Grandmom Dora’s Meatball Stew

It’s the dead of winter, cabin fever is kicking in, and everyone seems to be singing ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside.’ For those of you living up here in the northeast, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s been a BRUTAL winter so far, and we’re only a few weeks in! What better time of year to enjoy a nice, warm, hearty meal?

One dish that we always turn to is Meatball Stew. This recipe comes from my wife’s grandmother, Dora D’Ottaviano. This dish is one of her many specialties, and one that my wife would forever brag about. We’ve been making this dish on our own for quite a few years now. It makes for a nice Sunday meal, can be cooked in either a stove-top pot or a slow cooker* and goes great with a nice glass of wine or beer and a loaf of crusty Italian bread.

MEATBALL STEW

6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1 16-oz package frozen peas and carrots
1 29-oz can tomato sauce
1 can (29 oz.) of water (use the tomato sauce can to measure)
1 beef boullion cube
Salt and pepper to taste
(optional spices – chili powder, crushed red pepper)
1-lb cooked meatballs, rolled small

In a large pot, heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil, add cooked meatballs. Remove pot from heat. Add tomato sauce, boullion cube plus one can of water. Sauce and water should cover the meatballs by about 2 inches. Return to heat, bring sauce to a boil. Add peas and carrots and potatoes, stir. Bring to a boil again. Add salt and pepper and optional spices to taste. Cover slightly and simmer slowly for about 1-1/2 hours, or until potatoes are soft.

*Note – allow a good 6+ hours if using a slow cooker, as the potatoes take a while to get soft when slow-cooked.

Christmas Eve Recap/Baked Orange Roughy, Italian Style

Happy New Year and welcome to 2010! I thought it would be appropriate to start of the new year of posts with a nice little recap of my favorite end-of-year dinner, the Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes.

My family has been celebrating this tradition for as long as I could remember, and of course many years before that. While we still stick with many of the traditional dishes (baccalá soup, whitefish, smelts, stuffed calamari, fried shrimp), we have been slowly introducing some more modern dishes to the line-up. My brother and his wife are always good for a wild card dish, and this year they didn’t disappoint with pan-seared scallops. Unbelievable!

I’m usually the one responsible for crab cakes, but this year we went with Bobby Chez crab cakes (very good, by the way!). Instead, I was given orange roughy duty. If you’re not familiar with orange roughy, it’s a very flaky fish, similar to tilapia or flounder. It’s got a very mild taste, so it’s a good dish for those who aren’t into a real ‘fishy’ dish. I did some research and found a recipe for ‘Baked Orange Roughy, Italian Style’ at allrecipes.com. It makes a nice, flavorful parmesan-garlic based coating. I decided to give it a try and I’m happy to say it was a home run! Everyone enjoyed it and I’ve already been given the honors for next year as well. The recipe is very simple (it will also work very well with flounder and tilapia), and I liked the fact that the recipe calls for the fish to be baked instead of fried (believe me, the deep fryer was in high gear for most of the other dishes that night).

Below is the recipe for 4 servings, but be sure to check the original link if you want to adjust the serving sizes/measurements.

BAKED ORANGE ROUGHY, ITALIAN STYLE

1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 pound orange roughy fillets
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Coat a medium baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
In a shallow bowl, mix bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic powder, and salt.
Brush both sides of orange roughy fillets with butter, and dredge in the bread crumb mixture. Arrange fillets in a single layer in the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with parsley.
Bake in preheated oven 10 to 15 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Pesto Lasagna

Here’s a fresh and unique alternative to a traditional Italian dish.

Because the filling between each layer of noodles is not as thick and dense as a traditional cheese and/or meat filling, you are going to end up with more layers of noodles to fill the dish, approximately 10-12 deep.

Instead of making fresh pesto, I decided to use Bellino brand Pesto Sauce with Olive Oil. It’s a good alternative to home made – tasty, all natural and no preservatives. One jar equals approximately one cup. For a great fresh pesto, be sure to check out Ina Garten’s recipe. It makes 4 cups, so be sure to refrigerate leftover pesto for future use.

For 8×8 dish (serves 4):
1 box uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cups pesto (or 2 jars Pesto Sauce)

For 9×15 dish (serves 6-8):
1-1/2 boxes uncooked lasagna noodles
3 cups pesto (or 3 jars Pesto Sauce)

1/2 cup grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese

Preheat oven to 385º and set pasta water to boil.

Salt the boiling pasta water, add a spoonful of oil to it so the sheets won’t stick. Add the pasta, three noodles at a time. Cook until al dente, remove the noodles with a slotted spoon, then place on a clean cloth or piece of wax paper to dry.

Melt a dab of butter in a hot serving dish, then lay down a layer of pasta, spread a thin layer of pesto, then lightly sprinkle the pesto with grated cheese. Continue alternating pasta, pesto and sprinkle of cheese until all is used up. Heat, uncovered for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, cover loosely with foil and let sit for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

NEW – Veal Pizzaiola (Peez-Eye-Ola)

This is a nice dish that is fairly simple and is easy to serve on either the weekend or during the week. There’s not much prep work involved, and it sits on it’s own for a good 20-25 minutes. Just enough time for you to settle in with a pre-dinner glass of wine after a long day at work!

4-6 thin slices veal
1 tblspn olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
handful fresh basil, finely chopped, divided*
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
4-6 slices of mozzarella or provolone cheese (optional)

Veal Pizzaiola
Heat olive oil, add garlic, sauté for 30 seconds.
Add veal, then immediately add the can of sauce, Italian seasoning, salt,pepper and 2/3 of the chopped basil.
Let simmer on Med-Lo to Medium for 25 minutes, slightly covered.
Add the remaining basil and sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese, simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add the sliced cheese, let sit until cheese is slightly melted.

Serves well with mashed potatoes.

*Note – I like to reserve just a bit of basil until the very end. The first addition marries well with the sauce, while the final addition allows for the fresh taste.