Roast Chicken Za’atar

This is good with white rice, bulgur wheat or couscous. Fattoush (stay tuned for recipe) makes a good salad accompaniment.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken leg quarters
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons za’atar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine oil, lemon juice, za’atar and garlic in a small bowl, stir to form a paste.
3. Place chicken in an oiled roasting pan and coat completely with za’atar paste.
4. Bake until juice runs clear and outside is crispy, about 20 minutes per pound.

 

Pesto

Toss any pasta with some of this while it’s still hot. I like it with fettuccine and spaghetti.

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Combine basil and pine nuts in blender or food processor, pulse until well-mixed.
2. Add garlic and parmesan cheese and pulse to mix.
3. Add olive oil slowly while blender is running.
4. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Spaghetti Carbonara

This dish calls for the best black pepper you can come by. In my book, that would be Tellicherry pepper from the Malabar coast of India.

Ingredients

• 12 oz (dry weight) spaghetti, cooked to not quite al dente
• 6 slices bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked

Directions

1. Combine parmesan cheese with eggs in a bowl.
2. In a large skillet, sauté garlic and onions in olive oil until glassy.
3. Add bacon and black papper and stir to heat through.
4. Add spaghetti, stir to coat, continue to cook until pasta is very hot, stirring occasionally.
5. Remove skillet from heat, add egg mixture, stir until eggs are just cooked.
6. Serve immediately.

Rigatoni al Forno

This dish needs no other accompaniment than some good white bread and a glass of dry red wine, and perhaps a green salad.

Ingredients

• 12 oz (dry weight) rigatoni, cooked to not quite al dente and still hot
• cloves of 1 head of elephant garlic, peeled and trimmed
• 1 recipe of Bolognese Sauce, still hot
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

Directions

1. Cover the bottom of a large casserole with Bolognese sauce, about 1/2″ deep.
2. Arrange a layer of rigatoni in the casserole, then cover with more sauce.
3. Continue making layers with the rest of the rigatoni and sauce, with sauce on top.
4. Arrange elephant garlic cloves over the top, and spread mozzarella cheese over all.
5. Bake uncovered until sauce is bubbly and top is golden.
6. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Bolognese Sauce

This is not a perfectly traditional Bolognese recipe because it includes mushrooms, but I almost always add mushrooms — and sometimes a handful of frozen peas.

Sadly, I have to omit the red wine because, contrary to conventional wisdom, a fair amount of alcohol remains in the food after cooking — and I can’t have alcohol with the meds I’m on. You should use red wine with any tomato-based cooking whenever you can, though, because tomatoes have flavor components that are soluble in alcohol but not soluble in water.

If you need even less fat than this recipe, or if you want to avoid the red meat, you can use ground turkey instead of the lean ground beef.

Ingredients

• 1 lb extra-lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons dry red wine
• 2 cups passata (tomato puree)
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large skillet, brown meat in olive oil.
2. Add garlic, onions and mushrooms and sauté until somewhat soft.
3. Add basil, thyme and oregano, and season with salt & pepper. Cook a few minutes more until herbs are fragrant.
4. Deglaze the skillet with red wine.
5. Add passata, reduce heat, cover and cook until sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes.

Salsa Romesco (Catalan)

I especially like this sauce for tossing steamed or roasted cauliflower and for dipping grilled leeks or scallions, but it’s good as a savory sauce over fish and poultry in the summertime as well.

Ingredients

• 1 cup tomatoes, diced
• 3/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup red onion, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup almonds, blanched, peeled and toasted
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except oil and vinegar in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.
2. Drizzle olive oil into sauce while blender is running. Continue blending until sauce thickens.
3. Blend in the vinegar.

Beef & Pork Spedini (Sicilian)

This is Leane’s version of her family recipe for spedini, handed down from Maria Badali Russo via Toni Russo Anderson.

The recipe is for just three servings because we would typically make it for dinner parties of wildly varying sizes, and because it’s easy to scale up for as many servings as you need. Remember, though, that you’re going to need extras. Trust me on that.

You can grill these on a gas or charcoal grill, but you can also use a grill pan indoors.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2″ slices pork tenderloin
• 3 1/2″ slices beef tenderloin
• 1 medium onion, cut into 6 wedges
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• 1 gold bell pepper, cut into 6 pieces
• 6 button mushrooms
• 6 cloves elephant garlic, peeled and trimmed but left whole
• 6 bay leaves, soaked & drained
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper to taste
• 3 8″ wooden skewers

Directions

1. Soak skewers in water for at least 1 hour.
2. Combine bread crumbs, minced garlic, parsley, parmesan and 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Flatten each slice of meat with a meat pounder or rolling pin until very thin.
4. Brush one side of each slice of meat with the rest of the olive oil and season with salt & pepper.
5. Spoon a thin coating of bread crumb mixture on top of each slice and roll up tightly.
6. Thread 1 bay leaf, 1 onion wedge,  1 pork roll, 1 bell pepper piece, 1 mushroom, 1 tomato and 1 clove of elephant garlic on each skewer. Repeat the sequence with a beef roll.
7. Grill 4-5 minutes on each side or until browned.

Veggie Tortellini Skillet

Veggie Tortellini Skillet

 

This is a mild winter dish. You could easily increase the garlic and/or rosemary, and add other Italian herbs as well or instead.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 large sweet onion, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• fresh rosemary, leaves of a 3″ sprig
• 1 medium zucchini, 1/2″ slices
• 8 oz button mushrooms
• 4 roma tomatoes, cut in eighths
• 8 oz (dry weight) cheese tortellini, cooked
• salt & pepper to taste
• grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Sauté onions in olive oil just until transparent.
2. Add garlic and rosemary, sauté 1 minute more.
3. Add zucchini, cover and reduce heat. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add mushrooms, cover and cook 5 minutes more.
5. Add tomatoes and tortellini, season with salt & pepper, and gently stir to heat through.
6. Sprinkle grated parmesan over the top of each serving.

Blueberry Pecan Bread (bread machine)

You can substitute whole wheat flour and 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten for the all-purpose flour if you prefer. This is one I like to have a bit on the lighter side.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 8 oz fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup dark muscovado sugar
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Combine all ingredients in the order required for your bread machine. Use the machine’s Quick Bread cycle. After baking, remove pan from machine and let cool 10 minutes before removing bread onto a cooling rack.

 

Italian Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 cup sweet yellow onion, grated and drained
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• about 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup Marinara Sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine all ingredients except the breadcrumbs and marinara sauce in a large bowl, knead until well-mixed.
3. Knead in breadcrumbs gradually until meat mixture no longer feels moist.
4. Pack meat mixture into an oiled loaf pan.
5. Spread marinara sauce over top of meat mixture.
6. Bake until internal temperature of 160F is reached, about 1 hour.
7. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Variation: Peel 4 hard-boiled eggs. Pack half of the meat mixture into the loaf pan, arrange eggs end-to-end, pressing them into the meat, then pack the rest of the meat mixture into the pan.