View posts for » Category "Mediterranean recipes"

With the recent Easter holiday, many of us now have extra hard boiled eggs in the refrigerator, and making deviled eggs is a great way to use them up. I always think of deviled eggs as a “festive” food, as I associate them with parties, picnics, good times and good friends. My dear friend Stef (who is a good egg) makes a fabulous deviled egg for cocktail parties with pals. But who needs to wait for a party to make deviled eggs? They are fun to make and eat any time.

Food historians say that the deviled egg dates back to early Roman times, when boiled eggs were served with spices poured on top. Classic American deviled eggs are made with a little mayonnaise blended with spicy ingredients such as mustard, cayenne pepper or paprika. (That’s where the “devil” comes from.) However, the name has long been used to describe any sort of stuffed egg, which doesn’t necessarily have to be spicy.

As an alternative to the classic version, I’ve replaced the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt and silken tofu for Mediterranean and Asian inspired deviled eggs. Both ingredients work wonderfully to add moisture and texture to the egg filling, and are a nice change from the traditional recipe.

Greek Inspired Deviled Eggs

(Makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 3 hard boiled eggs
• 2 tablespoons Greek style yogurt (I like Fage)
• 1 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped black olives
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Directions:

Peel hard boiled eggs and slice lengthwise. Scoop out the yolks and place in a bowl. Using a fork, mash yolks with the yogurt and mix well. Mix in the feta cheese, chopped olives, and fresh thyme leaves. Spoon mixture into each egg cavity. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve—they taste even better after the flavors have set in the fridge for a while.

Japanese Inspired Deviled Eggs

(Makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 3 hard boiled eggs
• 2 tablespoons silken tofu
• 1/4 teaspoon miso paste
• 1/4 teaspoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon chopped scallions
• 1 tablespoon shredded crabmeat
• 1 tablespoon chopped re-hydrated shiitake mushrooms
• A pinch of sea salt

Directions:

Peel hard boiled eggs and slice lengthwise. Scoop out the yolks and place in a bowl, then mash yolks with the tofu, miso paste and mirin. Mix in the chopped scallions, shredded crabmeat, and shiitake mushrooms. Season to taste with sea salt. Spoon mixture into each egg cavity. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

I don’t know about you, but to me cooking has always had a social factor.

When I cook for people here in Italy I can spend hours in the kitchen doing things as complex as they can be. I can actually go through all the Italian courses — Primo piatto, secondo piatto, contorno, dolce, and I can bake my own bread to go along with it. But when I cook only for myself I tend to be more economic with the time I spend in kitchen. But, hey, I never meant to say I lower my food standards in any measure!

Since Anna is away and I’m by myself this week, in this post I’ll share a recipe that won’t take more than 10 minutes of your time and requires no skills at all, yet is the kind of food you find in fancy restaurants, and often at unjustified prices.

Got ten minutes to prepare today’s lunch? Let’s go then!

Penne Rigate alla Ricotta e Noci

The first thing to do, of course, is give the dish a fancy Italian name, like they do in restaurants. Penne Rigate alla Ricotta e Noci — so there you go. Penne are those small pipes of pasta and rigate means they are ridged on the surface.

This was my pasta of choice because I wanted the ricotta to be able to fill the penne and because of the rough surface it will adhere better on the outside as well, but you can use other varieties of penne, or fusili. Basically any short pasta.

Ingredients

• 200g (7 oz) of penne rigate, or your pasta of choice
• 150g (5 oz) of ricotta
• 30g (1 oz) of chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions

• Cook the pasta in lightly salted water according to instructions on the package
• When the penne are done, drain, and immediately put them back in the same empty pan
• Add the ricotta and the olive oil and mix them gently
• Add the walnuts
• Optionally, if you like a stronger taste, you can add a some strong cheese, like a small piece of gorgonzola or ground pecorino or parmesan.

This recipe serves two, but another great thing is that just as simply you can cook for yourself alone or you can cook for a dozen — you will only need a bigger pan.

I like to spend a couple of hours on the weekend preparing a few food basics that, once made, take the hard work out of cooking meals for the week ahead — a strategy I refer to as ‘weekend cooking for weekday eating’. In addition to curries and soups I invariably make some kind of tomato-based Mediterranean sauce for its sheer versatility.

