Porcini Mushroom and Gorganzola Risotto

Every Thursday night, myself and two of my very best friends get together for our "Girls Cooking Night". We take turns picking out a new recipe that we want to try and have a great night making and eating it. A couple weeks ago, Risotto was the topic and this is the recipe I brought for us to create. It was amazing! Risotto is a classic italian rice dish. Aborio rice is short grain and almost has a pasta like quality. It is very creamy when cooked completely, lending to a very elegant and velvety mouth feel. Adding the mushrooms gives this dish a well rounded tone, while the gorganzola gives a little earthiness and punch. I have made quite a few risottos and each time i try to add something a little different. Be creative with it. Sometimes, i will make shrimp and asparagus, or butternut squash and carmelized onions, or chicken, sundried tomatoes and peas. Whatever your favorite combination, go for it.

4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 1/2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms
3 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
3/4 cup (3 ounces) Gorgonzola, crumbled
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the porcini mushrooms. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside for 30 minutes until the mushrooms are tender. Using a slotted spoon, remove the mushrooms and set aside.
Reheat the stock to a simmer and keep warm over low heat.
In a large, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion and mushrooms and cook until the onions are tender but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the butter. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of warm stock and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue with remaining stock, adding 1/2 cup at a time, and allowing each addition to be absorbed, until the rice is tender to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the Parmesan, Gorgonzola, chives, salt and pepper. Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl. Serve immediately.

Note: Most large grocery stores will sell dried porcini mushrooms quite readily, however, if you cannot find them, substitute for crimini, they have a very similar earthy and meaty flavor. I have also found fresh porcini mushrooms in my market, if you use fresh mushrooms, ignore the rehydrating step.

Rinaldi Eggplant Parmesan

This recipe has been passed down in my family for generations....I have never eaten it any other way! My grandmother and mother, hands down, make it the best by far. I come close, but there is nothing like when one of them make it. To me, it is the ultimate comfort food. I love when there are leftovers so I can make a cold eggplant sandwich on a roll the next day. I have been caught midnight snacking right out of the fridge. My co-worker and friend Charlotte asked me today if I had a good recipe for eggplant parmesan ~ to me, this is the ONLY eggplant parm recipe. Which leads me to this post. Hope you enjoy, Charlotte!

2-3 large eggplants, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

4 eggs

1 cup flour

2 T. italian seasoning, divided

1 T. garlic powder

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt/pepper

oil

4 cups homeade sauce, or favorite jarred

Mix 1 T. Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper and flour together on a large flat plate. Set aside. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and 1 T. Italian seasoning. Add 1/4 c. parmesan cheese to eggs. Set aside. In a large frying pan, heat enough oil to come up the sides 1 inch. Dip each eggplant slice in flour first, then egg mixture. Stack on plate until ready to fry whole batch. Place eggplant in hot oil and fry on each side until golden brown, about 1-3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. In a large baking dish, place 1 c. of sauce to coat bottom of pan and arrange eggplant over to form a single layer. Add 1 c. sauce over eggplant and sprinkle with generous amount of parmesan cheese. Repeat layers until pan is full or eggplant is gone, making sure sauce and cheese is on the top. Bake uncovered on 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. It should be bubbly. Enjoy. Eggplant can be fried and frozen in between paper towels until ready to assemble.

Note: This is somewhat time consuming: most of the work will come from preparing the eggplant, cutting, dipping, frying. I try to do as many eggplant as i have time for. I then will layer them on paper towels and place in large freezer bags in a single layer, so the next time I want eggplant parm, i don't have to go through all the trouble. I can just take out, assemble and bake. Also, this version doesn't have mozzerella, like most resteraunt versions. Believe me it doesn't need it. However, my one suggestion would be to use good parmesan cheese...Not the generic in the green bottle. It makes a difference. In my family, i can remember growing up we used to get parmesan cheese in the big blocks from the italian shop. My favorite part was helping my grandpa grate it down, and put it in big pans to dry out! mmmm

Homeade Ravioli

If you haven't tasted homeade pasta...it is a must! It can be quite hard to manage and the process can take a long time also. I have found that this recipe is great because it allows for homeade pasta dough that doesn't take a long time to put together and also allows for creative cooking as well. You can fill these soft little pillows of heaven with any combination of filling that you desire.

Dough:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup boiling water

Filling:

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 egg
1/2 cup finely shredded store-bought rotisserie chicken (optional)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Basic Marinara Sauce:

3 T. olive oil

1/2-1 onion, chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes - less for milder sauce

1/4 cup red wine

1 lrg can crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup packed basil leaves, chopped (fresh)

salt/pepper to taste

For the dough: In a large bowl, combine the flour and water. Stir to combine with a wooden spoon until dough comes together into a large ball. You may have to use hands to form bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes.

For Filling: combine all filling ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine.

To form the raviolis, cut the dough in half, working with half at a time. Make sure you work surface is clean and lightly dusted with flour. Roll out dough until about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Place rounded teaspoons of filling about 1 inch apart and 1 inch from edge. Fold dough over the filling and press down around filling to secure the dough. With a small round cookie cutter, cut the dough in round ravioli shapes. Seal edges if need be. You don't want any loose filling. Place on cookie sheet until ready to boil. Drop into boiling water and cook for about 5-7 minutes. They will float to the top. Place in serving bowl with sauce.

To make sauce:

In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil and saute onion until soft and translucent. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1-2 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Add wine and crushed tomatoes. Turn heat down to a simmer and let cook for 15-20 minutes. Add basil. Toss with raviolis.

Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

Ok, so I know I have been MIA for a while...had to take a break to finish school (got my RN) and land a job. Now that I have some more time to devote to this blog ~ I have chosen one of my favorite comfort foods. Pasta. I was seriously in the mood for garlic tonight and this dish is loaded with it. I love the contrast between the bitter broccoli rabe and the sweetness in the sausage.

5 T. olive oil

5-6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 lb rigatoni pasta

salt/pepper to taste

2 bunches broccoli, cut into large florets (discard stems)

1 lb sweet italian sausage

1/4 cup white wine

parmesan cheese

Bring pot of water to a boil for pasta. Cook according to directions. In the last five minutes throw in the broccoli and let cook with pasta. Reserve 1 cup cooking liquid for sauce. Drain.

In a frying pan, heat 1 tbl olive oil and saute garlic slices until slightly brown and crispy along with pepper flakes. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Transfer garlic to seperate bowl and set aside. Take sausage and squeeze the meat out of the casings to get crumbled sausage. Brown in pan with remaining oil. Once sausage is brown, add the 1 cup reserved water, 1/4 cup wine and reserved garlic with oil. Let come to a simmer for about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Toss sausage and sauce with pasta and broccoli. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve.

As a general rule, whenever I cook pasta I use the largest pot I can find and season it well with salt. This ensures that your pasta will taste great.