Pear and Pecorino Ravioli

Like the new cutting board? My little bamboo one split so I opted for plastic.

This is one of my favorite, favorite pastas! It sound sort of odd, but it's absolutely wonderful. I had it at Felidia a few years ago and fell in love. The combination of the sweat pear and the sharp pecorino, along with a little creamy mascarpone to hold it together, is amazing. There's a little bite because of the pears, and the salty pecorino is very satisfying. You toss with butter, water, pepper, and more pecorino and you probably won't have any leftovers. If you want to skip the pasta making, you can do it with wanton wrappers.

Ingredients:
Pasta:
4 eggs
5 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
(I made extra to make noodles for dinner another night)

Filling:
1 bartlett pear, peeled and cored
8 oz pecorino cheese, grated
2 tbsp mascarpone

6 tbsp butter
3/4 cup finely grated pecorino
freshly ground black pepper

semolina flour

Directions:

Garden Dinner

I picked my first veggies from my garden last weekend, but I didn't have too many so I had to supplement at a farm stand. I picked up local Long Island scallions and sugar snap peas at the stand. Then at my place, I picked some small Swiss Chard and some basil. I wanted to make a fresh, easy, summery pasta for Sunday night. I sauteed it all together and tossed it with pasta and it was delicious - a real fresh, simple, garden dinner. Feel free to substitute whatever fresh veggies you have!

Ingredients:
a handful of Swiss chard, chopped
4 scallions, halved lengthwise then cut into 1 inch strips
a bunch of sugar snap peas, bigger peas halved
olive oil
red pepper flakes
small bunch of basil, thinly sliced
grated pecorino romano (or parm)

Directions:
Heat about 1-2 tbsp of olive oil in a big skillet. Add the stems of the chard, the scallions, and the snap peas. Saute until they start to soften, then add Swiss Chard leaves, half of the basil, and pepper flakes to taste. Also add salt and pepper to taste and saute a little bit longer until leaves are wilted.

Meanwhile, cook some sort of bite sized pasta (I had elbows, so I used those). When the pasta is al dente, use a spider strainer (or just strain it and add part of the pasta water) and put into the skillet. Grate some cheese on top and mix it all together and serve!

Breakfast in Bed

With the 2 slices of prosciutto I had leftover from my PLT, I decided to try making an egg cup. I'd seen it before in a cook book or cooking show and wanted to try it myself. It was easy and very tasty, especially on top of a salad. (I love salad and eggs together.) It looks special and only takes about 15 minutes.

I made it for Jamie, so this is for two people, but just add another egg and prosciutto slice per person.

Ingredients
2 eggs
2 slices prosciutto
non-stick cooking spray
2 thin slices of butter
2 tbsp grated cheese (I used pecorino romano)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375. Spray two cups of a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Cut each slice of prosciutto in half and put one piece down first in the cup, then the other perpendicularly on top so the prosciutto comes up a little above the muffin cup. Do this again for the 2nd piece.

Put half the grated cheese at the bottoms of the cups and put a little slice of butter on each little pile of cheese. Then crack an egg into each prosciutto cup. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top, along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a pinch of paprika. Put them into the oven for 10-15 minutes, depending how cooked you want the yolks. (At 15 minutes they will be pretty much completely cooked through.)

I made a simple salad, piled a little on each plate, then topped it with the egg cup. Yum!

Gourmet Fries

Other than steak frites or truffle fries, french fries can seem out of place on a dinner party plate. I was watching Martha Stewart the other day and Ben Ford--son of Harrison Ford--made polenta fries. Polenta is so versatile because if you flatten it out and chill it, it becomes a blank canvas. You can cut it into shapes, grill it, braise it, fry it, sear it... They turned them into fries. I was making a simple dinner for Jamie and needed another element to make it enough food, and I happened to have some polenta in my pantry, so I tried them.

It couldn't have been easier. I mixed 1 cup of milk with 1 cup of chicken stock (from bouillon cubes I had in my kitchen) and brought it to a boil. Then I whisked in 3/4 cup of polenta with a pinch of salt and stirred it until the polenta pulled away from the sides--about 3 minutes. Then I grated in some Pecorino Romano cheese (which I prefer to Parmesan, but use whatever you like.)

I put some parchment paper over a cutting board and spread the polenta on top. Then I wet my hands and pushed the polenta into a rough rectangle about half an inch thick and threw it into the fridge.
Once it chilled--about an hour and a half--I cut it into 1/2 inch wide and about 4 inch tall strips. I heated some ghee (clarified butter) and olive oil in a skillet--you can use regular butter. While it was heating up, I rolled the polenta strips in flour seasoned with salt, pepper, chilli powder and cumin. I put them in the skillet and cooked them for about 20 seconds on each side, or until they got a little brown on each side. Then I took them out, drained them on a towel, and doused them with salt.

They were crispy and delicious, and I have a little flat polenta left over so they might be on the menu again tonight.

This was more than enough for 2, but if you're making it for 4-6, I'd say double the recipe.