Chicken Rigatoni and Family History

A while back, I became interested in researching my Father's family. My biological Dad passed away when I was 14, and I never knew his Father or his father's family, except for one great-aunt. I met my grandfather only once, when I was maybe 3 or 4 years old, I very vaguely remember him.I've never actually spoken to him, though my research leads me to believe he may still be alive, so I am contemplating writing a letter. Anyway, my Grandma had told me a lot about the family. When she spoke of my Grandfather, she usually talked about how he cooked. He is Italian and from New York City and she told me about how when he made pasta, he'd have a big pot of sauce simmering all day long, and he'd stir it and check the spices and season it. The first time I set out to make homemade sauce, I disregarded any recipe that took less than 3 hours to make. She talked about his brothers and how they dressed and how the whole family ate. I always romanticized it in my head, and when I would see a big Italian family gathered together in movies or on TV, I always imagined that's what it was like and being a part of it. I have an Italian friend who is also from NY, and her family IS that large, loud, gorgeous, loving Italian family you see in movies. I remember eating dinner with her family and imagining that my Father's family was just like them and I might one day be a part of something like it. Please don't get me wrong, the family that I do know was wonderful to grow up in, and we had many many happy dinners and holidays.

Anyway, through my research I discovered that my Grandfather lived at least part of his life in upstate/central New York. Through researching the town, I found that there is a regional dish that is very popular there, called Chicken Riggies. I'd never heard of it in my life, but the description of rigatoni pasta, chicken, and peppers in a tomato cream sauce sounded amazing. I looked up several recipes and found that the recipes vary drastically from family to family. The ingredients that all of the recipes contained were rigatoni, cherry peppers, chicken, and tomatoes. So, I chose 5 recipes and picked and chose what I liked from them, added my own ingredients and preferred tastes, and came up with my own recipe. I can't call it Chicken Riggies, because I've never been anywhere near NY and I would have no idea if it tastes anything close to their beloved dish. I can tell you, though, that what I came up with is delicious. My husband devoured it, talked about it for days afterward, and has requested that I make it at least once a month.

Ingredients:

1 lb of Rigatoni pasta
2 lbs of boneless chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
5 cloves of garlic, smashed, grated, or minced
1 bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces, I used green
7 jarred sweet cherry peppers, seeded and roughly chopped (I plan to try with fresh when in season)
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 (28oz) can of whole tomatoes
1/2 cup sherry wine (cooking sherry is fine)
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried basil (can use fresh, just triple the amount)
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes, optional
olive oil, for sauteing chicken and garlic

In a large pot (I used a 5 qt nonstick dutch oven), place 2 TBS olive oil and 4 cloves of minced garlic (I grate mine on a Microplane) while the pan is still cold. Turn the heat on to medium and allow the garlic to heat with the oil, to infuse it with flavor and not burn and turn bitter, about 5 minutes. When the garlic is golden but not burned, add the chopped bell pepper and mushrooms. Allow to cook for 5 minutes, to soften. Add the tomatoes, cherry peppers, and sherry, bring it to a simmer. Cover and reduce heat to keep it bubbling but not boiling while you prepare the chicken.

In a large skillet, heat a little olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, when the pan is hot add the chicken and remaining garlic. Allow the chicken to get good and brown on both sides. This took about 15 minutes total for me. When the chicken is almost done, use a masher to break up the tomatoes in the sauce pot. Once the tomatoes are broken up, add the chicken to the pan. Use a splash of sherry to deglaze the skillet you prepped the chicken in. Add the deglazing liquid to the sauce. Put a large pot of water on to boil the rigatoni. While you are waiting for the water to boil, add the cream cheese and basil, stirring to fully incorporate the cream cheese. You could also use heavy cream, I chose cream cheese since the little grocery store I went to doesn't stock heavy cream. When the water is boiling, add 1 TBS of salt and the rigatoni to the water. Cook 1 minute less than the package tells you to. Continue stirring the sauce, making sure it is at a strong simmer, stir in the Parmesan cheese very well. When the noodles are done, drain them and toss them with the sauce in the pot. Serve with red pepper flakes and extra Parmesan.

