I love to cook but cleaning multiple pots and pans is not fun. Weeknight meals I make one pot, pan, or skillet recipes for quick and easy clean up.
You can make the Pomodoro Sauce ahead and keep in the refrigerator or freeze. Then just assemble the casserole and bake. Make in advance a nice salad and serve with crusty fresh bread.
You’ll have an easy home-cooked meal in a short preparation time!
Enjoy!
via Baked Penne with Pomodoro Sauce
Sunday dinner was a tradition in my family growing up. My mother, an exceptional cook, would prepare a feast with enough food to feed our entire neighborhood. All were welcome to join us for dinner. When I married and started my own family, I continued having large Sunday family dinners.
One of my mother’s famous Sunday meals was her Italian Pot Roast. She preferred an Eye Round Roast, but you can use a Shoulder or Brisket. I like to make this just like my mother on a stove, but it can be cooked in a slow cooker. After the meat is browned on the stove place all the ingredients in a slow cooker and cook for eight hours.
Italian Pot Roast
4 lb. Eye Roast
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onions
1 finely chopped celery stalk
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves, crushed
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup tightly packed parsley leaves, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups red wine
1(28-ounce) can whole San Marzano tomatoes, drained and chopped*
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup water
1 lb. penne pasta
Cut slits in eye roast and insert sliced garlic into slits. Season the beef with salt and pepper. In a large casserole, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil until hot but not smoking. Brown beef on all sides. Transfer beef to a plate. Pour off browning fat.
Add carrots, onions, and celery, stirring until golden. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Stir in bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, cinnamon, nutmeg, parsley and tomato paste. Add the wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the beef and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook at a gentle simmer for 3 hours, until meat is tender.
Remove beef, cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Mix two tablespoon flour with 1/4 cup water. Add to the sauce to thicken. Simmer on low heat stirring until sauce thickens about 3-5 minutes. While sauce is thickening cook pasta according to package directions.
Place cooked pasta on a large plater, pour the sauce over pasta. Slice beef and arrange over pasta. Serve with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
*I used Cento certified San Marzano tomatoes.
Enjoy!
Step 1
Melt large skillet over medium heat. Add shallots, and cook, stirring often, until shallots are softened and start to brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, and cook, stirring often for 1 minute. Add vinegar, and cook until thick and syrupy, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and pour into a small microwavable bowl. Cool to room temperature, cover, and chill until ready to use, up to 1 day ahead.
Step 2
Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss Brussels sprouts with olive oil, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 1⁄2 teaspoon of the pepper. Transfer to lightly greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Roast Brussels sprouts in the preheated oven until golden and tender, about 25 minutes, stirring halfway through baking. Set aside for up to 1 hour.
Step 3
Microwave shallot mixture on MEDIUM (50% power) until mixture can be stirred, about 30 seconds. Add shallot mixture to Brussels sprouts. Sprinkle evenly fresh cranberries, and bake at 400°F until heated thoroughly about 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!
Cooking and good food is in my blood. Both my grandmother and mother were accomplished cooks who could combine a few ingredients into a memorable feast that you would never forget. I learned from both these exceptional women that their love of cooking for family and friends was their secret ingredient that flavored their dishes better than any expensive seasoning or ingredient. Being of Italian heritage, tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil, and pasta were the basis for many of the meals they cooked when I was growing up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania along the Delaware River. The Delaware Valley before all the housing developments was rich land with farms that went for miles. My grandmother and mother’s summer season gardens overflowed with the most beautiful fresh produce perfect for making Linguine with Cherry Tomatoes and Pesto Sauce. I’ve attempted to create the flavors from one of their signature dishes. Both women never used a recipe they just added a pinch of this, a dash of that magically creating breathtaking food!
Linguine with Cherry Tomatoes and Pesto Sauce
1-pint cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup pesto sauce*
12 oz of fresh linguine
1 tablespoon butter
Preheat oven 425F. Place the first six ingredients in a baking dish ad roast for 20 minutes until tomatoes are hot and bubbly. Cool. Add pesto sauce to tomatoes; stirring until combined. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and reserve 1/4 cup water from the pasta. Place pasta in large bowel toss with 1 tablespoon butter and reserved water. Add tomato/pesto sauce and toss again. Serve with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
Pesto Sauce
4 cups packed fresh basil
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
1/2 parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Combine basil, oil, pine nuts, and garlic in a blender. Blend until paste forms, stopping often to push down basil. Add both kinds of cheese and salt; blend until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl. Freeze unused pesto.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Codfish versatility lends to many different toppings. In New England, where beautiful fresh fish is prevalent, many restaurants still serve the traditional Ritz cracker topping which is delicious. I love to create new toppings to enhance the flavor of cod. Being of Italian heritage I gravitate toward Mediterranean flavors used by my family when I was growing up. My recipes are strongly influenced by my mother and grandmother who were wonderful cooks and shared their passion with me. I am grateful for and indebted to their high standards, serving wonderfully prepared fresh food flavored with their love of family. I am the cook I am today because of these two exceptional women.
