Salmon, Spring Pea, and Ricotta Tortellini with Lemon – And why it’s too bad doors don’t have keyholes anymore!

The origin of tortellini is very cloudy, and several stories exist regarding how it was invented. This one is my favorite, and it totally sounds like something a chef would do! This comes to us compliments of Wikipedia:

“One legend says that this dish is born in Castelfranco Emilia (province of Modena). One night during a trip, Lucrezia Borgia checked into an inn in the small town. The host was captivated by her beauty and couldn't resist the urge to peek into her room through the keyhole. The light inside the bedroom was only made by a few candles and so he could only see her navel. This pure and innocent vision was enough to send him into an ecstasy that inspired him to create the tortellini that night.”

If you watched the Wonton clip, we are using the same fold here. So, after making these two dishes, you should really have that technique down. This is a very adaptable recipe as you can use almost any seafood in the stuffing. Even left-over cooked salmon would work. I went with a very light lemon cream sauce with just a touch of parmesan, but these tortellini are also very nice in a light broth, if you want to go low-cal. The combo of Salmon, Peas and Tarragon is a culinary classic, and works perfectly with the sauce here. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
5 oz. salmon
1/2 cup ricotta
1/3 cup peas
1/3 cup parmesan
2 tbl fresh tarragon
square wonton skins
salt to taste
cayenne to taste
1 cup cream
1 lemon, zested and juiced
any combo of fresh, sweet herbs to finish sauce; Italian parsley, tarragon, basil, dill, etc.
*will probably make between 50-60 tortellini

Spaghetti with "White" Clam Sauce

This is a rerun from my old blog, but I’ve had several requests for it so I posted it today. This pasta dish is always a best seller at Italian restaurants, but very few people try to make it at home. As you’ll see in the video, the sauce only takes about 10 minutes to put together. By then, your pasta will be cooked and you’ll be ready to enjoy this classic dish.

A few VERY important points before we start. Have all your ingredients measured and ready to go. Do NOT drain the clams you’re using. When you separate your egg yolk make sure there is no white. And finally, when the cream mixture come to a simmer turn it off, and leave it off!

By the way, if you are about to post an “Italians NEVER put cheese in their seafood pasta dishes!” comment…save it. I’m half Italian and I love a nice grating of Parmigiano Reggiano on this dish. Remember, we make the rules! Except, of course, for Ranch dressing on Buffalo-style chicken wings instead of blue cheese dressing; then you’re just insane!

Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti, linguini, fettuccini
2 jars baby clams with juice (you’ll need about 2 cups total, juice and clams – this is probably 4 or 5 cans from the supermarket, if you can’t find the ones in the jar I’m using)
1 pint heavy cream
3 cloves garlic
1-2 anchovy fillet
1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup grated parmesan
basil to garnish
crushed croutons to garnish
salt to taste

Orzo “Risotto” with Chicken, Sausage and Peppers

Orzo (also known as melon seed pasta, due to its shape) is one of my favorite choices for pasta salad. I really like the shape and texture, and it makes for a very interesting cold salad. Here, I had the idea of using it for a hot dish in the same way one would use an Arborio rice to make the classic Risotto. Instead of boiling the Orzo in salted water and draining, I thought it would be interesting to cook it the same way risotto is cooked, by adding small additions of flavorful stock until it’s tender (or al dente if you prefer). I made that flavorful stock by braising chicken and sausage as you’ll see.

This dish is really all over the place; most of the ingredients are kind of Spanish/Portuguese, there are techniques from India and Italy involved, and just to make things even stranger, I use a chili pepper usually found only in Mexican cuisine. But, none of that matters, this dish tastes great and is really not hard to make. The other good thing is, whoever you serve this to probably hasn’t had it before, so no matter how it comes out you can always say, “yeah, that’s how it’s suppose to be!”

I’ve had many requests for a risotto demo. The reason I haven’t done one is because who wants to watch someone stand at a stove and stir a pot of rice? Well, I tried to edit this to make it somewhat bearable, but the basic technique is the same; slowly adding stock and stirring until its almost absorbed and then adding more. This is a dish that will be great the first time you make it, and REALLY great the second time you make it, as you get the timing down. My orzo took about 15-20 minutes to absorb enough stock to become tender – but that’s just a very rough guide for you since there are so many factors; the heat, size of your orzo, shape of pot, etc. Be brave and enjoy yourself…you're cooking!

