Olive Tapenade Roll

Olive Tapenade Roll ready to eat!

This is one of those easy recipes that can be adapted to what you have on hand. I was needing something to serve with leftover stuffed pepper crockpot soup and came up with this based on what I had available. You can use pizza or spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, and cheese for the filling if that’s what you have around or pesto, sliced tomatoes, and cheese would be another delicious combo. Experiment with this basic concept and see what you can come up with!

Ingredients
1 – 11 oz. can of Pillsbury Thin Crust pizza dough
Part of a jar of olive tapenade (I used Trader Joe’s)
2 small tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 C. shredded mozzarella cheese (I used fresh)
1 t. dried basil

Unroll the pizza dough onto a greased jelly roll pan or cookie sheet and spread with a thin layer of the olive tapenade.

Pizza dough spread with olive tapenade

Place two rows of thinly sliced tomato down the center of the dough lengthwise. Sprinkle the shredded cheese and basil over the top of everything.

Dough w/olive tapenade, sliced tomatoes, grated fresh mozzarella

Roll up along the long edge and seal the seam and ends by pressing the dough together.

Unbaked Roll

Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes before slicing. Serves 4.

Braised Beef Braciole with Fresh Mozzarella and Basil

Braised Beef Braciole topped with sauce

Ok, ok, ok, this is not something you’d fix after work for dinner. It is definitely too much work for that but this does make a great special occasion dinner!! This is what I made for Ken’s birthday dinner.

In order to make it more manageable the night of the dinner party, I actually did everything except braise the beef the night before. I flattened the flank steak, made the stuffing, stuffed the beef and tied it in a roll. I, then, wrapped it well in plastic wrap so it was ready to brown the next night for the dinner party. Then, while the beef was simmering I prepared the rest of the meal.

I found this recipe in The Best of Fine Cooking: Big Buy which I reviewed a few posts back. If you want to prepare something for a special occasion, this is fantastic!! I served the beef braciole with roasted winter vegetables, salad, a relish tray, and blackberry trifle for dessert.

Ingredients
1 2-lb. flank steak
1 C. shredded mozzarella cheese (fresh if available)
3/4 C. shredded Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 C. fine, dry bread crumbs
12 large basil leaves, torn into pieces
1/4 C. olive oil
1 large yellow onion, cut into thin strips
1/2 C. red wine
1 28-oz. can of canned whole tomatoes and their juices, pureed (preferably San Marzano)
1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
8 oz. white mushrooms, quartered

Place the flank steak on a large cutting board. Using a chef’s knife slice the steak lengthwise along one side and open it up like a book. Using a meat pounder (I used my French rolling pin), flatten the meat so it’s about 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle boths sides of the meat with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. For the stuffing, put the Parmigiano, breadcrumbs, and basil in a mini food processor and pulse to combine. Grate the fresh mozzarella and toss with the bread crumb mixture to finish the stuffing. Sprinkle the stuffing over one side of the beef. Slip 5-6 pieces of string under the meat evenly spaced so they are in place and ready to tie once the beef is rolled up.

Pounded out flank steak spread with filling & ready to be rolled and tied

Carefully roll up the beef jelly roll-style with the stuffing mixture inside and with the grain of the beef running lengthwise. Secure the roll with the string you have in place.

Rolled & tied flank steak ready to brown

Heat half the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until it’s shimmering hot. Add the beef and cook until it browns and releases easily from the pan, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until browned, about 5 more minutes. Transfer to a platter.

Add the remaining 2 T. of oil and the onion to the pan and lower the heat to medium. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. salt and cook, stirring until the onion wilts completely and turns light brown, about 8 minutes. Add the red wine and cook, stirring until it almost completely reduces (evaporates), about 2 minutes. Add the tomato and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer and tuck the meat and mushrooms into the tomato sauce. Cover and cook, repositioning the meat occasionally, until the meat becomes tender and cuts easily with a paring knife, about 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Remove the meat from the sauce and place on a cutting board and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Carefully remove the string, thinly slice, and top with the sauce.

Sliced Beef Braciole before being topped with sauce

Three Cheese Rotini Marinara Bake

Three Cheese Rotini Marinara Bake

This is great on a cool evening served with garlic bread and a salad. If you like, you can add some cooked Italian sausage when everything is mixed together. This recipe uses the spicy marinara from this blog or you can substitute your favorite spaghetti sauce.

Ingredients
7 oz. rotini pasta
1 C. fresh baby spinach
1/2 t. dried basil
1/4 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. ground fennel
1/2 C. pitted and sliced kalamata olives
2 C. spicy marinara or your favorite spaghetti sauce
3/4 C. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 C. crumbled feta cheese
1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to directions adding the spinach the last minute of cooking. In a microwave safe bowl, mix together the spices and marinara and heat for 2 minutes in the microwave on high. Stir in the olives and pasta. Add the mozzarella and feta cheeses and stir to distribute throughout the pasta mixture. Pour into a greased casserole dish and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the top. Bake for 25 mintues or until bubbly. Serves 4-5.

