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. 

Squid Stuffed With Shrimp

I love squid whether is fried, sauteed, baked,...you get the idea and I love trying new dishes.  So I put those two together and found a great dish to make.  I got The Silver Spoon Italian cook book for Christmas from my wonderful girlfriend and have been using it quite often.  Maybe she was getting bored with my meals and thought I needed some inspiration...haha (totally kidding)  With 1200 pages and over 2000 recipes I won't run out of meals to cook anytime soon.  So this is where I adapted the recipe from and add some changes to it.  

Squid Stuffed With Shrimp
3 large squid cleaned
300g/11oz cooked shrimp peeled and chopped
1 medium sized potato chopped (peeled if you like, I kept the skin on mine)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 egg yolks lightly beaten
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp bread crumbs
1/4 cup of double cream
1 cup of passata
2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped (separated)
1 tsp dried basil
S+P

Boil the potato until fork tender, drain and mash with fork or potato masher.  Cook the squid tentacles in salted boiling water for 3 minutes, drain and chop.  Mix together the mashed potato, tentacles, shrimp egg yolks, 1 tbsp parsley, and bread crumbs in a bowl and season with a little S+P.
Spoon the mixture into the body sacs of the squid, making sure not to overfill them, and close with toothpicks (I didn't have any and it started to squirt out but no big deal).

Heat EVOO in a large frying pan, add garlic and cook for a couple minutes until browned, then remove.  Add the squid to the pan and cook over low heat for about 25-30 minutes.  Stir the cream into the passata, add the remaining parsley and basil and pour over the squid heating through.  Taste and add seasoning if needed.

I served mine over whole wheat pene.  Buon Appetito! 

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.

Cacio e Pepe

I love cooking and eating Italian food.  Maybe it's because I have roots from there, but mostly because the food is so darn good!  Food to Italians is very important from preparing it with the freshest of ingredients to sitting down at the table and enjoying what was cooked.  They like to take their time and savor the food, there is no rush to go and do something else.  Also while sitting down over dinner they get the chance to talk, share stories, and bond with each other.  And as you know Italians LOVE to talk!!
I discovered this website a while back and have made a few recipes from it.  It has also given me some inspiration as well!  So while lounging around on New Years Day I wanted to make something simple but tasty - Cacio e Pepe (cheese and pepper) was it.  This is one Roman dish I will make again which was fairly quick as well.  I didn't have any Cacio de Roma so I substituted Parmesan instead.  You could also just use Pecorino Romano if that's all you had.  I also added some shrimp to mine.

1 Pound Spaghetti 

4 tbsp Extra-virgin Olive Oil

2 tsp Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

1 Cup Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese

3⁄4 Cup Grated Parmesan

10-12 Shrimp

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook until al dente. While the pasta is cooking, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the pepper and cook until fragrant, 1–2 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Add 3⁄4 cup pasta water into skillet with the oil, and then bring to a boil.  Be careful that the pan is not too hot because it will spray out when mixed with the oil (this happened to me).  Using tongs, transfer pasta to the skillet. Sprinkle 3⁄4 cup of the Pecorino Romano and Parmesan over the pasta. Toss the pasta with the cheese and oil mixture to combine until sauce is creamy and clings to the pasta without clumping, adding some additional pasta water if necessary.  Serve hot and sprinkle over the remaining pecorino cheese adding some fresh cracked pepper if desired.
Cheap, simple and delicious!

Basil Pesto with Home Made Pasta

I remember the first time my taste buds had the pleasure of indulging in such goodness.  Coming from an Italian back round on my mom's side she had introduced me to these wonderful ingredients at a young age.  Pesto in my opinion fairly easy to make.  I've tried store bought stuff before and it was disgusting, plus there is usually other "stuff" in it.  The basic ingredients for a basil pesto are -

2 tbsp of pine nuts
3-4 garlic cloves
About 2 handfuls of fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese
Dash of salt
100mL (a little less than a half cup {.42 cup to be exact}) of extra virgin olive oil, or plain olive oil.

Toast and roughly chop the pine nuts.  Finely chop the garlic.  Roughly chop the basil leaves. 

 

I use a pestle and mortar but a food processor could be used as well making it easier but taking the fun out, plus they didn't have those fancy machines back then.  I also get a level of satisfaction doing it the old fashioned way.  Add the basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic and salt to the mortar.  Using the pestle start to grind away until it forms a paste like substance.  Add the parmesan cheese and grind until incorporated.  Slowly add the oil and mix together.  Presto you have pesto!!

I also like to make my own pasta from scratch.  It's fun, tastes good and it's easy!  I buy pasta flour here in England but you could use AP flour (I personally thought the pasta was a little heavy with it though).   Another alternative is 00 flour.  

250-300g of flour (about 2.5 cups)

3 eggs

Make a well in the center of the flour and add the eggs.  Beat with fork gradually pulling in flour.  After it begins to come together some, start kneading it by hand.  

Knead for 5 minutes or so working it with your hands to develop the gluten in the flour.   Your pasta will be ready when it starts to feel smooth and silky instead of rough and floury.  Wrap it in cling film and set in the fridge for 30 minutes.  

Now you're ready to roll it out.  I do it the old school Italian way using a rolling pin, but a pasta machine could also be used.  Cut the dough in half so it's easier to roll, sprinkle some flour on the counter and rolling pin and then get down to business.  Roll, rotate, flip, roll, rotate, and repeat a bunch of times (add a little flour if it begins to stick).  I try to roll my dough into a circle or close to.  How thin you may ask?  Well I just eye it really, though it is pretty thin - enough to see the counter through it.  Once rolled out, fold it in half 5 times or so.  Cut into strips depending how wide you want them.  

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta in batches.  Once it rises to the surface, remove with a slotted spoon. 

Now that everything is prepared, time to throw it all together.  I sauteed up some shrimp in EVOO and garlic for my protein.  Another good alternative is chicken.  Place the pasta in a bowl, add the shrimp and pesto and toss together making sure the pesto is evenly distributed.  Sprinkle with more parmesan cheese if desired.  

BUON APPETITO!