Middle Eastern Savory Tarts (p. 188) with Catalan Seafood and Pasta Paella (p. 213) and Nicholas's Favorite Braised Pears in Red Wine (p. 447)

We had our friends Mike and Jenna over for dinner last night so I wanted to make a few different recipes  -- savory tarts as a starter, a seafood paella for the main course, and braised pears for dessert. Luckily, some things could be made in advance (like the pears) and I didn't actually start the paella until our friends arrived because Jenna had offered to help me cook.

I started the Middle Eastern Savory Tarts early in the day (I just had a half day at work) because the dough/pastry part of it needed to rise. For the dough, I used the same one that I had used to make Middle Eastern Pizza back in October. It's got a little extra flavor to it because it's made with yogurt and olive oil.

Once we were about an hour from our guests arriving, I started pre-heating the oven and assembling the tarts. The stuffing for these tarts is mostly spinach that has been cooked down until tender.

The spinach is combined with chopped onion, olive oil, salt, lemon juice, allspice, and pepper. The recipe also uses either feta or pine nuts, but not both. I really wanted both, so I split the spinach mixture in two and put feta in half and pine nuts in the other half.

The dough needs to be rolled out and cut into circles -- I used a drinking glass to cut the pieces out. Put a little bit of the stuffing into the center of the circle and close the dough up around it like a little purse. I had a lot of trouble with this step -- the amount of olive oil in the stuffing made the dough not want to stick and they kept re-opening on the baking dish. I eventually stopped worrying about it and baked them anyway, until they were golden brown.

These were pretty amazing. I liked both flavors equally, and we scarfed down a ton of them. I would totally make these again for a party, they're perfect finger food. And I just re-heated some for my lunch and they were still delicious.

I waited to start the Catalan Seafood and Pasta Paella until Jenna and Mike arrived so that Jenna and I could cook together. Jenna lightly fried shrimp and flounder pieces after dipping them in flour and I cooked the mussels in a little bit of white wine until they opened up.

We cooked onions and garlic as well as our dry spaghetti pieces until the veggies were soft, and then poured in a little more white wine, chopped tomatoes (that were peeled and seeded), and a bay leaf.

Once the tomatoes had created a thick sauce we poured in simmering veggie stock (Fresh Market doesn't carry fish stock, for some reason) and cooked until the liquid had been absorbed by the pasta. We stirred back in all the seafood and put the dish into a very hot oven for about five minutes to crisp it up a little bit before serving.

This was delicious, and also makes a ton of food. We each had seconds and still have a lots leftover. I loved the texture of the skinny pasta with the seafood, and the lightly fried shrimp was amazing. We just ate this with some toasty french bread, and it was perfect.

For dessert, I made Nicholas's Favorite Braised Pears in Red Wine, Nicholas being author Nancy Harmon Jenkins' son. The recipe calls for 6 pears, but since there were just four of us for dinner I paired it down a little (hah! paired down the pears! right?!)

I peeled the pears and placed them in a deep oven proof dish.

Then I put in lemon zest and slices of lemon and poured in a boiling mixture of red wine, water, and sugar.

This cooks in the oven for about 90 minutes, until the pears are very soft.

The red wine needed to be reduced to a syrup, so I put it back on the stovetop with some more sugar and boiled it down until it became a syrup and then spooned it back over the pears.

These were tasty -- we had them with a little vanilla ice cream and the flavor of the wine with the pear was really lovely.

All in all, this was a great meal, and we had a fabulous night with our buds.

yogurt (for the dough) -- $1.89

onion -- $.65

spinach -- $3.99

Total Cost of Middle Eastern Savory Tarts: $6.53

($.54 per serving of two tarts)

onions -- $1.52

tomatoes -- $4.19

pasta -- $2.33 (a quarter of the box is left)

shrimp -- $7.01

flounder -- $7.79

veggie broth -- $3.50

mussels -- $2.23

Total Cost of Catalan Seafood and Pasta Paella: $28.57

($3.57 per serving)

pears -- $3.97

red wine -- $8.49 (about half a bottle left)

lemon -- $.79

Total Cost of Nicholas's Favorite Braised Pears in Red Wine: $13.25

($3.31 per serving)

A filling and delicious three course meal for $7.42 per person!

Spanish Cassola with Pasta and Pork (p. 216)

This is also called Fideus a la Cassola and kind of reminds me of Bertolli's Skillet Sensations, but in a good way.

Dice the pork and sauté it in olive oil until lightly browned, then add in chopped onions and a thinly sliced red pepper.

Continue cooking until the pepper has softened  and then add in peeled and seeded chopped tomatoes. Cook these down until they have become a thick sauce and then add in peas (I used frozen because I knew I wouldn't have time to shell any.)

Next up is making the picada, which is a sort of coarse paste that adds a lot of flavor to the dish. Roast hazelnuts in the oven until golden -- I used the pre-chopped nuts sold in the cooking section, so I didn't bother chopping them down further after that. Fry a slice of country-style bread (crusts removed) in olive oil until it is golden on both sides.

Add the bread, nuts, and chopped garlic and parsley to a food processor and mix until the ingredients are well combined to a thick paste.

Pour dry, uncooked pasta into the tomato and pork mixture. The recipe calls for noodles -- something long and thin -- but I used a combination of penne and shells because that's what was in my pantry. This part of the recipe is similar to how you make risotto; slowly add simmering chicken stock in stages to the pan. As the pasta absorbs the stock add more in. I used more stock than the recipe called for to make sure the pasta was thoroughly cooked. After the last of the stock has been added, stir in the picada.

Let the dish sit for about five minutes and then serve topped with grated cheese.

This was delicious and we'll totally make it again. The pork absorbs the flavors of the sauce and the picada added a really unexpected nutty flavor. This was a win for both of us.

pork -- $2.38

onion -- $.76

tomatoes -- $1.57

frozen peas -- $3.99 (used 1/2 a cup)

hazelnuts -- $1.99 (used about 1/2 the package)

bread -- $2.19 (used 1 of the four rolls -- we ate the others with dinner and leftovers)

chicken stock -- $2.69 (used about 3/4)

Total Cost of Spanish Cassola with Pasta and Pork: $15.57

Mushroom Lasagna (p. 211)

We had a vegetarian (Julia, my bestie from childhood) visiting from out of town this weekend, so it was time to make some Lasagna ai Funghi.

The recipe calls for both dried and fresh mushrooms, so start soaking the dried mushrooms in very hot water while preparing the rest of the vegetables. Once they have soaked for half an hour, strain them from their liquid but reserve the mushroomy water. Put these mushrooms, as well as the chopped fresh mushrooms (I used portabella), chopped yellow onion, and minced garlic in a pan with olive oil. Add in some of the reserved water that the mushrooms had soaked in as well.

Keep the veggies over the heat until the mushrooms have released most of their juices and the vegetables are soft. Add in white wine and continue cooking until the majority of the liquid has concentrated.

Cook your lasagna in batches for several minutes each and remove them to a dishtowel, making sure they don't stick together.

Make pesto, following the same recipe from the Linguini al Pesto recipe.

Next up is making the bechamel sauce, which I'd never done before. Heat olive oil in a small sauce pan and add flour, stirring constantly. Pour in milk slowly and continue beating the sauce with a whisk until it has thickened into a creamy texture. This can't be made too far in advance because it will create a skim on the top if not used right away.

Now for the assembly of the lasagna -- layer the sheets of lasagna, then bechamel sauce, pesto, half the mushroom mixture, and then dabs of ricotta cheese topped with grated pecorino cheese. Make a second layer in the exact same order, and then finish the lasagna up with a final layer of lasagna, bechemel, pesto, and grated cheese. Sprinkle bread crumbs and dribble olive oil over the top of the lasagna.

Bake for about 20 minutes and then serve hot and delicious.

Despite our wariness about mushrooms, this was really good! Let's be honest, cheese and pesto can probably make anything good. I'd totally make this again.

basil -- $3.99

lasagna -- $1.99

portabello -- $2.00

ricotta -- $1.99 (still about half left)

onion -- $.53

Total Cost of Mushroom Lasagna: $10.50

Cauliflower Penne (p. 204)

This is a fairly simple pasta dish that involves a bunch of ingredients I like (such as pine nuts and golden raisins) as well as one I don't love -- cauliflower.

Cook the cauliflower in a couple of inches of boiling water for just a few minutes, until they have started to soften. Remove them, but reserve the water they were cooked in -- you'll need it to cook the pasta.

Set golden raisins in a bowl with very hot water to plump them up.

In a sauté pan, cook chopped onion in olive oil until they are soft. Add in pine nuts and continue sautéing until they have turned golden; then add the drained golden raisins. Continue cooking for several minutes before adding the cauliflower florets back into the pan.

 

Add more water to the pot, enough to cook the pasta in, and bring it back to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain it, and add it to the cauliflower mixture. Continue to cook this for several minutes and then serve, topped with parmesan.

