A small plate of gnocchi can be served as an appetizer or as a main course.
In most anything in life, you have to work with what you have. And in cooking, the seasons dictate what ingredients are best or available. On a recent trip to Calareso’s Farm Stand in Reading, Mass. I was intrigued by one pound packages of pumpkin gnocchi.
Now I’ve cooked gnocchi before, usually in a tomato sauce, but the savory pumpkin flavor needed something else. So I brainstormed. Pumpkin pie is good with whipped cream so I opted to go with a cream sauce and a little hint of nutmeg.
But this wasn’t going to be dessert. I had to keep it (dinner) real. Cheese would help keep the dish on the savory side and I decided the nutty taste of fontina, combined with some freshly grated imported parmesan cheese would do the trick.
I then imagined all of this gooey, sweet, savoriness melting in my mouth, but it was missing something: a healthy clean foil to the heavy richness. I decided it needed some greens. I had some broccoli rabe on hand and decided to give it a go.
The result was a sweet, savory, gooey piece of heaven, offset by the bitterness of a good healthy green vegetable. The icing on this savory cake? Thinly sliced almonds.
Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
What I did:
Steam broccoli rabe until done, but not soggy. Don’t overcook. It should have some bite. (I used a large pasta pot with a colander insert and steaming basket. It’s one of my favorite and most used cooking tools. ) Cook gnocchi in a large pot of boiling water for about three minutes (just until they float). Don’t overcook. In a saute pan cook the scallions until translucent and then add the cream, heating it up, but don’t let it boil. Add a small dash of nutmeg: we’re talking a few specks here. Nutmeg is very strong and can easily overpower a dish. Taste it. You just want a hint of nutmeg flavor. You can always add more if you like, but once you put it in, you can’t take it out. Be careful! Add cream sauce, fontina cheese, parmesan cheese, sliced almonds, and broccoli rabe to the cooked gnocchi and stir until cheese melts and everything is well blended. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with a side salad.
Steam broccoli rabe until done, but not soggy. Don’t overcook. It should have some bite. (I used a large pasta pot with a colander insert and steaming basket. It’s one of my favorite and most used cooking tools. )
Cook gnocchi in a large pot of boiling water for about three minutes (just until they float). Don’t overcook.
In a saute pan cook the scallions until translucent and then add the cream, heating it up, but don’t let it boil. Add a small dash of nutmeg: we’re talking a few specks here. Nutmeg is very strong and can easily overpower a dish. Taste it. You just want a hint of nutmeg flavor. You can always add more if you like, but once you put it in, you can’t take it out. Be careful!
Add cream sauce, fontina cheese, parmesan cheese, sliced almonds, and broccoli rabe to the cooked gnocchi and stir until cheese melts and everything is well blended.
Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with a side salad.
Serves three to four people as a main course. Gnocchi is very filling. You don’t need much for each serving.
Find more recipes in the Food section.
Here a bolognese sauce is paired with pasta and meatballs (aka: polpette).
I’ll admit I made bolognese sauce a couple of times over the summer. But this rich, thick, meaty sauce is usually more appropriate with cooler times.
One way to look forward to the cooler seasons approaching is to think of all the seasonal delicacies you can make. And bolognese should top the list.
Here’s a recipe I adopted from my “Biba’s Taste of Italy” cookbook. It takes a couple of hours to cook but it isn’t very difficult. I chop up the vegetables and the pancetta separately, using a food processor. And feel free to experiment with the meats you use. I always have plenty of ground veal on hand, but if you don’t, you can use just ground beef and ground pork.
Ingredients/Shopping List:
Heat the oil and 1 tbsp. of the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When butter foams, add the minced vegetables and minced pancetta. Cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture has a nice golden color (about 5 minutes). Add the ground meat, raise heat to high, and break up the meat with a wooden spoon while stirring. When the meat and vegetables have a rich brown color and the bottom of the pan is glazed (about 7-8 minutes) add the wine. Stir until most of the wine has evaporated. Stir in the diluted tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. When the liquid comes to a boil, reduce heat to low, partially cover the pan, and simmer for 2 hours. Continue to stir and check the sauce every 10-20 minutes. The sauce should end up being thick, with an appealing nutty brown color and just slightly liquid. Add a bit more broth or water if the sauce looks dry. Add the milk, partially cover the pan, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
Heat the oil and 1 tbsp. of the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
When butter foams, add the minced vegetables and minced pancetta.
Cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture has a nice golden color (about 5 minutes).
Add the ground meat, raise heat to high, and break up the meat with a wooden spoon while stirring.
When the meat and vegetables have a rich brown color and the bottom of the pan is glazed (about 7-8 minutes) add the wine. Stir until most of the wine has evaporated.
