Truffled Mac and Cheese

I have a confession.  The husband and I eat a lot of mac and cheese.  Kraft... mac and cheese.  As much as I enjoy home cooked meals, I haven't ever found a mac and cheese recipe that I like.  Until now.

To be fair, this recipe has been around the internet for quite awhile - it's a Martha Stewart recipe, after all.  But, I've put my own little spin on it by adding the truffle oil.  Truffle oil just makes everything a little bit better.  I recently had a truffled mac and cheese at a local restaurant and it was fantastic.  (And now I can save the $13 and just make my own!)  The truffle oil is optional, of course, if that's not quite your thing.

Also optional are all the veggies on the side.  Two different kinds of veggies make it healthy, right?  At least that's what I was telling myself when I was eating this meal.

The focus of this recipe is the cheese, obviously, so I would encourage you to splurge and get good stuff.  Not the yellow, rubbery block of preservatives that some companies call cheese.  But if all you have is some of that stuff, go for it, and get the good cheese the next time.

The original recipe calls for what is essentially croutons on top.  Which I think is weird.  I used panko bread crumbs instead, and I'm so glad I did.  It created a wonderful golden, crunchy crust that is the perfect foil for the gooey, creamy cheese inside.

Now, the original recipe also uses a 9 x 13 inch pan.  As much as we love mac and cheese, that was even a little extreme for us (but mostly our waistlines and wallets).  I halved the recipe which was perfect for us.  But if you need to feed a crowd, go ahead and make the full recipe.  Or if you want a lot of leftovers.  Bonus - this recipe reheats well!  As the husband says, "it's just awesome."

Truffled Mac and Cheese
(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 5-6 servings

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for casserole
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more for water
Pinch ground nutmeg
Pinch teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 1/4 cups (about 9 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) grated Gruyère
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp (about 1.2 ounces) grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 Tbsp white truffle oil
1/2 pound elbow macaroni

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 2-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place the panko breadcrumbs in a medium bowl. In the microwave, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Pour the melted butter into the bowl with the breadcrumbs, and toss. Set the breadcrumbs aside.

2. Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, add the flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

3. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk a little at a time to keep mixture smooth. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick, 8 to 12 minutes.

4. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, truffle oil, and about 3/4 of the cheese; set the cheese sauce aside.

5. Cover a large pot of salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook the macaroni until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir the macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.  It will seem like there is too much cheese sauce, but I promise that there isn't!  All that extra sauce not only tastes great, but helps it reheat well.

6. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese, and the breadcrumbs over the top. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes (though we needed a bit more time to get it brown, but your oven may vary). Transfer the dish to a wire rack for 5 minutes; serve.

Enjoy!

Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Pizza

You're probably thinking, "Really, pizza?  You just posted about pizza!"  Well, I had a pizza craving... and I wanted to experiment with veggies and a balsamic glaze.  A sophisticated pizza.  Kind of.  Anyway, the husband was game to try it, so I looked for a recipe, just to see if a fantastic one was already in existence.

I was mildly disappointed.  The recipes that I found required you to roast the vegetables separately, and then assemble the pizza.  Ugh, how time-consuming!  The beauty of homemade pizza is that it doesn't take that long, yet it still tastes amazing.  I was not interested in useless steps, so I stuck with the 'shaved vegetable' technique of the Shaved Asparagus Pizza and just tweaked the ingredients a bit.

With all of these vegetables, it's a healthy meal, right?  We're going to go with 'yes.'

Of course, after making this, we did have some extra vegetables lying about, so I made it again the next day.  Oops.  No complaints from our table, however!

Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Pizza
Makes 1 full size pizza - number of servings is up to you!

1 recipe of your favorite pizza dough (I recommend a Jiffy crust for ease!)
1 small shallot, sliced thinly
2-3 mushrooms, sliced thinly
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small zucchini
1 carrot
1 small bell pepper or a few small, sweet peppers, thinly sliced
4-5 spears asparagus
1/4-1/2 cup grated Parmesan and/or Pecorino
1/2 pound mozzarella, shredded or cut into small cubes
2 tsp olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tsp honey
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Several grinds black pepper
Truffle salt/oil (optional)

Oven: Preheat your oven to the hottest temperature it goes, or about 500 in most cases. If you use a pizza stone, have it in there.Whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and honey.  Set aside.

