V8 Soup

Two nights ago, I gave a small dinner party at my house.  Although the style of my cooking has become rather simple, the aggregate of dishes and the worry behind cooking for the man who is writing Julia Child’s newest biography (to coincide with her 100th birthday next year) and the general manager of what-will-surely be one of New York’s hippest hotels, the Hotel Williamsburg (in Williamsburg!), the pressure was on.  Along with their wives, we were a group of six, chatting about world events, the mystery of Mustique, how courses on the Beatles have became mainstream in American colleges (our guest Bob also wrote the definitive book on the Beatles), and the journey of finding a chef for the hippest new hotel in New York.  We sipped those apple ginger-pear martinis I keep talking about, ate white hummus, and “devilled pecans” and tried to guess what-the-heck was in the tea cup I served in the living room before sitting down to dinner. More about that in a moment.  Dinner began with a dish of “tiradito” the Peruvian equivalent of sashimi but with a shimmering sauce of lemon, garlic and oil.  It was accompanied by a tiny timbale of potato salad vinaigrette, a handful of lightly dressed arugula and bits of radicchio (remember when that was exotic?) and a drizzle of beet vinaigrette. The main course was “My Opinionated Way to Roast a Chicken!” with (a foaming chive-garlic butter sauce), Moroccan carrot puree, steamed spinach and a roasted garlic custard.  Dessert?  A slice of my Venetian Wine Cake (with rosemary, red wine and olive oil — and it is the ONLY recipe I don’t divulge), with lemon-buttermilk sorbet, pineapple flan and creme fraiche.  To drink?  Rose champagne with the first course and a bottle of almost-impossible-to-find Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon 1986 with the chicken.

But the real intrigue centered around the soup in the tea cup.  I called it “Tomato-Anisette Cappuccino.”   Dearly loved, everyone took a guess at identifying its ingredients.  But no one would ever make a soup from V8 juice, anisette, and fish sauce, but me.  It was topped with salted whipped cream and snippets of fresh tarragon.  And it takes only five minutes to make.

Tomato-Anisette Cappuccino
You can make this with “original” or spicy V8.  If using the original, you might want to add a few splashes of chipotle Tabasco for more intrigue.

1/2 cup heavy cream
4 cups V8 (or other tomato-vegetable juice cocktail)
1/4 cup anisette liqueur
1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce
snippets of fresh tarragon for garnish

Using a wire whisk, whip the cream with a large pinch of salt until thick but not stiff. Set aside.  Put the V8 in a large saucepan.  Bring to boil, lower heat to medium and add the anisette.  Simmer for 3 minutes.  Stir in the fish sauce, salt, pepper and hot sauce, if using.  Pour into soup cups and top with whipped cream and tarragon. Serves 4 to 6

Note:  And speaking of fish sauce, tomorrow morning I will give you the world’s simplest recipe for fabulous “devilled pecans” — perfect for Super Bowl munching. Make sure you have Thai fish sauce, pecan halves, and sweet butter at the ready.

