Spaghetti Nests – Italian Night with Mario and Luigi!

I found saw this on Giada De Laurentis cooking show.  It looks like fun, so I tried it.  It was surprisingly easy, and a big hit!

Ingredients:  Butter, for greasing pans; Pasta:  Kosher salt, 1/2 box spaghetti (about 8 ounces), 2 packed cups finely chopped spinach leaves, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, 2 TBS extra-virgin olive oil

To Assemble:  1/3 cup grated Parmesan, 2 TBS whole milk, 3/4 tsp kosher salt, 1 large egg, olive oil (for drizzling), 2 cups warmed marinara sauce, 12 small fresh mozzarella balls (such as ciliegine or bocconcini)

Special Equipment:  4 4-inch springform pans.

Directions:  Place an oven rack in the center of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter the bottom and sides of four 4-inch-diameter springform pans.

For the Pasta:  Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.  Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes.  Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl.  Add the spinach, cheese, oil and 1/2 tsp salt.  Toss well until the spinach is wilted.  Set aside to cool.

For Assembly:  Beat the Parmesan, milk, salt and egg together in a large bowl until smooth.  Pour the sauce over the spaghetti mixture until well combined.  Twirl 1/2 cupfuls of the spaghetti mixture around tongs or a large fork and transfer to the prepared pans.  Make an indentation in the middle of each nest of pasta and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake 15 minutes.  Let cool 10 minutes before removing the sides from the pans.  Remove the bottoms of the pans from the nests using a thin metal spatula.

Spoon 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce on each of 4 serving plates.  Place the spaghetti nests on the sauce.  Place 3 balls of the mozzarella in each nest and serve.

Toast to your Health!

Here are a few of the Mario and Luigi Italian Restaurant photos (aka, Garrett and Matthew at Memaw’s!)  They had a blast. 

The food was really good.  Next time, I think I’ll use my homemade sauce with meat.  Or maybe, I’ll make meatballs to put in the nests.  Sky’s the limit.

“Fab-u-loso!”

Making Cheese at Home

Gary and I went to Costco, needed to stock up on paper items, and as luck would have it — bought a new cookbook!  Yeah! d.i.y.cookbook (do it yourself).  I love cookbooks.  I can sit and read cookbooks all day and night.  Anyway, this cookbook is really cool.  It’s from the “America’s Test Kitchen.”

So far, I’ve made two cheeses from this book, ricotta and paneer.  The ricotta, which I’ve made before, turned out great.  Takes only a few ingredients (lemon juice, vinegar, whole milk and salt) and is very easy.  The only “got-cha” is to really watch the temperature on the milk.  It will boil over if you’re not really careful.  A real mess.  The paneer is made with buttermilk.  Naturally, tasted more tart than the ricotta.  Pretty easy to make, a few more steps than the ricotta.  Both are good, but I prefer the ricotta for taste and ease.

FYI, I like to use home-made ricotta as a cheese spread with toast or crackers.  You can change the flavor by adding fresh herbs or spices.  Yummy.

Let’s get Pickled!

Apparently, I have spring fever.  Gary and I have planted a few tomatoes, peppers and herbs.  This always inspires me to do some pickling.

“Dill” Pickling

So, I got out my d.i.y.cookbook and strolled through the pickling pages.  Must have got inspired, as I put up dilly beans, giardinier (cauliflower, carrots, celery, red bell pepper, serrano chilies and garlic), preserved lemons and marinated artichokes!  Nuts, huh?  The beans and giardinier turned out very well.  Next time I’ll add more peppers and less dill to the recipe.  We like it hot and spicy.  The artichokes were a pain to do, but wow…what rewards.  They taste fabulous.

(Don’t start that project unless you have a day to work in the kitchen.)   The lemons take 6-8 weeks to cure, so I haven’t tasted them yet.  Can’t wait.  I would suggest before starting a project like this, go to the nearest farmers market.  Dill is very expensive in the grocery store, much better deals at the market on herbs and veggies.  I would also pick up a good bottle of wine, or beverage of choice, you’ll be in the kitchen a while!  Have fun.

Brussells Sprouts even a kid will LOVE – Really!

Best Ever Brussells Sprouts

The other night I was getting ready to cook dinner.  Took a look in the frig, and there they were … brussells sprouts.  So, what do I want to do with these?  I usually cook them with garlic and beef broth, but wanted something different.  Out comes Anne’s book, cook like a rock star.  I found this outstanding recipe called “Frizzled Brussells Sprouts with Pancetta & Walnuts.”  What’s not to love?  This recipe is quite time-consuming, as you have to actually peel the brussells sprouts … little, tiny leaf by leaf!  After that task, you’re home free.  I substituted center cut bacon for the pancetta.  This was the best sprouts dish I’ve ever eaten.  Truly a keeper.  I had the leftovers for lunch, and they were just as flavorful!  Rock on Anne!

Dinners with Twist

A Really LONG Dinner

Being a little odd is sometimes fun; Gary and I decided to make this dinner in a “line”.  🙂  Not bad for an all grilled meal:  corn-on-the-cob, grilled romaine lettuce and pork tenderloin.  Tasted really good, too!  YUM.