Sikoti me Kremmydia kai Hilopites--Calf's Liver with Caramelized Onions over Egg Pasta

Want a meal packed with flavor and vitamins that's ready in mere minutes? I sure do and that's why I turned to this dish the other night when trying to put together a healthy meal for my husband and children while simultaneously working on two cake orders.

To be honest, growing up I only enjoyed liver on Holy Saturday, when we'd break the fast held throughout Lent with a meal including fried sweetbreads, fried liver and patsa (tripe soup). As an adult, I still enjoy it on this sacred holiday but also like to include liver in my diet, and my family's for that matter, on other occasions as well.

This dish is a great way to do that and I urge you to try it. The caramelized onions lend a wonderful dimension of flavor to the liver and the wine takes the sauce to another level altogether. I served this over hilopites, a Greek egg pasta, but you can easily serve it over rice or mashed potatoes.

Sikoti me Kremmydia Kai Hilopites--Calf's Liver and Caramelized Onions over Egg Pasta

Makes 4 servings

1 1/4 pound piece calf's liver, rinsed and sliced into strips
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup sherry or marsala

1/2 pound Hilopites, cooked, drained and tossed with butter

Heat oil in a large skillet, add onions and season with salt. Stir and cook over high heat until softened. Cover skillet, turn heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile season the liver slices with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Add liver to the skillet and saute until browned on both sides. Remove liver and onions to a bowl and keep warm. Set the skillet over high heat and deglaze with the wine. Serve the liver and onions over the hilopites with some sauce spooned on top.

Sausage Ragu over Ziti

I love dishes with tomato sauces and there are weeks when it seems that tomato can easily make its way into each and every one of our meals. There are some dishes for which I can make a larger batch of tomato sauce, that I can then ration accordingly and refrigerate or freeze for future use. This sausage ragu came about from some tomato sauce I had saved upon making this Chicken Stuffed with Trahanas, but I also provide a quick recipe for the same sauce below.

Nothing fancy here; just a simple sauce with some sweet Italian sausage served over ziti. An ideal weeknight meal that pairs well with a green salad ... and a glass of red wine, of course.

Kali Orexi!

Sausage Ragu over Ziti

5 links of sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
Small onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried Greek oregano

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups chopped tomatoes

Pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Grated kefalotyri, pecorino Romano or parmesan

1 lb. of ziti
1/3 to 1/2 cup of the pasta water (in case sauce needs to be thinned)

In a large skillet, brown the sausage over medium high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you go. Once browned, remove the sausage to a bowl and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet. Saute the onion until soft. Stir in the garlic, oregano and the red pepper flakes. Add the chopped tomatoes and bring to a boil. Stir in the sugar, reduce heat to low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Add the sausage to the sauce and simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in half the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, boil the ziti in a large pot of salted water until just cooked through. Save 1/2 cup of pasta water in case you need to thin out your sauce. Drain the pasta well. Add a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil to the pot and heat until the butter is brown and nutty. Stir in the pasta and toss to coat. Divide pasta among plates and top with the sausage ragu. Sprinkle with parsley, grated cheese and some freshly ground black pepper.

Soutzoukakia Me Hilopitakia (Greek Meatballs and Egg Pasta in Tomato Sauce)

I've mentioned before that I love pasta, but seriously, who doesn't? Carbs schmarbs. Pasta is great and it shouldn't be something anyone purposely avoids eating. Everything is fine in moderation--although I can probably eat a serving of pasta a day. That doesn't mean that I do of course.

Pasta is, however, something I usually make about once a week. My husband loves the basic linguine or fettuccine and he's not too keen on other shapes or forms of pasta. The kids--like their mother--eat anything put in front of them. So--fortunately for us, unfortunately for him--the hubbie is outnumbered. And I'll often make anything from penne, to orechiette, tagliatelle, linguine, orzo, campanelle, cavatelli, fettuccine, farfalle or the versatile Greek egg pasta known as hilopites.

