Proud Italian Cook

Springtime Pasta

March 20, 2015 by Marie 11 Comments

Today I can officially say that spring has arrived, I’m so happy to be done with winter and heavy comfort foods, it’s time to lighten up! Today I’m sharing with you a fresh and fabulous pasta dish, it’s nice and light to welcome in the season, and it’s easy to make.

Spring vegetables are making their way into the stores right now so feel free to incorporate some of your own favorites into this dish. I chose pencil thin asparagus, a variety of gorgeous colored baby carrots, artichoke hearts, zucchini and fava beans.

The carrot and zucchini ribbons were made with a simple vegetable peeler, you could substitute fresh baby peas instead of the fava beans if you like, and replace the fresh for frozen artichoke hearts if you don’t want to do all that prep work.

The light fresh tomato sauce is what ties everything together, it’s simply roasted cherry tomatoes with a bit of garlic and olive oil. The roasting process makes the tomatoes burst and ooze juice that happily gets to mingle with the garlic. Now who wouldn’t want to toss their pasta into that?

For this recipe I chose a nice fettuccine, I think the curly strands look pretty with the zucchini and carrot ribbons.

Freshly grated shards of Parmigiano Reggiano tossed in and on top of the pasta enhances all the flavors above and beyond.

Wouldn’t you like to twirl your fork into this goodness?

Happy Spring!

5.0 from 3 reviews

Springtime Pasta

A fresh and lightened up springtime pasta dish

Author: Marie

Ingredients

12 ounces of dry fettuccine, cooked al dente
2 pints of various colored cherry tomatoes, sliced length wise
2 small garlic cloves, crushed finely
1 or 2 medium zucchini, made into ribbons
1 bunch of colored carrots, made into ribbons
1 bunch of pencil thin asparagus, each piece cut into three sections
½ cup of fava beans prepped and peeled, can substitute peas
1 cup of quartered artichoke hearts
Parmigiano Reggiano shards, a generous amount to taste
olive oil

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Place cherry tomato halves and garlic into a glass pan or a baking sheet lined with foil, add salt and pepper and roast until tomatoes burst and start to shrivel and caramelize, about 25 minutes.
Make sure juice does not burn off ,as it's important to remember all oven temps vary, so keep watching. When tomatoes are done, set aside.
In a large saucepan add a good drizzle of olive oil and add the zucchini and carrot ribbons, just sauteing until they start to limp.
Add in the artichoke hearts, favas, and asparagus, toss gently and saute for a minute.
Add the roasted tomatoes and all the juice, then toss in gently all the cooked pasta.
Garnish with lots of Parmigiano Reggiano.

11 Comments Filed Under: Pasta, Spring, Vegetables Tagged: fettuccine, springtime vegetables, Veggie Pasta

Spring Vegetables in Parmesan Lemon Cream Sauce

March 12, 2015 by Marie 15 Comments

For seven years in a row Whole Foods Market has been celebrating the King of Cheeses, Parmigiano Reggiano. This past weekend all Whole Foods across the country simultaneously “cracked” and sampled an 85- pound wheel of authentic Parmigiano Reggiano.

Did you know that every wheel at every Whole Foods Market is aged for 24 months? This is the best age in terms of taste and texture, in fact it cannot even be called Parmigiano Reggiano until it’s aged at least 12 months.

It has a rich distinctive flavor, it’s creamy, nutty, salty and savory all in one, and a little goes a long way!

They asked me if I wanted to join in the celebration, and of course I said yes. I always keep a hunk of of Parmigiano Reggiano as a staple in my kitchen, a good risotto just doesn’t taste the same without it and I can’t imagine not using it in my butternut squash gnocchi and ravioli.

It’s a great addition in many of my salads, sometimes just by simply grating large shards on top, and it goes without saying that it highlights many pasta dishes, in fact just last weekend I made a baked pasta dish with a tomato cream sauce, and honestly the Parmigiano Reggiano took it over the top, don’t get me wrong I love my Romano, but it wouldn’t have done it justice, and that’s how I feel about it, when I want a special finish to a dish that I’ve made, I always reach for Parmigiano Reggiano.

So to celebrate I wanted to make something that would showcase this special cheese and since spring is literally around the corner I decided to incorporate some of my favorite springtime veggies, lovely artichokes, fava beans, skinny asparagus and baby zucchini, and bathe them in a lemony parmesan cream sauce!

Keep in mind Parmigiano Reggiano has a distinctive tan colored rind that’s pin stamped repeatedly all over, by this you will know it’s the real deal.

So on with the recipe! I used a shallow pan, 8×11, and just 1 1/2 inches deep, you want the veggies to peek out of the sauce, it gives a nicer presentation instead of them all piled on top of one another in a deep pan. You might have to double or triple the sauce ingredients depending on the size of your pan and amount of vegetables you use.

