Sautéed Onions and Roasted Beet Tart

Whenever I have extra onions in my pantry, this simple and delicious recipe makes a no-brainer tasty appetizer or snack. Typically, when I host a dinner party, I offer some variation of an onion tart or flatbread, which is always a big hit with guests.

You can make this tart with just onions and cheese, or add roasted vegetables of your choice (also see my earlier post "Free-form Butternut Squash and Sautéed Onion Tart").

This time I had extra beets, and thought, why not?

Ingredients:

1 medium red onion

1 medium yellow or sweet onion

Extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a medium sized pan, and to coat the beets)

1 red beet, cubed into 1/4 inch cubes

About 8 oz. of goat cheese or another cheese of choice (for example, sweet gorgonzola, blue cheese, fontina, fresh mozzarella, alone or in combination)- sliced into 1 inch pieces

A handful of micro-greens, or sweet pea shoots

Salt and pepper to taste

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry (I used Trader Joe’s).

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Coat the cubed beets with olive oil and bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, for about 15-20 minutes, turning once. Be careful not to burn. Sprinkle with salt.

In the meantime, prepare the onions. Cut off the top of each onion and place cut-side down on a cutting board. Cut the onion lengthwise (vertically) in half, and remove the peel and outer layer.

Place the flat half back on the cutting board, and again lengthwise, slice  each half into relatively thin slices (about ⅛ inch thick).

Heat the olive oil in a medium size frying pan, add the sliced onions, and saute’ until translucent, for about 15 minutes, covered about ⅔ of the cooking time, stirring occasionally. To prevent the onions from burning, you may add about 1/4 cup of water about halfway through, and allowing it to evaporate. Once cooked, add salt and pepper to taste.

Gently unfold the thawed pastry, and if you see any tears or holes, use your fingers—and a little water if necessary—to gently squeeze the pastry back together.  If the dough appears to stick together, put it back in the refrigerator to cool, before attempting to roll it out again.

Lay the unfolded pastry square on a floured surface, and rub some flour on a rolling pin, which you will use to roll out the square to the desired thinness (but not too thin).  Roll the dough out with gentle outward motions.   Run a ravioli wheel or a knife along each side to create more even lines. The left over pastry dough can be molded together and flattened again, and shapes can be carved out to top the tart during baking.  

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and carefully lay the thinned pastry dough on it, and with a fork prick the surface of the dough (like you would a regular pie crust).

Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and spoon the sautéed onions (after draining off any of sautéing liquid) evenly over the lightly baked pastry. Top with the roasted beet cubes and cheese, and any pastry shapes made from the left-over pastry.

Bake at 350-375F until golden brown (about 20minutes).Slightly cool, sparsely add the micro-greens, slice and serve.

May be refrigerated for up to 3 days,  and reheated. 

For a vegan option, use vegan puff pastry and omit the cheese, or use a vegan cheese of your choice.

Ribollita- Tuscan Bean and Cabbage Soup

Being from Tuscany, "ribollita", which literally means "boiled again", was a frequent and welcome protagonist at our table. A satisfying, wholesome, flavorful and nutritious soup, completed with a drizzle of estate cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, was without a doubt one of my favorite dishes growing up. In its simplicity lied its strength, and consequently its increasing popularity over the years, which is also in part attributable to many celebrity chefs and bloggers offering up variations of this Tuscan classic. My version, which is the one I grew up with, is most simple, where the stars are the beans and the cabbage. I have seen variations with carrots, zucchini or potatoes, which, in my opinion, transform this basic soup into almost a minestrone.  

Although some recipes call for addition of chicken stock, I strongly advise against it, as it completely alters the intended flavor. We are not making chicken soup here, we are making a soup of beans and cabbage, so chicken stock really does not belong. Rather, the flavor is enhanced the classic "battuto di odori", a combination of chopped onions, carrots, celery and fresh parsley, sauteed to perfection, and which serve as the base for many Italian recipes.

