4 – 28 0z. cans imported whole peeled tomatoes, lightly pureed in the blender
1 red onion, diced finely
1/2 a green bell pepper (or 1 small sweet frying pepper)
1/2 c olive oil
12 basil leaves or a tbl of pesto sauce
salt and pepper to taste
In a heavy-bottomed dutch oven, saute the onion and pepper in oil until lightly browned.
Add tomatoes, salt and pepper and simmer on low heat for about 15 – 20 minutes. Add basil or pesto toward the end.
I have some toasted breadcrumbs left from my romanesco broccoli the other evening and that brought my mother’s cavatelli with toasted bread crumbs to mind. Since romanesco broccoli are in season and they were so delicious the other evening, I’ve decided to make them again tonight with cavatelli. I’ve added some sweet Italian sausage to make the meal a main course.
Pasta with Romanesco Broccoli and Sausage
serves 4
2 – 13-oz. packages of frozen cavatelli or 1 lb. short fat pasta, such as rigatoni
2 bunches romanesco broccoli
1 lb sweet Italian sausage, boiled for approximately 15 minutes, then sliced into 1/4″ slices
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 c white wine
1/2 c chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c seasoned breadcrumbs
pecorino romano for sprinkling
salt and pepper to taste
Cut the broccoli into small florets, boil in plenty of salted water, drain and set aside.
In a broad skillet on low heat, using half the olive oil, brown garlic slightly with sausage slices.
After about 5 minutes, add in broccoli and turn heat to high.
Add in wine and reduce for a minute. Add broth and simmer on low for about 5 minutes.
Boil pasta and when it’s about a minute shy of done, add it to the skillet, along with 1/2 cup pasta cooking water.
Top with breadcrumbs, drizzle with remaining olive oil and serve with plenty of grated pecorino.
This vegetable, actually part of the cauliflower family is wonderfully nutty and nutritious. It’s grown locally this time of year. The heads are a series of little stalks with peaks that look more like a desert cactus than an edible crucifer.
Their craggy and nubby surfaces turn a nice golden and become sweet and caramelized when sauteed.
Tonight I want to finish these vegetables with a little crunch, so I’m toasting some seasoned breadcrumbs and sprinkling them on top right before serving. This is a brilliant way to add crispness to any number of dishes. My mother toasts breadcrumbs and garlic and tops cavatelli with them. In fact, there are several pasta dishes in Italy that are finished with toasted breadcrumbs instead of grated cheese (because of the stringent rules of when and when not to use grated cheese in Italy).
I’ve made my own seasoned crumbs tonight with odd pieces of stale bread that I keep for months on end, leaving them to dry on a tray in the oven when it’s turned off. In addition, I’ve added chopped parsley, nutmeg, chives and pecorino cheese. Then I’ve toasted them in a skillet with olive oil until they turn golden–the aroma alone is worth the trouble!
Tonight, I’m serving the broccoli with simple seared scallops and boiled new potatoes with olive oil and chives.
Romanesco Broccoli with Toasted Bread Crumbs
serves 4
2 heads Romanesco Broccoli
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs (see below)
1/4 c olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Remove the base and outer leaves from the broccoli. Cut into quarters and break down the stalks into smaller stalks.
Drop in salted boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Drain.
Heat olive oil in a broad skillet for a minute. Saute the florets approximately 8 – 10 minutes, or until golden and lightly caramelized.
Top with toasted breadcrumbs.
Toasted Bread Crumbs
2 c bread crumbs made by grinding stale bread pieces finely in the food processor
1/2 c grated pecorino romano
2 tbls fresh chopped parsley
2 tbls fresh chopped chives
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 olive oil for frying
Combine ingredients in food processor and grind until incoporated into a coarse powder.
Heat oil in a 10″ nonstick skillet for a minute. Add crumbs and saute, stirring and tossing often, until crumbs turn golden brown. Do not overcook. Remove from skillet immediately once crumbs are golden. Can be stored in the fridge or freezer indefinitely
This is my version of “scallopine,” which refers more to the thinly sliced nature of the meat than to any specific preparation. It’s the type of dish you might find in an old-fashioned Italian-American restaurant–moist and comforting as something your Italian grandmother (real or imagined) used to make. It’s a juicy dish, so it’s best served either with rice or pasta (although in Italy rarely do they serve their pasta alongside their main course).
