My Version of an Olive Garden New Item.

In the area we live in, the newest Olive Garden is either in Grand Junction, Colorado (2 and 1/2 hours drive northeast), or Farmington, New Mexico (2 hours southeast).  I know many people enjoy going to one of these when they're in one of those cities.  The commercials are often on television, and yes, we have gone there once in a while ourselves.

Readers of this food blog, and people who I have cooked for, know I focus mainly on Italian cuisine.  So, when I saw the latest "limited edition menu items" in a recent commercial, I had to admit that I wanted to try them.  Then I thought about the items, and realized they're pretty close to baked ziti, and another type of baked pasta casserole, I have made in the past.  In other words, I can make these new items at home, myself!  While my baked ziti and baked pasta casserole use a homemade tomato based sauce, these new dishes require an Alfredo sauce.

Now, and you know I do this, putting my own spin on a recipe is usually on my mind.  Olive Garden uses a "creamy seafood Alfredo sauce".  Well, I know how to make Alfredo sauce, and it uses loads of Parmesan cheese.  Smoked mozzarella is shredded and used as a topping.  Since this item is not easily found in any local markets, and traveling an hour away to a supermarket is time consuming, regular mozzarella will do.  However, I'm putting it into my sauce with the Parmesan; a rich cheesy sauce will be the result.   Oh, leaving out the nutmeg as black pepper and garlic will be the main seasonings. Even though I have rigatoni in the pantry, I opted to use tortellini. Not sounding even close to Olive Garden's dish?  It gets better, no spinach on hand, so using parsley instead.  Bread crumbs?  No thank you, a nice garlic bread on the side will do.

In essence, this is not a true copycat recipe.  All I did was basically look at the photo of the dish and try to figure out what was in it.  I didn't even look at the description, on the Olive Garden website, until I had completed my version.  Nope, not very close indeed, but we had a great dinner though, and much cheaper than eating out at a restaurant.  Basically, I was inspired to create.

With my dish, I used shrimp, but grilled chicken can be used for those who dislike shrimp.  For the pasta, tubular can be rigatoni, penne or ziti; cheese filled tortellini, or tortelloni, though make a prettier presentation.

Due to the options available to make this one casserole, it will simply be called, "Baked Mozzarella Casserole".

Baked Mozzarella Casserole

Ingredients:

1 bag (12 oz.) medium sized shrimp

1 bag (16 oz.) tortellini (frozen or dried)

1 can (15.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, rinse & thoroughly drain all excess liquid

8 Tbsp. butter
8 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
6 cups hot milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 Tbsp. dried parsley leaves 

Preparation:

Fill a 3 quart pot halfway with water, place on high heat.  While waiting for water to boil, clean shrimp; remove shells and devein.  When water begins to boil, add in tortellini and cook according to package directions.  Fit a metal colander over the pot, place shrimp inside, and steam until a light pinkish coloring.  Place shrimp, drained tortellini and tomatoes into large mixing bowl.

Preheat oven to 400F; spray sides and bottom of 2 quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In another 3 quart pot,  heat the butter over medium heat until melted; gradually add the flour, stirring until smooth.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture turns a golden brown color, about 6 to 7 minutes; this is the roux.

Yes!  You can make the sauce, on the stove top, right next to the pot cooking the tortellini and steaming the shrimp.

Add the hot milk to the butter mixture one cup at a time; whisk continuously to avoid burning or clumping. When mixture is completely smooth, add the Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, whisk until smooth again; remove from heat; season with salt, black pepper and garlic powder.

Pour cheese sauce over contents in large bowl, mix thoroughly and spoon into baking dish and sprinkle with parsley.  Place dish in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes; edges around contents, and on the top will be slightly browned, and cheese bubbling.  Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Before Baking.

After 15-20 Minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

In case you're wondering, I rinse and drain the tomatoes as I don't want all that red liquid to dilute the cheese sauce, or turn it red.  The shrimp, parsley, and the tomatoes themselves should be the eye catchers throughout the white pasta and cheese sauce.

