Two Meat Lasagna

Well, I finally had an opportunity to make a pan of lasagna, and decided to go all out. I even made the pasta noodles from scratch, and it was well worth the effort.

What you'll need for the sauce:

• 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• 2 Meats (or, if you want to make a one-meat lasagna, just use one meat). I used some ground Italian Sausage and some Prosciutto (an Italian cured ham) but you can use whatever you choose. The Italian Sausage goes a long way toward flavoring the sauce.
• A pepper or two--Red, orange, or yellow. No green peppers!!! They're not the same thing and will make your sauce bitter. My favorite combination is a red and a yellow.
• Salt, Pepper, Vegetable Boullion, Parsley, Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, Crushed Red Pepper.
• 60 Ounces of Tomato Sauce (4 small cans, or 2 big cans).

What you'll need for the Besciamella (Besh-uh-mel-uh, sort of):

• 4 Tbsp Butter
• 3 Tbsp Flour
• 2 Cups Milk (or however much looks good. I've never measured it.)

What else you'll need:

• A box of lasagna noodles, uncooked.
• Or, if you're adventurous, a few eggs, a lot of flour, and a pasta maker.
• Fresh Mozzarella, if available. Costco is a great place to get it. It's in the deli area. It's a bit pricey, but well worth it. If you really must, use regular mozzarella. No Ricotta! And, please, no Cottage Cheese!!!

I like to start by preparing my ingredients (and, just for fun, putting them into those small, clear cups like on the TV shows so you can throw the stuff into the mix really fast). Chop the meat up good (you want it as small as possible to fit between the layers of noodles).

Slice up the peppers. I like to cut off the top, quarter them, then rinse them off, getting all the seeds out of them. Then slice each quarter lengthwise and dice them up. Put them in a small, clear bowl so you can throw them in quick!
Heat the olive oil and brown the garlic (peel it first!), then add the first meat (add whichever needs to be cooked more. If you're using prosciutto, put it in very last, even after the vegetables). Season the meat with the salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and boullion.
Add the peppers just before the meat's fully cooked and season with the basil (get some on all the meat), parsley (the same), oregano (around 1/2 teaspoon), and a bit of rosemary. If using Prosciutto, add it just as the peppers are getting soft and the other meat's done.

Cook everything together for a bit, add some wine if you'd like (I used a white wine), cook off the alcohol, then add all the tomato sauce. Let it simmer for an hour or so. Of course, the longer the better.

If you choose to make your own noodles, follow the directions on your pasta maker. I just fumbled my way through it and am not in a position to give advice. It starts out looking like this, though:
When the sauce has cooked for 45 minutes or so, start making the Besciamella. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, then add the flour and stir it in well. Then add the milk and stir it continuously until it sets up. You don't want it to be runny, but you don't want it to be solid either. When it's looking good, take it from the heat and set it aside.
Slice the mozzarella thin and get it ready to add to the assembled lasagna (maybe by putting it in a small, clear bowl).

Make alternating layers of Sauce and Besciamella in between layers of noodles. If possible, alternate the direction of the noodles with each layer. Do NOT precook the noodles. Put them in hard and let the sauce cook them (so they're more flavorful). Put the mozzarella on the layers with the sauce. Make sure to leave enough sauce to cover the top.

Keep layering it up until you run out of stuff, then cover the top with either Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese (the freshly grated stuff is the best). Then cover it with tin foil and bake it at 375 degrees for about an hour.

It's certainly not a meal for every day, but for special occasions there's not much better. A 9x13 pan should feed 6 hungry people. Probably 8 people if you have something to eat with it, like a salad and some bread. Let me know if you're brave enough to try it. Enjoy!

Involtini al Sugo Rosso

This recipe isn't as hard as it looks, but it does take a bit of time to do. The meat part is called 'Involtini' (each one is an 'Involtino') and then I make some pasta to go with them.

What you'll need:

• Steaks, thinly cut (however many of them you want to make) I used top sirloin (I think), but others would work just as well.
• Prosciutto (it's a cured Italian ham, available at most grocery stores (you might have to ask the deli guy to cut you some). Don't be turned off by the fact that it raw). You need a slice for each Involtino, plus about 4 slices for the sauce (very, very thin slices)
• Pecorino Roman cheese
• 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 3 Small Cans Tomato Sauce
• Toothpicks
• Garlic Salt, Salt, Pepper, Crushed Red Pepper, Basil, Parsley, Vegetable Boullion.
• You'll also need wax paper and a rolling pin, but you won't be eating those.

