Broccoli Meatballs

Growing up in a large Italian family, Spaghetti and Meatballs is pretty much a staple food. Since the switch to a vegetarian diet, meatballs has been something I had yet to find a great replacement for. This started off as a recipe for more of a broccoli ball, (think risotto balls) for an appetizer, but when the came out of the oven, inspiration hit! I served them up with a big pot of penne and red sauce.

Broccoli Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup broccoli, steamed & chopped
1 egg
water if necessary

Process:
Preheat oven to 450°
Cook broccoli and chop into small pieces. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together. If the mixture is too dry to form, add a bit of water. Using your hands, form into golf ball size meatballs and place on a foil lined baking sheet.
Bake at 450° for 5 minutes, flip and bake another 3 minutes. Serve with your favorite pasta and sauce combination!

Shrimp Veracruzana

You need to make this... now. Go get the ingredients and make it.

The smell was absolutely intoxicating and the whole time hubs was eating it, he kept repeating "Man, this is good!"  I almost wished I wanted to eat it! (Maybe I can sub the shrimp for something fun and use the same flavors.) It's simple, quick, and super easy to make.

I chopped my jalapenos seeds and all, if you wanna take down the heat a bit, remove the seed before chopping. If you want to eliminate the heat completely, replace with green pepper sliced thin.

Shrimp Veracruzana

Ingredients: 
1 bay leaf
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 jalapeno, sliced thin
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb raw shrimp
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 avocado halved & sliced

canola oil

Process:

Heat oil and bay leaf in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, jalapeno and garlic; cook ~ 3 minutes. Stir in shrmip, cook another 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, bring to a simmer and cook until tomatoes begin to break down ~3 minutes more. Remove bay leaf and serve over sliced avocado.

Would be great with a side of rice!

Stove top Kielbasa

This is something I grew up eating, my mom would make it for us with egg noodles and we'd smother it in ketchup. When I met my husband, he requested it with broccoli and carrots, and uses spicy mustard. Over the years it's adapted into this. I do use broccoli sometimes, but I like the sugar snap peas also. This is one of the things I would have never thought to document in the past, but its one of the best quick dinners that is something different than the normal chicken I usually pull out for the hubs.

Stove top Kielbasa for one

Ingredients:
2 large carrots
1 cup sugar snap peas
1 link of Kielbasa (or if yours is a complete, "u" this recipe is for half of that)
canola oil

Process:
Pool carrot and cut into 1/4 in rounds. Prep peas by snapping and peeling down the ends to get rid of any strings.
Heat canola oil over medium heat (enough to lightly coat your pan). Add carrots and cook over medium high heat for ~5 minutes. Add peas and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Slice kielbasa lengthwise and then in half, add cutside down to the pan and cook until crispy.

You may have noticed a lack of seasoning... I never did until I sat down to write out the recipe! The kielbasa has a great taste on its own and I don't think the vegetables need anything either!

Let the grilling begin!

Erin over at Domestic Adventure got me thinking about grilling pizza again. I haven't done it since last year, but her pictures had my mouth watering! I though I'd share some of my favorite grilled pizza combinations in anticipation of this weekend (because I MUST try the pesto as a sauce now!)

Grilled Pizzas

- Fresh Mozzarella, Asparagus, Alfredo or plain garlic butter sauce (I don't like a red sauce with the Asparagus, but feel free to try it if you like)
- Artichoke & Carmelized Onions (any sort of sauce is good here)
-Chicken, Roasted Garlic & Broccoli (I'm thinking about using Quorn's Chik'n Tenders this summer, good size for pizza!) with red sauce & shredded Mozzarella


Best Pizza Ever.....
This is a mashup of two different pizza's I've had. The first is from Dominick's Pizza in Blairstown, NJ (a BLT Pizza made with a mayonaise sauce) and the second is the Chicken Caesar Pizza from Corner Grille in Worcester, MA. It's a white pizza with cheese, chopped tomatoes & diced chicken, that comes with a side Caesar salad that you add to the pizza. Salad on Pizza is my new favorite thing. So here's what I do to make my own variation

- Shredded Mozzarella
- Seeded Diced tomatoes (NO SEEDS) bleh
- Bacon (of the veggie variety now please) :P
- any other small diced veggies you want to add (this summer I'm thinking, zucchini & red onions)

So you add that to the pizza, (i make mine sans sauce) & grill it up. In the meantime, chop some lettuce & make a garlic mayonaise sauce.

To make the sauce I add some milk to mayo to thin it out a bit. Then smash some garlic with some salt to make a paste & mix that in with some pepper and a splash of lemon juice. Any other seasonings you want to add are a'ok. The consistency should be more like a salad dressing than mayo.

Once the pizza is grilled, top with the chopped lettuce & drizzle with the garlic mayo. Fold (to keep the lettuce in check) and eat!

I think I will definatly be making this over the weekend, pictures and a more exact recipe to follow ;)

Tomato Mozzarella & Cucumber Salad

This is deliciousness on a plate! Fresh Motzarella & Balsamic has to be my favorite combination of flavors ever!