Now if shrimp isn't a favorite, grill up chicken breasts with a light seasoning of salt, black pepper and paprika; cut into bite sized pieces and add this instead.  Or choose another pasta, but make the cheese sauce as directed, add shrimp or chicken, and bake it up.

This casserole, paired with a salad and garlic bread will make a fantastic dinner for six.  With the winter holidays just around the corner, this will be a wow factor for any guests you are serving.

Happy Holidays!

Mary Cokenour

The Pizza Trilogy – New York Style

In my 60 years of this current life, I have eaten mounds and mounds of pizza.  I have tried all styles, different types of mediums (dough, tortilla, and breads), sauces, toppings, cheeses.  Anyone who knows me has heard me state, “I admit to it, I am a pizza snob.”  I have been asked several times to write an article on making pizza.  I am doing three better, I am doing a trilogy of articles covering this first style, New York; then Sicilian and finally Chicago style.

Being born and raised in New York, eating pizza is a staple of a true New Yorker. There are two basic types in any pizzeria: Neapolitan is round in shape with a reasonably thin crust (not wafer thin, around 1/4"), with sauce, aged mozzarella cheese, garlic powder, and various toppings. Usually made in a gas oven, the dough is stretched (occasionally tossed, but that is mostly a show for the tourists), covered with a sauce primarily made of canned tomatoes and Italian herbs cooked into a sauce, and liberally covered with cheese. The slices are large, filling one paper plate, and usually folded when eaten.

One slice takes up a full sized paper plate.

Thin crust, crispy and perfect.

The second most common style of pizza in New York City (that is the 5 boroughs; and Long Island) is the Sicilian, or “square” pie. Characterized by its thick crust, Sicilian pizza is baked in an oiled pan, giving the crust a completely different taste from that of its round counterpart. The crust of a Sicilian pie is much thicker (like a nicely baked bread) than the Neapolitan, and usually has a thicker tomato sauce as well.

Chicago pizza is a deep dish pie made in a reverse fashion than the New York style.  Not bad really, but that is for another day.

Here comes the complaint, there is not any place in the Four Corners area that makes a great New York pizza.  Some come close to a pretty decent pie (yes, we call it a pizza pie) like Thatzza Pizza in Monticello, or Zak’s in Moab.  Domino’s in Cortez, Colorado has come the closest so far, I am just not a huge fan of the over spiced sauce they use.  They have a pie called the “Brooklyn” pizza, and if they bake it for 25 minutes, instead of the usual 20, than it is pretty close to the real deal.

My main complaint is that most places under cook the dough, so the crust is pale and doughy, or the dough is so thick, that it is gooey in the center.  Instead of using good mozzarella, it is usually a mixture of mozzarella, cheddar and jack cheeses.  Why?  Mozzarella is the number one cheese used on pizza, but provolone, asiago and parmesan can be added as well.   Also, why so cheap with the sauce?  A smear just does not justify calling it a pizza.  At this point, might as well skip the tomato sauce, put a smear of ricotta cheese (NOT cottage cheese), then a layer of shredded mozzarella, sprinkled with Italian herbs.  There you have it folks, the White Pizza, and yes, such a pizza does exist.

Well thanks for letting me rant about pizza; I am a pizza snob and I do not intend to ever apologize for it.  Oh, and what is my absolute favorite type of pizza?  Pizza of course!

Basic Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 cup of warm water

2 tsp. sugar (to feed the yeast)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. yeast

3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Preparation:

Put warm water (80 to 110°F) into a bowl. Add salt and sugar, mix with a spoon. Add yeast, mix and let it sit for about 10 minutes.  If the water is too warm, it will kill the yeast; too cold, and it will not awaken.

