the petite pig

brown butter-sage mushroom lasagna

one of my favorite dishes is just a simple mushroom ricotta ravioli with a drizzle of brown butter-sage sauce.  the earthiness of the mushrooms, the lightness of the ricotta and the nutty richness of the brown-butter sage makes for a perfect flavor combination.  unfortunately, one of the few things i still haven't invested in for my kitchen is a pasta maker, so unable to make my own homemade ravioli, i've deconstructed this dish to form a delicious lasagna.  so delicious that it might even be better than the ravioli form . . .

brown butter-sage mushroom lasagna
serves 6-8

for the pasta:
1 lb. lasagna noodles
sea salt
olive oil

for the brown butter:
1 stick of unsalted butter (8 tbs.)
6 sage leaves, plus more for garnish

for the filling:
16 oz. ricotta
2 medium sized eggs
2 tbs. olive oil
2 lbs. assorted mushrooms (i used shitake, oyster and portobellos this time, though porcini's, chanterelles, cremini are all great choices)
1 cup pine nuts, toasted
kosher salt & freshly ground pepper

for the topping:
4 tbs. flour
2 cups low-fat milk (whole is fine, but skim won't give you the thickness you need)
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup gruyere, shredded

for lasagna noodles:
bring large pot of water to boil.  salt heavily with sea salt.  everyone that's ever made lasagna has probably run into the problem of having the sheets of pasta stick together.  some people add a drizzle of oil to the water, but i think stirring every few minutes is much more effective.  boil for about 6 to 7 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.  remember, they'll cook a bit more in the oven.  once pasta is cooked, drain and toss with olive oil to prevent sticking.

for brown butter (start while water is boiling for pasta):
place 1 stick of butter in a small saucepan.  turn the heat to medium-low and slowly melt butter.  the heat eventually will separate the milk solids from the butterfat and toast the milk solids giving brown butter its color and flavor.  as it heats, it's perfectly natural for the butter to foam as liquids move up to the surface.  once the butter has reached a rich amber color (not quite brown as brown butter would suggest), remove from heat and skim off the foam from the top.  add 4 of the sage leaves to infuse the butter wish sage flavor.  run through sieve to remove brown bits.  set aside.

for filling (start while water is boiling & butter is browning):
combine ricotta with 2 eggs.  season with 1 tsp. of kosher salt and set aside.  heat large saute pan over medium-high heat.  drizzle with 1 tbs. of olive oil.  add half the mushrooms and cook for about 4 minutes or until mushrooms cook down and become tender to the bite.  season to taste with salt & pepper and remove mushrooms to a separate bowl.  return pan to heat and drizzle with another tablespoon of olive oil and repeat with second batch of mushrooms.  toss half the brown butter (about 3.5 tablespoons) with mushrooms.

preheat oven to 375 degrees at this point.

assemble lasagna by overlaying 3 sheets of noodles on the bottom of a lightly oiled 9 x 13 pyrex or ceramic baking dish.  using a spatula, spoon and spread one third of the ricotta cheese mixture onto noodles.  top with one third of the mushrooms and sprinkle with pine nuts.  repeat two more times, with the final top layer being mushrooms. 

for bechamel sauce:
heat medium saucepan over medium heat and pour in remaining brown butter.  whisk and incorporate in 4 tbs. of flour to form a roux (a french base for thickening sauces).  slowly whisk in milk.  add remaining 2 leaves of sage and bring sauce to a simmer, whisking often.  the sauce will thicken from the roux as it heats up.  once it starts to bubble, season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg. 

pour bechamel sauce over assembled lasagna and bake for 40 minutes.  remove from oven, sprinkle with gruyere and broil low for another 5 to 10 minutes until cheese starts to bubble and brown.  serve hot with sage leaves as garnish.

white bean & red pepper salad

tim recently announced that he was becoming a vegetarian.  for the past few years, he's been on a very-little-meat diet, so the announcement didn't come as a big surprise, but i'm not gonna lie . . . the news was a bit difficult for me to swallow.  it's not that i'm discriminating against vegetables or vegetarians.  i love all vegetables and was a vegetarian myself for part of college (i know, shock!!!).  i own several vegetarian cookbooks and even have a couple of vegetarian blogs bookmarked, but i've come to love food - all foods - so much that it's hard for me to think of limiting my possibilities. 

he and i eat out at least once a week together, and i love being able to share food, taste a little bit of this, a little bit of that (so if you don't want someone nibbling off of your plate, don't invite me to dinner!).  as a result, we've now tailored our ordering at restaurants to vegetarian dishes so we can still share, and the truth is, i don't really miss the meat.  sure, there have been times where i'm eyeing the duck or a plate of greasy potstickers on the menu, but i'm just as satisfied with the vegetarian alternatives that we choose.