Prepare veggies: For asparagus - no need to snap off ends; they can be your “handles” as you peel them. Holding a single asparagus spear by its tough end, lay it flat on a cutting board and using a vegetable peeler, create long shavings of asparagus by drawing the peeler from the base to the top of the stalk. Repeat with remaining stalks and don’t fret some pieces are unevenly thick (such as the end of the stalk, which might be too thin to peel); the mixed textures give a great character to the pizza. Discard tough ends. Peel carrot and then use peeler to create long shavings, like asparagus.  Use peeler in the same fashion for zucchini (I only went partway through it until I got to the seedy part).  I ended up using only half the zucchini, and half the carrot.  Thinly slice the mushrooms and shallot.

Pat veggies dry with paper towel (I noticed my pizza got a bit 'wet' without doing this).  In a large bowl, toss zucchini, carrot, asparagus, shallot, mushrooms, peppers, and garlic with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and honey mixture.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble and bake pizza: Roll or stretch out your pizza dough to a 12-inch round. Either transfer to a floured or cornmeal-dusted pizza peel (if using a pizza stone in the oven) or to a floured or cornmeal-dusted tray to bake it on. IF you're using a Jiffy crust, pre-bake the crust as directed (at 425 degrees).

Sprinkle pizza dough with Parmesan/Pecorino (save a bit for the top) and minced rosemary, then mozzarella. Pile shaved vegetables on top. Top with remaining Parmesan/Pecorino. Bake pizza for 10 to 15 minutes at 500 degrees, or until edges are browned, the cheese is bubbly and the vegetables are lightly charred. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle truffle salt or oil, then slice and eat.

Enjoy!

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

I had purchased asparagus with the intention of roasting it with shallots, but then I wanted to try something new.  After some searching, I found an intriguing recipe on Smitten Kitchen - Shaved Asparagus Pizza.  In my opinion, pizza is the perfect food, so this seemed like an excellent idea.

And an excellent idea it was!  The husband and I both loved it.  After eating dinner, I was posting on Facebook about how wonderful it was and our two friends down the hall just happened to drop by, and oh, what's that great smell?  ;-)  We found ourselves with some very willing taste testers who agree on the awesomeness of this recipe.

Now, I didn't follow the recipe exactly; I tweaked things here and there, but the recipe remains simple and delicious. So simple and delicious that I made it three times in the past week.  THREE.  I don't think I've done that with any recipe ever.  Well, except maybe this one.

I have a confession to make - I use a box mix for our pizza crusts.  I have some solid reasons though: 1) It tastes good and has a great crispy texture 2) It takes only a few minutes to prep, unlike from-scratch recipes that take at least an hour 3) It costs less than a dollar to purchase 4) You only have to add water, and a bit of flour for kneading.  Win-win-win-win!  So the Jiffy Pizza Crust is our stand-by whenever we make homemade pizza (a few times month).  If you're looking for it at your grocery store, it's usually by the pasta/sauces area, and not by the other Jiffy products in the baking aisle.

Back to the tasty pizza at hand.

I wanted to add just a little something at the end, and truffle salt fit the bill.  A bit of truffle oil would also work just fine.  Or you could skip it all together.  It's certainly not necessary, but I'd highly recommend it.  It really added the final 'wow' factor!

Shaved Asparagus Pizza
(from Smitten Kitchen site and book)
Makes 1 full size pizza - number of servings is up to you!

1 recipe your favorite pizza dough (I recommend a Jiffy crust for ease!)
1 fresh mushroom, chopped finely
1 Tbsp shallot, chopped finely
1/2 pound asparagus
1/4-1/2 cup grated Parmesan and/or Pecorino
1/2 pound mozzarella, shredded or cut into small cubes
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Several grinds black pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, chopped or ground - or use fresh
Truffle salt/oil (optional)

Oven: Preheat your oven to the hottest temperature it goes, or about 500 in most cases. If you use a pizza stone, have it in there.

