Old Fashioned Neapolitan Lasagna

Why is this an old fashioned lasagna?  Well, no idea.  That is simply the title Maria Luisa has chosen to provide so we're sticking with it.  Old fashioned or not, it proved to be a tasty lasagna, an opinion seconded by the friend I had over for dinner that night.  Since it was more meat and less veggie, I chose to serve it with a side of Brussels Sprouts Parmigiana.  Also tasty.  My only complaint is with the Brussels sprouts...yet again it's a 2 inch long recipe taking up space for no real reason.  I realize I sound like a cranky old lady, but I truly believe that recipes in a cookbook should involve more than boil sprouts, put in dish, add melted butter, sprinkle on cheese, bake.  I probably would have done that anyway.  I put cheese on everything.  I might not have baked it since baking the sprouts added I'm not even sure what.  Oh, whatever.  I'm over it.  At least the lasagna took some effort.

Maria Luisa did not get very specific with the type of beef she wanted me to use, just that it needed to be chopped.  I chose to go with stew beef that I then cut into even smaller pieces.  I have to say, it was really nice biting down into a hunk of meat as I was eating the lasagna.  Mixed in with the beef was some spicy Italian sausage, so there were pieces to sink your teeth into and a little heat as well.  This was definitely a meat lovers lasagna.  The Debbie Downer aspect was that, once again, we were expected to use tomato paste diluted in water....yuck.  I had a jar of marinara in the fridge so I substituted that for the diluted paste.  This also aided in the flavoring of the sauce and helped to keep the acidity down.  The additional flavors were essential.  Maria Luisa did get a little crazy this time around, we put a whole 1/4 teaspoon of marjoram in with the meat.  However, that and the single garlic clove that was removed halfway through is not enough to flavor lasagna sauce.  I highly suggest following my lead and using a basic jarred pasta sauce....no one will ever know.

Old Fashioned Neapolitan Lasagna

Lasagne Napoletane all'Antica

Ingredients:

8 no boil lasagna noodles

2 slices bacon - finely chopped

4 Tbsp butter

1 clove garlic - leave whole

1/2 a medium onion - finely chopped

2 Tbsp carrot - finely chopped

1 Tbsp celery - finely chopped

1 tsp. parsley - chopped

1/2 lb beef - chopped

2 spicy Italian sausage links - casings removed

1/4 tsp. marjoram

1 large can diced tomatoes

2 c. marinara sauce

1/2 c. dry white wine (I went with Villa Marchesi Pinot Grigio)

1/2 lb. ricotta cheese

1/4 tsp. salt

1 egg - beaten

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese - grated

1/2 small mozzarella cheese - diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large saute pan, melt butter then saute bacon, garlic, onion, carrot and celery for 5 minutes.  

Discard the garlic and add the beef, sausage, marjoram, and parsley,  Simmer until the meat has browned, approximately 5 minutes.

Drain off some of the excess juice then add the wine.  Cook until the wine has evaporated, about 10 minutes.  Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.  Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.  Season to taste and then continue cooking until sauce is thick, about another 10 minutes.

Mix the ricotta, egg, Parmesan cheese, and a bit of salt and pepper together.  Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish with sauce.  Make a layer of lasagna noodles then one of cheese.  Dot with some of the mozzarella then repeat.  Cover with sauce and a few mozzarella pieces.  Bake in an oven preheated to 375F for 30 minutes.

Brussels Sprouts Parmigiana

Cavoletti alla Parmigiana

Ingredients:

2 boxes frozen Brussels sprouts

4 Tbsp butter - melted

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese - grated

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Cook Brussels sprouts in salted boiling water for 5 minutes  Place in a buttered baking dish, pour butter over them, sprinkle on cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Yea, that's an actual recipe in Maria Lusia's cookbook.  She's lucky it tasted good, otherwise I'd scream.

And there are my two Italian dishes on my Hungarian map table runner.  I was feeling very international that evening.

Turkey Pot Pie with a Savory Biscuit Crust

We've been down the pot pie road before.  However, there is never a single way to do things (most of the time), especially when it comes to cooking.  We all have our flavor preferences.  We like using certain vegetables over others.  Therefore, I don't feel bad bringing the pot pie train back into the station.  Plus, there is one significant change in this recipe. We are going to rock the biscuit crust!

I couldn't resist the bonus deals on turkeys at the holidays so a ridiculously large 12 pound turkey sat in my freezer until I was ready to go turkey crazy for several weeks.  Now, I do realize that 12 pounds is actually small for a turkey.  It only become ridiculous when you are the only one in the house who is going to eat those 12 pounds...because you are the only one in the house.  After a couple of decades of being on my own, you would assume I would have mastered the art of cooking for one but, it's way more fun to cook as if I were cooking for a tiny army of a tiny country.  And you can't complain because that means you get to read about pot pie and biscuits and probably other turkey leftover concoctions fairly soon.

