Cooking from Scratch
We took this dish and turned it into a full meal by serving it on top of some fresh, 50% spelt pasta (just make fresh pasta with 50% spelt flour, or any whole-wheat flour if you don’t have spelt), but we think that this will also work just fine as a side dish by leaving out the pasta. And, while we made some crispy sage leaves for an extra topping, you could leave those off, too. It just depends on how much scartchin’ you want to do.
Continue reading “Sage Cauliflower with Crispy Bread Crumbs”
Before we go further, please note that we won’t cover how to make agnolotti (the easiest filled pasta shape ever) in this post. Yes, we know that it’s in the title, but, this post is really about making the filling for the agnolotti, not making the agnolotti itself. If you think this is unfair, rest easy; we have a tutorial on shaping agnolotti (and instructions for a whole bunch of other shapes of pasta), so you can make them, too.
Continue reading “Pear, Gorgonzola, and Walnut Agnolotti”
What’s your favorite comfort food? Mac ‘n’ cheese? Grilled cheese sandwiches? Tomato soup and rice? Well, move all of those off to the side and meet your new comfort food: Risotto al Pomodoro. If you’ve had risotto, that creamy, cheesy, infinitely variable Italian dish, you already know that it’s a 10 on the patent-pending comfort-o-meter. This tomato-based risotto turns the comfort dial up another notch.
Continue reading “Risotto al Pomodoro (Tomato Risotto)”
When we get back from a trip, our cupboard is pretty bare. Before we leave, we try to eat all the fresh produce and anything that might spoil while we’re gone, so, when we get home, there’s very little in the refrigerator or on the shelves to make a dinner. At times, we think that maybe we should just order out a pizza and worry more about making meals later. But, during our travels, we’ve been eating out most nights; the last thing we want to do is get some sub-par takeaway food. With a little thought, we come up with something that will keep us filled and fueled.
Continue reading “Potato Frittata (Frittata di Patate)”
Recently I’ve said that the French can make a great tasting dinner from anything, but Italians can make a great tasting dinner from nothing. With today’s recipe, that seems to be true. From the title, you can probably guess that it’s an Italian dish, and, as you’ll see, it’s made from practically nothing. Or at least from just a few staples, and perhaps something that you might otherwise toss into the trash. Well, not you, fellow scratcher; we’re sure, though, that there’s someone out there who throws away food items that might be a bit past their prime. With some creativity, those throw-away bits could make your next great meal.
Continue reading “Polpette Casce e Ovo”
A few weeks ago we were looking through Baking at République, by Margarita Manzke, and, as usual, we saw a number of recipes we wanted to try. We copied down a few to store in our vast archive here at Scratchin’ It Central, figuring we’d try at least a couple, including this one for biscotti. If you’re wondering how we can get recipes from so many different cookbooks, we have two words for you: Public Library.
Continue reading “Chocolate-Pistachio Biscotti”
Do you like gnocchi, but don’t want to go to all the trouble of baking potatoes, ricing them, and then making gnocchi? Do you wish you could just mix a few ingredients together and have done with it? Would you like to have delicious gnocchi available for quick and easy dinners? Well, this is the recipe for you. Plus it makes enough that you can turn a few minutes of work into multiple meals.
Continue reading “Ricotta Gnocchi”