Prepare asparagus: No need to snap off ends; they can be your “handles” as you peel the asparagus. Holding a single asparagus spear by its tough end, lay it flat on a cutting board and using a vegetable peeler (a mandolin would also work, in theory, but she found it more difficult to do it that way), create long shavings of asparagus by drawing the peeler from the base to the top of the stalk. Repeat with remaining stalks and don’t fret some pieces are unevenly thick (such as the end of the stalk, which might be too thin to peel); the mixed textures give a great character to the pizza. Discard tough ends. Pat asparagus dry with paper towel (I noticed my pizza got a bit 'wet' without doing this).  Toss peelings with chopped shallot, olive oil, dried rosemary, salt and pepper in a bowl.

Assemble and bake pizza: Roll or stretch out your pizza dough to a 12-inch round. Either transfer to a floured or cornmeal-dusted pizza peel (if using a pizza stone in the oven) or to a floured or cornmeal-dusted tray to bake it on. IF you're using a Jiffy crust, pre-bake the crust as directed (at 425 degrees). 

Sprinkle pizza dough with Parmesan/Pecorino (save a bit for the top) and chopped mushroom, then mozzarella. Pile asparagus on top. Top with remaining Parmesan/Pecorino. Bake pizza for 10 to 15 minutes, or until edges are browned, the cheese is bubbly and the asparagus is lightly charred. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle truffle salt or oil, then slice and eat.

Grilling
We have this wonderfully long weekend ahead of us that usually involves some serious grilling.  If you're so inclined, this would likely be perfect for that!  Throw the whole dough down on an oiled grill and let it cook for a few minutes on the underside. Pull it off with tongs, flip it out onto a plate and pile the toppings on the grilled side, before sliding the raw side back onto the grill. Grill the pizza with the lid down for a few minutes, or until everything is bubbly and brown.  

Enjoy!

Melty Cheese Croutons on a Salad

Look, a salad!  Back to some semblance of nutritious and healthy meals.  Well, sort of.  It's a great salad topped with pan-fried, panko-coated, cheesy goodness.  It's protein, so it's fine.  Yes, we're going with that.

This salad has become a weeknight staple for us, and we've got the procedure down pretty well.  We like to serve it with a local artisan rosemary bread, and makes it a wonderful meal.

I've trimmed down the amount of cheese used, only because the original amount was just too much (and we love cheese).  You don't want to finish a salad and have the "ughhhh" feeling.  That's for Thanksgiving.  Or the Super Bowl.  Or a lonely Friday night when you've eaten ice cream straight from the carton.

We also adjusted the ratio slightly as we preferred a bit more of the jack than the goat cheese.  But you can tweak this to your own tastes.  We used a basic goat cheese from Trader Joe's, and a local jack from Mt. Townsend Creamery - New Moon.  This time I also threw in a bit of Beecher's Flagship cheese, just because we had it.

 A tart, fruity vinaigrette cuts through the richness of the cheese in a great way, and is the perfect topping.  This salad has a lot of potential for versatility, and I look forward to updating it with the seasons.

Melty Cheese Croutons on a Salad
(from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 2 servings of 3 medallions each

Croutons

2 oz. goat cheese, left out to warm and soften a bit
3 oz. semi-firm cheese of choice (we used a jack, Smitten Kitchen used a soft gouda), grated

1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 egg
3 Tbsp Panko breadcrumbs
2-3 Tbsp Olive Oil, for frying

Salad
Mixed greens, of choice (we use spinach)
Carrot, chopped
Sweet peppers, chopped
Beets, roasted and chopped (or if you're lazy like us, canned)
Apple or pear, chopped
Craisins
Fruity vinaigrette, of choice (we use a pomegranate vinaigrette)

Prepare veggies, and toss in individual bowls.  Set aside, ready and waiting for the croutons!

Mash together cheeses in a bowl, mixing until combined. Form the mixture into six 1-2 inch balls and then flatten each slightly into thick patties. Arrange three small dishes for dredging stations: Place the flour in the first one, beat the egg lightly in the second, and mix the breadcrumbs and salt in the last one.

Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Once hot, fry each patty until golden and crispy, about two minutes per side. It’s going to get melty, and seem pesky to flip once warm, but that's okay, it's worth it!  Turning with two forks made it slightly less difficult.

If they are quite oily, briefly pause the crouton on paper towels to drain excess oil.  Ours usually aren't, so we put them directly on top of the salad, and top with a fruity vinaigrette.  Serve with your favorite artisan bread.

Enjoy!