The dish only takes about 15 minutes from start to finish, assuming you have some chicken broth in the house (bouillon is fine). I happened to have my duck stock in the freezer from my deconstructed duck.
In my scallopine, the chicken breasts are pounded thinly and dredged in flour, then lightly browned in olive oil. White wine is added, along with a touch of tomato paste, some chopped tomato, and chicken broth. This is simmered for 5 – 8 minutes, then showered with fresh parsley. The dish holds well off the heat, and, like many moist dishes, may be reheated (very gently on low heat) at the last second.
Tonight, I’m serving the chicken with arborio rice, sauteed zucchini and onions, and sauteed swiss chard.
Chicken Scallopine (My Way)
serves 6
2- 1/2 lbs thinly sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts
flour for dredging (I prefer “Wondra”)
2 tbls olive oil
1 c dry white wine
2 tsps tomato paste
1 c chicken broth
1 tbl butter
2 tbls fresh chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
In a broad skillet on medium heat, heat oil for a minute or so, then add half the butter. Dredge the chicken lightly in flour and shake off excess.
Slip into hot oil/butter and sprinkle a liberal amount of salt evenly over all the pieces. Cook on medium heat only until lightly browned (about a minute).
The chicken will not yet be cooked through. Remove from pan and repeat with a second batch, if necessary.
Turn heat to high. Add wine and reduce for about 2 minutes. Add in stock, tomato paste and chopped tomatoes. Add back the partially cooked chicken breasts and continue cooking on low heat for about 5 – 7 minutes. Add the remaining butter and chopped parsley and add salt, if necessary. May be made up to one hour ahead, then reheated very gently on low heat prior to serving.
Although swiss chard is available year-round, it is especially sweet when fresh and local. It’s at its peak right now, so I love to make bunches of it and save the leftovers for frittate.
This is a very simple preparation. Simply wash well and cut the stalks (including the stems) into 1″ ribbons. Boil in plenty of well-salted water for about 10 minutes, then drain well in a strainer.
In a broad skillet, with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, saute some coarsely sliced onions until lightly golden.
Add drained chard to the skillet and season well with salt. Saute on high heat for about 5 to 7 minutes or until tender and lightly caramelized.
Like swiss chard, although zucchini are available year-round, but they are sweetest when just picked. They are even easier to prepare than swiss chard because there is no pre-boiling required.
Simply scrub the zucchini well (I use a potato brush) to remove any soil on the outside, slice in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/2″ half-moon slices.
In a broad skillet, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil along with a coarsely sliced onion for about 1 minute (no need to brown the onion since you’ll be browning the zucchini along with it). Add in the zucchini and saute over high heat until just tender and lightly caramelized, about 7 minutes. Taste and add plenty of salt and black pepper.
After a perfect day at the beach, sometimes all I want is a crispy fried fish sandwich–American style. Flounder is local in Eastern Long Island and it’s sweet and delicate. Because the filets are generally thin, they’re very prone to overcooking. That’s why some sort of coating is a good idea–either bread crumbs or cornmeal. I find cornmeal works great as a simple coating for fish. I add a bit of flour (about one part flour to two parts cornmeal) so that the coating adheres well to the fish.
Simply heat about a quarter cup of olive oil on highest heat in a broad nonstick skillet. Dredge fish in cornmeal/flour and gently slide fish into hot oil. Do not crowd the pan (do in batches, if necessary.) Season with salt and/or some “Old Bay” seasoning (for that seafood house flavor).
The filets only need a minute-and-a-half or so on each side. Be careful when turning and use a large spatula or two–they break easily.
As part of my sandwich meal, I always love some french fries–in this case, oven fries. Fairly thin and crispy, they will eliminate the need to ever deep fry potatoes again. If you eat these fries straight from the oven, they have a crispness and toastiness that rivals deep fried potatoes. But they must be eaten immediately or they lose crispness–much like deep fried potatoes.