I just love discovering regional dishes, local favorites, and I hope to visit many of the places I've read about and try the authentic versions myself. One of my favorites is the Moco Loco, which my husband ordered for breakfast in Maui at my brother-in-law's suggestion. It was so yummy and I've since made my own version at home. It's a bed of white rice, topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, and brown gravy. It sounds weird, but it is super yummy.

Orzo in Asiago Cream Sauce

I made this for lunch, and it was delicious. If I were serving it for dinner or for company I would add things like sauteed mushrooms, pancetta/ham/bacon, caramelized onion, and a crumb topping. This is a great base recipe that I will definitely use to create more elaborate dishes in the future. You can use any type of pasta you like, I had orzo and lasagna noodles on hand, so I went with orzo. Farfalle (bow ties) would be my first choice.

1 lb dry Pasta, prepared al dente.
1/2 TBS Olive Oil
1 Garlic clove
2 tsp Italian herbs
1 1/2 cups Cream
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1 cup shredded Asiago cheese
Salt to taste

Optional Baked Topping:
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 Cup shredded Asiago cheese


Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat, chop of grate garlic on zester and add to oil. When the garlic in fragrant, add the herbs. When the garlic is lightly golden, add the cream. Heat through and add the pepper and nutmeg. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Asiago cheese. Taste and add salt accordingly. Serve as is or put it in a casserole dish, combine the Parmesan and Asiago cheeses, sprinkle over the pasta, and pop under the broiler until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly. (Am I the only one who picture Dolly Parton in Steel Magnolias during the Cuppa Cuppa Cake scene when I read the words "golden brown and bubbly"?) Enjoy! I served mine over steamed broccoli in an attempt to feel better about eating pasta, cream, and cheese for lunch.

Deep Dish Pizza

Of everything I make, this is probably my husband's favorite meal. He is a pizza lover, and though he likes the thinner, more modestly dressed Italian-style pizzas, he much prefers the more Americanized, topping overload pizzas.

When I was a kid, we had family friends from Illinois, somewhere just outside of Chicago. The wife was a fabulous cook, and I use some of her recipes to this day. The husband's specialty was his Deep Dish Pizza. He was VERY particular about it. It was soooo good. He doesn't share his recipe, but this is pretty close. I've never been to Chicago, so I have no idea how it compares to pizza you would get there, but it's really good, and always a hit.

Ingredients:

1 ball of Pizza Dough. (This recipe makes 2 balls)
1 lb Italian Sausage
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 8oz package of mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
8 oz mozzarella, sliced
Fresh basil - optional

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Remove sausage casings if present. Brown and crumble in a large skillet. Remove to a plate. Saute onions and bell pepper in sausage drippings until softened but not mushy. Remove to plate with sausage. Saute mushrooms and red pepper flakes until liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Remove to plate. Add garlic, saute 1 minute, then add tomato sauce, oregano, and fennel. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Press pizza dough into bottom and halfway up the sides of the casserole dish. Layer toppings onto the dough, pour the sauce over them, top with the cheese and optional basil. Bake until crust is golden and cheese is bubble, about 20-25 minutes. Enjoy. This never lasts very long in our house.

I've been told that traditional deep dish pizza has the cheese on the bottom. Which is fine and dandy, I just like to put it on top so it helps hold the toppings toghether. But, to each his own.

Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce

 

 

This is a short-cut meal. With a busy toddler, sometimes, I just don't have more than 20 minutes or so to make dinner. This dish comes together quickly with things I usually have on hand. I've served it to several people, everyone loves it, and nobody ever believes how easy it is to make.

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta (I used whole grain penne)
1 26 oz jar of spaghetti sauce (I usually use my own, but if I'm out I use Hunt's 4 Cheese)
8 oz cream cheese
Freshly grated parmesean cheese (I actually prefer pecorino but I use what I have on hand)
Fresh basil (optional)

Cook pasta according to package instructions. While pasta is cooking, cut cream cheese into several pieces. Warm spaghetti sauce and cream cheese together, stirring often to combine. Drain pasta and toss
with sauce. Place in serving dish, top with cheese and torn basil leaves.

Italian Pork Roast & Uses for Leftovers

I love using an economical cut of meat to make something spectacular. This recipe is a great way to prepare an expensive pork roast, with a little twist on the traditional. It is great sliced and served with veggies and mashed potatoes, in a sandwich, and so many other ways. I'm going to show you how I prepared it, and the various ways I served it.