Yeah, this was okay. I'll eat it again, because it made a ton of leftovers, but it's not my favorite. Matt like it, though.

cauliflower -- $2.99

pine nuts -- $5.09 (with plenty leftover)

anchovies -- $1.49 (with plenty leftover)

onion -- $1.24

Total Cost of Cauliflower Penne: $10.81 (and we'll probably be eating it all week)

Linguini con Zucchini, Patate, e Parmigiano (p. 205)

This reminds me of the Linguini al Pesto recipe I made last month in that the veggies are cooked in the same water that the pasta is boiled in.

First, drop peeled and cut potatoes into lightly salted boiling water. Leave them for 8 minutes and then add in the pasta, broken into two-inch pieces. Put a lid on the pot, leaving it slightly ajar, and boil for 8 more minutes. Add the zucchini and let it go another 4 minutes (uncovered) before removing the pot from the heat.

Drain the pasta and veggies but reserve some of the cooking water. This is added back in, along with olive oil and black pepper, and mixed thoroughly. Top with parmesan and serve!

This is simple and rustic, and I could imagine eating it with a hearty bread on a cold day. It's also so easy to make that you could just throw it together in a half hour with whatever veggies are available in your fridge.

potatoes -- $.39 (CSA Price)

zucchini -- $.78 (CSA Price)

Total Cost of Linguini con Zucchini, Patate, e Parmigiano: $1.17

Mita's Tuscan Sugo (p. 201)

I was all alone this weekend while Matt was at the beach with his parents and sister, but I still wanted to do some cooking. Pasta has always been a comfort food of mine -- we ate it at least once a week growing up, so I chose Mita's Tuscan Sugo, a tomato sauce with a little bit of ground meat poured over a long, thin pasta.

With olive oil at the bottom of my sauté pan I slowly cooked chopped parsley, celery, and onion until they were soft. I accidentally left out the garlic. Whoops. If you make this -- add garlic.

I added a small amount of ground pork to the pan and kept if over the heat until the meat was thoroughly cooked. A little white wine was poured in and boiled down, just for flavor, and then I added chopped tomatoes (juices included) and cooked until the majority of the liquid had been absorbed and the tomatoes had lost most of their form.

I mixed in some slivered  basil (which is growing like gangbusters in my herb pot) and salt and pepper and then spooned the sauce over linguini.

I also forgot to put parmesan on top of the pasta, but I was okay with that. The dish didn't blow me away, but it's a very solid pasta dish and relatively easy to to make. I liked how it had meat in it, but the meat didn't overpower the rest of the tomato sauce in any way, it just added a nice flavor. I wouldn't necessarily make this again, just because there are so many delicious pasta sauces out there, but I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the leftovers!

parsley -- $1.69 (tons left)

celery -- $1.69 (tons left)

onion -- $ .94 (half left)

ground pork -- $.42

tomatoes -- $1.57 (CSA price)
linguini -- $1.99

Total Cost of Mita's Tuscan Sugo: $8.28

Neopolitan Christmas Eve Spaghetti with Walnuts (p. 208)

It's not Christmas Eve, but I had every ingredient for this recipe in my pantry, so I made it anyway.

Toss your walnuts in a very hot oven for about 6 minutes, until they have darkened some and are giving off a scrumptious aroma. When you remove them let them cool for a few minutes and then dump them into a towel. Rub the towel over them to remove most of the flaky skin and then throw the pieces in the food processor to be finely processed.

While your spaghetti is cooking create the sauce -- just sauté minced garlic in olive oil until it is soft and then add chopped anchovies to melt down for flavor.

Mix in the walnut dust for about a minute.

Toss with the spaghetti and top with parmesan!

This was simple and tasty and a nice alternative to all the tomato-based sauces we've been having lately.

And now I'm off to New Orleans for five days, so expect a post on fantastic NOLA eats when I get back!

Total Cost of Neopolitan Christmas Eve Spaghetti with Walnuts: Free

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca with Tomatoes, Olives, and Capers (p. 198)

I got home a little early from work today and started making this pasta dish. It took longer than I thought it would to make because the tomatoes needed to melt down into a sauce, but despite the time commitment it was pretty easy.

The sauce is made my sautéing chopped onions and garlic and olive oil. Once the onions softened, I added chopped parsley and anchovies and let them melt into the sauce for about five minutes.

Then I added oregano and chopped tomatoes and let everything simmer together for about 25 minutes stirring frequently until it had a jammy consistency.

