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Spinach Cannelloni

My sister invited us to a full long weekend of merriment to celebrate my BIL 40th birthday… It was jam-packed with surprises and food.

I traveled with the excuse of spending time with my nephew, Ale. So he never ever suspected the conga-line of people that would appear each night to celebrate the weekend. First, we started the celebration last Thursday, the official birth date, with his mom and brother coming in by surprise. I had to buy groceries and make everything that same day because I couldn’t let the birthday boy know we were cooking for 12 that day…

I was planning to make a taquiza/taco bar menu for dear BIL, something he had enjoyed a lot once before. But when he insisted all he wanted was his favorite tiramisu for a birthday cake, the menu quickly shifted to Italian and the poblanos and corn were set aside for another day.

Make a crepe and fill it with Nutella or gruyere cheese and you immediately think Paris or French… But take the same crepe and fill it with ricotta and spinach and what do you get? Cannelloni…

I know… there are a lot of ingredients in the list, but it’s really an easy assembly recipe. This recipe is very easily halved for a smaller crowd.

SPINACH CANNELLONI

Makes about 24 cannelloni to serve 12 people

24 crepes

24oz of ricotta cheese

2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

4 cups of Italian-Blend shredded Cheese

1 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1 bag of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry as much as possible

1 large onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2-3 tbs of chopped fresh Italian parsley

2-3 tbs of chopped fresh basil leaves

3 tbs of olive oil, divided

2 packs of Pomi chopped tomatoes

2 cups of half and half

2 tsp dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

Garlic Salt, Salt and freshly cracked Black Pepper to taste

I make my own crepes using this batter recipe right here. I make the batter the night before and allow it to rest in the fridge overnight.
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add a few drizzles of olive oil, onions and garlic. Season them liberally with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes to allow the onions to release their moisture, but do not brown them, just until they’re soft. Set aside.
Pre-heat oven to 425F.
To make the filling… In a large bowl combine ricotta cheese, the cooked onions/garlic mixture, 2 cups of the Italian cheese blend, ½ cup parmesan cheese, the chopped fresh parsley and basil and the chopped thawed and squeezed spinach. Season it with salt, pepper, garlic salt and a few drizzles of olive oil. Mix well to combine. Set aside. If you want to make some cheese cannelloni without the spinach, just omit the spinach or set some cheese mixture aside before adding the spinach. The flavors will work really well.
To make the sauce… mix together in another large bowl the chopped tomatoes, half and half and season with salt, pepper, dried oregano and basil, garlic salt and a few drizzles of olive oil. Mix together well to combine and create a pink sauce and set aside.
Now we assemble… I had to use 2 large 9” x 13” glass oven-proof dishes for this amount of crepes. Pour 1/4 of the sauce in the bottom of each baking dish. Take each crepe and smear about 1 large soup spoonful of cheese/spinach mixture and roll into a cannelloni. Place on top of the sauce. Repeat with all the crepes and place them side by side on the baking dishes.
When you’re done assembling the crepes in the baking dish, spoon the sauce that’s left on top of the crepes. Sprinkle the rest of the Italian blend cheeses, the mozzarella and the parmesan cheese on top of the cannelloni to create a cheesy crust on top.
Bake in oven for about 30 minutes to allow the tomato sauce to cook and for the cheese on top to melt and brown. If the cheese is not browned to your liking, you can always turn on the broiler on low and watch it for 10 minutes or so until it’s brown and beautiful.

You can certainly make this for a large crowd like I did, or make it into individual dishes and serve for a smaller group or even just one. I did some filled with just cheese and some with the spinach… the kids ate the ones with spinach even though I had mentioned I had ones with just cheese. They were skeptical at first, but they ate it all in the end.

And if you have any creamed spinach leftover from another side dish or from making a stack of crepes… you can indeed use it and skip the step of cooking onions and garlic beforehand.

We served these cannelloni with a caprese salad and delicious garlicky bread…

Tags: cheese, crepes, food, ricotta cheese, spinach, tomatoes, vegetarian

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Categories main courses

Korean Seasoned Tofu

23 May

I am a lucky girl… I’ve been invited to travel to many places around the world – the most recent invitation, to Seoul, Korea. Or maybe not that lucky, because I didn’t get to go in the end. Long story… but maybe it was just better for me to stay put in my lovely Puerto Rico.

The cool thing… you can travel thru food. And coincidentally I found this recipe for a Korean-style Seasoned Tofu on Serious Eats. It just seemed so simple and easy I had to try it.

