Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Ravioli

This is my new favorite kind of pasta!

Ingredients: 

For pasta:

1/2 cup semolina 

1 1/2 cup flour 

3 eggs 

Purée from 3 small beets 

For filling:

1/2 cup of fresh ricotta (see recipe in previous post) 

1/2 cup of goat cheese 

1 tsp of thyme 

2 cloves garlic, minced

For topping: 

1/2 stick of butter

I prepared the ricotta and beet purée the night before. For the ricotta recipe, look under the post for fresh manicotti. For the beets, scrub them clean and then bake them for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees. Peel then and chop them. Add to a food processor with 2 tbsp of oil and blend until smooth. 

For the pasta: 

1. In one bowl mix your semolina and flour. In a seperate bowl, beat your three eggs and beet purée. Add that to the flour and mix well until a ball forms. Or you can do it the traditional way on the counter. Make a pile of your semolina and flour. Make a hole for the eggs and beets. Mix from the inside and slowly incorporate the flour. 

This is the bowl method, where you beat the eggs and beets together first. 

This is the counter method. 

3. Once a balls forms, place it onto a floured surface. Knead the dough adding a tsp of flour at a time until it is no longer sticking to your hands. Wrap it in Saran Wrap and place into the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 

 

4. Once it has had time to sit, knead it a bit more and cut the ball into half. Cover the half you are not working with Saran Wrap and place back into the refrigerator. Knead the half you are working with and beging to flatten it out. Send it through the pasta machine at the highest setting. Fold the product in half and send it through again. You can repeat this two to three times. Once you feel it is ready, send it through and lower the setting each time making it thinner than the previous run through. The second to last setting will be the last setting you use. The last setting will make it too thin. 

6. I usually feed it until the second to last setting. I flour the mold thouroughly and then place half of the length of dough over the ravioli mold. Make little balls with the filling and place it into the mold. 

7. Take the second half of the dough, and using your rolling pin, press down to catch the teeth of the mold.

8. When you see that the ravioli is sealed turn it upside down. 

9. Seperate and place onto a well floured tray with semolina to keep from sticking. Repeat with the rest of the dough. 

My cat watches me cook. 

10. Bring large pot of water to a boil. Add in 5-6 ravioli at a time. The cook very fast so be ready to scoop them out. When all are done arrange on platter. Drizzle browned butter sauce and sprinkle crushed walnuts on top. Enjoy! 

For filling: 

Combine goat cheese, fresh ricotta cheese, garlic and thyme. Using a fork mash it all together. You make have to use your hands to mix it well and form the balls for the filling. 

Topping: 

Brown butter on medium heat until it gets nutty/toffee smell. 

You can also make a cream sauce instead. 

Papoutsakia

Sometimes I think my guardian angel is an old greek lady. My cousin Mike once told me that everyone in our family has an ancestor from generations prior that act as their guardian angel. Somehow I always find the obscure ingredients, procure the perfect produce, and even when I have no clue what I am doing...I find my hands moving along anyway. It must mean my spirit follower is an old lady. One of those recipes where I had no clue what I was doing was this recipe for papoutsakia. A little difficult to make, but definitely worth it. After all, you know what they say, after moussaka, pastitsio, and souvlaki...the next best thing is papoutsakia! 

These eggplants are seasoned, stuffed with meat, covered with my favorite beshamel sauce and then baked to perfection. They are delicious and resemble adorable tiny shoes! Papoutsakia even means "little shoes" in Greek! They are fun to eat and your guests will love how they look! 

Ingredients: 

2 eggplants, halved lengthwise 

1 cup olive oil 

1 onion, grated 

1 lb 2 oz ground beef 

1 cup of canned crushed tomato 

1 tablespoon of parsley  

4 slices of tomato 

Salt and pepper 

2 tsp cinnamon 

Ingredients for béchamel: 

4 cups of milk 

4 tbsp butter 

4 tbsp flour 

2 egg yolks 

1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese 

Pinch of ground nutmeg  

Directions: 

1. Cut your eggplants lengthwise. Make slits with a knife into the meaty half of each eggplant. Make sure you do not pierce the skin. Sprinkle generously with salt and let sit to drain for 1-2 hours. 

2. After 2 hours, squeeze the excess moisture out gently and rinse under cold water. 

3. Using a skillet or frying pan, heat half of the oil (1/2 cup) and brown the eggplants on each side for 5-10 minutes on low heat. Remove and set aside, let sit on paper towel to absorb excess oil. When cool, use a fork and spoon to scrape out the flesh of the eggplant. Be 

 careful not to rip the skin. Keep the meat of the eggplant in a seperate bowl. 

