one last taste of summer

Spring Pea Risotto with Poached Egg and Basil

Summertime is blissful: long lazy nights, dips in the ocean, guilt-free monstrous consumption of Blue Bell ice cream, air conditioning.  But don't tell summer, fall's my favorite season: cooler temperatures that make walks outside bearable, hearty food, cinnamon in my coffee, that scent in the air, curling up with a wee cuppa.  Before that autumnal elation begins, I thought I'd have one last hurrah to summer with this risotto.  I adore risotto (and once butternut squash starts appearing, you'll have my favorite risotto recipe).  Risotto tends to intimidate folks, but it's really not difficult.  And there's something cathartic about the process of making it, stirring it gently until it turns creamy and tossing in whatever strikes your fancy.  

Finely chop one onion and two cloves of garlic.  Risotto always begins with onion and garlic, sauteed in olive oil and butter (just 1 tablespoon) in a deep, heavy-bottomed pan.  As always, season the onions and garlic with a little s&p.


You can't make risotto with any old rice: you'll need Arborio rice.  You can find it in any grocery store.  It's Italian short-grained rice (because short things are wonderful).  Something about that growth-challenged grain becomes creamy and decadent when stirred with warm chicken stock.  You'll love it.  I used one cup of arborio rice: it makes four servings.

Take one carton (16 oz. I think) of chicken stock and heat in a deep saucepan until gently simmering.  You'll want it to keep simmering while making risotto, so it's nice and warm when you add it a bit at a time.  I recommend low-sodium so you can control how salty it is.

After cooking the onions and garlic for a few minutes, add the rice and cook on medium-low for a few minutes until the rice turns translucent.  At this point you can add 1/3 cup of white wine and let it reduce for a couple of minutes.  All I had was red wine, and though it would taste good, I didn't fancy pink risotto so I didn't add any.  

 Add chicken stock by the ladleful (or using a measuring cup like I did) and stir until almost all of the liquid is absorbed.

It'll look like this when it's ready for more stock.  Keep adding stock and stirring so it doesn't stick, until the rice is al dente and creamy, about 20 minutes.  I know this seems like a long time to stand by a pot stirring it, but in our non-stop society, a bit of a slowdown isn't a bad thing.  Risotto as counter-cultural act!  (Okay, perhaps not, but it's just delicious.)

Here's how it looks when it's done.  Now you get to add all sorts of wonderful things:

 

I added fresh basil,

frozen petite garden peas (note that taking a picture while pouring in peas leads to a proliferous pea situation, which I don't mind),

freshly grated parmesan, one tablespoon of butter and the zest of one lemon.  Stir together and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Now onto that delicate little poached egg to top your summery risotto.  Fill a deep pan with water, add a splash of vinegar and bring to a boil.

 Crack an egg into a cup (or that handy cup measure of mine)...

...and place it in the boiling water by quickly turning the cup measure over with a flick of your wrist.  The quick motion of the egg hitting the water will help the whites envelop the yolk and the vinegar (which you won't taste) will keep it from falling apart.  For a soft-poached egg, cook for 4 minutes.

 Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.

Top that resplendent risotto with the egg and a little cracked pepper.

Break open the yolk and enjoy a creamy, fresh taste of summer.  Fall's on its way!

Bon appetit!
lilrevchef

roasted red pepper pasta

Get ready for some roasted red pepper and pine nut pasta perfection, y'all!  That's some delicious alliteration.  I used The Pioneer Woman's recipe, which I really loved.  I've made roasted red pepper pasta sauce before with olive oil, but this sauce was much more flavorful and decadent with a bit of cream (yum), pine nuts, sauteed onions and garlic.  

Here's what you'll need:

3/4 lb penne pasta (I like penne best for this because the sauce really clings to it.)
2 red bell peppers (have to be red, folks)
2 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
extra virgin olive oil
3 T pine nuts
1/2 c heavy cream (decadent, I know!)
parmesan & basil (to garnish)

It makes about 4 servings.  If you're Texan, well, let's call it 3.

 Take a small onion...

 

...and peel and finely dice it.  You'll also want to finely mince 2 cloves of garlic.

Heat about 2T evoo in a deep pan on medium-low... 

Saute onion and garlic slowly with a little s&p for about 10 minutes, until soft.

Get your bell peppers rinsed and ready to be broiled in the oven.  You may want to give 'em a pep talk.  Broil (with - it may go without saying - your oven on "broil"), turning frequently, for about 10 minutes until charred on all sides.

They should look burned.  Burned = flavor (except later on in this recipe...you'll see.)  Let them cool for a few minutes.

Put the roasted peppers in a large ziplock bag and seal it.  You're essentially giving them their own little sauna so you can peel them easily later.  This is a good time to cook your pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente (about 8 minutes).

Then, toast your pine nuts in a dry skillet on medium heat.  I urge you not to change your Facebook status whilst doing this, otherwise they'll look like mine did. In this case, burnt does not translate to flavor.  Burnt = burnt.

