickr via Compfight cc

Perfect stuffed mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 carton of Costco baby portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup panko flakes
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 of an onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 pound Italian sausage
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
4 oz. cream cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Chop stems finely and mix with the onions. Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onions until the liquid has been drawn out of the mushrooms and the onions are soft, about 7 minutes. Set aside to cool in a mixing bowl.

In the same pan, add another tablespoon of butter and stir in the panko flakes. Sauté until the flakes are lightly browned, about two minutes. Place flakes in the mixing bowl with mushrooms and onions.

In the same pan add the loose sausage (remove from casings if necessary). Cook until meat is browned, about 7 minutes. Place the meat on a cutting board and chop finely. Add to the mixing bowl.

Toss in the Parmesan, parsley and cream cheese and mix thoroughly (hands are best). Add salt and pepper.

Stuff each mushroom with a heaping amount of filling and place on a baking sheet. Top with more grated Parmesan.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve immediately.

Cooking, Italian, recipes

Quick dinner: creamy pesto with chicken

February 7, 2017 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Pesto. I love pesto. I’m a traditionalist and tend to prepare it in the classic Genovese way but recently a friend told me his method, with cream and white wine, and I thought I’d try it.

I loved it! Pesto can sometimes have an overpowering garlic taste (it does contain raw garlic) so this version provides the flavor of pesto but is a little smoother.

If you use the Costco basil pesto then it’s a super quick meal, just perfect for a weeknight.

Weeknight meal: creamy pesto with chicken

Ingredients:

1 lb. spaghettini
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup white wine
2/3 cup pesto
3/4 pound leftover rotisserie chicken, torn into bite-sized pieces
salt and pepper to taste
lemon (optional)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high flame. Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat. Add the wine and let simmer for about 3 minutes.

Turn off the heat and add the pesto and chicken.

Drain the pasta. Add to the sauté pan and toss till evenly coated with sauce. Add salt and pepper. Squeeze a lemon over the top. Serve with a side salad.