Authentic Italian cooking is not just pasta, as many people think, here in the States. In Italy, portion sizes are much smaller and pasta is generally served as a first course, separate from the main entree. Family meals are important events and diners are encouraged to savor their food. Italian cuisine places emphasis on the quality and freshness of ingredients and most Italian cuisine originates from frugality. Locally grown and regional products are the basis for meals. Vegetables and fruits are used to enhance and accompany the flavors of the main course. Vegetables, such as, eggplant, asparagus, artichokes, peppers, fennel, spinach, beans and escarole are most commonly used.
The dish featured here, will demonstrate how vegetables flavor and support the main dish protein. This dish features fennel, which is a vegetable that is not well know, but is showing up more and more in food magazines and on cooking shows. Fennel is a bulbous vegetable with a tall, wispy, frond top that looks rather like dill. The fronds can be used in salads or to dress a serving plate, but the main attraction of fennel is the bulb itself. It’s very firm and crunchy and it tastes a bit like anise. It has a fresh taste and is excellent for salads or slaws. It can also be grilled or braised until it becomes tender and sweet, mild and delicious.
Fish Braised With Fennel, Artichokes and Lemons
In this recipe you can use any firm white fish fillets that are found in your region, such as, halibut, cod, grouper or bass. I also prefer fresh or frozen artichoke hearts to bottled types because I think the frozen taste much fresher. This is a typical Italian preparation for fish fillets and includes many mediterranean flavors. Give this recipe a try for your next meal.
You will need:
- 2 lemons
- 1-9oz. package frozen artichokes, defrosted and cut in half
- 1/2 large onion, halved crosswise and thinly sliced (about 1 cup
Fennel
- 1 fennel bulb, trimmed, halved crosswise, core removed and cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Flour for dredging
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 fillets (each weighing about 6 ounces and 1 inch thick)
- Fennel fronds
Directions
Squeeze juice from 1 lemon; cut the remaining lemon into very thin slices.
Put onion, fennel, artichoke hearts, oregano, lemon juice and lemon slices, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup water and 2 tablespoons olive oil into a large saute pan. Cover pan.
Bring to a low boil. Reduce heat and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove to a bowl. Set aside.
Season both sides of the fish fillets with salt, pepper and a light coating of flour.
In the same skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat until very hot but not smoking. Add fillets. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook fillets, without moving them, until bottoms are golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully turn; cook until fish is opaque and flakes easily, 2 to 3 minutes more.
Return artichoke mixture to the pan and warm for a minute or two. Spoon 1/2 cup artichoke mixture over each fillet. Garnish with fennel fronds.
Servings: 4
Basil Pesto Sauce
The warm months are approaching for many readers and where I live, it is warm now. The warm weather will allow me to plant basil, which is a staple of the Italian cuisine. Basil is very easy to grow in plant pots on your patio. I usually buy 6 plants and divide them between two pots. These two pots give me plenty of basil to use in flavoring sauces or making pesto. Basil pesto is a favorite in my house and when the children and grandchildren visit, it is one of the requests for dinner. Not only is Pesto excellent for dressing pasta, a tablespoon or two is wonderful as a topping for grilled fish or chicken or roasted asparagus.
Many Pesto recipes call for Pignoli or pine nuts, but they can be expensive and difficult to find. Walnuts or almonds are a fine substitute. Also, you will find recipes that add the grated cheese during the processing of the sauce, but I like to add the cheese when I mix the sauce with the pasta. Additionally, this sauce is easy to double and freeze half for another meal. Pesto frozen without the cheese tastes much better.
The sauce is not cooked and only requires the use of a processor or blender. You can make it ahead and keep it covered on your counter until dinner time. The sauce may also be covered and kept in the refrigerator for a few days.
To make the sauce, you will need the following ingredients:
- 2 cups of basil leaves packed tightly in a measuring cup
- 2 peeled garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup nuts
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup of very good extra virgin olive oil
Place the garlic, nuts, salt and pepper in the processor and pulse a few times. Add the basil leaves and with the processor running, add the olive oil slowly. Process until the mixture becomes a paste. Pour the sauce into your pasta serving bowl and set aside.
