Archive for the ‘what’s cooking wednesday’ Category
what’s cooking wednesday:
caprese salad
Well, Mom is safely back at home. We’ve only spoken on the phone a handful of times (OK, closer to two handfuls) since she left on Monday morning, so I’d say we’re dealing with the withdrawal symptoms well, wouldn’t you?
So as I try to beat the heat (it is HOT!) and rejoin real life, including full-time work again (I cut back to part-time while Mom was here), I’m feeling a bit lazy around the kitchen.
But lazy doesn’t have to mean “bad for the tastebuds” when tomatoes and basil are in season!
I’ll tell you, if we’re not having Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil or homemade Pesto alla Genovese, we’re having a Caprese Salad or Insalata Caprese if you want to be fancy. Or, you know, Italian.
Many of you know this one, but since it is absolutely one of my favorite summer treats, here it is for this week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday:
You’ll need:
- Tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and olive oil in the *best* qualities you can find
- Salt to taste
You can arrange this salad any way you like, but I usually do slices of tomatoes alternating with slices of mozzarella on a serving plate. Then I tear up the basil leaves and drizzle olive oil on top and finish with a sprinkling of salt.
The quantities of everything are up to you and your tastes, as is the decision on whether to “dress up” this simple salad with other treats like black olives or balsamic vinegar.
So who’s up for a refreshing, easy-to-prepare, delicious summer salad with the colors of the Italian flag?
And more importantly, who’s bringing the crusty Italian bread to sop up all those juices left on the plate?
Buon appetito!
What’s Cooking Wednesday: Tomato and Red Onion Salad
One of the best parts of having my mom here is a built-in buddy for market–hopping–and I’m talking about every market within a 40 kilometer radius.
Of course we’re having lots of fun in our travels, but all this marketing also means we’ve been enjoying even more fresh fruits and vegetables than usual…more hands to carry market booty! Woohoo!
As you probably know, I love tomatoes. So for today’s What’s Cooking Wednesday I’m sharing my absolute favorite way to enjoy fresh summer tomatoes (those in the US especially, be careful about salmonella right now!).
Here they are paired with “le cipolle rosse di Tropea,” the famous red onions from Tropea, a gorgeous town on the Tyrrhenian Sea, which is on the other side of Calabria (for those who don’t know, I’m on the Ionian Sea). These onions are some of the sweetest red onions in the world and are well-known not only in Italy but also throughout Europe–if you’re here, be sure to give them a try!
A tomato and red onion salad is a quick, easy, refreshing, delicious dish that is great at midday when the last thing I want to do is turn on the stove. It is dressed simply with olive oil, fresh basil, oregano and salt, and you’re welcome to throw in whatever other veggies you like; we especially enjoy cucumbers in this.
Along with the salad, P and I usually have something else uncooked with it, often local suppresata, cheese and bread but this is another favorite:
Bel Paese cheese spread on bread topped with prosciutto crudo
Doesn’t get any better than this after you’ve enjoyed a morning at the beach.
Tomato & Red Onion Salad
3 large tomatoes cut into bite-sized chunks
2 small red onions from Tropea, sliced
Olive oil, fresh basil, oregano and salt to taste
The longer you let the flavors mingle, the better this is, so I recommend making it early in the morning for lunchtime.
Buon appetito!
What’s Cooking Wednesday: Pennette alla boscaiola
Drawing inspiration from Cherrye’s recent Pazzi for Porcini post, this week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday dish is Pennette alla boscaiola, pasta with porcini mushrooms, pancetta, and heavy cream. It’s supposed to have prosciutto cotto (cooked ham) in there too, but I got to the store too late and the slicing machine was already cleaned. Next time.
You should know that P and I both love mushrooms. He loves them so much that he goes out looking for them. He’s brought me itty bitty ones like this and monster ‘shrooms like this:
And on *really* good days, he makes my kitchen table look like this:
All the above photos are from the fall, prime mushroom picking time. For this recipe, I used dried porcini, which are truly lovely, especially since you get the added bonus of using the liquid you used to reconstitute them.
In fact, from the original recipe (in Italian), I cut out the butter and used liquid from the porcini instead. This dish is a *big* winner in our casa. So fast, easy, and delicious . . . a new favorite!
