Parmesan – Page 4 – Well Dined

04
Sep
2013

Veggie Based Pasta Sauces

categories: Recipes

I’ve been doing this thing lately where I pretend that making a pasta sauce out of vegetables makes up for the fact that I am eating pasta. Leave me to my delusions, I’m not ready to face the truth. I have three such recipes for you today, and the first is this gorgeous roasted beet sauce that will make your pasta intensely fuschia. Simply roast some beets, allow to cool slightly, peel, and puree with some starchy pasta water. Toss with cooked pasta, season, and serve. I topped mine with ricotta and fresh oregano.

Next up is a broccoli sauce – what could be more healthy than broccoli? I am not really used to broccoli because my father is allergic and we never really had it growing up. My poor husband loves broccoli (shocking since he is NOT a veggie eater), so I am trying to familiarize myself.

Did you know that you should peel broccoli? I didn’t. Apparently the outside part is tough and bitter. Anyway, peel and chop the broccoli, steam, and then saute with butter, onion, and garlic. Add some cream, puree, and toss with pasta and a bit of that magical pasta water. Top with a gratuitous amount of Parmesan. And before you start yelling at me – know that many vegetables need to be eaten with fat in order to allow the body to fully absorb the nutrients – FACT.

Lastly we have a roasted red pepper alfredo. I think this one might be my favorite – super creamy and cheesy with a ton of roasted pepper flavor. I topped it with grilled chicken that I marinated in olive oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic, rosemary, and oregano.

They sell roasted peppers in jars at the grocery store, but it turns out that it is super easy (and cheaper) to do at home – just pop them in a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes, allow to cool, then remove the stem, seeds, and core. Toss the roasted peppers into a mixture of onion, garlic, half and half, herbed goat cheese, and Parmesan; puree and enjoy. (more…)

26
Aug
2013

Summer Pizzas

categories: Recipes

I really love authentic Italian pizza. The kind with the thin crust that gets blistered and charred in the wood oven. My favorite place to get it around here is Pizzeria Orso, but I have been trying to make it at home. Step one is to get a pizza stone. I leave mine on the bottom rack of the oven. As long you are heating it with the oven (not sticking a cold stone into a hot oven) it will be totally fine to leave it in there all the time. In fact, heating it frequently will help keep it clean by burning any spills to dust. I’ve even left it in there on the self clean mode – totally fine and now very clean! It will take longer for your oven to preheat with the stone in it, but it will help keep the temperature even and constant. You will also need a pizza peel to transfer the pizza to the stone.

Step 2 for great pizza – great dough. I have tried many doughs, including whole wheat ones. For authentic pizza – this Jim Lahey dough is the best. It takes a long time to make though, so be prepared. The idea behind this dough is that the tenderness and pocketed texture come from fermenting the dough (for 18 hours, I told you it takes time!), and then handling it as little as possible. That means no kneading!

After letting the dough ferment (like sourdough starter), you carefully remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a floured surface. Then you separate it into four parts and gently fold (not roll, or knead) the parts into balls. Use them quickly or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate. This dough is only good for a couple of days so plan to make a lot of pizza!

When you are ready to make the pizza (the oven and stone should be preheated at this point), carefully and gently stretch the dough. Either in the air on your knuckles, or on a floured surface. For some technique tips – check out this video. See those bubbles in the dough, there? That’s what you are trying to achieve. Those will blister up and make your pizza awesome. Here’s another handy trick – I always have trouble getting my pizza off the peel, no matter how much cornmeal I put on there. So I have started putting the pizza onto parchment paper and sliding that onto the stone. Then after about 2 minutes (you will smell it starting to char), I slide the parchment out from under the partially set dough – easy! (more…)

31
Jul
2013

Meat Ravioli

categories: Recipes

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about some gorgeous beet and goat cheese raviolis that I made. Jasper enjoyed those, but what he really wanted was meaty ravioli – so of course I made some for him!

The process is exactly the same, just with a different filling. And let me say, I REALLY like this filling. My favorite mixture of beef, pork, and veal (sold as “meatloaf mix” in most stores) is browned with butter, olive oil, onion, and garlic. Then prosciutto, Parmesan, nutmeg, and an egg are added, along with salt and pepper. The filling is completely cooked (except for the egg) before it goes into the ravioli because fresh ravioli only cook for a minute or two.

I served them with a creamy tomato sauce, yum! (more…)

08
Jul
2013

Garlic Scapes

categories: Recipes

I saw these guys at the Farmers Market and though, “What the heck are those?” So out came the phone and Google searching commenced. Garlic Scapes, as it turns out, are a shoot that grows out of the top of the garlic plant. They need to be removed so that the plant can focus on growing the bulb instead of flowering. This is fortunate, because the also happen to be insanely delicious. They taste like garlic, but without the bite, and can be used like scallions.

I bought myself a big handful and set about looking up recipes. The most common way to use them is in a pesto, so of course I did not make that… because I’m weird.