I hadn't made a pot pie in a while and it is an excellent way to get rid of a lot of poultry in a single shot.  However, I was not keen on the idea of making pie crust...just wasn't feelin' it this time around.  That makes the top choice biscuits, but not just any biscuits would do.  I wanted the biscuits to be a bit savory with the hope that it would enhance the overall flavor of the pot pie.  Mission accomplished I think.  The thyme and rosemary drop biscuits provide a nice boost when combined with the filling's creamy sauce.

Turkey Pot Pie with Savory Biscuit Crust

Ingredients:

Biscuits:

2 c. all purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

3 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c. shortening

1 1/4 c. whole milk

1/2 Tbsp thyme

1/2 Tbsp rosemary

Filling:

2 white potatoes - peeled, diced, boiled and drained

1 medium onion - chopped

1 1/2 c. frozen mixed vegetables

1/2 c. celery -  chopped

1/3 c. butter

1/2 c. flour

1 c. whole milk

3 c. stock

4 c. turkey -  cooked and diced/chopped/shredded

Directions:

Preaheat oven to 425F.  Peel the potatoes and dice them up in to bite sized pieces.  Boil them until they are just soft enough to be pierced with a fork then drain and set aside.

Melt butter in a saute pan over medium heat cook onions until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add celery and cook for an additional 7 minutes.  

Add the flour and mix thoroughly.  This will create a rather gross looking brown paste.  Don't be scared.  It all works out in the end.

Add the stock and milk.  Simmer until thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Once you are happy with the consistency give it a little taste test.  Add salt and pepper as you see fit then add the frozen vegetables, potatoes, and turkey.  Just as a small but important side note...add these new items very carefully.  I was using a 12" saute pan and everything fit but there was a harrowing moment where I was not sure it would.  Go slow to avoid a cream sauce typhoon.

Get this all solidly mixed together then transfer to a 9 x 13 casserole dish.  I went with my stoneware because she hadn't been experiencing the love recently and I decided it was time to rectify this egregious error.

Now to get crackin' on the biscuits.  Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.  Then add the thyme and rosemary.  Using a pastry cutter, cut in the shortening.  Continue cutting in until everything gets nice and crumbly.  Mix in the milk until just moistened.  I'm using a bit more milk than would be considered traditional because I am making drop biscuits.  These will not be turned out and kneaded, rolled, and cut.  Instead, once mixed, you will drop them by the spoonful over the pot pie filling.

At no point will I claim I did this last step with any amount of precision.  I took a big spoon and dropped randomly sized dollops of dough as I saw fit.  When you are ready, bake in the oven for approximately 45 minutes,  until the biscuits are golden brown.

These are one of the days where I wish scratch and sniff photography was a thing.  Sooooo good!

The rosemary comes out the most in the biscuits and the creamy pot pie filling is just comfort on a fork.

Torino Pudding

Where do I begin.  First, I should probably tell you what a Torino Pudding actually is: chestnuts and chocolate.  Sounds simple right?  Nope, not when it's prepared the Maria Luisa way.  If you are going to start your directions with "peel chestnuts," you might want to consider telling us how.  Maybe chestnuts of the 1950s were not the hard shelled, impossible to peel items they are in the 2010s?  My guess is that they were, but for some reason Maria Luisa didn't see chestnut peeling tips and tricks as an essential element to her directions.  Even though an essential ingredient is chestnuts, but whatever.  I'm a resourceful girl, I figured it out.  Thankfully, the chestnut is not a foreign object in my world.

My fondest memory of chestnuts is from my day spent walking around Cluj-Napoca, Romania.  I was there visiting my host brother and his roommate, a stop-over on my way to Budapest.  It was the beginning of November and the air had that perfect crisp fall feel.  The downtown area of Cluj is quite typical of a city center.  There are shops, restaurants, cultural attractions, and street vendors.  I experienced my very first roasted chestnut vendor that day and I will always remember walking around Cluj while snacking on chestnuts.  Sorry, but I will take Cluj and chestnuts over Times Square and a pretzel any day.