Apart from a classic bolognese sauce or a piquant puttanesca sauce, one of our favorites is this rich sauce made with a medley of vibrant red ingredients including tomatoes, roasted red peppers, red onions, red wine, and red chili. I really enjoy the process of making up batches of this sauce, it brings out the Italian mama in me, especially when I put on Italian opera while I’m cooking.

Producing my own homemade sauce rather than buying the store-bought stuff in jars gives me a feeling of self-sufficiency, and it’s healthier and cheaper as well. Just knowing that I’ve got a supply of this delicious and nutritious sauce on hand fills me with a real sense of satisfaction. Over the past week we’ve had this sauce drizzled over grilled fish on a simple couscous salad, and then a couple of nights later tossed with rigatoni, broccoli and canned tuna as a quick pasta meal.

The sauce can be stored in the fridge, covered for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Robust red sauce

Serves 4 (or enough to make the following 2 meals, each serving 2 people)

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 red onions — diced
• 4 cloves garlic — finely chopped
• 28 oz (840g) canned tomatoes — chopped
• ½ cup red wine
• ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
• ½ teaspoon dried red chili flakes
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 4 red bell peppers — deseeded and quartered

HEAT the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onions for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly. ADD the tomatoes, wine, rosemary, chili flakes, salt, pepper and sugar and bring to the boil. COVER, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes. WHILE the sauce simmers, place the peppers (skin side up) under a hot broiler (griller) until the skin blackens all over, about 10 minutes. REMOVE and cover the charred peppers with a clean dishcloth or plastic wrap for 5 minutes to allow the steam to loosen the skins from the pepper flesh. PEEL off the blackened skin from the peppers and roughly cut the flesh into pieces then add to the sauce. PLACE the sauce into a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

Grilled fish with robust red sauce and couscous salad

Serves 2

• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic — minced
• 2 x 6 oz (180g) firm white fish fillets
• 1 cup couscous
• 2 small zucchini — quartered lengthways and very thinly sliced into quarters
• 1¼ cups boiling chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 scallion (green part only) — thinly sliced on diagonal
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh mint
• 2 oz (60g) crumbled feta
• ½ portion of the Robust Red Sauce recipe — heated

MIX together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic in a bowl. POUR half the lemon/oil mixture over the fish fillets and marinate, covered, in the fridge for 1 hour. COMBINE the couscous and zucchini in a bowl, pour over the boiling stock, cover and allow to steam for 5 minutes. FLUFF the couscous with a fork and toss with the scallion, parsley and mint. DRIZZLE over the remaining lemon/oil mixture and the crumbled feta and toss well to combine. SET the couscous salad aside while the fish continues to marinate. HEAT a cast iron grill pan over a high heat until very hot. COOK the fish fillets in the pan for around 3 minutes each side until just cooked. SERVE each fillet on a bed of the couscous salad and spoon the heated robust red sauce over the top.

Variations: Grill chicken breast fillets instead of fish. Serve any leftover couscous salad tossed with strips of smoked salmon and cubed avocado (drizzled with lemon juice to prevent browning).

Rigatoni with robust red sauce, tuna and broccoli

Serves 2

• 8 oz (240g) dried rigatoni pasta
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• ½ portion of the Robust Red Sauce recipe — heated
• 6 oz (180g) canned tuna in olive oil — drained and broken into chunks
• Shaved or grated Parmesan cheese to serve

COOK the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water, adding the broccoli to the pot for the final 5 minutes of cooking. DRAIN the cooked pasta and broccoli, put the sauce in the bottom of the pot and top with the hot pasta, broccoli and tuna chunks. TOSS together gently to combine well and heat through. SERVE the pasta with a little shaved or grated Parmesan on top.

I’ve been seeing the telltale signs that winter is finally at an end…my fellow train commuters are swapping their heavy coats for raincoats, there are more hours of sunlight during the day, and the price of artichokes is (finally!) dropping at the grocer. Spring is definitely in the air!

My boyfriend Robert, who grew up in an Italian-American family, often reminisces about his late mother’s baked stuffed artichokes. Living in Rhode Island, we are fortunate to have access to good Italian markets, where we can find terrific pre-made artichokes at the deli counters. However, there is simply no comparison to a home cooked version made with love.

Since the artichokes at our local market have been so gorgeous (and finally affordable) recently, I had to pick up a few to experiment with. I decided to create my own recipe in tribute to this very Italian dish, but gave it an Asian twist—adding shiitake mushrooms and replacing the usual Italian bread crumbs with lighter Japanese panko.

