Mozzarella Pillows - as seen on Everyday Italian on the Food Network
Recipe from Giada DeLaurentiis
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time : 55 minutes
Ingredients
* 1 (26-ounce) jar marinara sauce (about 3 cups)
* 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
* 2 slices prosciutto, finely chopped
* 4 storebought 9-inch pie crusts
* 2 eggs, beaten, for egg wash
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Directions
Special equipment: scalloped ravioli cutter
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place the marinara sauce in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until reduced to a thick, jam-like consistency, about 30 minutes. There should be 1 1/2 to 2 cups of reduced sauce. Let the sauce cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Stir in the mozzarella cheese and prosciutto.
Meanwhile, place 1 piece of dough on a work surface. Roll the dough out gently until you can cut an 8 1/2 by 9 1/2-inch rectangle. Press the scraps into a small rectangle and roll it out to the same thickness as the other rectangle. Cut 3 rectangles from the large rectangle and 1 rectangle from the small rectangle. Each should measure 8 1/2 by 3 inches. Continue rolling and cutting the remaining pie dough.
To form the tarts, place the rectangles on a work surface. Brush each rectangle with egg wash. Place a large spoonful of the marinara mixture in the middle of the bottom half of the rectangle. Fold the dough in half over the marinara mixture to make a 3 by 4-inch rectangle. Press the edges to seal. Using a scalloped ravioli cutter, trim the rectangles to make a decorative edge. Place the tarts on the baking sheets. Brush with egg wash and generously sprinkle with cheese. Bake until golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Showing posts with label savory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label savory. Show all posts
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi
Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi - as seen on simplyrecipes
Ingredients
Gnocchi
* 3 ounces fresh or frozen spinach
* 1 egg
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 1/2 pounds whole milk ricotta cheese, drained of excess moisture
* 1/3 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* Pinch of nutmeg
Sauce
* 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (or whole tomatoes that you shred as you add to the pan)
* 4 Tbsp olive oil
* 2 garlic cloves, peeled
* Salt
* 2 ounces goat cheese
Method
Gnocchi
1 Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and heat until simmering. Add spinach and cook until tender, about 1 minute. Drain. Let spinach cool enough to touch, then squeeze as much moisture as you can out of it. You can also use a potato ricer if you have one to squeeze the excess moisture out of the spinach.
2 Add the spinach, egg, salt, and half of the ricotta to a food processor. Pulse until completely blended. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, mix in the remaining ricotta and the Parmesan cheese. Start adding the flour in by hand, start with a half of the flour. Mix everything with your hands until the mixture holds together as a dough.
3 Put the dough out on a lightly floured smooth, clean surface. Knead lightly for about a minute, adding additional flour if needed, if the dough sticks too easily to the board or your hands. (At this point, if you wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for an hour, it will be easier to roll out.) When the dough is smooth and pliable, and still just a little bit sticky, divide it into 4 portions, each the size of an orange.
4 Flour your hands lightly. Using both hands, and a light touch, roll the dough out with a back and forth motion, starting at the center and stretching the dough out, to form a roll. This is the tricky part. You don't want to put so much pressure so that you compress the dough, but you do need enough pressure to create a rope of dough. The trick is to stretch the dough sideways as you are rolling. Once the segment you are working on gets to be about a foot long, you may find it easier to cut it in half, and then start working on that smaller segment.
Roll the dough out until the roll is about the size of a middle finger. (Note that if your hands or the board is a little too floured, you may not have enough traction between your skin and the dough to easily stretch it sideways.) Cut each roll into 1-inch pieces.
5 Hold a fork at a 45% angle with its tines facing down on the work board, the curved part of the fork facing away from you. Starting with the curved outside bottom of the fork, press each piece of dough up along the length of the tines. Let the gnocchi fall back down. This is a pretty quick motion, the result is an indentation of the fork tines on one side of the gnocchi, and an indentation of your fingertip on the other side.
Place the gnocchi on a lightly floured cookie sheet. At this point they can be cooked, or kept in the refrigerator several hours or overnight.
6 To cook the gnocchi, fill a large wide pot half-way with water. Bring to a boil, add 1 teaspoon of salt for every quart of water. Once the salt has dissolved, gently drop the gnocchi in the water, one by one. Try to do this in a way that the gnocchi are not falling in on top of each other, but rest on the bottom of the pan in a single layer. As the gnocchi cooks, they will rise to the surface of the water after a couple minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the risen gnocchi from the pot, place in a serving bowl. Sometimes the gnocchi can stick a little at the bottom. If you suspect this, nudge them a little to unstick them. As you remove some gnocchi, you can add a few more to the pan.
The Sauce
1 Heat oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and cook until lightly browned on all sides. Remove and discard the garlic. Add the tomatoes (include any juices from the can) all at once (careful, they may cause the oil to splatter as the tomatoes hit the pan). As soon as the mixture boils, reduce the heat to low and let simmer, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt. Stir occasionally. Use a potato masher to break up any solid pieces of tomato, you want a rough purée.
