Rigatoni with Sausage and Peas in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Rich and creamy pasta, with savory sausages and sweet peas. 

Great all-in-one dinner, ready in less than 30 minutes!

Last week I went to dinner to one of my favorite Italian restaurant in Santa Monica, Hostaria del Piccolo. As I've said before, the food here is amazing ... and this is saying a lot, coming from someone who can be quite picky about Italian food! This place is not crazy expensive, as many fancy Italian restaurants around here, and the kids are always welcomed.  My boys really love it too!
One of the dishes that we ordered to share was rigatoni with sausage, peas and creamy tomato sauce. It was absolutely delicious. While eating this pasta, I was trying to savor every bite, to figure out what ingredients were in the sauce.
So, this is what I made last night... and, I have to be honest, it turned out really yummy and quite similar to the original! So from now on, this pasta will definitely be part of the regular menu in my house.

Ingredients: serving 4 people                             Printable Recipe

• half onion, chopped
• 8 oz of ground sausage
• 1.5 cups of crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup of (frozen) peas
• 1/3 cup of heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste
• 2 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 12 oz of rigatoni pasta

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Directions:
Step 1: Saute' the chopped onion in a large skillet with the olive oil, over medium-high heat for a few minutes.

Step 2: Add the sausages and break it into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until mostly browned.

Step 3: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. And then cook the pasta as directed on the box.

Step 4: In the meantime, add the crushed tomatoes and the peas to the skillet with the sausage. Salt to taste. Careful that the sausage will be salty already. Simmer over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes

Step 5: Stir in the heavy cream and cook for a couple of minutes or until the pasta is ready.

Step 6: Drain the pasta, and toss in the skillet with the sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Buon Appetito!

Bite-Size Croissants with Nutella and Hazelnuts

Creamy nutella and crunchy hazelnuts rolled up in flaky puff pastry. These delicious bite-size croissants are ready in minutes! What are you waiting for?!?

Last week my friend's little boy was eating a danish with nutella and whole hazelnuts. It looked sooo delicious that I almost wanted to snatch it from those cute little hands and take a bite. You know, just a small bite to see if it tasted as good as it looked. But no, I didn't. I really wouldn't do such a thing!
On Saturday though, that danish was still imprinted in my mind. So, here is what I did. I used the frozen puff pastry I had in my freezer and baked these mini, bite-size croissants filled with creamy nutella and crunchy hazelnuts. Really yummy! It turned out to be the perfect dessert to take along that night, to the outdoor movie I went with my boys. The croissants tasted even more delicious there, sitting in the grass, with a light ocean breeze, under a beautiful summer starry sky.
And one more thing: these croissants are not only as delicious as they look, but also super fast to bake. As you probably know by now, I like to cook things from scratch. But is there anything wrong to use frozen dough, so I could have these delicious croissants I had been craving for within minutes?
Don't think so. Try them and you will agree.


Ingredients: to make 12 bite-size croissants                         Printable Recipe

• 1 sheet of frozen  puff pastry, thawed
• about 4 tablespoons (12 teaspoons) of nutella
• 1/3 of a cup of hazelnuts, broken in big pieces
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1 egg
• powder sugar to decorate

Preparation time: 25 minutes (plus 30 minutes to thaw the puff pastry)

Directions:

Step 1: Thaw the puff pastry if you haven't done that yet. When ready, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Unfold the puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Cut the sheet in triangles as shown in my picture.

Step 2: Place a teaspoon of nutella on the shorter side of each triangle, and sprinkle with the hazelnuts.

Step 3: Roll the croissant starting from the side where the nutella is. Make sure the nutella and nuts stay in.

Step 4: Place the croissants on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, or if you have them, on a silicone baking mat. No greasing necessary! Brush the beaten egg on top of the croissants.

Step 5: Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until nicely golden on top.

Step 6: And now the last (hardest!!) step: let them cool off a little ... before eating! And sprinkle with powder sugar ... before eating!

Enjoy!

 

SWEET AND STICKY CHICKEN

This recipe is one of picky-picky husbands all time favorites. There are several steps, but none of them are hard and the end result is oh so tasty!!

Yes, it IS very sweet (after all it is called "Sweet and Sticky Chicken"), but it is a real crowd pleaser and any leftovers are excellent for lunch on day two!!

