Italian spiral pasta with anchovies and kale

This is a delicious, well-balanced dish that takes less than 45 mins to make. We used whole-wheat gobbetti (a type of spiral pasta). We also used anchovy paste in lieu of anchovy fillets (½ tsp paste = 1 filet). We use about ½ bunch of kale for this dish. Recipe here: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015085-pasta-with-anchovies-garlic-chiles-and-kale (Mar. 2016)Note: To… Continue reading Italian spiral pasta with anchovies and kale

Sloppy lasagna, pressure-cooker style

This marked my first time using a pressure cooker to make lasagna, both the sauce and cooking the lasagna sheets. The recipe is from the Hip Pressure Cooking cookbook by Laura Pazzaglia. Here is a similar recipe she posted on her Hip Pressure Cooking blog: http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-pasta-casserole-a-cheesy-meaty-mess-mezzemaniche-pasticciate/. The sloppy lasagna was very tasty, but I burnt… Continue reading Sloppy lasagna, pressure-cooker style

Italian winter minestrone soup

Recipe from Giada de Laurentiis is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/winter-minestrone-recipe.html We used thick-cut bacon (cut into matchsticks, browned, and set aside before the first step of the recipe and the added back in at the last step) and increased the beef broth from 3 ½ cups to 4 cups. We also used a very small sprig of… Continue reading Italian winter minestrone soup

French bread pizza with pepperoni

This is a clever riff on Stouffer’s frozen pizza, using store-bought ingredients that you assemble. Preheat oven to 350. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, place a baking rack on top of the foil, then lightly spray the rack with oil (the rack will stabilize the uneven baguette crust and the oil will make… Continue reading French bread pizza with pepperoni

Italian poached whole fluke

One of my favorite Italian dishes is sapore di mare, an Italian style seafood soup with tiny pasta.  While looking for that recipe, I came across this “Single Fish Cooked Fish-Soup Style” in one of my Italian cookbooks, so we tried it this evening.  Wash a whole fluke (gutted and scaled) in cold water, pat dry, and set aside. Separately,… Continue reading Italian poached whole fluke

Italian chick pea and swiss chard soup

Using a stockpot, saute 2 oz thick-cut bacon (cut into matchsticks) in a little olive oil until browned, then remove and set aside. Add 1 chopped onion, 4 cloves minced garlic, 5 sprigs thyme (leaves only), 2-3 minced sage leaves, and ¼ tsp crushed red pepper and sauté for a few minutes. Add 1 bunch… Continue reading Italian chick pea and swiss chard soup

Barley pilaf with artichoke hearts and chick peas

We first tried this recipe in 2007 when our friend Sandhya served it at a party. The recipe is here: https://www.food.com/recipe/barley-pilaf-with-chickpeas-and-artichoke-hearts-301799 Our modifications: first, we halve the amount of marinated artichoke hearts (to a 6 oz jar), drain, and slice them vertically in half. Second, for the pesto, we prefer Safeway private label brand or… Continue reading Barley pilaf with artichoke hearts and chick peas