From a true Tuscan with love....

savoy and black cabbage

Ingredients:

1 carrot

1 onion

1/2 celery stalk

a few sprigs of parsley

1 15-oz can of diced or pureed tomatoes (or the equivalent in freshly chopped or pureed tomatoes)

1 15-oz can of cannellini beans (or the equivalent in cooked dry or fresh cannellini beans)

1/2 savoy cabbage, rinsed and thinly sliced

about 4 stalks of black Italian cabbage (also referred to as Tuscan kale), stems removed, and leaves chopped horizontally

about 2 cups of vegetable stock or water

extra virgin olive oil- enough to coat the bottom of a medium size pan, plus about 1 tablespoon to drizzle the soup at the end
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

several slices of oven-dried or a few days old rustic bread or baguette

showing the black cabbage with the stems removed

showing the chopped cabbages

Method:

Finely chop the carrot, onion, celery and parsley  on a cutting board, or pulse  in a food processor until fine. This is what we refer to in Italian as “battuto di odori”.

In a medium size cooking pot, heat the olive oil, add the chopped “odori” and cook until softened (about 10 minutes), being careful not to burn them. Add the beans along with the liquid, and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the savoy and black cabbage, the stock, the tomatoes(or puree) and cook, semi covered, for about 1 hour, until reduced and everything is soft. With a ladle, remove about 1 cup of the soup (beans, cabbage and all), blend it in a blender until smooth, then pour back in the pot and cook down some more (about 10-20 minutes). Blending a portion of the soup confers a more velvety texture.

Add salt and freshly grated black pepper to taste.

Allow to cool and rest, preferably overnight. Before serving, bring to a boil (hence the name ribollita), and serve in a bowl over toasted bread. Drizzle with some good quality extra virgin olive oil.

Free-form Butternut Squash and Sautéed Onion Tart

I prepared  this tart on the fly, since I had some butternut squash and onions which were already sautéed.  I was actually in between chauffeuring my son to soccer practice, so I had very little time to put this together. Thankfully, I  usually have puff pastry sheets in my freezer (for these types of food emergencies) which, at the drop of a hat, can be thawed, unfolded and topped it with some kind of filling, whether be sautéed onions and cheese, or various combinations of pureed vegetables in a cream and egg mixture.  This time I made a simple free form tart with thin slices of the squash, topped with the onions, and then the cheese.

Ingredients:

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry (I used Trader Joe’s)

½ butternut squash, peeled  

1 small red onion and 1 small sweet onion

about 1 cup of freshly shredded fontina cheese and fresh mozzarella cheese,  or another melting cheese, or combination of your choice

olive oil-enough to coat the bottom of a pan

sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Peel the onions, and cut into thin slices. Add  the olive oil to a medium pan, heat on medium, then add the sliced onion.  Cook until translucent, stirring occasionally (about 10-15 minutes), covered about ⅔ of the cooking time. If necessary, add about ⅓ cup of water and allow to evaporate. Once cooked, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

If using the bulb section of the squash, then you must seed it before slicing. In this recipe, I used the solid neck section, because that is what I had handy.  So I cut the squash neck into

⅕  inch-thick round slices with slicer (you can also use a very sharp knife).

Unfold the thawed pastry gently, and if you see any tears or holes, use your fingers—and a little water if necessary—to gently squeeze the pastry back together.  If the dough appears to stick together, put it back in the refrigerator to cool, before attempting to roll it out again.

Lay the unfolded pastry square on a floured surface, and rub some flour on a rolling pin, which you will use to roll out the square to the desired thinness (but not too thin).  Roll the dough out with gentle outward motions.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and carefully lay the thinned pastry dough on it, and with a fork  prick the surface of the dough (like you would a regular pie crust).

Cover the pastry sheet with  overlapping  squash slices, leaving about 1 to 1 ½ inch of area on each side and sprinkle with sea salt.

Spoon the sauteed onions (after draining off any of sautéeing liquid) evenly over the squash

Sprinkle with the shredded cheese, and fold the edges of the dough over to cover about 1 inch of the filling. You may also drizzle your filling with a tiny amount of extra virgin olive oil.

Bake at 350F until golden brown (about 30 minutes).

Slightly cool and serve.

May be refrigerated for up to 3 days,  and reheated.

For a vegan option, use vegan puff pastry and omit the cheese, or use a vegan cheese of your choice.

South Indian Carrot Sautee’ (Poriyal)

This flavorful South Indian dish that I learned from my mother-in-law is a simple use of carrots that I often resort to whenever I need to prepare a side or snack without too much thought.

