Tag Archives: parmesan

Pesto 101

25 Dec

This is my recipe for pesto… my mom loves pesto and every time I have too much basil that might go bad, I do a batch.  It’s great on it’s own with pasta, as a condiment, as an ingredient for a salad dressing or to add to a recipe where you would like some fresh basil flavor.

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PESTO

2 tablespoons pine nuts or almonds
3 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cups basil leaves, strip away the stems
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
  1. Mix  everything in a food processor. 
  2. Add more olive oil if the mixture seems a bit dry.

Store in a jar in the fridge or you can freeze it in an ice tray for individual servings .

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Romaine Salad with Citrus Ceasar Dressing

17 Nov

This is a great recipe for a very tasting dressing.  The dressing is an adaptation from a Bobby Flay recipe.  This yields a nice amount of dressing.  I choose to toss the salads individually and save any left-over dressing.  I make the croutons from scratch because I have not been able to find whole wheat croutons yet.

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Romaine Salad with Citrus Ceasar Dressing

1 -2 Romaine lettuce hearts
Whole Wheat croutons – recipe follows
Citrus Ceasar Dressing:
1/4 cup of orange juice with the juice of 1/2 a lemon
4 cloves of roasted garlic
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon egg-free mayonnaise
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
  1. Place the orange/lemon juice mixture, garlic, mustard, mayo, vinegar, salt and pepper in a food processor.  Blend until smooth.  With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until emulsified.  Add the Parmesan and pulse a few times until incorporated.
  2. Wash the Romaine lettuce and cut into slices.
  3. Place in a mixing bowl, toss with dressing, croutons and additional Parmesan cheese.  Shaved or Shredded Parmesan looks really good here.

Whole-Wheat Croutons

  1. Cut a whole wheat bagguette in squares.
  2. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  3. Toast in a 350 degree oven until crispy and golden, for about 15 min.
  4. While still warm, toss with parsley flakes.

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Eggplant Parmesan

13 Nov

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I love to invite friends over to dinner. This gives me the opportunity to try out new recipes. Conventional knowledge would tell you not to try new recipes on guests… experiment on your own first and then share with others. Well, you know what, I don’t agree.

This is an eggplant recipe that I created by mixing and matching elements of several other recipes I have seen and tasted and I even experimented something I had never tried before and actually turned out really good. I wanted to do Eggplant in my latest dinner party because my best friend Ana Yolanda is an eggplant FAN. I made enough so she would have left overs… a testament to the quality of the results and a shame for her, but her husband ate ALL of the leftovers.

Don’t worry Ana, I’ll make it again JUST FOR YOU!!!

EGGPLANT PARMESAN
serves about 8

3-4 medium eggplants**, unpeeled, sliced in about 1/2 inch-thick slices
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups of seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese plus more for sprinkling in between eggplant layers
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup marinara sauce
fresh mozzarella cheese for the topping

**I learned that you should try to get as light an eggplant as you can find to ensure they have the least amount of seeds and minimize any bitterness

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
  2. Dunk the eggplant slices in the buttermilk for like half a minute. This will give the eggplant slices something sticky so the breadcrumbs stick.
  3. Place breadcrumbs in a shallow dish.  Coat the eggplant slices with the breadcrumbs. Set aside for a few minutes to let the coating stick a bit.
  4. Heat a very thin layer of olive oil in a skillet. (Note: you’ll need a good amount of oil, because the eggplants will soak it. But you need to add a little bit with each batch so the eggplants brown.  If not, they’ll just boil and become limp.)  Fry the eggplant slices in batches.  Set aside and drain on paper towels.
  5. In a bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, half-and-half, most of the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
  6. In a large glass pyrex, spoon a bit of sauce at the bottom, place a shingled layer of fried eggplants, smear the ricotta mixture all over, spoon a bit more marinara sauce, place a second layer of fried eggplants, spoon the last of the marinara sauce and top it all off with the remaining Parmesan cheese.  Finish off with the slices of fresh mozzarella cheese.
  7. Place the pyrex in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the cheese on top is browned and sauce bubbly.
  8. Let it rest for a little while because it can burn if you eat it right away. Serve warm.

Instead of marinara sauce, I made a marinated tomatoes sauce.  Simple, mix together all these ingredients and let the flavors marry while the eggplants are frying – Crushed Tomatoes (try for them to be in a jar and not a can – you know, less additives), Olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh basil and minced fresh garlic. 

I served this with spinach fetuchinni and sweet plantains.  I will share these recipes in following posts.  Oh, and with the roasted garlic breadsticks.   But you can mix and match as you’d like.

Buon Appetito.

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