One of our local grocers had boston butt on sale for .99/lb, so of course I had to get some. Boston butt is usually sold in 3-5 lb packages. I sent my hubbie to buy two. He called me very perplexed and asked where I planned to store so much meat. "Uh, in the freezeer" I replied. "I'll bring you one, if you still want more, I'll pick another one up tomorrow". I said "OK"; but I was a little confused, until he got home five minutes later. These suckers were being soldin 20 lb packages. It was huge, two would NOT have fit in my freezer, I wasn't even sure about one. Luckily, Hubbie was able to cut it into four 5lb roasts and pack them in the fridge.

 Ingredients:

Boston Butt (pork shoulder) - 3-5 lbs
Garlic - 2 cloves
Fennel Seed - 1 TBS
Salt - 1 TBS
Dried Rosemary - 3/4 TBS
Pepper - 1 tsp
Ground Cloves - 1pinch

Grate garlic with a microplane, addthe remaining herbs and spices and mix together. Place the meat in a roasting pan, fat side up. Score the top in a criss cross pattern. I go through the fat and maybe 1/4 inch into the meat. Rub the spice mixture into the meat, pushing it into the score marks as you go. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and let it sit for at least a few hours. I seasoned mine about 11:30 Monday night and let it hang out until 7:00 Wednesday morning. Then I put it in the Crock Pot on HIGH for four hours, then switched it to low for about four hours.

These are some sandwiches I have made from the leftovers this week:

 

Pork roast, onions that were cooked with it, romaine pepperoncinis, and mozzarella on a focaccia roll, drizzled with oil & vinegar.

 

 

Pork roast, grilled zucchini, grilled onions, grilled bell peppers, spicy bread and butter pickles, pepperoncinis, mozzarella, and feta on a focaccia roll, spread with Dijon mustard. I made this into a panini since I already had the panini maker out to grill the veggies on.

 

We also made Pulled Pork Sandwiches, BBQ Pork Pizza, and sliced pork roast with gravy made from the juices.

 

So, next time you see Boston Butt or Pork Shoulder roasts on sale, pick one up. It's an economical cut of meat that can be made into several delicious meals. For more inspiration, check out my Boston Butt post.

Focaccia Rolls

We love bread in this house. I made a batch of these on Wednesday morning and they were gone this morning; so I made another batch today. These are super simple to make and though we've only used them for sandwiches or eaten them by themselves so far, I think they would go well with pretty much any meal. For the dough, I just used my basic pizza dough recipe.




Dough:
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/3 cups warm water
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 TBS salt
2 tsp sugar
2 1/2 TBS Olive Oil

Topping:
1 clove garlic
2 TBS olive oil
salt
rosemary

Proof the yeast in the warm water. You want the water around 110 degrees F. Too hot and you'll kill the yeast.

I use a stand mixer, but you can do the mixing and kneading by hand if you want to. I use the dough hook attachment for my KitchenAid. Mix everything except the water/yeast mixture in the bowl, then add the water/yeast mixture. Combine them on medium speed, about 4. As soon as a ball starts to form,  switch it down to 1. Set a timer, and let it go for 10 minutes. Unless you have one VERY large bowl, find two large bowls, and grease them well with olive oil.

After the dough is nice and kneaded, place it onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into two equal parts. Form each one into a nice, tight ball and place in the bowls seam side down. Brush the tops with more olive oil and cover with plastic wrap. Put them in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about 45 minutes. I use my oven for this.

After the dough is nice and risen, punch it down. Lightly flour your work surface, sprinkle flour on each side on the dough. I actually just drop each piece into my flour bin. Then place the dough on your work surface and pat or roll out into about a 10-12 inch circle/oval shape. Cut into four equal pieces. I just cut it in half vertically and again horizontally. Place on greased baking sheet. Do this for both dough rounds. Note: this is the size I used for sandwich buns, and they are pretty large. When I made them today, I cut one ball into 8 pieces, which would be more appropriate for a dinner roll. I also recommend using 2 baking sheets, as these rise quite a bit.

Using a microplane-type grater, grate the garlic into a small dish, stir in the olive oil. Brush this mixture over all of the rolls, then sprinkle with rosemary and salt. I didn't put rosemary on half of these since I wanted to use them for Cuban sandwiches.

 Let the rolls rise again for 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and bake for 18-20 minutes.