Given that I have been cooking Tamil inspired dishes for years, my pantry is always stocked up with South Indian staple ingredients, including urad dahl, black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetidia, curry leaves, and green chilies.

You can find my recipe in this article I wrote for Now It's Dark Magazine. Whether you are one who likes to indulge a little, or a health nut,  you will enjoy and benefit from this tasty carrot poriyal. 

http://nowitsdark.net/2014/10/carrotsyourhangoverandyou/

Deconstructed Butternut Squash Ravioli with Edible Flower Tempura

I had to prepare one of my signature dishes, but given that zucchini blossoms are no longer in season, I had to come up with an equally tantalizing idea. And so I decided to garnish my ravioli with a tempura of edible flowers. These colorful blossoms add an ethereal feel to the final presentation, and are sure to impress your guests.

What a perfect Fall first course!

For the butter sage sauce, and ravioli making tips, see my other post "Fresh Ricotta Ravioli with Saffron Sage Butter, Zucchini Blossoms and Orange Zest"

For the tempura, I used flour and a tbsp of potato starch (for a crispier tempura),  and ice cold water. The key to a perfect tempura is keeping the batter very cold, so I have my batter in bowl placed inside a bigger bowl that has ice water in it. Basically an ice bath. Prepare the batter right before dipping your flowers, and do not over-mix. Also make sure your frying oil (either vegetable or peanut oil) is very hot. You can test it by dropping a tiny amount of batter in the hot oil, and if it raises back up to the surface and puffs up, then you are ready to fry your blossoms. Do not add a bunch at a time in the oil, but rather, one by one, slowly, without overloading your frying vessel. Also, I like to stir them around gently with a chopstick or the handle part of a wooden spoon.


The recipe for the deconstructed ravioli filling will be in my cookbook. 

RED THAI CURRY SOUP

It is my pleasure to be a contributor for Now It's Dark Magazine, where I will be sharing recipes and reviewing restaurant experiences. This versatile recipe embodies delectable flavor combinations, spiciness, and nutritional benefits.  For your cooking pleasure, click on the link below.

http://nowitsdark.net/2014/10/red-thai-curry-soup-answer-last-nights-lingering-headache/

Roasted Tofu in Zimino

“In zimino”  is a  type of sauce preparation that uses tomatoes and Swiss chard or spinach. It is typically found in Tuscany, but I have also seen it in neighboring Liguria.  Different types of fish, like baccala’, or cephalopods like cuttlefish, and squid, can be made “in zimino”. In fact, I recently prepared baby squid "in zimino" for a dinner party which was so incredibly delicious, that before I had a chance to take a picture for my blog, it was all gone. So I thought I had to make this dish again and share this tasty recipe. Unfortunately, the availability of tender baby squid at the Japanese supermarket where I typically shop was short-lived. So I had to come up with a plan B. I had some tofu in the fridge, and thought, why not try a vegan alternative? And voila’, I came up with this equally tantalizing nutritious and delicious option.

Also, differently from the original version, my sauce has a hint of ginger, which confers an additional layer of flavor. Ginger can be optional, but I highly recommend it.

Ingredients:

A bag of power greens from either Trader Joe’s or Simple Truth Brand (A mix of baby chard,      baby kales, baby spinach) or Trader Joe’s Kaleidoscope Chard

1 carrot

1 onion

1/2 celery stalk

a few sprigs of parsley

about 1 cup of of grape tomatoes (finely chopped), or a ladle-full of pureed tomatoes

1-2 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger (can also be finely chopped or pressed through a garlic press)-for grating, a long cheese grater works great.

½ red chili pepper (peperoncino)-fresh or dry- or a whole chile pepper, for extra pungency

olive oil- enough to coat the bottom of a medium size pan, plus about 1 tablespoon to drizzle the tofu

good quality tofu (½ block)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Remove the tofu from the package and pat dry with paper towels. Line a plate with a paper towel and place the tofu on top. Then set  a plate on top of the tofu and weigh it down with something heavy, like a can of vegetables that you may have in your cupboard.  Allow the liquid to train into the paper towel for about 15-30 minutes. Remove the weight,  and drain off the excess liquid. Slice the pressed tofu into cubes or thin slices.