You can use white or dark meat chicken, but we LOVE it made with boneless and skinless chicken thighs (and we don't usually eat dark chicken), but the thigh meat in this recipe stays very moist and flavorful (and some times, chicken breast meat, cooked like this, can be a little dry.

Cut 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs into 1" cubes. Marinate the cubes in the following mixture:

2 tablespoons cooking sherry (see substitution note below)
1 teaspoon powdered chicken bullion (or one cube crushed)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1  1/2  teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Toss cubed chicken in the above mixture and chill for about an hour.


Now, to bread the chicken:

In bowl #1, put:
1 cup flour

In bowl #2, mix
2 large eggs

In bowl #3, put
1 cup cornstarch


Toss the cubed and marinated chicken in bowl #1. Toss them around until well covered.

Shake off all excess flour mixture and put the meat into bowl #2. Stir them around until well moistened, then but them into the cornstarch in bowl #3, toss to coat well. 

Shake off excess cornstarch and fry in 1" vegetable oil (I use my electric skillet for this step).  Fry until lightly golden and well done. Drain on paper towels.

While the chicken is frying....make the sauce:

1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sweet chili sauce (see note below)

Put the sauce ingredients into a saucepan and simmer GENTLY for about a minute or two (don't boil hard or it will turn into candy).

Drizzle the sweet sauce over the cooked chicken. Toss to coat well.  Keep hot till serving time.

We like this served over rice.



NOTE:  We are very shy when it comes to spicy foods, so I  use one tablespoon of Sun Luck brand sweet chili sauce in this recipe and the final sauce has next to NO heat, but its a great addition to the flavor.  If you like spicy, then I'd suggest you use something with more heat.

 

 

NOTE:  I never seem to have cooking sherry around, so in this recipe I used 1 teaspoon of vanilla + enough water to make 2 tablespoons. Sounds weird I know, but trust me, it works well in this recipe.



Meringue Cake with Fresh Strawberries

Indulge yourself in this deliciously creamy and rich meringue cake with fresh strawberry. 

The perfect dessert for these hot summer days.

For today, an exquisitely amazing cake perfect for these hot summer days. REALLY! I'm not exaggerating.
Here is how I know it: my mother-in-law loved it :-) She really doesn't care much for dessert and generally turns it down. But not only she liked this meringue cake, she thought it was absolutely delicious. So, if you are wondering: yes! I made it to impress her, and it totally worked :-)
The meringue cake is a relatively easy dessert to make, with the exception of the meringue part. But once the meringues are ready, it's only a matter of whipping the cream, preparing the custard and having fun assembling and decorating the cake.
You will need to prepare the cake several hours in advance. It needs to be firm and mostly frozen, so it won't fall apart. And you will need to remove it from the freezer at least 30 to 60 minutes before eating it, based on how creamy and soft you wish to eat it.
I will make this dessert again, soon!! Next time though I will buy the meringues. So the cake will be a lot faster and a lot easier. I will post the recipe for you as soon as it's ready!


Ingredients: to make a 9 in cake, serving about 8-10 people       Printable Recipe

For the meringues:
6 egg whites
1 and a half cups of powder sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the custard cream:
16 fl oz of milk
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
half lemon

For the rest of the filling and decoration:
1 lb of fresh strawberries
about 12 fl oz of whipping cream
half tablespoon of powder sugar

Preparation time: 30 minutes to prepare, plus 2 hours to bake, and at least 4 hours of refrigeration

Directions:
Step 1: Follow the recipe for the meringue here, step 1 and 2. Note: save the egg yolks - you will need 4 to make the custard cream later. When the mixture is ready, prepare three discs using the removable sides of the baking pan you are planning to use to hold the cake.  Pipe the mixture in circles starting from the edge, moving in. Smooth the top if you like using a knife or a stirring stick. You will need one disk for the top, one for the bottom of the cake, and one will be broken in pieces and mixed in with the filling. Bake for about 1 hour as directed in the meringues recipe and leave in the oven for at least one more hour.

Step 2: Prepare the custard cream, following this recipe. Let it cool down in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Step 3: Whip 8 fl oz of whipping cream and mix it with the custard cream.

Step 4: Cut about 2/3 of the strawberries in small pieces (the rest will be used for decorating the cake). Break one disc of meringue in pieces. Mix the strawberries and the meringue pieces with the custard cream.