Super Bowls and Super Bowl

Breaking News:  If you go to facebook.com/lenox and click on the “cooking” tab, you will see that I have a new relationship…with Lenox!  That fabulous all-American tabletop company has decided to join the food revolution and chose me as their culinary consultant.  I’m honored and very excited by the project.  Lenox has been a part of my family’s viewable treasures since I was a young girl.  Whether it was a porcelain swan that my mother used for displaying good chocolates or a small vase tipped with gold that was simply on display, Lenox China was one of those upscale, yet comforting brands that continued to stand the test of time.  Only now their product line includes some of the hippest stuff I’ve seen in a long time.  After writing 12 cookbooks, most of them with photographs of food and the plates upon which it is presented, I am familiar with many tablewares on the market.  I am in love with Lenox’s new sushi sets — stark-white rectangular plates that come with a tiny bowl for soy sauce and…silver chopsticks!  What bride wouldn’t want a dozen of those?  I am using my new white cereal bowls from their Tin Can Alley line with great pleasure, and am totally enamored with their newest line, designed by Donna Karan.   My first assignment was to create a Super Bowl party!  You can view the menu and get all the recipes for this coming-Sunday’s game. The menu includes the Apple-Ginger-Pear Martinis (referenced here yesterday), Espresso Bean Chili with all the fixin’s, Shrimp Veracruz with brown rice, corn and olives (with a radically simple sauce made by emulsifying jarred salsa with olive oil and fresh lime!), and the most succulent Chicken Wings made with rosemary, lemon and garlic.  Addictive!   Also included in February’s food line-up is a menu for the Bridal Registry — featuring a dinner that both bride and-groom-to-be can enjoy.  No longer are the decision makers only women these days. Guys, too, have strong ideas about what china, glassware and accessories they want.  And you’ll notice that my approach skews both traditional and non-traditional — with ideas such as serving an elegant onion soup with apple cider and thyme in a coffee cup, or serving Chocolate Pousse (somewhere between a pudding and mousse) in a tall, graceful wine glass.

Enjoy the recipes from my Super Bowl party!  I hope your team wins.

I Wonder Who’s Drinking My Vodka

A few days ago, after a nice enough brunch at Char No. 4 in Brooklyn, I bought a bottle of vodka. Not to replicate the Bloody Mary served at Char — they make theirs with bourbon and it’s great! — but to test yet another recipe. I had concocted a formula for apple-ginger-pear martinis that made their way into my new cookbook Radically Simple (they take only five minutes to make!), but I needed a hip summer libation for a new project.  My idea was to use hibiscus tea as a base and go from there. After choosing a bottle of pretty cheap vodka in a local liquor store (it still cost $21.00), I sat with it, and my family, in the back of a car service.  It sloshed around as the car moved rapidly through the icy slush from the Heights to the Slope.  So eager to start “cocktail-ing,” I high-tailed it to my kitchen and went right for the ice cubes.  “Oh no,” I sighed.  “I left the booze in the back seat.”  “Someone in New York will soon be drinking my vodka.”

If it happens to be you (!), here is the recipe for the quite-addictive apple-ginger-pear martinis.  Make them by the pitcher so that you don’t need to be shaking and stirring when your guests arrive.  As for the martini made with hibiscus tea, simple syrup, fresh ginger, and lime, I decided to use GIN instead.  Blessings to my husband who reluctantly parted with a few shots of his beloved Old Raj.  It’s one of the most expensive on the market — and definitely one of the best.  Cheers!

Apple-Ginger-Pear Martinis

1-1/2 cups pear nectar (Goya makes a decent one)
2-1/2 cups apple juice
4 limes
4 teaspoons honey*
1-1/4 cups vodka
4-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled

Stir the pear nectar and apple juice together in a pitcher.  Squeeze 6 tablespoons lime juice into the pitcher.  Add the honey and stir until it dissolves. Stir in the vodka.  Grate the ginger on the large holes of a box grater.  Place the grated ginger in a paper towel and squeeze to extract 1 tablespoon juice; add to the pitcher. Stir, cover, and refrigerate until very cold.  Pour into chilled martini glasses or serve over ice.  Garnish with a slice of lime.  Serves 6

*Read yesterday’s blog about honey and the upcoming bee event at Stone Barns, just in case you missed it!

Dr. Bee

Ms. Dale Bellisfield

Honey is the food of bees.  This coming Sunday, at the revered, sustainable eco-food complex Stone Barns (where chef Dan Barber is king), there will be a wonderful talk about bees and an equally wonderful honey tasting.  Led by urbane, urban beekeeper Dale Bellisfield, RN, CH (a noted clinical herbalist and medical practitioner), we (I will be there!) will learn about the medical uses of honey and be guided in the tasting of multiple varieties in a program called Bee M.D.  Honey, in all its glory, from bits of real honeycomb, to the connoisseurship of more than 300 varieties (and perhaps as many as 650 distinct types), is on the hit parade of trends this year. The exploitation of its flavor profiles is slowly becoming part of the new menu language and will soon rival chocolate, or wine, in esoteric discussions of provenance and pedigree.  I, for one, am crazy about wild thyme honey from Sicily, leatherwood honey from Australia, buckwheat honey (in very small doses), and the linden honey I once sampled from Ms. Bellisfield’s own hives.  I use it sparingly in my cooking but love its primal uses:  drizzled over pungent blue cheese, stirred into homemade labneh, tossed with blackberries and mint, or dissolved into a bourbon sour.

