Pasta Salad with Artichokes Hearts, Fresh Mozzarella and Speck

Super quick, easy and wholesome pasta salad with artichoke hearts, fresh mozzarella and savory speck

Happy Friday! The weekend is right around the corner. And I'm ready!! How about you??
The weather forecast for coastal Los Angeles shows a beautiful and sunny Sunday, with a high of 79 degrees. Not bad for winter, right?
So, if you live in Southern California, or any other warm place by the beach, get ready with your biking, sun screen and beach towel. And, as I will, buy all the ingredients to prepare this fresh and healthy pasta salad for a fun family picnic on the sand.
This pasta combines sweet artichoke hearts, delicate fresh mozzarella and savory speck. You should be familiar with speck by now. I posted several recipe using this smoked Italian type of prosciutto, like lasagne with radicchio and speck,and the pappardelle pasta with mushrooms and speck. If you can't find speck at the Italian deli near you, or local grocery store, it's fine to substitute it with prosciutto. Cut it in thin strips and sprinkle on top. Simply delicious.
Enjoy your weekend!

Ingredients: serving 4

• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• half onion, chopped
• 8.5 oz (240 gr) of (frozen) artichoke hearts (I used Trader Joe's)
• fresh parsley, chopped
• 4 oz (115 gr) of fresh mozzarella
• 2 oz (55 gr) of thinly sliced speck (or prosciutto)
• 10.5 oz (300 gr) of medium shell pasta, or other short pasta
• salt

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Directions:
1. Bring to a boil a large pot of salted water. Add the pasta when the water boils. If using frozen artichoke hearts, rinse them under running water for about one minute.
2. Saute' the chopped onion in a large skillet with the olive oil, over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes. Add the artichoke hearts cut in thin slices, with the chopped parsley. Salt to taste, cook until tender, for about 10 minutes or so. Add a couple of tablespoons of water (from the pot where the pasta is cooking) if necessary.

3. Drain the pasta when ready. If you are not eating the pasta right away, but making a pasta salad ahead of time, run the pasta under cold water to stop it from over cooking. Toss the pasta in a large bowl, with the artichokes, the mozzarella cut in small cubes, and the speck cut in small slices. Add one or two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil if necessary.

Buon appetito!

Quiche with Asparagus and Speck

Perfect recipe for this Sunday brunch: savory, rich and creamy quiche with asparagus and speck

This recipe is not only great for Sunday brunch, but also for your next picnic, or a light family dinner next to a big green salad. And assuming there are any leftovers, a slice of this quiche is great for your kids lunch box. Or to pack and take with you to the office on Monday.
For this quiche, I used frozen puff pastry which is one of those things that I always have in my freezer. I promised some of my friends to write a post of  things-you-should-always-have-in-your-freezer/fridge/pantry. Ok, this is one!
It's not complicated to do a pie crust, but it's definitely more time consuming. What's not to love about frozen puff pastry anyways? It's easy. It's quick. It's mess-free. And it's consistently delicious.
This quiche is really fast to assemble. And if you don't find speck, you can always substitute with thin-sliced pancetta, prosciutto or ham.

Ingredients: to make an 11 inch pie

• 1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed (I used Pepperidge Farm, frozen)
• 4 eggs
• 1 bunch of asparagus (12 oz, 350 gr)
• 3 oz (85 gr) of speck or pancetta
• 3.5 oz (100 gr) gruyere cheese
• 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese
• 12 fl oz (350 ml) whipping cream
• salt

Preparation time: 60 minutes (15 minutes to prepare, 45 minutes baking)
Directions:
1. Thaw the puff pastry if you haven't done it yet.  Remove the bottom part of the asparagus breaking the bottom with your hands (as close to the end as possible). Wash, cut in pieces about an inch in length, leaving longer tips (about 3 inches). Boil for about 5 minutes in slightly salted water.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease the quiche or tart pan with butter and flour. On a clean counter, sprinkled with flour, stretch out the dough to fit into a 11 inches quiche pan. Cut the edges. Using a fork, poke holes to the bottom of the crust.

3. In a large bowl beat the eggs with the cream and salt. Drain the asparagus, and add to the bowl, saving most of the tips for decorating.

4. Sprinkle the bottom of the pie with the gruyere cheese and the speck cut in strips.

5. Pour the egg mixture on the pie crust. Decorate with the asparagus tips. And sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

6. Bake for about 45 minutes until golden on top.

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 !