Creamy White Chicken Lasagna

is a white lasagna I came up with to use up some ricotta, broccoli, and chicken I had in the fridge. It is a very simple recipe. This is a smaller recipe than I would normally make, I only used an 8x8 pan, but It could easily be adapted to a larger pan.

Ingredients:

1.5 - 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken. I used the meat from 3 thighs.
1 package frozen broccoli, cooked
8 lasagna noodles, cooked
1 lb ricotta cheese
2 cloves garlic, chopped or grated on a zester
salt and pepper
1 T Italian herbs
2 cups mozzarella cheese
2 cup chicken broth
2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup flour
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper

After cooking the chicken, lasagna, and broccoli. Combine the chicken, broccoli, rocotta, herbs, and a few pinches of salt and pepper in a bowl. Whisk together broth, milk, flour, nutmeg,and a few pinches of salt and pepper ina sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk until thickened, mix half of white sauce in with chicken and broccoli. Place a layer of noodles in and 8x8 pan, cover with half of the filling mixture, add a layer of noodles, cover with remaining filling. Top with remaining noodles and the rest of the white sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella. I also sprinkled some sliced olives on top, but that is optional. Bake at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes.

Braciole

This is my rendition of a delicious old school Italian dish. The kind of dish I would imagine the Italian side of my family enjoyed Sunday evening after church. I don't know much about them, but I've always longed for the kind of family dinners you see big Italian families attending in movies. I have a friend whose family is from the same Brooklyn neighborhood my Grandfather grew up in, being a dinner guest at her house gave me a taste of the Italian family I'd dreamed of but never experienced. Not to knock the family I have. We always had amazing family dinners and lots of love.

This was my first time preparing this dish. I read about 100 different recipes, and picked out what I liked from each. I then adapted the ingredients based on what I had in my kitchen. I urned out delicious, and my husband adored it. This would be a perfect dish to make for a dinner party.

I didn't measure out the filling ingredients, so these are estimations of what I used for 2 people.

thinly sliced flank steak - 1 per person

2 TBS chopped shallots, sauteed just enough to soften them
Panko breadcrumbs - 1/4 cup
Spinach - 1/4 cup
1 clove garlic - I grate it with a microplane zester
10 basil leaves
a handful of Parmesan cheese
a handful of grated Mozzarella
Spaghetti sauce - I used a jar of 4 cheese sauce

Pound the steaks thin between 2 pieces of waxed paper. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a few TBS of olive oil in a skillet. Mix filling ingredients together. Spoon a few TBS of filling over each steak. Roll up and tie with butcher's twine or secure with toothpicks. Brown quickly in skillet. Lower heat, add sauce and simmer 60-90 minutes, turning occasionally. Check for tenderness. Remove twine and serve. I had extra filling, so I spooned it over the tops and put it under the broiler to brown up. I probably wouldn't have bothered with this step if I weren't already using an oven-safe skillet. I served this with a big salad and creamy polenta.

Italian Meatballs

Absolutly delicious, moist, flavorful, perfect meatballs. Make these for the people in your life, they'll love you for it.

2 1/2 lbs ground beef
4 sweet Italian sausages
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 large or 10 small basil leaves, chopped
handful fresh parsly leaves, chopped
2 eggs
2/3 cup bread crumbs
two big handfuls of parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
vegetable or canola oil for frying

Fresh herbs are preferred, but dried could be substituted. For the tastiest meatballs, use real parmesan cheese, not the stuff in the green can.

Heat 1/3 cup oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Place ground beef in a mixing bowl, remove sausage casing and add to bowl. Add the garlic and remaining ingredients. Using your hands, mix the ingredients well, without overmixing. Dig your hands in and squeeze, then turn the meat to grab what is on the bottom. Do not over mix, your meatballs will be like rocks rather than tender and juicy. Form your meatballs, I usually make them about the size of golf balls, and I get about 20 from a batch. You can make them smaller or larger, depending on your liking.
Check the oil by placing a small piece of meat in the skillet, if it bubbles around the meat, it's hot enough. When the oil is sufficiently heated, place the meatballs in. When the first side is nice and brown and gorgeous, flip them. You may have to flip them to the sides as well, especially if they are large.
Drain on a plate lined with paper towels and enjoy with pasta and your favorite red sauce or as the star of a meatball sub.