Deliciously Sublime: Roasted Asparagus with Pesto

Let's talk about... pesto. That delicious mix of fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Italy is known for many things when it comes to food, one of which is pesto.

Genoa is probably best known as the home of pesto, in the northern province of Liguria. But the love for pesto has spread around the world. While I've always been fond, it wasn't until I went to Italy last year that I truly fell in love. The day was like no other. I was staying in the Cinque Terre in the town of Vernazza. After spending the day exploring and taking in as many sights as possible, I sat down to enjoy a dinner of fresh pasta tossed with pesto. It was a simple meal in an unremarkable restaurant, but the experience was sublime. The memory of that pesto sauce with all its incredible, fresh flavours will always stay with me. It's the combination of texture with a clarity of flavours makes the best pesto in the world.


Pesto can be made in a mortar, pounded to a paste with a pestle, hand chopped like Heidi from 101 Cookbooks suggests, or in a food processor. The word 'pesto' comes from the Italian word for pounded, so many people including Genoese cooks say that true pesto is made in a mortar and pestle. Linguistically and historically I suppose this is true, but in these modern times I'm not convinced it needs to be.

The measure of olive oil you use will always vary a little, depending on how dry the pine nuts are and how moist or dry the cheese is. No recipe can give you an accurate measure. And the nuts should be lightly toasted first to bring out the nutty flavor. According to Marcella Hazan, pesto should be used raw, at room temperature and never warmed up. And generally that's true, especially to preserve the lively taste and aroma of the fresh basil. But I know a dish that disputes this, roasted asparagus with pesto.

I was first introduced to roasted asparagus with pesto at a dinner party with friends. Much to my delight, our hosts Ryan and Sarah made a full Italian spread. Sarah's father is Italian, so she grew up watching her dad make classics like Bolognese meat sauce and pesto. She has kindly shared her family recipe because I loved it so much. By baking in the oven at a high temperature for a short time, the flavours of the pesto and asparagus bond in deliciously sublime way.


In Victoria, some of my favorite deli's to find Italian foods are Italian Food Import (1114 Blanshard St), Ambrosio Markets & Deli in Cook Street Village (1075 Pendergast), Ottavio in Oak Bay (2272 Oak Bay Avenue) and Lakehill Grocery (Quadra and Reynolds Street).

In Vancouver, my favorite Italian deli is Bosa Foods located at 1465 Kootenay Street, Burnaby and 562 Victoria Drive, near Commercial Drive.

Roasted Asparagus with Pesto (serves 2)

Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons of pesto (recipe below)
1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and stems peeled (watch how-to video)
olive oil
salt

Directions
In a baking dish, combine asparagus with a few tablespoons of pesto, olive and salt. Bake in the oven at 400-425 for the 10 to 12 minutes.

Pesto
using the food processor method

Ingredients
3 garlic cloves, chopped before putting in the processor
3 cups loosely packed fresh basil
1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
2/3 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano , finely grated
5 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste

Directions
Rinse to wash the basil leaves, pat dry with a tea towel being sure to dry well.

Put the basil, pine nuts, garlic and salt in the food processor and pulse to a uniform, creamy consistency.

Transfer to a bowl and mix in by hand the finely grated Parmesan cheese and oil olive. Add oil olive one tablespoon at a time, just enough to bind the sauce and get the consistency you like.

In a sterilized jar, the pesto will keep in the fridge for about a week.

Italian Turkey Stew with Fennel and White Beans

I've just returned from a few days in Vancouver, visiting my uber-pregnant sister who's now four days overdue. Since coming home, I keep thinking to myself "I wonder if she's having contractions now" about every hour. And it's only a matter of time before I'm right. One of these hours she will be having contractions.

While I was visiting, I stayed one night with my lovely friend Anya and she made us one of her own recipes for dinner. A stew of fennel, canned tomatoes, white beans and fennel sausage. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect dinner on a cool, rainy evening in Vancouver. Needless to say, immediately after getting back I picked up the ingredients I needed to make it for Jeremy and myself.


