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Potato and Fried Eggplant Pastelon

16 Feb

I’ve been trying to “crack my head open” trying to figure out a way to translate the word “pastelón” for you guys.  A pastelón is very similar to a casserole… but the difference being that things are mainly layered in instead of mixed all -together.   So I figured that if Rachael Ray can invent a word in “stewp”, I can just use the word “pastelón” and you’ll learn to embrace it.

Pastelón is pronounced  [pas-te-LON], and as I mentioned before, it consists of layers of ingredients, sometimes pre-cooked, sometimes raw and then baked off in the oven.

This is a new installment for the Potato Festival I mentioned a few posts ago…  I know, the translation thing should have not kept me for posting this, but I guess I got caught up in it.

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POTATO and FRIED EGGPLANT PASTELÓN

3 medium potatoes cut into 2″ pieces – you can use new, russet or red-skinned potatoes
 1 small eggplant – try to buy the lightest eggplant available*
½ cup whole wheat flour
2 tbs sofrito
¼ – ½ cup of water
2 tbs butter
2 tbs cream cheese
4 tbs grated Parmesan cheese, divided
A splash of milk
¼ cup Italian cheese blend
Salt, Garlic Salt and Pepper to taste
Canola oil – to fry the eggplant

*  Note:  The lighter the eggplant, the less seeds it will have and the less bitterness it will have.

  1. In a medium sized saucepan with salted water, boil the potatoes until fork-tender.  I find the potatoes boil faster when I use as little water as possible…  I guess it’s a combination of boiling and steaming… I don’t even let the water cover the potatoes.  Just let the water come up halfway the potatoes.
  2. Then, you need to prepare the eggplant batter…  Mix together the flour, water, sofrito and season generously with salt and pepper.  Use enough water for the batter to have the consistency of pancake batter.  Set aside.
  3. In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil for frying.
  4. Slice the eggplant your favorite way – in rounds or in long slices.  Dunk the eggplant slices in the batter.  Clean up any drips and fry until golden brown. Drain the fried slices over paper towels to soak up any excess oil.  Set aside.
  6. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
  7. When potatoes are done, drain any liquid leftover.  Mix in butter, cream cheese, 2 tbs of the Parmesan and milk.  Smash then until creamy soft.  Season with garlic salt and pepper.
  9. Pour half the mashed potatoes in a buttered casserole dish.  Add in the fried eggplant slices creating a layer.  Sprinkle a bit of Parmesan cheese (optional).  Add in the remaining mashed potatoes.  Top with the last of the remaining Parmesan and the shredded cheese mix.

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10.  Bake in oven for about 30 minutes, until the cheese on top is melted and golden brown and the flavors meld. 

 

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The easiest Baked Penne… ever!!!!

15 Feb

This is one of the easiest recipes… ever!!

The funny thing, it has not been even 24 hours since I learned about it.  I was perusing one of my favorite food blogs – Serious Eats… and in one of the Talk threads there was a discussion about making mac & cheese without boiling the pasta first.  Then, one of the participants – his/her name is hanak– mentioned this recipe for Baked Ziti without even boiling the pasta.  I always get stumped at what to do for lunch… so when I read this today, my lunch dilemma was immediately solved.  I would do this while I finished some stuff at the computer.  God bless  hanak and the Baked Ziti recipe…

I modified the recipe a little – as you know… can’t bear to make a recipe “by the book” not even once.  Here is the recipe as it was given to me today and with notes on the modifications I made to it today at 1PM:

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 THE EASIEST BAKED PENNE

8oz whole wheat pasta – I used penne, but ziti or any tubular pasta would work
28oz can of crushed tomatoes – I used a 26oz carton of Pomi crushed tomatoes
6 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp chopped garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Mozzarella –  optional
Grated Parmesan cheese – optional
  1. Soak the dry pasta in the olive oil for around 20 minutes.
  2. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. 
  3. Add the crushed tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Bake for about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

This is a picture of the pasta at this point.  It is DELICIOUS just like this!!!!  A bit oily to my taste, so maybe the next time I will try to see if I can cut the oil in half… but believe me, it’s been a while I tasted a pasta that I would eat as is, without any cheese.  This one is awesome.  I even bragged to my mom about it already…

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I decided to use up some leftover fresh mozzarella cheese… so I added a few pieces in the dish, sprinkled some grated parm/romano cheese and put it back in the oven with the residual heat after I turned it off.  It is really good, but as hanak said… it does not need it.

Thanks a lot to my fellow online foodies, but specially to hanak and this awesome Baked Pasta recipe…  they are all a source of inspiration and hunger-relief. 

GRACIAS!!!!

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Food for Love – Goat Cheese and Almond Pasta

14 Feb

It’s Valentine’s Day – the day to celebrate everything and anything romantic…  so why not celebrate by cooking something to stir all your senses, including that aphrodisiac part of you.  Reading about aphrodisiac foods, I was amazed to learn how many of them I have in my pantry and fridge:

Almonds
Sweet Basil
Avocados
Arugula 
Bananas
Strawberries and Raspberries
Nutmeg

So I decided to make something that will contribute to the loving theme of the day using almonds and sweet basil…  I adapted this dish from a Martha Stewart Living magazine.  Enjoy!!

