Macaroni and Cheese

Jimmy's favorite! 

Cook 1 lb. pasta and drain. While pasta is cooking, make cheese sauce.

Cheese sauce: Melt 1/2 C. butter over medium heat. Stir in 1/2 C. flour. Slowly whisk in 4 C. milk. Add 1 lb. grated cheddar cheese (or mixture of cheddar and jack or swiss -- whatever you like) and stir until it is nearly melted. Add 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. white pepper, 1 tsp. dry mustard, a little cayenne (to taste).

Put drained pasta in 13x9 inch baking casserole. Pur cheese sauce over and mix together well. a Sprinkle little chopped parsley and a little paprika on top. Bake at 350 x 30-40 minutes, until top is a little crusty. 

Pumpkin Ravioli

A favorite of Joey and Vince.

Filling:
2 C pumpkin (fresh or canned)
3/4 C crushed amaretti cookies (or you can use the Stella Doro breakfast cookies)
1 C grated Romano or Parmigiano cheese
1 beaten egg
4 T soft butter
1/4 C finely minced figs
Sea salt and white pepper to taste
A pinch of allspice

Pasta:
2 packages wonton wrappers
1 beaten egg, mixed with 1 eggshell of water

Sauce:
4 T butter
4 large sage leaves, finely shredded
Sea salt to taste
1/4 C crushed amaretti cookies

Combine the ingredients for the filling. Lay 10 or 12 the wonton wrappers out at a time. Brush a bit of the egg mixture around the edges of half of the wonton wrappers using a pastry brush. Place approximately a tablespoon of the pumpkin mixture on each of the wrappers with egg around the edge. Place a second wrapper on top and press the edges together, getting rid of any air in the package as you do so. Set aside on parchment paper sprinkled with flour and let dry for a few hours. Repeat until you have used up the wonton wrappers and the filling. Ravioli can be refrigerated or frozen at this time if desired.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. In the meantime, melt the butter in a small pan, add the chopped sage and salt, and simmer. Cook the ravioli in the boiling water for 3-4 minutes, until they float to the top of the water. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon. Place on plate and drizzle the sage butter over the top. Sprinkle with a small amount of the crushed cookies.

Crustless Quiche

You can experiment with different cheeses and add-in ingredients such as ham chunks, crumbled bacon, broccoli, carrots, par-boiled potatoes. I recommend steaming the veggies a bit before adding them to your egg mixture. This makes a great main dish for dinner; also very nice for breakfast or brunch.
Serves 12


1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup flour
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 pound Monterey Jack cheese, cubed
2 cups cottage cheese
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Melt butter or margarine. Stir in flour. Cook and stir until smooth. Set aside.

Beat eggs well. Add the rest of the ingredients and the flour mixture. Blend well. Pour into greased 9x13" pan. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, until set and a little browned around the edges.

Risotto (basic)

Basic Recipe
4 C. broth
2 T. butter
2 T. olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
Seafood or vegetables of your choice -- approximately 1/2-1 C.
1 C. arborio rice
1/2 C. dry white wine (can be sparkling)
1/4 C. cream
1/4 C. grated Romano or Parmigiana cheese
salt, pepper, spices/herbs to taste

Heat broth to boil and then set on low heat to simmer. Meanwhile, melt butter in olive oil in frying pan over medium high heat. When hot add garlic and seafood/vegetables (your choice -- shrimp, mushrooms, spinach, etc.) and saute. Add rice and saute for 1-2 minutes. Set timer for 20 minutes. Add wine and stir. As wine is absorbed, add a ladle full of simmering broth and stir. As broth is absorbed, add more, stirring all the while. You may have to adjust the heat as you add more volume so that the liquid bubbles constantly but that the pan is not so hot that the liquid evaporates right away. Continue this for 20 minutes, even if some broth is left at the end of the time. Remove from heat and add cream, cheese and spices (to your taste -- parsley for shrimp risotto, allspice for mushroom risotto, etc.). Cover and let sit for several minutes before serving.

Lemon risotto alternative
Prepare as above except:
Omit extra seafood or vegetables. Right after adding rice to pan, add the zest of 1 small lemon. At the end, add 2 T. lemon juice with cream/cheese mixture. No additional spices (other than salt and white pepper) are necessary.

Nana Stella made an interesting risotto with broth and tomato sauce. Find it here as Risotto - Genovese.