Mom's Lasagna

Ah, December in the Pacific Northwest.  The sky is dreary, gray, and leaking precipitation... and will be for the next seven months.  Ugh.  Enter the desire for some comfort food - lasagna.  It was a favorite of mine growing up (I requested it frequently when I came home to visit from college), and still is a favorite.  Discussing lasagna recipes with folks can get a bit heated as everyone I know always has the same line, "my mom's is the best."

And, of course, I think MY mom's is the best.  I certainly haven't had one at a restaurant I liked as much.  Perhaps it's just one of those things that is just better homemade.  It takes a bit of time, and it's great fun to assemble.  Anticipation grows at is bakes. And then you have to wait for it to cool a bit so you don't burn off the roof of your mouth.  Delayed gratification at its best.

Also, plenty of time for you (and any sous chefs present) to polish off your favorite bottle of red wine, and enjoy hanging out.  That's happened...on more than one occasion for me, could you have guessed?  0:-)

I finally got the recipe from my mom a few years ago, but prior to that I would request it for dinner anytime I was home.  I distinctly remember one time that she was in the middle of making it when she realized she had no noodles.  So my dad dutifully went off to the store to get some.  Upon his return, she started to assemble and realized that she had forgotten the ricotta cheese.  So it was my turn to go off to the store.  Thankfully she didn't forget anything else, but it was pretty funny that she forgot some very key ingredients.  (She's going to kill me for telling that story...)

While I was making it this time, the husband was commenting on the order of layering, and for that I gave him a look.  Then he said, "Really, this is just a vehicle for cheese, so you can layer it however you want."  We really are true, cheese-loving Sconnies.  :-)

If you're looking for a down home, tasty, lasagna, I recommend my mom's recipe.  Grab a bottle (or two) of your favorite red and some friends, and get cooking!

Mom's Lasagna
(my mom's recipe!)
Makes 10-12 large servings

Sauce
2 lb. lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp. garlic powder (or fresh minced garlic equivalent)
1 tsp. ground oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
3 cups tomato juice
2 12-oz. cans tomato paste
1/4 cup brown sugar
Salt & pepper to taste

1 lb. lasagna noodles (I'm lazy and buy the oven-ready kind)
1 15 oz. carton ricotta cheese
8 - 12 oz. mozzarella cheese, to your cheesiness preference!
Parmesan cheese, to top off

To make the sauce:
Brown ground beef and onion. Drain if necessary.  Add remaining sauce ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes (to meld flavors).

To assemble:
In a 9x13 pan (or larger), first put in some sauce in the bottom.  Then layer noodles, sauce, ricotta and mozzarella cheeses.  Continue layering at your discretion.  With last layer of noodles, top off with remaining sauce and mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Enjoy!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I stumbled upon this recipe while looking through my hoarded Cook's Illustrated magazines, and it piqued my interest.  Broccoli Cheese soup always sounds good but I dislike the amount of cream that typically goes in it (I prefer to get my extra calories from a stellar dessert!)

What's great about this soup is that there isn't any cream!  It tastes rich enough without it (with no real calorie bombs) and the broccoli is the star of the soup with good flavor. 

The article in the magazine explains how they came to this final recipe (so it really doesn't need any extra fiddling!)  I was surprised about the addition of baking soda, but there's science behind it.  When you cook broccoli for a long time, it can begin to taste sulfurous, due to isothiocyanates, which is obviously never an ideal flavor.  The added baking soda staves off that nasty flavor.

 And this was another opportunity to use my favorite appliance - an immersion blender - whoo hoo!

I decided last minute to make croutons to top off the soup and to give it some textural contrast.  What better bread to use than my favorite local artisan rosemary bread?  The croutons turned out fantastic (I'd ask the husband what he thought, but he's busy swiping croutons from the bowl and munching away.)

A bite of this creamy, flavorful soup with a crispy crouton is the perfect remedy for the dreary days of November!