For the fries, heat oven to 425 degrees (use convection, if you have it). Slice potatoes into 1/2″ thick julienne (with skins on) and place on baking tray. Drizzle liberally with olive oil and sprinkle with salt–toss together with fingers. Don’t crowd the baking tray–use 2 trays to keep some space for air to circulate around potatoes and make them crispy.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until deeply golden and crispy. Salt well and eat immediately.
As I’ve said before, I’m a big fan of the loin, rather than the rib, when it comes to veal. This is the porterhouse of the veal, with the loin on one side of the T-bone and a small medallion of tenderloin on the other. These chops must be cooked to exactly the right temperature or they risk being overdone and dry, or underdone and tough.
I always like to rub the chops with a bit of sage, garlic, olive oil and lots of black pepper. This rub can be done several hours ahead. No salt goes on until just prior to grilling–this meat is too delicate for advanced salting.
Once the grill is hot, the chops get seared for about 2 minutes per side (these are about 1 – 1/2″ thick), then moved to a less hot area of the grill for about 4 minutes. The internal temperature should be around 120 – 130 degrees as soon as the meat comes off the grill. The chops should be allowed to rest for about 5 minutes prior to serving.
I’ve chosen to serve my chops off the bone and sliced steakhouse-style with the perfect accompaniment of pureed spinach. They could also be served on the bone with a salad (one of my guests doesn’t like pureed spinach and doesn’t like the bone removed).
To start, we’re having a bowl of pasta with pesto (the pesto is courtesy of my neighbor, Beppi).
I hesitate to call this creamed spinach, since there’s no cream in it–however–it is every bit as rich and satisfying as creamed spinach. Instead of cream or bechamel, I’ve substituted olive oil (admittedly a copious amount) and chicken broth. In addition there are two types of grated cheese and some chopped chives. These ingredients, in the right proportion (I’ve experimented extensively with the proportions) provide just the right amount of richness and lightness.
The beauty of this dish is that it can be made entirely ahead and reheated in a skillet with a touch of broth, or in the microwave (one of the few times I’ll recommend it). If you’re preparing something on the grill that requires last-minute attention, you can pop this in the microwave to reheat during those last few minutes prior to serving dinner. It also holds beautifully in the fridge and can act as a pesto of sorts, when tossed with some just-cooked pasta.
Pureed Spinach
serves 4
4 10-oz. bags of fresh spinach
1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 c grated parmiggiano
1/4 c grated pecorino
1- 1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c fresh chopped chives
1 – 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Blanch spinach in heavily salted water for about a minute (work in batches so as not to overcrowd the pot or else it will take the water too long to return to the boil, resulting in overcooked spinach). Shock each back in cold water as it comes out of the boiling water. In small bundles, squeeze the spinach well and set aside.
Working in 2 batches, in food processor, combine half of the remainder of the ingredients and process until the mixture forms a coarse puree.
Reheat on low heat in a skillet with a few tablespoons of broth or in microwave. May be made in advance (even a day in advance) and refrigerated.
This is a good weeknight dish that can marinate for as little as an hour (or overnight if you prefer), then go onto a hot grill for a total of 25 minutes. Chicken thighs are so versatile, moist, rich and gamey, that I prefer them to almost any other poultry.
I simply rub them with some herbs–tonight I’m using parsley, rosemary and fennel seeds, as well as some sliced garlic and olive oil. I don’t hesitate to salt my poultry ahead, so I’ve given it a generous sprinkling of salt and black pepper as well.
To accompany the smokey chicken, we’re having a wonderful sweet roasted pepperonata–a red pepper and tomato stew that I’ve roasted instead of simmered in a pot (the traditional way) and to which I’ve added black olives. Roasting the peppers and tomatoes concentrates their flavors and sweetness and adding the olives gives them just the right balance of sweet and salty. In addition, I’ve made pureed spinach and skillet potatoes with the duck fat leftover from my deconstructed duck post.
Grilled Chicken Thighs
serves 4
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tbl salt
2 tsps black pepper
2 tbls olive oil
About an hour in advance, rub the chicken with the herbs, garlic, oil and salt and let sit at room temperature until ready to grill.
Grill over hot coals for about 25 minutes, turning from time to time to prevent burning. Remove from grill and drizzle with olive oil.
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