4. Add the remaining oil into the skillet and sauté the eggplant insides set aside from before and onions on high and then low heat for about five minutes. Add in your meat and stir well. Make sure to break up the meat, and cook until it is brown, about 10 minutes. Add your cinnamon, tomatoes, and parsely and mix well. Reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce is reduced. 

When ready, take off heat and let cool. 

5. Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare the white sauce. Pour the milk into a small pan, bring to a boil and remove from heat. In a seperate pan, melt your butter and slowly add in your flour.  Stirring constantly in circular motions around the circumference of the pan. Add in your hot milk one ladle at a time stirring constantly with a whisk until all the milk is added. Cook for 15 minutes or until it is thick and smooth. The thicker the better. Add nutmeg, cheese and the 2 egg yolks and whisk well. Cook for another 5 minutes. Set aside. (If you take a long time to fill your eggplants, reheat your sauce quickly and add a teaspoon extra of milk). 

6. Fill your eggplant shells with an evenly divided amount of meat mixture. You will have extra. 

7. Using a ladle, pour bechamel sauce into each eggplant shell. It should be evenly covered. 

8. Add a slice of the tomato to each stuffed eggplant. Sprinkle with a handful of cheese. 

9. Bake for about one hour until the tops are golden brown. Serve immediately. Enjoy! 

With any leftover meat, I made a pastitsio pie! Just made some extra bechemel sauce and cooked it along with the papoutsakia. 

Chicken Giouvetsi with Cubanelle Peppers

Giouvetsi (Youvetsi) is a traditional (almost ancient!) Greek meat dish that can be made with either lamb, chicken or beef. It is traditionally cooked in a cermaic pot, and can be cooked with orzo or hilopites. There are so many variations on this dish and this summer I will cook them all! 

My neighbor Aphrodite makes one variation and it is so comforting to eat. I always get excited when I walk into her kitchen and see this cooking. It is so simple, but the taste is complex! So here is the first one, chicken with orzo and cubanelle pepper! This can definitely be your new comfort food. It is perfect when you have no idea what to cook or for moms on the go. You can throw this together and put it in the oven and not worry about something going wrong. 

 

Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion, diced 

1 large cubanelle pepper, diced 

1 cup of tomato purée 

1 1/2 cups of orzo 

6 chicken thighs, skinned 

6 chicken legs, skinned 

6 cups of chicken stock

1 tsp black pepper 

1 tsp salt (or salt to taste)

Directions: 

1. Dice your onion and pepper into small peices. Measure out all of your ingredients and set aside. Take the skin off your chicken, wash, pat dry with a paper towel and set aside. 

When you are in the supermarket buying ingredients, note that cubanelle peppers are also known as Italian sweet peppers or banana peppers. 

2. In large saucepan, combine your tomato purée and chicken stock. Cook on medium heat. 

3. In skillet, over medium heat, add your onions and peppers and cook for about 5-7 minutes. Add in the uncooked orzo and salt/pepper and stir well. Cook for another 3 minutes. This step is important to toast the orzo kernals and give them a jump start on cooking (just as you do with risotto). 

3. Add two ladels of the tomato/chicken mixture to the skillet of orzo, peppers and onions, cook until it boils. 

4. Transfer the skillet mixture to a large/deep cermaic tray. Add your chicken, and then pour the remaining tomato purée /chicken stock into the tray. 

5. Cook uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes. The chicken should be golden brown and the orzo cooked through and very soft. Enjoy! 

Roasted Multicolored Carrots and Rosemary

If you are looking for an impressive side dish, this is it! These are some of the most exiting vegetables to behold! This recipe calls for rosemary, but it can easily be switched out or changed to match your dinner! When I made these I was using thyme, so for my carrots I left it as a rosemary base and added thyme. These can easily done with cumin instead. 

1. Peel your carrots and cut the stems. If you would like to keep some of the stem for presentation, wrap it it foil so it doesn't burn while baking. I left 1-2 inches of the stem on. 

2. Combine extra virgin olive oil (1/4 cup) and a tbsp of rosemary. (Feel free to add 1 tsp thyme for added flavor). Mix and rub onto the carrots. 

3. Cook on a rack for 25 minutes at 375.

4. Take out and remove foil. Serve and enjoy! 

Pappardelle with a Mushroom Ragu

I was looking for something different, but still delicious to make on Mother's Day. This did not dissapoint me, and so I happily share it with you! 