Pennette alla boscaiola
(Penne pasta with porcini, pancetta, and heavy cream)
- Dry pasta (I recommend penne/pennette or tagliatelle/fettucine) for two
- 30 g (about 1 oz) of dried porcini mushrooms
- 1/2 to 2 cups water to reconstitute mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 150 g (about 5 oz) of pancetta, diced
- 200 ml (about 3/4 cup) heavy cream
- 50g (about a 1/4 cup) of grated cheese
- Salt to taste
1. About an hour before you’ll start cooking, put dried porcini in bowl and cover them in water.
2. When you are ready to cook, put the pasta water on to boil.
3. Use a fine strainer to drain mushrooms, placing another bowl beneath the strainer to catch the water; you’ll need it. If you want to chop the porcini into smaller pieces, do so now; I just leave them as is.
4. In a pan large enough to hold the pasta as well, heat oil over medium heat and then add onion. Let sauté for a few minutes until starting to turn translucent.
4. Add pancetta and let cook for a minute or two.
5. Add mushrooms, about 6 tablespoons of the porcini water, and salt and let cook on low-medium heat for about 15 minutes. If you see that it’s starting to get dry, add porcini water as needed.
6. In the meantime, prepare the pasta so that it’s still rather al dente (it will cook some more with the cream) and drain.
7. Test porcini mixture for salt (if necessary, add more), and then add pasta to the pan, giving it a few turns with a wooden spoon to combine with the pancetta, mushroom, and onion mixture.
8. Make sure the pan is on low heat and add cream, stirring to combine everything.
9. Sprinkle in cheese and stir until mixed in well.
10. Serve hot with extra grated cheese.
Buon appetito!
what’s cooking wednesday: gluten-free banana pancakes with orange honey sauce
Before we get to the recipe, for those who are still wondering what the photo of the cheese-like substance was in yesterday’s post, Jeff in Puglia got it right–it’s homemade olive oil soap!
Now, the recipe. Remember when I made Gluten-Free Chocolate Coconut Muffins a few weeks ago? I had some almond flour left over so I went looking for recipes for another experimental installment of What’s Cooking Wednesday.
I also wanted to use a banana that was past its prime, and by searching for “almond flour” and “banana,” I found a recipe for Banana Hotcakes with Orange Honey Sauce. I made some adjustments to the recipe, including adding mashed banana to the batter rather than simply setting slices on top of the ‘cakes.
The pancakes *with* the orange honey sauce were really good, and I’ll definitely make them again when I’m in the mood for a breakfast healthier than white flour pancakes and maple syrup (yes I have the latter flown in). These definitely had a different consistency than “normal” pancakes (a bit more grainy and chewy) but that’s to be expected with the change in flour. I was used to it and even enjoying it within two bites.
Honestly though, when I tried one of these without the syrup–um, not so good, but then again, regular pancakes aren’t very tasty without anything added either (at least to me). If for some reason I were going to eat these without syrup, I’d definitely add some sugar to the batter.
Also note that this recipe didn’t make very many pancakes–about six small ones–but *a lot* of sauce. No worries for me on the pancakes as P wasn’t home when I made them. I had plenty for my breakfast.
And the leftover sauce? I used it that afternoon in my tea and then the next day for breakfast with fresh ricotta and more strawberries kind of like this. YUM!
Gluten-free Banana Pancakes with Orange Honey Sauce
Orange Honey Sauce
- 1 cup honey
- Juice and zest of one orange
Pancakes
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 overripe banana, mashed
- 1 small pinch baking soda
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1. Prepare sauce by combining honey, orange juice, and zest in a saucepan and simmer until it’s thickened to syrup consistency. Put through fine sieve before pouring over pancakes. Serve warm.
2. For pancakes, whisk together egg, oil, vanilla, and bananas. Add baking soda and then almond flour a bit at a time until it gets to the consistency of pancake batter. If it gets too thick, add a bit of water or milk.
3. Pour batter in (your preferred) pancake-sized circles onto hot, greased griddle.
4. Cook 2 minutes on first side until you see bubbles on top. Flip and cook another thirty seconds or minute more.
5. Serve warm with orange honey sauce on top.
Buon appetito!
Recipe: Olive Oil and Limoncello Cake
The original recipe comes from a restaurant in the Valpolicella region in the province of Verona in northern Italy — but I gave it a southern Italian twist with limoncello.
Read on...
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
Calabria Guidebook
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