Baked Stuffed Artichokes with Panko, Black Olives and Shiitake Mushrooms

Makes enough stuffing for 4 small artichokes or or 2 large artichokes (Artichokes can be comically huge these days.)

Ingredients:

• 4 small or 2 large artichokes
• 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 cup Japanese panko flakes
• 1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8-10 black olives (diced)
• 2-3 tablespoons re-hydrated shiitake mushrooms (chopped)
• Additional olive oil for brushing the artichokes/baking dish
• Lemon wedges for serving

Directions:

First, prepare the artichokes for stuffing: Slice about an inch off the top of each artichoke and snip the sharp tips of each leaf with scissors. Pull out the woody inner leaves from the center until the fuzzy “choke” covering the heart is revealed. Remove the fuzz with a small sharp knife or spoon. (I use a strawberry/tomato huller gadget that works really well.) Remove the stems of the artichokes, cutting them flush against the base so the artichokes are able to sit upright in a baking dish. Peel the stems with a vegetable peeler, removing the tough outer layer. (Note: Artichokes will brown quickly once they are cut—to prevent this, put out a large bowl of water with some lemon juice squeezed into it and keep the cut artichokes in the bowl until you have finished prepping all of them.)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the artichokes and peeled stems along with the salt and two tablespoons of lemon juice. Boil for about 30 minutes, or until the leaves are tender. While the artichokes are cooking, re-hydrate the shiitake mushrooms in a cup of warm water.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove the artichokes and stems from the water and place upside down on a paper towel lined plate to drain. Chop the cooked artichoke stems and shiitake mushrooms into small pieces (reserving a few mushroom slices for garnish). Combine the olive oil, panko flakes, minced garlic, ground pepper, diced olives, chopped mushrooms, and chopped stems in a mixing bowl. Place artichokes upright in lightly oiled baking dish. Spoon mixture into each hollowed out artichoke and brush all over with olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, garnish with reserved mushroom, and serve with lemon wedges.

(Note: To make an Italian artichoke that is more like what Robert’s mother used to make…add a little extra oil to the stuffing, skip the shiitake mushrooms, and use seasoned Italian bread crumbs instead of the panko. And of course, don’t forget the love.)

Happy Spring!

I eat a lot of whole grains. For breakfast, I regularly have whole grain cereal such as oatmeal, muesli or bran flakes; or toasted whole grain bread with toppings (such as natural peanut butter, sliced cheese and tomato, or baked beans). A typical weekday lunch is a sandwich, stuffed pita, or wrap made with whole grain breads. When we make pizza at home, we’ll often use a large whole wheat pita as the crust. I also love bulgur (made from whole wheat) topped with stew, or in tabbouleh salad. And if I feel like a snack, I’ll often have some air-popped popcorn (popcorn is a whole grain) or a whole grain cracker.

But I’m certainly not a fan of all whole grain foods. I’ve tried brown rice several times, in several different ways, and each time I was thoroughly disappointed — not only with the flavor, but also with the texture. In comparison, white rice is light in texture and subtle in flavor. It embraces the flavors of the foods it’s paired with, whereas I find that brown rice does just the opposite and tends to overpower the taste of other food.

So I basically gave up on brown rice a long time ago. And I’m not the only one. White rice has been far more popular than brown rice throughout Asia and the Mediterranean for many generations. And no wonder — I couldn’t imagine sitting down to plateful of brown rice sushi, or eating brown rice paella or risotto either!

But what about all those naysayers who tell you that white rice is fattening and unhealthy? What a load of nonsense. The leanest, healthiest and longest-living peoples in the world eat white rice regularly. This makes it obvious that white rice is far from a dietary villain.

Indeed, research has found that for the last 30 years rice consumption in Japan has dropped by over 50 percent. (This is because many Japanese, particularly the younger generation, are embracing a Western-style diet.) Over the same period, guess what’s happened? Obesity rates have climbed steadily.

Now I’m not saying that the answer to a leaner healthier body is to rush out and grab a large sackful of white rice. But what I’m saying is that white rice, in all it’s wonderful varieties (including Italian arborio, Indian basmati, Thai jasmine, Spanish calasparra, Japanese koshihikari), can fit perfectly into a varied and balanced diet.

The key is to eat rice like people from Mediterranean and Asian cultures do: in moderate portions (yes, calories do count), and mixed with slowly-digesting foods like fish, beans, poultry, plant oils, and vegetables. This not only makes the rice taste a whole lot better, it also means that it’s digested at a slow and steady rate — so you won’t get blood sugar swings and rebound hunger.

