Lasagna

Lasagna is basically one of my favorite things of all time. It is a delicious mixture of some of the best things in the world, so anyone who says they don't like lasagna is just a crazy person. Unfortunately I was busy chopping, sauteing, and dicing while I was making it so I didn't take very many pictures. I do have one of the final product though, and I think it speaks volumes about how amazing this meal was.

It tastes every bit as good as it looks, and it's really simple to make. I start by browning about a 1:1 mixture of hot Italian sausage and ground beef; about a pound of each. I like my lasagna slightly spicy, so I add to that mixture crushed red pepper, salt, black pepper, 1/4 tsp of fennel seeds, and lots of basil, oregano, and thyme. Around a teaspoon of each at the minimum. While that's browning, I mince about 4-5 cloves of garlic. That might seem like a lot, but I'm a big fan of garlic. Add however much you think is appropriate depending your taste buds. Also chop one large onion and some kind of bell pepper; I prefer red because it's slightly sweeter and less bitter. When the vegetables have softened I add two 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes, about a tsp of sugar, and I let that simmer for at least 30 minutes. While it simmers I prepare the cheese mixture. I grated a block of provolone (you can use mozzarella or pretty much any Italian cheese) and around one cup of Parmesan cheese as well. I took half of the provolone and added it to two containers of ricotta cheese along with the full cup of Parmesan. Then I added three eggs. The eggs are going to make the cheese more spreadable as well as keep the structure firm after you slice the lasagna. At this point you're going to want to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. You'll need a pan that is about 13x9x3". You can usually buy a disposable one at the grocery store if you don't have one. It's usually even called a lasagna pan. Lasagna is all about layers and I usually start with the sauce. You want to have just enough sauce to coat the bottom then you put down a layer of noodles. I always buy Barilla brand if possible because they don't need to be precooked, which is way more convenient. After the noodles you spread out the cheese mixture. If it doesn't seem like it's spreading very well I just add a little milk to help out the texture. Keep repeating in this order until you get close to the top of the pan. At that point, I usually add a layer of sauce on top of the last layer of pasta, which I follow by adding the rest of the provolone cheese, and I grate some more Parmesan onto the top. I also start cooking the pasta with tinfoil over the top, which I remove after about 30 minutes to allow the cheese to brown. It should take 45 minutes to an hour to cook. It's usually safe to bet that the pasta is cook and everything is hot once the sauce starts to bubble at the edge of the pan. Such an amazing dish and it's great to serve to friends because it makes a large amount of food. Also it's usually even better the second day, so enjoy some delicious leftovers.

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Grilled Chicken, and Bruschetta

Going to the University of Minnesota means gaining access to the nearly limitless resources that a large public institution has available. However, this a food blog, and I'm not talking about academics. I'm referring to the U's very own farmer's market, which inspired me to make this dish. As I viewed all of the delicious fresh produce on my way to class, there was one item that stood out: beautiful multi-colored cherry tomatoes. It was not the first time in recent months that this particular ingredient had provided me with inspiration, so I already knew exactly what to make. Earlier this summer while the cherry tomatoes were starting to turn ripe in my parents own garden, I came across a recipe for Michael Chiarello's Pasta Pomodorini and it turned out to be a winner. Since cooking for me is about experimentation I rarely follow a recipe exactly although admittedly I didn't stray too far on this one. It starts by just crushing the tomatoes in your hand. I recommend using a deep bowl and putting the tomato as deep into the bowl as possible because you WILL get tomato juice all over the kitchen. After that heat some olive oil in a pan and mince fresh basil and garlic. When the oil is hot add the basil and garlic and sautee just so the garlic softens a little. Then add the tomatoes and cook until quite a bit of the moisture evaporates and the tomato flavor is nice and concentrated. At this point while I was home I added some white wine to put a little moisture back into the sauce, but since I didn't have any at school I just added some of the water I cooked my pasta in. That's all that it takes to make the sauce. I added the noodles to the sauce, let it cook together for a minute or two, and served it. The dish looks like it's going to be really boring because the sauce doesn't appear to coat the noodles at all, but it ends up actually being very flavorful. I served it with some sliced chicken breasts that I grilled with basil and marjoram for flavor. I also put olive oil on a piece of ciabatta bread, grilled it, rubbed garlic on it, and served it with chopped tomatoes to which I added fresh chopped basil, salt, pepper, olive, and a little sugar.

Cajun Chicken Pasta and (mostly) Failed Gnocchi

Mmmm cajun chicken pasta, so delicious and so much simpler than those frustrating gnocchi. It all starts with my cajun seasoning blend that I make myself. I mix garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, oregano, chipotle powder, and cayenne pepper. I cut up three chicken thighs for the pasta because that was what I had, but any kind of chicken will do. Season the chicken with extra salt and pepper and the cajun seasoning while you're heating about two to three tablespoons of oil in a big pan. When it's hot, sautee the chicken until it's almost cooked through (it'll finish cooking in the sauce). The picture below shows the color you're looking for on the chicken.

While the chicken is cooking dice about a cup of red bell pepper, one medium onion, and two cloves of garlic. When the chicken is as above, remove from the pan and set it aside. In the same pan, sautee the peppers, onions, and garlic making sure to get all the tasty browned bits up off the bottom. A picture of what this should look like is below. You can see some of the fond (those tasty bits I mentioned) mixed in with the vegetables.

Next add the chicken back to the pan along with cream. I used two pints because I was making this for a crowd of seven people, but one pint would be plenty for probably three to four people. This then needs to boil so that it will reduce and thicken, as seen below.

The sauce is thick enough when it coats the back of a spoon. Be careful not to let it thicken too much because the starch from the pasta will make it a lot thicker just don't rinse the pasta after it's done cooking or you'll lose all that starch. I used penne noodles since they're my favorite, but you can use pretty much any cut pasta that you like. The picture below is the finished product and it was a big hit.

My other dish for the night was gnocchi in a brown butter sauce with rosemary and thyme. As the title of this post implies, the gnochhi were not an overwhelming success. I had never made them before and it was quite a bit more difficult than I had hoped. I would have pictures from the process, but things got a little chaotic. I will try it again and post more pictures of the actual gnocchi making process. Here's a picture of the finished product. They were less terrible than I had anticipated after first blanching them and seeing how they looked. The biggest issue was how tough they were because they actually had pretty good flavor. More on gnocchi another day. The chicken soup I promised will be coming shortly.