Italian / Principal Chef

Eggplant Parmesan

This is Jill’s favorite dish that I make. Therefore, I make it a lot! A little marital advice from principalchef: when your spouse is nice enough to be clear about what he/she likes, try to do THAT as much as you can. Of course, if that something is a bit too much, then Meatloaf was right. Where was I? Oh yes – this is Jill’s favorite dish – she loves the non-fried eggplant slices, and the bread crumbs are incredible. The bread crumbs are like a dish by themselves! My thanks to Ina Garten for another great recipe!

Ingredients

3 Eggplants, Average size, not too thick or thin

4 cups Marina Sauce, Your Favorite Jar

0.75 cup Fresh Basil

1 lb Fresh Mozerella, Sliced and Quartered

1.50 cups Shredded Parmesan

1 French Bread Loaf (1-2 Days Old is Best)

8 Cloves Garlic, Peeled(We use at least 12, but we have garlic addiction issue in our house)

Olive OIl

Salt, Pepper, Italian Seasoning

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Take 3 eggplants and slice into 1 cm wide pieces (Ina’s tip: Cut the eggplant in half, lay on flat side, and cut safely and easily.)

Lay eggplant slices on cookie sheets covered with foil (you’ll need 3 1/2 sheets). Brush with olive oil and season lightly with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Repeat on other side.

Roast eggplant at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn over and roast for 15 minutes until there is some brown on top. Take out of oven and cool.

While eggplant is roasting, tear french bread and place in food processor. Add garlic cloves and give it a whir until it looks like bread crumbs.

Add 1/4 cup of basil leaves to crumbs.

Process again until you have beautiful basil-ly and garlicky fresh bread crumbs. Mix with 1/4 cup olive oil, and set aside.

In a deep casserole dish, start the lasagna-style layering. Start with 1/3 of the sauce and lay 1/3 of the eggplant on it.

Add 1/3 of the fresh mozzarella and parmesan. Note: If you to make it super cheesy – adding some shredded mozzarella works. It still feels very cheesy without it. Of course, if some cheese is good, then more cheese . . .

Repeat on for the second layer, but add the rest of the basil (chopped) to the top of that layer.

Add the third layer, then add enough bread crumbs to cover completely.

Cook at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes (until the bread crumbs are brown and the sauce is bubbling) and you are set! Let it cool for at least 10 minutes (20 is better) and you are ready to serve!

Pizza with Homemade Pizza Dough

Pizza Night is a big deal in our house. And you can buy dough at Trader Joe’s or your supermarket, and it’s just fine. But why settle for just fine, when making great pizza dough is so easy to do! And when people ask if you made the dough yourself, you calmly answer, ‘Why yes I did.” It feels good.

You need at least 90 minutes of time, and preferably two hours, but 90% of that time is waiting for it to rise. Try it out!

Ingredients

4 cups White FlourIf you want to get fancy, you can use the Italian 00 flour, which is much softer and will impress your friends who know pizza. I like to substitute 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, as I think it gives the dough some nice rustic appeal.

2 tsp Kosher Salt

1.50 tbsp Active Dry Yeast(Equivalent to two packages)

1.25 cups Warm Water

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Tomato/Pesto/BBQ SauceYou choose!

Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese

Awesome Pizza Ingredients

Directions

Mix Warm Water with yeast. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until bubbly.

Mix Flour and Salt.

In a Kitchen Aid Mixer, or with a spoon or with your clean hands, mix, then knead the flour with the yeasted water. Do this for 5 minutes in the mixer or at least 7 minutes by hand. I prefer kneading it, as my hands can feel the dough when it starts to soften up and become more pliable. Knead it for another minute after you feel that change, and you’re good.

Separate into two or three dough balls. Two makes two 12-inch pizzas. Three makes three 8-10 inch pizzas.

Let rise for at least one or two hours. Some ovens have a “proofing” mode, where you can set the temperature to 90 degrees or so. Otherwise, just cover with a cloth in the warmest place in your kitchen and let rise. It should double in size.

About an hour before you are ready to start putting those pies in the oven or Big Green Egg, start the oven at 550 (or as hot as yours will go) and put the pizza stones in there. If you have multiple pizza stones, they work great on the different levels of the oven. Also, if you have a convection oven, that works best.

I’m working on using my gas grill too, and I hope to update you on that soon.

Start in the middle and press out until you have a nice circle, or something that approximates a circle, or some kind of amoeba-like crust that will taste wonderful. 1/4 of an inch is a good thickness target – as that allows some rise an those nice bubbles in the oven. If you want it super thin, roll out with rolling pin to about 1/8″. Or, if you’re really good (I’m not) toss it and make it the artistic way!

