Rustic Comfort

Clearly, the name of the game recently has been comfort food. This is a more elegant and rustic countryside type of comfort food. The heartiness of the sausage and mushrooms paired with the creamy polenta and the side of sauteed chard with garlic is perfect for a chilly fall night.


Mushroom-Sausage Ragu (Food and Wine Magazine, October 2010)

We used veggie sausage instead of meat sausage to make this recipe vegetarian. We also substituted dried porcini mushrooms instead of dried morels because of availability. In addition, we omitted the water chestnuts because neither of us are fans.

1 cup dried morel mushrooms
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 sweet Italian sausages
1/2 lbs. shiitake caps, quartered
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 thinly sliced shallots
6 water chestnuts, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
chopped parsley, for garnish

1. Soak the morels in 1 1/2 cups of boiling water until softened. Rinse and pat dry; reserve the soaking liquid. In a skillet, heat 1 Tbs. of the oil. Add the sausages, cover and cook over moderate heat until no longer pink within; slice 1/4 inch thick. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet. Add the shiitake, season with salt and pepper and cook until softened. Add the shallots and morels; cover and cook for 4 minutes. Add the water chestnuts. Pour in the morel soaking liquid. Add the sausages and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper. Off the heat, swirl in the butter and sprinkle with parsley. Serve over polenta.

Leftovers Gone Good

After making the ravioli, we had some leftover filling and some leftover baked zucchini. I didn't want such delicious parts of a meal to go to waste, so I concocted a whole new meal out of the remains. I cut up the zucchini, saving the breadcrumbs on the side, and mixed the zucchini and ravioli filling with cooked quinoa in a baking dish. I topped the quinoa mix with the zucchini breadcrumbs and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. I baked the dish for approximately 20 minutes until the breadcrumbs turned a golden brown. I sprinkled the casserole with some fresh parsley to spruce it up. And voila! A delicious, healthy leftover reinvention!

Radical Ravioli

I have to admit that since I've taken so long to post these recipes, I have forgotten the exact way I made them. But, what I do remember is that they were absolutely delicious and there is no way to mess them up. This gives you the opportunity to create your own dish with a helpful guide.
When my mom was here I took her to our local farmers' market so she could experience one of my favorite things in the Bay Area. We found beautiful looking chard, baby zucchini, and tomatoes that we had to bring home with us. With these amazing items we decided to make chard and ricotta ravioli with a fresh tomato sauce and baked zucchini topped with breadcrumbs. To round out the meal, we made huge breadsticks for everyone.


Chard and Ricotta Ravioli with a Fresh Tomato Sauce

1 bunch chard, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ricotta (any fat content)
salt and pepper to taste

wonton wrappers or fresh pasta sheets (we made the pasta with half whole wheat flour and half white flour)

3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3-5 tomatoes (preferably heirloom, but whatever you have on hand is perfect), chopped
2 Tbs. parsley, chopped
balsamic vinegar, splash

Parmesan cheese, grated

1. To prepare the filling, saute the garlic and chard in a skillet over medium heat until the chard has wilted. Take off the heat and add to the ricotta, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
2. To fill the ravioli, take a dollop of the filling and place in the wonton wrapper or along the pasta sheet. Fold the wonton or pasta over and seal with water along the edges. Press with a fork to ensure a good seal. (The pasta water becomes quite messy if the ravioli don't have good seals.)
3. Cook the pasta in boiling water for about 2 minutes. You know when they are done because the ravioli will float to the top.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the tomato sauce by sauteing the garlic and onion in a skillet coated with olive oil over medium heat until the onions are soft and the garlic is fragrant. Add the tomatoes, parsley, balsamic vinegar, and some salt and pepper, tossing with the garlic and onion. Allow the tomatoes to simply get hot, then remove the pan from the burner.
5. Plate the ravioli by putting several ravioli on the dish and topping with the tomato sauce and grated Parmesan cheese.


Baked Zucchini

This is an incredibly easy side dish that is also incredibly delicious. Don't think that because there aren't a lot of ingredients that this recipe isn't worth trying out. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

baby zucchini, halved (you will want about 1-2 zucchini per person)
Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
olive oil

1. Place the halved zucchini in a baking dish, cut side up. Cover with breadcrumbs and drizzle with olive oil. Place in a preheated 375 oven. Bake for 25 minutes or until the zucchini are tender and the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Strata

This is my first attempt and actual eating of strata. I have to say that it isn't my favorite dish I've made. The consistency of the bread is not ideal, but it is an interesting and different way to incorporate vegetables, protein, and carbohydrates into one dish. I recommend giving this a shot if you have some time to prep the day or morning before you want to serve it, as it does need to rest in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.