Start by placing the steaks between sheets of wax paper, and then rolling them flat. You can get them down to about 1/8 inch thick or so.Then cut steaks into pieces that can be rolled up good. About a 5"x7" piece would be ideal, but you can make just about anything work.

Garlic salt and pepper the one side of the steak. Cover the steaks with grated Pecorino Romano cheese, then put a slice of the prosciutto on top.

Roll up the steaks, starting at the small end (so the larger end can be wrapped around the sides if necessary. Use a couple toothpicks to close them together so they sort of look like big bratwurst. Brown some garlic in olive oil in a large sauce pan, then drop in the involtini. Brown them on each side, then pull them out and set them aside.
Chop up some steak to put into the oil (you can either have a steak specially intended for use in the sauce, or trim up the other steaks and put the odd-shaped bits in the sauce).

Brown the steak bits and season them with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and vegetable boullion until they're almost cooked. Dice up the prosciutto and put it in with the steak bits. Season the mixture with the Parsley and Basil.

At this point you can add some red wine if you'd like, and cook the alcohol out.

Oh, did I mention that you should be using the same oil that you cooked the Involtini in? You should. After the meat's cooked (the prosciutto doesn't really need to be cooked much), add in the 3 cans of tomato sauce. Place the involtini in the sauce and let it simmer for as long as you can. I would recommend 2 hours if you've got 'em. The involtini should cook completely in 20-30 minutes, but the longer you cook it the more rich the flavors get, and the more tender the meat gets.
Cook up some Rigatoni or some other type of pasta (spaghetti might actually be pretty good, too) and mix it in with the sauce (after you've pulled out the involtini and put them on plates). Serve hot. It serves as many people as you cooked it for.

Pasta Semplice

Well, I hate to turn this into an all-recipe format blog, but I made another good meal a couple days ago, happened to take pictures, and thought I'd share.

This is really the most basic of recipes for cooking Italian food. Some purists might disagree with some of my methods, but this is what I've found works the best for me given the constraints of working with ingredients available in Utah.

For this recipe you need:

• 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil (sorry, butter won't cut it this time)
• Some meat (I used ground Italian Sausage for this one)
• A vegetable (a red pepper would be great)
• A 14.5 ounce can of tomato sauce (I used diced tomatoes, but only because Costco switched to "Organic" tomato sauce for twice the price (yes, those quotation marks are appropriate. I have little respect for "Organic" produce)). You could use two cans if you'd like. Maybe you should.
• A box of pasta (I used bowtie, but would have preferred to put penne rigate in this one--really, though, any pasta will do). Put in two boxes if you'd like; it'll feed twice the people (just be sure to add at least one more can of tomato sauce).
• Salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, basil, oregano, parsely, vegetable boullion, a little cooking wine.

Well, that should be close to everything you'll need. You'll want to start with the olive oil and brown the garlic in it (you could use half an onion in place of the garlic, but whichever you use, don't burn it!)

After you've transferred the garlic flavor to the oil, add the meat. Salt and pepper the meat. Salt it good. Really. Salt it more than you think you should. Add the crushed red pepper. How much? As much as you'd like; you're the one eating it. Oh, and add the vegetable boullion cube.

When the meat's pretty well cooked (but not quite) add it the vegetable (if you diced up a pepper, good for you!) Add a bit more salt (you heard me) and sprinkle some parsley over everything, a little less basil, and a quarter tsp of oregano. If you're using italian sausage, add in a little rosemary, too, but not very much.

When the meat's fully cooked and the vegetables are getting pretty soft, pour in some cooking wine (or don't) and burn off the alcohol (if you did). Then add the tomatoes.

Mmm... Looks good, doesn't it? Now you just want to cook it. Ideally, you should cook it for a couple hours, adding water every now and then. If your time is short, though, as mine always is, try to cook it at least 20 minutes (until the tomatoes stop tasting like tomatoes).

