I’m sure you’re like me and you buy something for a recipe and the recipe was “okay” but not something you want to add to your recipe roster.  Several months ago I made a citrus and fregola sarda salad.  I liked it but the husband thought it was less than spectacular.  He eats anything I cook but I could tell he wasn’t enjoying it.  You know when they push things around on their plate to make it look like they’re eating.  Then miraculously before his plate was finished, he was full.  Confirmation.

So, I had half a bag of fregola sarda that I’d vacuum sealed. Fregola sarda is Sardinian pasta where it’s hand rolled by rubbing semolina and a little bit of water a bit at a time and then toasted.  I was stuck with finding something to make with it or toss it.  I hate tossing food.

I found a recipe for caramelized butternut squash (pumpkin) with fregola sarda and chermoula on Food52 and that’s where I started.  I thought it sounded good but It seemed hotter than I had in mind.  Then I went to the pantry and found 5 little pickling onions and a head of garlic.  I went to the fridge and found half a butternut squash (pumpkin), 1 1/2 sweet red peppers (capsicum) and that decided lunch.

First I roasted the peppers (capsicum) at 215C til they were blackish and placed them in a bowl and covered it with cling film for them to sweat their skins off so I could seed and chop them up.   I peeled and chopped the butternut into 3/4 inch pieces and put them in a bowl and drizzled olive oil, a tablespoon of brown sugar, kosher salt and some pepper and mixed to coat.  I placed the orange chunks of joy on some baking paper on a baking tray and popped it in the oven at 185C for about 40 minutes til it was golden brown on the edges but not burnt.  Caramelized butternut squash (pumpkin) – doesn’t that just sound delicious?  It was. Before I added it to the bowl I tasted a piece just to be sure.  It took a 2nd piece before I was totally convinced.  Heavenly.

I peeled the onions and placed them in a microwave safe dish with a pat of butter and some sea salt for about 5 minutes til the edges were just beginning to caramelize. Yum.

After I put the squash in the oven I took a head of garlic, sliced off the bottom (I know we’re supposed to slice off the top but I have better luck doing the bottom.  The cloves come out all caramelized and perfect without getting squooshed.  I took a big sheet of aluminum foil (normally I say tin foil so I don’t have to suffer with alyoomineeum because it just doesn’t roll off my tongue.  it’s aluminum where I come from, no extra i.  I lived in Alcoa, Tennessee when I was in college and they know aluminum there.  lol)  Now where was I.. oh yes.  Fold the foil in two and put a squirt of olive oil and rub the cut side of the garlic in the oil and then roll it around.  Sprinkle some kosher salt on top and fold the edges of the foil around the garlic, twist to seal and pop it in the oven at 200C for about 40 minutes.  The cut edges should be golden brown and the cloves will be all soft and sweet.

While the garlic and butternut were roasting I put half a cup of fregola sarda in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes and then drained it and placed it a dish to cool, then put it in the fridge.  Btw. when you take the fregola out of the fridge and put it in the mixing bowl, don’t use your hands.  Those little buggers stick EVERYWHERE on your fingers and they don’t shake off.  I had to flick them off with a sharp knife, rolling my eyes as I realized how silly I looked.

Once I washed my hands I went outside.  This is a big thing because it’s been raining so much around here that nobody goes outside any more.  For this salad I needed fresh herbs and we keep them outside so out I went.  Yes, I got wet.  Yes, I yelled at the dog for going in the pool – it’s green from all the rain.  We’ve had 19 inches of rain in the past week and lots more rain expected this weekend. Yes, it’s been flooding.  Yes, I’m still dry.  The pool guy was here this morning and he backwashed the pool for 15 minutes.  I did it for 20 minutes yesterday.  It’s still raining.

Anyway, about the herbs.  You could use anything you have handy.  I chopped off a pot of chives, pinched some young basil leaves and harvested some flat leaf parsley and ran back into the house, yelling at the dog to get out of the pool but not come in because he was all wet.  Thankfully he understands all of that.  He sat at the back door and asked for a bone from the freezer.  I speak dog so I knew what he wanted.  Everyone was happy.

Yes, this is Charlie.  He looks full of marrow bone doesn’t he?  He sleeps under my chair most of the time so when I need to get  up I have to trip over him.  Oh, looking at the photo I know why my headphones don’t work.  Probably need to charge them up with that cord on the floor next to the dog.  Argh.

The cat’s on my old chair over there.   It’s still in my office because it has never made it to the garage on its way to someone else’s house so the Lucy has taken it as her own.  Unless she’s sitting my chair.  My chair is black – it should have been cat hair brown.  She’s a beautiful cat but she doesn’t like anyone except the dog and he hates her. I mean she’s a cat, right?  NO self respecting dog likes a cat – that’s what he told me.  (see above about speaking dog)

The butternut was beautifully roasted, the garlic made the whole house smell good and I was getting hungry.  The cricket test match had just started so that must mean it’s lunch.