I often use hilopitakia (as the smallest of this egg-based pasta is usually called) with stewed chicken or beef but decided yesterday to serve them with soutzoukakia (Greek meatballs in tomato sauce).

I'm hoping to get a pasta attachment for my KitchenAid standmixer so I can start experimenting with making this versatile pasta myself as I'm pretty sure it makes quite a difference to cook with fresh homemade pasta as opposed to store bought. For now, however, Misko is my favorite source, specifically their line of region-specific pastas and the Hilopitakia Metsovou I used below.

I'm sending this dish straight to Ivy of Kopiaste as she is hosting this week's edition of the yummy Presto Pasta Nights, originally created by Ruth over at Once Upon a Feast. Kali Orexi!

Soutzoukakia me Hilopitakia

Serves 6

1 1/2 pounds ground beef/pork/veal combo

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

1/4 teaspoon dried mint

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Small onion, grated

1/3 cup breadcrumbs

2 eggs

Salt and pepper, to taste

4 tablespoons olive oil

Small onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1 26.5-oz. box chopped tomatoes

2 teaspoons tomato paste, diluted in 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried Greek oregano

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 pound Hilopitakia (small square-shaped egg pasta)

In a large bowl combine first 8 ingredients and knead briefly to mix. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour (time permitting).

In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Form the meat mixture into small oblong-shaped portions and brown in skillet. Remove each batch of browned meatballs to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Once all the meatballs have been browned and removed, add remaining two tablespoons of olive oil to the same skillet and saute the chopped onion and garlic until the onion has softened (scraping up all those tasty brown bits). Stir in the crushed red pepper flakes and then add the chopped tomatoes. Bring to boil, add the tomato paste, broth, parsley, oregano salt and pepper and stir. Reduce heat and simmer for about five minutes. Add the meatballs back to the skillet and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes more.

Spoon meatballs and 1/2 to 3/4 of sauce into a platter and keep warm. Add the hilopitakia to the skillet along with some water and cook until tender (add additional water or broth as needed to cook pasta through). Serve with the cooked soutzoukakia and tomato sauce spooned over.

Pastitsada

Short ribs are one of my favorite cuts of beef. The other day I decided to stray away from my usual braising of the ribs with different vegetables and try them out in a specialty dish from Kerkyra, known as pastitsada.

I've tried many versions of this dish across Kerkyra, some made with rooster and others with beef. My favorites have never been based on which meat (I've enjoyed both the rooster and the beef) but always on the sauce. For me, the more the spices the better.

I made my version with loads of cinnamon and cloves, bay leaves and some red wine. The short ribs are quite a rich cut of meat and the hours--yes I said hours--of braising leave them so tender the meat just falls off the bone. Served with a side of penne, this is a meal my family loved.

Beef Short Ribs Pastitsada

Serves 6

5 pounds of beef short ribs

2 onions, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 bay leaves

6 cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

1 cup dry red wine

1 box good quality chopped tomatoes (26.5 oz)

Pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

1 box of penne

3 tablespoons of butter

Grated cheese

Season short ribs with salt and pepper. In a large dutch oven over medium high heat, sear the short ribs and remove to a plate once well browned. Add the onion to the dutch oven and cook until soft, stir in the garlic and cook a minute more. Toss in the cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and cloves and stir well. Add the red wine and deglaze until the wine is reduced. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Season with the pinch of sugar, add some salt and pepper and simmer for a couple of minutes.

Add meat back to dutch oven. Cover with lid and transfer to a 325 degree oven and braise the short ribs for about 3 hours, until the meat is falling off the bone.

Meanwhile boil the penne until al dente. Drain pasta and then brown the butter in the pasta pot. Once butter has browned, add the penne back to the pot and toss to coat. Stir in some of the braising liquid. Top individual portions of penne with short ribs and sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Eggplant and Pasta

I had one too many eggplants in my refrigerator last week and after making melitzanosalata (eggplant spread) with the more traditional small purple eggplants my neighbor gave me straight from his yard, I decided to use the two white eggplants I'd bought from a farm stand to make this pasta dish. I used it here layered between pasta and tomato sauce. It was easy, quick (would have been quicker had I had a batch of the tomato sauce on hand) and made for great leftovers.