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GOAT CHEESE AND ALMOND PASTA

1/4 lbs whole wheat pasta -penne, rigatoni or any other tubular pasta would work
Small handful sun-dried tomatoes – the dry ones… not the ones packed in oil
1/3 small log of goat cheese
Small handful toasted almonds – I used marcona almonds
About 10 Fresh Basil leaves, torn or cut in strips
Salt and Pepper to taste
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
  1.  Boil pasta in salted water until al dente.  During the last 3 minutes of boiling the pasta, throw in the sun dried tomatoes to rehydrate.
  2. Drain the pasta well, reserving some of the pasta cooking water.  Return pasta to the pot.
  3. Drizzle pasta with a bit of olive oil.  Add goat cheese in small pieces, basil leaves, pepper and almonds.  Add a bit of the pasta water to create a sauce.  Toss to combine.  Add more water if you feel it’s too dry.
  4. Garnish with added almonds on top. 

There are other several recipes I have created for you already that might help you to create romance any day you are in the mood:

Coquito – Nutmeg

Pasta with Marinated Tomatoes – Basil

Arugula-Red Onion Salad – Arugula

Quesadilla Caprese – Basil

Strawberry Banana Smoothie – Strawberries and Bananas

Strawberry Kanten – Strawberry

Baked Pasta and 4 Cheeses – Basil

White Lasagna with Spinach and Almonds – Nutmeg and Almonds

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Quesadilla Caprese

7 Feb

I love Caprese salads… fresh mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and fresh basil drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Mmmmm!!! So when Rachael Ray proposed in one of her shows to make quesadillas with an Italian twist, I was all eyes and ears.   

I tried this one night I wanted a quick dinner…  this Quesadilla Caprese works great alone or accompanied with a salad.  As an appetizer or as lunch or light supper.  The fresh mozzarella is very watery and oozes a bit when you’re making it, but the flavor is amazing.

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QUESADILLA CAPRESE

1 whole wheat tortilla
4-5 fresh mozzarella slices
3 tomato slices
4-5 fresh basil leaves
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
  1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brush some olive oil. 
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  3. Place whole wheat tortilla to warm up.  Flip over to the other side.
  4. Place 1/2 of the mozzarella slices, tomatoes, sprinkle salt and pepper, place basil leaves and the remaining mozzarella slices.  You need cheese next to the tortilla side to act as the “glue” that will keep the quesadilla closed and together.

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 5.  Press down with a spatula.  Some of the moisture of the cheese will ooze out.  Don’t worry, keep the skillet warm enough and the tortilla will not wilt.  Actually it helps to build some crust on the outside rim.  Flip it a few times to get the cheese well melted on both sides.

6.  Dress with a additional drizzle of olive oil.

Try it… it’s awesome.

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White Lasagna with Spinach and Almonds – VEGAN version

3 Feb

When I did this recipe for the Yoga Center, I adapted it using non-dairy cheeses.  This way, you can crave this lasagna without concern if you eat cheese or not…  I am sure you’ll not be dissapointed.

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WHITE LASAGNA with SPINACH AND ALMONDS – Vegan Version

 4-6 lasagna noodles – I use DeBoles NoBoil Rice lasagna noodles
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs sofrito
3-4oz Toffutti Better -Than-Cream cheese cheese
1 cup soy milk
1 ¼ cup shredded Soya Kaas mozzarella style cheese, divided
1 ½  tbs cornstarch, dissolved in ½ cup of water
Sprinkle of Salt, Garlic Powder and freshly cracked black pepper
1 cup frozen spinach measured frozen, defrosted and squeeze out of most the water but still wet
1/3 cup marcona salted almonds – but any almonds will work
1/2 cup Veggie Parmesan cheese

  1. Pre-heat over to 325 degrees F.
  2. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Add sofrito and cook for a few minutes.
  3. Add in the Tofutti cream cheese and whisk in together until the sofrito and cream cheese are incorporated.
  4. Whisk in soy milk. Add in 1 cup of the Soya Kaas cheese and whisk every few minutes to make sure the cheese melts well and does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Reserve the rest for the lasagna topping. Season sauce with the garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add in the diluted cornstarch. Make sure you the cornstarch is diluted well and is not settled in the bottom of whatever container you’re using to mix it.
  5. The sauce should have a light creamy consistency. Is important the sauce be more on the liquidy side because we’re using no-boil rice pasta and the “liquidy” consistency will help the pasta cook. So you might want to err on the side of a liquidier cream sauce rather than a tight creamy sauce.

 

Now we assemble the lasagna…

  1. In the bottom of a small casserole dish, spoon a few ladles of the cream sauce. Layer lasagna noodles. Spoon more sauce, so the noodles are always touched by sauce on the top and the bottom.
  2. Distribute evenly the thawed spinach in a layer. Sprinkle a bit of garlic salt and pepper. Sprinkle a light layer of the Veggie Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle a 1/3 of the almonds. Spoon a few ladles of the sauce.
  3. Place another layer of noodles and spoon some sauce over them.
  4. Repeat step #2.
  5. Repeat step #3. This will be your last layer of noodles. Pour the remaining sauce all over the last layer of noodles. Sprinkle with veggie parmesan cheese and the remaining ¼ cup shredded Soya Kaas mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle the last bit of almonds you have left.
  6. Cover the casserole dish and bake in oven for 30 minutes.
  7. Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes until cheese on top is golden brown.
  8. Turn oven off and leave in there for a few minutes until lasagna cool a bit and sets. 

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