Shrimp Puttanesca

This is a savory pasta dish that packs a lot of flavor between the shrimp, capers, and olives.   It's also relatively simple and doesn't require a lot of unique ingredients.  I found the recipe on Food & Wine and don't think I made any changes (except to leave the tomatoes unpeeled.)  They didn't call it a puttanesca, but considering the ingredients I decided to use that title.  Some puttanescas have anchovies in them, but this one does not.   Overall this is a good option for a quick and tasty week night meal.  And it gave me the chance to use a little fresh rosemary from the 1-herb strong garden, so that's always a plus.  We also tested our our new garlic-grating tool we got at the farmer's market in San Diego.  It's a little ceramic plate with sharp ridges that works miracles in grating garlic or ginger. 

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds medium shrimp, shelled
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• several dashes of dried red-pepper flakes (or more to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
• 2-3 medium tomatoes (about 3/4 pound) chopped
• 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary, or 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 2 tablespoons drained capers
• 1/3 cup halved and pitted black olives 
• fresh lemon, to squeeze on top (optional)

Directions:

 

Heat a large skillet or frying pan to medium and add the oil.  When it is hot, add the shrimp to the pan along with the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic.  Stir and try to spread the shrimp out evenly.  Stir occasionally until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes. Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon.

Next, add the tomatoes, rosemary, capers, and olives to the pan.   Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 15 minutes.   Meanwhile, start boiling your pasta water.  Any type of pasta will do.

After the sauce has simmered, return the shrimp to the pan and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.  

Serve over pasta and garnish with additional rosemary and a squeeze of lemon.  

 

Rosemary Porcini Meatballs with Polenta

This meal was a great discovery for me- the realization that I can incorporate one of my favorite foods (cheese grits) into an Italian dinner, posing it as the ever so fancy "polenta" which is in fact the same thing as grits.  (NOT the same as your instant grits however)  I love cheese grits for breakfast, and they pair nicely with shrimp, or jambalaya, but somehow I've missed the delciousness of polenta in my Italian cooking.  It turned out savory and creamy, the perfect pair with the sweet tomato sauce and rich porcini, rosemary, ground beef meatballs.  This recipe is bound to turn any grits-hater into a polenta lover! Not to mention how easy the meatballs are to make- broiled and then finished off in the tomato sauce.  No slaving over a pan and worrying about evenly browning the meatballs, OR having to clean up the greasy mess afterward.  All in all, this was a definite winner!  Recipe adapted from Serious Eats.

Ingredients:
1 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs*
2 tablespoons milk*
1 1/4 cups finely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, plus one whole stem
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 jar of tomato sauce- about 3 cups
1 1/2 cups dry polenta
2 tablespoons butter
*Note- I forgot to add the bread crumbs and milk when I made these and they turned out fine.  But who's to say it wouldn't make them better?  I'll try it out next time...

Directions:
Bring one cup of water to a boil, add the mushrooms with a pinch of salt, cover, and remove from heat.  Let them steep for 15-20 minutes and then drain, reserving the liquid for the tomato sauce.  Chop up the mushrooms finely and reserve.

In a mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, milk, 1/4 cup cheese, chopped rosemary, 2 tablespoons parsley, garlic, and olive oil.  Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and some freshly ground black pepper.  Add half of the porcini mushrooms, and gently mix well until just combined.  

Form the meat mixture into balls, about 1 1/2-2 inches in diameter.  I made 20 total, but it doesn't matter how many you make as long as they are pretty much the same size.  Set your oven to broil (high, if it gives you the option), and meanwhile bring 5 cups of water to a boil with 1 teaspoon salt, for the polenta.  Place the meatballs on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and broil for 8-10 minutes.

While the meatballs are broiling, combine the porcini liquid, remaining mushrooms and parsley, whole rosemary stem, and tomato sauce in a pot over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer.  The porcini liquid adds an additional dimension of flavor to the sauce, along with the fresh rosemary. 