Start mixing, with a fork, by gradually adding flour and olive oil.  Once it is too thick to mix by fork, remove to a floured, wooden board; start kneading by hand.  Knead the dough until you have a smooth ball. If the dough cracks it is too dry. Add water bit by bit until if forms a smooth ball. If your dough feels more like batter, it is too wet and you need to add flour bit by bit. If you need to add water or flour, do it by small amounts; it is easier to fix too little than too much.

Coat the dough with olive oil, place it in a large bowl and cover it with a clean, cotton towel. Let the dough rise for about an hour at room temperature, then punch it down, so it deflates. Let it sit for about another hour. If you want to use it the next day, put it in a refrigerator wrapped in plastic wrap.

Put the dough on a lightly floured surface; a pizza peel (wooden board with a handle) is easier for transferring the pizza from surface to surface. Put a bit of flour on your hands; using the balls of your finger tips and hands, make it into the shape of a circle by stretching it out from the center outwards. If you’re having a problem stretching the dough by hand, use a rolling pin until the dough is about 1/4" thick.  

The average size of the pizza will be about 16” which can be transferred to a pizza pan or stone. You get better results when you use a pizza baking stone. The pizza stone should be preheated to 450F for an hour prior to baking, and should be placed in the middle of the oven.  

 Spread out evenly about 1-1 ½ cups sauce; then add favorite toppings such as cheeses, meats and/or cut up vegetables.

The oven should be preheated to 450F.  Bake for 20-25 minutes; the crust should be browned and crisp, but not dark.  Remove from oven, use a pizza cutter for easy slicing up and serve. 

Makes 8-10 slices, depending on how it is cut up.

Mary Cokenour

Cheesesteak Pizza

Before Baking

After Baking

Ground Beef Pizza

Before Baking

After Baking

One Slice

How to Make a Real Pizzeria Style Calzone.

What is a Calzone?

The Calzone originated in Naples, Italy; an oven-baked filled pizza, folded over itself. A typical calzone is made from salted bread dough, baked in an oven after being stuffed with salami or ham, mozzarella, ricotta, Parmesan and/or Pecorino-Romano cheese, as well as an egg. In the United States, the calzone is baked using pizza dough; often vegetables are found included in the filling.

Cheddar Cheese does NOT belong in Italian recipes; reserve that for grilled cheese sandwiches please!!!

Now when the definition says "stuffed", it means stuffed!  NOT hollow with a slice of cheese and meat; that's called a "rip-off".  It's NOT a turnover; that is a pastry using some type of sweet, pastry dough with sweet fillings.  Coming from old school, not yuppie-ville, Brooklyn, New York, we connaisseurs of pizzeria, and Italian, dishes are highly insulted when novice "pizza shop" owners try to fool their patrons. 

First off, you need to have the basics down on pizza dough and sauce making.   While pizza dough needs to be made from scratch, homemade sauce does not; in fact, most places use canned goods which is fine so long as it's done correctly!  Now I have written about all this on separate blog posts, but now I'll be consolidating.

Step #1 - Dough

Pizza Dough:
http://www.comfortcookadventures.com/2011/01/i-admit-to-itim-pizza-snob.html

Basic Dough

Ingredients:

1 cup of warm water
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of sugar (to feed the yeast)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of yeast

Preparation:

Put warm water (80 to 110°F) into a bowl. Add salt and sugar and mix with a spoon. Add
yeast, mix and let it sit for about 10 minutes.  If the water is too warm, it will
kill the yeast; too cold, and it will not awaken.

Start mixing, with a fork, by gradually adding flour and olive oil.  Once it is too
thick to mix by fork, remove to a floured, wooden board; start kneading by hand. 
Knead the dough until you have a smooth ball. If the dough cracks it is too dry. Add
water bit by bit until if forms a smooth ball. If your dough feels more like batter,
it is too wet and you need to add flour bit by bit. If you need to add water or flour,
do it by small amounts; it is easier to fix too little than too much.