Okay, back to the recipe at hand.  By the time I was finished peeling the chestnuts and turning them into paste, my fingers looked like Freddy Kreuger had taken his best shot at them.  And I still had to grate the chocolate.  This recipe is a bit insane.  It is simple in the fact that it does not require many ingredients and the act of combining them is basic - mix and chill.  It's the prep work to get to that stage that is a complete ____ .  I actually brought the pudding to Thanksgiving dinner and, no lie, told everyone that if they did not like it I did not want to know.  After all the stress of making the thing I probably would have cried if even a single person had told me they were not a fan.  Thankfully, that did not come to pass and everyone said they really enjoyed it. So hopefully, if you are brave enough to attempt it as well, you and those you share it with will agree,

Torino Pudding

Budino Torinese

Ingredients:

1 lb chestnuts

6 Tbsp butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla

3 oz. sweet chocolate - grated

Directions:

Peel chestnuts and cook in salted water for 10 minutes.  Drain and remove second skin rapidly so that they do not become cold.  Place peeled chestnuts in boiling salted water and cook for 30 minutes or until they are very soft.  

I'm not kidding, she started with "peel chestnuts."  There are several steps that should happen before you even get to the first level peel stage.  Fresh chestnuts cannot just be peeled; the shell is literally stuck to the meat of the chestnut.  If you are able to peel off the outer shell then you need to throw it out because it is most likely starting to rot from the inside out.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to tell you what worked for me.  There are plenty of instructions online, with and without video accompaniment, to aide this effort.  You can pick whatever works for you.  I cut an X into the flattest part of the chestnut and then boiled them for 20 minutes.  I started peeling them, keeping the water on a simmer.  If I was having trouble peeling both the outer shell and second skin, I peeled what I could and then back into the water it went.  Now, this is not the easiest way to go.  The softer the chestnut gets, the more likely it is that the meat will break apart as you peel.  That's great when you consider that you will have to sieve them next, not so great when you are trying to peel off the second skin.  The last thing that skin wants is to be peeled.  It will fight you the entire time.  Good luck.

Eventually you will be left with the chestnut meat and that bad boy needs to be turned to paste.  Yay!  A fine mesh strainer and the back of a spoon will be tedious but effective.  On the plus side, you'll have forearms of steel.

Once you've survived phase one, my suggestion is to forge ahead with grating your chocolate. If you interrupt the tedious bits with the easier bits, you'll lose steam and risk giving up on the whole endeavor.  You've made it this far, do not give in!

I used Baker's German Sweet Chocolate.  It comes in a nice 4 ounce bar, you just need to break off the last 4 pieces and you will have exactly 3 ounces ready to be grated.  I used my cheese grater for this job and it works find.  I also froze the chocolate beforehand to try and prevent it from melting in my hand.  It was effective, but that meant it felt like I was trying to grate concrete.  But let me repeat - it worked.

Now, we get to the easy stuff.  Cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until completely blended.  Add the chestnut paste, grated chocolate, and vanilla.  Blend well.  

Line a mold (I used my bundt pan) with foil and fill with the chestnut mixture.

Even the top with the back of a spoon and cover.  Place in the refrigerator for at least four hours.  Full disclosure: I made this on the Monday evening before Thanksgiving.  It sat in the mold until Thursday morning.  This recipe will keep, if well covered, for up to a week.

When you are ready to serve, turn out onto your serving dish and remove foil.

Not the most appetizing looking food but it tastes like chocolate and chestnuts, which is really all that matters.  This is a actually a fairly rich dessert.  If it's been well blended it will be nice and smooth.  Using the German chocolate keeps it from being too sweet and overpowering the chestnut.  

Breakfast Croquettes

I took a couple of weeks off from work to enjoy the holidays and visit with family.  One evening, I'm sitting at the kitchen table with one of my brothers and we are discussing food.  The topic turns to food stuffed inside of other food, something I find to be pretty magical.  A particular favorite of mine happens to be cheese stuffed tater tots.  Tater tots are already on my guilty pleasures food list and then you up the ante by stuffing it with cheese.  There is an upscale burger bar in Providence that serves gorgonzola stuffed tater tots.  Does anyone else hear angels singing?

Sorry, I watched Sherlock (the Cumberbatch Incarnation) last night.  Now I have a mind palace and it's stuffed with all things food.  Ha, stuffed!  Sorry, back to business. 

My brain started contemplating all the things I could stuff inside a tater tot and somewhere along the way breakfast hops onto the thought cloud. Then, voilà, the magic mashed potato breakfast croquette is born!

This recipe is not for the faint of heart, however.  Mainly because it is time intensive.  It doesn't really work if you try and stuff a raw egg inside of mashed potatoes.  Eeeewww, even my imagination can't make the idea less gross.  Therefore, first comes the mashed potatoes, then the egg muffins, and then you get to put it all together in food stuffed inside food amazingness.  It may take some time, but it is so worth it.

See...WORTH IT!

Mashed Potato Breakfast Croquette

Ingredients:

 

1/3 c. bell pepper - chopped (I used an orange bell pepper to add some color)

1/4 c. mushrooms - chopped

1 small onion - chopped

1 clove garlic - minced

4 eggs - beaten

6 good sized potatoes

2 Tbsp butter

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Enough milk to cut the eggs and make the mashed potatoes (Sorry, I never measure when I make eggs or mashed potatoes, I just add until I'm satisfied with the consistency.)

