Pasta Al Forno

Pasta Al Forno, this is my little brother Giuseppe's favorite food!!! When I make this dish I kind break it up in two steps because to make it you must use the Ragu sauce that has been cooking for hours!!! Because of this I usually make a lot of Ragu than I save a good amount of the sauce to make pasta al forno the next day. Why do I break it up you ask?? Because to make this dish not only do you need the ragu sauce but then you must make very small meatballs, boil some eggs, hand shred good smoked mozzarella cheese, Parmeggiano Regiano, oh and a little thing we do in our house and not so much in Naples, Italy mix some delicious left over ricotta from the day before. Now very important when boiling up the pasta you must leave it a little more raw than al dente because when it is cooking in the oven it will get softer and no one likes soft pasta NO ONE!!!!
OK so lets proceed...in this delicious oven baked delight the best way to make is to get in there and get your hands dirty!!!! Mix all the ingredients and do it with love!!!! Then simply bake it for like 20-30 minutes and Voila!!!

Polpette al Sugo di Pomodoro

Is it a cliche to say Spaghetti and meatballs is one of my favorite comfort foods?? I love traveling with my husband and I absolutely love trying different foods from other countries I will admit however, when I come back from vacation from a different country other than what is in my blood I crave one of my cultures comfort foods; a beautiful plate of spaghetti with delicious tomato sauce that has small to medium sized meatballs cooking in it (oh yes with lots of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano)! 30 minutes is all you need to make this delicious yet hearty dinner. For the meatballs , good plain bread crumbs and a very nice amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano makes them absolutely succulent! When I cook this I cook the meatballs first in olive oil and garlic until they get golden and the juices get flowing; then I add a nice can of San Marzano tomatoes and let it cook with all the juices. Comfort at anytime!  

Liguini with Clams!!!!

What can I say about Linguini with Clams??? LOVE IT!!!!!!  We do this for Christmas every year and of course anytime we are in the mood for it =) This dish must be carefully watched when cooking the clams. I use a generous amount of aromatic extra virgin olive oil, smashed garlic, some well picked clams, parsley and an ENTIRE bottle of delicious Pinot Grigio. The trick to cooking clams is that as soon as they open while cooking you must take it out so as to not over cook. Overcooked clams /seafood is by far a huge sin!!! I literally take a clam out one by one when they open hence the reason why it must be carefully watched. As this is definitely one of my favorites I certainly cannot compare it to the abundance of beautiful tiny clams the sea in Naples has. They are tiny yet so powerful and pungent that most of the time no salt is needed to make it because the ocean is in each of the shells! I have shown two linguini with clams one is with cherry tomatoes and the other without. Both are just as good just different ways to make it.

Pasta Fagioli!

Pasta Fagioli!!! I will admit when you are on a budget but want to eat something comforting and yet impressive pasta fagioli with mussels is you answer! Made with beautiful cannelini beans that have been soaked over night ( or even canned ones) and a variation of mixed pasta, garlic, onions, a few little crushed cherry tomatoes for color, and mussels. This dish does not necessarily always have to have mussels but it adds intense flavor and you'll never want to eat it with out them again. My mother makes this with mussels and leaves them on the shell which is also very good but....my Zia Maria in Italy showed me an extra step that does basically knock your socks off!!!! She takes each mussel out after they have opened and once she has them all in a bowl without the shells once the pasta fagioli is ready to serve she takes a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil in a small pan and adds the mussels for a few second just until you here them sizzle!! Pour the pasta fagioli in the pasta bowl add the mussels with the delicious aromatic olive oil and some parsley and you have dish to remember!

Refreshing Salmon!

When I'm in the mood for salmon I can't think of a better match then pairing it with some fresh beautiful mint leaves from my herb garden on my balcony =) The sauce I created for salmon just made sense to me, in a food processor mix yogurt, garlic, dijon mustard, salt, lemon, and a generous bunch of mint leaves. Serving this sauce cold with seared or poached salmon is exactly what I crave during hot summer days!
P.S. I like to serve this in a deep dish with a spoon so that every single bite of the salmon is swimming in this mint yogurt delight! But of course thats just me  ;)

RAGU!!

AHHH RAGU!!!!! What can I say about this classic sauce!! There are so many ways to make this and with so many different meats, my favorite is short ribs or ox tail.  This is the kind of sauce that you want to start early and on very low heat all day! To make ragu you want to make sure you use strained tomatoes! Some people use onions and garlic others just use garlic and some use red wine or even white wine, again many different family recipes for ragu. The way I make it is with garlic, onions, and red wine.
To serve this comforting sauce my favorite pasta is paccheri pasta or rigatoni as shown. However, somewhere in the middle hidden there is a wonderful scoop of delicious ricotta cheese!!! Heaven!!!!!!!!!


P.S. When making ragu don't forget to make eggplant parmeggiana with this delicious sauce!!!

Roasted Peppers!!!

I can't even express how delicious & inviting my home smells when I put bunch of beautiful vibrant colored peppers in the oven to roast! I do this on Sundays when I make ragu, my husbands favorite. They're roasted until the skin is black so I could peel them. The natural oil and juices from the peppers are so incredibly sweet that with only a few ingredients (olive oil, garlic, olives, capers, & a hint of salt) you have tantalizing side dish that could make headlines on its own!