Coat the dough with olive oil, place it in a large bowl and cover it with a clean,
cotton towel. Let the dough rise for about an hour at room temperature, then punch it
down, so it deflates. Let it sit for about another hour. If you want to use it the
next day, put it in a refrigerator wrapped in plastic wrap.

Put the dough on a lightly floured surface; a pizza peel (wooden board with a handle)
is easier for transferring the pizza from surface to surface. Put a bit of flour on
your hands; using the balls of your finger tips and hands, make it into the shape of a
circle by stretching it out from the center outwards. If you’re having a problem
stretching the dough by hand, se a rolling pin until the dough is about 1/4" thick.

The average size of the pizza will be about 16” which can be transferred to a pizza
pan or stone. You get better results when you use a pizza baking stone. The pizza
stone should be preheated to 450F for an hour prior to baking, and should be placed in
the middle of the oven.

Spread out evenly about 1-1 ½ cups sauce; then add favorite toppings such as cheeses,
meats and/or cut up vegetables.

The oven should be preheated to 450F.  Bake for 20-25 minutes; the crust should be
browned, but not dark.  Remove from oven, use a pizza cutter for easy slicing up and
serve.  Makes 8-10 slices, depending on how its cut up.

Step #2 - Sauce

Homemade Sauce Using Canned Tomatoes:
http://www.comfortcookadventures.com/2011/01/influencing-your-cooking-style.html

Homemade Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

1 large onion, diced
3 Tbsp. garlic
3-28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
1-28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1-12oz. can tomato paste
2 Tbsp. dried basil, crushed
1 Tbsp. each dried oregano, thyme and marjoram, crushed
1 tsp. ground black pepper
4 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Add all listed ingredients into a 6-qt crock pot (previously sprayed with non-stick
spray); mix thoroughly.   Set on low heat; let the sauce cook for 8 hours.

Yields about 14 cups.

Notes:
This recipe can be made on the stovetop, but should be stirred every 1-2 hours to keep
sauce from sticking and burning on bottom of pot. 

The long cooking time allows for the sauce to become richer and thicker.  If a thinner
sauce is desired, cut the tomato paste by half, leave out the diced tomatoes, and cut
cooking time in half.

Besides serving as a pasta sauce, this can be used as a dipping sauce for fried foods,
or as a pizza sauce.

If making a meat sauce, brown 2 lbs of lean ground beef mixed with 2 Tbsp garlic
powder.  Only use 2-28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes, instead of 3.  Only cook the sauce
for 6 hours, instead of 8.

One ingredients that is popular in calzones is meatballs; here is my basic meatball recipe, but if using them for a calzone, make them about 1 to 1 and 1/2 inch in diameter.  Or just make the large size and cut them into halves or quartered.

Meatballs:
http://www.comfortcookadventures.com/2011/03/full-moons-and-meatballs.html

Meatballs

Lean ground beef (90% or more) is best for meatballs, since they are finished off
cooking in sauce.  Actually, meatloaf mix which is a mixture of beef, pork and veal is the absolute best for making meatballs, but is often difficult to find at the supermarket.  If a lesser lean meat is used, the fat would seep into the sauce, making it oily and unappetizing.  The meatballs are first baked in an oven to remove any excess grease.  These meatballs are the typical New York Italian style, about the size of a tennis ball, and while great with a pasta dish, they can also be used for
meatball sandwiches (subs, heroes, grinders, or whatever they are called in an area).

Ingredients:

4 lbs. lean ground beef (90% or more)
2 lbs. ground pork
1 ½ cups Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/8 cup Italian seasoning mix
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 cup diced onion
¾ cup milk
2 eggs, beaten

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray jelly roll pans with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together thoroughly; making sure all dry
ingredients are mixed well with wet ingredients.  Form the meat mixture into balls,
about 2 ¾” (size of a tennis ball); place on jelly roll pans.










