Sopranos Baked Ziti

I have recently become obsessed with the Sopranos and am currently in the fourth season. It is an amazing show, and I am in love with a few of the characters (Furio, Tony, Johnnie Sacks, Carmella). A few of the characters, however, I would like to die soon (Ralphie is the main one I hate!)

Walking into a book store closing, I came across the Sopranos Family Cookbook (as compiled by Artie Bucco). I thought it was hilarious, and since I didn't have any Italian cookbooks, I bought it.

So here is the recipe I used to make a really delicious baked ziti. I made some substitutions which I will note in the text. Enjoy, it is delicious! (And makes a ton, so invite others over to help you eat...or perhaps freeze some?)

Step One:

Make the Sunday Gravy

Ingredients

(Makes 8 cups...which you don't need, so I reduced this to make less than half for the ziti)

• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 pound meaty pork neck bones or spare ribs
• 1 pound veal stew meat or 2 veal shoulder chops
• 1 pound Italian-style plain or fennel pork sausages**
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/4 c tomato paste
• Three 28-35 ounce cans Italian peeled tomatos
• 2 cups water
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 6 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

**For this, because the recipe later says to take out these meats to save for later, I just fried up some bacon and cooked with it for a cheaper version....I am sure veal makes it better, but not on my budget if you are just going to take it out later!

For the meatballs:

• 1 pound ground beef or a combination of beef and pork
• 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs, preferably homemade
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon very finely minced garlic
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

- To make the sauce, heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Pat the pork dry and put the pieces in the pot. Cook, turning occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until nicely browned on all sides. Transfer the pork to a plate. Brown the veal in the same way and add it to a plate.

-Place the sausages in the pot and brown all sides. Set the sausages aside with the pork.

-Drain off most of the fat from the pot. Add the garlic and cook for about two minutes or until golden. Remove and discard the garlic. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.

-With a food mill, puree the tomatoes, with their juices, into the pot. Or, for a chunkier sauce, just chop up the tomatoes and add them. Add the water and salt and pepper to taste. Add the pork, veal, and sausages and basil and bring the sauce to a simmer. Partially cover the pot and cook over low heat, stirring occassinally, for two hours. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a little more water.

-Meanwhile make the meatballs.

-Combine all the ingredients except the oil in large bowl. Mix together thoroughly. Rinse your hands with cool water and lightly shape the mixture into 2 inch balls. (note: if you are making meatballs for lasagne or baked ziti, shape the meat into tiny balls the size of a small grape).

-Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the meatballs and brown them on all sides. (They will finish cooking later). Transfer the meatballs to a plate.

-After two hours add the meatballs and cook for 30 minutes or until the sauce is thick and the meats very tender.

To serve, remove the meats from the sauce and set aside. Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce. Served the meats as a second course or reserve for another day.

To make the ZITI however, do this:

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ziti
• salt
• Sunday Gravy (recipe above) made with little meatballs
• 1 c freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1 c ricotta
• 8 oz mozzarella, cut into small dice

Directions:

-Bring at least 4 qts of water to a boil in large pot. Add salt to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the ziti is al dente, tender yet firm to the bite.

-Meanwhile, remove the meats, including the meatballs, from the gravy. Set the pork aside for another meal.

-Drain the ziti and put into a large bowl. Toss it with 3 cups of the gravy and half of the grated cheese. Stir in the meatballs.

-Preheat oven to 350F

-Spoon half of the ziti into a shallow 3 1/2 quart baking dish. Spread the ricotta on top and sprinkle with mozzarella and half of the remaining grated cheese. Pour on 1 cup of the sauce. Top with the remaining ziti and another cup of sauce. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese. Cover the dish with foil. (The ziti can be refrigerated for several hours, or overnight, at this point. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking).

-Bake ziti for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 to 30 minutes longer, or until the center is hot and the sauce is bubbling around the edges. Cover and let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Arroz con Pollo

I took two recipes that I found for this classic dish and combined the things I thought sounded really good. I think the result was really great!

• 1 (2 to 3 lb.) chicken, cut into pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3-5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 can (14.5 oz) of stewed tomatoes
• 1 small can of green chilis
  
• 1 pinch saffron
• dash of red pepper flakes
  
• 1 cup white wine
• 1.5 cups of white rice
• dash of paprika
• 14.5 oz can of chicken broth
• chopped fresh parsley for garnish
• dried oregano
  
• salt/pepper to taste
  

-Salt/pepper/oregano chicken pieces. Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat. Saute chicken lightly until lightly browned. Remove from skillet and set aside.
-Saute onion, garlic, bell pepper until soft. Stir in saffron, salt, and pepper.
-Add rice and cook until opaque, 1-2 minutes. Stir in broth, white wine, saffron, chilis, and tomatoes.
-Stir in remaining paprika and red pepper (I like it spicy so I added quite a bit of the red pepper!). Return to a boil.
-Put chicken, skin side up, back into pan.
-Simmer for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and rice is tender.

Southern Chicken and Dumplings!

You can't be from the South and not enjoy chicken and dumplings. The dish is relatively easy to make, although the dumplings are sometimes hard to get just right. I used the frozen dumplings, and believe me, they were NOT that great. They tasted morel ike noodles, I guess because they were so thin. I am listing a recipe for dumplings below, just because the homemade dumplings are so much better than the frozen ones! Or, alternatively, you could always do "drop dumplings" that my family does--just pinch off pieces of the dough once it is made, flatten it out a bit, and drop it into the pot with the broth.