Honey is an entirely natural food, made up of natural sugars, pollen, protein, minerals and amino acids and, it has a long history.  Cave paintings in Spain depict the practice of beekeeping more than 7000 years ago, and many sources, both cultural and folkloric, demonstrate its use in medicinal and religious practices.  This “food of the Gods” is made by bees using nectar from flowers — whose flavor, aroma and color can differ dramatically depending on the flowers that the nectar was collected from.  Ergo, there are as many flavors of honey in the world as exists combinations of blossoms in bloom at the same time.  There is major interest right now in single varieties — such as lavender, acacia, or pine — and there is much attention given to “fair trade honey.”  Much to learn.   See you at Stone Barns.  To sign up go to www.stonebarnscenter.org/bee-md.

In the meantime, here is a favorite recipe of  mine using honey in an unexpected way.  Adapted from Radically Simple: Brilliant Flavors with Breathtaking Ease.

Cappellini with Spicy Fish Sauce Marinara
Lemon, fresh ginger, Thai fish sauce, and honey, coalesce into an exceptional marriage of flavors in this quick pasta sauce.  It can double as a fabulous adornment for grilled fish and steak — just swirl 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter into the finished sauce.

28-ounce can whole tomatoes in puree
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon aromatic honey
2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
3 large garlic cloves
1 lemon slice, about 1/4-inch thick
2 nickel-size pieces peeled fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
12 ounces fresh cappellini

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Combine the tomatoes and puree, oil, honey, fish sauce, garlic, lemon, ginger, and pepper flakes in a food processor.  Process until very smooth.  Transfer to a large saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium and cook until thick, 8 minutes.  Cook the pasta 1 to 2 minutes until tender. Drain well and shake dry.  Transfer to bowls and spoon the sauce on top.  Grated parmigiano-reggiano, optional.  Serves 4

iMac2

As promised, here is another recipe for macaroni and cheese.  This is an unusual version and healthier than most.  It is also prettier.  This mac-and-cheese is studded with surprise nuggets of cauliflower and its gorgeous bright orange sauce is made from cooked red bell peppers and garlic that get pureed together until silky.  My daughter and her friends like making it because is looks like it’s oozing with cheese, but it has much less fat and is more nutritious than the more familiar stuff.  The secret is to use a very sharp yellow cheddar, artisanal if possible.  For dinner, you might partner it with a garlic-and-smoked paprika-rubbed rib-eye steak and open a bottle of shiraz.  Or if you feel like keeping-it-healthy, simply serve with a salad for a radically wonderful weekend lunch.

Mac-and-Cheese with Cauliflower and Creamy Red Pepper Sauce
5 ounces very sharp yellow cheddar cheese
2 medium red bell peppers, about 12 ounces
3 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon honey
1/8 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
8 ounces ziti or penne rigate or elbow macaroni
5 cups small cauliflower florets
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives

Shred the cheese on the large holes of a box grater and set aside.  Cut the peppers in half and remove seeds.  Cut into 1-inch pieces and put in a small saucepan with 1/2 cup water.  Cut the garlic in half, lengthwise and add to saucepan.  Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the peppers are very soft.  Transfer the contents of the saucepan, including the water, to a food processor or blender.  Add the butter, honey, chili powder, and salt to taste and process until very smooth.  Return to the saucepan.   Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta and cauliflower and cook 12 minutes or until tender.  Drain well and shake until completely dry.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Heat the sauce and pour it over the pasta.  Add the cheese and stir well.  Add salt to taste and sprinkle with chives.  Serves 6