Broccoli Cheese Soup
(from Cook's Illustrated)
Serves 6-8

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 lbs broccoli, florets roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces, stems trimmed, peeled, and cut into 1/4 inch thick pieces
1 medium onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
2-3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard powder
Pinch cayenne pepper
Table salt
3 c. water
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
2 oz. baby spinach (2 loosely packed cups)
3 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (3/4 cup)
1 1/2 oz. Parmesan cheese, finely grated (about 3/4 cup), plus extra for serving
Black pepper

Croutons
~ 6 slices of bread of choice (I used a rustic, artisan rosemary bread)
3 Tbsp melted butter or olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
Pinch salt 

1) Heat butter in large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When foaming subsides, add broccoli, onion, garlic, dry mustard, cayenne, and 1 tsp salt.  Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 6 minutes. Add 1 cup water and baking soda.  Bring to simmer, cover, and cook until broccoli is very soft, about 15-20 minutes, stirring once during cooking.

2) Add broth and 2 cups water and increase heat to medium-high. When mixture begins to simmer, stir in spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Blend soup with immersion blender or in batches with regular blender.  Add cheeses and reheat briefly, stirring, to melt.

3) Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Cut bread into 1/2-3/4 inch cubes.  Mix melted butter or olive oil with garlic powder and salt.  Toss with bread cubes until they're coated.  Pour out on a rimmed baking sheet, place in oven. Bake for 15 minutes, stir and bake until dry and crispy (10-15 minutes more).

4) Top soup with freshly grated Parmesan and homemade croutons.

Enjoy!

Caramelized Onion Veggie Lasagna

First, my apologies on the blog silence!  Work has been (ridiculously) busy, and the boyfriend has now become the fiance (yay!), so there's been little time for fun cooking.  BUT, we do have to eat, after all, so we made this amazing lasagna.

We have made this once before, with a friend, and it was fantastic.  I was bummed that we didn't photograph it for the blog!  Lasagna is a hit in our apartment anyway, but it was nice to try something that wasn't the standard tomato-meat-cheese lasagna.  (Also, we discovered the kitties approved as well - we had to leave for a moment and they were in our plates doing some tasting right away!)

We know I love caramelized onions (need I direct you to the French Onion Soup?)  So that's an automatic win.  But a lasagna with extra veggies, a white sauce, and a spinach-cheese mixture is even better.  We had a bit of produce around the house that needed using up, so I have tweaked the original recipe just a bit to use what we had.  It turned out great.

There are a lot of components to this lasagna, that's for sure.  But it's worth it.  I promise!

Caramelized Onion Veggie Lasagna
(adapted from Eating Well)
8-10 servings

8 ounces lasagna noodles, preferably whole-wheat (or oven-ready, if you're lazy like me!)

Caramelized Onion Filling
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 large sweet onions, thinly sliced (about 10 cups)
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, diced
2 small zucchini, diced
1/2 cup red wine
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Spinach & Cheese Filling
4 cups baby spinach
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups nonfat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt

White Sauce & Topping 
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups low-fat milk
1 teaspoon salt
4 ounces crumbled goat cheese (or Gorgonzola, if you like a stronger flavor)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Extra cheese for top 1/2 cup - 1 cup (mozzarella, cheddar, whatever you've got)

If you're using regular lasagna noodles: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook noodles until not quite al dente, about 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain; return the noodles to the pot and cover with cool water.

To prepare onion filling: Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown and very soft, about 25 minutes. (If they begin to stick, add water 1/4 cup at a time to release them and prevent burning.) Add zucchini and cook for a few minutes.  Then add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until just beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add wine and 1 teaspoon salt and continue cooking until most of the liquid is absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in pepper.

To prepare spinach filling: Place ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.

To prepare white sauce: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour and stir until bubbling, about 30 seconds. Gradually whisk in milk and 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook, whisking, until the sauce has the consistency of thick gravy, about 1 minute. Add goat (or Gorgonzola) and gently whisk until it is melted. Stir in 1/4 cup of freshly chopped basil.  Remove from the heat. (The sauce will continue to thicken as it sits.)

To assemble lasagna: Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
Drain the noodles and spread out on a kitchen towel. Spread 1/2 cup white sauce in the prepared pan. Place a layer of noodles over the sauce. Spread half of the spinach filling over the noodles and top with one-third of the onion filling. Evenly spread 1/2 cup white sauce over the onions. Repeat with another layer of noodles, the remaining spinach filling, half the remaining onion filling and half the remaining white sauce. To finish, top with a third layer of noodles, spread the remaining onion filling over the noodles and then spread or dollop the remaining white sauce on top. Sprinkle with additional cheese (your choice of variety) to create a bubbly, yummy top.

Bake until hot and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!