Family Traditions

So I sat down and wrote 99% of this post and saved it in draft format. Only to find out later that for some reason my "draft" didn't save and I was left with only the title. Enter sad pouty-face Carolyn. Sadly I don't remember what I said in my post. Like at all. I'm sure it was cleverly composed and teeming with wit, but alas...we'll never know.

Anywho...I'm not going to try to recount what was written previously, but to simply state the main theme of this post which is as you might have guessed...Family Traditions. 

I love traditions. Traditions are just memories that you have the opportunity to recreate, relive, and revive with new people in a different time. I love sharing experiences with other people and especially with my family.


My Dad and I made this ravioli one weekend while I was visiting home and it was such a cool experience. Although pasta making isn't traditionally something that I've done with my family, it has been a large part of my family. While my dad and I were cranking out sheets of fresh pasta dough, he was telling me stories of my 'Big Nonni' (my great-grandmother) and the pasta that she used to make for him. He remembered her kitchen counter being covered with all kinds of fresh pasta that she would roll out by hand. And he told me about the special way that she used to twist her thumb into a ball of pasta dough to make orecchiette (or-kee-yet-tee) and cavatelli's (cah-vah-teel's). 

That's the good stuff...that's why I love traditions. It's getting to hear stories about my family's past and in a way, traveling back in time and getting to know my great-grandmother a little better. It's stories like these that remind me of where I came from, and let's me know that deep down inside I have a little of her in me.


I like to think that Big Nonni would have been proud of our ravioli adventure and this is definitely something that we'll be working into our future family traditions!


Fresh Pasta
Adapted from: Smitten Kitchen
3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
4 Large Eggs
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
4 Tablespoons Water


*Requires Food Processor


Combine all ingredients in the bowl of the fo-pro (food processor) and blend until the dough just begins to form a ball (add water drop-by-drop if the dough is too dry). Process the dough for another 15 seconds more and transfer to a floured surface and let stand, covered with an inverted bowl for 1 hour.


Filling
16 oz Ricotta Cheese (full fat)
2 Cups Parmigiano Reggiano*, freshly grated
1/4 Cup Fresh Basil leaves, chopped
2 Tablespoons Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped
1 Large Egg
Salt


Combine all the ingredients together and set aside


*It is SO important that you use the real stuff here...please make sure it's Parmigiano Reggiano and not domestic parm. you'll thank me later :)


Sauce
1 28 oz can Crushed Tomatoes
4 Cloves Garlic, chopped
3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1/4 Cup Red Wine


Heat Olive Oil over medium heat until shimmery, then add the chopped garlic and cook until brown (be careful not to overcook). Add the tomato paste (the mixture will sputter) and stir to combine with the garlic. De-glaze the pan with the red wine and simmer until the the liquid has almost completely evaporated.


Add the can of Crushed Tomatoes and let simmer over low heat for at least 30 minutes, but preferably and hour. Salt & Pepper to taste.


Assembly
Use a pasta roller to roll the sheets of pasta dough into uniformly thin long sheets. 


Once the pasta sheets are finished, lay half of them out on a work surface and drop tablespoon size dollops of the cheese mixture onto the pasta sheets about two inches apart from each other. Place the other half of your pasta sheets on top of the cheese mixture and press down to eliminate as many air bubbles as possible. Cut the pasta sheets into individual ravioli's with a pizza cutter or a sharp knife. Crimp the edges of the pasta with a fork to prevent the cheese from seeping out while cooking. 


Cook the ravioli's in salted boiling water for a few minutes (fresh pasta cooks much faster than dried) until the dough is al dente. 


Pluck the ravioli's out of the water with a slotted spoon and cover with sauce so that they don't stick to each other. 

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Meatballs. Oh, and that pasta stuff.

I recognize that the title of this post is disturbing. In fact, I deleted three times. But let me hit you with some truth.


The truth is...meatballs are amazing. So amazing that pasta can (sometimes) pale in comparison. I mean really, I feel so blasphemous for even saying that but that's what real friends do...they're honest with each other. Right?


The thing is, I didn't grow up eating a lot of meatballs. It just wasn't really my thing. In fact I still don't eat meat with the "holy mother" 8+ hour sauce because, well who does? But meatballs really elevate my everyday sauce that I make during the work week. 

It turns out that beef, pork, and veal are pretty awesome when they're held precariously together by a little egg, breadcrumb, and cheese. Then you can amp things up to a little bit of awesome when you pan fry them, and finish cooking them in a tomato and wine sauce. Yes.

I have no other words other than, make. this. immediately.


