Spaghetti Pie

February 4, 2011 Leave a Comment

Has anyone else ever noticed that comfort foods are often starch-laden carbohydrate-stuffed stomach bricks?  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE it that way.  Nobody appreciates that kind of comfort food more than I so.  NOBODY.  But along that line of thinking, what could possibly be more comforting than a nice warm pasta dish……(wait for it)…….served in a pie crust??

Not much, that is the answer.  There are not many things (except brownies maybe) that could be more comforting.

Spaghetti pie is wonderful.  It really is.  It can be really rich and really filling which is a wonderful thing on boogery cold days like the ones we have been living through lately in my neck of the woods.

I decided to make mine a little lighter by using chicken instead of beef.  I also used a sauce that is a bit more like a puttanesca sauce rather than the traditional spaghetti sauce.  The briney taste mixed with the rich pie crust was just wonderful.  This is also a dish that does very well as leftovers.

Spaghetti Pie

My Recipe

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (you can grill or boil)

2 Tblsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

1/4 cup chopped olives (I used Spanish olives, but any briney olive will do fine)

1 Tblsp. capers

1 tsp. dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Double pie crust (I make mine homemade, but you can buy the refrigerated stuff.  It works just fine.)

Enough spaghetti pasta for 4 people (The easiest way to measure is to hold the uncooked pasta between your index finger and thumb, and for every adult, have a bundle of pasta that is approximately the width of a dime.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Boil the pasta to almost al dente in salted water.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Cook onions and garlic.  Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, olives, capers, oregano and salt and pepper.  Heat through.  Add chicken cubes.  Toss cooked pasta into sauce.  Set aside.

Line a deep dish pie pan with the bottom pie crust.  Add pasta and sauce (this will make a a very deep pie, so beware!).  Cover with top layer of pie crust.  Crimp edges of pastry and cut vent holes into the top.  Brush with egg wash (1 beaten egg and 1 Tblsp. water).  Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is golden.

All things considered, this dish really doesn’t take long to make.  I can make pie pastry in my sleep at this point and if you buy it, that’s one less step.  The thing about the preparation that takes the longest is the cooking of the pasta.

This was a really filling a delicious dish.  I’d even dare say that this could even be a Martian-friendly meal.  Most of my martians would like it, at least.

Give it a try.

Enjoy!

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Filed Under Main Dishes Tagged With comfort food, cooking for martians, food, how to, pasta, puttanesca sauce, recipe, spaghetti pie

Beef Stew: The Perfect Cold Weather Warmer

December 7, 2009 Leave a Comment

I have memories from my childhood of spending hours playing outside in the snow with my brother.  After a while, our knit mittens were soaked with melted snow and our toes were numb from the cold.  When we would go inside for dinner after these cold weather romps, my mom would have thick soups and stews waiting for us.  One of my favorites was always beef stew.  It’s your typical Western European meat n’ potatoes dish and it can be one of the most heart-warming dishes ever or it can basically taste like dirt.

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Since this is what it looked like outside, some beef stew was definitely in order.  I don’t make it like my mom, but I’ve tried to make it close.  My mom, like many moms, uses a seasoning packet for beef stew and it’s taken me a while to get the same flavor.  I don’t have much against those seasoning packets (aside from the astronomical amounts of salt contained in them), it’s just that I never think to buy them for my usual staples and I don’t like to have to store little awkward things like that.  So this is my beef stew recipe, and it’s really quite good.

Beef Stew

My Recipe

1 Package beef stew meat

Salt and Pepper

1/3 cup flour

4 Tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1-1/2 cups potato chopped into 1-inch chunks

1-1/2 cups carrots, chopped

1 cup chopped celery

1-1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. dried parsely

1-1/2 tsp. dried rosemary

1 8-oz. can tomato sauce

2 cans beef broth (you can vary this with 1 cup beef broth and 1 cup red wine OR 1 cup beef broth and 1 cup beer.  I’ve tried all and all are good)

1 cup water

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Chop all of your vegetable and set aside.  Yes, do this first since there are so many vegetables to cut up.  Process means everything in dishes like this.

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Salt and pepper your stew meat before you dredge it in flour.  If you add the salt and pepper to the flour and then try to dredge it, the meat won’t get enough seasoning.  Season it first.

Dredge the meat lightly in the flour and add to a heated dutch oven with 2 Tblsp. of oil.