I chopped the herbs and put everything in the bowl and then (only then?) decided how I was going to dress it.  I thought I’d just know when I looked at it and it seemed to be asking for extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice with a bit of seasoning.  So that’s what I did.

THIS is when I thought it looked good enough to blog about and ran upstairs for the camera.  Sorry about no prep photos but honestly, roasted veg and garlic isn’t exactly new.  You did get the cat and the dog.  heh.

I plated it up and then called his majesty the husband who does not cook by going to the stairs and yelling, “John!!! It’s lunch!” and then waited so see if he heard me.  I don’t climb the stairs for a personal invitation — but he already knows that and he came right down.

Remember he was the one who didn’t like the previous fregola sarda dish I made so it was iffy but he loved this one.  He likes most anything that has roasted garlic or roasted onions in it.

So if it’s time to clean your fridge or pantry – make a salad.  You’ll save money and the food will be fantastic!

 

 

 

I’ve always been someone who spends hours making a tomato based pasta sauce.  It’s how our mothers taught us to make sauce back in the olden days.  The sauce was rich and thick and oozing with flavor.  I still like that sauce but I found one I like even more.  It’s made with tomatoes but it only takes about 20 minutes to prepare.  Dinner in less than 30 minutes is a big winner for me and for every other working woman with a family.

Once you soften some chopped onion and garlic in a skillet, break open the sausage condom.  (I know, I can’t help it – that’s what it looks like, you know it too.) Break up the sausage in the skillet.  I used a potato masher to get the meat fine enough for sauce.

Cook til the meat is well browned and then toss in a tin of crushed tomatoes and the brandy or cognac and cook for about 10 minutes.  While the sauce is cooking, heat a big pot of boiling salted water for the pasta and cook til al dente.  I used zitoni – long artisan tubular noodles that really suck up the sauce.  Any pasta with nooks and crannies to soak up the sauce would be good.  This is a sauce you *don’t* want to leave in the bowl or on your plate.  It’s delicious.

Once the pasta is cooked (but not overcooked) drain it and save about a cup of pasta water.  Now you’re ready to finish the sauce.

If the sauce seems a bit dry, add some of the pasta water and then toss in the cream and stir around til the cream is heated through.  Toss over the pasta, add some chopped parsley and dig in!  The whole house smelled fantastic from the Italian sausage.

Here’s the recipe for the sauce.

 

My friend Iris just got back from a month in Tuscany where she attended a cooking class and came back to share all her newfound talent in pasta making to the ladies at the Friday morning cooking demonstration.  After my success with the rotolo I was ready for the challenge of rolling out my own pasta dough.  In class Iris used a fold-over dumpling maker but I thought I’d try it with the little Italian ravioli cutters I bought recently but have never used. (I think we all have great intentions but the toys sit on the shelf far too long.)  The fold over dumpling maker makes a bigger ravioli and I think I’d use that next time.  These were cute though.

Today we watched Iris make pumpkin (or butternut squash) and pine nut ravioli topped with a burnt sage butter sauce.  I love burnt sage butter.  I wouldn’t but I *could* eat a bowl of it with a spoon.  When I got home from class I made my own ravioli.

The ingredients for this pasta are all things I have on hand most of the time so for me, this is going to be something I’ll make again and again.

I started by making the filling. I chopped and steamed the pumpkin til tender (I used butternut squash but in class she used real pumpkin0 and then I sautéed the shallots, garlic and pine nuts.  I roughly chopped the pine nuts (I would chop them finer next time) and mixed in the parsley and parmesan.  Filling done!

Then I made the dough.  Pasta dough is always 00 flour (found in every grocery store) and you use one egg for every 100 grams of flour.  For just the two of us I only used 100 grams of flour and one jumbo egg.  It was just enough with no leftovers.  However I have heaps of filling left.

Getting the dough rolled thin enough is the trick.  This time I rested my dough for about 30 minutes after kneading it til it was smooth and silky.  Then I rolled it out until I could see through it.  Notice in the photo you can see the counter top through the dough?  That was the bit I missed last time – I didn’t roll my first pasta thin enough and I think I had too much flour for the egg and it was tough to roll thin enough.  I’m getting better!

I started cutting out the ravioli and putting the filling on the bottom layer.  There are two sizes of cutters with the top larger than the bottom so all the filling gets covered.

I put just a half teaspoon of filling on each ravioli and then wet the edges and popped the top on and sealed the top to the bottom.

Okay, I know it’s not perfect.  I have a teensy pleat in it but it didn’t affect the taste one bit!  It was yummy!

Once I had all the ravioli made I put them in a big pot of boiling salted water for three or four minutes.  While the pasta was cooking I melted the butter, clarified it and then tossed in the sage leaves.  I used sage leaves I had outside in a pot but they weren’t as good as the big sage leaves I bought last time.  I think it’s time to replant.  I love fresh sage.