iMac-and-Cheese

From Kids Cook 1-2-3

Most kids grew up eating Kraft macaroni and cheese and I suppose I had my share.  But my real comfort came from the loving hands of my beautiful Hungarian mother, Marion, who made me cabbage and noodles, instead. Just yesterday, I was given, and then duly paid for, a book by my 8-year old neighbor, Diego.  He wrote FOOD: It’s Good Stuff, with a bunch of friends.  It’s chock-a-block with illustrations and recipes galore.  One of my favorites — shark’s fin soup — begins with a whale.  Not everyone has thought of that!  The book is $6.50 ($7.50) if you live in Canada and I’m sure I could get you a copy.  Complete with recipes for ice cream sundaes, “hide-and-seek,” and “the crunch of a salad,” it is witty and fun.  And, it’s a bestselling book!  It says so right on the cover. Yet despite a reference to Steve Jobs and the new iMac with a 3D camera, there is no recipe for mac-and-cheese.  So, here are two complimentary entries (or entrees!) for their next edition.  One of the most radically simple recipes ever created is adapted from my book called Kids Cook 1-2-3.  The second version, comes from Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs (both published by Bloomsbury) — will be available on this site tomorrow.   Dedicated to Diego, today’s recipe is now called iMac-and-Cheese.  I hope he enjoys it.

iMac-and-Cheese
Due to a surfeit of American cheese in my fridge, I invented this version of everyone’s favorite recipe.  You can use familiar elbow macaroni or the less familiar shape called campanelle (“little bells”).  If you want this even cheesier, just melt a few more slices of cheese!  If you’re a daring kind of kid, you can top it with freshly chopped chives.

4 ounces elbow macaroni
4 ounces American cheese, about 7 slices
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook for about 10 minutes, until just tender.  Meanwhile, put 1/4 cup water and the cheese in a medium size saucepan.  Bring just to a boil.  Immediately lower the heat to medium and stir with a wooden spoon until the cheese melts, about 3  minutes.  Add the butter and continue to stir for 1 minute, or until you have a smooth sauce.  Put a colander in the sink and drain the pasta.  Return the pasta to the large saucepan and stir into the cheese mixture.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir gently while reheating the pasta.  Serves 2 or 3

Fab Time at Whole Foods

Whole Foods Market- Bowery, NYC

Last night I taught a cooking class at Whole Foods on the Bowery — the home of a wonderfully compact, but ample, Culinary Center — equipped with most anything a cook could want (more about that later) and two amazing assistants, Wai Chu and Min Liao.  Wai is an accomplished chef who wrote the definitive book on Asian dumplings, and Min, too, knows her way around a kitchen better than most.  I don’t teach often — after 12 books — and many such lessons, I choose one venue when a new book comes out.  This time the class was based on Radically Simple: Brilliant Flavors with Breathtaking Ease — the goal was to demonstrate how restaurant-quality food could be made simply at home — and in 140 words or fewer!   But as such experiences go, I made a 6-course dinner for a sold-out crowd — 25 in all, including the lovely person from “Mobile Libris” who came to sell books. I arrived at Whole Foods at 3:45 p.m. and got home at 9:45 p.m.

The menu?  First we played a guessing game.  I made two recipes that I challenged the students to describe.  One was my za’atar pesto into which lavash chips and grape tomatoes were dipped.  One woman guessed (almost).  The second was an intriguing soup based on tomato-vegetable juice with an ample amount of anisette and a soupçon of Thai fish sauce.  It was topped with lightly salted whipped cream and snippets of fresh tarragon.  Everyone loved it and were delighted to learn it can be made in five minutes.  Dinner followed from there:  Chilled Beet Soup with Crème fraiche and Lemon Zest, Tiradito (Peruvian-style sashimi) with a whole lemon-garlic dressing, Scallops on Sweet Pea Puree (with a brown butter-dry vermouth reduction), Salmon with Lime Leaves on Poppy Rice (with coconut-sake sauce and curry oil), Chicken “ras el hanout” with tomato- ginger chutney, and my “little black dress” flourless chocolate cake — made in five minutes (and only 18 minutes to bake.)   Yep, and it was all radically simple to do.