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You will most likely need to do this in 2 or maybe 3 batches.  You have to be very careful not to over crowd the pan with meat.  You want the meat to brown and get a skin to it without boiling it and making it slimey.  What you’ll get is a taste to your stew like the essence of steak has been added.  You want the essence of steak, right?  Of course you do.

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Brown the meat on both sides and set aside on a plate while you do the other batches.  Once all the meat has been browned, add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan and add your diced onions to the hot pot.  When the onions start to turn translucent, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute (burned garlic will ruin this stew).  Add the carrots and stir about for 2 minutes.

Now add your broth (or whatever other liquid combination you choose) and water.  Once the liquid becomes hot, add the rest of the vegetables.  Add the water, tomato sauce, and herbs.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and cook for at least 45 minutes.

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Long cooking will turn this pot of mess into a pot of smooth, thick, goodness that will warm cold bones on a snowy day.  Serve this with some crusty bread, rolls, biscuits, or even buttered white bread.  It’s all about preference there.

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Either way, you’re in for a treat with a warm bowl of this.  I hope you try it.  It’s a simple home-cooked dish and if you are careful, you will achieve home-cooked perfection.  Enjoy!

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Filed Under Main Dishes Tagged With beef stew, cold weather, comfort food, food, home cooked, homemade, how to, recipe, warm food

Spaghetti Carbonara

May 1, 2009 3 Comments

Everybody in my house is currently sick.  My toddler is sick, I am sick, and my husband (a.k.a. the other toddler) is sick.  We’ve spent the week eating “sick food” and while it is helpful, I really wanted a comfort food today since I am starting to feel a little better.

Back on Wednesday, I was watching a movie called “Heartburn” with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson.  In this movie, Meryl Streep made Spaghetti Carbonara and she and Jack Nicholson were lying in bed eating it happily.  Since then, I have been unable to get my mind off of a big bowl of Spaghetti Carbonara.  It is a dish that I love, but it is a dish that can be a little tricky.

It’s one of those recipes that has millions of variations and depending on that variation, it can be one of the greatest things you have ever tasted or it can be one of the worst disasters ever concocted in a kitchen.  Usually, when I go to make a tricky dish such as this, I go to a website like FoodNetwork.com where the recipes are submitted by chefs and cooks rather than regular people.  I’ve had a lot of bad luck with recipes from AllRecipes.com and RecipeZaar.com because these sites are user generated, and that can mean that that particular recipe was made up and never tested or tested on a boyfriend or mom.  Honestly, some of the recipes I have tried from those places have been just awful.

Happily, to my surprise, I came across a great and simple recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara at AllRecipes.com.  You can find the recipe and it’s reviews here.

* 1 pound spaghetti
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 8 slices bacon, diced
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
* 4 eggs
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 pinch salt and black pepper to taste
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
* 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

If you’ll notice the ingredients and if you’ve never made this dish before, you might be a bit taken aback by the 4 eggs.  Spaghetti Carbonara has a bit of a cream sauce that is made by the eggs, cheese, and the little bit of fat.  It’s simple and it’s very easy to make…but it can go terribly wrong very easily.  I’ll give you what tips I know so that you can enjoy this dish without coming face to face with a curdled mess.

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti pasta until al dente. Drain well. Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and set aside.

Bacon Rendering

(A small note about crisping bacon:  Make sure not to over-crowd your pan so as not to boil the bacon.  You want to make the bacon very crisp and slowly render the fat.  Keep your heat on Medium and do the crisping step in two or three batches.)

2. Meanwhile in a large skillet, cook chopped bacon until slightly crisp; remove and drain onto paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon fat; add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and heat in reused large skillet. Add chopped onion, and cook over medium heat until onion is translucent. Add minced garlic, and cook 1 minute more. Add wine if desired; cook one more minute.

3. Return cooked bacon to pan; add cooked and drained spaghetti. Toss to coat and heat through, adding more olive oil if it seems dry or is sticking together. Add beaten eggs and cook, tossing constantly with tongs or large fork until eggs are barely set. Quickly add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and toss again. Add salt and pepper to taste (remember that bacon and Parmesan are very salty).
4. Serve immediately with chopped parsley sprinkled on top, and extra Parmesan cheese at table.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Okay, now I’ll give you the tips.  Tip #1, if you follow this recipe exactly, you will end up with a curdled mess.

Instead of cooking the pasta ahead of time and setting it aside in a bowl, cook it alongside the bacon and add it hot from the pot.  When pasta is hot and freshly cooked, it absorbs sauce and flavors.  Always use that tip when making a pasta dish for better consistency and better flavor.