Instead, I made carbonara – with guanciale (cuz I’m legit) and peas (which put an end to my legit-ness, but I don’t care cuz I love peas). You are probably wondering what the heck I am talking about, I don’t blame you. Here is a link to a great article about the do’s and dont’s of real carbonara. TLDR (too long, didn’t read for all you non-techies) – while bacon and pancetta are acceptable, guanciale is the best; peas are a definite don’t.

I also made biscuits – with garlic scapes, Gruyere, and goat butter (another new obsession of mine). (more…)

13
Jun
2013

Spring Pizzas

categories: Recipes

I am one of those people that refuses to let go of a season, so I apologize if Spring drags on a bit for me here (especially since I am always late posting). But we are still in the transition period from Spring to Summer, so it’s not THAT bad (I hope).

Anyway, during one of my weekly lunches with Melissa from Smells Like Brownies, we decided to make a shaved asparagus pizza with some gorgeous purple asparagus that she got from a local farm (she talks about it here).

Isn’t it beautiful? It turns out that this asparagus is super juicy, so it released a lot of liquid during cooking that we had to mop up with paper towels. If you have some big, juicy stalks and want to make pizza, I recommend sauteing them a bit first or tossing with kosher salt and draining on paper towels for a bit to draw the moisture out.

Here is the beautiful whole wheat pizza dough that Melissa had ready to go when I got there. (more…)

03
Jun
2013

Farro with Scallions, Peas, and Goat Cheese

categories: Recipes

It’s time for another vegetarian lunch with Melissa! This time we made a warm and creamy grain salad with veggies (kind of our favorite thing). This salad has farro, arugula, scallions, split peas, English peas, goat cheese, and chives in a citrusy dressing with orange, shallot, and Parmesan. So basically every delicious ingredient there is.

We made things easy by precooking the farro and split peas (you can do this a day in advance) and using frozen peas.

We tossed the farro mixture with a citrusy dressing, then folded in arugula and charred scallions, and topped with goat cheese and chives. Let me tell you about charred scallions – they are awesome. Super awesome. We were worried that the onion flavor would be overwhelming, but charring them takes a lot of that sharpness out and replaces it with sweetness. (more…)

28
May
2013

Fresh Homemade Pasta!

categories: Recipes

I have been wanting to learn to make my own pasta for years, so I was super jealous when my friend Melissa (you know her by now) got a pasta roller for Christmas. I had been thinking about getting the Kitchen Aid attachment (versus the hand crank kind) but it is very expensive and I had read reviews about them breaking and being hard to clean. Melissa said that her manual roller was very easy to use, and invited me over to try it out / teach me how to use it.

Our first experiment was Spinach Ravioli with a Creamy Tomato and Veggie Sauce – yum!

The first step is to make the filling. Saute diced onion in butter, then add in frozen spinach (thawed and drained) to cook out any liquid.

Add in ricotta, Parmesan, and an egg yolk. (more…)

06
Feb
2013

Fall Pasta Dishes

categories: Recipes

I’ve been playing with combining squash and pasta for comforting Fall/Winter dishes. Like last weeks White Lasagna or the Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells from the beginning of the month. And now I have a few more, starting with this Butternut Squash and Leek Pasta Sauce.

This is simple and delicious – pureed squash, leeks, garlic, butter, sage, and Parmesan form a rich and creamy sauce to perfectly coat spaghetti.

Next up is Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese with Amaretti Crumbles.

Roasted pumpkin combined with noodles, cheesy bechamel, and sage.

‘Then topped with delicious almond cookies and baked. Yum! So comforting in cold weather. (more…)

28
Jan
2013

Broccolini and Feta Tart

categories: Recipes

My friend Melissa (at Smells Like Brownies) and I are trying to make our lunch date a weekly thing, so hopefully these posts will become more frequent. The last two times we made quinoa dishes, so we wanted to stay away from that this time. I saw this recipe for a broccolini and feta galette that looked yummy, but thought it might be even better on puff pastry like this broccoli rabe tart. I suggested this to Melissa, who agreed it sounded delish, and she decided to attempt making the puff pastry herself!

I was super impressed that she was willing to take that on – brave woman! But she said that it wasn’t as difficult as she thought it was going to be, so I may have to try it myself. I mean, it was pretty freaking delicious. I believe she used this recipe, and I will add a link to her blog when she posts about it.

So, we pressed the beautiful dough into a pan (through we probably should have used a bigger one, as the crust ended up being pretty thick), and layered it with blanched broccolini, feta, garlic, scallions, and pine nuts. Then we baked it at 350 until the crust was golden, adding some Parmesan towards the end. This took a while because the dough was a bit thick, but it was so worth it! (more…)

23
Jan
2013

White Lasagna

categories: Recipes

White lasagna with shredded chicken, spinach, butternut squash, whole wheat pasta, and low fat cheese for a super delicious, creamy, but light dinner? Yes, please! (more…)

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