Pesto Genovese

*photos and recipes are property of im not a chef im italian and copyright protected!

As the warm weather here in the south approaches I am excited at the thought of starting my fresh herb and vegetable garden.  That thought brings me back to childhood and the fresh herbs and vegetables that continuously came from my father's garden all summer, fresh basil, tomato, eggplant.  I begin to sow my seeds in pots indoors to start growing my plants that will fill my summer garden. With that I can't wait to make my first batch of Pesto. In my kitchen pesto is not just for saucing pasta.  I use it for grilled fish, shrimp, chicken, vegetables....and in summer salads. Here I share with you a generational basic recipe for Pesto. My mom would make it for pasta, but because I love it so much I discovered many different ways to enhance other dishes. This makes about one cup of pesto. Save the rest in a glass jar in your refrigerator.

Pesto Genovese

Ingredients:

4 cups Fresh Basil leaves 
3/4 cup Good Extra Virgin Olive oil
2-3 cloves Garlic
1/4 cup Pignoli nuts (Pine Nuts)
1/4 cup Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese
1 tsp Coarse grain salt
1/8 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

In a blender combine basil, oil, garlic, nuts, cheese, salt, and red pepper. Blend on high until it resembles a sauce.  You can adjust any ingredient from the garlic to red pepper to your taste.

Buon Appetito!!

Enjoy

Lucia

Lasagna Soup

This soup is Aaa-mazz-inggg....you will crave it after you have tried it once. It was assembled after having left over noodles from making a Lasagna.  I had seen a similar recipe a while back and of course had to play around and make it my own...who ever thought of this is a genius. It is a wonderful way to use up the broken noodles, sauce and cheese mixture or you can just make from scratch as in the recipe below!! This can be made with any kind of sausage and meat..chicken, turkey, and gluten free noodles. Get creative!!



Lasagna Soup


INGREDIENTS

for the soup:
2 tsp. olive oil
1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage (remove from casing) or ground beef
3 c. chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1  28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
6 c. chicken stock
8 oz.  Lasagna, Malfada, or fusilli noodles broken up
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cheese Topping:
8 oz. ricotta cheese
1/2 c. grated Romano cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley

PREPARATION

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, or ground beef breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy and absorb all the soup broth. You may even want to consider cooking the noodles separately, and then adding some to individual bowls before ladling the soup over them. This would be an especially smart move if you are anticipating any leftovers. Right before serving, stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheese topping. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, grated Romano cheese, salt, pepper and parsley.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheese topping in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.

This could be made Gluten Free with rice lasagna noodles.

Servings: about  8

Summertime Pasta

This pasta was a staple when we went out east on the Island to spend the day on the Long Island Sound. Garden tomatoes and fresh basil were in abundance in my dad's garden, or at the local farm stands.  When I make this in the summer it brings back fond memories of family, fun and carefree times, and feasting on home grown produce.

Pasta with Tomatoes and Basil

Ingredients

1 lb.Pasta
2 cups diced Roma tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped Fresh Basil
4 cloves minced Garlic
1/2 cup Olive Oil
Sea Salt to taste
Crushed red pepper flakes to taste
Grated Romano Cheese (my Favorite)

Cook pasta according to directions. In the meantime chop all your ingredients. Drain pasta and add all your ingredients except the cheese. Toss. Serve with the grated cheese.

Buon Appetito!
Lucia

Pasta Carbonara

"No man is lonely eating spaghetti it requires so much attention" -Christopher Morley

So true how spaghetti is one of the pasta's that we eat that does need so much attention.  In our family we eat our spaghetti with the help of a tablespoon!! It controls and organizes the strands of spaghetti from the bowl to mouth!! When I was a child pasta was a staple in my mama's kitchen.  Papa ate pasta everyday, prepared all different ways with many different condiments.  We ate pasta with beans, vegetable, light sauces, rich sauces....This is one of my favorite pasta's one I reserve for special occasions, it is not diet friendly but sooo good!!

Pasta Carbonara

Ingredients

1 lb Spaghetti, or pasta of your choice
2 Tbsp Olive oil
4 oz. Pancetta or thick cut bacon cubed
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup Grated Parmigiano, or 1/2 cup grated Romano
Black pepper
Flat leaf parsley, chopped for garnish

Directions

In this dish you prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking, the pasta needs to be hot in order to cook the egg mixture, so timing here is of the essence.

Cook your pasta according to the directions about 8-10 minutes, it should be "al dente" which means firm to the bite. Drain the pasta reserving about 1 cup of the starchy cooking liquid to thin the sauce if necessary.

In the meantime heat the olive oil in a large skillet add the Pancetta or Bacon and saute for 3-4 minutes until it is crisp and the fat is rendered. Saute the garlic in the fat for a minute until soft.

Add the hot drained pasta to the pan and toss for 2 minutes making sure you coat the pasta in the oil and fat. Add the grated cheese to your beaten eggs and beat again incorporating your cheese, remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta mixing vigorously and quickly until the eggs thicken, thin out the sauce if necessary with the reserved pasta water, adding only as needed, not the whole cup. Season with black pepper and taste for salt. Garnish with parsley.

I offer two different types of cheese with this recipe, if you use Parmigiano you can salt the pasta water and add salt at the end if necessary.  If you use Romano you will need less salt, as this cheese has all the salt you need.


Serves 6.

Buon Appetito!!

Pasta e Fagioli Zuppa (Pasta and Beans Soup)

These cold and snowy days I tend to want to hibernate in the house and cook a slow, comforting meal. Using the grill is not an option, considering there is still snow and ice on it and makes it very unappealing. So I settle in and search the recipe cards in my head and up pop soups, stews, chili, meatloaf, and oven roasted meats.  The things that get better as they slowly cook marrying all the flavors.  I stop at one of my all time favorites a simple rustic all in one meal! And this one does not need all day cooking. These are basic kitchen staples ingredients that should be kept in your pantry or fridge at all times! so that you can throw this together at any time.

Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Beans)

3 cups canned Great Northern Beans (with liquid),
or dry beans(you can follow cooking directions on package)

1 celery stalk with leaves, chopped

2 garlic cloves, whole

1 large bay leaf

1/2 Tsp fresh rosemary, or 1/4 tsp of dry

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup of diced tomatoes in juice

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth

kosher or sea salt

pinch of crushed red pepper

8 oz of any small pasta,
 or spaghetti broken up into small pieces (cooked according to the directions)

sprinkle of grated romano cheese

Directions: Cook the celery, garlic, bay leaf, and rosemary in olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat for 5 minutes. You could discard the garlic once it is golden (I keep it in), then add the tomatoes, broth, red pepper and salt to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes.

add the beans with their liquid, bring to a simmer, now mash some of the beans with the back of a big spoon.

Now add your cooked pasta and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Remove and discard bay leaf.

Tips: if you would like it a little thinner add additional water or broth don't forget to adjust the seasonings as well.

Serves 8

I like to serve this with huge crusty slices of Italian Ciabatta Bread and a salad.
 I grill huge slices of the bread in the oven and then rub with a garlic clove, drizzle with olive oil, oregano and sea salt