Swiss Chard & Mozzarella Tart

Although it's a "super food," I just wasn't crazy about the taste of Swiss chard. The cheese helps make it downright yummy! The tart is not huge--feeds two with a complementary partner such as soup. Since I'm posting it, you know it's EASY. (The tart in my photo should have had double the filling--Swiss Chard shrinks as much as spinach when wilted.) ~~Sandi

Pie crust*
2 small bunches Swiss chard, washed and chopped
1 c. chopped leeks or pearl/green onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. crushed thyme
2 tbsp. olive oil
6 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

*We use the Pillsbury prepared crusts that come rolled and ready to use. From scratch is nice, too.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In stir fry pan, cook chard, leeks, garlic, thyme with a little salt/pepper in hot oil for about 4 minutes. Remove to bowl to cool slightly.

Place round dough flat onto a baking sheet (e.g., pizza pan) rubbed with olive oil. Mix cheese into chard filling and spoon into center of dough. Spread, leaving 2" border of crust. Fold dough over filling and pleat the edges of the crust (leaving center open). Brush folds with olive oil if desired. Bake about 30 minutes until golden.

Cut into quarters and serve with a hearty soup for two.

Stuffed Shells

About 1 quart of your favorite gravy (I use a simple marinara sauce)

1 1/2 lbs. jumbo pasta shells

2 lbs ricotta

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 lb fresh mozzarella

salt to taste

white pepper to taste

Cook the shells in a very large pot of boiling salted water for 7-8 minutes. The shells should be very al dente to prevent tearing while stuffing. When they are cooked, remove them from the boiling water and put them in a bowl of ice water. Drain carefully.

Slice the mozzarella in half. Cut one of the halves into very small dice (about 1/4 inch). Slice the other half very thinly. Mix the ricotta, eggs, parsley, parmesan. diced mozzarella and salt and white pepper to taste.

Pour about a cup of gravy in the bottom of a large pan. Fill each shell with enough cheese mixture so that the shell is full but not over-stuffed. Place them snugly into the pan. Once all the shells are filled and in the pan, drizzle gravy over the top. Place the sliced mozzarella evenly over the gravy.

Preheat oven to 450. Cook shells for about 30 minutes, until bubbling and the mozzarella is golden. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving. Serve with additional gravy and parmesan.

Pasta e Ceci

Serves 4

1 cup dried chick peas (or use 2 cans)
1-2/3 cups vegetable stock or water
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
4 garlic cloves, minced
5 Tbsp olive oil
28 ounce can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper
1-1/4 cups ditalini or other small pasta

If using dried chick peas:
Soak the chick peas in cold water for about 12 hours, then drain and rinse them and put them in a heavy pot. Add the stock or water, basil, garlic and 1/2 the olive oil. Bring to the boil, cover the pot tightly and cook at the lowest simmer until the chick peas are tender, which can take from 2 to 4 hours.
Puree the tomatoes and add to the soup. Stir well and add salt and pepper to taste and cook for about 10 minutes.
Check that there is enough liquid in the pan; if not, add boiling water. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Ladle into bowls and drizzle each with a little of the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with grated parmesan.

If you use canned chick peas:
Simmer the stock, basil, garlic, olive oil, tomatoes, salt and pepper for a good 30 to 45 minutes until the flavors are well-blended. Add the canned beans with their liquid, and continue with the rest of the recipe.

Pasta Fazul aka Pasta Fagioli

Presenting the debut of Son Number Two! This recipe comes to us from Tom and Denise: "The best thing about this recipe is all ingredients are estimates so you can use more or less depending on taste or on the amount you want to make or on whether you like it more soupy or thicker. We don't add any meat but I know some people like to. "

3 +/- tbsp. olive oil

1 cup each diced onions, carrots & celery

3 - 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

2 (14.5 oz.) cans stewed tomatoes (fresh tomatoes if you prefer)

1 can (15 oz) white cannellini beans

3 - 4 cups chicken broth (you can use low sodium if you prefer)

Fresh chopped basil and parsley (dried works too) recipe calls for 1/4 cup fresh parsley and teaspoon dried basil. We usually have fresh basil in the house but end up using dried parsley, maybe a tablespoon.

Pasta - you can use anything or combination. We usually use ditalini or small elbows. I also like to break some small one to two inch pieces of spaghetti for variety of texture.

