Lentil Raviolis

I stumbled upon a recipe on Epicurious.com for lentil raviolis. The thought never occurred to me! I didn't follow the recipe but made up my own.

In a saucepan:
2 shallots, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
I added a handful of diced pancetta but this could be left out and be a vegetarian dish.

If you do what I did which is get sidetracked, leave it on high and nearly burn them, you get a nice caramelized flavor!

Deglaze with 1/2 c. white wine

Add
1/2 c. chopped shiitakes
Cook until soft.

Add
1 c. lentils
2 c. stock (I used chicken)
Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer ~25 minutes until lentils are tender

Once cooked, mash up the lentils a bit. I zapped it a few times with my stick blender so some would be mushed but some would be whole.

Chill. Not you, the lentils. Although you *could* chill too...wine is always good while cooking but not too much!

I didn't have time to make my own pasta so I used the store-bought square wonton wrappers. They're great in a pinch.

Brush the wrappers with some egg-white wash, put 1 t. lentil mixture on one wrapper, top with another wrapper and press shut, making sure there's no air in the ravioli. I have a pasta-cutter-wheel dealy that i use to cut around the edges. It makes them pretty and helps seal them shut. I made 18 ravioli for 3 of us. I have a ton of lentils left over.

Boil for 4 minutes (not at a rapid boil or the raviolis will break open).

I topped with my classic red sauce with some andouille sausage in it (again, sausage optional for the vegetarians!). My son had them with just butter and pepper and gobbled them up.

Calamari in Brodo with Salmon

I combined a couple of dishes I've done in the past and the result was excellent. The first was a dish that I modeled after an Eric Ripert recipe. The second was the Prosciutto-wrapped Salmon I did a while back.

This recipe serves 2.

First component, the broth.

In a small saucepan, drizzle some olive oil and then:
1/4 c. diced pancetta...cook until starting to brown
Add 1 sliced shallot and 1 sliced clove of garlic...cook until soft
Add 3T rice wine vinegar, boil until reduced by 1/2
Add 1 c. chicken stock, boil then simmer until reduced by 1/3

Strain and keep broth warm.

Second component:
Sauté:
1/4 c. diced shallot
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 c. shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Cook until softened...keep warm.

Third component:
1 1/2 lb. squid...clean and slice into rings. I only use the bodies, I don't like the squiggly bits. It was 1 1/2 lbs before I took the squigglies away.

4T butter
2 cloves garlic, minced.

Melt butter on high heat. Before it browns but when it's really hot, add the squid and garlic. Cook on high heat, tossing a few times for even cooking, for 2 minutes....no longer or they'll be tough.

I'll copy my salmon instructions but change the portion sizes:
1 pound center cut salmon, cut into two pieces
2 slices prosciutto
4T minced parsley
2T cup minced thyme

Mix the parsley and thyme together. Press the herb mixture into the salmon fillets. Wrap a piece of prosciutto around each of the herbed salmon fillets.

Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. My 12 inch copper pan was big enough to do three salmon fillets at a time. Place salmon fillets in the pan with a little olive oil and cook about two minutes on each side. If the fillets are thick like mine were, finish them in the oven at 400° for about 2 minutes.


To plate, place the celery-mixture in a bowl, add the squid, place the salmon on top and pour the broth around the outside.

Buttermilk Waffles with Blueberry "Compote"

I always make a double batch of my waffles and freeze the leftovers for quick toaster snacks and breakfasts. Our freezer stash had run out so it was time for a waffle morning.

The problem is, it's winter and berries are my favorite waffle topping! I don't like just maple syrup, it's not right.

So I got the blueberries out of the freezer. I put about 1 cup of blueberries in a small saucepan with about 1T of honey and a little water. Put the heat on high and let it bubble until it was thick and syrupy. It was a great winter solution!

Butternut Squash Soup

I made this soup a few times last year and each time I had to wing it because I forgot to write down the recipe. I had told my mom how I made it though and so this year she sent me the ingredients which had no amounts. So I was sorta winging it again but it worked! I made it for about 25 people so I scaled this recipe down (hope i did the math right!). I'm guessing this will serve about 8.

5 lbs butternut squash
1 lb potatoes
10 cups stock (I use chicken, but veggie stock is easily substituted)
2 onions, chopped
some garlic cloves (separated but unpeeled)

Heat oven to 350°. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop seeds and squash-guts out of the cavity. Rub olive oil on the inside of the squash, put 1 or 2 cloves of garlic inside the cavity and put the squash face-down on a baking sheet. Bake for 45min - 1 hr until squash is soft enough to easily poke thickest part with a fork. Cool to almost room-temp. It's much easier to scoop out the squash flesh if you aren't burning your hands doing it!

Meanwhile...

Sauté onion until it's soft. Add diced potato and about half a cup of the stock and cook the potato until it's soft as well. Add scooped out squash (discard skins!) and squeeze roasted garlic into pot as well. Add the rest of the stock. Bring to a simmer for a few minutes. Turn off heat and purée. This is where I love my stick-blender. Otherwise you have to pour it into a blender and try not to scald yourself doing it!

The soup on its own is lovely. The toppings make it rockin'.

We top ours with marjoram-parsley-pecan pesto: made like regular basil-pinenut pesto (herbs, lemon juice - a lot, garlic, nuts, olive oil, salt, pepper) but with different herbs and nuts. And walnut butter: throw butter and walnuts into a food processor until blended and then put a dollup on the soup.

Oh, and fried sage. Melt butter in a pan until it's *almost* browning, toss in some sage leaves. Fry until they're curled up and crisping, drain on a paper towel.

This isn't the most organized recipe but I hope you can follow it anyway! It's worth it!