Cooking from Scratch
You haven’t heard of gnudi? We hadn’t, either, until we read about them in Pasta, by Gianni Scappin, Alberto Vanoli, and Francesco Tonelli, which provided us with a recipe for Ricotta and Spinach Gnudi, on which this recipe is based. Gnudi are simply small dumplings, somewhat like gnocchi, but easier to make. Easy is good. So, with a pumpkin from our CSA share, we went about making up a batch of dumplings.
Continue reading “Pumpkin and Walnut Gnudi”
We love filled pasta such as ravioli or tortellini, but, to be honest, sometimes it just takes too much time to make dozens and dozens of them. If only there were a large filled-pasta shape that we could make, oh, perhaps, 15 to 20, and be done with it. Not surprisingly, there is such a pasta shape.
Continue reading “Shaping Cappellacci”
We’re not sure about you, but we don’t deep-fry anything. Too messy, and too much trouble. We do pan-fry foods occasionally (Fried Okra, for example), but to fill up a Dutch oven with a gallon of oil, fry enough for two, then do something with the oil afterwards, nope. That’s not for us. Fortunately, you can almost always bake some of those things you’d deep-fry, instead. Yes, we know, they really aren’t the same, and we agree, but, if the choice is between baked or nothing, we’ll, we don’t scratch our heads thinking about that one.
Continue reading “Baked Arancini”
Okay, a confession. We have no idea how to make tamales. Well, that’s not quite true; we know that you make a dough from masa harina (flour made from dried hominy), place some on a corn husk, layer with chili and cheese, more masa harina, wrap and tie the husk, steam, and finally enjoy. We’ve always heard that it’s a lot of trouble, and, because it is, one makes dozens of tamales at a time. Well, we don’t have masa harina in the house, and we’re not going out to buy some. We really don’t need yet another type of flour in our cupboard. Maybe we can use stuff that’s in our cupboard to come close enough.
Continue reading “Green Chili and Cheese “Tamales””
Since we were away last week, you get a shorter-than- usual post, one very similar to last Monday’s post, when we made the Parmesan, Almond, and Rosemary Biscotti. We’ll try to do better in the future.
Continue reading “Cranberry and Walnut Biscotti”
It’s been a while since we showed you how to shape a type of pasta, so we thought that we’d cover making scarpinocc. It’s a filled pasta — the original recipe we saw called for tallagio cheese and black pepper — similar to the caramelle we’ve made in the past, but a little easier. Our filling was a simple goat cheese and pumpkin filling that we mixed up quickly in a food processor: about a cup of drained pumpkin, 6 ounces of fresh goat cheese, a couple of eggs, basil, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Feel free to use a filling that you like.
Continue reading “Shaping Scarpinocc”
It’s that time of year. The third week in June when the temperatures really start to soar. We’re talking about highs around 116°F. Quite hot! So, that means we don’t bake as much; instead, we tend to make more meals on top of the stove to prevent heating the kitchen. Such as this meal; everything is made right on the stove, and you can even make up the sauce hours in advance.
Continue reading “Peppery Fettuccine in a Creamy Butternut Sauce”