While it's cooking you can put some water in a pot and get it boiling (you could have been doing this already if you had read ahead). Add salt to the water. And not an "American" pinch of salt. Throw in an Italian handful:

The pasta is made without any salt at all. You have to cook it with some salt to make it taste good. And, really, if you worry that ALL that salt will be in your pasta, taste the water when you strain the pasta (don't burn yourself, though). You have to really salt the water to get the pasta to taste right (don't worry, salt's still pretty cheap).

When the water comes to a boil, "boot" the pasta (the Italian verb 'buttare'). Give it a stir. Then go wash the cutting board and wipe off the countertops while you wait. Or read a good book (but not a really good one or you'll forget about dinner).

When the pasta is "al dente" (meaning "to the tooth", which doesn't translate really well, but means when it's still a little firm (you don't want your pasta to dissolve into its original ingredients)) strain out the water (I don't care how you do it) and either put the pasta in with the sauce, or the sauce in with the pasta.

Stir it up good, add a bit of pecorino romano (or parmesan) cheese, and serve it hot. Then, if all went well, 2 minutes later it should look like this:

Risotto

Don't worry, you didn't accidentally come across Rachael Ray's cooking site, or even Martin Yan's. No, this is just a strange new approach to my ordinary, traditionally non-cooking, blog.

A 'risotto' is an Italian rice dish that I never actually had while in Italy, but that Annie ate quite often. We've been working on figuring out how to cook a good risotto for awhile, and we're finally ready to reveal to the world how to do it. Well, at least to the 6 people who read this blog.

What you need:

• Rice, about 3 cups (or more if you want more; I'm not going to stop you)
• 1 Tbsp butter (or Olive Oil, but butter makes it taste better)
• 1/2 an onion
• Some meat (for this one, we used about 3 chicken breasts, but you can use anything: hamburger, italian sausage, dry salami, pork, bacon (if you're really adventurous), whatever).
• A vegetable (we didn't use one, but only because we hadn't been to the store in a long time. Red or yellow peppers are really good, or zucchini, or eggplant, or do some experimenting).
• Salt, Pepper, Parsely, Basil, Oregano, Boullion cubes (any flavor, but vegetable flavor is best), and some Crushed Red Pepper. (I don't know how much of each; I'll try to explain as we go along.)
• Pecorino Romano cheese (Parmesan is okay, too). It's best if it's freshly grated. You can use the green can stuff, but don't ever tell me you did.

Start with a big saucepan. Probably the biggest you have. Put in the butter (or olive oil) and turn on the heat to high-ish. Dice the onion up nice and small and put it in the butter (or peel the garlic and drop it in whole, or squish it, or whatever you prefer to do with garlic).

Cook the onion for about five minutes, stirring constantly (don't let it burn!), until they get translucent. If using whole garlic, brown it a bit on each side, then pull it out and throw it away.

Dice your vegatable and add it to the oil (maybe you should dice it before you start cooking). At this point you want to add salt and pepper. Try to shake some salt on every piece of vegetable (really, you'll need more salt than you think you do). It's also a good time to add the boullion cubes (2 of them should be enough).

When the vegatable bits are getting soft, dice the meat and add it (again, you may want to cut it up before turning on the stove).

Add a bit more salt, again trying to shake some onto each piece of meat. Also add the crushed red pepper (sprinkle some on; you're not trying to make it spicy, just keep it from being bland).

Just before the meat is fully cooked (about 80% of the way done) add the leafy spices; maybe a tablespoon or so of the parsely, a little bit less of the basil, and a half TEAspoon of oregano is probably enough.

Finish cooking the meat (you really should be stirring it constantly to keep it from burning). If you're the kind of cook that enjoys using a little wine, now is the time. Pour in about a quarter cup, turn the heat up, and cook the heck (alcohol) out of it.

When the alcohol is cooked out, add a can of tomato sauce (I forgot to add it to the list. Sorry). Sure, you can use diced tomatoes like we did ('cause our pantry was bare), but tomato sauce makes it taste better, and cuts down on the cooking time.

It's looking pretty good, isn't it? Let it cook for a little while. This is a good time to just put the lid on it and let it simmer while you wash the cutting boards and set the table and all that.

Let's see, what's left? Oh yeah, add some of that pecorino romano cheese (or parmesan). You can't add too much (unless you're using the green can stuff). You also could have added some before you added the tomatoes, or just add double now. Or triple. Really, you can't add too much.