Meatballs & Linguine*
Adapted from: Smitten Kitchen


meatballs
1/2 lb Beef
1/2 lb Veal
1/2 lb Pork
1 Cup Fresh Bread Crumbs
1.5 Tbs Flat Leaf Parsley
1/2 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan**
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 Egg, beaten
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable Oil


sauce
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Yellow Onion, chopped
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
1/2 tps Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 Cup Red Wine
28 oz can Crushed Tomatoes
Salt
Pepper


pasta
1 lb Linguine
Freshly Grated Parmesan




Make the Meatballs: 
Combine all the meatball ingredients plus 1/4 cup  of warm water and mix with your hands until just combined. Make sure not to over mix. With your hand or the (the cookie scoop you've been eyeing) form the mixture into 1.5 inch meatballs.


Pour vegetable oil into a 12-inch skillet to a depth of 1/4 inch. Heat the oil on medium heat and carefully brown the meatballs (in batches) on all sides. Once the meatballs are browned on all sides, remove them and set aside on a plate. Once all the meatballs have been browned, discard the oil except for 1 Tbs but do not clean the pan.


Make the Sauce: 
Heat the oil on medium heat, and cook the onion until soft and translucent. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute. Add the wine and scrape up any yummy bits that have clung to the bottom of the pan until half of the liquid evaporates (2 minutes). Stir in the tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.


Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer over very low heat for 30 - 60 minutes. Stir occasionally and watch the sauce so that it doesn't burn.


Cook the linguine to al dente. Drain the pasta, and toss with a bit of sauce to coat the pasta. Serve with a helping serving of more sauce, meatballs, and freshly grated Parmesan.


*I can't stand spaghetti, so I sub Linguine for everything
**Please, for the love of our dear Lord don't use pre-grated parm. It's really unnecessary.

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The healthier side of carbs

I've been told that the day I was born, I was already 30. Which I've always found to be really amusing, because on the inside I've always felt like I wasn't a day over 9. But in truth, for the most part I've always behaved as if I were an adult. For instance, as I am writing this post it is 9:51pm and I have been in bed for at least 30 minutes. What can I say, I love my pajamas and I love my bed. So there you have it.

I'm also a planner (read: control freak). This sometimes becomes more apparent when life becomes hectic or I'm only a participant of a project and not the leader of the project. I am such a planner that I started looking for my first job out of college 8 months before graduation. I eventually did find a job at a fantastic company and my first day was only a mere 4 days after I graduated because I was so intent on supporting myself financially. I've been told that this is extremely mature. Whatevs.

Anywhoo, that is a long way of saying that I've been trying to be more of an "adult" and inject more vegetables into my diet and less, well...Chick-fil-a. Enter: Whole Wheat Penne with Sausage, Chard Kale, and Artichoke Hearts. The recipe didn't go according to plan because I didn't purchase some items, forgot to use some items, and in some instances used entirely different items, but amazingly was still amazingly tasty. I'm sure the mound of parm had nothing to do with this. 

Eating whole wheat pasta is healthy right? I've completely mangled the orignal recipe, but surprisingly it was still really, really tasty! Seriously...even Josh liked it! Which is impressive, especially considering the fact that I left out one of his favorite ingredients (sun-dried tomatoes) and doubled the amount of greens that the recipe called for. Although, I will say, that the next time I make this I'll do so with pork sausage instead of chicken to impart more sausage-y flavor into the dish * oink *.  Just do me a favor and make sure you grate plenty of fresh parmesan cheese over the top and you'll be golden.

Whole Wheat Penne w. Sausage and Kale

Adapted (very liberally) from: Martha Stewart

12 ounces Whole Wheat Penne

2 Tbs Olive Oil

3/4 Lb Sausage (mild)

3/4 Lb Kale, washed thoroughly and chopped*

1 small Onion, chopped

3 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar*

1/2 Cup Water

3 cloves Garlic, minced

1/3 Cup Sun-dried Tomatoes, sliced*

1 Tbs Tomato Paste

3/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated

1/3 Cup Basil, chopped

1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

Start a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.  While the water is heating, add 1 Tbs of olive il to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook while using the back of a wooden spoon to break the sausage into pieces, cook through until browned. Once the sausage is cooked, set aside on a plate.

Start the remaining Tbs of olive oil in the skillet and cook the onion and garlic until softened (3-4 minutes). Add the kale, red wine vinegar, and water to the onion mixture. Scrape up all of the yummy bits and combine the ingredients together. Cover the kale mixture and cook, stirring occasionally for 7-8 minutes until the kale is wilted and cooked through. Add the sausage back to the kale mixture, remove from heat, and set aside.