Stir in the diluted tomato paste and season with salt and pepper.
When the liquid comes to a boil, reduce heat to low, partially cover the pan, and simmer for 2 hours. Continue to stir and check the sauce every 10-20 minutes.
The sauce should end up being thick, with an appealing nutty brown color and just slightly liquid. Add a bit more broth or water if the sauce looks dry.
Add the milk, partially cover the pan, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
Add the sauce to freshly cooked pasta. This goes wonderful with thick macaroni bands. I usually use the dry pasta made in italy that resemble small bird nests.
These are great served anyway: in a sauce with or without a sub roll or just plain on a dish.
These are so delicious they’re an act of love. Like all good things they take a little work but aren’t the loved ones in your life worth it?
Restaurant owner and cookbook author Biba Caggiano has the best recipe for meatballs or polpette (as the Italians call them).
What makes them truly great and different is that she uses a variety of meats, including mortadella, and each ball is dipped in egg and breadcrumbs before fried, giving them a tender crust.
They’re so delicious you can eat them plain, without tomato sauce. But I like them with a light sauce: one that isn’t overcooked and where you can taste the fresh tomatoes.
I also deviate a little from her recipe by adding some ground beef. Biba’s mother’s recipe just uses the following meats: ground veal, pork sausage, and mortadella.
Here’s my recipe based on her’s:
Remove crusts from bread and soak in milk for about 5 minutes. Drain the bread and squeeze out as much of the milk as possible. Add the veal, beef, pork, mortadella, nutmeg parmesan cheese, and 3 eggs. Season with salt and pepper and mix until combined well. Take a small amount of the meat mixture and shape it between the palms of your hand into a ball about the size of small egg. Place on a plate and continue to do this until all of the meat mixture is used. Lightly beat the remaining 3 eggs in a bowl. Dip the meatballs in the egg mixture and then roll them in the breadcrumbs. Flatten them slightly with the palms of your hand and put them in a single layer on a cookie sheet or large platter. They can be refrigerated for several hours. Just be sure to tightly cover them with plastic wrap. Heat an inch of oil in a medium heavy skillet over medium-high heat. As soon as the oil is hot, lower the meatballs in batches with a slotted spoon. Do not crowd the pan as this will cause them to cook unevenly and burn. When they’re golden on one side (about 1-2 minutes), turn them over and brown on the other side. Once they are cooked through, transfer them to a dish or platter lined with paper towels to drain.
Remove crusts from bread and soak in milk for about 5 minutes.
Drain the bread and squeeze out as much of the milk as possible. Add the veal, beef, pork, mortadella, nutmeg parmesan cheese, and 3 eggs. Season with salt and pepper and mix until combined well.
Take a small amount of the meat mixture and shape it between the palms of your hand into a ball about the size of small egg. Place on a plate and continue to do this until all of the meat mixture is used.
Lightly beat the remaining 3 eggs in a bowl. Dip the meatballs in the egg mixture and then roll them in the breadcrumbs. Flatten them slightly with the palms of your hand and put them in a single layer on a cookie sheet or large platter. They can be refrigerated for several hours. Just be sure to tightly cover them with plastic wrap.
Heat an inch of oil in a medium heavy skillet over medium-high heat. As soon as the oil is hot, lower the meatballs in batches with a slotted spoon. Do not crowd the pan as this will cause them to cook unevenly and burn. When they’re golden on one side (about 1-2 minutes), turn them over and brown on the other side. Once they are cooked through, transfer them to a dish or platter lined with paper towels to drain.
You can serve them just like this. Or you can put them in a large pot of your favorite tomato sauce over low heat and cook them a little more. You can use this tomato sauce recipe (adapted from my mother’s recipe) but I’d omit the sausage and possibly add a fresh tomato, chopped fine, or a can of diced tomatoes to give it a fresh taste.
Stir occasionally being careful not to break apart the meatballs. Serve this and it will strike a chord in the hearts of people you love, stronger than an arrow from Cupid’s bow.
My friend Michael enjoyed a plate of this updated pasta dish on a recent visit to the RootsLiving kitchen.
Tweaking basic recipes with some of your favorite ingredients keeps things exciting, fresh and new.
This basic pasta recipe from the bible of classic Italian cooking, the Artusi, was featured in a post here a year ago. I recently upgraded it to include one of my favorite ingredients: eggplant.
The differences between the original recipe, called “Neapolitan-Style Macaroni II” and this updated version are as follows:
Cut up the eggplant and add with the other ingredients to the pasta.
(Note: If you’d like to print this recipe, click on the headline on this post and then use the print button at the bottom of the post. In other words, print from the “permalink” not from the homepage.)