Cover with your favorite sauce, cheese, and toppings (keep it light – pizza is not meant to be overloaded) ingredients, bake at 550 degrees ((or the highest your oven will go) on a pizza stone for 6-8 minutes, and you are ready!

One more note – there is always a debate about how to keep pizza dough from sticking to the stone. Cornmeal is a favorite answer, but it’s not my answer. Parchment paper. After you roll out the dough, put it on parchment paper and then add the ingredients. When you are ready to bake, slide the pizza WITH THE PARCHMENT PAPER STILL ON THE BOTTOM, into the oven. I take out the parchment paper after 2-3 minutes, it will be brown on the edges, and then the pie loses its stickiness and can be easily moved around on and eventually removed from the stone.

Risotto

Risotto is one of those dishes that you don’t make ahead of time. You make it while you are talking to your guests and it’s part of the entertainment. You have all of your ingredients ready, and there you are, cool, collected, creative and all you’re doing is making a delicious dish right in front of your guests eyes. It’s dinner and a show!

Ingredients

4 cups Vegetable Broth

1 cup Arborio Rice

2 cups Broccoli or other vegetables, chopped into smallish piecesYou can add more veggies if you like, up to 3 cups

½ cup Wine – white is better but either will red or white work.

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 tsp Italian Seasoning

2 tbsp Olive Oil

½ Onion, finely chopped

Directions

Prepare veggies. Chop them into small pieces. You want a piece or two to fit on a fork with the rice. My friend Nancy Pallathena, who sadly passed away a few years back, is the one who taught me how to make this dish. She would cut the broccoli into the tiniest of pieces, so her son Alex would unknowingly eat vegetables. I remember her every time I do that.

Sauté onion in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add garlic for 1 minute.

Add rice.

Heat broth and set aside.

Sauté rice for 5-7 minutes, until browned.

Add 1 cup warm broth and wine. Stir occasionally until moisture is mostly absorbed. This is your routine. You are going to slowly add liquid, talking to your guests while you cook, until it is absorbed, then casually add more.

Add seasonings, then continue to gradually add broth, until rice is ready and there is some thick broth remaining. Have several clean forks/spoons handy to keep on tasting it. These are one-use utensils, since it is a group dish. Take a taste, feel if the rice is ready yet (a little al denté is perfect), see if if needs more salt/pepper/seasonings, and declare it ready when it is!

Add Parmesan cheese and sautéd veggies, mix in, and serve immediately, topped with fresh ground pepper and Parmesan cheese.

Pasta with Garlic and Oil (Aglio e Olio)

This is such a great classic dish, and you almost always have the ingredients for it right in your pantry. We always have peeled garlic in our fridge, and we have a few fresh or frozen veggies. That’s all you need. And the secret ingredient is the pasta water. Adding that at the end has a crazy amazing impact on the consistency of the dish. Don’t forget to save some!

Ingredients

1 lb Dried pasta of your choice

½ cup Olive Oil

1 Head of Garlic – Minced. At least 12 cloves. (It’s a lot, but look at the title of this dish and stop complaining!)It's a lot, but look at the title of this dish and stop complaining!

½ tsp Salt

3 tbsp Fresh Basil (Or 3 tsp dried Italian Seasoning)

2 tsp Lemon Juice

½ tsp Red Pepper FlakesMore to taste

1 tsp Black Pepper

½ cup Parmesan Cheese (For the Table)

1 Fresh tomato, or some cherry TomatoesThese are optional, but them in a bowl on the table and they make a great topper

Directions

Preparing the Oil/Garlic/Herb Mixture

In a small skillet or saucepan, heat 3 Tbsp olive oil (not too hot!). Add salt and 2/3 of garlic, then gently saute for 7-8 minutes. Turn off the heat when it gets nice and gold, but not yet brown.

WITH THE HEAT OFF, add the remaining olive oil, the remaining garlic, pepper, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, and herbs. Set aside.

Preparing the Pasta.

Boil enough salted water (2 tsp salt) for 1 pound of pasta.

Cook pasta according to directions.

Just before your drain the pasta, take out 1 to 2 cups of the water and set aside.

Drain pasta, then return to pot.

Making It All Happen!

Add every last drop of the Garlic/Oil/Herb mixture to the pasta and stir to coat.

Add 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. It will create a looser dish with a nice saucy consistency. Add a little more if you like.

Serve onto plates or bowls. Parmesan cheese, fresh ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, fresh chopped tomatoes, and/or freshly chopped basil all make nice toppings here.