When the meatballs are done broiling, remove them from the oven and add directly to the sauce to finish cooking.  This will also allow them to soak up some of the delicious sauce and stay juicy.  Taste the sauce and add more seasoning to your liking.  I ended up throwing in some red pepper flakes to balance out the sweetness.  Keep the pot uncovered to reduce the sauce down a bit. 

When the polenta water comes to a boil, whisk in the dry polenta, cover and simmer, stirring pretty often with the whisk to avoid clumping.  It should thicken up pretty nicely in about 15-20 minutes.  Add the butter and remaining shredded cheese, and taste for additional salt and pepper.  

Serve the polenta in bowls, topped with the meatballs and sauce.  Garnish with additional rosemary and/or more cheese and serve hot. 

Beef Pot Pie with Cheddar Biscuits

Sean always finds great recipes from Food & Wine- such as this pot pie which was delicious and comforting.  We made a few minor changes, and halved the recipe to make just one large pot pie.  This isn't your typical pot pie with actual pie crust, rather it is topped with cheddar biscuit batter that bakes along with the pie filling.  It is much easier than going through the process of making a pie crust from scratch, in my opinion.  And the result is delicious fluffy biscuits on top of the savory chunky filling. Yum!

Ingredients:

Pot Pie Filling:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3/4 lb carrots, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3/4 lb celery root or parsnips, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 1/4 lb ground beef
• 2 Italian sausage links, removed from casing
• 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/8 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 5 oz frozen peas (about a cup)
• salt and pepper

Biscuit Topping: Follow our cheddar garlic biscuit recipe, eliminating the garlic and reducing the salt to 1/2 teaspoon. 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter and add the oil.  Saute the carrots and celery root or parsnips with 1/2 teaspoon of salt for about 10 minutes, turning the heat to medium-high.  As you can see in the picture, we used celery root which had an amazing flavor, so I would definitely recommend it if you can find it at the store. 

When the vegetables have softened and are slightly browned, add the ground beef and sausage with an additional 1/2 teaspoon of salt, breaking up the meat as it browns.  Sprinkle in the thyme and rosemary.  We used a handy fresh herb grater that we got as a Christmas gift to mince and add the herbs.  Cook for about 10 minutes, until all the pink is gone and most of the liquid has evaporated. 

Stir in the flour and cook for 2 more minutes.  Next add the milk and chicken stock, and simmer until thickened.  (5-7 minutes)  

Stir in the peas and cook a couple minutes longer, tasting for more salt and pepper.  Pour the mixture in a 9x13 deep baking dish. 

While the vegetable beef mixture is cooking, prepare your biscuit batter, following our recipe for cheddar biscuits as I mentioned above.  

Place 12 even scoops of batter on top of your pie filling in the casserole dish.  We used an ice cream scoop, and then added a little more to each one with the rest of the batter that was left.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the biscuits are turning golden brown on top.  Remove from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving.  

Spicy Maple Rosemary Carrots

We usually just eat carrots fresh in salads or by themselves as a snack.  But recently we had a ton of carrots to use up and so we decided to roast them to have as a side dish along side meatloaf.  I decided to make a sweet and spicy flavor profile to complement the savory meatloaf.  To incorporate some freshness I added rosemary to the carrots as well. The maple and cayenne really work well together, and this is a super easy side dish to throw together for any meal.  

Ingredients:

1 lb carrots (more or less)

3-4 tablespoons maple syrup (agave nectar, or honey would work too)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon rosemary, roughly chopped

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground all spice

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Peel the carrots (unless you are using baby carrots)  Slice into 2 inch pieces, or leave whole if they are on the smaller side.  In a bowl, toss the carrots with the syrup and olive oil.  Sprinkle the spices in and mix well.  Salt and pepper to taste- I would recommend about 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  

Spread the carrots out on a foil covered baking sheet (easier to clean up) and roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until you can easily insert a fork into one of them.  The smaller they are, the less time they will need.  Enjoy!