I call this an Italian stew because it's rustic and simple and uses good quality ingredients. But there's also another reason why I'm calling this an Italian stew. While I was at the grocery store I realized I've become just a little obsessed since my trip to Italy last fall. While standing in the check out wearing my favorite over sized Italian scarf that I bought in Verona, I looked down and noticed a distinctive theme to my groceries. Italian sausages, Italissima canned tomatoes, La Molisana canned white beans and Italian flat-leaf parsley. Serious, it seems a little over the top even to me but I just can't help myself. Italian food really is one of the best in the world.

Try making this stew like an Italian would, adding ingredients without measuring each one out and tasting as you go to adjust the flavours. Add more garlic, chili peppers, salt and pepper until it's just right.


Italian Turkey Stew with Fennel and White Beans (serves 4)

Ingredients
olive oil
1-2 onions, sliced
2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 turkey sausages, remove meat from casing
2 bay leaves
2 cans (28 oz) of tomatoes
1-2 teaspoons red chili flakes
1 can (398 ml) white beans
half bunch of kale or spinach, washed and chopped
Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
dash of balsamic vinegar

Directions
In a large pot over a medium heat, saute onions for 10-15 minutes until golden. Add fennel, garlic and the meat of the three sausages. Using a large spoon, break the sausage meat apart and stir being careful not to burn the garlic. Once the meat has browned, add the tomatoes, bay leaves, beans, chili flakes, salt and pepper.

Bring the stew to a boil and then turn the heat down and simmer for about 30 minutes. The key is to continue simmering until the fennel is soft. Also, taste the stew along the way and adjust flavours to your liking. Once the fennel is tender, add chopped kale (or spinach), parsley and a dash of balsamic vinegar. Simmer for a few more minutes until the greens have wilted. Serve and enjoy.

How To Make Lasagna

Lasagna is the most famous and savory of all baked Italian pasta dishes. It's a classic. Whether it's bolognese, eggplant, spinach or wild mushroom lasagna, that first mouthful will inevitably bring back memories of your mom's lasagna and family dinners.



Like any traditional recipe, one of the first ingredients on the list is time. It takes a few hours to make but its rewards are many. The aromas fill the house as it bakes, the rich flavours of pasta, sauce and cheese are immensely satisfying, and a large pan of it will feed many.

I had the most amazing lasagna bolognese at the Brentwood Seagrille & Pub a few weeks ago- which reminded me just how long its been since I made this dish at home. Too long. So after browsing through all my cookbooks and favorite websites I settled on a combination of two recipes- Martha Stewart's wild mushroom and spinach lasagna with Deborah Madison's mushroom lasagna.


Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna (serves 6)

Ingredients
2 bunches of spinach
1 pound of mixed mushrooms (button, portobello, shiitake)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of butter
1 splash of sherry or Madeira wine
1/2 cup basil, torn
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 box of oven ready lasagna noodles

Tomato Sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 28 ounce can tomatoes, pureed
pinch of crushed chili peppers
salt and pepper to taste

Garlic Bechamel
2 1/2 cups milk
3 garlic cloves, smashed with the flat side of a knife, then peeled
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cream or half-and-half
salt and pepper

Directions
To make the tomato sauce, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped onions and saute for about 10 minutes until golden and beginning to caramelize. Add one minced garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds being careful not to burn.

Add one tablespoon and tomato paste and cook for another 30 seconds, then add the can of pureed tomatoes, chili flakes, salt and pepper. Simmer and stir occasionally, for 20 minutes or longer until the flavours develop and sauce thickens, adjusting the seasoning to taste. Set aside.

Mushroom filling. While the tomato sauce is simmering, slice mushrooms. In a large fry pan, melt one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of olive oil. Saute mushrooms until they begin to colour around the edges and soften, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then add a splash of sherry and cook the mushrooms until the sherry has almost evaporated. Put the mushrooms in a bowl and set aside.

Garlic Bechamel. Heat milk with the smashed garlic in a saucepan. When it come to a boil, cover the pan, turn off the heat, and set aside to steep for 10 minutes. Melt the butter in another saucepan over medium heat, stir in the flour, and cook for 2 minutes. Pour the milk all at once through a strainer and stir until the sauce thickens. Cook over a very low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour in the cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. If the sauce is still a little lumpy, strainer again.