Tomato Bread Soup

The first time I had Tomato Bread Soup (Pappa al Pomodoro) was with my friend John at Drago restaurant (it is now closed) in Santa Monica. I’m a fan of tomato soup (but not a fan of Campbell’s Tomato Soup as a kid), but this was something special. This is thick and rich, and a perfect lunch on a cool day. I brought Jill there later and she endorsed the soup and said that we had to learn how to make it. Well, it took me a few years, but I found and adapted a recipe from Ina Garten (who always gets it right), combined it with what I remembered from Drago, and we love it.

Ingredients

The Soup

2 Sweet Onions, chopped

1 Fennel Bulb, cored, peeled, and chopped

3 Carrots, chopped

6 Garlic Cloves, peeled and minced

2 28-oz cans of tomatoes, crushed*

4 Stock, chicken or vegetable

1 French Baguette, (Rustic is great)

1 cup Fresh Basil Leaves, chopped

½ cup Olive Oil

½ cup Red Wine

The Cauliflower Croutons

1 Head of Cauliflower, broken into small individual pieces

2 tsp Kosher Salt

2 tsp Black Pepper

1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

Directions

OK, what do you do with Fennel? My friend and chef Antonio says, “You can’t go wrong with Fennel.” He forages for it, then peels and eats it like a carrot all the time. Well, for this recipe, you cut off the furry stalks, then core, peel and chop the bulb.*

Dice the carrots, fennel,and onions, and put it all in olive oil, along with 6 cloves of minced garlic. Let it saute for 10 minutes. Add 3 cups of diced french bread. Saute and let it soak up flavored oil.

Add tomatoes, stock, garlic-onion-fennel-bread mixture, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper (optional), basil, and red wine. Simmer for at least 30 minutes.

The Croutons

We are making Roasted Cauliflower Croutons. Take one or two heads of cauliflower and chop into small pieces. Think about the size of pieces you would want on top of your soup. Coat lightly with olive oil and bake at 450 degrees, for 20-30 minutes, turning over a few times, until brown and a little crispy. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese and the cauliflower pieces on top of the soup when you are ready to serve!

Pasta Primavera

This is a favorite in our house. It’s one of Jill’s favorite vegetarian dishes and I love it too. I was inspired by a favorite restaurant in Santa Monica called Il Forno Trattoria. They key is chopping the vegetables in small chunks where several of them can be on your fork. It’s cheesy, light, fresh, and wonderful!

Ingredients

1 Onion, chopped

⅔ cup Carrots, chopped into pea-sized pieces

⅔ cup Broccoli, chopped into pea-sized pieces

⅔ cup Cauliflower, chopped into pea-sized pieces

⅔ cup Yellow or Green Squash*, chopped into pea-sized pieces

16 oz Penne or other pasta

1 cup Pasta WaterTake from the pasta just before you drain it.

8 Garlic Cloves, chopped or crushedThis won't shock those who know me. I usually double the garlic in this recipe.

Olive Oil

½ cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

3 Roma Tomatoes, chopped (These will be used as a topping after the dish is complete

Optional: Fresh Basil for a tasty garnish topping

Directions

Wash, peel, and chop all vegetables into small pieces.

Start boiiling water for pasta. Add 1 tsp salt.

Add a little Olive Oil to Skillet or Large Pot. Saute all vegetables (except tomatoes and basil) until al dente. Add half of the garlic towards the end of cooking.

Cook pasta to directions. Important: Save 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain.

When you are ready to serve, Add 1/4 cup Olive Oil to pot. Heat, add the rest of the garlic (chopped or crushed), and add pasta. Turn and coat with garlic and oil. Add a few red pepper flakes if you would like some heat!

Lower the heat on the stove. Add the parmesan cheese, and mix in. Then, add 1/2 cup of pasta water, and stir in. This should loosen the pasta, make it not stick together, and create a sauce like consistency. Continue adding pasta water until you like what you see.

Turn off the heat. Add, sauted vegetables and toss.

Serve in bowls, sprinkling chopped tomatoes and basil on top.

Serve with a little black pepper and extra parmesan cheese on top.

Italian Veggies

My Sicilian friend and neighbor Antonio, who for years ran a great Italian restaurant here in Malibu, Tra di Noi, showed me such a simple way to cook vegetables. He told me that most people overdo it by putting way too many spices in there, or they cook it too much. His way is so simple and I love it. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, salt is underrated. These sautéd veggies are flavorful and always a big hit.