The following risotto recipe — which contains a mix of arborio rice, chickpeas, vegetables and extra virgin olive oil — is a good example of what I mean.

Roasted Garlic, Pumpkin & Red Pepper Risotto with Spinach & Chickpeas

Serves 2 to 3

• 2 cups peeled and cubed pumpkin or winter squash (cut into 1/2-inch cubes)
• 1 red pepper — deseeded and cut into quarters
• 6 cloves garlic — left unpeeled
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 onion — finely chopped
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 10 kalamata olives — pitted and quartered
• 2 packed cups roughly chopped fresh spinach
• 1 cup canned chickpeas — rinsed well and drained
• 1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

PREHEAT an oven to 450F/230C. PLACE the pumpkin, red pepper and garlic cloves in a baking dish and toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil, the balsamic vinegar and rosemary until well coated. BAKE for 20 minutes. WHILE the vegetables cook, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. ADD the rice, stir to coat the grains in oil and cook for 1 minute. ADD the wine, stock, salt, black pepper, olives and spinach, stir to combine and bring to a boil. COVER with a lid, reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes without lifting the lid. REMOVE the red pepper and garlic from the baking dish. ADD the chickpeas to the baking dish with the pumpkin and return to the oven for 5 minutes. ROUGHLY chop the peppers. SQUEEZE the garlic pulp from the skins and stir into the risotto with the parmesan, lemon juice and remaining tablespoon of oil. STIR in the red pepper, pumpkin and chickpeas to combine.

Gnocchi are not only a delicious Mediterranean dish, but the culture behind them is so rich that cooking and eating them is as much a pleasure for the palate as it is for the learning appetite.

Although the most common version known around the world and in Italy are made from potatoes, there is also Gnocchi Alla Romana made from semolina, Cannederli a typical dish from north Italy which is made from bread crumbs and similar to Knödel, which is a side dish common in Germany and Austria.

There are types of Gnocchi big and small, simple and stuffed with all kinds of fillings, and often mixed with colored vegetables not only to enrich their flavor and nutritional value, but also to make them look nicer.

Although typically Italian, it is also traditional in countries with Italian influence like Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. And it is precisely there (or at least in Argentina, as far as I know) where there is a curious tradition of eating Gnocchi on the 29th day of each month.One of the possible origins of this tradition comes from the Veneto, the Italian northeastern Region where Venice is situated. In the 8th century, a pilgrim doctor named Pantaleone starving in his journey on a 29th was receieved by contadini (farmers) to share their bread based poor meal and, in return, Pantaleone predicted a year of great crops and fishing that became true. Pantaleone is an important Saint of Venice, although St Marcus is the actual patron of the city.

Being a cheap food, Gnocchi also has a background as Cucina Povera (the “cuisine” of the poor) meaning that many of the variations of it were made out of the necessity to overcome food and money shortage, rather than gourmet projects.

One of the things that I like about Cucina Povera is that a daily reinvention of the dish is already part of the culture behind it. So, following the Cucina Povera spirit, I decided to create my own version of Broccoli Gnocchi.

Broccoli Gnocchi with Cheese sauce

Ingredients for the gnocchi

• 200g (7 Oz) of broccoli
• 3 medium potatoes
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of flour

Directions for the gnocchi

1. Chop the broccoli in pieces and boil or steam until tender,
2. Cut the potatoes in pieces and boil them until tender,
3. Smash the potatoes and let them reach room temperature or slightly above,
4. Pass the broccoli through the food processor or chop it in very small pieces,
5. Save about a spoon of grated broccoli for decoration and mix the rest with the potatoes,
6. Add the egg and the flour, add more flour if needed, but don’t let it become too dry, ideally it should stick to the hand,
7. Put flour on a clean surface and roll the mix to form long and slightly thick pieces,
8. Cut them into small pieces and cook them in abundant boiling water, the Gnocchi are going to sink, but they’ll float as soon as they are ready, collect them from the surface and prepare them to serve.

Ingredients for the sauce

• 1 cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 50g (~2 Oz) of grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper

Directions for the sauce

1. Mix well the flour with the cold or room-temperature milk,
2. Add the salt and pepper,
3. Cook it on low flame mixing slowly and constantly until it starts to thicken,
4. Add the grated cheese and mix until it melts and pour over the Gnocchi,
5. Add the extra broccoli you saved for decoration.

Serves: 2/3