Add the pasta to the boiling water until 2 minutes short of al dente. Add sun-dried tomatoes and cook 2 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, drain pasta, and return to pot.

Pour half of the reserved pasta water into a small bowl and add the tomato paste, whisk to combine. Add the tomato paste mixture, sausage/kale mixture, basil, parmesan, and red pepper flakes to the pasta pot and combine. Add additional pasta water if needed, and season with salt and pepper.

*I was too lazy to find Swiss Chard at the store, so I grabbed Kale instead. My favorite way to cook kale is to steam it with a little red wine vinegar for some bite, which adds a lovely layer of flavor to the overall dish. I also left out sun-dried tomatoes from the finished dish, not intentionally but because I completely forgot. I would have loved to have seen bits of red amongst all the green and brown pasta, and I'm sure it would have tasted quite yummy...although surprisingly didn't lack in flavor without them.

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Clammy-Clam-Clams

This dish was a fantastic end to an amazing weekend! The weather was beautiful, and Saturday was one of the hottest days that we’ve had lately. Josh had board exams Saturday morning, so I had the first half of the day to myself! I decided to do it up right, and spend some me time at the spa! It was amazing! We finished the day with a run by the river and wings at Taco Mac - hello awesome day!

I had dinner at my Aunt’s house a few weeks ago and she served traditional Linguini & Clams and I remembered how much I love this dish! It’s such a classic and the simplicity of the dish is so refreshing. 

I couldn’t find a recipe that I was completely happy with, so I decided to do a hybrid of several recipes that I found. I also opted for a whole wheat linguini because, well ya know - that whole health kick thing.

So without further adieu: 

Linguine & Clams

1 lb Whole Wheat Linguini

2 lbs Fresh Little Neck Clams, cleaned and scrubbed of excess dirt

2 Tbs Olive Oil + Extra for drizzling

6 cloves Garlic, crushed or minced

1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

1.5 cups White Wine

2 Tbs Lemon Juice

Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the linguini until just al dente, then drain the pasta well.

While the pasta is boiling, heat the olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven. Add the garlic and cook until almost browned, then add the crushed red pepper and cook for another minute. Add the wine and scrape up any browned bits, and bring to a simmer. Add the clams and cover while the wine mixture is simmering. Cook until the clams have opened, 5 - 9 minutes and discard any clams that don’t open.

Toss the linguini, the clams, and the cooking liquid together. Squeeze lemon juice over the pasta and toss  with flat leaf parsley for garnish; season with salt and pepper as needed.

If the pasta seems dry or sticky, toss with reserved pasta water and/or olive oil.

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Carbonara

I can not even begin to explain the depths of my love for this dish. I really can’t. So I won’t.

I’ve been making this dish for several years, and have had the pleasure of sampling assorted versions at acclaimed establishments around the country and even in the motherland. And guess what – I’ve loved it every single time. It goes without saying that the version I devoured in Italy was the best pasta dish on the face of this ever loving planet – but we won’t delve into that because I’ll start to get depressed and spend far too much money on a last minute flight to Rome.

I mean, there are few better things in life besides carbonara. Right? It’s the best marriage of supremely fantastic ingredients, ie: pasta (duh), bacon, egg, and cheese…oh and let’s not forget the wine.

This recipe originally came from food network, but I have since tweaked it as I’ve discovered variations of how to combine the ingredients and have ended on a version that tickles my fancy.

CarbonaraAdapted liberally from the Food Network

1 lb Pasta (I like Rigatoni)
1/3 lb pancetta, chopped
2 Tbs Olive Oil
4 cloves of Garlic, minced
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
½ dry white wine
3 large eggs: 1 whole, and 2 yolks
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. When the water has reached a rolling boil, add salt and pasta and cook to al dente.

While the pasta cooks, cook the chopped pancetta and olive oil until the pancetta is crispy 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper – sauté for two minutes or until garlic is browned. Add wine to the pan and scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook and allow the wine to reduce by half.

Mix together the two egg yolks, whole egg, cheese (for the love of all things sacred, please don’t use the white saw dust in the green can), and freshly cracked black pepper into a paste and set aside.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and add it to a large mixing bowl. Add the pancetta/garlic mixture to the pasta and toss until combined. Once combined, add the egg paste and toss quickly to combine. The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs, but you’ll need to toss rapidly in order to keep the egg from coagulating. The pasta should be coated in a creamy/cheese like sauce.

buon appetito!

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