Ingredients

4 cups Italian Veggies of your choice (Zucchini, Summer Squash, Onions, Green Beans, Broccoli, Cauliflower)You don't want to have many more veggies than your skillet can handle in one layer

Olive Oil

Kosher Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper

Directions

Clean and chop veggies to the size you want to serve them.

Heat up Olive Oil, Saute Veggies, adding salt and pepper along the way (more than you think of both); remove when they are the consistency you want. 10 to 12 minutes is a good amount of time.

With green beans, I will add some hot red pepper flakes. Having large chunks of onion (not diced) is also very good. And if you want more flavor, fresh minced garlic or dried minced garlic area always a nice addition.

Gramma Sue’s Spaghetti Sauce

I used to host Pasta Feeds before doing triathlons. (By “doing” I mean surviving. I didn’t care what place I finished but I did like that I could finish!) It was one of the only good reasons I had for doing triathlons! I usually finished in the top 10% in the swim, top half in the bike, and bottom 0.1% in the run. Oh well – At least I got to make Mom’s spaghetti sauce for my friends the night before.

I remember coming home from swim practice in high school and eating 4 helpings of this. Those were the days! This old fashioned hearty tomato sauce is simple to make. It can simmer all day and make the house smell wonderful. And it’s great with leftovers. Thanks Mom!

Ingredients

1 lb Ground BeefYou can also use Italian Sausage, or some combination of both.

1 Onion, chopped

1 Large Can Crushed Tomatoes (28 oz)

12 oz Tomato Paste

12 oz Water or Red Wine

6 Garlic Cloves, chopped

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Italian Seasoning

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

2 tbsp Dried Parsley

0.50 tsp Fennel Seed (or pinch of ground fennel)*(You don't have to have this, but for me it's a really nice addition. Fennel is a key ingredient in most Italian sausages, and it blends in nicely to this sauce.)

Directions

Brown Ground Beef and onions together, adding garlic in the last two minutes. Drain, or for a little more flavor, just spoon out the excess fat.

Add everything together (Godfather style) and simmer for at least one hour.

Chicken Cacciatore

This is a beautiful dish for a crowd. Tender chicken, great italian red sauce, and tons of vegetables. It comes out looking like a million bucks! This recipe will serve at least 12. I use my turkey roasting pan as my cooking and serving dish for this recipe.

Ingredients

16 Chicken Thighs (Bone-In, Skin Removed)

28 oz Can Diced Tomatoes, Drained

14.50 oz Tomato Sauce

6 oz Tomato Paste

3 Onions, chopped

4 Green Peppers, seeded and chopped

2 Yellow Peppers, seeded and chopped

4 Carrots, chopped

1 Bunch of Celery, cleaned and chopped

3 Zucchini, chopped

3 Yellow (Summer) Squash, chopped

24 oz Flat Noodles

12 oz Red Wine

¼ cup Olive Oil

8 Cloves Garlic

⅓ cup Olive Oil

2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Black Pepper

1.50 tbsp Italian Seasoning

1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

Directions

Chop all vegetables into small pieces.

Heat 1/2 of the Olive Oil in Large Saute Pan. Add all vegetables and saute for 10 minutes. Add Garlic for one minute. Set aside in separate bowl or plate. 10 Minutes

Add remainder of olive oil to saute pan and heat. Add chicken thighs, top side down, and brown for 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Deglaze pan with red wine, scraping up all of the goodness. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and spices. If you’re not already cooking in the pan you’ll be baking in, transfer sauce to that pan.

Layer the chicken thighs, browned side up, in the pan, in the sauce. Layer all vegetables on top of that. Cover tightly with foil. At this point, you can set aside and refrigerate, or cook.

Cook, still covered with foil, at 325 (convection preferred) for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Add 15 minutes if you are taking it out of the fridge. 105 Minutes

Laurie’s Baked Tomato Sauce

Jill and I have a new way of making tomato sauce. It’s a baked tomato sauce that our friend Laurie has been cooking for a while. It’s baked and it has lots of butter and garlic. It’s rich and the whole cloves of garlic are a spectacular addition.

Ingredients

2 Large cans (28 oz) whole tomatoes

16 Cloves of garlic, peeled. Yes – 16!Double it if you want to be bold. 16 is NOT bold.

½ cup Butter (1 stick). Cut into pieces.

2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Pepper

1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425.

Place tomatoes in a 9 x 13 casserole dish, mix in spices, spread garlic and butter pieces evenly around the dish, place in the oven.

Bake for 1 hour.

Take out of the oven, gently smash (can you really gently smash?) tomatoes and garlic cloves with a potato masher, and you are ready to serve!