Cook 1 lb. pasta, such as linguine or angel hair and, just before you drain the pasta, remove 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water and set it aside. Add the drained pasta to the serving bowl with the pesto, mix slightly and then add the pasta water and 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Mix well. All you need to round out this meal is a fresh tomato salad.
Bolognese Sauce
When you are in the mood for a meat sauce, Bolognese, is the way to go. It is a creamy, flavorful sauce and very representative of Italian cuisine. This recipe has been in my family for many years and it is one of the first sauces I made for my husband after we were married. It is still one of his favorites.
This is where you can make a healthy choice and choose ground turkey breast (preferably turkey raised without antibiotics) over beef. This sauce is delicious over short thick pasta, such as Rigatoni.
To make this sauce:
In a large pot heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Add 1/2 cup of chopped onion, 1 diced carrot, 1 diced celery stalk and 1 small minced garlic clove.
Cook the vegetables for a few minutes until softened. Don’t let the vegetables brown.
Add 1 lb. lean ground beef or ground turkey breast and cook until the meat is no longer pink.
Add 1 cup red wine and let the sauce cook for a few minutes.
Add the following ingredients to the pot:
- 1-28 oz. container Pomi chopped Italian tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Bring the sauce to just the boiling point, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and cook for 2 hours. Just before you are ready to serve add 1/2 cup fat free half and half or whole milk. Heat until warmed.
One point to remember about dressing pasta with sauce is “just a little”. Italians don’t like their pasta swimming in sauce. You can always add more.
Related articles
- Easy Pesto Sauce Recipe (forthemommas.com)
- Pesto Anyone? (m0monamission.wordpress.com)
- Avocado Lemon Pesto (spontaneoustomato.com)
Meatballs and sausage are just about the most favorite accompaniment to spaghetti or other pasta for most folks. As I was growing up, I think meatballs were my very favorite. I did not have an appreciation for sausage until later in life. As I recall, pork sausage could be chewy and contain large pieces of fat. Not the healthiest of foods. Today there are numerous types of sausages besides pork, such as turkey, chicken and vegetarian. However, if you want an authentic taste then Italian pork sausages are the way to go.
About 10 years ago I discovered Fortuna ‘s Sausage Company located in Rhode Island and was very pleased with their product. The sausage is made with all natural , hand trimmed pork and comes from small farms across the region. The sausage comes in a number of flavors and is not fatty. I have included a link below, if you would like to see the products they sell.
When it comes to cooking meatballs or sausage, my method is different from my mother’s. She would mix the meatball ingredients, form the meatballs and fry them in oil before adding them to the tomato sauce. In fact some of my relatives prepared the meat in the same pan that they later cooked the tomato sauce in, leaving all the fat that came from the meat in the pan and then into the sauce. Even frying the meat in a skillet, as my mother did, added fat to this dish. So to avoid this added fat, I bake the meatballs and sausage in a hot oven and then add them to the sauce. I like to think that my method is much healthier.
My usual preparation is to spray two 9″ x 13″ glass baking dishes with olive oil cooking spray. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In one dish I place 1 lb. of Italian sausage cut into 3 inch links. The second dish will hold the meatballs and the recipe is as follows:
Italian Meatballs
- 2 lbs. lean ground meat (beef and pork) or you can use all beef
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped fine
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups of Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 1 cup warm water
Directions
In a large mixing bowl place the bread crumbs and warm water. Mix and let rest for about 10 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients except the meat and mix well.
Add the meat and mix with your hands just until combined. Over mixing causes the meat to toughen.
Wet your hands and form the meatballs. A traditional size is 2-3 inches across, but you can make them any size you want. I usually get about 16 meatballs. Place them in a greased baking dish.
Bake the sausage and the meatballs until brown, about 40 minutes, turning them half way through the baking time. Remove the meat to a tray lined with paper towels to drain.
Add the meat to the tomato sauce during the second hour and let them simmer in the sauce for an hour. The recipe for the sauce was in yesterday’s post. Just click on the link.
Meatballs and sausage to serve with cooked spaghetti.