Make sure to whisk your eggs VERY WELL.  It also helps if you whisk the cheese in with the eggs and add 2 Tblsp. of milk to the mix.  It coats the pasta better.

Once you have added the hot pasta to your bacon and onions, turn the heat off.  Stir this mixture first to coat the pasta with the fat.  Then, while the pasta is still hot, add the egg mixture and stir vigorously until the pasta is covered in a creamy sauce.  If you see that the saice is getting sticky or is too thick, add some of your pasta water to the mix and it will thin right out.

This is a great dish and I am feeling so much better after a nice hot bowl of it.  Please try it.  Enjoy!

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Filed Under Main Dishes Tagged With comfort food, pasta, recipe, spaghetti carbonara

Chicken and Dumplings: Comfort on a Cold, Rainy Day

April 11, 2009 Leave a Comment

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we are doomed to live through many cold, rainy and gray days.  After about the fifth gray day in a row, one can feel the blues starting to set in;  that’s when I turn to a comfort food.

I classify a comfort food as something that tastes like home.  Whether my mother made it for me as a child or not, it has to have “Mother’s Love” all over it.  Since I am originally from the East coast below the Mason-Dixon Line, I tend to find Southern comfort foods right up my alley.

I love Chicken and Dumplings.  My mother made it a handful of times when I was a child, but I always loved it.  It’s thick, rich and loaded with chicken flavor.  And the greatest thing about it is that I always have the necessary ingredients on hand to make it any time.

Some people find the dish a little intimidating.  The dumplings can be a little tricky, but stick with me kids!  I’ll teach you the ways of the dumpling.

chickenanddumplings

The first step is to chop 1 large onion and about 6 cloves of garlic.  I know you’re screaming at your computer screen right now about the amount of garlic I’ve used, but trust me.  The broth of this dish can be very bland and we need to really make sure it is fragrant and well flavored.  If you aren’t a huge fan of garlic, by all means, cut it back to 2 cloves.

chickenn'dumplings

Now, in a dutch oven, heat 1 Tablespoon of butter and 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over Medium heat.  When hot, add the onions first and saute until tender and translucent.  This will take about 4-5 minutes so while the onions are cooking, cut three boneless skinless chicken breasts into bit-sized pieces and set aside.

When the onions are cooked add the garlic and saute for only a minute or two.  You will know  when the garlic is hot because you will SMELL it (with 6 cloves, you’d better smell it!).  Add the chicken pieces and stir in.

Now add 1 cup of milk and about 6-8 cups of chicken stock (use stock instead of broth for a better chicken taste).  I make my own stock and always have some in the freezer, but there are brands at the supermarket that are fine; although homemade really is best.

Now that all the liquid is in the pot and making it’s way to a simmer (still over Medium or Med-High heat), you need to contemplate spices.  Add about 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/2 Tablespoon of dried sage and about 1/2 teaspoon of Tabasco sauce.

chickenn'dumplingspice

The sage and Tabasco just add some kickass taste to this dish.  As I said before, this dish can very easily taste bland.  The sage adds this cozy, fragrant taste to the broth.  The Tabasco really can’t be detected except for that warm feeling in your throat as you eat the dish.  I always put either hot sauce or cayenne pepper in creamy soups, sauces or gravies because of that heat in the back of the throat.  It’s comforting.

While your broth is getting hot and building to a simmer, prepare your favorite biscuit or dumpling dough.  I’ve even seen people take the prepared biscuits in the can and cut them up and use them as dumplings.  All that matters here is that your liquid is in a rolling simmer before you start dropping the dough in.  Once the dough is in, DO NOT STIR!  Put a lid on it, set a timer for 15 minutes and do not, I repeat, DO NOT remove that lid to peek.  The steam inside of that pot will make those dumplings puff into soft and gooey love.  Just maintain a simmer or low boil in the liquid during the cooking process.

When the 15 minutes has passed, lift the lid and notice how your broth has gotten thick and creamy thanks to the partial breakdown of the dumplings as they cooked.  At this point, the dish is ready to eat!

chickenn'dumplingsdone

I like to serve mine in a small bowl on the side of a plate of mashed potatoes and sauteed greens.  That way you can pick the dumplings and chicken pieces out of the dish and then dump the creamy broth over the mashed potatoes like gravy.  My husband and I were practically licking our plates after this meal and were thrilled to see that there were going to be leftovers.  This dish makes fantastic leftovers!

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Filed Under Main Dishes Tagged With chicken, chicken an dumplings, comfort food, dumplings, food, Southern food