Bake meatballs for 20 minutes; dab on paper towels to remove any grease and immerse
into sauce.  Allow meatballs to cook in sauce until sauce is ready; 4-6 hours
depending on cooking technique being used.  Serve with pasta, or use meatballs for a
sandwich.

Makes about 20 meatballs.











Now to the calzone making part; preheat oven to 450F and place the pizza pan (nonstick is best) inside; the dough has been worked out to a 16 inch diameter.  Along one half, layer thin slices of mozzarella and provolone leaving 2 inches of dough untouched from the edge.  I use the Sargento brand as they melt slowly and evenly; creating a seal against the dough to keep juices from making the baking crust not brown, or get soggy.  Next top the thin slices with thicker slices of fresh mozzarella; spread 2 cups of ricotta cheese over the mozzarella.  Evenly spread out 1 and 1/2 cups of sauce and add 5-6 small meatballs.

Dab the dough edge all around with water, carefully fold the other half of the dough over the fillings, bring the edges to touch and roll them together to form a seal.  Brush the top with a little olive oil, with the tip of a knife, poke 4-5 air holes in the thickest part of the calzone.  This will allow steam to release during the baking process; otherwise it would build up inside the dough and cause it to fully crack open.

Carefully remove the preheated pan from the oven and place the calzone in the center; return to the oven and bake until crust is browned (about 25-30 minutes).  Again, carefully remove the calzone to a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes.  Cut in half and enjoy!

So there you have it, a New York style calzone stuffed, and I mean stuffed, with cheeses, sauce and meatballs.  If you begin seeing this little baby at your local pizza shop, I bet they're copying my recipes; and they better name that calzone after me!!!

Mary Cokenour

Lasagna Without Using Your Noodle.

Now I've made traditional Italian lasagna using noodles; I've made vegetable lasagna, again, using noodles. What happens though when, instead of pasta noodles, vegetables themselves become the noodles?  While I did have large zucchinis which I could have sliced lengthwise thinly; I decided to try it out with eggplant; sort of as if lasagna and eggplant parmigiana decided to have a baby.

Eggplant is a spongy type of vegetable; when fried in oil, it will absorb a good deal of the oil.  However, I didn't want my lasagna to be a soppy, oily mess and made the decision to oven fry the eggplant slices.  If it works for potatoes, why not eggplant, right?  By the way, to make it a bit more interesting, I sautéed green bell peppers and grape tomatoes (look like miniature Roma tomatoes) together and made that one of the layers.  In my opinion, this addition made the entire dish come together into a delicious perfection; but then again, I'm biased.

Eggplant Lasagna

 Ingredients:

1 large eggplant

1 cup Italian flavored bread crumbs
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 small green bell pepper
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 Tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp salt
½ tsp garlic powder
1 (32 oz.) container part-skim ricotta cheese
1 (8 oz.) package finely shredded mozzarella cheese; divided in half
3 cups homemade pasta sauce

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F; spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray, and a 2 and ½ quart baking dish.

 

Cut ends off the eggplant and peel off skin; cut into ¼ inch slices.  Place bread crumbs onto flat plate; lightly beat eggs and milk together in a wide mouth bowl.  Dip the eggplant slices into the egg mixture, then lightly bread on both sides; place on baking sheet.  Bake for 5 minutes on one side; turn over, bake for another 5 minutes; remove from oven, but keep oven at 350F.

 

While eggplant is baking; take seeds out of the bell pepper, cut into strips and then dice; cut the tomatoes into halves.  In a 10 inch skillet, heat olive oil on medium-high; add in the bell pepper, tomatoes, salt and garlic powder.  Sauté for 5 minutes, remove from heat.

 

 

 

In a medium bowl, combine ricotta and 4 ounces of shredded mozzarella; if using whole milk ricotta, add one egg when mixing to achieve smoothness. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the sprayed baking dish, spread one cup of sauce on the bottom; place 3 slices of eggplant on bottom.  Spread half the cheese mixture over the eggplant; spread half the vegetable mixture over the cheese.   Repeat process: one cup sauce, 3 eggplant, half cheese, half vegetables, one cup sauce and remaining eggplant slices.  Top the entire casserole with the other half of the shredded mozzarella; bake for 30-35 minutes (cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling up).  Remove from oven; let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

 

 

 

 

Makes six servings.