In large pot, heat oil and saute garlic about a minute then add onions, celery and carrots for about 4 or 5 minutes. Add undrained tomatoes, undrained cannellini beans, parsley, basil, stir and saute for a couple of minutes. Then add the chicken broth, bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 or 30 minutes.

We usually cook the pasta separate. You can cook it in the soup but it soaks up a lot of the liquid. If you prefer it think then you can try cooking the pasta in the soup. After the soup has cooked for 20 minutes, add the pasta and let simmer until pasta is tender. We usually cook it separate and then each person can add as much pasta as they want to their own bowl or you can throw the cooked pasta into the pot but you can still control how much you put in and it doesn't soak up all the liquid.

Serve soup with freshly ground parmesan, some bread with olive oil for dipping, some nice wine and you have a healthy, delicious meal with plenty for left overs!

Spinach Casserole

This one looks so quick and easy! Something for those days when you've been too busy to cook an elaborate meal.

3 pkg. frozen chopped spinach
8 oz cream cheese
1 stick butter
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 c. stuffing mix (Mom says "Pepperidge Farm")

Cook spinach in salted water, drain. Mix in cream cheese, 1/2 butter and seasonings. Turn into a casserole dish.

Mix stuffing mix with remaining 1/2 butter, melted. Top the casserole. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

Perogies

Okay...here they are. The famous Chalifour Perogies, directly from Claire Chalifour, Paul's mom. How a French-Canadian from Saskatchewan learned to make a Polish delicacy is still a mystery. However it happened, they are the best around and she has shared the recipe with new generations.

For the dough:

6 cups flour

1/2 pound butter or margarine

2 eggs

3 Tbsp sour cream

1 1/4 cups water

For the filling:

3 to 4 medium-sized potatoes, peeled

2 pounds 4% cottage cheese

Salt

To prepare perogies:

1/2 pound butter

Large onion, diced

To make the dough, put flour, 1/2 pound butter, eggs, and sour cream into a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, blend till the dough forms pea-sized lumps. Pour water over dough and blend slightly with hands (you should be able to see streaks of flour). Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or so.

To make the filling, boil the potatoes until soft. Transfer to bowl. Add cottage cheese and mash together until creamy. Add enough salt so that the mixture tastes a bit too salty.

Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a boil. Put the onion and 1/2 pound butter in a small saucepan. Melt on low heat. As the butter melts the onion will cook, not fry. Keep the butter/onion mixture on low heat.

Remove dough from the refrigerator. Cut a 1/3 of the dough and put the remaining 2/3 back in the refrigerator. Roll out the 1/3 thinly on a lightly floured surface. The dough will be sticky so work carefully and use just enough flour to prevent sticking. Using a glass or circle cutter 3 to 4 inches, cut circles in the dough. Put 1 circle in your hand and place 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center of the dough circle. Fold circle to form a crescent and pinch dough until sealed so no filling can come out. The dough must be sealed well. Repeat with remaining circles. Take the scraps from the dough and gather together and put back in refrigerator.

Add a dozen or so perogies to the boiling water and stir occassionally as they may stick to the bottom. Boil till they float to the top. Remove perogies from boiling water with a slotted spoon or strainer (Freddie likes this job because he eats the broken ones). Drain well. Once drained, put perogies in a large bowl. Drizzle some of the butter/onion mixture over them and coat so they don't stick together. Repeat the process with the remaining 2/3 dough, adding the scraps from each 13 to the scraps in the refrigerator. Use the scraps to roll one more batch (when you roll out the scraps, the dough will not roll as thinly as the other batches). As you roll the remaining dough and boil the perogies, drain them, add them to the ones in the bowl and drizzle some of the butter/onion mixture on them. As the bowl becomes filled, lay each perogie individually on cookie sheets. Drizzle whatever butter/onion mixture remains in the bowl or the saucepan over the filled cookie sheets. Put cookie sheets in freezer. Once the perogies are frozen you can transfer them (with the frozen butter/onions) to ziploc bags.

To serve, heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add frozen perogies and sautee until nicely browned on both sides. You do not need to add oil or butter to the pan as the frozen butter/onion mix will brown the perogies and prevent sticking. Serve with sour cream and bacon bits, if you wish.

This recipe makes approximately 100 perogies depending on the size.

Manicotti

This recipe includes either meat sauce or marinara sauce.

