Gnocchi Ricotta

Ingredients

• Gnocchi:
• 1 (8 oz) container ricotta
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup fresh, grated Parmesan
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp pepper
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, or as needed
•  
• Sauce:
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 (15.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp red pepper
• 5 basil leaves shredded
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 ozs fresh mozzarella cheese, medium dice

Directions

1. Stir together all of the Gnocchi ingredients. Ricotta, eggs, parmesan, salt, pepper, garlic and flour. Add more flour if needed.

2. Make 3 even pieces of dough from the dough you've created in step one. With both hands, roll your dough into long thing "snake like" cylindrical pieces. Try and get them to be about a 1/2 inch thick. Cut the "snake like" ropes of dough into 1 inch pieces and refrigerate until ready.

Use a fork to create a true Gnocchi Shape. Learn how to make Gnocchi <-- here

3. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once your pan is hot, add your garlic and saute for about 1-2 minutes, or until softened. Add your can of tomatoes, and your red pepper, simmer for 10-15 minutes. Now add your basil, and season with salt and pepper.

4. While your sauce is simmering, brig a large pot of water to a boil. Make sure you salt your water! Place your Gnocchi into the boiling water, and using a slotted spoon, take out your little Gnocchi dumplings as they float to the top of the pot. This process usually takes about 1-3 minutes. MUCH shorter than hard pasta.

5.  Turn off your stove burners. Add your medium diced mozzarella cheese to the hot sauce, and let the heat from the sauce melt it in.

6. Place Gnocchi into a serving bowl, and spoon your sauce over the dumplings.

7. Enjoy!

Italian Cuisine

When it comes to cuisine, Italian cuisine is one of the most popular around the world.  Italian cuisine has greatly developed over the centuries dating back as far as the 4^th century BCE.   When most people think of Italian cuisine, they think of pizza, or spaghetti, but visiting Italy is a whole different story.  Pizza and Pasta may be an Italian favorite to most people outside the country, but Italian cuisine has much more to it then some dough and some sauce. Italy, being a peninsula, is surrounded by water, making seafood a huge aspect of their cuisine as well.

Italian cuisine has an extremely wide variety of ingredients that are commonly used throughout the country. To be broad, some ingredients include fruits, vegetables, sauces, meats and more. The cuisine in Italy can be broken into hundreds of styles, or variations. Like the language in Italy itself, there are hundreds of “dialects” if you will. Although the cuisine in Italy can differ from city to city, the cuisine can be broken down into a more broad sense using its different regions, these regions being northern, central southern and the island of Sicily.

            In the north, some common ingredients would be cod, potatoes, rice, maize, corn, sausages, pork and a variety of cheeses. In Northern Italy, garlic and herbs, and a white sauce, is more common than the regular tomato sauce.  Pasta dishes with little use of tomatoes can be found in the regions of Trentino-Alto Adige and Emilia Romagna.  In the north western region of Liqurian, ingredients such as nuts, olive oil, basil, and several types of fish are very common.

            In central Italy, all sorts of meats, fish, and pecorino cheeses are very common.  In regions such as Tuscany and Umbria, pasta is most commonly served alla carrettiata, which means it’s spiked with pepperoncini hot peppers.

            Southern Italian cuisine also uses a lot of tomatoes, fresh or cooked into tomato sauce. Other than tomatoes, southern Italy, and Sicily as well, use lots of olives, olive oil, garlic, artichokes, oranges, ricotta cheese, eggplants, zucchini, certain fish  (anchovies, sardines and tuna) and capers.

            Italian cuisine is considered a cuisine of extreme simplicity, with tons of dishes consisting of only 4-8 ingredients. Chefs in Italy rely simply on the quality of their ingredients, rather than an elaborate preparation.  Dishes and recipes are often the result of grandmothers rather than chefs, making recipes well suited for home cooked meals.  This alone, makes Italian cuisine an ever-increasing fan favorite in the culinary world.  

Italian Cuisine

Italian Lasagna Recipe

Ingredients

• Total Time: 1 hr 15 min
• Yield: 6 servings

Bechamel Sauce:

• 7 tbsp unsalted butter (2 for Lasagna)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups room temperature whole milk 
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1-1/2 cups tomato sauce
• Salt/White pepper - to taste
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1-1/2 lbs ricotta cheese
• 3 large eggs
• 1 pound lasagna sheets, cooked al dente
• 20 oz spinach
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan

Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Bechamel sauce:
In a 2-quart pot, melt 5 tablespoons of butter over medium heat.

When butter has completely melted, add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly to prevent any lumps from forming.

Continue to simmer and whisk over medium heat until the sauce is thick, smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of wooden spoon.

Remove from heat and add the nutmeg and tomato sauce. Stir until well combined and check for seasoning. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

Browning Meat and Assembling:
In a saute pan, heat extra-virgin olive oil. When almost smoking, add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper.

Brown meat, breaking any large lumps, until it is no longer pink. Remove from heat and drain any excess fat. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

In a medium sized bowl, thoroughly mix the ricotta and eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Into the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch baking dish, spread 1/3 of the bechamel sauce.

Arrange the pasta sheets side by side, covering the bottom of the baking dish.

Evenly spread a layer of all the ricotta mixture and then a layer of all the spinach.

Arrange another layer of pasta sheets and spread all the ground beef on top. Sprinkle 1/2 the mozzarella cheese on top of the beef. Spread another 1/3 of the bechamel sauce.

Arrange the final layer of pasta sheets and top with remaining bechamel, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into 1/4-inch cubes and top lasagna.

Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place lasagna dish on top, cover and put on the middle rack of the oven and bake until top is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Remove cover and continue to bake for about 15 minutes.

Take lasagna out of the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes.

Serve. and enjoy!

Baked Ziti Recipe

Cook time: 55 minutes

If you don't have Italian seasoning in the pantry, use 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon dried basil and 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ziti (can sub penne) pasta
• Olive oil
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage or ground beef or pork
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary (or basil), minced
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 large jar of marinara sauce (about 32 ounces) or make your own tomato sauce
• 1/2 pound of mozzarella cheese, grated
• 1 heaping cup of ricotta cheese
• 1 cup grated parmesan or pecorino cheese

Method

1 Bring a large pot of water to a strong boil. Add about a tablespoon of salt for every 2 quarts of water. Add the pasta and boil, uncovered, until the pasta is al dente—edible but still a little firm. Drain the pasta through a colander. Toss with a little olive oil so the pasta does not stick together while you make the sauce.
2 Pour a tablespoon or so of olive oil into a large sauté pan on medium-high to heat. When the oil is hot, add the bulk sausage or ground meat. Do not crowd the pan (work in batches if needed). Break up any large chunks of sausage as it cooks. Brown well. Don't stir that often or it will be more difficult for the meat to brown. If you are using ground beef or pork instead of sausage, add a little salt.
3 When the meat is mostly browned, add the onions and stir well to combine. Sauté everything until the onions are translucent and beginning to brown, about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic, rosemary or basil, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Cook 1 minute, then add the tomato sauce and stir well. Bring to a simmer.
4 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch casserole pan, then dot the surface with half the ricotta cheese. Ladle in some sauce with the pasta, mix it well and add the pasta into the casserole.
5 Pour the rest of the sauce over the pasta, dot the remaining ricotta cheese over the pasta, and sprinkle on top both the mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese. Bake in the oven until the top is nicely browned, about 20 minutes.

Yield: Serves at least 8

How to make Pasta