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Here’s a quick photo of me and Lori De Angelis, CHCH Community Reporter. It was fun though….technical difficulties forced my live six segment demo to a spontaneous pre-taped segments. I chose six simple dishes from my book Breaking Bread in L’Aquila. Simple, rustic and delicious! Will post the segments in the next few weeks. Looking forward to more segments with Lori! maria
I was at my mother’s over the weekend. One of my favorites is when she slow cooks ribs in her homemade tomatoe sauce! A great way to cook ribs and enjoy with a hearty dish of of your favorite pasta. It’s perfect with a glass of red wine….here’s a toast to ‘mamma mia’ ! You can also find this recipe in my book! maria !
Here’s how a little of this and that works in action! I was putting some chicken breasts in the freezer (they were on sale) but realized oops…..the freezer is loaded with a lot of other stuff (mainly biscotti for upcoming book signings). Yesterday, I had roasted some artichokes (canned) and stuffed the hearts with fresh chopped garlic and basil, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and roasted for fifteen minutes. Perfect. While I was trying to make space in the freezer, I noticed a one pound container of fresh lasagne noodles. I then looked in the refrigerator and had some fresh mozzarella. In the vegetable drawer, a bag of fresh spinich from last week (it was in the state of use it or lose it). Now we have something: lasagne with roasted artichokes and spinach. Ok….sauce?? For sauce, I had two cups of tomoatoe sauce in the refrigerator and added a little cream and vodka = voila, vodka sauce for the lasagne. Let’s begin: Pre-heat over at 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13 baking dish with a tsp. of butter. Spread the bottom of the pan with a little of vodka sauce and add one layer of lasagne noodles. Layer the roasted artichokes and fresh spinach. Add fresh mozzarella, vodka sauce and fresh parmigiano. Add another layer of noodles and add fresh parmigiano, fresh mozzarella. Place foil paper on top of the dish and place the dish in the over for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for additional five minutes. Remove the lasagne and let sit for fifteen minutes while it settles. a new tasty dish! maria !
On April 21st., one of my best friends past away. Experiencing another loss brought up a lot of sad feelings. I was very lucky to have such a great friend: unconditional love – an angel in disguise. After the service yesterday, I prepared a nice meal to honor Barbara as we broke bread amongst some friends. This was one of Barbara’s favorite dishes that I would prepare – here’s to you Barbara! Rigatoni with poached chicken breasts in tangy tomatoe sauce with a hint of pesto This is a very simple dish and having a pantry stocked with some of my essentials makes it very easy to prepare in no time. We were drinking some wine while I prepared this tasty dish: I just added layers and ended up with this delicous feast: Serves 4-6 Poached Chicken Breasts: In a small bowl, beat the eggs. Add salt and black pepper to the breasts and coat the breasts in the egg wash. In a separate bowl, add the bread crumbs and coat the breasts. In a large pan, add olive oil and butter to medium-high heat. Add the breasts and turn each side after three minutes – will form a nice golden crust. Add a 28 oz can of tomatoes, 2 tbsp. of pesto (I keep them in ice cubes in the freezer), a dash of red chili flakes, 1 tbsp. capers and 1 cup of white wine. ps – If you are drinking red wine, then add red wine or your favorite. Place the lid over the pan and turn heat to medium. The chicken will cook evenly and the steaming process will keep the meat moist…..Stir occassionly and turn the chicken. Approx. 20 minutes in cooking and then ready to serve. In a large pot, cook the pasta according to the package instruction until it is al dente (approx. 8 minutes). Remove the chicken breasts and serve in a large platter. At the same time, drain the pasta, 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water and add to the tomatoe sauce. Add freshly grated Parmigiano cheese (approx. handful). Place pasta in bowl and serve immediately. I garnished the table with grilled pieces of bread, roasted peppers, olives and vino! Now that’s a feast!
Here’s a creative way to serve Stuffed Rigatoni with ricotta and spinach. A little of this and that. A simple way to prepare steamed vegetables instead of tomotoe sauce for tasty Stuffed Rigatoni with Ricotta and Spinach. This took less than 15 minutes to prepare. How? When you are boiling the pasta water, I began to steam the baby spinach (takes minutes). I tossed 1 tbsp. pesto, 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes and dash of heat – need a little heat with (red chil flakes). Toss the stuffed rigatoni in the pan of flavored spinach. Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and freshly grated parmigiano. How’s that for easy! maria! |
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