Red Wine Risotto with Portobello Mushrooms and Italian Sausage

This is one of my favorite Fall dishes - a risotto made with red wine, Portobello mushrooms, Italian sausage and a bit of Fontina cheese.

INGREDIENTS

1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup dry red wine such as Chianti
5 cups chicken or veal stock, must be simmering and hot!
3 Italian sausages, chopped (can be pre-cooked)
1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
1 cup chopped Portobello mushrooms
1/4 cup Fontina cheese

PREPARATION

• In a large saucepan or frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add chopped onion.

• Make certain that the stock is at a simmer in another saucepan - it must be hot for the risotto to be silky.

• After onion has softened, but is not brown, add rice and toss to coat with oil. Cook for 2 minutes while continuously stirring.

• Add wine. Continue stirring until all liquid is absorbed.

• Add sausage and mushrooms. Then add 1 cup of hot stock. Continue stirring until liquid is almost all absorbed.

• Continue process of adding stock, 1 cup at a time and stirring until completely absorbed.  This may take as long as 20 minutes. Do not stop stirring - this gives risotto its creamy consistency.

• After the final cup of stock is added, add the peas.

• When all stock is absorbed, remove from heat and add cheese. Serve.

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Focaccia Bread

Basically a double-recipe of the Pizza Dough for a large 11 x 17 jellyroll pan..

INGREDIENTS

1 1/3 cup lukewarm water (105–115°F)
2 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (5 teaspoons)
2 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons olive oil plus additional for brushing
3 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon table salt
Optional: rosemary, roasted garlic


PREPARATION

1.Stir together water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over.) Stir in oil, flour, cornmeal, and table salt, then stir until a dough forms. Add chopped rosemary (about 3 tablespoons) if desired.

2.Knead on a floured surface, dusting with more flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes (dough will be moist). I use my Kitchen Aid mixer at medium and the dough hook for 5 minutes.

3.Put dough in an oiled deep bowl and turn to coat with oil. Let dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

4. Punch down dough and then place on to well-oiled jelly roll pan. Pat out dough and let rise in warm place for another hour.

5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush top of dough with olive oil or with egg wash. Dimple dough with thumb. Place pieces of roast garlic on top if desired.

6. Bake for 20 minutes until crisp and golden brown on bottom.

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Best Homemade Pizza Ever!

Well, I stumbled upon a recipe based on something Mom used to make: homemade pizza using frozen bread dough.

I know, I know - this means not everything is made from "scratch," but believe me, this is so easy and so inexpensive compared to delivery that you'll want to make it at least twice a week. That is at least how often we make this recipe now.

The result: a Sicilian style (meaning rectangular), thin crust pizza that takes all of 10 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to bake. It does mean thawing out the bread dough at least two hours ahead of time so there is a little bit of planning involved. And you can make this vegetarian if you'd like or load it up with meat or even some bizarre combinations.

INGREDIENTS

Dough

1lb loaf frozen bread dough

2 tbsp olive oil

Sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

1 28oz can tomato puree

1 12oz can tomato paste

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp oregano

Toppings

1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese

Various toppings (pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, ham, etc.)


PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees.

2. Using a 17" x 11" commercial baking sheet (jelly roll pan), spread oilve oil evenly over surface of pan. Place frozen bread dough in middle of pan.

3. Turn oven off. Place pan in oven and leave for 2 - 4 hours until thawed and dough has risen.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

5. Pat dough out using hands and turn at least twice to coat with oil. Dough should be able to stretch out to entire edges of pan.

6. Bake dough for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

7. Meanwhile, place onion and small amount of olive oil in medium saucepan and cook for 2 minutes on medium high. Add salt, pepper and oregano. Add tomato puree and paste. Cook over medium-low heat for 8 minutes.

8. Remove dough from oven. Using a spatula, place approximately 1 1/2 cups sauce over surface of dough. Store remaining sauce in refrigerator for another pizza but use within 1 week.

9. Sprinkle cheese over sauce. Add various toppings.

10. Bake at 400 for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven, slice and serve!

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Bolognese Sauce

Ok - here it is. This is one of the dishes that I am most known for with friends and family. If you have a Saturday afternoon where you want to putter around the house and also check in periodically on its progress, this is the recipe for you.

I don't make this during the summer months - too much work and too much heat in the kitchen.

Mom made great pasta sauce but would usually start with some Prego or Ragu that she doctored with ground beef, onions and spices.

Bolognese Sauce is enchanting - an Italian mistress that you can't ignore - rich layers of red wine, beef, pork, tomatoes - all in a beautiful body.

Ingredients:

2 large onions, chopped (should be 2-3 cups of onions)
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork (or a mix of beef/veal/pork)
2 cups red wine (dry red wine such as chianti, cabernet – no zinfandel!)
3 cans tomato puree (28 ounces each)
1 small can tomato paste
1 tbsp beef broth base – concentrated beef broth or veal demi-glace
1 tbsp Salt
1 tbsp Black Pepper
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp chopped garlic (optional)
Various cooked meats - chicken breast, pork chops, Italian sausage (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a large (7-8 qt) dutch oven, brown the meats and then drain off the resulting grease.

2. Chop the onion and place in large dutch oven with oil and butter. Cook over high heat for 3 minutes or until soft. Add all the browned meat.

3. Add wine and cook for 1 minute – deglaze the pan. Add tomato puree and tomato paste. Add Salt and Pepper.

4. Bring to boil. Lower heat to a simmer – the sauce should bubble slowly for the next 3 hours. Stir occasionally = every 30 minutes.

5. If using garlic, add the garlic during the last 30 minutes of cooking.

6. If using sausage or other meats – sear them on all sides in a frying pan or on a grill and then add during the simmer stage. They must cook for 2-3 hours.

7. This sauce is best served with a corkscrew, cavatappi or orichette style pasta – no long pasta or tubes (ziti, rigatoni).

Photo: Bolognese Sauce by Pat Kight, Flickr

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Tiramisu

Decadent, elegant, and not too sweet. These words describe this Italian dessert that means "pick me up." The name probably came from the coffee used to soak the ladyfingers. This tiramisu is in the style of a "trifle" or "pudding" - not like the dried out squares of cake and cream cheese served in restaurants.

Mom loves this dish!

Ingredients:

6 eggs, separated
1/2 cup espresso, cool (decaf and instant are okay)
1/2 cup amaretto or brandy
1/2 cup sugar
2 8oz containers of mascarpone cheese (an Italian style cream cheese)
2 lbs ladyfingers or biscotti (approx.)
Cinnamon
Cocoa

Instructions:

1. In large bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow in color and thick.

2. Add 2 tbsp coffee and 2 tbsp amaretto.

3. Add cheese and whip at high speed until mixture is combined and consistency of whipped cream (do not overbeat - will become heavy like butter. Set aside.

4. Beat egg whites in a separate bowl with a pinch of sugar. Beat to soft peaks (not stiff).

5. Mix remaining coffee and amaretto in small bowl.

6. In a serving dish (we use a glass pedestal bowl), place a layer of ladyfingers that have been quickly dipped in the coffee mixture. Do not over-dip - cookies will fall apart.

7. Cover cookies with layer of cheese mixture. Repeat layers, ending with cheese mixture.

8. Sprinkle top with cinnamon and cocoa. Refrigerate overnight.

Serving: This dish is not difficult to make and you can be creative in terms of the types of cookies (I have used chocolate biscotti, gingerbread biscotti and Stella D'Oro Anisette Toast or Almond Toast) and liquor (amaretto, Frangelico, brandy, cognac, Kahlua).

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