Step 5: Place one disc of meringue inside the baking pan you used earlier (all you need is the sides, not the bottom). Pour in the filling and cover with the last disc. Cover with aluminum foil and freeze for at least 4 hours or until set, better if overnight.

Step 6: Whip the remaining cream with the powder sugar. Remove the side of the cake and decorate with whipped cream and the remaining strawberries... This is the fun part!!

Remove from the freezer 30 to 60 minutes before eating. And store the rest ... assuming there is anything left!! ... in the freezer. Enjoy :-)

Lasagne with Radicchio and Speck

Here is the perfect dish for a special dinner. You will be sure to impress your guests with this lasagna with radicchio and speck!

Last night I felt like cooking something a little special, which takes a bit longer to prepare, but it's well worth the effort.This is a great dish to cook for guests. You will definitely hear lots of "oohs" and "aahs" and especially "mmms". Ready to impress everybody with this deliciously Italian lasagna?!?

You can prepare it in advance and reheat it in the oven at the last minute. This will give you more time to mingle with the guests while sipping your wine, rather then spending all your time in the kitchen cooking, and missing out on all the fun.

Radicchio and speck are both ingredients that are not as common here as in Italy.

Radicchio is a leafy vegetable, with white-veined red leaves. It has a spicy and slightly bitter taste. It can be used row in a salad, or cooked and used in many different recipes. It comes in two varieties. The first is round about the size of a grapefruit, as shown in my picture. This is easier to find - I bought mine at my local Ralphs. The other variety is the radicchio of Treviso, which has a more elongated shapes, similar to the Belgian endive. Both can be used in this recipe.

Speck is a smoked prosciutto, native to Alto Adige, a region of Northern Italy. As you see in the picture, it looks similar to a prosciutto, a little darker in color, but with a unique taste and delicate aroma. This is a little harder to find. My local Whole Foods used to sell it, but no longer does. If you live in the Los Angeles area, you can find it at Guidi Marcello, in Santa Monica.

In this recipe, you could substitute speck with prosciutto or pancetta. The result will still be excellent.

Here is the recipe:                                                                      Printable Recipe

Ingredients: Pan measuring 8 x 11 in. Serving around 6 people - leftovers are always great!

• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/2 medium minced onion
• 1 radicchio (shown in picture)
• 6 oz of speck
• about 12 oz of mozzarella cheese (shredded or in cut in small pieces)
• 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 box of oven-ready lasagna pasta (Barilla)
• salt to taste

For the besciamella (white) sauce :

• 4 cups of whole milk
• 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter (1/4 stick)
• 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• about 3/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

Preparation time: 45 minutes to prepare, plus 45 minutes to bake

Directions:

Step 1: In a large skillet saute' the chopped onion in the olive oil. Cook for a few minutes over medium heat. Add the radicchio sliced in thin stripes. Sprinkle with salt and let simmer over medium heat until soft, about 15 minutes.

Step 2: While the radicchio cooks, you can start with the besciamella sauce as shown in my recipe.
Cut  the speck in small strips and add it to the radicchio. Mix well and let cook for a couple of more minutes.

Step 3: As soon as the besciamella is cooked, we are ready to assemble the lasagna.

Start with a little bit of besciamella at the bottom of a rectangular baking dish - I used a 8x11 inch baking pan. 

Arrange the noodles flat, break them if necessary. Note, the Barilla lasagna is oven ready, so the noodles don't need to go in boiling water - so much easier to work with!

Over the noodle, spread about 1/4 of the radicchio with speck. You don't need to completely cover the pasta, just spread it around evenly.

Top with 1/4 of the mozzarella and a bit of the besciamella (about 1/5)

Repeat the layers a few more times: lasagna, radicchio/speck, mozzarella and besciamella.

End with lasagna pasta and only besciamella  and the Parmesan cheese.

You should be able to obtain 4 to 5 layers, if the pan is deep enough. The trick is to be able to use all the ingredients but not finished them before the end of the layering - especially besciamella. You need to cover the top completely with besciamella!

Step 4: Cover with foil and cook in the over for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Uncover and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes. You want the Parmesan cheese to melt and make a nice golden top. Increase the temperature and/or move the pan to the upper part of the oven if needed.

Let it cool for 10 minutes before serving. Mmm . . . Absolutely delizioso !

 Now, I want to here all your guests' comments !