You see, I do not need to get on that $2,000 flight to eat great vegetarian Korean food!!!

KOREAN SEASONED TOFU

One package firm tofu

2 green onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs water

1 tbs sesame oil

1 tbs toasted sesame seeds

A pinch of red pepper flakes

1 tbs vegetable oil for frying the tofu

Remove the tofu from its package. Cut into ½” pieces and let them drain in between paper towels.
Combine the soy sauce, sesame oil and water in a small bowl. Add the green onions, garlic, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes. Mix well and set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully place the tofu slices onto the skillet. Use a splatter guard if you have one… because the tofu slices are only slightly drained and still have plenty of water in them, the oil will splatter A LOT when you fry these tofu slices.
Cook until the tofu is slightly browned on the bottom and getting a bit crispy on the edges, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the slices over and brown the other side.
Reduce the heat to low and add the soy sauce/sesame seed seasoning over the tofu. Cover the skillet and let steam for 2 to 3 minutes. I usually turn off the stove about 1 minute after covering and continue cooking with the residual heat from the stove and skillet.

Transfer to a plate and serve immediately.

Serve over steamed brown rice…

Tags: food, scallions, sesame seeds, soy sauce, tofu, vegetarian

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Categories main courses

Creamy Sour Cream Stuffed Mushrooms

4 Apr

I love to buy produce at Costco… but lately I’ve discovered “el pulguero”… yeah, the Flea Market. It doesn’t sound like the name of the place you would like to buy produce. And produce is only about 10% of what they sell there, but the prices and the bargaining power is amazing. Go with $10 bucks on hand, and you’ll fill a few canvas bags full of produce.

I learned about El Pulguero through Tania… she lives around the same area. She started going there to buy produce for the Yoga Center. You find bags of anything and everything for $1. It’s similar to The Boys Farmer’s Market near my sister’s house with their $1 bags.

The catch… most of the produce is ready to be used RIGHT NOW. Some things may have little blemishes or have a few leaves that need to be thrown out. This is usually not produce that you can allow to hang in your fridge or pantry for a long time. But the price is exceptional… way better than any grocery store. It’s like going to Marshall’s. You need to see what’s there and allow the produce “speak to you”.

My mom found the other day some great looking mushrooms, and coming from El Pulguero I didn’t want them to linger too much. That’s when I came across this stuffed mushroom recipe from Alex Guarnaschelli. Of course, I changed it up a bit to make it easier on me to make and to dirty less pots and pans.

CREAMY SOUR CREAM STUFFED MUSHROOMS

10 white button mushrooms stemmed, reserving the stems

3-4 additional mushrooms to use for the filling, chopped finely

¼ cup sour cream

¼ cup savory béchamel sauce, recipe here

½ onion, chopped finely

2-3 sprigs of thyme

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Handful of shredded parmesan cheese

2 handfuls of whole-wheat panko breadcrumbs

Aged balsamic vinegar – optional, but highly recommended

Clean the mushrooms well using a damp paper towel. Remove the stems and chop them into small pieces and set aside. Reserve the caps for later use.
In a medium skillet, pour a little olive oil and sauté the onions and the mushrooms stems you already chopped. Cook until the mushrooms are browned. Season with the thyme, stripping the leaves from the stems, salt and pepper. Add the béchamel and sour cream. Remove from pan into a bowl and allow cooling a bit.
Mix together the cooled mushroom stem/onion/creamy mix with the parmesan and panko breadcrumbs.
Preheat oven to 425F.
Place all stuffed mushrooms in a large baking dish drizzled with a bit of olive oil. Don’t push the stuffing too much into the mushrooms cavity, but do heap any additional stuffing generously on top of mushrooms.
I usually drizzle a a bit of olive oil and sprinkle some additional salt and pepper to season the raw mushrooms themselves.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until the mushrooms are cooked and the top is golden brown.

Serve immediately…

A drizzle of balsamic vinegar at the table. It adds a really nice tang that finishes the dish.

I served this with Spinach Polenta and a side avocado salad… Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Tags: bechamel sauce, food, sour cream, vegetarian, white mushrooms

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Categories main courses, side dishes

Gluten-free Sun-dried Tomato Stuffed Mushrooms

16 Mar

I’m into mushrooms… they’re delicious and they’re easy and quick to make. And when recently I was invited to make something “different” for the Vegetarian Festival at the Yoga Center, I decided I wanted to make some stuffed mushrooms.