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

 

Step 1 - the mashed potatoes.  I chose 6 all purpose white potatoes, the largest in the 5 lb bag.  I peeled and cut them into cubes to boil them faster.  Once they were cooked through, I drained and transferred them to a large bowl.  I mashed them with butter and milk and a little salt and pepper.  My recommendation is to make them the way you would normally make mashed potatoes.  Once they are prepped, cover and put in the refrigerator to cool.

 

Step 2 - the egg muffins.    Preheat oven to 375F.  Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook onions for about 5 minutes, enough to soften them.  Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds then add the peppers and mushrooms. 

 

 

 

Continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste, then remove from heat.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the mixture from the oil and set aside to cool a bit.

 

In a large bowl, beat eggs with a bit of milk.  Add the sauted vegetables and mix well.  Fill muffin tins about halfway and bake for 25 minutes.

 

 

Step 3 - the fun bit.  Crank up the oven to 425F.  Take the cooled mashed potatoes and mix them with the shredded cheese.  Take the egg muffins and cut them into quarters.  Take a spoonful of mashed potatoes and flatten it into a disc,

 

place an egg quarter in the center,

and then cover with more mashed potatoes.  Finish by shaping it into a ball.

Mmmmm, I'm excited already!

Place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and then brush with olive oil.

 

 

Bake for 30 minutes.  If you are not satisfied with the color (I wasn't), then pop them under the broiler for an additional 5 minutes.  Now, full disclosure, 2 cups of cheese to 6 potatoes is a pretty high ratio, so the croquettes did not really hold their shape.  I, however, am perfectly fine with this.  They were still amazing.

 

 

Putting them under the broiler for a bit added the nice golden color and ensured they were crisp on the outside as you bit in.  They were perfect.  Crisp on the outside, soft inside, and you could taste all the parts - potatoes, eggs, vegetables, and cheese.  They held their own, but worked perfectly together.  Additional seasoning was unnecessary, the small amounts of salt and pepper during cooking brought out their natural flavors.  These would be a fantastic addition to your next brunch buffet.





Mushroom Soup

Yea, there is just not much to say on this one - it's mushroom soup.  It looks like mushrooms.  It tastes like mushrooms.  I like mushrooms, so for me, this was a good choice.  But that's all I've really got...no I'm lying, I always have something else to add.

I was a bit disappointed that Maria Luisa didn't give me a suggestion on the type of mushroom I should use.  Under ingredients she simply says "1 pound mushrooms, sliced thin."  Even in the most basic of grocery stores there is still, usually, a set of options for mushrooms in the produce section.  You have the basic white mushroom, the baby bella mushrooms, and portabellas.  I thought portabellas would be a bit much for a soup, so that left me with white v. bella.  They have a similar taste, but bellas have a better look.  When cooked, the white mushrooms get a bit grey.  For the bellas, their brownish, rustic hue holds well even throughout the cooking process.  Baby bellas for the win!

Mushroom Soup

Zuppa di Funghi

Ingredients:

1 lb. baby bella mushrooms - sliced thin

2 slices bacon - finely chopped

2 1/2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp parsley - chopped

1 egg - beaten

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese - grated

6 c. chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large saute pan, melt butter then saute bacon and parsley until bacon is slightly crisp.  

If you can't tell from this picture, I went the semi-healthy route and used turkey bacon.  With turkey bacon, in this particular situation, you face the issue of not really being able to see it become crisp.  It is a much more pronounced change with regular bacon. So, here, what you need to watch for is the foaming that occurs as the fat in the bacon cooks out and heats along with the butter in the pan.  When you have a full froth you have cooked the bacon enough to move on.

Add mushrooms and simmer for 5 minutes.

Place  broth in a large sauce pot and bring to a boil.  Add the mushrooms, season to taste, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Okay, so at this point your next step in Maria Luisa's world is to mix together the beaten egg and Parmesan cheese in a soup tureen then pour in the soup and serve.  In Brianne's world you mix the beaten egg and Parmesan cheese together and pour that into the pot of soup.  In whichever direction you choose to pour your ingredients, the same thing happens - scrambled eggs.

I honestly do not know if Maria Luisa meant for this to happen or if I did something wrong but it totally looks like I attempted some weird egg drop/mushroom soup mash-up.

On the upside, I kind of love how this soup tastes.  The baby bellas held up well and just give the broth a more robust look.  Because they held onto their texture you feel like you are having an actual meal.  Soups that do not have much in them always make me nervous because I think "will I be starving in an hour?" But, this soup tides me over.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!