Mary Cokenour

No Fry Chicken Parmigiana, You Do Not Miss the Oil.

I have seen several postings of recipes on Facebook that feature "no fry chicken" which is essentially a (hopefully) crispy, tender and juicy "fried" chicken made in the oven.  Some recipes use a fat, such as mayonnaise or sour cream, or a condiment, such as mustard, to slather onto the chicken before pressing grated cheese or flavored bread crumbs on it as well.  Then there are the recipes that simply coat wet chicken with bread crumbs and grated cheese.  The former usually requires a good amount of fat and coating on top, but bland chicken on the bottom.  The latter usually turns out that the top is dry and the bottom coating has stuck to the aluminum pan.  Hope do you win?

If you're going to "fry" in the oven, you will need some type of oil, whether you brush on olive oil or give it a good spraying with nonstick cooking oil.  To keep it from drying out, cook the chicken halfway, remove, spray or brush the pan again, and then place the chicken back on (bottom now on top) and bake the rest of the time.  This will help the coating from sticking to the pan, and the top from becoming dry as the desert.  Now I'm going to take it one step further and show how to make a great American-Italian dish; Chicken Parmigiana.

First important ingredient is the chicken; use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but we're going to make cutlets out of them.  Semi-freeze the chicken to firm them up and the knife will slide easily through them.  Place a chicken breast on the cutting board, your palm down on top of it and slide the knife lengthwise through the center.  You now have two chicken cutlets; don't be worried that you made a mistake and one is thinner than the other.  You can save ones that you feel are too thin to make a Stuffed Chicken dish, or cut up for Fajitas; no mistakes and no waste with this method.

To bread the chicken, place them in a large plastic bag as they are pretty moist as it; or you can dip them in an egg wash first, your choice.  Add to the bag two tablespoons of Italian flavored bread crumbs plus one tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese for each cutlet.  Sorry, but you'll have to do a little math depending on how many cutlets you'll be no-frying.  Now shake, shake, press, press; move that chicken around to make sure you coat it well.


Preheat your oven to 350F and brush an aluminum baking pan with olive oil, or give a liberal spray with nonstick cooking oil.  Remove each cutlet from the bag, shaking any excess off, and place onto the  pan.  Now bake the chicken for only 15 minutes; yes, it will not fully cook, so don't eat any yet.









While the chicken is baking, get out a glass baking dish (I used a 4 quart), give a light spray or brush of oil and then spread one cup of Homemade Pasta Sauce or Vegetarian Pasta Sauce  (defrosted to room temperature, or freshly made) over the bottom.  After the 15 minutes, carefully remove the chicken cutlets from the aluminum pan and place into the baking dish.











Top each chicken cutlet with a slice of Provolone cheese; two if you really enjoy Provolone; it's your meal, so add more cheese if that is how you like it.











Now cover it all with more of your sauce; this will be your baking medium; the chicken will also absorb some of the liquid and this will help keep it moist and tender.












More cheese!  Top with shredded Mozzarella cheese; I usually spread one cup, take a step back, look at it, and add more cheese to those places that I think got cheated.






Now place the baking dish into the oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes; the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling up the sides.  The chicken is fully cooked, moist, tender, juicy, simply Perfecto!!!  The great part is that there will not be any oily residue oozing from the chicken the next day which usually happens with fried chicken. The oil you did brush or spray on was so minimal, and the cooking time so quick, that it did not have time to be absorbed by the chicken.   All you'll be tasting is chicken, cheese and pasta sauce...yum, yum, yum!!!

There you have it, no fry chicken taken to an ultimate level.  Enjoy!
Mary Cokenour