Pasta night at my house is a very important night. Every Sunday, we have a pasta dish, but like to switch up what exactly the dish is. It’s always fun to experiment with new ingredients, with pasta always being the constant.
So it is pretty important for me to use premium pasta, like De Cecco Authentic Italian Dry Pasta. Since 1886, De Cecco has made its pasta in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. The 130-year-old company still uses its original family recipe and high-quality ingredients to create a variety of pasta types.
De Cecco pasta is made with only the best coarse durum semolina, whereas flour is used in most other ordinary pasta brands. This translates into De Cecco being a firmer pasta that doesn’t get mushy or fall apart, even if you overcook it by a minute or two.
This week, I had a hankering for eggplant, so I decided to make Pasta Alla Norma. Pasta Alla Norma is a pasta dish with fried eggplant slices tossed in a chunky tomato sauce. The dish is topped with grated ricotta salata and basil.
Note: Ricotta Salata in America doesn’t pack as much punch as its Italian counterpart. If you can find it, go for an Aged Ricotta Salata. If not, use a bit of grated pecorino Romano along with your Ricotta Salata.
Ingredients:
4 medium sized eggplants (look for ones that feel heavy for their size)
½ cup olive oil, plus more if needed
4 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (28 oz) can of San Marzano whole tomatoes, undrained
I recently received a nice email from Deiss Kitchenware, a German-based company that makes some snazzy kitchen products. They were kind enough to send me their Citrus Zester and Cheese Grater. I knew I had to make a dish that let me zest and grate my little heart out to try their product, like this recipe for Linguine with Lemon Sauce!
This recipe for Linguine with Lemon Sauce is so simple, and uses mostly ingredients you probably already have on hand. (What? I’m the only person with some Parmigiano Reggiano on hand at all times?)
Ingredients:
4tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter
the zest of 1 lemon
1 (16 oz ) box dried linguine
1/2 cup heavy cream
the juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus extra cheese to serve on the side
This Slow Cooker Short Rib Ragu is the ultimate comfort food and is perfect for busy fall weeknights!
It is definitely feeling like fall in Philadelphia now. The days are getting shorter, and there is a chill in the air. Which means my slow cooker is back in full force!
I absolutely love my slow cooker (paid link). It makes me so happy to come back to an awesome comfort food meal at the end of the day. This recipe for Slow Cooker Short Rib Ragu is basically a really thick meat sauce, made with shredded boneless short ribs. And. It’s fantastic.
This can be served over pasta, egg noodles, polenta, or even mashed potatoes (I went with pappardelle pasta for this round). The recipe makes quite a bit, so you can stock your freezer for nights you just don’t feel like cooking.
Last weekend, friends of mine invited us to an awesome Scotch tasting. They had recently visited Islay and brought back some for us to try as well! Each Scotch was paired with a bite of food to bring out some of the flavors, including oysters, lamb kofta, pheasant sausage and so much more.
I naturally didn’t want to come empty handed so I brought this simple olive tapenade along with me.
Tapenade is a pureed mixture of olives, anchovies, capers and olive oil. Salty foods always pair nicely with spirits, so this recipe was an easy choice to bring to the party.
My mom recently put in a request for braciole. And by put in a request, I mean she went to Esposito’s in the Italian Market, purchased braciole, and told me I was going to make it. So. Slow Cooker Braciole it is!
I was excited to try; I’ve never made braciole before. Braciole is a thinly pounded meat that is topped with a filling and then rolled up and secured either with string or toothpicks. The rolled meat is browned and then added to a tomato sauce to cook.
I have to let you know. Braciole is a labor of love. There is so much prep work! The version I am sharing below is a recipe from a family friend that my parents have been using for years. I decided to make it in my slow cooker so that I could leave and run some errands while it cooked. Because of the prep work involved though, this is definitely a weekend meal.
Ingredients:
For Braciole:
3 eggs, hardboiled, diced
2 russet potatoes, boiled and diced
1 green bell pepper, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
1 lb mushrooms, finely chopped
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
8 pieces of braiole, or 2 lbs top round, cut into half inch thick slices
One of my favorite things to throw on the grill are vegetables, something magical and delicious happens when vegetables are grilled. One night, we were doing a bit of a fridge cleaning meal and ended up with ingredients for chicken cacciatore — mushrooms, peppers, chicken, etc. But, we wanted to use my Coyote OutdoorGrill, so Grilled Chicken Cacciatore was born. I didn’t have 2 big enough grill-safe pots, so this entire recipe isn’t made on the grill, but it can be if you’d like!
(To see some of my other recipes I’ve made using my beloved grill, check them out here.)
I threw in some summer squash and zucchini too, because it’s summer and we had some in the fridge. Feel free to omit.
Ingredients:
For the grill:
2 bell peppers, any colors, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 (8 oz) container sliced baby bella mushrooms
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
1 summer squash, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, smashed
4 chicken breasts (or chicken tenders like I used)
4 chicken drumsticks
olive oil, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
For the stovetop (unless you have oven-safe pots):
Since I returned from my honeymoon in Ireland a few weeks ago, I have been craving Irish Brown Bread like crazy. Served typically with breakfast, Irish brown bread is made with a coarse whole wheat flour, resulting in a hearty bread different than anything I can easily find here in the U.S.
