The chicken part of this meal was the simple part to the much more complicated risotto, but even that’s not so bad. I chose whole wheat short grain rice for my risotto, which doubled the cooking time, but you can choose regular white, arborio. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but you could easily use chicken breasts, or a combination, and the chicken doesn’t have to be boneless — though I recommend the skinless, since the braising method would tend to make the skin sort of rubbery otherwise.

6 boneless chicken thighs
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
½ cup onions, chopped
1 large can plum tomatoes, crushed, with juice

1 large leek, chopped
3 tablespoons butter
3 handfuls short grain rice, about ¾ cup
2 cups chicken broth, plus 3 cups water, heated to boiling
¼ cup parmesan cheese, shredded

Heat a frying pan over medium heat, with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season the chicken thighs with the salt and pepper, and brown them off, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken, and put in the garlic and the onion, and sweat. Add the tomatoes, plus any herbs you like (basil or thyme would work well here) and bring to a rapid boil. Return the chicken and cover, and reduce the heat to a simmer. and cook until the chicken is cooked through — at least 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring the chicken stock and the water to a simmer in a saucepan. In another pan (preferably, a saucier), heat 2 tablespoons of butter, and add the leek, and cook until wilted. Add the rice, and stir, allowing the rice to soak up the butter, and turn pearly. Begin adding the hot stock, about three or four ladles-full to start. You don’t need to constantly stir the rice, but you do need to keep and eye on it, and stir it occasionally, to make sure it doesn’t scorch in the pan and run out of liquid. Keep adding more liquid, a ladle at a time. I also fortified the cooking liquid for the rice with some of the excess liquid from the chicken, which added flavor as well as a rosey color to the rice. It’ll take about 20 minutes for white risotto or 45 for brown to get to the point where you can taste a grain or two, and they’re chewy, but not so much so that they stick to your teeth. At this point, you can keep cooking it to whatever consistency you prefer. I like it the consistency of wet oatmeal. Remove it from the heat, and stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter and the shredded cheese. Taste for seasoning.

Every August, I end up making a couple of batches of this sauce, when the prices for plum tomatoes hits the floor, but it works equally as well with any kind of tomato you’ve got too many of in your garden.

Preheat your oven to 425° and spread olive oil all over the bottom of a sheet pan. Wash your plum tomatoes and slice them in half. Sometimes, I’ll use my thumb and pull out the seeds and pulp. If I’ve got the time, though, I’ll lay the tomatoes out, cut side down, on the sheet pan, and roast them by themselves for 30-45 minutes, allowing all the juices to dribble out, and thicken and caramelize. Take them out of the oven, and turn the tomatoes over, skin side down. Once that’s done (or if you’re pressed for time), mix a large onion, sliced, and a couple stalks of celery, chopped, and a few whole cloves of garlic, along with any other excess summer produce you’ve got, in a bowl with some more olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and spread it around the tomatoes — add a little more balsamic for the tomatoes, too. Roast in a hot oven for 45 – 60 minutes, or until everything is collapsed and roasted.

Allow it to cool a bit, and then transfer to a blender. You’ll probably get lots of sticky carmelized goodness left on the sheet pan, so deglaze on the stove top with a little water, and add that into the blender. Blend until smooth. Add more water for a smoother consistency, or use chunky, like a relish.

Since the tomatoes are high in acid, I plan on putting aside some jars for eating later this year, but you could freeze it, too. Tips for canning tomato sauce can be found on CanningUSA.com.

a quantity of chicken breast cutlets, pounded flat
seasoning (salt, pepper, smoked paprika)
pesto
sliced mozzarella
seasoned flour
tomato sauce
cooked pasta

I sprinkled the seasoning on the cutlets, then rubbed them with pesto, added a slice of mozzarella  and rolled them up and tied them. I tossed them in a little flour while some olive oil and butter heated up in a skillet. Over medium heat, I browned the cutlets on all sides, then added the tomato sauce, and let them simmer for 10 or 15 minutes while the pasta cooked.

First of all, you need a mix of meats. Most grocery stores will sell “meatloaf mix.” This is one-third ground beef, one-third ground pork, and one-third ground veal. This is the perfect proportion for classic bolognese. The amounts of the rest of the ingredients are dictated by the quantity of the meatloaf mix that you start with. Here are the basic proportions, and you can scale up depending on the quantity of meat.

3 T unsalted butter
2 T minced onion
2 T minced carrot
2 T minced celery
salt
¾ lb meatloaf mix or ¼ pound each ground beef chuck, ground veal, and ground pork
1 c whole milk
1 c dry white wine
1 can (28 ounce) whole tomatoes, packed in juice, chopped fine, with juice reserved

Put all of the vegetables in the food processor, probably in batches, since after this long, long simmer, they’re all going to break down into unidentifiable goodness anyway. Put these in your dutch oven with the butter and salt, and cook it until you get rid of some of the excess moisture from the onions, but you don’t really want to brown any of it.

Next, put in the meats, and break it all up with the back of a wooden spoon. Brown it off as much as you’re willing to. It’s not crucial to brown the meat, and if you’re working with the quantity of meat you’re likely to get from the store (upwards of 3 pounds), it’s going to be pretty difficult anyway. Just work at getting the meat into smaller and smaller chucks.

