cauliflower ragu

we looked up ragu and usually it would have a base of carrots, celery, onion, crushed tomatoes and meat.  This recipe from Molto Gusto by Mario Batali isn’t really any of this.  No mise, no tomatoes, no meat.  We tried it out for supper tonight.  It was good.  Not extraordinary, but good.  It’s nice to find full flavored meatless meals.  We had it with a little bit of salad.

I found the recipe pre-typed on food.com

 

Directions:

Prep Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 1 1/2 hrs
1. Halve cauliflower. Remove leaves and cut out core and reserve. Cut cauliflower into small bite-size florets, reserving stalks. Chop core, leaves and stalks.
2. Combine oil, onion, garlic, and cauliflower core, leaves, and stalks in large pot, season with sea salt, and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until leaves are just beginning to wilt, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until leaves are just tender, 18-20 minutes.
3. Add cauliflower florets, red pepper flakes, and 1 cup water and bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to gently simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is almost falling apart, 22-25 minutes. Add butter, stirring gently until it melts; season well with sea salt. Remove from heat.  While the sauce simmers, drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a shallow frying pan.  Pour in 1/2 cup of panko breadrumbs and 1 1/2 teaspoons of minced rosemary.  Toast and brown while the sauce finishes cooking.
4. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in large pot and add 3 tablespoons kosher salt. Drop pasta and cook until just al dente.
5. Drain pasta, reserrving about 2/3 cup pasta water. Add pasta and 1/3 cup reserved water to ragu. Toss over medium heat until pasta is well coated (add more pasta water to thin sauce). Stir in cheese.
6. Transfer pasta to serving bowl, sprinkle with bread crumbs and rosemary, and serve with additional grated cheese.

 

chicken souvlaki with tzatziki

as I rummaged through my cookbooks making my shopping list I ran through the Epcot Food & Wine Fest book.  I saw what looked like a pretty easy recipe with fresh flavors for chicken souvlaki.  We made it tonight and I served it on warm tandoori na’an with crumbled goat cheese and vinegar dressed butter lettuce.  Fantastic fresh and fast Greek food.  Garlic breath notwithstanding.

chicken souvlaki
2 T Olive Oil
1 T Lemon Juice
1 1/2 t minced garlic
1 1/2 t oregano (I used dried)
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1# chicken breast tenderloins (cut bite size)

tzatziki
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup finely diced cucumber
1 T minced garlic
1/2 T Olive Oil
1 t  lemon juice
1/4 t salt

For the chicken – whisk together all marinade items.  Add chicken chunks and let sit for about 30 minutes.   While chicken marinates, mix all ingredients for tzatziki and hold in fridge.
Preheat large non-stick frying pan with just a touch of olive oil.  Saute chicken until cooked through.

While the chicken cooks and rests toast water sprinkled na’an.
Place chicken, vinegar dressed lettuce, goat cheese crumbles, and tzatziki on the na’an.
Enjoy!