11/11/15 Squash Gnocchi with Meat Sauce
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"Dona giuvna, vein, turtel e va la che 'l mond l'e bel." (Young women, wine, tortellino make the world a beautiful place.) Welcome to another recipe edition from Angela's Organic Oregano Farm!
This week's Italian recipes:
-Polenta with Bay Leaves
-Squash Gnocchi with Meat Sauce
-Stuffed Roasted Guinea Hen
"Ciao! Come stai?" We're back again with some more scrumptious recipes for you! Our favorite is the Squash Gnocchi with Meat Sauce! Thank you for taking out the time today to read them. We've got some more coming in the next few days.
Thanks again for reading!
Yours Truly,
Angela Reina
Recipe: Polenta with Bay Leaves
Polenta with Bay Leaves
Polenta con Foglie di Alloro
Ingredients:
1 and 2/3 cups coarse yellow cornmeal
2 fresh bay leaves
1 tbsp coarse salt
7 cups cold water
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Put salt and bay leaves into cold water in a heavy medium pot.
Stir in coarse yellow cornmeal.
Bring to a boil over high heat.
Add extra-virgin olive oil.
Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until polenta thickens and pulls away from the bottom and sides of the pot, about 30-40 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Remove and discard bay leaves. Serves 6.
That's it!
Recipe: Squash Gnocchi with Meat Sauce
Squash Gnocchi with Meat Sauce
Gnocchi di Zucca Bolognese
Ingredients:
For the Meat Sauce:
1/2 lb. ground pork
1/2 lb. ground beef
One (28-oz) can peeled whole plum tomatoes, chopped
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Gnocchi:
1 small butternut squash, quartered lengthwise, seeds removed
2 eggs
1 cup flour
Salt
Directions:
Prepare the Meat Sauce:
Brown beef and pork in 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, using the back of a wooden spoon to break meat up.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cook onions in remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in another medium skillet over medium heat until soft and golden, about 18-20 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes and their juices.
Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens.
Drain fat from meat.
Add meat to tomato sauce.
Adjust seasoning, then set aside.
Prepare the Gnocchi:
Preheat oven to 350?F.
Place squash in a baking pan, cover with foil, and bake until soft, about 1 hour.
Remove from oven and let cool down.
Scoop out the flesh into a strainer, then press out as much liquid as possible.
Transfer to a large bowl.
Add eggs, and mash together with a potato masher.
Season to taste with salt.
Work in flour to form a thick, soft dough.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil over medium-high heat.
Using 2 tablespoons (1 to scoop, the other to push batter off spoon).
Drop spoonfuls of the batter into water.
Cook until gnocchi have risen to surface and simmered for 1-2 minutes.
Transfer with a slotted spoon to a warm platter.
Continue until all batter has been used.
Spoon warm sauce over gnocchi. Serves 4-6.
That's it!
Recipe: Stuffed Roasted Guinea Hen
Stuffed Roasted Guinea Hen
Faraona Ripieno Arrosto
Ingredients:
For the Stuffing:
2 oz ground beef
4 oz ground pork
1 egg
2 pinches ground nutmeg
5-6 sprigs fresh parsley, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Guinea Hen:
One 2 and 1/2-lb guinea hen
1 carrot, peeled and trimmed
1 celery stalk, trimmed
1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 cup chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
6-8 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp flour
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Prepare the Stuffing:
Mix together pork, beef, egg, nutmeg, and parsley.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Form into a fat sausage shape.
Wrap tightly in plastic to keep shape.
Prepare the Guinea Hen:
Preheat oven to 450?F.
Wash guinea hen and dry with paper towels.
Season inside and out with salt and pepper.
Place wrapped stuffing into cavity and truss the hen.
Lightly oil a medium shallow roasting pan.
Arrange carrot, celery, garlic, onions, rosemary, and half the thyme in the center.
Place guinea hen on top of vegetables and roast until bird is browned, about 15-20 minutes.
Reduce heat to 375?F.
Pour wine into pan, and continue roasting for about another 45 minutes.
Transfer the hen to a platter.
Untruss, then remove stuffing from cavity.
Unwrap, and cut into slices about 3/4-inches thick.
Arrange on platter and set aside.
Remove and discard vegetables.
Stir flour into pan drippings and add remaining thyme sprigs.
Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
Add chicken stock.
Increase heat to high and reduce for 3 minutes.
Serve guinea hen and sausage stuffing with sauce if preferred. Serves 2.
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:
Surprising Italian grandmother FAIL story
Rome – January 21, 2015 – An 82-year-old Roman woman was arrested late last night for causing an apartment explosion that killed a 50-year-old man and injured 21 people.
Giovannina Serra, who was recently evicted, resisted arrest and told police she was not sorry for causing the blast that wrecked the Rome apartment. Serra is under investigation on suspicion of attempted multiple murders.
Despite her age and non threatening appearance, upon hearing the news she was to be evicted after not paying rent for a long period of time, Ms. Serra rented another apartment, again in spite of owning three other properties in Rome.
Three days after renting her new apartment, Ms. Serra is said to have planted gas tanks in her prior building and igniting them, causing substantial damage to the building, leaving one dead and 21 wounded.
"Porca di quella vacca"…this is a person whose ethics would have raised eyebrows in Corleone crime families.Italian grandmothers, God bless them, they hold on to a grudge like nobody's business. Look at her photo. You can tell just by the smirk on her face. They have a memory like an elephant…and some of them can crush you physically (and mentally) just like one. So, you lose in more ways than one.Imagine the family conversation at home just before the diabolical plan went into act:Relative: "But Nonna, you own three homes in the middle of Rome. Why don't you just let it…" (Interruption…and then the list.)Giovannina: "YOU KNOW…my father had nothing!
– We all had to sleep in the same bed along with the bed bugs.
– I got yellow fever. I almost died but my mother nursed me back to health with donkey milk.
– My father had to buy me 2 left shoes. I never had the same pair of shoes. He had to buy them off a street cart in the piazza.
– I never had the advantages that you have! Ungrateful little…"That's the point in the conversation where the best thing to do is change the subject, avoid the big flap of skin underneath her chin from slapping you and move on to something else…like staring at a wall in the next room.One dead, twenty one injured… You know, in the good old days the occasional but potent "evil eye" was all that was necessary to obtain everlasting revenge. One of our staff writers claims he was told at the age of eight that he received a curse from his grandmother due to some irrational family fight between her and his mother. Thirty-five years later, he swears he can still feel its side effects.Unfortunately, Giovannina won't see any jail time due to her age. Maybe, the worst she'll see is house arrest for the rest of her life. We sincerely hope that when the police penitentiary van drops her off at home and removes the handcuffs…her proud family will be waiting at the front door with a tray of fresh cannoli.