12 eggs
2 1/4 c. milk
3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt

Beat all together to form crepe-like batter. Cook on griddle, pouring about 1/4 cup of batter to form a circle. Remove when cooked--do not turn, do not let it brown. Repeat until all are done and let all cool.

FILLING:
3 lb. ricotta
4 eggs, beaten
1 c. grated cheese
1 tbsp. parsley
Salt & pepper
1/2 lb. cubed mozzarella (optional)

Mix all filling ingredients. Place about 1 tbsp. or more in center of each crepe. Fold over. Place side-by-side in baking pan, seam side up. Pour meat sauce or marinara sauce over all. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover with foil.

Bake in 400° oven for 30-40 minutes until filling is cooked.

Marcello Romanelli's Onion Omelet

One time years ago when I was visiting my med school friend Matt Romanelli in Brooklyn, we went out to his parents' house on Long Island for dinner and I got a special treat: Matt's mother always served a wonderful meal, but this particular time his father made this onion omelet to accompany it. A year or so ago I asked Matt for the recipe, and his father painstakingly wrote this. He gives away his engineering background with the precision with which he wrote it. (He worked for Grumman on the Apollo projects and the space shuttle - he gave Joey some of his NASA memorobilia once when we visited. Joey still cherishes all of it.) I have reproduced it precisely as Mr. Romanelli wrote it. Mrs. Romanelli told me that she usually buys Vidalia onions for him to use in this dish. As I said, the Romanellis served it as a side dish that night, but it is hearty enough to stand on its own as a main dish too.


10" fry pan and cover
3 lbs. onions
3 tbs. olive oil
9 large eggs, scrambled

1. Slice each peeled onion in half longitudinally.
2. Slice each half longitudinally into about 3/8" thick segments.
3. Put oil and all 3 lbs. of onions into pan.
4. Cook with a cover over medium heat.
5. Turn onions frequently to achieve uniform cooking. At first, the 3 lbs. will sit high in the pan. Eventually the onions' moisture will steam/boil off, leaving a much reduced height in the pan.

IMPORTANT:
You want to caramelize the onions (to bring out a sugary flavor). You can increase the heat some to speed up the caramelizing. Use an egg turner to scrape the dark brown caramel off the pan's bottom and onto the onions.

6. When the onions are sufficiently browned, reduce the heat to preclude further browning.
7. Slowly pour in the 9 scrambled eggs. Make an effort to evenly distribute the (liquid) eggs among the (solid) onions. You're trying to make a composite structure of the finished pie. (The cooked eggs will bind the onion bits in place giving the pie structural integrity like epoxy and carbon filaments.)
8. After pouring in the eggs, continue at low heat 30-40 minutes with cover on until it looks like a solid pie. Run a spatula around the pie's rim and also under the pie's bottom edges to ensure separation later.
9. Let the pie cool a bit: 30 minutes.
10. Place a serving plate larger than 10" with slightly curled-up edges over the pan. Flip pie over onto plate.

Bim's note: I add a little salt and pepper to the onions as they cook.

Ravioli

This recipe includes your choice of fillings: ricotta or ping. If your household doesn't have a ravioli pole for rolling the dough, you'll have to improvise! While Grandma Tressa made very tiny ravioli, Mom made hers a bit bigger.

DOUGH:
4 c. flour
3-4 eggs
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 eggshell-size warm water (maybe more)

Mix ingredients and knead for 10 minutes. Roll in two pieces to 1/16" thick and flour well. Spread filling (below) over the entire bottom dough sheet. Top with second dough sheet. Before crimping, use something like a yardstick (Manny used the stick from a window shade) to mark the grid before crimping. This is important! It moves the filling away from the edges. Use crimper to form individual raviolis.

RICOTTA FILLING:
1 lb. ricotta
1 egg
Grated cheese
Parsley, salt, pepper

PING FILLING:
1 lb. spinach wilted, strained, chopped, sauteed in butter
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 lb. cream cheese
2 eggs
1-2 slices milk bread
Salt, pepper, allspice
1/2 c. grated cheese

Whichever filling you choose: Mix well. Add milk bread if too runny. Dry on brown paper with flour. Mixture should be stiff and peak.Drop the ravioli into boiling water one handful at a time. When they float to the top (1-2 minutes), remove with a slotted spoon and repeat until all are cooked. Serve with your favorite sauce.