In just a few minutes the pasta was cooked and the sauce was done and it was time to plate up.  I called Mr. Orgasmic to have a taste.  He is NOT a pasta lover so for him to say it was good and to finish all the pasta was a sign that this was a keeper recipe.

If you have been like me and hestitate to make your own pasta – don’t.  It’s really quite simple.  You’ll get strong forearms too.  Iris said she asked “Mama”, the instructor in her cooking class, if she ever used a machine to roll out her pasta she said Mama just looked at her as if she had come from another planet.  “Roll by hand.”  I have a fondness for my pasta machine and I’ll continue to use it but it was fun to try rolling it out by hand.

Here’s the recipe:

 

 

 

I went to a class on how to make pasta.  I know, I can hear all of you saying, “it’s only flour and eggs for goodness sake, why did she need a class??”  I attend a weekly cooking demonstration class at a local foodie place called How To Cook.  There is a group of about 30 women who meet every Friday at 10am and this week it was a pasta making demonstration by the importer of Marcato pasta machines.

The class was good because I have always used a recipe that calls for 00 flour, salt, milk and olive oil and Chris from DKSH advises using just flour and eggs and nothing else.  So that’s what I tried and it came out really good.  I used fresh eggs at room temperature and 00 flour that wasn’t past its use-by date.

During the class Chris used his pasta machine to roll the pasta into thin sheets.  One thing I didn’t know was that when you’re using a pasta machine and putting the dough through the machine the first time that you should run it through 6 times on the widest setting.  Run it through the first time, fold it and run it through and then fold it 4 more times before running it through the lower numbers.   He wasn’t sure why but it was a must.

At the end of the presentation we all got to eat pasta with a fresh tomato sauce and we all went home happy.  As we were getting ready to leave, Chris asked if any of us had eaten rotolo and nobody had.  He said it was a fantastic way to use pasta.  When I got home I Googled it and watched a video by Jamie Oliver teaching it to the Today Show crew.  I knew then I had to make it.

I roasted some butternut pumpkin (squash) for 35 minutes at 350F and stirfried some baby spinach in a little oil and garlic and set them aside to cool.

With my newfound pasta inspiration and my dough already made I rolled it out.  It didn’t get thin enough (batch one) but I made it anyway just to taste the ingredients.

I rolled it up in the tea towel and tied off the ends with string.  Then I did as Jamie suggested and put it in a pan of boiling water for 30 minutes.  My dough was too thick and my pan was too small and my roll looked more like a snake than a sausage.  But…

It tasted DIVINE!!

I knew I had to make it again.

Day 2.

Roasted the butternut, sauteed the spinach and this time I sauteed some mushrooms before adding the spinach and garlic and I added some sweet red pepper (capcisum) for color and flavor. I pre-cooked pepper in the microwave for 3 minutes.

I made the dough and this time, rather than try to roll it out (I have arthritis) I thought I’d run it through the pasta machine and then stick the 3 strips together.  Cheating I know, but hey, whatever works and this worked a treat for me.

Once the dough was stuck together and smooth I placed it on the tea towel and added the butternut.  Squish the butternut into a roll – it will be soft enough to do this and you can get a much tighter roll if you do. Then sprinkle the spinach, ricotta, mushrooms, and pepper (or anything else you think you’d like), grate fresh parmesan over everything and roll ‘er up and then roll the roll in the towel and tie off both ends.

This time, instead of trying to fight with the boiling water in a smallish pan, I kept the oven on after the butternut was finished and placed the rotolo in an ovenproof pan and placed it in the oven and then poured boiling water over it.  I baked it for an hour.

Just before it was to finish I clarified some butter and then put some sage leaves in til they were crispy and then removed them.  Then removed the rotolo from the oven, cut the strings and unrolled it.  Be careful this is hot.

Then I cut portion sizes and set them in the hot sage butter for about a minute on each side and then plated them.  I served them with sauteed grape tomatoes that I’d cut in half and cooked with the other end of the clarified butter. (Not one to waste.) Added salt, pepper and fresh parsley. Yum.

This time I plated appetizer sizes because remember, we ate these yesterday too.  Plus I had made fettucini noodles to use with poached chicken and I don’t want to be 3-ton Tina by next week.

Maybe you would use less sage butter than I did.  I look at it now and it seems a bit decadent but seriously, can anyone get enough burnt sage butter?   I served it with grated parmesan but the first time I used it it covered up the rotolo.  (orgasmic cooking sometimes takes effort)  This was SO good, you’ve gotta try it.

Italian Rotolo With Burnt Sage Butter

 

** Update to this post!

Carl Legge from LlynLines

made his own rotolo !  Here’s the photo and I think he’s put me to shame!  I think it looks good enough to put a fork in it!    Thanks so much for sharing, Carl.