Ingredients:
Vinaigrette:

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano, or 1/4 teaspoon dry
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced

Salad:

• 1 cucumber, peeled & sliced thin.
• 1 package fresh mozzarella, sliced
• 1 ripe tomatoes, cut into 1" thick wedges

Process:
Place garlic in the vinegar to soak for 10-15 minutes.
Slice tomatoes into wedges & cucumbers into thin slices. Place into a bowl and set aside.
Combine vinaigrette ingredients in a cruet or blender with the garlic & vinegar from above. (if a blender is used, there is no need to chop the basil or garlic in advance.)

Pour vinaigrette over the vegetables & stir to coat. Place in the fridge for a few minutes (not more than an hour)

Slice mozzarella & place a few pieces per plate. Remove the tomatoes & cucumbers from the fridge & season with black pepper. Top each plate with a mound of the mixture & leftover basil.

Scallop & Pea Risotto

This was a dinner I cooked for the family. For a vegetarian version, simply omit the scallops. The Risotto itself is vegetarian.

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh peas, cooked (I used petite frozen peas, to thaw, just run under warm water)
8 cups vegetarian stock (I used Imagine's No Chicken Broth), heated
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 pound diver scallops (optional)

Process:
Add stock to a pot & place over medium heat. (This will stay on the burner until you are done with your risotto, so I usually place it on the burner behind where I'll make the risotto.)
Put 1 cup peas and 1/3 cup stock into a blender and blend until smooth; set aside. Place a large, deep skillet over medium heat and pour in 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add celery and shallots and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in rice, making sure to coat all the rice grains with the oil. Add wine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Ladle in 1 cup of hot stock. Using a spoon (not metal), stir gently until most of the stock has been absorbed. Keep adding stock, a cup at a time, and stirring. After about 10 to 15 minutes, test the rice. It should be cooked and creamy but still have a slight bite to it. (You may not need all of the stock. I still had about 2 cups left over) Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the butter and Parmesan. Gently fold in the pea puree and remaining 1 cup whole peas. Taste for seasoning. Remove from the heat and cover while you sear the scallops.

Set a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Pat the scallops with paper towels to make sure they are very dry. Season on both sides with salt and pepper. Add scallops to pan, making sure not to overcrowd, and cook until they are nicely browned on both sides, about 4 to 8 minutes depending on the size of your scallops.

Check the risotto and add a bit more stock if it has gotten too thick. In a shallow bowl or plate, make a nice mound of risotto and top with 3 or 4 scallops (optional). Garnish with the Parmesan, and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi in a Butter Sage Sauce

It's not often that I pull a recipe, follow the instructions & end up with the mess I ended up with this night... but what fun would a blog be if I only put the good things in it?


This is the Sweet Potato Gnocchi I made this weekend; I couldn't have been more excited for this! Sweet Potatoes, Sage Butter Sauce?! Gnocchi! What could possibly be better?!!! I was pretty sorely disappointed.

At first everything looked pretty promising! The gnocchi dough, though much more sticky than anything I had ever worked with, rolled out ok, smelled great and actually looked like gnocchi (once I figured out the rolling over the fork thing)  The only changes made were substituting, whole milk ricotta for part skim ricotta (which is what I always have on hand) and white flour for whole wheat flour... I read online in a review of the recipe that the ricotta should have been drained to reduce the moisture.. not sure how much that would have helped.

I noticed I might be in trouble at the cooking stage... boiling them did nothing to firm up the dough at all. The butter sauce (which smelled AMAZING) gave them a pretty shine, so I sucked it up, put them in a bowl and served them to my family.

My biggest gripe is that the taste is just not there, I barely get a hint of sweet potato, but they're 80% made out of them! boo... the sauce didn't help much. Overall, just disappointing. Edible.. but not enjoyable.

Here's the recipe...

Ingredients

For the Gnocchi:
2 pounds sweet potatoes
2/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/3 cup for the work surface

For the Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
20 fresh sage leaves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

For the Gnocchi: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Pierce the sweet potato with a fork. Bake the sweet potatoes until tender and fully cooked, between 40 to 55 minutes depending on size. Cool slightly. Cut in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Mash the sweet potatoes and transfer to a large measuring cup to make sure the sweet potatoes measure about 2 cups. Transfer the mashed sweet potatoes back to the large bowl. Add the ricotta cheese, salt, cinnamon, and pepper and blend until well mixed. Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Lightly flour a work surface and place the dough in a ball on the work surface. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls. Roll out each ball into a 1-inch wide rope. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces. Roll the gnocchi over the tines of a fork. Transfer the formed gnocchi to a large baking sheet. Continue with the remaining gnocchi.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the gnocchi in 3 batches and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain the gnocchi using a slotted spoon onto a baking sheet. Tent with foil to keep warm and continue with the remaining gnocchi.

For the Brown Butter sauce: While the gnocchi are cooking melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted add the sage leaves. Continue to cook, swirling the butter occasionally, until the foam subsides and the milk solids begin to brown. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the cinnamon, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Careful, the mixture will bubble up. Gently stir the mixture. When the bubbles subside, toss the cooked gnocchi in the brown butter. Transfer the gnocchi to a serving dish and serve immediately