Ravioli with sage brown butter sauce (Salsa di burro bruno e salvia)

Adapted from Mario Batali and Giada de Laurentiis

Ingredients:
1 box of Trader Joe’s porcini ravioli (serves 2)
1 tbsp of unsalted butter
2 leaves of fresh sage
thyme, salt, pepper
1 clove of garlic, sliced thin lengthwise
Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:
While the pasta cooks (3-4 minutes for the ravioli), melt butter in a saute pan and continue cooking until golden brown color appears in the thinnest liquid of the butter. Add sage leaves and fry a couple of minutes. Fry the garlic and herbs and spices. Remove from heat until pasta is ready. Drain the pasta, but leave some cooking water, and gently pour into saute pan and return to heat. Add the cheese, toss to coat and serve immediately.

Forgot the nutmeg and lemon juice! I missed lunch and so ate this around 5pm for supper. Amber came home later and fried some frozen shrimp to add to her meal. Next time I’ll follow Lidia’s recipe cause she’s really Italian.

~Jessica

Chinese noodles with stewed pork and egg and Chinese broccoli

Just a good meal, no recipe. My Chinese grandma makes Chinese Braised Soy Sauce Eggs and stewed pork regularly, so I cooked some random asian greens and some Chinese noodles and put it all together:

~Jessica

Herbed summer squash pasta bake

Adapted from smitten kitchen

Ingredients:
250 g De Cecco pasta
olive oil
3 summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
Juice of half a lemon
45 g (3 tbsp) unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 large or 5 skinny scallions, sliced thin, white and green parts separate
Pinches of red pepper flakes, to taste
25 g (3 tbsp) all-purpose flour
350 mL (1 1/2 cups) broth
thyme, oregano, salt and more pepper to taste
finely grated parmesan cheese
smoked Gouda, cubed small
chopped basil

Directions:
Cook the pasta to al dente in salted water. Drain and set aside. Heat oil in a pan on medium-high, season with salt and pepper, and fry the zucchini for 10 minutes without burning, browning both sides. Remove, and sprinkle the squash with some lemon juice. Melt butter in the pan on medium heat and fry the scallion whites and garlic for a couple of minutes. Add the flour until absorbed by the butter. Slowly add the (milk) broth, incorporating each time you mix it together. Season with lemon, salt, and pepper. Simmer for two minutes. Remove from heat and mix in all herbs. Season to taste. Add the gravy sauce to your baking dish. Add the pasta, squash, and cheeses. Stir to combine. Bake for 25-30 minutes until edges are golden brown. Serve hot, topped with chopped basil.

I subbed broth for the whole milk and smoked Gouda for the mozzarella. It made the sauce a quite nice gravy, surprisingly. I also had two tomatoes and some reserved puree that needed to go somewhere so… Mystery pasta bake. Yum! In hindsight, however, this would have been super delicious without the addition of tomatoes, although Amber really didn’t mind them.

~Jessica

Home Fries

Adapted from The Kitchn and Serious Eats

Ingredients:
vegetable oil
2 red potatoes
1 red bell pepper
1/2 large red onion
3 garlic cloves
Seasonings: smoked paprika, thyme, salt, pepper, scallions (optional)

Directions:
Chop the potatoes. Cover them with cold water in a pot and a pinch of salt. Heat until water boils for a couple of minutes then turn off the heat. Drain, coat in a little oil, and set aside. Chop the rest of the vegetables. Fry the onions in some vegetable oil/butter over medium-high heat, then the garlic, until fragrant. Fry the bell pepper. Set aside. Fry the potatoes until they sear, without crowding, then add back the rest of the ingredients. Season to taste. Top with scallions or parsley (chives could do as well).

I do love garlic butter roasted mushrooms, so I was inspired to incorporate this form of protein in the morning brunch (also because we had run out of yogurt. Ack). So of course I needed to know the best method How to saute mushrooms. Cut thick, cook hot, don’t overcrowd. Done. Accompanied by some freshly grated Parmesan, a dash of salt and pepper and olive oil, and a wedge of smoked gouda. The omelette included scallions, salt, pepper, and just before I folded it in half, several strips of the same smoked gouda (melts wonderfully when reheating leftovers).

~Jessica

Stir-fried snow pea leaves

Adapted from The Woks of Life and Viet World Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 lb snow pea leaves
3 tablespoons duck fat or canola or peanut oil
3-5 cloves of finely chopped fresh garlic (depending on how much you like)
½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
¼ teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil
a bit of chicken stock, or warm water if you have not
1 teaspoon cornstarch
oyster sauce

Directions:
Oil the wok, season it with some salt. Add garlic and ginger to the wok on medium-high. Stir fry the greens rapidly, not allowing any to burn, but just to wilt. Flavor with a few splashes of stock if you have on hand. Mix the pepper, sesame oil, more stock, and cornstarch until you have a nice slurry. Pour this into the wok, coat the leaves, then cover for a couple of minutes, to evaporate and thicken the sauce. Plate the greens and top with oyster sauce. Serve hot.

~Jessica

P.S. Same vegetable as my Garlic pea shoots post.

Garlic herb pizza dough

Like that shape? Trademarked.

Adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients:
pizza dough
1/3 cup tomato puree
2-3 mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/3 red onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
basil to garnish
spinach
1/3 cup parmigiano-reggiano, grated

Directions:
Let the refrigerated dough sit for 25 minutes at room temperature, longer if possible. Meanwhile, place the pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 425-450°F for 30-60 minutes (depending on topping prep time.) Slice or grate your vegetable and cheese toppings. Do not load up each pizza with too many toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way! About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese would be sufficient for one pizza. One to two mushrooms thinly sliced will cover a pizza.

Take the ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Let the dough relax 5 minutes. Stretch dough into a thin 12-inch round — I did this classical way, tossing the round on my knuckles in the air. Be careful! Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent soggy dough from the toppings). Use your fingertips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling? Let rest another 5 minutes.

Here I removed the pizza stone from the warming oven. It’s very hot. If you have it, sprinkle the pizza stone with cornmeal (I didn’t), and place the dough on top. Spoon on the tomato sauce (I added some dried oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper here), sprinkle the cheese, and place your desired toppings on the pizza. Slide the baking stone into the oven. Bake until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden, about 10-15 minutes. Then drizzle with olive oil.

Ok, so this post title is a lie. I used garlic herb pizza dough from Trader Joe’s, which only recommended a (too short) baking time of 6-8 minutes. But I followed all the other steps. Wish I had had 250 g diced fresh mozzarella, and torn basil! Made a baby spinach side salad rather than wilt it in the oven as a topping.

~Jessica

P.S. Pizza attempt #1, Pizza attempt #2, Pizza attempt #3

Triple Grilled Cheese

Butter both sides of the bread. Add cheese. Fry until cheese melts. Put the slices together and fry a little more in the pan, flipping once. Serve hot.

A classic Grilled Cheese involves 1 slice of cheddar per bread slice. I added muenster and crumbled goat cheese, garnished with a side of kale chips. (Because there was cheese in the fridge that needed to be used, if you know what I mean). Next time I will add more cheddar and a little less goat cheese (strong flavor overpowers the sandwich).

~Jessica