06/06/12 Scallops in Tomato and Rosemary Sauce
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"I received my cookies and they are wonderful. I've been serving them to my friends and they think they're the best they've ever had. I served some to my 91 year old uncle who is Italian (as we all are) and he ate as many as he could and took the rest home. He said that at Christmas he doesn't want cigars, he just wants a box of your cookies. Ciao!" Mary Lou K. (Binghamton, New York)
"Di due mali bisogna scegliere il minore." (Choose the lesser of two evils.) Welcome to another recipe edition from Angela's Organic Oregano Farm!
This week's Italian recipes:
-Pasta with Peas, Prosciutto, Asparagus and Lettuce
-Lamb Shanks with Vegetables and Gremolata
-Scallops in Tomato and Rosemary Sauce
"Ciao ragazzi!" How is your summer season coming along? Please don't change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the authentic you. Thanks again for finding the time to read your recipe newsletter! I look forward to connecting further in the coming days. Enjoy this week's recipes!
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Yours Truly,
Angela Reina
Recipe: Pasta with Peas, Prosciutto, Asparagus and Lettuce
Pasta with Peas, Prosciutto, Asparagus and Lettuce
Pasta con Piselli, Prosciutto, Asparagi e Lattuga
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling
1/2 pound spring onions or green onions (dark green parts discarded)
2 tablespoons minced shallot
Coarse kosher salt
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 and 1/2 pounds asparagus, cut crosswise into 3/4-inch pieces
2 cups shelled fresh peas (from about 2 pounds peas in pods) or 2 cups frozen petite peas, thawed
1 pound medium (about 1-inch) shell-shaped or campanelle (trumpet-shaped pasta) pasta
1 head of butter lettuce or Boston lettuce (about 6 ounces), cored, leaves cut into 3/4-inch-wide slices
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano cheese plus additional for sprinkling
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch wide strips
Directions:
Take the white parts of the onions and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices and the pale green parts cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
Melt butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat.
Add onions and shallot.
Sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper.
Saute until tender (do not brown), about 8 minutes.
Add wine; increase heat to medium-high and simmer until liquid is reduced to glaze, about 3 minutes.
Add broth and bring to simmer; set aside.
Cook asparagus in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, 2 to 4 minutes, depending on thickness of asparagus.
Using skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer to large bowl of ice water.
Return water to boil.
Add peas and cook until just tender, about 2 minutes.
Using skimmer, transfer to bowl with asparagus.
Drain vegetables.
Return water in pot to boil.
Cook pasta until 'al dente', stirring occasionally.
Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.
Meanwhile, reheat onion mixture.
Add lettuce and stir just until wilted, about 1 minute.
Add drained asparagus and peas; stir until heated through.
Add pasta, 1 cup Parmigiano cheese, and parsley to skillet with vegetables; toss, adding reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls if dry.
Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer pasta to large shallow bowl.
Sprinkle prosciutto over; drizzle with olive oil.
Serve, passing more cheese alongside. Serves 6 to 8.
That's it!
Recipe: Lamb Shanks with Vegetables and Gremolata
Lamb Shanks with Vegetables and Gremolata
Agnello con Verdure e Gremolata
Ingredients:
For the Lamb:
Six 1 to 1 and 1/4-pound lamb shanks
All purpose flour
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups finely chopped onions (about 2 medium)
2 cups finely chopped peeled carrots
1 and 1/4 cups finely chopped celery
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon (generous) tomato paste
3 cups chicken broth
1 and 1/2 cups dry white wine
6 fresh Italian parsley sprigs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
For the Gremolata:
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon (packed) finely grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon minced fresh green garlic or 1 garlic clove, minced
For the Vegetables:
1 and 1/2 pounds of 1 and 1/2 to 1 and 3/4-inch unpeeled baby red potatoes or baby Yukon Gold potatoes
8 ounces slender baby carrots, trimmed, peeled
8 ounces sugar snap peas, strings removed
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 ounces fresh pea tendrils
Directions:
Prepare the Lamb:
Sprinkle lamb shanks generously with salt and pepper.
Dust with flour.
Heat olive oil in heavy large deep pot over medium-high heat.
Working in 2 batches, if necessary, add lamb to pot and cook until browned on all sides, turning often, about 10 minutes per batch.
Transfer lamb to large bowl.