2 Once the sauce reduces to a medium thick consistency, add the goat cheese, stirring until it is well blended. Add more salt to taste.
Serve gnocchi with the sauce and extra grated Parmesan. Serves 4-6.
Ingredients
Gnocchi
* 3 ounces fresh or frozen spinach
* 1 egg
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 1/2 pounds whole milk ricotta cheese, drained of excess moisture
* 1/3 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* Pinch of nutmeg
Sauce
* 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (or whole tomatoes that you shred as you add to the pan)
* 4 Tbsp olive oil
* 2 garlic cloves, peeled
* Salt
* 2 ounces goat cheese
Method
Gnocchi
1 Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and heat until simmering. Add spinach and cook until tender, about 1 minute. Drain. Let spinach cool enough to touch, then squeeze as much moisture as you can out of it. You can also use a potato ricer if you have one to squeeze the excess moisture out of the spinach.
2 Add the spinach, egg, salt, and half of the ricotta to a food processor. Pulse until completely blended. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, mix in the remaining ricotta and the Parmesan cheese. Start adding the flour in by hand, start with a half of the flour. Mix everything with your hands until the mixture holds together as a dough.
3 Put the dough out on a lightly floured smooth, clean surface. Knead lightly for about a minute, adding additional flour if needed, if the dough sticks too easily to the board or your hands. (At this point, if you wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for an hour, it will be easier to roll out.) When the dough is smooth and pliable, and still just a little bit sticky, divide it into 4 portions, each the size of an orange.
4 Flour your hands lightly. Using both hands, and a light touch, roll the dough out with a back and forth motion, starting at the center and stretching the dough out, to form a roll. This is the tricky part. You don't want to put so much pressure so that you compress the dough, but you do need enough pressure to create a rope of dough. The trick is to stretch the dough sideways as you are rolling. Once the segment you are working on gets to be about a foot long, you may find it easier to cut it in half, and then start working on that smaller segment.
Roll the dough out until the roll is about the size of a middle finger. (Note that if your hands or the board is a little too floured, you may not have enough traction between your skin and the dough to easily stretch it sideways.) Cut each roll into 1-inch pieces.
5 Hold a fork at a 45% angle with its tines facing down on the work board, the curved part of the fork facing away from you. Starting with the curved outside bottom of the fork, press each piece of dough up along the length of the tines. Let the gnocchi fall back down. This is a pretty quick motion, the result is an indentation of the fork tines on one side of the gnocchi, and an indentation of your fingertip on the other side.
Place the gnocchi on a lightly floured cookie sheet. At this point they can be cooked, or kept in the refrigerator several hours or overnight.
6 To cook the gnocchi, fill a large wide pot half-way with water. Bring to a boil, add 1 teaspoon of salt for every quart of water. Once the salt has dissolved, gently drop the gnocchi in the water, one by one. Try to do this in a way that the gnocchi are not falling in on top of each other, but rest on the bottom of the pan in a single layer. As the gnocchi cooks, they will rise to the surface of the water after a couple minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the risen gnocchi from the pot, place in a serving bowl. Sometimes the gnocchi can stick a little at the bottom. If you suspect this, nudge them a little to unstick them. As you remove some gnocchi, you can add a few more to the pan.
The Sauce
1 Heat oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and cook until lightly browned on all sides. Remove and discard the garlic. Add the tomatoes (include any juices from the can) all at once (careful, they may cause the oil to splatter as the tomatoes hit the pan). As soon as the mixture boils, reduce the heat to low and let simmer, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt. Stir occasionally. Use a potato masher to break up any solid pieces of tomato, you want a rough purée.
2 Once the sauce reduces to a medium thick consistency, add the goat cheese, stirring until it is well blended. Add more salt to taste.
Serve gnocchi with the sauce and extra grated Parmesan. Serves 4-6.
Gougeres: Cheese Puffs - Recipe 1
Gougeres - as seen on plumpudding
(minus the portion of the recipe for frying Gougeres)
From Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything
1 c water
4 T (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 c (about 7 oz) all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 c freshly grated Emmenthal, Gruyere, Cantal or Cheddar cheese
1 c freshly grated Parmesan or other hard cheese
Lightly grease a baking sheet and preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine the water, butter, and salt in medium saucepan; turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, until the butter melts, just a minute or two longer. Add the flour all at once and cook, stirring constantly, until the dough holds together in a ball, 5 minutes or less.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating hard after each addition (feel free to use an electric mixer). Stop beating when the mixture is glossy. Stir in the cheeses.
Drop teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet and bake until light brown, 10-15 minutes.