Let's try that again...they'll only take a few minutes to toast, so turn them often and just get a light brown on them (like this picture).

Peel those gorgeous red peppers, deseed them and roughly chop.

Puree in a food processor or blender with 2T of the toasted pine nuts (you'll use the rest of the pine nuts as a garnish).

It will get velvety but still have some texture to it.  Such a gorgeous color!  Add this puree to the onions and garlic, season with s&p and cook together for a few minutes.

Then add 1/2 c heavy cream...

 ...and some chopped basil and cook together for a few minutes.  Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss together.  Adjust s&p as needed.  Top with more basil, whole pine nuts and parmesan shavings.

The result: creamy, hearty roasted red pepper pasta that will make you want to do a little happy dance.  It's possible I did one.  Okay, highly probable. :)

Bon appetit!
lilrevchef

spaghetti bologneasy

I'm Scotch-Irish and English in my heritage but I'm pretty sure that in my former life I was Italian (Presby minister talking about reincarnation: scandalous!).  I say this because, when I think of comfort food, I dream of a heaping plate of homemade spaghetti with lots of fragrant basil and salty parmesan.  Now, I have my standard can-make-it-in-my-sleep spaghetti sauce, but when I came across this recipe from Ina Garten, I had to deviate a bit and try something new.  And boy was it dee-licious.  

Barefoot Contessa Weeknight Bolognese

2 T extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to cook pasta                                                    1 pound/500g lean ground sirloin                                                                              1 medium onion

4 tsp minced garlic (I used 2 large cloves)
1 T dried oregano
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes 
1 ¼ cups dry red wine, divided (Chianti!) 
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
2 T tomato paste
Kosher salt & black pepper
¾ pound/375 g dried pasta (I used spaghetti of course)
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
¼ cup heavy cream
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

Let's get comfort-food-cookin', y'all.  We have lots of pictures to guide our way.  

First, don a favorite apron (being as careful to match as I clearly am).

Here's most of what you'll need: pasta, san marzano tomatoes, garlic, onion, chianti & evoo.

Heat the evoo in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.

Add ground sirloin and onions, season with a little s&p and cook using a wooden spoon to crumble up the meat until it's starting to brown, 5-7 minutes.

Add chopped garlic (how Texas-sized are those garlic cloves?!)...

...and 1 T dried oregano and 3/4 t red pepper flakes.  When using dried herbs (like oregano), it's a good idea to rub it between your fingers before adding.  This wakens up the flavors a bit.  Cook for 1 minute.

 

Now it gets really tasty!  I used Chianti for my sauce because, well, it's Chianti.  I once traveled through Tuscany solo (brave one, I am) and stayed at a little hotel in Siena (in the Chianti region).  They teasingly put a glorious bottle of Chianti in the room, for the super reasonable price of 10 euro.  I couldn't resist and thus had a generous glass and carted the bottle with me the rest of my trip. There's nothin' classier than toting your own bottle of Chianti on the train!  


Anyway, you can get divine, economical Chianti here in the States or elsewhere, but I have a tip for you.  When you see this pink label on the top of the bottle, it means that this wine was approved by the Italian government for export.  Wine can be exported without the dandy little sticker, but the wines approved by the government are generally better quality.  So grab some Chianti with the pretty sticker on top. :)

Add a cup of it to the sirloin mixture and stir it to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan (these have the most flavor).

Then add your tomatoes.  Buying crushed tomatoes like the recipe suggests is easiest, but you can just mash up whole ones like I did as well.  San Marzano tomatoes when compared to regular canned tomatoes are like Ghirardelli dark chocolate compared to a plain Hershey bar (taste-wise and culturally, too!).  

Add 2 T tomato paste, 1 T salt and 1/2 t pepper.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for at least 10 minutes.  I simmered mine for 20 to get it a bit thicker.

(This is a good point in the cooking process for the chef to have a glass of that delightful, pungent Chianti.)


Cook your pasta in boiling, salted water (with a splash of evoo so it doesn't stick) until al dente, about 8 minutes.  

While the pasta cooks, add some finishing touches to the sauce: 1/4 c fresh chopped basil...

...1/4 t fresh ground nutmeg, 1/4 cup more of chianti and 1/4 cup heavy cream.  This is very different from my usual recipe, but adds a layer of flavor and creaminess that I loved.

Simmer for as long as it takes the pasta to cook (about 8 minutes).

Put cooked pasta in a large serving bowl and toss with the sauce and 1/2 cup parmesan.  I also added a few large parmesan shards on top and basil because, if you're gonna go to the trouble to cook it, you might as well make it look good!

Enjoy your pasta with yummy ciabatta bread (and that divine wine).  It'll take you right to Italy, I promise.  (Incidentally, this plate was brought back from Italy by my Aunt Karen decades ago!  Pasta tastes better on it.)


Buon appetito!
lilrevchef