Serves a LOT, so, if you don't want a LOT, you should half the recipe!

• one 2.5-3lb chicken
• 3 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
  
• 2 chicken buillon cubes
• 4 quarts of water
• one 10 oz condensed cream of chicken soup
• salt/pepper

-Cut up the chicken, but don't remove skin. The skin and bones will be removed later.
-Place chicken, celery, onion, bay leaves, garlic, bouillon, and salt/pepper and boil at a rolling boil for 30-45 minutes or until meat begins to fall off of bones. Remove skin and bones at this point, along with the bay leaves.
-Return chicken to pan. Add cream of chicken soup to chicken and continue to boil.
-If desired, you can thicken the stock by mixing 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and adding it to the stock.
-Drop dumplings into boiling stock. Never stir dumplings. Shake the pot gently in a circular motion to submerge dumplings in the stock. Cook for a few minutes more, until dumplings are done.

Dumplings:

• 2 cups all purpose flour mixed with 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 3/4 cup ice water

-Put flour in a mixing bowl. Beginning in cetner of flour, dribble small amount of ice water.
-Work mixture with fingers from center of bowl to sides of bowl, incorporating small amounts of water at a time. Continue until all of the flour is used up. Batter will feel as if it is going to be tough. Knead dough and form into a ball.
-Dust a good amount of flour onto dough board and rolling pin. Roll out dough, working from center. Dough will be firm. Roll to 1/8 inch thickness. Let it air dry for a minute or two.
-Cut dumplings into 1 inch strips. Working with one strip at a time, hold strip over pot, pull it in half, and drop into the boiling stock.
-Remember, do not stir mixture after dumplings have been added to pot.

Chicken with Southwestern Salsa

This recipe is easy and very tasty.

To make a complete meal, serve it with a mixed green salad. For the dressing, combine 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, 1 TBSP sugar, 2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil, 1/4 tsp of salt, and 1/4 tsp of cumin in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add 6 cups torn romaine lettuce, 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion, and 1/4 diced avocado (I used a whole avocado!). Toss gently to combine.

For the chicken, you will need:

• 2 tsp canola oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp red pepper
• 4 (6 oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  

-Heat 2 tsp oil in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Combine ingredients listed above and sprinkle evenly over chicken. Add chicken to pan; cook 5-7 minutes on each side or until done.

For Southwestern Salsa:

• 1 tsp canola oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp minced garlic (it's okay to use the kind already minced)
• 1/3 cup chopped plum tomato
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 2 TBSP fresh lime juice
• 1 (15.5 oz) can black beans rinsed and drained (I used Goyo)
• 1 (8 oz) can whole kernel corn, no salt added, drained

-While chicken cooks, heat the 1 tsp oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onion to pan, saute 1 minute. Add garlic to pan, saute 30 seconds.
-Transfer onion mixture to large bowl, add remaining ingredients, tossing well. Serve over chicken.

Yield: 4 servings
(serving size 1 chicken breast half and 3/4 cup of salsa)

Quick Flank Steak (~20 minutes!)

This recipe is extremely simply, and delicious! I have made it a few times, and the bbq sauce mixture is healthier and lighter than regular bbq sauce, but I actually like it more. You can serve this with coleslaw and garlic bread for a complete meal.

• 1 cup barbeque sauce (I used Bull's Eye)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 TBSP prepared mustard
• 1 1/2 tsp celery seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Cholulu's Chili Garlic...it was delicious!)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (1 pound) flank steak, trimmed
• Cooking spray
  

-Preheat broiler
-Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; add steak, turning to coat. Remove steak from sauce, reserving sauce mixture. Place steak on broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil for 6 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices.
-While steak stands, bring sauce mixture to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat, and cook 5 minutes. Serve with steak.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size = 3 oz steak and 1/4 cup sauce)

Yum!

Cajun Chicken (or shrimp!) Pasta

This recipe is extremely easy. The most time is taken by chopping all of the veggies, but I actually find that quite meditative sometimes, don't you?

• 1/2 pound linguine pasta
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I have also tried this recipe with shrimp and it is very delicious)
  
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (of course I use Tony's!)
  
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 8 fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 2 green onion, chopped (I love green onion so I always put more!)
  
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
- Place the chicken and the Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag. Shake to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the chicken in butter or margarine until almost tender (5 to 7 minutes).
- Add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms and green onion. Saute and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat.
- Add the cream, basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper. Heat through. Add the cooked linguine, toss and heat through. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

Serves 4
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Paprika Roast Chicken

This is a super delicious, yet very simple meal to prepare. It is also quite economical if you buy a whole chicken and cut it up yourself. If you are afraid to cut up a whole chicken, as I was, go here to see a demonstration of how to do it that will give you confidence to do it yourself: http://www.gourmet.com/food/testkitchen/2009/01/knauer_how_to_cut_up_whole_chicken

• 1 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 TBSP Paprika
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1 whole chicken (3.5 lbs) cut into serving pieces
• 1 sweet onion, cut into 1/2 inche wedges
  

-Preheat oven to 500 F w/ rack in upper third
-Mix oil with spices, plus 1.5 tsp salt and 1tsp black peper in large bowl. Add chicken and onion, tossing to coat.
-Arrange chicken, skin side up, and onion in a 3qt. baking dish.
-Bake chicken until just cooked through and skin is golden, about 30 minutes.
-Skim any fat from pan juices in dish.

Prep time: 10 minutes active
40 minutes start to finish.

Serves 4-6