Ingredients: 

Mushrooms:

2 large portobello mushrooms 

6-8 shiitake mushrooms 

10 crimini mushrooms/1 box 

1 1/2 lb of fresh pappardelle pasta 

2 cups of vegetable/chicken broth

1 medium onion, diced 

4 cloves of garlic, diced 

1 tbsp of thyme 

1 pinch of red pepper flakes 

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp pepper 

Extra Virgin olive oil (around 4 tbsp)

2-3 Slices of yellow and/or red tomato

5-6 cherry tomatos

Feta, crumbled 

Tip: 

When cookin with mushrooms, never wash them. This will pull all of the water out. Take a damp paper towel and gently clean each cap individualy. Don't clean the folds of the inside of the portobello they are very fragile. Also, don't cut the entire stem off the mushrooms, just the base of the bottom. 

From left to right- crimini (baby Bella), portobello, and shiitake. 

Instructions:

1. Prepare all of your ingredients. Dice the garlic, onion and mushrooms. Measure out your dry and wet ingredients. Set aside.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large shallow saucepan. Add your onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden. 

3. Add in your mushrooms, keeping it on high heat. This step is to remove all the water from the mushrooms. Add the thyme, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Mix well for about 6-8 minutes. 

4. Lower your heat to medium, and add in the 2 cups of broth. Here is where you can add in the tomatos if you choose to add them in. Leave to cook uncovered, until the broth is reduced by half. If you want a slightly thicker Ragu, add in 4 tbsp of flour, mixing well so it doesn't clump. 

5. While the Ragu is cooking, boil the water for the pasta. The trick with fresh pasta is having a large pot of well salted water so the pasta doesn't stick to each other. 4-6 quarts of boiling water, with 2 tbsp of salt should be good. Depending on the size of your pot, you may have to cook it in two batches. Do not change the water between batches, just scoop them out when they are done, and add in your second batch. 

6. When the pasta is done, drizzle with oil to keep for sticking. Add a ladle of the Ragu to the pasta and mix well. Then pour the rest of the Ragu on top of the pasta.  Sprinkle with crumbled feta. 

Enjoy! 

Roast Moroccan chicken with a Date & Pistachio Stuffing

This recipe is amazing! If you are looking for something new, delicious and impressive this is it. A roasted chicken filled with couscous, dates, pistachios, cumin and coriander!

Ingredients:
1 box of couscous (1/2 cup)
10 dates, pitted
1/4 cup of pistachios, roughly crushed
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup Olive oil
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon of honey
1.8 kg whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry
salt/pepper

Instructions:
1. Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. The inside cavity should be patted dry as well. Sprinkle some into the cavity and set aside.

2. Prepare the couscous. If you are buying a box of couscous (Near east brand or store brand just use the box and you can add the packet, any of their flavors like garlic or pine nut flavors will be fine). If you have loose couscous measure out 1/2 cup. Follow the instructions on the box with how much water to boil and oil to add. You can even cook it in the microwave. When it is done, set it aside in a medium sized mixing bowl.

3. In a small pot, heat the onion and garlic in 4 tablespoons of olive oil until brown over a small flame (medium heat). Add in the dates, 1 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp coriander and mix well. Continue to cook for 3 minutes. Add the mixture to the couscous, add the pistachios and the cinnamon stick and mix well.  

4. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the filling using a large spoon. There may be some extra and you can cook it on the side. This stuffing is really enjoyable. I recommend doubling the stuffing recipe, and cooking an additional amount separate to serve on the side.

5. Once filled, truss (tie) the chicken with kitchen string. A picture with steps on how to properly tie the chicken is at the of this post. I do my own little version of this, as long as the legs are tied up and together, you are pretty much all set.

6. Once the chicken has been stuffed and trussed, dress the outside of the chicken. In a small bowl, mix the 1/4 cup of olive oil, honey, 1/2 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. If you enjoy the spices, you can sprinkle a small additional amount of cumin over the entire chicken.

7. Cook at 350 C for an hour to an hour and a half. Because of the honey in the brushing and the stuffing, I do not recommend a higher temperature for a shorter duration. I say this because it is stuffed, so the heat can't enter the cavity of the chicken. You can end up with an un-evenly cooked chicken. If you cook it at 400 for 45 minutes, it may look done but the inside will still be raw. Also the honey will burn at a higher temperature, causing your chicken skin to blacken instead of brown. So, I would go low and slow. 350 for an hour, hour and a half. Use your meat thermometer to double check if it is ready. Juices should run clear.

This dish can be served with additional stuffing, pumpkin squares or spinach. Enjoy!

My chicken blacked because of the honey and the high temperature. So I recommend lower temperatures and a longer cooking time. This is my new cat, she watched me cook. 

Zsa Zsa highly recommends this recipe.

 

How to Truss a chicken.