Labels: recipe
(minus the portion of the recipe for frying Gougeres)
From Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything
1 c water
4 T (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 c (about 7 oz) all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 c freshly grated Emmenthal, Gruyere, Cantal or Cheddar cheese
1 c freshly grated Parmesan or other hard cheese
Lightly grease a baking sheet and preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine the water, butter, and salt in medium saucepan; turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, until the butter melts, just a minute or two longer. Add the flour all at once and cook, stirring constantly, until the dough holds together in a ball, 5 minutes or less.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating hard after each addition (feel free to use an electric mixer). Stop beating when the mixture is glossy. Stir in the cheeses.
Drop teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet and bake until light brown, 10-15 minutes.
Labels: recipe
Buffalo Chicken Dip aka Crack Dip
Buffalo Chicken Dip aka Crack Dip - as seen on It's all about sustenance
INGREDIENTS
* 2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained OR 2-3 boneless breasts, cooked and shredded
* 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
* 1 cup Ranch dressing
* 3/4 cup pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot®)
* 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
* OPTIONAL: Bleu cheese. Either itself or Bleu Cheese Dressing
DIRECTIONS
1. Mix all and bake in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes. If you need to keep it warm - transfer to a slow cooker and leave it on "warm".
2. Serve with celery sticks and crackers (Tostito scoops work great).
INGREDIENTS
* 2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained OR 2-3 boneless breasts, cooked and shredded
* 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
* 1 cup Ranch dressing
* 3/4 cup pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot®)
* 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
* OPTIONAL: Bleu cheese. Either itself or Bleu Cheese Dressing
DIRECTIONS
1. Mix all and bake in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes. If you need to keep it warm - transfer to a slow cooker and leave it on "warm".
2. Serve with celery sticks and crackers (Tostito scoops work great).
Basic Tart Dough
Basic Tart Dough - from Williams Sonoma, as seen on Annie's Eats
Ingredients:
* 1 egg yolk
* 2 Tbs. very cold water
* 1 tsp. vanilla extract
* 1 1⁄4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1⁄3 cup sugar
* 1⁄4 tsp. salt
* 8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into
1⁄4-inch cubes
Directions:
In a small bowl, stir together the egg yolk, water and vanilla; set aside.
To make the dough by hand, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the egg mixture and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together.
To make the dough in a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and beat on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the egg mixture and beat just until the dough pulls together.
Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. Use the dough immediately, or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, about 30 minutes.
To roll out the dough, on a lightly floured board, flatten the disk with 6 to 8 gentle taps of the rolling pin. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed, then roll out until the dough is about 1/8 inch thick. Use a small, sharp knife to cut out a round or rounds 2 inches greater in diameter than your tart or larger tartlet pans. Use a small, sharp knife or a cookie cutter to cut out rounds 1/2 to 1 inch greater in diameter than your miniature tartlet pans. If using a rectangular tart pan, cut out a rectangle 2 inches larger on all sides than the pan. Makes enough dough for one 9 1/2-inch tart, six 4-inch tartlets, twelve 2-inch miniature tartlets or one 13 3/4-by-4 1/4-inch rectangular tart.
Nut Dough Variation: Add 2 Tbs. ground toasted pecans, walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts to the flour mixture and proceed as directed.
Make-Ahead Tip: The tart dough may be made ahead and frozen for up to 1 month. To freeze, place the dough round on a 12-inch cardboard circle and wrap it well with plastic wrap. Alternatively, use the round to line a tart pan and wrap well.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Pie & Tart, by Carolyn Beth Weil (Simon & Schuster, 2003).
Ingredients:
* 1 egg yolk
* 2 Tbs. very cold water
* 1 tsp. vanilla extract
* 1 1⁄4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1⁄3 cup sugar
* 1⁄4 tsp. salt
* 8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into
1⁄4-inch cubes
Directions:
In a small bowl, stir together the egg yolk, water and vanilla; set aside.
To make the dough by hand, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the egg mixture and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together.
To make the dough in a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and beat on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the egg mixture and beat just until the dough pulls together.
Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. Use the dough immediately, or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, about 30 minutes.
To roll out the dough, on a lightly floured board, flatten the disk with 6 to 8 gentle taps of the rolling pin. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed, then roll out until the dough is about 1/8 inch thick. Use a small, sharp knife to cut out a round or rounds 2 inches greater in diameter than your tart or larger tartlet pans. Use a small, sharp knife or a cookie cutter to cut out rounds 1/2 to 1 inch greater in diameter than your miniature tartlet pans. If using a rectangular tart pan, cut out a rectangle 2 inches larger on all sides than the pan. Makes enough dough for one 9 1/2-inch tart, six 4-inch tartlets, twelve 2-inch miniature tartlets or one 13 3/4-by-4 1/4-inch rectangular tart.
Nut Dough Variation: Add 2 Tbs. ground toasted pecans, walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts to the flour mixture and proceed as directed.
Make-Ahead Tip: The tart dough may be made ahead and frozen for up to 1 month. To freeze, place the dough round on a 12-inch cardboard circle and wrap it well with plastic wrap. Alternatively, use the round to line a tart pan and wrap well.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Pie & Tart, by Carolyn Beth Weil (Simon & Schuster, 2003).
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