Drizzle the olive oil on a baking sheet,  add the cut tofu and gently toss it around the  baking sheet so that all sides are coated.  Bake tofu until the outside of the tofu is golden and the pieces look slightly puffed, about 30 minutes, depending on the size and shape of the tofu. If baking slices, the baking time should be reduced.  Toss  occasionally so the pieces bake evenly.

While the tofu is baking, finely chop the carrot, onion, celery and parsley  on a cutting board, or pulse  in a food processor until fine. This is what we refer to in Italian as “battuto di odori”

Blanch the greens for a couple of  minutes in salted boiling water, strain in a colander and  allow to cool.  Once cooled, squeeze as much water out as possible either with your hands, or by pressing a small bowl against the greens that are still resting inside the colander .

Once the greens are no longer dripping water, place them  on a cutting board and chop them coarsely. Set aside.

In a medium size pan, heat the olive oil, add the chopped “odori” and cook until softened (about 10 minutes), being careful not to burn them. Add the garlic,  the chopped greens,  and cook down for a few minutes. Remove the garlic, unless you don’t mind garlic pieces in your sauce. Add the tomatoes(or puree) and the ginger, and cook down for another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with  peperoncino, and salt and pepper to taste.

Add the roasted tofu cubes directly to the sauce or,  if  roasting thin slices, make bite-size sandwiches as I did.

Alternatively,  you can use fried tofu or polenta. Enjoy!

EASY ROASTED SPICED OKRA (LADY-FINGERS)

I LOVE OKRA...... There is something about this Malvaceae that I really enjoy and, apparently,  I have also turned my family into okra lovers. So much so, that they ask me to prepare it whenever they visit me in the US.  Curiously, this vegetable, also known as “lady-fingers” in many parts of the world, is not grown in Italy. 

The first time I had okra was in Georgia (fried of course). The second time was in an Indian restaurant in London (masala style). The third time was in Tamilnadu, South East India, and it was prepared by my husband’s grandmother, and it was one my favorite dishes that I tried while visiting there. I enjoyed it so much that I tried to make it again after I returned home. I have since prepared a few variations of Achi’s okra, one being this sliced okra with sauteed onions, ginger, garlic tomatoes and a combination of Indian spices, whose recipe will be featured in my upcoming cookbook. 

But all the cutting and slicing can be time consuming, so  when I am pressed for time, I resort to this effortless alternative, simple seasoning and roasting, which requires hardly any preparation, but is still delicious.

What I have learned is that picking the right okra is key to a texturally pleasant dish. I  also recommend purchasing okra at an Indian grocery store, which has a large turnover of this very popular vegetable, and hence, better quality and price. When picking your okra, you should lightly press it with your fingers, and it should be soft. If the okra is hard, it means that it is fibrous inside and no amount of cooking will redeem the trough texture. But if you pick the slightly soft okra, although not overly ripe to the point that it is turning dark, it will turn out great!

Method:

All you do is rinse the okra, and pat it dry it with a paper towel. Then in a bowl you toss it with olive oil and then add a few pinches of rasam masala powder and/or curry powder. If you do not have rasam masala, you can substitute with any combination of red chili powder, cumin and paprika and a tiny pinch of turmeric powder.   For extra flavor I also toss in a few cumin seeds (and fenugreek seeds, optional). But do not add too many, as this may compromise the flavor balance.

Then  spread the okra on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Preheat oven at 400F and bake for about 20 minutes, or until soft and slightly roasted, tossing the okra around once about mid-way. Then turn the oven to broil and broil for a few minutes,  being careful not to burn your okra.

Remove from oven, sprinkle with sea-salt and optional ground pepper, and serve.

It makes a great side or snack.

If the okra is tender enough, you can consume it whole, including the caps.

Fresh Ricotta Ravioli with Saffron Sage Butter, Zucchini Blossoms and Orange Zest

This dish is absolutely delicious...fresh, delicate, yet flavorful, buttery, earthy, tangy, all packed in one succulent bite. Here are the directions for the butter sauce. For the ravioli, see further down for my recommendations.