Caramelized Onion, Swiss Chard, and Fontina Cheese Strata (Cooking Light, July 2007)

cooking spray
3 cups thinly sliced Vidalia or other sweet onion
8 cups coarsely chopped Swiss chard (about 1 lbs.)
1/2 tsp. salt, divided
1 1/3 cups fat-free milk
1 cup egg substitute
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
dash of ground nutmeg
12 oz. French bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 10 cups)
3/4 cup drained, crumbled water-packed firm tofu
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded fontina cheese

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion; cook 12 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Add chard; cook 5 minutes or until chard wilts, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in 1/4 tsp. salt.
2. Combine 1/4 tsp. salt, milk, and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl; toss well to coat. Place half of bread mixture in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top evenly with tofu, half of chard mixture, and 1/2 cup cheese. Top evenly with remaining bread mixture, remaining chard mixture, and 1/2 cup cheese. Cover with foil coated with cooking spray. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350.
4. Remove strata from refrigerator; let stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Bake strata, covered, at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Spice and Everything Nice

After our cheese and cookie night, our bodies were craving a healthy, vegetable-heavy meal. After looking through various cookbooks, we decided to make a Vegetarian Pozole from Moosewood Restaurant's cookbook. The pozole is a flavorful, hearty stew with squash, bell peppers, hominy, and a bunch of chipotle peppers. We topped our stew off with chopped avocado, crumbled queso freso, and a sprinkle of cilantro. I am extremely glad that I had lunches of this for the rest of the week.


Vegetarian Pozole (Moosewood Restaurant's New Classics)

We added chopped chard to the pozole as well for some added green and nutrients. Feel free to add extra vegetables if you want more nutrition or just need to get rid of something in the fridge. I don't think you can go wrong with this recipe.

4 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/8 plus 1/4 tsp. salt
3 1/2 cups canned tomatoes with juice, chopped (28-oz. can)
3 to 4 cups peeled, seeded, can cubed delicata squash [or butternut]
4 cups coarsely chopped red or green bell pepper
4 cups drained hominy (two 15-oz. cans)
2 tsp. fresh lime juice
2 to 3 Tbs. minced chipotles in adobo sauce
1 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano, sage, or epazote

grated Monterey Jack, avocado cubes, crushed tortilla chips, chopped fresh cilantro, shredded lettuce, fresh lime wedges

1. Warm the oil in a soup pot. Add the onions and saute on medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until golden. Stir in the garlic and 1/8 tsp. of the salt and saute for 2 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and squash and simmer for about 10 minutes.
2. Add the bell peppers, cover, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the squash is tender. Stir in the hominy, [greens], lime juice, chipotles in adobo sauce, the remaining 1/4 tsp. of salt, and the oregano, sage, or epazote. Simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Serve with your favorite garnishes.

A Cannelloni Craving

For some extremely odd reason, I had a craving for cannelloni. I know, strange. We had leftover ricotta from the Spinach Gnocchi, so I'm sure that's where I got the idea from. A lot of the recipes I looked at used lasagna noodles for the basis of the cannelloni, but I always thought of cannelloni as Italian crepes. Mario Batali, however, does have a recipe that included a crepe-like batter. I used his crepe recipe (although, I omitted the 4 Tbs. of butter he added) and filled the cannelloni with a hearty mixture of chard and ricotta and topped them all off with a tomato sauce and mozzarella. After baking them for about 20 minutes, they came out perfectly cheesy and everything I had hoped for.


Chard and Ricotta Cannelloni

Crepe
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup milk

Filling
1 bunch chard, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
2 cups ricotta
salt and pepper to taste

tomato sauce (canned is fine)
1/2 to 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

1. Prepare the crepe batter by whisking the ingredients together until there are no more lumps. Let it stand approximately 20 minutes.
2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until slightly fragrant. Add the chard and saute until wilted. Allow the chard to cool slightly.
3. Mix the chard with the ricotta in a large bowl. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. To prepare the crepes, heat a scant amount of butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Pour approximately 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet and make so that it covers the bottom completely. When the one side has cooked the edges will begin to peel up. At this point, flip the crepe and allow to cook on the other side. Repeat this procedure with the remaining batter.
5. In a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, lay out a crepe and fill it with the chard and ricotta mixture. Roll the edges inward to form a tube and situate so that the seam is on the bottom of the dish. Repeat with the remaining crepes and filling. Top with tomato sauce and mozzarella. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediately and enjoy!