Add onions, carrots, and celery to same pot; saute until vegetables begin to soften, about 10 minutes.
Add garlic and tomato paste; stir 1 minute.
Stir in broth, wine, parsley, thyme, and bay leaves.
Return lamb to pot; bring to boil (liquid may not cover lamb completely).
Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until lamb is very tender and begins to fall off bones, turning occasionally, about 3 hours.
Using tongs, transfer lamb to platter.
Discard bay leaves and parsley sprigs.
Spoon off fat from surface of pan juices; discard.
Using immersion blender, puree pan juices until almost smooth.
Season with salt and pepper.
Return lamb shanks to pan juices.
Prepare the Gremolata:
Mix all ingredients in small bowl.
Prepare the Vegetables:
Bring large pot of salted water to boil.
Add potatoes; cook until tender, about 18 minutes.
Using slotted spoon, transfer potatoes to medium bowl.
Add carrots to same pot; cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
Using slotted spoon, transfer carrots to bowl with potatoes.
Add sugar snap peas to same pot; cook 1 minute.
Drain.
Add to bowl with potatoes and carrots.
Bring lamb and pan juices to simmer over medium heat until heated through.
Meanwhile, melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Add all vegetables; saute about 5 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer lamb and pan juices to large platter or bowl.
Surround with vegetables; scatter pea tendrils over vegetables.
Sprinkle lamb with gremolata and serve. Serves 6.
That's it!
Recipe: Scallops in Tomato and Rosemary Sauce
Scallops in Tomato and Rosemary Sauce
Capesante in Salsa Pomodoro e Rosmarino
Ingredients:
3 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
One 15 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
6-8 large scallops
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Pat the scallops dry.
Lightly season them with salt and pepper.
Set them aside.
Remove the tomatoes from the can and coarsely chop them.
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a non-stick pan.
Once it is hot, add the rosemary and garlic, and cook for about a minute, do not burn the garlic.
Add in the tomato chunks and their juices and stir everything together.
Let it simmer for about 8-10 minutes until the sauce slightly thickens.
Once the sauce is ready, add in the scallops and turn up the heat.
Keep the scallops on one side for about 4 minutes, turn them over, and cook for another 4 minutes.
Remove the scallops from the sauce and turn up the heat, letting the liquid evaporate.
Move the sauce to one side of the pan and place the scallops on the other side.
Cook for about a 30-60 seconds on each side to finish.
Lay down a bed of sauce and place the scallops on top. Serves 2-3.
That's it!
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Only In Italy!
"Only In Italy" is a daily news column that translates & reports on funny but true news items from legitimate Italian news resources in Italy. Each story is slapped with our wild, often ironic, and sometimes rather opinionated comments. And now, for your reading pleasure, a sample of today's edition:
1 In 4 Italian Families Feel Spanking Helps Teach A Lesson
Rome – March 27, 2012 – More than one in four Italian parents discipline their children with a spanking, a study by Save the Children said Tuesday.
The same study, which was carried out by the Ipsos research group, said most families prefer verbal reprimands and dialogue to corporal punishment.
Exasperation was the most commonly cited motive for spanking.
Parenting alla Italiana Discipline is mistakenly thought of as punishment for misbehavior but in actuality it offers both the Italian parent and child the space to learn together. The parent appears to learn how the child learns, the child becomes more and more aware of what is and is not acceptable in his screwy and absurd environment.Example: It is NOT acceptable to speak to relatives your family doesn't speak to.However, this research cannot be considered complete for Italy is a diverse country. There are differences between regions, economic groups and neighbors.Example: A typical family from Bolzano will implement calm, pastoral and diplomatic reasoning when disciplining a child. A family from Palermo believes a day long beating from each member of the immediate family while the mother beats her breast and weeps in front of a makeshift shrine in her bedroom is the only proven method that will help the child understand and accept "their" values of life.There is the physical discipline…and then there is the mental:1. Being constantly reprimanded by your grandfather because you have so-called everything in life while, during the war, he had to pick bugs off his brother just to eat.2. Every Sunday afternoon of your childhood was spent visiting your grandparents and the ungrateful extended family members who should thank Jesus, Joseph and Mary every day they were granted the honor of marrying into the Family.3. You thought women's nylons were supposed to be worn rolled to the ankles.4. Every meal had to be eaten with a sizable chunk of bread in your left hand so you didn't complain 4 hours later that you were still hungry.