Pappardelle with Spicy Lamb Ragu

A few years ago Ryan and I got both the veal and the lamb ragu from one of our go-to Italian restaurants in the city, called Paprika. The secret to this ragu was the rosemary - amazeeeee. We both had cravings for it for like a year and would go back for it probably once a month or so... until they took it off their specials menu! It was a sad day... but we decided that we had to try making it ourselves.

It's been on our to-do list for a while now, and I finally got around to doing it tonight. I decided to make lamb over veal since it has more flavor...plus, I already posted about veal ragu. Our own version of lamb ragu came out great, and we enjoyed this dinner very much, with a couple of glasses of Petite Syrah from Sonoma Valley.

Ingredients: Serves 4

• 3 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1  1/2-2 lb leg of lamb or lamb shoulder, boned and cut into chunks (I used shoulder)
• 1 carrot, scraped and cubed
• 1 red onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 ribs celery, chopped
• 1/4 tsp coriander seeds, roasted
• 1/2 tbs fennel seeds
• pinch of cumin
• 2 sprigs of rosemary, chopped
• 3-4 sprigs of of thyme, chopped
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 small can of tomato puree
• 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes
• 14 oz pappardelle
• dab of butter
• chunk of parmigiano cheese for grating

Heat the oil in a heavy large sauce pan. Sear the meat in batches on all sides. Do not fry everything at once, as too much moisture will be released and you will end up boiling the meat. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside on a plate.

In the same frying oil, saute` the carrot, onion, and celery. Add the meat, all spices and herbs, and the tomato puree. Saute` the mixture on high heat while stirring until the tomato puree starts to smell sweet. Add the red wine and stir. Fold in the peeled tomatoes and enough broth to immerse the meat. Simmer on low heat for 1 1/2-2 hours with the lid left ajar on the pan.

Check occasionally whether there is enough moisture in the pan - add some hot broth if necessary. At the end, taste for salt and pepper and add more as necessary.

Bring a pan of water to a boil and add some salt. Toss in the Pappardelle and cook until it is al dente, drain. Scoop the pasta into a plate and add a heavy ladle or 2 of ragu on top. Top with grated parmigiano cheese.

Chicken with Pesto, Eggplant, and Mozzarella

So tonight's inspiration was my refrigerator. This happens often - with my work schedule and all there is hardly enough time to plan and prep during the week so I sometimes make things up on the spot.

This recipe came about by combining the ingredients that I had - from randomly buying things on the "what's good" section on Fresh Direct with items I already had in stock, dinner was created! Tonight, the fridge blessed us with thin cut chicken breast, baby Italian eggplant, fresh mozzarella, pesto (from a previous meal), grape tomatoes, and grey poupon mustard. YUM, how good do all these things sound? The meal was fabulous, I highly recommend trying this out!!! We devoured this with Imagery's Dragons Leaf Syrah, a perfect pair.

Ingredients:

• Thin cut chicken cutlet breasts
• 1 Baby Italian Eggplant, pealed and sliced long ways
• Handful of grape tomatoes, cut into halves
• 1 Garlic Clove, minced
• Fresh Mozzarella, Sliced
• Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• Pesto Sauce
• Grey Poupon Mustard
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Black Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Peal the skin off the eggplant and slice thinly, long ways.  Cut the grape tomatoes into halves. Chop up the garlic.

Saute the garlic in olive oil and immediately add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt. Once they are softened, add the eggplant and cook them until translucent, flipping them a few times. Set aside.

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Lay the cutlets flat on a baking tray and season each side with some salt and pepper. Evenly spread a load of pesto on each side. Click here for my pesto recipe.

Spread a tad of grey poupon mustard all over. Then, layer on a slice of eggplant on each piece of chicken breast. Put the tomatoes on each side of the chicken breast; they will give some extra flavor and we will use them on top for serving.

Add the slices of mozzarella on every chicken cutlet and top off with a sprinkle of grated parmigiano reggiano.  Bake in the oven for about 11-12 minutes - of course, if you use thicker breasts than I did, it will need to cook longer.

After cooking

Beautiful layers!

Classic Baked Pasta

There is just something about melted mozzarella with pasta and sauce....

Baked pasta is one of my favorite comfort foods. It's one of those meals that I don't cook very often because it is a treat for me - you can't over-do treats! It's strange, but at the end of my vacations to tropical islands and after eating processed, foreign, wanna-be American food for a week I very much long for baked pasta, and only baked pasta for some reason.

Well, this past Easter holiday I wasn't on a tropical island, but hosted dinner at the apartment... Baked Fusilli (not Ziti or Rigatoni - Fusilli were more fun and festive!) made the menu! I knew everyone would like it and it was a good, easy enough dish for a big group of people. You can use almost any type of pasta for this - typically bite-sized works best.

Ingredients: Serves 4

• 1 lb Pasta (Ziti, Penne, Fusilli, Rigatoni, etc)
• Lots of Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• Lots of Fresh Mozzarella, cut into small pieces or shredded
• Sauce & Meatballs recipe here

Meatballs and Sauce:

In my baked pasta I added my mini meatballs ...it is just a smaller version of the meatballs I already blogged about. Just cook the meatballs in the frying pan, don't add into the sauce like the blog says for the other recipe. Set them a aside until you are ready to assemble the meal. 

The sauce is also included in this link. Make these two first.

Next:

Once the meatballs and sauce are done, boil the pasta until it is very al dente as it will continue to cook in the oven. Once strained, put back in pot and add in a few ladles of sauce. Mix around so that each piece of pasta is covered in sauce before assembling.

In a square or rectangular baking pan, add a ladle of sauce on the bottom and spread evenly. Add a layer of pasta....

...Followed by handful or 2 of the mini meatballs, a heaping handful of grated parmigiano, and handful shredded mozzarella....

Add a good amount of sauce on top so everywhere is covered, and the pasta will not be dry after cooking as it soaks up some sauce while baking. Repeat this layer.... you should be able to repeat the layers 1 or 2 times.

Bake in 375 degrees oven for 20-30 minutes, until mozzarella is fully melted and everything is congealed.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips!

This recipe originated from cookies called "peanut butter blossoms", which calls for Hershey kisses... One time I was making these cookies and realized that I didn't have Hershey kisses, but I had chocolate chips so I went with it. 

Turns out that they were even better as peanut butter chocolate chips and they are easier to eat. They are for sure a crowd pleaser! I always make these when I have company. This year we are hosting Easter Sunday dinner and these will be on the dessert spread.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of Semi-sweet Morsels
• 2 tbs of Milk
• 1/2 cup Shortening
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1 ½ cups All-purpose Flour
• 1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/3 cup Light Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 Egg
• Extra granulated sugar

  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well Blended.

Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.

Add egg, milk and vanilla... beat well.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. Add in chocolate chips and mix until they are evenly dispersed.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely before serving.