I filled my pan single layer with sliced baby leeks, skinny asparagus, artichoke hearts, fava beans, baby zucchini and sugar snap peas, but you can use any combination of spring vegetables you like.

All the vegetables are pretty much pre-cooked and ready to go. I roasted the zucchini, asparagus and leek slices in the oven until crisp tender. The sugar snap peas were blanched for 4 minutes and of course the artichokes were cooked ahead of time, you could use frozen artichoke hearts if you want, but I wouldn’t use canned. The fava beans were bought and pre-cooked, all I needed to do was peel the skin off, that was easy and save alot of time.

Heavy cream, nutty Parmigiano Reggiano along with lemon zest and mint is a match made in spring veggie heaven!

This would be a wonderful side dish to your Easter table!

5.0 from 3 reviews

Spring Vegetables in Parmesan Lemon Cream Sauce

The amount of sauce ingredients I used was for my 11x8 inch pan, 1½ deep, use your discretion and double or triple the amount if using a larger pan.

Author: Marie

Ingredients

Assorted spring vegetables of your choice, precooked, placed single layer in a shallow pan, I used leeks, artichoke hearts, sugar snap peas, skinny aspragus and baby zucchini and fava beans.
1¼ cups Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, freshly grated
1½ cups, heavy cream
zest of 1 lemon
fresh mint
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In a small sauce pan add the heavy cream and simmer just until it starts to bubble along the edges,
( this is a very important step), then remove from stove and toss in half of the zest and half of the grated Parmigiano Reggiano, stir gently.
Spoon the cream sauce over and around all the vegetables.
Sprinkle remaining cheese all over.
Bake in 400 degree oven, uncovered until cheesy sauce sets and is thickened.
If you want a little golden color, place pan under the broiler for a couple of minutes but please keep checking, don't walk away!
Garnish with remaining zest and mint leaves, and a little more Parmigiano Reggiano wouldn't hurt.

15 Comments Filed Under: Side Dishes, Spring, Vegetables Tagged: parmesan cream sauce, Parmigiano Reggiano, spring veggies

Muffaletta Pinwheel Steaks

March 4, 2015 by Marie 20 Comments

You’ve heard of the famous muffaletta sandwich haven’t you? A giant sandwich made in a large round hollowed out loaf of Italian bread that’s filled with cured meats, cheese and a tangy and most delicious olive salad.

Today I give you a skirt steak filled with the same things, rolled up and tied and cut into individual pinwheel steaks.

The main character in this recipe is the olive salad, which is a mixture of Italian pickled vegetables and various olives all chopped together and tossed with olive oil, you can either make your own or buy a good quality version at a local Italian deli, living in the Chicago area I have access to good olive salad and giardiniera all around me.

Make sure your deli meats and cheese are sliced really thin because you’re going to be rolling up all the layers together, I used prosciutto, hot capicola, mortadella and a nice melting provolone.

This is a recipe my friend Paula told me about, she actually saw it on the Rachael Ray show and couldn’t wait to make it either, for some reason it intrigued me. Basically with pinwheel steaks you can stuff them with whatever you want, I think next time I’ll just use the olive salad with some roasted red peppers, spinach leaves and provolone, but if you want even more inspiration just look on the Internet, you’re bound to see a ton of different versions.

This recipe calls for a skirt steak but I’m sure flank steak would work as well, I asked my butcher for the longest piece he had and for him to tenderize it for me, which he happily did.

Put a little plastic wrap on your counter then lay the steak on top and start layering.

End with the layer of provolone cheese on top and then it’s time to roll everything up!

Roll it up nice and tight and secure with butchers twine then cut into individual steaks, you can get three or four pinwheels from a pound and a half of meat.

I browned one side then finished it off in the oven.

Serve a little salad on the side and you’re good to go!

5.0 from 3 reviews

Muffaletta Pinwheel Steaks

Recipe adapted from Rachel Ray

Author: Marie

Ingredients

1 long piece of skirt steak about 1½ lbs. tenderized if possible
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup of parsley leaves
½ cup of shaved parmesan cheese
¼ lb each of prosciutto, hot capicola, mortadella and provolone. (Note) You will have extra leftover
olive oil
salt and pepper
For the olive salad, either purchase a large good quality bottle at an Italian deli or make your own using a 1 cup of pitted olives and 1 cup of giardiniera chopped together in a food processor with added olive oil.

Instructions

Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on your counter, place meat on top, season with salt and pepper.
Drizzle with olive oil, add the chopped garlic, rosemary, parsley and sprinkle olive salad all over top then add the shaved parmesan.
Layer meats and end with the provolone cheese on top.
Roll up tight starting on the short end.
Secure with butchers twine, tie in the middle first then tie on both sides of the center, I got 3 big steaks from my 1½ lbs. of meat.
Then cut slices between the twine.
Brown on 1 side for a few minutes in an ovenproof saute pan then place into a hot 400 degree oven to finish cooking, mine took about 7 or 8 additional minutes.
This would work great on an outdoor grill.