Gastronomous

It’s cold and we crave comfort food. We has our mashed potatoes, our pot roast, our oven roasted chicken, ham pot pie. We are ready for some hearty Italian goodness! One of our favorite heart dishes is the wonderful chicken parmesan: breaded chicken topped with sauce and mozzarella served on a bed of linguini or spaghetti. The recipe calls for a breast a person and makes a LARGE portion, but splitting the breast to make two “human size” portions is not a bad idea

Ingredients: (For each serving)

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup bread crumbs, seasoned with herbs and spices such as basil, parsley and pepper to taste
1 egg, beaten
enough oil to fry the breast
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup grated mozzarella

Heat the oven to broil 500 degrees or very hot.
Meanwhile, place the breast in between two layers of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet till it has a thickness of 1/2 throughout.
Unwrap, dip the breast in the egg to coat well then bread with the seasoned crumbs on both sides.
Heat oil in a frying pan and cook the beast, turning only once, till golden brown. Remove and drain any excess oil with paper towels.
Arrange the chicken on a baking pan, top with the tomato sauce, sprinkle the mozzarella on top. Broil till the cheese starts bubbling and browning, as if it were a pizza (around 10 minutes). Remove from the oven, serve over a bed of linguini or spaghetti.
Enjoy!

Carbonara is a traditional sauce which incorporates the sweet smokiness of cured pork. Our version plays up vegetables for a much healthier choice without sacrificing flavor. Try using turkey bacon if you are watching your cholesterol. It’s a great supper without the mega calories!
Ingredients:

2 Cups assorted vegetables, such as squash, zucchini fresh corn and peas diced
1 yellow onion finely chopped
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, julienned
3 strips bacon, turkey bacon or pancetta
3 Tbsp pan drippings of sausage or bacon
salt & pepper to taste

Cook bacon in a sauté pan till golden brown;  remove from pan and reserve  3 Tbsp of drippings. Cook the onions in the drippings till golden brown but not burnt, incorporate the vegetables and the sun dried tomatoes.Let cook till the juices released by the fresh vegetables are absorbed by the tomatoes.

Serve over pasta such as rotelle as a hot dish or as a salad. Fresh grated Pecorino Romano compliments the sweet tanginess very well.

It’s tomato season. Wonderful ripe tomatoes of all kinds are popping up in markets, so forget the canned and jarred stuff and make your own. It’s quick, easy and delicious!

Use uneven ripe tomatoes  for this fresh sauce, even over-ripe and bruised ones will do! Go ahead, no one will notice

Ingredients:

4 uneven ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped scallions
2 Tbls olive oil
2 Tbls sherry (or dry white wine)
1/4 tsp freshly cracked white pepper
salt to taste

In a sauté pan, heat the oil and toss in the scallions; let brown slightly then stir in the tomatoes. Let cook for 5 minutes on medium heat or until some of the tomato liquid disappears. Add the sherry and cook for 2 more minutes. Take the sauce off the heat to add white pepper and salt to taste

Serve immediately on pasta al dente such as farfalle or rotini. Top with coarsely grated pecorino romano.

Many thanks to ”Farmer RoD” who  harvested these wonderful tomatoes using organic and Earth-friendly   methods! 

Who can resist this tempting and classic comfort food? We adapted the fat and cholesterol laden version for a more modern, guilt- free one.  We used fresh tomato sauce, part skim mozzarella and chicken breast to give lovely flavors without the fat and cholesterol. If you would like a vegetarian version, replace the chicken with quartered white mushrooms.

Ingredients:( makes 6-8 servings)

 I box ziti or penne

2 cups fresh tomato sauce

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella

1 cup of cooked chicken breast, chopped or one can of chicken breast packed in water

2 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Freshly chopped basil and shredded Parmesan to taste

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring water with salt to a boil, add ziti and stir. Cook pasta for 7 minutes or till “al dente” . DO NOT OVERCOOK or you will have a mush of collapsed noodles .

Drain ziti and reserve 3 tbls of cooking water. Do not rinse. Place ziti in a large bowl and toss with the reserved water. Let absorb, then toss in the minced garlic, and salt and pepper to taste, mix and let rest for a minute. Then toss in the chopped chicken, mix, then sauce, and  mix .

In a large baking pan, rub the bottom and the sides with the olive oil, place the ziti mix and top with the mozzarella.  Bake for 15 minutes or till mozzarella melts.

Remove from the oven,  serve on plates, sprinkle with Parmesan and chopped basil. Enjoy!

This dish reheats very well . It can also be prepared ahead of time up to the oven part for a buffet.

This is a “happy pasta” dish. It’s colorful, filling and simple to prepare. It goes well in a buffet or as a main course. Use your favorite vegetables and top with cheese and cracked pepper. Use fat free or skim cheese to make low cholesterol.

1 lb rotini pasta
1 Turkey & green chile sausage or Italian hot sausage crumbled
1 minced shallot
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
!/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup vegetables such as corn & green beans
1 cup grape tomatoes
salt & pepper to taste

Cook the rotini al dente; meanwhile heat the oil in a large pan sauté the shallot, stir in the crumbled sausage and let cook. Add the garlic and the veggies.

Drain the pasta and assemble on serving dish, pot a dollop of ricotta in the middle, top with the sausage mixture and add the grape tomatoes on top. Salt & pepper to taste and serve immediately.