Savory Mushrooms, Sausages and Potatoes Tart

Savory tart with mushrooms, sausages, potatoes, and cheese. 

A deliciously sinful combination

This savory tart has it all: a crispy and buttery crust, melted cheese, wholesome savory mushrooms, sinfully good sausages, and hearty potatoes that make it all look so elegant and yummy. Sounds perfect right? And it tastes even better than it sounds.
This dish is great for a hearty brunch or a fun dinner, next to a big green salad. Perfect for these cold winter days.
To make the recipe really quick, mistakes and mess free, I used frozen puff pastry. I like to always have a package of Pepperidge Farm dough in my freezer, just in case.
All you need to do is thaw the dough, turn on the oven, follow this recipe and soon you will enjoy a delicious aroma that will make your whole kitchen smell amazing.

Ingredients: to make an 11 inch pie

• 1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed (I use Pepperidge Farm)
• 2 medium potatoes ( 15 oz, 425 gr)
• 12 oz (340 gr) of ground sausage
• 1 garlic clove
• 8 oz (225 gr) of mushrooms
• I tablespoon of fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• 6 oz ((170 gr) provolone cheese (shredded or sliced)
• 2 oz (55 gr) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• flour to sprinkle on the counter
• salt

Preparation time: 1 hour
Directions:
1. Thaw the puff pastry for about 20 minutes, if you haven't done it yet. Peel the potatoes and cut in thin slices. Place in a pot, cover with salted water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 6 minutes and drain.

2. In a large skillet, saute' the sausage broken in pieces with one garlic clove, crushed.

3. Add the mushrooms and chopped parsley and cook for another 5 minutes. Salt to taste (if necessary) and remove the garlic if you'd like.

4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease the tart pan with butter and flour (or spray). On a clean counter, sprinkled with flour stretch out the dough to fit into your pan. Cut the edges if necessary, and poke holes with a fork on the bottom of the crust.

5. Make a layer of the sausage and mushrooms. Top with provolone cheese, shredded or cut in pieces

6. Top with the sliced potatoes. Starting from the edges and moving in you can place the slices in circles. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until the crust is fully cooked, and cheese slightly golden on top.

Buon Appetito!

Risotto with Broccoli and Sausage

Dinner inspiration: ravishing and flavorful, creamy risotto with sausage and broccoli

This morning I finally (!!) had the time to go to Trader Joe's for my grocery shopping. My favorite location in West Los Angeles is the "new" store on Olympic. It's great! It has everything you need. It's big enough to go around accident-free with a cart. And the parking lot on top of the building is actually huge! The only problem is, whoever designed that rooftop space, was clearly not thinking that people would be moving around with heavy carts. It's sloped and quite dangerous. No matter where you park, your car is not on a flat surface!
So picture this: I open the trunk of my SUV, a soccer AND a basketball roll out in the middle of the lot. With my uncanny reflexes I quickly grab both balls ... letting go of my super full cart... which slowly rolls away from my car, in the middle of the parking lot, and extremely close to another parked car. With an unbelievably graceful jump I stop it with my foot before it crushes. Oh yes! Can you imagine it?!?
Now, I really want to know: whose mind is behind this parking lot?
I am positive this has happened before! Friends from LA, anybody else?!?
Going back to my groceries, I picked up sausages and broccoli - I love the TJ's bag of organic florets. So convenient! And here is what I made for dinner:


Ingredients: serving 4                                         Printable Recipe

• 6 oz of organic broccoli florets
• 2 sausages 
• half onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• half cup of fontina cheese, shredded
• half cup of Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 2 cups of vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 peperoncino (hot pepper) - optional (if sausage is mild)
• salt to taste
• 1.5 cups of arborio rice

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Directions:
Step 1: Saute' the chopped onion in the olive oil for about 3 minutes, until lightly golden.

Step 2: Stir in the sausages cut in pieces and without casing. Saute' for a few minutes breaking the sausage in smaller pieces with a wooden spoon.

Step 3: When the sausage is brownish, add the rice and the broccoli, and cook for about 1 minute. Stir.

Step 4: Add one cup of stock, and cook the rice, stirring occasionally and adding more stock (and/or water) if needed. The rice should be fully cooked in 18-20 minutes. Adjust with salt if needed.  It should be not too dry and not too runny at the end... just perfect :)

Step 5: When the rice is cooked al dente,  add the fontina, the Parmesan cheese and the butter. Mix well, cover the pot and let rest for 3-4 minutes. Your risotto will now be rich and creamy!

Serve immediately. Buon appetito!!

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!