However, missing items that evening were a standard size food processor and…regular olive oil.  It seems as though Whole Foods carries only extra-virgin olive oil. Curious, I thought, but it is simply not correct to use extra virgin olive oil for everything.  In some recipes, I had to dilute the extra virgin stuff with canola oil (which I never do!) to avoid ruining the taste.  Extra virgin olive oil is not recommended for cooking over high heat and it is far too rich in flavor for several of the more subtle dishes.   And…….I schlepped my food processor from home.

Hope you enjoy the chicken. Everyone did!

Chicken “Ras el Hanout” with Tomato-Ginger Chutney

Juicy and aromatic, this cooks up in no time.  Ras el hanout is a complex, burnt umber-colored spice mixture from Morocco; you may substitute garam masala.

4 very large skinless boneless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1-1/2 tablespons ras el janout
3 large ripe tomatoes, about 1 pound
1-1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/2 small scotch bonnet pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Preheat the broiler or a ridge stovetop grill pan.  Pound the chicken slightly to flatten so that each thigh lies flat.  Place in a large bowl and add the oil, ras el hanout, and 1 teaspoon salt.  Toss to coat.  Broil or grill the chicken for 4 minutes on each side, until just cooked through.  Cut the tomatoes in chunks and put in food processor with the brown sugar, garlic, ginger, scotch bonnet, and cumin.  Pulse until coarsely chopped.  Add salt to taste and serve atop the hot chicken.  Serves 4

Cooking in Silence

Chocolate Buddha from Bond Street

So while I was away “eating in silence,” perhaps you explored the concept of “cooking in silence” as suggested on the morning of my departure for the Garrison Institute.  On a retreat entitled “The Five Remembrances,” dealing with the issues of aging, illness, death, loss and personal actions (what joy!), there was, in fact, much joy in being mindful — of each moment of the day and of each day of our life.  I often bring that idea to the kitchen as a daily practice (although not as often as I’d like.)  I choose a recipe, and I get the kitchen (and myself) as quiet as possible.  Then…I carefully lay out each of the recipes components — those ingredients that go directly into the dish (vegetables, herbs, spices, “disconnected” hunks of protein) — and those implements (pots, cutting board, wooden spoons, dish towel), that are necessary for its preparation.  I carefully look at each; mindful of their individual task.  I am aware of the colors and the wild variety of shapes — and I am mindful of the extraordinary offerings from nature.  I am also aware of my willingness to honor the notion that humans are omnivores yet often disconnect myself from the source of the flesh — fish, chickens, pigs, and cows.  I must make a note to be more mindful of that.  When you cook in silence, and are “fully awake” in the process, you will hear the sounds of cooking (water boiling, oil sizzling, toast popping, knifes chopping against wood), and you will engage in the experience with a feeling of satisfaction far greater than merely completing a task.  It adds great pleasure to also acknowledge those who will be eating this food — to honor those, one-by-one, who will sit at your table.  And finally, but most importantly, to remember those, with a heartfelt nod, who brought us this food.  As the Zen meal chant goes, “Seventy-two labors brought us this food. We should know how it comes to us.”

So today I’ve selected a recipe that will help you quietly put together a nourishing meal.  You can serve it with a simple soup to start, and add a salad and steamed vegetable.  I thought about a dish involving several activities — peeling, chopping, repetitious stirring, careful heating, with deliberate yet forgiving movements.  It is an orzo “risotto” with wild mushrooms — I was among the first to cook orzo, a rice-shaped pasta, using the same techniques as one would for arborio rice, by first sautéing the orzo in olive oil until golden and then slowly incorporating stock.  The texture is velvety and it reheats well.

For dessert…a Chocolate Buddha.  Are you smiling?  The Bond Street Chocolate Shop, located on East 4th Street, in the East Village makes them.  They are dusted with “gold” and are available in different sizes.  I may bump into you there.