Spinach. Take a large pot, fill it half full with water and bring to a boil. Fill it with two cleaned bunches of spinach and simmer for just a few minutes to soften and wilt the spinach. Drain, cool, chop the spinach and set aside.

Boil the lasagna noodles for about 7 minutes until softened and mostly cooked.

Putting the lasagna together. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread half to one cup tomato sauce over the bottom of 9-by-13-inch baking pan, until the bottom is thinly covered in sauce.

Place one layer of lasagna sheets in pan, trimming to fit; spread one third cup spinach mixture, one third mushroom mixture, third of the bechamel sauce, and two tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese on top of lasagna sheets. Repeat these layers three times times.

For the fourth layer and last layer, place a layer of lasagna sheets on top; spread half to one cup tomato sauce over lasagna sheets. Sprinkle with remaining grated Parmesan cheese. Cover with tin foil and bake lasagna until top is golden brown, about 40 minutes to 1 hour. Let stand 20 minutes before serving.


MORE ITALIAN RECIPES-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marinated Eggplant Antipasto
Bite-sized slices of eggplant, roasted and marinated in good quality olive oil, lemon juice, red chili, garlic and herbs.

Polpettone
Italian meat loaf or meat balls seared in olive oil and finished in a sauce of caramelized red onions, reduced balsamic vinegar and tomatoes. You won't beleive how good this is until you try it!

Panna Cotta
Panna cotta in Italian means "cooked cream" and comes from the Northern region of Piedmont in Italy. The version uses buttermilk in place of cream which adds a nice tangy flavour to the custard.

Another Italian Recipe: roasted red peppers

I've been eating a lot of eggplant lately and I know I've mentioned this. A few times. I'm not sure it's fair but I'm blaming a recent trip to Italy and all those amazing antipasto plates I enjoyed. These recipes for marinated eggplant antipasto and eggplant Parmesan are some of my favorites for eggplant.

But now, just over the past few weeks, I've also been eating a lot of roasted red peppers. And I think I can blame Italy for this craving as well. It's the olive oil. Marinate anything in good quality, extra-virgin olive oil and I'm hooked. I've even been going so far as reaching over my butter dish for the bottle of olive oil to drizzle some on my morning toast. Crazy right?



This recipe by The Magical Melting Pot for homemade Italian roasted red peppers is a perfect, simple way to enjoy flavourful peppers. The marinade can be saved and used as a salad or pasta dressing and the peppers can make up part of an antipasto plate, be enjoyed with a little cheese, on a sandwich or salad.




Italian Roasted Red Peppers (serves 2-4)

Ingredients
2 large red bell peppers
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions
Slice each pepper in half and clean out the insides. Place onto a baking tray cut side down and roast them in a hot oven under the broiler for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the skins are charred and blackened.

Once they have reached this point, take them out of the oven and place each half into a brown paper bag or something (pot, bowl) that you can place a lid on. Once the peppers have cooled and the skins have loosen, peel away the charred peel and slice into thin strips. Place them in a flat bowl, such as a pasta bowl, so the marinade will completely cover them.

While the peppers are roasting, combine the extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, ground oregano, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.

Pour the dressing over the roasted peppers. Let them marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or longer before serving. When ready to serve, remove the peppers from the marinade and enjoy!

MORE ITALIAN RECIPES--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marinated Eggplant Antipasto
Bite-sized slices of eggplant, roasted and marinated in good quality olive oil, lemon juice, red chili, garlic and herbs.

Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna
An Italian classic with rich flavours of pasta, sauce, cheese, mushrooms and spinach. Immensely satisfying.

Polpettone
Italian meat loaf or meat balls seared in olive oil and finished in a sauce of caramelized red onions, reduced balsamic vinegar and tomatoes. You won't beleive how good this is until you try it!

Panna Cotta

Panna cotta in Italian means "cooked cream" and comes from the Northern region of Piedmont in Italy. It's made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. Panna cotta is often served topped with caramel, strawberries or other wild berries or chocolate sauce. Have I mentioned that this dessert is Italian yet? My new favorite cuisine.