Ingredients (serve 4-6)

16 large ravioli

a few sage leaves (rinsed)

1/3-1/2 stick of butter

6 zucchini blossoms, stamen and sepals removed-all you want is the petals.

a tiny pinch of saffron

the zest of one organic orange (making sure you don't grate the white part along with the orange peel)

a pinch of salt

Directions

Separate the blossoms into strips by pulling away from the bottom of the flower with your fingers. Set aside.

In a pan, melt the butter and add the sage leaves, allow to bubble without burning the butter,  then add the blossoms strips and cook down for a couple of minutes, again, making sure not to burn the butter. Mix in the orange zest and the saffron, cook for another minute, then set aside on a warm burner.

Boil some salted water in a pot, add the ravioli, one by one, making sure they don't stick together. Cook for a couple of minutes, and then strain by either gently pouring in a colander, or by gently removing the ravioli with a slotted spoon one by one. Toss the ravioli in the pan with the sage butter sauce, then transfer to a serving plate. Enjoy immediately. 

If you want to get fancy, you can do a tempura of whole blossoms and sage leaves, and serve them along with the ravioli.

If you cannot find zucchini flowers, you can also make this dish without, and it will still be delicious.

The Ravioli

There are several options you can choose in making the ravioli, from fully homemade, to store bought.

If you don't have time to prepare your own ravioli, hopefully you will find some that are made with good quality ricotta and that are not doughy or too thick. Otherwise, the next option is semi-homemade with wonton skins. 

And the ones pictured here are those that I always buy, since they are veil thin and yield the most delicate ravioli. On a side note, I also used these squares to make lasagna (lasagne in Italian), and there is no need to boil them first.  

You can find these wonton squares in most Asian groceries. If you choose this option, then all you do is arrange the squares on a flat surface (I do six at a time). Add a dollop of filling, wet all four sides with lukewarm water with the tip of your finger. Lay another wonton skin on top, and seal by gently pressing with your index and thumb finger tips along each side, being careful not to leave any air inside the raviolo. In order to minimize this, gently press the top square from the center out, and when sealing, try to squeeze out any air. If you have too much air inside the raviolo, it will blow during the boiling and it may break. Once sealed, run a ravioli wheel cutter along each side, about 1/8-1/4 of an inch from the edge. Using the ravioli cutter will help further seal your ravioli, and it will also give them that nice serrated appearance.

As you seal your ravioli, place them on a lightly floured surface. I typically cut parchment paper into rectangles which fit inside a pan, and I lay them on lightly floured parchment paper (about 8 per rectangle) and stack them inside the pan, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 1-2 days or freeze up to a few weeks.

The final option is to make your own dough, then layer it on a surface and cut it in squares of desired dimensions. Homemade pasta dough recipes are plentiful on the web, but if you need specific directions please leave me a comment and I will be happy to assist. Because a gourmet raviolo has to be thin, and making veil thin pasta dough can be a challenge for the novice cook, if you don't think you can pull it off, go for the wonton skins :o). 

The ricotta filling

For the filling, you also have a few options. You can either buy ricotta, or make your own. The problem with store bought ricotta in the US, it's that the majority of what is sold in stores is not real ricotta, does not taste like real ricotta, and the texture is gritty, so for these reasons it does not make a very attractive filling. Therefore, unless you can find hand-dipped ricotta, which is quite rare, you are better off making your own. 

Making ricotta at home is not that difficult, although I admit, I have had a few blunders. Although the one I made just recently was perfect.  I used Trader Joes organic 2% milk (about 1/4 of a gallon) and a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream. You don't want to add too much cream otherwise the milk will not boil. Also add a pinch of salt.

In a saucer, bring to a boil, without boiling over. As soon as the milk is boiling, add the juice of one lemon, remove from heat, and gently stir with a wooden spoon to allow the citric acid to mix in. Allow the milk to curd up for a few minutes. Then pour it through a fine mesh strainer or a ricotta mold which you have sitting on a bowl. The strainer will catch the curd, while the liquid will be collected in the bowl. If you want, you can pour that liquid back in a saucer and boil again and add more citric acid to obtain additional curd, although the second round you do not get as much, of course. Reserve some of the liquid.  Once you have collected all the curd in the strainer or ricotta mold, transfer to a small bowl in which you will add a bit of the remaining liquid. Then seal with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. 

You can also make this dish with a squash filling, for which I will have the recipe in my upcoming cookbook.