The difference is really in the flour. To get the right consistency, you’d need to purchase a wholemeal flour, sometimes labeled as “Irish-Style,” which can be somewhat difficult to find (although it is available online.)
So when I was offered the chance to try out the Mockmill, a grain mill attachment for the KitchenAid Mixer, I jumped at the chance. I can make my OWN Irish-Style flour!
Besides my very specific reason for wanting to mill my own flour, there are a bunch of other benefits to using a grain mill. Grinding from whole wheat berries at home means that the bran and germ stay in your flour. A bunch of the “good stuff” is found in the bran and germ: fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants. However, the germ is removed from commercial flour because it reduces its shelf life; the oil in germ can turn rancid, so home milled flour should be used in 1-2 weeks, or stored in the freezer.
The Mockmill, designed by Wolfgang Mock, is nicely compact. (As a city dweller, I very much appreciate this.) I love that it attaches right to my stand mixer; it’s really simple to set up and begin using right away.
source: Mockmill
You adjust the coarseness of the grind by twisting the front of the mill. The mill uses self-sharpening ceramic-bonded corundum grinding stones, which can produce a very fine flour if needed.
The Mockmill grinds flour directly into the mixing bowl, really convenient if you’re using it immediately like I am!
Cleaning the Mockmill is also a breeze; the mill can be separated easily and rinsed to clean any minimal residue left from milling.
Mockmill is offering I Can Cook That readers a really sweet deal, available until August 31:$80 off (that’s over 30% off!) two different package options through this link if you use the code icancookthat.
The packages come with everything you need to begin milling at home: the Mockmill Grain Milling Attachment for Stand Mixers, a variety of whole grain berries to get you started, plus “Flour Power” by Marleeta Basey, a comprehensive introduction to the benefits of home milling! Be sure to check them out here.
Note: the price listed is the original price. Add the code icancookthat at checkout to receive $80 off. The sets of books, grains, and Mockmills are being especially made for this promotion so delivery times may vary.
To test out the mill (and make me some oh so yummy brown bread,) I decided to start with a relatively simple version of Irish bread, a yeasted version from the Ballymaloe House in County Cork, Ireland. This version of their recipe comes from David Lebovitz, and is super easy to make.
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #DareToPair #CollectiveBias
Hooray for spring! The weather may be warming up, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up my beloved pasta! However, I can at least lighten up my weekly pasta a bit. My favorite way to add a little spring to my pasta? Pesto, like in this recipe for Roasted Tomato Pesto Pasta!
Pairing fresh ingredients with pasta can really lighten up a comfort food favorite like pasta. I added in some slow roasted cherry tomatoes to add a bit of tomatoey goodness to the dish.
Barilla has a few Better for You Pasta’s to make lightening up you pasta dish even easier. I picked up a box of Barilla ProteinPLUS Rotini Pasta from Walmart; other options available at Walmart include Whole Grain Pasta, Veggie Pasta and Gluten Free Pasta.
Note: there is a great Ibotta offer right now for Buy any 3 select varieties of Barilla Products and earn $1.00 at Walmart! Details can be found at the link above.
Barilla ProteinPLUS has 17g of protein from all-natural vegetarian ingredients, so it’s a great way to add more protein to your pasta meals without adding meat or seafood.
Ingredients:
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground pepper, to taste
1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese
1 box of Barilla ProteinPLUS Rotini (or Spaghetti)
I am SO ready for spring! Around this time every year, I tend to start making more “springy” recipes in the hopes that the weather picks up on my strong hints for warmer weather. And what are more spring than peas?
This recipe for Kritharoto (Orzo Pasta with Peas Lemon and Feta) is from the most recent Cooking Light magazine.
In this recipe, Kirtharoto (or orzo pasta) is cooked in a chicken stock, tossed with fresh herbs and citrus, and topped with feta cheese. This simple recipe is on the table in under 30 minutes too!
Ingredients:
3 cups unsalted chicken stock or vegetable stock to make vegetarian
Happy New Year! Our unseasonably warm weather seems to have left with 2015, and colder temperatures are here to stay for a while. This recipe for Chicken Agrodolce with Creamy Polenta from Cooking Light’s December 2015 issue is great for cold nights — it’s comforting without being too heavy.
Agrodolce means “sweet and sour” in Italian. In this recipe, the golden raisins provide the sweetness while the red wine vinegar adds a touch of sour flavor to the sauce. The chicken thighs are simmered in the sauce and served with a creamy polenta to soak up the flavors.
The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap hosted is by Lindsay of Love & Olive Oil and Julie of The Little Kitchen. For the past five years, the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap has helped raise money for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease.
Kourambiethes are Greek Christmas Cookies, but also show up for really any celebratory event, so they are an all-year kind of treat. They are nut butter cookies, typically made with almonds or walnuts, which are then rolled in confectioners sugar. The result is a shortbread cookie that melts in your mouth!