Orzo “Risotto” with Wild Mushrooms
adapted from Little Meals (1993)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
12 ounces uncooked orzo
2 tablespoons cognac
3-1/2 to 4 cups beef (or vegetable) broth
4 ounces shiitake or chanterelle mushrooms, thickly sliced
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tablespoons julienned flat-leaf parsley

Heat oil in a heavy, enameled pot.  Add shallots and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add orzo and saute 5 minutes over medium-high heat until golden brown, stirring constantly.  Add cognac and let liquid evaporate.  Heat broth and add 1 cup to the pot. Cook over low heat until liquid is absorbed.  Adjust heat as necessary and stir continuously with a wooden spoon.  Add next cup of broth and continue stirring.  Add mushrooms and remaining broth.  Continue to cook until all broth is absorbed and orzo is tender.  Add cream, stir until heated and stir in cheese, salt and pepper.  Divide evening among 4 warm soup plates and sprinkle with parsley.  Serves 4

Meatballs “To Die For”

This brings us to our last of Google’s most sought-after recipe requests.  Even at position #10, this number undoubtedly represents thousands of pots of simmering tomato sauce begging for orbs of ground meat, mixed with spices, and love.  “I love my meatballs,” Italian cooking maestro Arthur Schwartz whispered to me just last night.  This, from the man who helped put Neapolitan cuisine on the map, about the dish that, “along with pizza and spaghetti with tomato sauce, (meatballs) have to be the most internationally famous, even infamous specialty of Naples.”  And while other cultures have their versions, Jewish sweet-and-sour meatballs, albondigas from Spain, Swedish meatballs, Lions head meatballs from China, meatballs from India and the Middle East called kofta, I believe it is the southern Italian prototype that people most desire. According to Arthur in his delicious book Naples at Table, “often the meatballs of Naples are considered too bready — too meager, too poor, too deceptive.  But it is, in fact, the high ratio of soaked, dried bread they complain about that makes them so light, so crusty, so juicy, so really clever.”  The inclusion of mollica di pane — the milk -or water-soaked interior dough of fresh bread — gave way to dried breadcrumbs when Italians migrated to America.  In this mecca of meat and gold-paved streets, they upped the ratio of beef to bread, and presto!, the meatballs became heavier.  But no, not Arthur’s.  His are considered among many to be “da morire”  (To die for.)

Meatballs can be eaten as a main course with a vegetable, as they often are in Naples.  Or, they can be fried and dropped into tomato sauce; or served atop a bowl of spaghetti. I personally love meatballs in a hero sandwich (some of you say “subs” or “grinders”), topped with melted mozzaralla.  I adore the tomato-soaked bread that lingers behind.  Arthur’s recipe, which you will find below, has pine nuts and raisins in the mixture.  These days, he laments, not everyone adds them — it’s up to family tastes — “but these embellishments make for a much more interesting dish, a Baroque touch from the Baroque city.”

All this talk about meatballs makes me want to run to the Film Forum next week to see director Pasolini’s movie “Mamma Roma” starring Anna Magnani — beginning 1/21.  The movie itself tells the story of a life that, like Neapolitan meatballs, depicts poverty and deception.  It is the tale of a middle-aged prostitute trying to put her sordid past behind her and fashion a good life for her teenage son.  Pasolini, by the way, is considered one of Italy’s greatest modern poets, novelists, and film directors (he died in 1975.)  And Magnani, no doubt, is considered one of Italy’s finest actresses.   See you at the Forum!