Now add the milk. It’s important that it’s whole milk, because part of the richness of this dish involves the milk fat, and it’s crucial. Simmer this mixture, stirring frequently, until all of the milk evaporates. You’ll know you’re ready to move on when you only see clear liquid in the pan when you stir the meat. It’ll probably take at least 30 minutes over medium heat.

Now do the same with the wine. Keep simmering, stirring frequently, until the wine has evaporated. (You can use red wine instead of white if that’s all you’ve got.)

While the sauce is simmering, run the tomatoes in the food processor, or through a food mill, and then add it all, along with the juice, to the sauce.

Now let it simmer, forever. Like 4 or 5 hours over low heat. You want it to bubble slowly. Stir it occasionally.

Serve this sauce sparingly over fresh pasta, or as a base for lasagna. It’ll last a week in a tightly covered container in the fridge, or for 6 months in the freezer.

Quick & Dirty

1lb spaghetti
8 slices bacon, diced (8oz)
1T olive oil
3 eggs, beaten
¼c whole milk (or half-and-half)
¾c shredded Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Boil salted water for the pasta, and cook 9-12 mins. Cook the bacon in the olive oil until browned and crisp, about 10mins. In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients. Add the hot pasta to the egg mixture, which will cook the eggs. Serve on hot plates, and top with the bacon and a little more parmesan. Based on a recipe from Everyday Food.

More Involved and with Vinegar

¼lb bacon (2 slices)
1 stick butter
1c whole milk
2T wine vinegar
1lb spaghetti
2 eggs, whipped
½c grated Parmesan
salt & pepper to taste

Cut the bacon into little pieces, and cook in the butter until clear. Heat the milk in a small saucepan, and add the bacon and the butter. Add the vinegar; this will turn the milk into cheese. Simmer for 15 minutes, until smooth.

Boil your favorite pasta al dente. Drain and return to the pan. Immediately throw in the eggs, the bacon sauce, and the grated Parmesan. Add salt and pepper, toss, and serve. Source: The Frugal Gourmet by Jeff Smith.

They also suggest that when buying ricotta, you look for one without any gums or stablilizers.

I followed their recipe to the letter, deviating only in that I added some minced shallot to the marinara with the garlic, and that I added some chopped chives to the cheese filling along with the parsley and basil. It turned out very well, although I recommend you put a layer of parchment paper between the foil and the tomato sauce in the pan if your pan isn’t particularly deep.

The adage among those of us not fortunate to be of Italian heritage is “never cook Italian for Italians.” Since no one in our family is actually Italian, however, we are free to experiment. The best way to experiment is to visit a top quality Italian grocery store such as Sunseri Brothers in Pittsburgh PA; Milano’s in Danbury CT; Manganaro’s Market in New York, Philadelphia’s 9th Street Italian Market, etc. We’re talking the kind of store with crates of salt cod, open barrels of olives, cheeses cut to order, fresh bread, different kinds of olive oil, incredible cappocolo and other meats, and cannoli. Just the smell in such a grocery store is heaven. Even we non-Italians cannot go (too far) wrong if we start with excellent Italian ingredients.

At the Italian grocery, buy the authentic stuff you cannot find at your local grocery: garlic sausage, fresh mozzarella cheese, imported Parmesan (they can grind it for you or you can bring home a big block and grate it yourself), fresh pasta sheets (unless you are adventurous with your own pasta maker or rolling pin), olive oil, and crusty bread. Fresh mozzarella cheese isn’t anything like the packaged stuff you buy in the regular grocery store. It is whiter than white and has a very mild flavor and an indescribable texture. Buy an extra pound of the stuff, or by the time you get home you might not have enough for your recipe. Fresh pasta sounds like a lot of trouble, but it’s fairly easy to make and the texture is radically different from anything that comes out of a box. Fresh baked Italian bread is as good as it gets.

We bought the Italian ingredients to make this at the Connecticut house, but didn’t get the chance because of the impending snow. So we put everything in a cooler and brought it down to Virginia, where we made it on New Year’s Day.

Italian Meat Sauce For Non-Italians

Remove sausage from casing and brown with onions and lots of fresh garlic. Add whole fresh or canned plum tomatoes and cook uncovered for at least three hours over low heat (just one bubble ever minute or so). Season to taste (always taste) with more spices than you think you need. Seasoning can include salt, pepper, parsley (fresh or dried), bay leaves, thyme, basil and oregano.

Italian Lasagna For Non-Italians

Blanche pasta sheets in salted water. Put down a layer of pasta, then a layer of sauce, then a layer of Ricotta cheese mixed with fresh mozzarella and Parmesan. Repeat. Finish with cheese and extra Parmesan. Bake in medium oven until bubbly. Remove from oven and let cool enough so it does not fall apart when you attempt to serve.

Italian Stuffed Shells For Non-Italians

Roll cut pieces of blanched fresh pasta around cheese mixture (Ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, parsley, eggs, salt, white pepper). Cover with ample sauce. Put a layer Parmesan and mozzarella on top. Bake in medium oven until bubbly.