By the way, I didn’t mention it in the clip, but I removed the skin and bones from the chicken thighs once they were cool enough to handle, before I added them back into the final dish. Also, this is one of the VERY rare dishes I didn’t add garlic to. The sausage I used had a lot of garlic in it so I didn’t think it was needed. Enjoy.



Ingredients:
1/2 pound orzo pasta
6 chicken thighs (seasoned with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper)
1 lb. Linguisa sausage (or any spicy sausage)
1 quart chicken stock
1 red bell pepper
1 green Pasilla or bell pepper
1/2 yellow onion
1 tbl paprika
1 tbl cumin
1 tbl Herb de Provence
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
fresh parsley

Italian Meatballs – Let’s get rolling!

While the ingredient list may look a bit long, home-made meatballs are a very easy to make, and since we skip the very messy step of pan-frying these before they hit the sauce, it becomes downright simple. Here I use a standard 1/2 beef, 1/2 pork mixture. Some recipes use 1/3 beef, veal, and pork, which is also nice, yet more expensive. These days you can find all sorts of lean to fat ratios for ground beef. Most stores sell 90% lean, 10% fat, but I prefer the 80% lean, 20% fat ratio for this recipe.

The other trick here is soaking the bread crumbs in milk before adding. This makes for a moister meatball, and the milk actually helps keep them tender. If you make your meatballs the same size (golf ball) I do, this recipe will make about 30 portions.

This is one of those dishes that just get better the next day. So, if you have time, make these a day ahead and refrigerate in the sauce and re-heat slowly the next day to serve. The meatballs will be even more tender and flavorful. I know I will get emails requesting the sauce recipe, so let me save you the time and tell you that I plan on filming a nice meat sauce soon.



1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1/3 plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk (can substitute water or beef broth)
1 diced onion
2 tbl olive oil
3 cloves crushed garlic
2 eggs
1/4 bunch fresh parsley
2 tbl grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried Italian herb mix (basil, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, etc.)

* Once shaped, bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes, then simmer slowly in a rich tomato sauce for 1-2 hrs.

Pastafazool – Italian Soul Food at its Best!

The dish we are making today is really called “Pasta e fagioli,” “pasta and beans.” But, is (mis)pronounced and (mis)spelled by most Italian-Americans (me being one) as "Pastafazoo.” As I mention in the clip, if there is ever a Soul Food Olympics, this simple and hearty Italian meal of beans and macaroni should be that country’s entry! There are so many different kinds, ranging from very soup-like to thicker stew-like versions. Some have meat, some don’t, some have tomato, some don’t, etc. The only standard ingredients are pasta and beans, the rest is up to you (and by you, I mean me).

The pasta I decided to use is called “Orecchiette,” which means “little ears” due to its shape. It really works great as you’ll soon see. For the beans I went with jars of cooked Cannellini beans, seeing no need to cook dry beans from scratch. Also, it was cold and raining outside as I made this dish, and I was very happy about that, as I knew it would make this taste that much better.

Ingredients:
1 pound Italian sausage
8 oz dry pasta (Orecchiette, Penne, Elbow, etc.) careful, that only half a box!
2 jars cooked Italian white Cannellini beans (14 oz each)
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch Italian parsley
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes
1 tbl dried Italian herbs
1 bay leaf
3 tbl tomato paste
1 quart beef stock (or chicken)

Brodo di Manzo with Tortellini and Greens – Shank you very much!

The soul of this dish is an incredibly rich, and deeply flavored, beef broth or “brodo.” This is accomplished by slowly simmering a beef shank for a long time, a really long time - like 4 hours, so if you’re in a hurry, this dish is not for you. But, if you want to enjoy a bowl of something that will warm you to the bone (or shank) then give this extremely simple soup a try.

As you’ll see in the clip the first part of the dish is making the dark and delicious beef broth, after that we add some tortellini and kale to finish. That’s the point where you can swerve in your own direction by adding different types of pasta or greens. This would be just as savory with Swiss chard, mustard greens, etc. As far as pasta substitutions, if you’re not into the cheese tortellini I added, then virtually any other short pasta or macaroni will work.

When I look at the ingredient list I find it hard to believe how such a short and simple list can produce something this satisfying and wonderful. Those “winter blues” will never know what hit them!

Ingredients:
1 beef shank (about 2 inch thick)
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
olive oil
3 tbl tomato paste
1 quart beef broth plus 1 quart water
1 bunch kale
8 oz dried cheese tortellini
salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
parmesan cheese to garnish