Homemade Spinach Pasta and Meatballs

Vernazza - Cinque Terra

I was looking through some old pictures on my computer of when I went backpacking in Europe for 6 weeks.  It was one of the best times of my life, opening my eyes to the world and catching the "travel bug".  I didn't want to stop traveling but I kind of had to because I was running out of money.  But on that trip I learned and experienced so much and met a bunch of new friends.  There is so much of the world I want to see.  One of countries I thoroughly enjoyed was Italy.  The food was amazing and the wine was cheap which just kept on flowing!  I ate gelato 2-3 times a day it was that good, if you've had any you'll know what I'm talking about.  Unfortunately while I was there I didn't take any pictures of the food because I wasn't as into cooking/food as I am now.  But when I go back it will be a whole different experience, mostly about food and wine along with practicing my Italian. 
When I was in Florence I had a nice dinner of spaghetti and meatballs accompanied with wine of course, which is what inspired me to write this post.  I don't know why I haven't tried making meatballs before. They are cheap and delicious so you can't go wrong.  I know it may not

View from St Peter's Basilica

be the healthiest (unless you buy lean meat) but hey, it's worth it.  Just to warn you I did not measure any of these ingredients out, just put a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  However I believe the ingredient list is very close.  They came out great.  Feel free to be creative.







Homemade Spinach Pasta and Meatballs

Florence

1lb minced beef (ground beef, I just got used to calling it that since living in the England)
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
1 tbsp dried oregano (fresh if you have it)
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp of goats cheese (optional) 
1 egg
1 tsp sugar
S+P

Sauce

Trevi Fountain - Roma

400 mL passata
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp sugar
1 bay leaf
S+P

Pasta
250g pasta flour
3 eggs
200 g spinach

In a large sauce pan cook the spinach and transfer to a plate.  Once it has cooled down, give it a couple of good squeezes to get all the water out.  Finely chop and set aside.  To make the pasta you can revisit this post.  The only difference is you will need to add the spinach in with the eggs.  If the pasta seems to wet then add a small amount of flour.

On to the meat balls - Place the minced beef, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, oregano, egg, sugar, and Parmesan cheese in a bowl and season with S+P.  Mix with your hands until all the ingredients are fully incorporated.  Now give a taste and adjust seasoning.....just kidding, unless you like the taste of raw meat.  Take a pinch of the mixture and roll it into a ball a little bigger than a ping pong ball and set them aside.  You can make them as big or as small as you want.  After rolling about half of them I then added the goats cheese and rolled the rest.

Heat some olive oil in a large sauce pan and then toss in the meat balls.  Brown on all sides.  Add in the ingredients for the sauce, give a stir and cover.  Turn the heat to medium/low and simmer for 15-20 minutes. 
Serve over pasta and top with a little Parmesan cheese. 

Risotto ai Funghi e Pancetta

Risotto is a fairly new dish for me.  I don't know why I hadn't tried to make it before.  I think I've had it in a restaurant a few times but must not have been to impressed.  My girlfriend and I went to another couples house for dinner a while back and we had risotto (thanks Brooke) which was quite tasty.  Now, being that cooking is an enjoyable hobby of mine, this gave me something new to try and make.  There are lots of different ingredients you can add to risotto so I wanted to put my spin on it.
This is an easy dish to make so give it a go and be creative with yours.

Serves 3-4 (depending if you go for seconds or want leftovers)

Risotto ai Funghi e Pancetta
250 grams of arborio rice (about 1 1/4 cups)
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of pancetta diced
1 medium onion diced
3-4 garlic cloves finely chopped
8 button mushrooms quartered (Another option would be dried porcini mushrooms)
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp of butter
3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 liter of hot chicken or vegetable stock

In a large pot or sauce pan, heat the oil and add the garlic and onions.  Cook until soft, about 1 minute.  Add the pancetta and cook for another minute.  Then add the rice and stir for 1 minute making sure the rice gets a good coating.   Add wine and stir until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.  Start adding a ladle of stock and continue to stir.

Once most of the liquid is absorbed add another ladle of stock.  Continue adding stock and stirring until the rice is al dente or has a slight crunch with a creamy consistency.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.  Remove pot from heat and add 2 tbsp of butter and the Parmesan cheese, stir to combine, cover and let sit for 5 minutes to thicken a bit and let the flavors come together  Then the best part...enjoy your food!

Here is different version I came up with - Shrimp and zucchini - simple yet delicious.  Prepared the same except add the shrimp and zucchini about a half of the way through cooking the rice. 

Home Made Lasagna

One of my favorite meals my mom cooked was her lasagna.  I remember growing up looking forward to Sunday dinner sitting down with the family and enjoying this wonderful dish.  Since I live so far away now I've had to learn how to make my own version.  Now it's not my moms, but I've made a few tweaks here and there, I think she'd be proud.  I don't want to toot my own horn but I must say it's pretty damn good! 

1 lb lean ground beef
3 14 oz cans chopped tomatoes
1 medium onion chopped
3 garlic cloves chopped
1-2 tbsp dried oregano
1-2 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp of sugar
2 bay leaves
Handful of fresh basil
S+P
1 egg
250 grams (approx 8 oz) Ricotta cheese
500 grams (approx 4 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese

I like to make my own pasta so here is the basic recipe.  

In a large pot, heat a little EVOO and add the garlic and onion.  Cook for 2 minutes then add the ground beef and brown.  Drain if there is a lot of excess liquid.  Add the cans of chopped tomatoes, dried oregano, basil, sugar, bay leaves and season with salt and pepper.  Also add water to one of the cans filling it half way.  Swirl it around and pour into the other cans making sure to get all the tomato sauce.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30-45 min stirring occasionally.  The longer it simmers will give more time to let all the flavors come out.  Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Preheat the oven to 375º

While the sauce is getting delicious it's time to roll out the dough into lasagna sheets.  Once the sheets have been cut to fit the pan, it is time build it.  I usually have about 5-6 layers of pasta, but you can have as much or as little as you like. 
Beat the egg in with the ricotta.  Place a couple spoonfuls of the sauce in the pan making sure it covers the bottom.  Place a layer of your uncooked lasagna sheets on top.  Add a bit of the ricotta and spread around, then add the mozzarella.

Add some more sauce to cover and then put some fresh basil on top.  Add more lasagna sheets and repeat until the pan is full.  On the last layer, I like to put just a little sauce on top so the pasta gets a little crunchy.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil so the oven doesn't get all messy. 
Bake for about 45-50 minutes, remove from oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes.