Paccheri or Rigatoni Pasta with Braised Chicken and Saffron Cream

This pasta dish takes a bit of time, but it's not difficult and I think it's worth the effort. The recipe was created by the husband and wife chef team of Isaac Becker and Nancy St. Pierre of Minneapolis, and published in Bon Appetit (http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/paccheri-pasta-with-braised-chicken-and-saffron-cream)

The original recipe serves 4-6, but I modified it to serve 2-3. It takes about 2 hours to prepare and cook.

Paccheri and rigatoni are both short, wide tubular pastas. Paccheri the shorter of the two. It is originally from the Campania and Calabria regions of southwestern Italy. In Sarasota, paccheri can be purchased at Peperonata Pasta on South Tamiami Trail. Peperonata makes its own paccheri. 

The story goes that paccheri was  originally created to smuggle Italian garlic into Austria after Austrian farmers convinced their government to ban the import of the more flavorful Italian garlic.

Ingredients

- 12 oz boneless chicken breast (the original calls for thighs with skin and bones. I took the easier and probably less flavorful approach.) I cut this thick chicken breast into quarters before cooking.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chopped white onion 
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
- 1 cup (or more) dry white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed. (Publix carries a small package of saffron threads for $6.19 in the spice section.)
- 1 & 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
- 6 oz. of paccheri or rigatoni pasta
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to skillet, skin-side down if you use thighs. Cook until golden brown - about 7 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to plate.

2. Add onion and garlic to skillet and cook until onions are slightly softened - 7 to 8 minutes. Add wine and saffron and bring to a boil.

3. Continue to boil until liquid is thickened and reduced by less than half - about 8 minutes. Add 1 & 1/4 cups of the the 1 & 1/2 cups of chicken broth.

4. Return chicken to skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer until chicken is very tender (adjust heat to prevent boiling, and turn chicken over after 30 minutes), about 1 hour total. Transfer chicken to plate and cool.

5. Reserve skillet with juices. If using thighs, remove skin and bones and toss. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces. Place in medium bowl and reserve.

6. Cook pasta in boiling salted water until tender, but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta and return to pot.

7. If using thighs, spoon and discard any fat from the juices in the skillet. Add heavy cream to juices in the skillet and boil until sauce is thick enough to coat spoon - about 10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and chicken pieces. Stir over medium heat until heated through - about 5 minutes, stirring in an additional 1/4 cup chicken broth if needed to add a bit of sauce and an additional teaspoon of lemon juice, if desired. (I added the broth but not more juice.) Season with salt and pepper.

8. Add the chicken and sauce mixture to the pasta in the pot, and toss to coat. Stir in the basil. 

Spaghetti with Artichoke Hearts, White Wine, and Prosciutto

This is an easy and delicious dish that I created and that serves two.

Ingredients (in the sequence in which they're used)

- 4 oz. of spaghetti or angel hair pasta
- 2 tbsp olive oil (for cooking sauce)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 sweet onion, diced
- 1/2 cup white wine (I used a chardonnay)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- small jar can of artichoke hearts (I used a 7.5 oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts)
- 1/4 cup pitted and chopped olives (I used castelvetrano green olives)
- 2 tbsp capers
- 1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley
- 1 to 2 oz finely chopped prosciutto (I used Citterio prechopped prosciutto, which comes in 4 oz. packages. I typically mix it into salads)
- 1 to 2 tbsp of very high quality extra virgin olive oil. (I used Persian lime flavored oil.) This is to pour over finished pasta.

Directions

1. Pasta
Cook pasta until al dente, per package directions. Drain and put in serving bowl.

2. Sauce
a. Heat olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat

b. Sauté onion and garlic for 5 minutes

c. Add white wine, lemon juice, and artichoke hearts. Cook for 3 minutes.

d. Add olives, capers, and parsley. Cook for 2 minutes. Wine and lemon juice will have evaporated.

e. Spoon over pasta and mix. Then sprinkle prosciutto and olive oil over pasta and mix again.

Fish in Crazy Water - Pesce all-Acqua Pazza

The Sorrentine Peninsula of Italy is an incredibly beautiful place and one of its iconic dishes is Pezzogna all'Acqua Pazza - Sea Bream in Crazy Water. It is often called by the more generic name - Pesce all'Acqua Pasta - Fish in Crazy Water. I enjoyed this dish when we visited Sorrento and decided to try making it this evening. I was very happy with the results. I could not find sea bream, so I used flounder. The recipe is very easy to make.

There are many different versions of this recipe. The one I made tonight is a combination of two of those recipes and some modifications of my own. One source is the website Summer in Italy - https://www.summerinitaly.com/guide/pesce-all-acqua-pazza. The second is from the cookbook, Naples at Table, Cooking in Campania, which includes recipes from all over the Campania Region of southwest Italy.

This recipe serves two.

Ingredients

- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white wine 
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 2/3 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced. I used mini San Marzano tomatoes
- 1/2 cup sliced olives (optional) I used Castelvetrano olives imported from Sicily and sold at Publix
- 1 tbsp capers (optional)
- 1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
- 2 fillets of a fish like sea bass, branzino, halibut, or snapper

Directions

1. Put olive oil, water, wine, salt, red pepper, flakes, and cherry tomatoes into a large skillet and boil for 5 minutes.

2. Add fish, olives, and capers; and cook for six minutes. After the first 3 minutes, use a pair of wide spatulas to gently turn the fish fillets over.

Vesuviotti Pasta with Scallops and Onion-Zucchini-Tomato Cream Sauce

I recently bought an interesting imported Italian pasta type called Vesuviotti, which means little Vesuviuses because its shape is apparently meant to symbolize Mt. Vesuvius erupting. I found it at Detweiler's Farm Market.

Vesuviotti

I came up with an easy sauce that went very well with it. I started with the following recipe from allrecipes.com -  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/23404/tomato-cream-sauce-for-pasta/ - and adapted it. I added zucchini and scallops. I substituted cherry tomatoes for canned tomatoes and half and half for cream (so I wouldn't have to go to the store just to buy cream.) I also reduced a couple of ingredients because it was just for the two of us. In addition, I changed the directions a bit. 

I think shrimp would also work nice in this dish.

Ingredients

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1/2 onion, diced

- 1 small zucchini sliced into 1/4" rounds

- 1 clove garlic, minced

- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

- 1/2 tbsp dried basil (original recipe called for 1 tbsp)

- 3/4 tsp white sugar

- 1/4 tsp dried oregano

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper

- 1/2 cup half & half

- 1 tbsp butter

- 1 & 1/2 cups Vesuviotti pasta

- 1 eight-ounce pkg of Publix frozen garlic cream Patagonian scallops (Publix has BOGO sales on these scallops from time to time, and I buy them to use with pasta.)

(I once tried to see how many types of pasta I could identify. I stopped at 365 because there seemed to be no end. Vesuviotti was not one of them.)

Directions

1. Boil pasta for 12-14 minutes, then drain.

2. While pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce:

a. In a saucepan, sauté onion and garlic over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

b. Add tomatoes, zucchini, spices and half & half, and bring to a boil. Boil for about 5 minutes.

c. Add butter and simmer for 5 more minutes.

3. After starting step 2.b. above, cook the frozen scallops for 6-8 minutes in a non-stick pan.

4. Plate the pasta and top with scallops and sauce.

Easy Chicken Pasta Vegetable One Skillet Meal

This tasty chicken & pasta one-skillet meal can easily be adjusted to meet your tastes. I started with a recipe at  http://www.food.com/recipe/italian-chicken-in-a-skillet-19871. The original serves six. I adjusted the amount of chicken and pasta to serve three, and I substituted corn nibblets for the green peppers. My version is below.

Ingredients

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast

- 1 cup chopped onions

- 1 (15-ounce can) chicken broth

- 1 (15-ounce can) diced tomatoes, drained

- 1 (11-ounce can) extra-sweet corn nibblets, drained

- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

- 1 teaspoon oregano

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1/4 teaspoon pepper

- 1 cup small shell pasta. I used penne.