Panna Cotta is incredibly easy to make. If you're not a baker and are one of those people who always avoids making desserts, then this is a treat for you. It takes no more then 10 minutes and uses minimal dishes and fuss. And I guarantee your kitchen will not be covered in flour by the end.

This month's issue of Bon Appetit (December 2009) has a recipe for buttermilk panna cotta with cinnamon caramel sauce. It's refreshing twist to the classic caramel panna cotta. The recipe uses buttermilk in place of cream which adds a nice tangy flavour to the custard. It's still smooth and creamy in texture but with less calories. And who doesn't like that.

I found the Bon Appetit instructions for the gelatin a little confusing, which is rare because their recipes are always dependable. I've made the instructions below easier to follow provided you buy a box of Knox unflavoured original gelatin.


Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Cinnamon Caramel Sauce (serves 6)
Adapted from Bon Appetit, this dessert is incredibly simple to make. Plan for 10-15 minutes preparation and 3-4 hours cooling and setting in the fridge.

Ingredients
1 package Knox unflavoured gelatin
1 cup heavy whipping cream, divided
1/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
Prepare one package of gelatin according to package.

Combine 3/4 cup cream and 1/3 cup sugar in heavy small saucepan. Stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture just begins to simmer. Remove from heat. Add gelatin; stir until gelatin dissolves. Cool until warm, stirring occasionally. Stir in buttermilk and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla. Divide among six 1/2-cup ramekins. Cover and refrigerate until set, 3-4 hours.

Just before serving, combine brown sugar and remaining 1/4 cup cream in small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and caramel sauce is smooth. Remove from heat; stir in cinnamon and remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Spoon slightly warm caramel sauce over each panna cotta and serve.

MORE ITALIAN RECIPES---------------------------------------------------------------------

Marinated Eggplant Antipasto
Bite-sized slices of eggplant, roasted and marinated in good quality olive oil, lemon juice, red chili, garlic and herbs.

Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna
An Italian classic with rich flavours of pasta, sauce, cheese, mushrooms and spinach. Immensely satisfying.

Polpettone
Italian meat loaf or meat balls seared in olive oil and finished in a sauce of caramelized red onions, reduced balsamic vinegar and tomatoes. You won't beleive how good this is until you try it!

Marinated Eggplant Antipasto

A recent trip to Italy has left me with a nearly daily craving for eggplant. Can someone please help me?! I don't no why. I certainly didn't have it everyday while I was in Italy, unlike the varying quality of red table wine or endless bowls of pasta. And I didn't crave before I left.

What I think I'm trying to say is that if you have a favorite recipe with eggplant, I'd love to hear about it.


Antipasti or appetizers are authentically Italian. A plate of antipasti is often served before dinner or a formal lunch or as an afternoon or evening snack. They are characteristically tasty, light, appetizing and often served cold. Most of the antipasto plates I had included cured meats, grilled artichokes, eggplant, roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, seafood and sliced ciabatta. But sometimes they were as simple as bruchetta or sliced salami and olives.

I came across this lip-smacking recipe on Delicious Days for marinated eggplant that has every quality a good Italian antipasto should have. Simple ingredients and olive oil, tasty and delicious.



Marinated eggplants à la Ottolenghi
Recipe source: adapted from Ottolenghi - The Cookbook, p. 26

Ingredients
3 medium sized eggplants
olive oil for brushing
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Marinade
5 tablespoons olive oil
5 tablespoons lemon juice
1 small red chili
3-4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, basil or Italian parsley)
1-2 garlic cloves
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350° and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Trim both ends of the eggplants, then cut each in two equal sized halves width-ways. Now cut each piece into six to eight wedges, depending on the eggplants' size. Key is to obtain (almost) equally sized wedges.

Generously brush the wedges with olive oil, place on the tray (skin side down) and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven (middle level) for 20 to 25 minutes or until the tips have turned brown and the wedges feel soft to the touch.

Meanwhile prepare the marinade: In a medium bowl mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, chopped red chili (discard seeds, if you like it less spicy), chopped herbs, chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.

As soon as the eggplants are done, transfer them into the bowl of marinade while still hot and carefully stir (the wedges should not be mashed) until everything is well covered. Serve after an hour at room temperature, or keep in the fridge (in a container) for some days. Enjoy with some bread, salami and cheese.