Polpette alla Napoletana
adapted from Naples at Table

3 cups dried crustless bread cut into 1-1/2-inch cubes before measuring
1-1/4 pounds ground beef (80% — not leaner)
3 eggs, beaten well
2 large cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup (loosely packed) grated pecorino cheese
1/4 cup (loosely packed) finely cut parsley
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup raisins
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 quart favorite tomato sauce

Soak the bread in cold water.  Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine, but do not yet mix, the remaining ingredients, except the oil and tomato sauce.  Squeeze the bread by fistfuls to drain it, then break it up into the bowl.  First with a fork, then with your hands, blend the mixture very well, squishing it in your hands to make sure the bread blends with the meat.  Do not worry about handling the meat too much.  With your hands moistened in cold water, roll the mixture between your palms into 12 meatballs. When a drop of water sizzles immediately, it’s hot enough for the meatballs.  Gently place them in the pan and as soon as the first side looks brown, dislodge them and turn to another side.  Continue rotating the meatballs, using a wooden spoon and/or spatula.  After 10 minutes the meatballs should be well browned but slightly rare in the center.  If serving without sauce, continue cooking them for 5 to 8 minutes, rotating them as you go.  If serving with sauce, place them in the sauce now and simmer for 15 minutes.  Makes 12 meatballs

#8 A Popular Lasagna

Lasagna. Once upon a time it meant striations of wide wiggle-edge ribbons of pasta layered with creamy ricotta cheese, tomato-y meat sauce, parmesan cheese and melted mozzarella. No wonder it is #8 on the Google most-wanted recipe search. But today, that familiar rendition of lasagna has been mostly relegated to pizza places and family-run trattorias. Even diners. Today lasagna is pure fashion, with new seasons sporting adventurous combinations and colors — nothing anyone in Italy would recognize as a classic.

Years, ago I created a modern twist on lasagna for Bon Appetit magazine. It was made with butternut squash, portabello mushrooms, fresh sage and thyme, and smoked mozzarella. Little did I know that, in one neighborhood in particular, it became a prelude to childbirth. According to my good friend Debbie Freundlich, whose daughter-in-law began the trend, before any expectant Brooklyn Heights mother went to the hospital, an ample supply of my butternut lasagna was prepared days before and popped in the freezer! Apparently, many expecting fathers, friends and relatives have been treated to big squares of this stuff for half-a-dozen years or more.  When I asked Debbie to tell me about this special recipe, she told me the ingredients. I chortled, “Hey, that’s my recipe.” Little did I know that it had been given a new name. In some zip codes, it’s known as “pregnancy lasagna.” What can I say? It’s made with “no-boil” lasagna noodles (a requirement made by the Bon App editors), is vegetarian, and satisfying to make. And it seems to freeze well.

Butternut Squash and Portabello Lasagna
I used a very good organic vegetable broth called Imagine from California. It has lots of body and lovely flavor. This can be assembled one day ahead and refrigerated.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2-1/2 cups finely chopped onions
8 ounces baby portabello mushrooms, sliced
2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and seeded
2 cups vegetable broth
4 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
4 tablespoons slivered fresh sage
3 15-ounce containers whole-milk ricotta
4 cup grated mozzarella or smoked mozzarella (or a combination)
2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
4 large eggs, beaten
9-ounce package no-boil lasagna noodles
olive oil for oiling lasagna pan

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Increase heat to high and add sliced mushrooms. Cook until tender, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to bowl and set aside. Cut squash into 1/4-inch thick slices or 1/2-inch dice.  Add squash, broth, 3 tablespoons thyme and 3 tablespoons sage to the skillet. Cover and simmer until squash is just tender, about 6 minutes. Uncover and cook until squash is very soft but still retains shape, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Mix ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella, 1-1/2 cups parmesan and remaining herbs in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper; mix in eggs. Brush a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish with oil. Spread 1 cup ricotta mixture over bottom. Arrange 3 noodles on top.  Spread 1-3/4 cups ricotta mixture over noodles. Arrange 1-1/3 cups squash mixture over. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mushrooms and 1 cup mozzarella. Top with 3 noodles, then 1-3/4 cups ricotta, half of remaining squash, 1/2 cup mushrooms and remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Repeat with noodles, 1-3/4 cups ricotta, remaining squash and remaining mushrooms. Top with 3 noodles. Spread remaining ricotta on top; sprinkle with remaining parmesan. Cover with oiled foil. Preheat oven to 350. Bake, covered, 35 minutes. Uncover and bake about 25 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serves 8