Kitchen3N

Recipes and food fun from Apt 3N

Homemade Ricotta (and a lasagna, too!)

IMG_2763Why on earth would you make your own ricotta? Because it’s delicious that’s why! Also, for these reasons:

  • Unlike homemade chicken stock, you don’t need 98765432 ingredients. You need 4.
  • It doesn’t take 3.5 hours. It takes 0.5 (and you don’t even have to stand watch over it for the majority of that time).
  • You don’t need any special ingredients/equipment (screw cheesecloth! I used a papertowel!)
  • It is awesome over toast (or fruit) with a drizzle of honey and slivered almonds (that is, unless almonds trigger your eczema). Breakfast all week!IMG_2739 Use it to kick your lasagna up a notch! The recipe I’ve used all these years advised defrosting frozen spinach, mixing it with some ricotta, eggs, and seasonings and adding it as a single layer. It was my least favorite layer.  IMG_2743So, this time, I heated up minced garlic and oil in a saucepan/wok. I cooked the spinach in it, seasoned it with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then added it to my homemade ricotta, decreasing the ricotta to spinach ratio quite a bit. No egg. It was divine.  IMG_2747 I didn’t think this process through very thoroughly. I boiled all the lasagna sheets. I just kept adding layers while I had stuffing/noodles. The top layer didn’t receive its due (read: I ran out of sauce). I’m sorry top layer. I still loved your nutty, cheesy contribution. And now I have leftover cooked lasagna noodles in my fridge. Roll ups next week? IMG_2752 Another thing to make with your fresh ricotta – lemon (or in my case lime) ricotta cookies! Not pictured: the tangy, sweet glaze that goes atop these lovelies. And hopefully, your baking powder isn’t out of date, like mine was, and yours more resemble fluffy clouds rather than lemon disks. IMG_2753

For the Ricotta (recipe courtesy of Ina Garten – surprise!)

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 2 cups cream
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsps white wine vinegar

Directions:

  1. Heat milk, cream and salt in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil.
  2. Turn off the heat, add vinegar, and stir. Let sit 3-4 minutes while mixture curdles.
  3. Place a mesh sieve over a big (preferably deep) and line it with cheesecloth or a paper towel. Carefully pour mixture in and allow the whey to separate from the curds for 20-25 minutes. Voila! You have ricotta cheese.

For the Lasagna (warning: did not measure – approximations below)

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 lb ground beef
  • olive oil
  • 1/2 large onion, diced small
  • 2 carrots, peeled, diced into about 1/4 in pieces
  • 2 celery sticks, chopped small (if you don’t have carrots or celery, don’t let this stop you from making this meat sauce!! use peppers, or more onions if you need to!)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3/4 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp chili flakes
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 28 oz can crushed tomato
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • about 2/3 box lasagna noodles (about 15 sheets)
  • 16 oz frozen spinach
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 cup of ricotta cheese
  • about 7-8 oz mozzarella cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmigiano reggiano (sorry, no shortcuts allowed for this step)

Directions:

  1. For the meat sauce: brown meat in lightly greased skillet or wok over high heat, breaking up the meat and cooking until meat is no longer pink and has a nice crusty exterior. Remove from pan using a slotted spoon. Set aside on a plate. Add a bit more oil, then onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté until translucent (about 5 min). Add garlic, oregano, chili flakes, and about 3/4 tsp each of salt and pepper. Mix to combine. Add crushed tomato, bay leaf, sugar. Stir then cover and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for about 20 min, stirring occasionally. At the end of 20 min, turn off heat and check for seasoning (it should taste GOOD – if not, add 1/4 tsp more salt). Set aside.
  2. In a medium skillet/wok, heat 1 tbsp oil or butter over medium high heat. Add 1 clove of garlic, minced. After about 30 seconds, add frozen spinach. Stir to break down clumps of spinach. Add about 1/2 tsp salt and pepper and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Cook down until spinach is warmed through and flavorful (4-5 min). Set aside.
  3. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add a tbsp of salt and lasagna noodles and cook according to package directions (6-8 min). Drain, then drizzle with oil to keep from sticking. Set aside.
  4. Assemble the darn thing: preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Add 1/3 of meat sauce to the bottom of a casserole or lasagna dish. Add one layer of lasagna noodles (3 of the traditional barilla noodles). Then add 1/2 of the ricotta/spinach mixture. Top with 3 more noodles. Then add another third of the meat sauce – spreading to distribute evenly.  Top with half of the mozzarella cheese (shredded or sliced). Top with 3 more lasagna noodles. Add remaining spinach/ricotta mixture. Add 3 more noodles. Top with remaining meat sauce. Add 3 final noodles. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan.
  5. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Uncover, then stick back in the oven for 10 more minutes. It should be bubbly and the parmesan should just be starting to brown. Let cool before slicing unless you want messy, gooey pieces like the one pictured here =).

 

 

Pastitsio

This will likely be the first post of many about an Ina Garten recipe. The woman is a genius. What I would give to be one of her gay hamptonites solely for the pleasure of her food. Um, I mean company. Her approach to food, cooking and entertaining has significantly influenced mine. From “turning up the volume on classics” to her emphasis on only using the best ingredients in her cooking – I adore the balance she’s struck between tradition and modernity. Reverence for what works and adaptability for what doesn’t has become a core part of my cooking.

Anywho, she is just a pleasure to watch. Her show is as technical as it is therapeutic. And it’s about the food, not the boobs (sorry, Giada. Though I appreciate your taking it down a notch from your Everyday Italian days).

This is actually my second Ina recipe this week. I made Pappardelle with white truffle butter as a midnight snack (hey, I’m pregnant) but exhausted it too quickly for any photographic evidence. Either way, it was divine and I’d highly recommend it. These recipes are not for the faint of heart (there might be enough saturated fat to send even a small calf running to the vet). I tweaked her recipe quite a bit (due to availability of ingredients in my fridge). You can find the original here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/pastitsio-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:

For the Tomato Meat Sauce:

  • 3 tablespoons good olive oil
  • 2 small onions or 1 medium chopped
  • 1 cup of chopped carrots (i used half a bag of baby carrots)
  • 1 pound ground lamb
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 large cloves)
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes in puree
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Bechamel:

  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmeggiano Reggiano
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 2/3 cup Greek yogurt (I used 2%)
  • 1/2 pound shells or some other ribbed pasta (I used cellentani)
  • 1/2 head of cauliflower cut into florets (can sub broccoli or just nix the veggies for 1/4 lb more pasta)

Directions

For the sauce, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pot. Add the onion and carrots and saute for 5 minutes. Add the lamb, and saute over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until it’s no longer pink, crumbling it with the back of wooden spoon. Ladle off any excess liquid. Add the garlic, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, and cayenne, and continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 40 to 45 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the bechamel, heat the milk and cream together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until simmering. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly for 2 minutes. Pour the warm milk and cream mixture into the butter and flour mixture, whisking constantly. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until smooth and thick. Add the nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Stir in 3/4 cup ofParmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of the tomato and meat sauce, and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Stir in the eggs and yogurt and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Don’t over-cook because the pasta will later be baked. Drain and set aside. Boil the cauliflower florets in the same pot for about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Add the pasta and cauliflower to the meat and tomato sauce, and pour the mixture into a baking dish. Spread the bechamel evenly to cover the pasta and sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake for 1 hour, until golden brown and bubbly. Set aside for 10 minutes and serve hot.