While the sauce was simmering, I cooked the pasta so that it finished up at just about the same time as sauce. I removed the sauce from the heat and added olives and capers and stirred them all together. I mixed in the pasta and we were ready to eat!

This was really tasty and the olives added a great salty flavor to the dish. I'm not a huge fan of capers, so if I made this again I'd probably leave those out and just add more olives. Still, a lovely meal!

olives -- $3.00

anchovies -- $4.59 (plenty left for other recipes)

onion -- $1.50

CSA tomatoes -- $4.40

spaghetti -- $2.00
Total Cost of Spaghetti alla Puttanesca: $15.49 (with several portions leftover)

Pasta alla Checca (p. 200)

This is a very simple pasta dish. So simple, in fact, that the sauce isn't even cooked -- it's just a raw tomato sauce. To make it, combine red tomatoes (cut into small pieces), minced garlic, thinly sliced red onion, basil leaves, salt, pepper, and olive oil, and mix them all together. Put the bowl of "sauce" in the fridge until the pasta is ready.

Cook the pasta as you normally would, and as soon as it is done and has been drained, mix it with the sauce. Serve immediately.

Yum! This is light and fresh-tasting, but still fills you up. We'll definitely make this one again.

tomatoes -- 5.45

onion -- $1.45

Total Cost of Pasta all Checca : $6.90

Sicilian Tomato Bruschette (p. 71) and Linguine al Pesto (p. 206) with Mixed Greens in a Vinaigrette (p. 263)

We had a fancy little dinner party last night (well, not really fancy, but a dinner party nonetheless.) I had three delicious CSA tomatoes waiting to be consumed, so I decided to whip them up into a delicious bruschetta to serve before dinner. The recipe really calls for the tomatoes to be cooked over a charcoal fire but gives alternate directions for cooking them in an oven, which is what I did.

Put the tomatoes into a gratin dish with olive oil at the bottom, and turn the tomatoes so they are completely covered in the oil. Cook these in a very hot oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are soft and the skins are splitting.

Once they're done, place the tomatoes in a bowl and, using a fork, mash them all up. In a separate bowl, combine garlic, basil and salt along with dried oregano and dried red pepper. Make a paste from these and then stir well with olive oil. This sauce can now be mixed in with the pulpy tomatoes.

The topping is then poured on toasted bread slices (I used ciabatta.) 

This was delicious! I originally only made about 6 of them, figuring no one would want a lot, but I had to make up some more pretty quickly. We all really enjoyed this.
This was my first time making pesto, and it turns out to be incredibly easy! Put basil, pine nuts, and salt in a food processor and slowly add olive oil until it has reached a grainy consistency. Add in some garlic and process a tiny bit more, and then fold in grated parmesan.

Separately, bring a stock pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add slices of peeled potatoes that are no more than 1/4 inch thick.

Boil these for five minutes and then add linguine. Once the water is boiling again, cook the potatoes and pasta for 10-12 minutes, until both are done to taste.

When the pasta is done, drain it and combine it with the pesto.

This was absolutely delicious, and one that we will definitely try again. Both of us were a little wary about the potatoes (potatoes with pasta?! weird!) but it was pretty awesome. The pesto was light, a tiny bit salty, and very flavorful. We mopped it up with pieces of bread leftover from the bruschetta.

I served a salad of mixed greens on the side of the pasta dish, and made a Vinaigrette to go with it. It's basically just mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper all mixed together. Very tasty!

tomatoes -- $2.20

bread -- $2.99

Total Cost of Sicilian Tomato Bruschette: $5.19

basil -- $5.98 (I actually bought two basil plants instead)

parmesan -- $2.50

potatoes -- $1.90

linguine -- $1.29

Total Cost of Linguine al Pesto: $11.67

Total Cost of Vinaigrette: Free

Pasta al Pomodoro (p. 195) with Gratin of Purple-Topped Turnips (p. 340)

Tonight was the night that Matt and I found out that we don't like turnips. But first, Pasta al Pomodoro!

This is pretty similar to the other pasta dishes that have tomato-based sauces that I've created -- in this case the sauce is made by sautéing onion (I used red, because that's what I had on hand), garlic, and minced parsley in olive oil. Once the veggies have softened, add canned whole tomatoes that have been chopped up as well as dried oregano. Raise the heat and continue cooking the sauce for about 20 minutes until its consistency is jammy. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While the sauce is cooking, cook the pasta according to its directions. Once it is al dente, stir in parmigiano reggiano cheese, top with the sauce, and add more cheese. Tada!