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HolidayWithChobani #CollectiveBias
I come from an Irish family, so mashed potatoes are a very important part of every large family meal. If it was socially acceptable, I’d fill my plate just with mashed potatoes and gravy at holiday meals.
Mashed potatoes are quite a staple in my life, so I now find myself to be a bit of a mashed potato connoisseur. I like mine super creamy, but don’t necessarily want them loaded with butter to achieve that creaminess.
I personally like to add in Chobani® Non-fat Plain Greek Yogurt. Not only does it deliver the creaminess I am looking for, but it is high in protein (44% of your daily value to be exact) and is low in fat. The yogurt contains no artificial flavors or sweeteners and is only made with natural ingredients that are not genetically modified.
Chobani® Non-fat Plain Greek Yogurt is a simple and tasty substitute for any recipes that use sour cream, mayonnaise, or oil, making it a super versatile product. I almost always have a quart in my fridge for smoothies, baking, and creamy dressings.
This recipe is definitely a favorite of mine. It uses minimal ingredients and is really simple to make! You can also snazz it up however you’d like! I picked up all of my ingredients at Walmart; you can find Chobani with the other yogurts in the Dairy section.
Note: I was sent a coupon for a Kerrygold Product through Cooking Light Bloggers’ Connection. Opinions are mine alone.
We’ve had a rainy few days around Philly. Whenever there is crummy weather, there is only one meal that will suffice: Grilled Cheese!
Kerrygold has a nicely upgraded version of grilled cheese on their website (adorably named “toasties“) made with their Dubliner Cheese, an aged cow’s milk similar to cheddar. These Dubliner Cheese Toasties with Prosciutto and Tomato are topped with prosciutto, arugula, and tomato slices, yum!
Kerrygold products are a favorite of mine, you can always find a bit of gold shimmering from my butter dish. Their cheese is also amazing! The Kerrygold brand is a line of all-natural, grass-fed cheeses and butters crafted at dairy farms throughout Ireland. The hormone-free cheese and butters are available around the world but still come from milk supplied from independent dairy farmers within the Emerald Isle. (I’ve used Kerrygold’s Garlic and Herb Butter and my trusty Dubliner Cheese before in this post for Spinach-Chive Potato Bites.)
Ingredients (makes one sandwich):
2 slices marble rye
2 1/2 ounces Dubliner Cheese, thinly sliced
1/2 ounce thinly sliced prosciutto
1/4 cup arugula leaves
2 to 3 slices tomato
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons Kerrygold Irish Salted Butter, at room temperature
I had a sad surprise this weekend. I opened my freezer to grab a quart of tomato sauce only to find I was all out!
Time to make another batch of sauce, so I decided to make Homemade Marinara Sauce!
This time around, I have a nifty new tool to help make my marinara sauce: OXO’s new Illuminating Digital Immersion Blender.
The immersion blender has six digital controls so you can pick the perfect speed for whatever it is you need blended. Just turn the dial at the top of the immersion blender to adjust the speed; a backlit LED indicator clearly shows your speed selection.
To start blending, you just press down on the wide, soft-touch power button located on the top half of the blender. The handle is nonslip, even when hands are wet.
source: oxo.com
The head is made of nylon, which won’t scratch your bowls or cookware while it blends.
source: oxo.com
A really nifty spec is the soft-glow LED headlight that illuminates the pot while you blend, which is super helpful when making a large batch of soup or sauce in a tall pot. A softer version of the light remains on the entire time the blender is plugged in for safety.
The immersion blender comes with a measuring beaker with a silicone lid that holds up to 3 cups. You can blend right in the beaker, then top with the lid to store whatever you don’t use immediately.
When finished using the blender, the cord wraps securely around the blender body for tidy, compact storage, great for my small kitchen!
source: oxo.com
The blender is a super helpful tool when making soups, dips, smoothies, and sauces. I used it to make a smooth marinara sauce made with canned whole plum tomatoes and sauteed carrots, celery and onions.
Messaging below is intended for ages 21+ and is intended to be enjoyed responsibly, in moderation. This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #OktoberOnTheFarm #CollectiveBias
I’m celebrating Oktoberfest a bit late on my blog, but the weather has just starting feeling fall-like this week! Oktoberfest is a 16-day festival held in Munich, Germany at the end of September/beginning of October that is famously known for its beer drinking and accompanying eats.
When I think of Oktoberfest, I immediately imagine beer, pretzels, and yummy wursts (or sausages). One of my favorite sausages (although it’s not German) is Kielbasa, especially when grilled.
Hillshire Farm® Polska Kielbasa is made with beef, pork, and turkey with a blend of natural spices to really bring the flavor. I wanted to play off of the smoky flavor as well as pay tribute to Oktoberfest with a Beer and Cheddar Soup to pair with the Grilled Polska Kielbasa. I found Hillshire Farm Polska Kielbasa in my local Walmart.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons salted butter
1 leek, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup flour
4 cups low sodium chicken stock
12 oz Oktoberfest beer
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon smoked hot sauce (can also use liquid smoke)