To finish up the Risotto, add a few cups of hot water (this is where you can use your own judgment. The water is there to cook the rice; add enough water to cook the amount of rice you want. Minute rice is a 1:1 ratio. This recipe could probably support up to six cups of rice, but I'd recommend 3-4).

One consideration: add a bit less water than you think you'll need. You can always add more water if it's getting too dry, but you can't add more rice if it's too runny. I've been known to keep water at a near boil in a separate pan, just in case.

If you time it right, the water will all cook out of the rice about the time the rice is cooked. Serve it with more pecorino romano on top (really, pile it on. It can't have too much!) Three cups of rice should serve 4 adults, or two adults and however many kids you have.

We've enjoyed this recipe (or, if you prefer, this loose and liberal suggestion list for making stuff). It's pretty quick (about 40 minutes), only dirties one pan (which washes out easily), and gives us an excuse to eat a lot of pecorino romano cheese.

There are unlimited variations, but the pattern stays the same: start with oil or butter, add onion or garlic, add a vegatable, season with the robust spices, add the meat, season with the leafy spices, add tomatoes, simmer, add water and rice, serve and enjoy.

Let me know if you try it, but don't tell me if you use the green can parmesan; I don't want to know. Buon appetito.

'A Pizza Napuletana

"'A pizza è na piatanza tipeca napulitana, pussebbelmente 'a cchiù canosciuta e cunzumata int' 'o munno." (Pizza is a typical naptan dish, possibly the most well-known and most consumed in the world.)

For anyone who has never eaten an authentic Naptan pizza (the ones made in Napoli (Naples), Italy), you're really missing out. And you're in luck! There's a place in Salt Lake City that makes 'A Pizza Napuletana.

The place is called "Settebello", which is the most highly-valued card in the Italian card game, "Scopa". It's at 260 South 200 West in Salt Lake City, or there's one in Las Vegas, if that happens to be closer to you.

There are very strict regulations that govern who can call their pizza authentic. Among those regulations, "The cooking of the pizza must take place on the surface of the oven and not in any pan or container. The oven must be a wood burning oven and structured in a bell shape and of special brick with the floor of the pizza oven constructed of volcanic stone. The oven must be fired with only wood and kindling." This place goes the extra mile by importing as many of their ingredients as possible from Italy

I know what you're thinking: "Why would I pay more for an authentic pizza when Little Caesars makes one for $5?"

You just can't compare the two. They both happen to be called "pizza", and do have some similarities, but the authentic stuff really is better; you just have to trust me. I've sent dozens of people over there since it opened last year, and every one of them has enjoyed it to the point of going back regularly, and craving it over normal "American pizza".

Yes, it is a little bit pricey (but no more so than an Applebee's or TGIFridays), but you'll be gald you tried it. (The picture below was my pizza from last Saturday. I couldn't keep from eating a bite or two before taking the picture. Mmm...)

Kisses and Things

As I was eating my lunch today, I wondered: If Hersheys were to make little tiny kisses, would they be called 'Pecks'? And how big would a drop of cholocate have to be to be considered a 'Smooch'?

I'm not sure if they'd be able to make a unit of chocolate smaller than the 'Kiss'. At least, if they did, they wouldn't be able to wrap it in tin foil like the others. Can you imagine having to rip open the tin foil for every 1/10 ounce of chocolate? You'd burn as many calories trying to get the candy open as you'd actually ingest.

And, is it just me, or does everyone try to get the foil off without ripping it? Okay, yeah, that's just me. Does it bother anyone else when the little paper flag rips off as you're trying to open it, because you pulled it the wrong direction? Just me too again, huh?

All of this thinking about chocolate has made me curious: how many varieties of kisses are there now? And are they looking into developing pecks and smooches? Here's what I found out:

It turns out there are a lot of different varieties. There's the original milk chocolate, special dark chocolate, almonds, caramel, hugs (I guess these can be considered Kisses because they look the same), peanut butter, and chocolate truffle. Then, seasonally, they offer candy cane and mint truffle kisses.

In addition to all the regular kisses, they have what they call "Kissables", which are tiny kisses with a candy coating (they're probably just the M&M's that don't come out looking right). I've barely even heard of them, and don't remember ever seeing them in the store. They would be a lot more popular if they had named them 'Pecks'.