This sauce was very tasty and a tiny bit spicy (probably due to the red onion.) We both quite enjoyed it.

What we did not enjoy, on the other hand, was the Gratin of Purple-Topped Turnips. They had so much promise, but alas.

In case you actually like turnips, here's how they were prepared -- scrub the turnips and cut them into thin slices. Put these in a pan of boiling water to cook for about 7 minutes, until tender. Remove the turnip slices from the water and place them in a lightly oiled gratin dish.

In a saucepan, cook finely chopped shallot and garlic in olive oil. When the veggies are cooked, add veggie stock and and parsley and bring the stock to a boil. Pour the contents of the pan over the turnip slices and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and black pepper.

Cover the gratin dish with aluminum foil and cook for about 25 minutes before basting the turnips with more of the liquid and cooking for five more minutes.

I suppose it's possible that if you like turnips you might enjoy this dish, but I can't really fathom it.

Luckily we filled up on pasta and then apple pie and vanilla ice cream, so we can't complain.

canned tomatoes -- $1.39

Total Cost of Pasta al Pomodoro: $1.39

turnips -- $.81

shallots -- $2.19

Total Cost of Gratin of Purple-Topped Turnips: $3.00

Pasta with a Seafood Sauce (p. 202)

Pastas are another area of The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook that I haven't delved into at a proportionate rate. Hence tonight's meal.

Sauté garlic, sweet red pepper and yellow onion in olive oil until they are soft. Add white wine and let it simmer with the veggies until the alcohol has evaporated, leaving a sort of syrup. To this mixture, stir in diced peeled tomatoes and a pinch of dried red chili flakes. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook until the tomatoes have formed a thick sauce.

Boil water to make the pasta in and, once the pasta is put into the water, add diced scallops and shrimp to the tomato sauce.

Cook the pasta until it is slightly under done, drain it, and add it to the tomato and seafood mixture to finish cooking for a few more minutes.

Squirt some fresh lemon juice on top of the pasta and serve.

Delicious! We really enjoyed this one. It's sweet (from the tomatoes) and spicy (from the red pepper flakes). The sauce isn't seafood-y, it's just a basic tomato sauce, but the scallops and shrimp add a really nice flavor (and texture) into the bites that they're in. We'd make this again, for sure. We're heading to the beach in August and want to make it with whatever fresh seafood we find.

I cut the recipe in half and it was perfect for two. Next time (if I halved it again) I'd use a little less of the red pepper flakes to cut down the spice a tiny bit, but otherwise it's fantastic.

Also, a note on the pasta. The recipe called for Vemicelli, but Fresh Market didn't have any, so we used Perciatelli instead. These are basically long skinny tubes, and they're awesome. I've never really liked spaghetti or angel hair, but these are much thicker and the same length. Eat them.

onion -- $.86 (half is left)

red pepper -- $1.96 (half is left)

tomatoes -- $2.02

scallops -- $2.25

shrimp -- $3.50

pasta -- $1.99 (half is left)

Total Cost of Pasta with a Seafood Sauce: $12.58

Rigatoni all'Amatriciana (p. 197)

I needed a way to use the rest of last week's prosciutto, so this pasta recipe seemed perfect. It actually calls for guanciale, made from cured pork cheeks, but let's be honest -- I wasn't going to find that on a Monday night in North Raleigh. So, prosciutto.

Sautee onion, garlic, and your cured meat of choice in olive oil until the veggies are starting to brown. Add tomatoes that have been peeled, seeded and chopped, and leave the heat on medium for about five minutes while the tomatoes give off their juice.

Continue cooking the veggies on a lower heat for about twenty more minutes, until the sauce is thick, and then add salt and pepper.

This recipe is meant to be prepared with bucatini, but I didn't know what that was, and I thought it was similar to rigatoni (it's not, at all, I just checked Google images.) Oh well. I like rigatoni.

Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and add grated cheese.

This was really good, but would have been better with either more sauce or less pasta. The recipe called for the entire pound (one full box) of pasta, so next time I would halve that so that there is more saucy goodness covering each bite.

With this, I made a simple salad of cucumber, onion, feta, and balsamic vinegar. Pretty much a perfect summery side.

tomatoes -- $3.20

onion -- $1.10

rigatoni -- $1.00

grated parmesan cheese -- $2.50 (with most of the bag remaining)

Total Cost of Rigatoni all'Amatriciana: $7.80