MORE ITALIAN RECIPES---------------------------------------------------------------------

Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna
An Italian classic with rich flavours of pasta, sauce, cheese, mushrooms and spinach. Immensely satisfying.

Polpettone
Italian meat loaf or meat balls seared in olive oil and finished in a sauce of caramelized red onions, reduced balsamic vinegar and tomatoes. You won't beleive how good this is until you try it!

Panna Cotta
Panna cotta in Italian means "cooked cream" and comes from the Northern region of Piedmont in Italy. The version uses buttermilk in place of cream which adds a nice tangy flavour to the custard.

Polpettone (Italian meat balls)

I'm home! I just got back from an amazing three weeks in Italy. Seriously. Everyone should go to Italy at least once in their life. Everyday was full of amazing experiences and breathtaking views. And how do I begin to describe the food? Pesto and olive oil, cured meats and pasta sauces, red wine and cappuccinos. Artichokes, eggplants and tomatoes. Every city or town I visited had food markets and cool little snack bars where you can get a glass of wine and pick out a plate of cicchetti, which are little snacks or side dishes.

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One highlight from my trip was a cooking class in Florence (Firenze). The class included a market tour, cooking lesson and lunch at a little cooking school called in Tavola. The class started with a shopping trip at San Lorenzo Market- the central food market in the heart of Florence- with sections for vegetables, meat, seafood, cheese, olive oil and vinegars, wine, dried goods, spices, and flowers. A circular maze of fresh, local, seasonal food.


One of the things that going to Italy reminded me of is just how important using local, seasonal ingredients is and what an extraordinary difference it makes to the flavour. Juicy, ripe tomatoes in the summer and pumpkins and squash in the fall for example. It's hard though. I've been craving eggplant all week but it's not in season locally. But they are somewhere.

After a tour through the market, stopping to chat with vendors, we picked up a few ingredients for our lesson and walked through town and across the bridge to the cooking school. One of the dishes we made for a secondi was polpettone, large meat balls that are also sometimes called Italian meat loaf. The polpettone was seared in olive oil and then finished in a sauce of caramelized red onions, reduced balsamic vinegar and tomatoes.



This is such a flavourful sauce. The trick is to give the onions time to caramelize and then drizzle in the balsamic vinegar and let that reduce. I had friends over for dinner last night and the hit of the evening was serving the polpettone as the final course (after antipasti and pasta) on small plates with generous spoonfuls of the sauce. So put on some music such as Vivaldi, pour yourself a glass of wine and try this recipe for yourself!




Polpettone (Serves 6-8)

Ingredients
2 to 2.5 cups of ground beef
1 cup bread, torn into pieces
1 cup milk
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
5 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 egg
pinch of nutmeg
flour
796 ml/28 oz can of tomatoes

Directions
Remove the crust of the bread and tear the bread into small pieces. Cover with milk and let it soak for about 30 minutes. Drain the milk and squeeze the bread in your hands until it's it has a soggy, paste-like consistency.

Combine the ground beef, bread, grated Parmesan cheese, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Knead into a ball and divide into portions of six to eight. Roll each ball in your hands, lightly cover in flour and then shape into ovals.

Heat a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add olive oil and meat balls, turning and brown each side.

In a separate pan, add olive oil and red onions. Pan fry for 15-20 minutes until they begin to caramelize. De glaze with balsamic vinegar and simmer for a few minutes until the vinegar reduces a little. Puree the can of tomatoes and add into the pan and stir. Add the meat balls, cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Enjoy.

MORE ITALIAN RECIPES---------------------------------------------------------------------

Marinated Eggplant Antipasto
Bite-sized slices of eggplant, roasted and marinated in good quality olive oil, lemon juice, red chili, garlic and herbs.

Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna
An Italian classic with rich flavours of pasta, sauce, cheese, mushrooms and spinach. Immensely satisfying.

Panna Cotta
Panna cotta in Italian means "cooked cream" and comes from the Northern region of Piedmont in Italy. The version uses buttermilk in place of cream which adds a nice tangy flavour to the custard.