it's meant a bit of tailoring of my own menus too.  besides being a vegetarian now, tim also happens to be a bit of a exercise addict with now two ironmans under his belt so making sure he gets enough protein is key.  we spend part of the weekends together up here in the city and before he heads back to his place on sunday, i pack up a week's worth of meals for him (the benefits of being the significant other to a part-time chef).  so i've had to put my creative chef hat on to think of meals that are transportable, vegetarian and full of protein.  one of my favorite has been this white bean and red pepper salad.  it's quick, portable and incredibly tasty with my lemon-balsamic vinaigrette.  it's not only perfect for feeding a vegetarian boyfriend but also a great starter to a meal, a side-dish to fish or chicken or spoon it on a piece of ciabatta for a great new take on bruschetta.

 

i guess limiting my possibilities isn't so bad.

quick and easy white bean & red pepper salad
serves 4 as a side

1 15 oz. can of white kidney/cannellini beans
1 red pepper, diced
a handful of parsley, chopped finely and some for garnish
1/2 teaspoon shallot, diced
1 tbs. lemon juice
1 tbs. white balsamic vinegar (white wine vinegar can be substituted)
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

combine beans, red pepper and parsley in a bowl.  in a smaller bowl, combine shallot, lemon juice, vinegar and salt.  whisk in olive oil.  toss with beans and red pepper.  garnish with parsley if serving right away or pack up in some containers for an easy transportable meal.

   

simple mushroom risotto

my first "adult" dinner party ("adult" in quotes as i was still living with my parents at the time) was nothing short of disaster.  i was 20 at the time and had just returned from a trip to europe where i was studying painting in florence and gulfing down two or three pastries at a time during our breaks.  six weeks and twelve pounds later, i came back to the states with a hunger to cook up and share all the great italian flavors my palate had experienced. 

i invited two of my girlfriends over for dinner and planned a very simple menu of risotto and cheesecake (this was my first dinner party after all).  i had never cooked risotto before and made three classic rookie mistakes.  i started off with three cups of rice (mistake #1: arborio rice expands a lot and you definitely don't need one cup per person), only four cups of stock (mistake #2: arborio rice absorbs a lot of liquid) and didn't really do much stirring (mistake #3: when they say stir, they mean stir).  in the end, i was left with white mush to serve with my friends.  it took me 3 years before i got up the guts to throw another dinner party. 

i have rebounded from that disastrous evening and have cooked and served risotto often.  it has become one of my favorite comfort dishes taking me back to that summer in italy.  i confess that it isn't a low-maintenance dish but worth the effort of every stir.  i especially love the versatility of risotto.  there are endless combinations and i've got well over a dozen in my repertoire but one everyone should have in their recipe box is a simple mushroom risotto.  i finish mine with marscapone, giving the risotto an out of this world nutty creaminess.

so, go off and stir, stir, stir.

mushroom risotto
serves 4

2 tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup white wine
5 to 6 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups assorted mushrooms of your choice (i used portobello mushrooms in this recipe)
1/4 cup marscapone cheese
parmesan reggiano
parsley, chopped finely for garnish
salt & pepper

pour chicken stock into a saucepan and bring to a simmer.  it helps to have hot stock on hand as it helps the absorption process. 

in a separate saute pan (four quarts is a great size), heat olive olive over medium high heat.  add onions and saute until translucent, about three minutes.  add arborio rice and cook with softened onions for about 2 minutes.  add white wine and stir until liquid is almost all absorbed.  ladle in chicken stock one and a half cups at a time*, remembering to stir often.  i add a dash of salt with each ladle of stock to provide some additional seasoning to the dish.  after about 4 cups of stock, add the mushrooms and finish cooking with the rest of the stock.  the risotto is ready when the rice loses its opaqueness and has softened but still has a subtle bite to it.  finish by folding in the marscapone cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.  sprinkle on parmesan-reggiano and parsley and serve hot. 