The white eggplant was a pleasant surprise: a much less bitter type of eggplant than its dark purple cousin. I have to admit though that my favorite are the Sicilian eggplants I sometimes find which have an amazingly sweet flavor. You can use any eggplant here, of course, and alter the herbs and type of pasta to your liking.

I'm submitting this dish to this week's Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.

Kali Orexi!

Baked Eggplant and Pasta

Serves 6

2 white eggplants, about 1 pound each
1 pound penne
2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
3/4 cup grated pecorino romano
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Olive Oil

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Slice eggplant into 1/2-inch rounds and place on an oiled baking sheet. Sprinkle with additional olive oil, salt and pepper and bake until tender and golden.

Cook the penne in the boiling water until almost done; about 5 minutes. Drain and toss with 3/4 cup of tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
Grease a baking dish with olive oil. Add about 1/3 cup tomato sauce to the dish and top with half the bread crumbs. Layer half the penne and then top with half of the eggplant slices. Add about 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce over the eggplant and sprinkle with half the grated cheese and chopped parsley. Repeat with the remaining tomato sauce, bread crumbs, pasta, eggplant, cheese, and parsley, topping with an additional drizzle of olive oil.

Bake until golden.

Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 to 5 garlic cloves, minced
Pinch of dried thyme

Pinch of dried basil
1 carrot, shredded
2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes

Pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onion and garlic, cooking until soft. Add the herbs and carrot and cook until the carrot is soft. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil, stirring often; add sugar. Lower the heat and simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. (I used half of this recipe for the above pasta dish and stored the remaining sauce in the freezer for future use.)

Quick Weekend Pasta

Leonetto Cappiello

I’m a sucker for pasta. I can eat it with just about anything. Give me linguine with seafood, give me fettuccine Alfredo, give me penne with sauteed broccoli rabe, give me rigatoni Bolognese, give me ... well, I can go on and on with this list forever. I simply love it all. Just picture me as the harlequin in the vintage ad above -- so buoyant and ecstatic over a heaping plate of pasta.
As I was packing for our return home from Greece earlier this month, my husband’s parents, aunt and uncle were bombarding me with things they thought I should bring back. Among the olives, honey, oregano, chamomile, almonds, pistachios and raisins were also bags of pasta made by his aunt’s neighbor. As I’ve never gotten around to making my own pasta--although I have bought fresh pasta from a great Italian store in our neighborhood--I graciously accepted the homemade goods and tucked them safely away in my duffel.
The pasta were flat, wide, wavy three- to four-inch long pieces that worked well with this sausage and porcini mushroom cream sauce I paired them with this weekend. The Italian sausage I used was made with broccoli rabe and Parmesan, which added another depth of flavor to the dish as well.



I'm submitting this dish to Ruth over at Once Upon a Feast, creator and this week's host of Presto Pasta Nights.




Pasta with a Sausage and Porcini Mushroom Sauce
Serves 6

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 Italian sausage links
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ oz. dried Porcini mushrooms, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes, rinsed over and blanched 2 tablespoons sherry
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 pound of pasta
½ cup pasta cooking liquid
Chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Remove sausage from casings and add to hot skillet, breaking it up into smaller chunks with a wooden spoon as you go. Once the sausage has browned, add the garlic and mushrooms and saute for a minute more. Add sherry and deglaze the pan.

Meanwhile cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water. Before straining the pasta, remove ½ cup of cooking liquid and add to the sausage mixture. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream and continue to simmer until sauce is slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add a couple of spoonfuls of sauce to pasta and toss to coat.
Top individual portions of pasta with sausage and mushroom sauce just before serving and sprinkle with chopped parsley and grated cheese.