Roll the dough into a snake with your fingers before cutting it.
Gnocchi di pollo e patata sounds so much better than chicken and potato gnocchi. But they both taste the same: light, savory, elegant.
This recipe, from The Art of Eating Well, by Pellegrino Artusi, makes many gnocchis so it’s great to make and freeze. And then when you crave gnocchi, you’ll always have it on hand.
First the broth:
Put a whole chicken in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add celery and carrot, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Then lower heat and simmer for an hour or more. Remove chicken. Pour broth through strainer into a large plastic container and refrigerate over night. The next day, take the fat off the top of the broth with a soup spoon.
Put a whole chicken in a large pot and cover with cold water.
Add celery and carrot, and salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil. Then lower heat and simmer for an hour or more.
Remove chicken. Pour broth through strainer into a large plastic container and refrigerate over night.
The next day, take the fat off the top of the broth with a soup spoon.
To make the gnocchi:
Mix all of the ingredients, except the flour, together well. Work the flour into the mixture to bind it. Roll the mixture on a floured surface into a snake, the diameter of your little finger. Cut the snake into 1-inch lengths. Put what you don’t use into a large freezer bag and put in a freezer for later use. Simmer the gnocchi in the broth. They are very delicate and may fall apart. Don’t be too concerned as when they fall apart, they flavor the broth.
Mix all of the ingredients, except the flour, together well.
Work the flour into the mixture to bind it.
Roll the mixture on a floured surface into a snake, the diameter of your little finger.
Cut the snake into 1-inch lengths. Put what you don’t use into a large freezer bag and put in a freezer for later use.
Simmer the gnocchi in the broth. They are very delicate and may fall apart. Don’t be too concerned as when they fall apart, they flavor the broth.
This lasagna has a crunchy top, but a soft middle.
Chef Todd English makes a good lasagna.
I still remember one I had at his Olive’s Restaurant in Boston that was made with veal.
He has a knack for taking an old standard and then being innovative, without being preposterous, paying more attention to the flavors of a dish than the flair.
On Sunday I made one of his lasagnas from his other restaurant, Figs. Figs is more casual and family-friendly, and so is this lasagna.
He deviates from the traditional lasagna recipe by using no-boil noodles, Fontina cheese and fresh mozzarella. But I have a confession to make: I bought the standard, rubbery, mozzarella by mistake, instead of the fresh balls of mozzarella, and the result was still very good.
For the sauce:
To Make the Sauce: Stir occasionally as needed. Add oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and toast it for about 3-4 minutes. Add the onion and cook until golden, about 3-4 minutes. Add the sausage and cook until fat is rendered, about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper and discard any excess fat. Add the tomatoes and cook for 30 minutes. Add the basil and cook until the mixture begins to thicken, about 10 minutes. Fresh basil adds a bright lift to the flavors in this dish. To Assemble the Lasagna: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put a light coating of olive oil on a 9 x 12 roasting pan or lasagna pan. Fill a large bowl with hot water. Dip the noodles and then drain. Cover the bottom of the pan with noodles. Spread some sauce over the noodles. Top with a little mozzarella cheese (it does not have to cover completely) Top with a little Fontina cheese (it does not have to cover completely) Top with small dollops of Ricotta cheese. Place pieces of fresh basil on top. Sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Repeat this five times. Top with a thin layer of tomato sauce. Sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Bake in the oven until golden brown, hot and bubbly, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve immediately or put in refrigerator to eat later.
To Make the Sauce:
Stir occasionally as needed.
Add oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and toast it for about 3-4 minutes. Add the onion and cook until golden, about 3-4 minutes.
Add the sausage and cook until fat is rendered, about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper and discard any excess fat.
Add the tomatoes and cook for 30 minutes.
Add the basil and cook until the mixture begins to thicken, about 10 minutes.
Fresh basil adds a bright lift to the flavors in this dish.
To Assemble the Lasagna:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Put a light coating of olive oil on a 9 x 12 roasting pan or lasagna pan.
Fill a large bowl with hot water. Dip the noodles and then drain.
Cover the bottom of the pan with noodles.
Spread some sauce over the noodles.
Top with a little mozzarella cheese (it does not have to cover completely)
Top with a little Fontina cheese (it does not have to cover completely)
Top with small dollops of Ricotta cheese. Place pieces of fresh basil on top.
Sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
Repeat this five times.
Top with a thin layer of tomato sauce. Sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
Bake in the oven until golden brown, hot and bubbly, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Serve immediately or put in refrigerator to eat later.
This lasagna took a few hours to make but was easy.
Lasagna often takes best the second day. To reheat, put in a 350 degree oven and cook until heated through, about 30-40 minutes.
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