*an easy way to tell when the risotto needs more liquid is by doing the "runny liquids" test.  use a wooden spoon to cut through the risotto.  if the liquid runs back together, then keep on stirring.  however, if it stays parted, then add another ladle of stock.   

potato, corn & leek pizza with truffle oil

i have never tasted a pizza that i didn't love.  from the deep-dishes of chicago to the thin crust pizze of italia, i've loved them all.  after all, how could anyone can say no to hot melting cheesy goodness?  earlier this year, my love for pizza led me to take a best of bay area pizza tour.  even after six months, i still can't get the squid and aioli pizza from pizzaiolo in oakland out of my mind.  in november, i finally made it down to los angeles to see what all the hype was about surrounding mario batali and nancy silverton's pizzeria mozza (my snapshot review: amazing crust to be expected from silverton but only sub-par topping combinations).  but despite all of the wonderful pizzerias out there, some of the most enjoyable slices i've had have come out of my own oven and of all the combinations i've experimented with, my favorite has been my potato, corn and leek pizza.  the sweetness of the corn, the creaminess of the leeks, oozing hot cheese, and a light drizzle of truffle oil to finish takes this pizza from homemade to simply gourmet.

i am always looking for new topping combinations, so let me know your favorite.

potato, corn & leek pizza with truffle oil 
serves 2

for potatoes:
4 fingerling potatoes
2 tbs. olive oil
salt & pepper

for leeks:
1 tbs. olive oil
the white/light green part of two leeks, sliced thinly
1/4 cup white wine
2 tbs. heavy whipping cream

for rest of pizza:
1 lb. of pre-made pizza dough (i'm partial to trader joe's 99 cents plain pizza dough)
2 tbs. flour
3 oz. whole mozzarella, torn into bite-sized pieces
2 oz. gruyere, grated
1/3 cup corn kernels (frozen is fine in the winter)
salt & pepper
truffle oil

preheat oven to 400 degrees.  slice potatoes to about 1/8th inch thick slices - this is the perfect job for a mandoline or a v-slicer if you have one.   toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and lay out on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

while potatoes are baking, heat a medium-sized frying pan to medium high heat.  add olive oil and then thinly sliced leeks.  saute for 2 minutes and then add white wine.  saute until most of the wine has been absorbed by the leeks.  add cream and cook for another minute.  take off heat and set aside.

now comes the fun (but difficult) part of rolling out the pizza dough.  while most people toss or roll out the dough first on a larger surface and then transfer it to a pizza stone or baking sheet, i simply lack the coordination for this effort.  my attempts to imitate the pizza masters of the world have only resulted in scenes more comedic than "i love lucy's" twirling a pizza episode.  instead, i just roll out the pizza dough with my hands onto a parchment lined baking sheet using flour to prevent dough from sticking to my hands.  for those more physically adept, chuck that piece of dough in the air and pray it doesn't land on your ceiling.

once dough has been rolled out to desired thickness (about 1/4 inch for me), top in the following order: 1) leeks; 2) mozzarella; 3) potatoes; 4) corn; 5) gruyere; and then 6) a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  bake in the oven at 400 for 12 minutes or until cheese starts to bubble and gruyere starts to get slightly golden.  drizzle with some truffle oil and eat piping hot (although this pizza makes a great cold leftover as well).

escaping the weather with a bowl of puree of cauliflower soup

the past few days in san franciso can be described as torrential downpour, typhoon winds, temperatures so low you can see the traces of your breath and gloom, gloom, gloom.  so when the weather outside is so frightful, there's nothing i like more than to take refuge under a blanket with a bowl of hot soup and some toasty bread to soak up every last drop of comfort.  with cauliflower in season for the winter, a creamy puree of cauliflower soup is the perfect answer to this weather.  quick, simple and warming, you're just minutes away from forgetting about the treacherous winds and rain outside and basking in the warmth of your kitchen instead. 

puree of cauliflower soup
serves 4 to 6

2 tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves
2 small russet potatoes, sliced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 head of cauliflower, broken apart with the thick stalk removed
5 to 6 cups of chicken stock
salt
1/4 cup heavy cream
white pepper
creme fraiche
dill 1/4 cup heavy cream

heat olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or dutch oven over medium-high heat.  add onions and saute for about 2 minutes.  add garlic to onions and saute until onions are translucent, about another 3 to 5 minutes. 

when onions have softened, add the potatoes and cauliflower to your pot and pour enough chicken stock to almost cover the vegetables.  add 1 tsp of salt and cover.  bring to a boil and then simmer on low heat for 15 minutes or until potatoes get tender.  if you've got a hand-blender this is the time to whip it out.  if you don't, a blender will do just fine.  if you are using a blender, blend in batches while making sure you leave plenty of room for potential splash.  if you've been thinking about getting a hand-blender, i have a kitchen-aid multi-speed that i use every chance i get.  it is definitely worth the investment if you love making pureed soups and great for re-emulsifying a broken sauce. 

anyways, back to the soup.  blend at medium speed until the soup has reached a creamy consistency.  fold in the cream to give it some richness.  season with salt & white pepper to taste.  drop a dollop of creme fraiche and dill and you have yourself some comfort in a bowl (or if you're like me, you'll want to sip this straight out of a big mug).