The Saga of Balsamic Reduction

Tomato Salad with Balsamic Reduction

Ok, a couple of years ago during a trip to Tuscany, I bought some super aged (which means it had reduced to a syrup)balsamic vinegar. I paid $60 for a 100 ml bottle (which isn’t a very big bottle at all) at the Verrazzano Winery. I rationed it for a good six months but, holy cow, was it delicious!!! It had the mellowest, sweetest taste you can imagine. It was fabulous on fresh fruit, with meat, and with combinations like slices of pear wrapped in prosciutto then drizzled with this stuff. Anyway, I still think about how good that stuff was but have not been able to find any in the US. So I’ve been reading people’s blogs that include recipes that call for balsamic reduction and thought, hey, maybe that would come close to tasting like the stuff I bought in Tuscany. So I gave it a try.

Several of the blogs mentioned to be careful not to burn it as you’re reducing it. So I started with a cup of Costco balsamic in a medium frying pan. I brought it to a boil, then turned it to a very low setting to simmer slowly and went outside to do some watering. Well, when I got back it was so thick I could hardly stir it! I tried adding some more balsamic to thin it but gave up on that. Then I noticed that when some of it dripped on my granite counter top that it kind of hardened so I thought maybe I could make little drips that would harden enough that they could be eaten with fruit or something. Well that didn’t work either so I started over with another cup of balsamic.

This time I stayed right there and watched it, adjusting the heat as needed and stirring it every so often. I never brought it to a full boil, either. I just slowly let it get up to a simmer. After about 20 minutes it had reduced by half. It turned out great! I drizzled some on fresh tomatoes with chiffonade of basil and freshly grated parmesan-reggiano cheese, salt & pepper and it was fantastic. Not quite as rich as the bottle I bought it Tuscany but a close second. I guess it’ll have to do until I go to Tuscany again!!

Reduced balsamic coating the jar

Creamy Pesto Pasta

Creamy Pesto Pasta

Once I made the pesto I had to find a yummy way to use it. I discovered this recipe in Simply in Season: Recipes that celebrate fresh, local foods in the spirit of More-with-Less by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert. This is a World Community Cookbook commissioned by the Mennonite Central Committee . . . but enough about the cookbook and on to the recipe. I like this one in particular because it is like an alfredo sauce but with less fat since it uses whole milk instead of cream or half & half. Since the pesto includes olive oil, nuts, and parmesan reggiano cheese, this is by no means a lowfat dish but all things in moderation, right? With fresh basil abundantly available this time of year, who can resist? I served it with rotisserie chicken and a tossed green salad.

Ingredients

3 T. butter
1/4 C. flour
3 C. milk
Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add flour and cook 3 minutes but do not brown. Add milk stirring constantly so that you do have lumps. Bring to a boil and cook gently for 5 minutes.

Stir in and remove from heat:
1 C.

Pesto – A Summer Favorite

Pesto before adding the olive oil

Pesto is so fresh tasting and versatile that it is almost a sin not to make when fresh basil is so widely available. Even my grocery store carries what they call “live basil plants” which are perfect for this recipe. I made a double batch using it and supplementing with some of what I’ve grown at home. My apologies for not getting a picture if the finished product but I was getting ready for a little dinner party and making creamy basil pasta sauce and just forgot. BTW, pesto can be frozen! A little bit goes a long way. It can be spread on sandwiches, used as a base for pizza, rubbed on meat before grilling, etc.

Ingredients
1 C. packed fresh basil leaves
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 C. toasted pine nuts OR walnuts (I used walnuts because I had them on hand)
6 T. Parmesan cheese (I use the expensive parmigiano reggiano because it does make a difference!)
1/2 t. salt

Chop all of the above in a food processor. It will look like the picture. Then slowly add

1/3-1/2 C. olive oil until a thick paste forms. It should be thick enough to spread on bread without running all over the place.

Makes 3/4 – 1 C. of pesto

Fresh Summer Meal

Mozzarella, tomato, & basil sandwich with cucumber, tomato salad

This meal is full of fresh summer goodness from the farmer’s market. For the sandwich you will need the following:
1 Oroweat Multi-Grain Sandwich Thin
1 slice of mozarella cheese
1 slice of tomato
a few basil leaves or a sprinkle of dried basil
a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Toast both halves of the sandwich thin. Place the slice of cheese on one and broil until cheese is melted and browning. On the other half of the bread place the tomato slice, drizzle with balsamic vinegar, and top with basil. Place both halves together and you have a great sandwich!

Now for the cucumber, tomato, and onion salad.

veggies from the farmers market

There really isn’t a recipe for this so be brave and just follow along with me. This is a salad my mother-in-law always made in the summer. The dressing is similar to cole slaw dressing.

In a medium size bowl (I use the one I’m going to serve it in to conserve on dirty dishes), plop two heaping tablespoons of lowfat mayonnaise. Add a glug of vinegar (around a tablespoon), two packets of splenda, and salt & pepper to taste. Mix well. Add to the dressing mixture one peeled and cubed cucumber, one diced yellow tomato, one diced red tomato, and two small onions diced. Toss to coat with the dressing.

Add a fresh peach or other fruit to these two items and you have a great fresh summer meal!!