I love to buy white button mushrooms at Costco, but the package is SO BIG that it’s usually too much for just me at home. But if we’re cooking for the Yoga Center, I would certainly need 2 packages. Mushrooms are used in the yoga center, but they’re not a usual main dish occurrence because they’re usually expensive when cooking for lots of people. But I thought this is my chance to highlight how you can embellish a little old mushroom and make them be your main dish.

I used gluten-free crackers instead of regular breadcrumbs because there are a lot of people at the center who keep a gluten-free diet. They work just the same, you’ll see and taste.

GLUTEN-FREE SUN-DRIED TOMATO STUFFED MUSHROOMS

2 large packages of white stuffing mushrooms – about 40-45 mushrooms

1 medium onion, chopped finely

½ green bell pepper, chopped finely

2 garlic cloves, minced or grated on a microplane

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

10 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped in small pieces – make sure they’re made without sulfites as a preservative

½ cup of vegetable broth

1/2 packet of gluten-free crackers – I use Energy brand because that’s why I have available

1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese, organic preferably- divided

1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, organic preferably

1 cup of loosely-packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped finely

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

Clean the mushrooms well using a damp paper towel. They sometimes have traces of the dirt they were growing in. Remove the stems and chop them into small pieces and set aside. Reserve the caps for later use.
In a small saucepan, heat the vegetable broth to a simmer and add the sundried tomatoes. After it simmers for a while, turn off the stove and let the tomatoes just sit in the hot broth for a few minutes to help them reconstitute a bit.
Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, pour a little olive oil and sauté the onions, peppers, garlic and the mushrooms stems you already chopped. Cook until the mushrooms are browned. Season with the thyme, stripping the leaves from the stems, salt and pepper. Add the reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes all together with the broth that’s left. Allow the mixture to cook some more to evaporate a bit, about 5 more minutes. Remove from pan into a bowl and allow cooling a bit.
While the mixture cools, process the crackers into crumbs in a food processor.
Mix together the cooled mushroom stem/onion/tomatoes mix with the crackers, mozzarella, ½ the parmesan cheese, and chopped fresh parsley. Drizzle some olive oil if you see the mix a bit dry… but chances are it’s not.
Preheat oven to 425F.
In a large baking dish drizzled with a bit of olive oil, place all the mushrooms stuffed with the mixture we just made. Don’t push the stuffing too much into the mushrooms cavity, but do heap any additional stuffing generously on top of mushrooms. No need to discard or leave any stuffing for future use.
Take the extra parmesan we saved and add a small mound on top of each mushrooms. I usually drizzle a a bit of olive oil and sprinkle some additional salt and pepper to season the mushrooms themselves.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until the mushrooms looked cooked and cheese on top is golden brown.

Serve immediately…

But if you want to make this for a party, you can place these on a steam table with about ½ cup of vegetable broth and allow them to steam to keep warm. If you place in a steam table dry, the mushrooms will shrivel.

I know… this Vegetarian Festival was filled with dishes; hardly these mushrooms seem like a main entrée. But I have served these, just like I have served my better-than-Maggiano’s Stuffed Mushrooms as a main dish with a side salad at home.

The positive comments kept on coming the whole night. Gabriel, Angie, Tania and many others came up to me to share their compliments on the mushrooms and asking for the recipe. I told them they needed to wait until we published here… you know, it’s easier to just hit print than write this all down. I actually repeated this recipe again at the center just a week later – people were left wanting some more.

So for all the fans… here’s the recipe now. Now you can make it at home whenever you want, not just when I make it at the Yoga Center. I hope it does not disappoint.

Tags: cheese, crackers, food, gluten-free, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, vegetarian

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Categories appetizers, main courses, side dishes

Vegetarian Super Bowl Ideas…

5 Feb

I am not a football fan, but I certainly am a TV commercial and snacking fan…

I usually get invited to a Super Bowl party every year where I just chat and eat and watch all the multi-million TV commercials aired for the first time at Super Bowl. Everybody will be talking about them on Monday and I do not want to miss in the discussion.

This year a friend from grad school is visiting Puerto Rico and I am inviting her and her husband to WATCH COMMERCIALS and eat some Puerto Rican snacking. No football will be discussed… OK, Dan??

Here are some of the snacks I am planning to make:

Sorullitos de Maiz with MayoKetchup