Directions

1. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.

2. In large skillet, brown chicken in oil

3. Add onion, cook for 5 minutes

4. Add broth, tomatoes, corn, and spices; and cook for 2 minutes.

5. Add pasta, reduced heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, or until pasta is done.

Delicious and Easy Shortbread

I wanted to make some shortbread to go with a Lemon-Lime Satin Cream I was making for dessert. I found this excellent recipe at: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/shortbread-recipe. It is very flexible. The King Arthur site has a number of suggestions for serving it, including drizzling it with caramel, or spreading melted chocolate on top and decorating it with nuts. It has only five ingredients.

Ingredients

- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at cool room temperature. (It needs to be soft enough to mix with the other ingredients, but still solid. Do not melt it.) King Arthur suggests using a top-quality butter because the butter is such a critical ingredient for this recipe.
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract - optional. Or use another flavor of your choice, like eggnog flavor.
- 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Lightly grease two round 9" cake pans. If you worry about the shortbread sticking to the pans, line them with parchment paper and grease the parchment. (I used parchment.)

2. In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract. Then beat in the flour. The mixture may seem a little dry at first. Keep beating until it comes together. (It took a while for me to do this, but I think it's because the butter was too firm. I used a wooden spoon to beat these ingredients.) If it absolutely won't come together, dribble in up to 1 tablespoon of water until it does. This is a stiff dough.

3. Divide the dough in half. (If you have a kitchen scale, each half will weigh about 10 & 1/2 ounces.) Press each half of the dough into one of the prepared pans, smoothing the surface with your fingers or a mini rolling pin. (I used a mini rolling pin.)

4. Use a fork to prick the dough all over. This allows any steam to escape and prevents the shortbread from bubbling as it bakes. Prick the dough in a random pattern, but it looks nicer pricked with some kind of symmetry.

5. Bake the shortbread until it's light golden brown across the surface, and a deeper golden brown around the edges, about 35 minutes.

6. Remove it from the oven and immediately turn each shortbread round out onto a clean surface.

7. Using a pizza wheel or sharp knife, cut each round into 12 wedges. (Do this while the shortbread is still warm. If you wait until it's cool, it won't cut easily.) Transfer the shortbread wedges to a rack to cool. (I recommend using a spatula to transfer the wedges so they're not likely to break.)

8. Serve as is or decorate.

Lemon-Lime Satin Cream - A Delicious and Easy Dessert

For a recent dinner with friends, I was in a mood for a citrus-flavored dessert. I found this tasty and easy New York Times Lemon-Lime Satin Cream recipe at http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/5595-lemon-lime-satin-creams. It has only five ingredients. I served it with a homemade shortbread, whose recipe I'll post separately. It serves six. I made the mix two days ahead of time until I was ready to cook it in the oven.

Ingredients

- Finely grated zest and juice of two lemons
- Finely grated zest and juice of one lime
- 1 & 1/2 cups superfine sugar. (Our Publix does not sell superfine sugar. I processed regular sugar in a small electric food chopper. I've done this before when I've needed superfine sugar. It works great.)
- 6 large eggs
- 1 & 1/4 cups heavy cream

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the lemon and the lime zest and juice, the sugar, and the eggs. Whisk until smooth. Add cream, and whisk again. Transfer to a large pitcher. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate from 2 hours to 2 days, the longer, the better to bring out the fullest flavor.

2. When ready to bake, heat oven to 300 degrees. Heat a kettle of water until just steaming. DO NOT BOIL.

3. Place six 1-cup ramekins into a roasting pan and pour cream mixture into them. Pour hot water into the roasting pan to come about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until cream is just set - 30 to 35 minutes. (I did it for 35 minutes.) The cream will still wobble, but it will firm up as it cools.

4. Remove ramekins from water and allow to cool. Serve at room temperature, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Serve with shortbread, or plain, crisp cookies. (It was great with the shortbread.)