Farmer's Pasta

                                                                      

Wow it has gotten cold very fast! This is a perfect meal to come home to if you have a family member working outside all day. This is a hardy comfort food that is all about the great flavors of different cheeses...stringy mozzarella, mild fontina, flavorful Parmesan, and sharp provolone!


Butter for baking dish
2 tablespoons of olive oil
6 oz sliced panchetta or bacon, chopped
4 teaspoons of minced garlic
3 tablespoons all purposes flour
4 cups whole milk
3 cups heavy cream
8 oz mozzarella cheese
8 oz fontina cheese
salt
1 pound of penne pasta
3 tablespoons of chopped parsley
3 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil
6 oz provolone cubed
ground fresh pepper
2 cups bread crumbs


Preheat the oven to 375.

Butter a 13 X 9 X 2 inch baking dish. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute until golden, about 4 minutes. Remove the pancetta. Add 3 teaspoons of garlic and saute for only one minute, add flour and whisk for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and cream. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and let simmer, whisking often, until the sauce thickens a bit, about 5 minutes. Now whisk in all the fontina, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese


As you are completing this part. ring a large pot if salted water to a boil. Add penne and cook, al dente. For me that is about 8-9 minutes. Drain and transfer into another large bowl. Pour the cheese sauce over the penne. Add parsley and basil and toss to coat. Let it stand until the mixture cools and the cheese sauce thickens slightly, ( 10 minutes) tossing every few minutes. Mix the provolone cheese and pancetta to the dish. Season the pasta mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to buttered dish.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat. Add bread crumbs on top.

Bake uncovered, until bubbly and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Diner Chicken Soup

Here's a simple, yet great tasting chicken soup with very few ingredients but packs a great flavor!




1 whole chicken (about 3 pounds)
1/2 bunch fresh thyme
1/2 cup oil
2 cups diced Spanish onions
2 cups diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1/4 teas salt
1/4 teas ground black pepper
1 box ache egg noodle or thin spaghetti broken in two




In a large stock pot, bring a gallon and 1/2 of water to a boil. Add chicken and thyme. Simmer gently for 30 to 40 minutes. Meanwhile, in a saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Saute all the vegetable until nice and soft.

When chicken is done, usually about and hour, remove it from the pot . Shut off the pot, Allow it to cool Strain and excess fat off the top of the pot and add the vegetables.

Remove all the meat from the chicken. Throw out bones and add meat to the pot. Return to a boil, them simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

15 minutes before you are ready to serve, throw in the whole box of macaroni. Stir for 15 minutes until cooked. Serve hot!


Have a great weekend!

Easy Marinara Sauce

This sauce can be made ahead of time, has a refrigerator life of 5 days!

This recipe makes about 5 cups of sauce

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
16 garlic cloves, crushed
6 pounds of ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, coed and seeded or
2 cans (35 oz) of peeled plumed tomatoes, seeded and crushed with their liquid or
2 cans (35 oz) of crushed tomatoes
Salt
Red or black Pepper
10 fresh basil leaves, washed, dried and cut into ribbons

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until lightly brown, about 2 minutes. Carefully add the tomatoes and their liquid. Bring to a boil and season with salt and the pepper of your choice.

Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, breaking up the tomatoes with a whisk s they cook (if using cans of crushed, just lightly stir) until the sauce gets chunky and thick, about 20 minutes. Remove the garlic cloves if desired. Cook another 5 minutes, than add the basil. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt and pepper to your liking.

Cook another 10 minutes.

Use this recipe for egglpant, veal or chicken parm, pasta, rice, saute baby vegetable!
Feel free to post any recipe requests or ideas for this fall!!!



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Eggplant Parmigana Siciliana Style

Sundays afternoons are days that we usually visit my mother for a Sunday "gravy." Unfortunately for me she went to the St Anne's alumni event with my siblings in the Bronx leaving me to cook for my very hungry football eating tribe. Luckily ,my daughter's took care of desserts!

I made a pretty satisfying eggplant recipe below. It can get tricky to keep everyone away from the eggplant when it comes out of the pan, so beware of big and little fingers!

Mio padre sarebbe uspet che ha aggiunto questo sicilana, essendo da Napoli, ma i complimenti vanno al territorio di mia madre per questo le ricette. mi manchi.

2 Large Eggplants

Egg Mixture:

3 egg

1 cup milk

2 tsp garlic chopped

2 tsp onions chopped

1 tsp parsley

flour for dredging

oil for frying

2 cups basil, chopped

Marinara sauce (recipe to be posted next or can use a jarred sauce, but that's a sin in this house!)

Peel and slice the eggplant, about 1/8 th thick. Put into a colander and salt for 30 minutes. Rinse them well and pat them dry.

Dip them into the flour then in egg mixture. Fry in a medium hot oil until golden, drain over layers of newspaper & paper towels.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread two laddles of sauce in the bottom of a shallow baking dish, place a single layer of eggplant over the sauce, sprinkle a little basil leaves, Parmesan cheese, spread more sauce, repeat until complete. You can also choose to add slices of mozzarella cheese on top to made it even more cheesy

You should have plenty of sauce left over to add a few spaghetti's to the plate!

Yankee Pot Roast Recipe

 The change of weather made me decided to make a perfect "feel good" comfort food . I decided to make a Yankee pot roast. This one calls for beef brisket rather than a bottom round. The brisket is leaner than a bottom round. I though I would share it since it is easy on time and so good! A perfect fall/winter meal for our family.


Yankee Pot Roast

Serves 6


3 to 4 pounds of beef brisket
2 tbs chopped fresh sage (10 leaves)
8 sprigs rosemary
8 sprigs thyme
1/2 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
1/2 teas black pepper
2 med carrots, sliced
6 celery stalks, sliced
2 cups Spanish onions, diced
6 new pototatos
4 cups tomato puree
4 cups beef stock
2 bay leaves

1 1/4 teas salt


In a baking dish, combine the beef, sage, rosemary, thyme, 1/4 cup olive oil, chopped garlic, 1/4 teas salt, 1 teas of the pepper. Marinade for 2 hours or overnight if possible.







After the meat has been marinated, remove it to a large skillet on high heat. Sear 5 minutes on each side. Set aside to a platter. Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a roasting pan place across two burners, heat the remaining 1/4 cup of oil. Saute the carrots, celery, onions, minced garlic and the remaining salt and pepper for about 10 minutes.

Add the meat to the vegetables. Pour the tomato puree and beef stock over the meat. Add the bay leaves and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, simmering for 10 minutes. Cover the pan with foil and place in oven. Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until meat is tender and falls apart.Remove meat, allowing it to sit for 10 minutes.

Slice meat, arrange the slices on a serving platter, and pour the broth and vegetables over the meat.