4 cod fillets(3 ounces each)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup unseasoned panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives
2 teaspoons capers
Preheat oven to 425F.
Place cod in a baking dish then pour lemon juice over. Let sit while preparing the breadcrumb topping.
In a small bowl combine breadcrumbs, cheese, garlic, oregano, pepper, salt, and oil. Toss to mix.
Cover fish with breadcrumb mixture. Top with tomatoes, oil, and capers. Bake for 15 -20 minutes or until the topping starts to brown. Do not overcook. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Serves 4.
Enjoy!
You can also find my recipes @buzzchomp.com
Cacciatore means “hunter” in Italian. In cooking, cacciatora refers to a meal prepared “hunter-style” with onions, herbs, usually tomatoes, often bell peppers, and sometimes wine. Cacciatore is popularly made with braised chicken or rabbit. Growing up in an Italian American family with a mother who was an excellent cook I learned to make Chicken Cacciatore at a young age. My mother who is now 97 didn’t have a written recipe she just created as she cooked. I’ve tried to recreate her recipe adding porcini mushrooms her favorite. This recipe also double very well for a larger group. A few tips that I learned from my mother: Always soak chicken for about 10 minutes in salted water to clean. Then pat dry before cooking.
INGREDIENTS
PREPARATION
Some days when the wind is cold and biting with no sun in sight I know making a hearty pasta dish is just perfect comfort food for dinner. All the ingredients for my Baked Penne I purchased at Trader Joe’s except I made my own Pomodoro sauce. Trader Joe’s has a tasty prepared Pomodoro sauce which will cut down the time to make an easy home-cooked meal. Put the casserole together the night before and bake for dinner the next day. Delicious, easy and a quick home-cooked meal!
1 pound penne pasta, cooked according to package directions
8 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese
8 ounces Burrata mozzarella, two balls chopped
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 teaspoon dry oregano
Pomodoro Sauce* or Trader Joe’s Rustico
8 ounce cooked chicken sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick
Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine ricotta, 1/2 burrata, parmesan cheese, oregano in a medium-size bowl. Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain and set aside. Place 1/4 cup of Pomodoro sauce at the bottom of the baking dish(13-inch x 9-inch). Add half penne to baking dish over sauce. Top with cheese mixture, layer with 1/2 remaining sauce, penne and top with rest of sauce. Finish with remaining Burrata. Bake 35- 40 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbling.
*Pomodoro Sauce
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 28 ounce can pureed Pomodoro tomatoes
1/2 cup red wine
Kosher salt
3 large fresh basil sprigs
In a saucepan over medium heat saute onion and garlic in oil for two minutes. Add red pepper flakes, tomatoes and wine. Cook for 5 minutes. Add salt, basil and sliced sausage. Simmer for ten minutes.
Enjoy!
Moroccan Cauliflower
Roasting vegetables enhances the flavor without losing the nutritional benefits. Cauliflower, basically bland, is the chameleon of the vegetable world assuming the flavor and taste of spices paired with during cooking. A perfect companion for creating an array of interesting vegetable dishes. Adding a Moroccan melody of spices to cauliflower with a touch of honey and pistachios the cauliflower is transformed into an exotic side dish bursting with flavor.
1 head cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cut into bite-size florets (about 8 cups)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup golden raisins, Sun-Maid
1/2 cup chopped pistachios
1/4 cup green onions, diced
1 tablespoon honey
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Toss cauliflower with ingredients and place in a baking dish. Roast for 20 minutes until tender and golden.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion or leek, or 2 shallots, sliced
Neck and giblets from your turkey (discard the liver)
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 sprigs thyme, parsley, rosemary and/or sage
1 bay leaf
Turkey drippings from your roasting pan
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Enjoy!
SLOW COOKED CHICKEN CASSEROLE
September is here and fall is in the air in New England. Mornings are cool and leaves are turning burnished shades of autumn. Time to pull out the warm sweaters for a brisk walk in the woods. Summer meals are replaced with hearty casseroles flagrantly scented with fresh herbs still flourishing in the garden. I made this chicken casserole in a low oven and you could use a slow cooker too. Either method produces tender chicken that just pulls away from the bone, melting in your mouth!
6 pounds of mixed chicken pieces, breasts, legs, and thighs.
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon minced rosemary
1 tablespoon minced thyme
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoon flour
Preheat over to 275 F. Heat oil in a pan to high. Add chicken pieces searing to brown on each side. One browned remove chicken placing in dutch over. I love Le Creuset from France. Expensive yet so worth the price as they cook food beautifully and last forever. Cook onion in the pan until translucent. Add garlic; cook for a few minutes then add mushrooms stirring until juices evaporate. Add rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper combine for a minute before adding wine. Bring to boil then simmer adding flour mixture to thicken the sauce. Pour over chicken in the dutch oven and slow cook for two and a half hours.
You can make this ahead the day before and warm up to eat.
Serve with rice or butter noodles.
Enjoy!
