Recipe: Veal Burgers

For 4th of July this year, since I currently live in Italy, I decided to be a little non-traditional for my "barbeque".  There are a couple of reasons for this: the main one being that since Italy does not celebrate 4th of July it seemed silly to try to replicate a traditional American 4th of July when I was missing some key ingredients. Mainly fireworks! Without fireworks, the 4th seems like a normal barbecue.
Also in Italy I can't find some of the traditional ingredients at the supermarket.  I would have loved to have corn on the cob, but here in Rome (at least by my house) there is no corn to be seen.  There's also no barbecue sauce either.
So I decided to veer even further and decided that traditional burgers weren't necessary. However, I did want some kind of burger to venerate the day, even though I was celebrating on my own.  I had originally wanted to make turkey burgers (again, but my Spinach Turkey Burgers are to die for...) but while running around the supermarket, I couldn't find ground turkey.  I did, however, find ground veal. So I decided to be somewhere between Italian and American about my 4th of July. I did something the Italians would never do, I decided to make burgers with my ground veal and in the end they were delicious and extremely simple to make.  I even topped them with asiago cheese which really added to the amazing taste. From there I kept it simple and served with a side salad and some hot dogs (just for tradition's sake).

Veal Burgers 
Ingredients
1/2 kilo ground veal (about a pound)
1 egg
1/2 large shallot (or a whole small one)
1/4-1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tbs Paprika
Asiago cheese (or any cheese of your preference)

Dice your onions into small pieces.  I didn't cut mine super finely because I wanted more crunch in my burger. I love the contrast of textures, so remember the thicker you cut your

I love that you can see some of the onion!

onion, the more crunch you will have in your burger.
In a large bowl, mix the ground veal, egg, bread crumbs, onion and paprika with your hands. Blend well because you want a little onion in each bite.  If you aren't thorough you run the risk of getting a large mouthful of onion in one bite, and none in the next!
When well blended, form into patties. I always make my burgers on the larger (i.e. thicker) side because they shrink slightly as they cook. This time I slightly exaggerated, and it became difficult to cook the burgers through because the veal doesn't shrink as drastically as beef burgers do.
I decided to try and get grill marks on my burgers and used an indoor grill pan for the attempt.  For the record, I don't love indoor grill pans because they get quite messy and don't grill things as evenly as an outdoor barbeque thanks to hotspots from the flame below.  That being said, for the 4th of July I needed to at least attempt to get those chargrilled marks so I slightly oiled my grill for easier cleanup and got started.
I didn't get grill marks but I did get delicious

burgers. I cooked the burgers over a medium flame and kept an eye on them as they grilled. Since I made my burger so thick I had to flip them twice to ensure they cooked all the way through without burning.  If you are making a normal sized burger you should only need a couple of minutes on each side, just until they've gotten golden on each side.  Mine took longer than that.  -.-
When they were just about done, I decided to add asiago cheese on top to melt, but you can add any cheese of your choosing. Since I was already going for the non traditional asiago was a great twist but traditional cheddar would've worked just as well.
Then I had my burger on a sesame seed bun that I grilled for a minute on the grill pan.  I ate my burger with fresh tomato, lettuce, mustard and some mayo.  It really hit the spot and was delicious. And I have leftovers, so I ate one of Saturday night and will probably have another for lunch or dinner today!

It was quite the mouthful and scrumptious

Celebrating the 4th of July in Italy

Well Happy Belated 4th of July everyone!!

I meant to post this last night, but sadly in the middle of writing I fell asleep! Actually, I hadn't even started writing, I only successfully opened the page.  I guess that just means I'm exhausted from work and the heat... or quite possibly that I should sleep more!

But I hope everyone had a great day yesterday and that the fireworks didn't get too delayed thanks to the rain I heard about.

Here in Rome, it was beautifully sunny and quite hot all day, but it definitely didn't quite feel like a holiday because I left for work at 7:45 am and then stuck around until 5:30 doing various planning and projects for next week.  And there were definitely no real fireworks for me! :(

Homemade Strawberry Jam Tart

That being said I had a wonderful day because although I started early, I got to work with four great
kids (2 Americans and 2 Italians) for a 4th of July themed English lesson (the 2 Americans were my assistents). We had fun talking about the 4th and playing games. And one of the girls brought in a homemade strawberry tart that she had helped her mother make!
But the most fun for me was all the crafting.  We made Statue of Liberty Crowns and FIREWORKS!! That's right, but don't worry, they weren't the exploding kind.

My firework! I wish I had photographed the kids' projects!
Theirs were amazing!

Although, we also went outside and exploded coca cola and mentos!  They had a lot of fun and so did I!

My beautiful 4th of July grilled dinner

Then after work I took a trip to the super market and got the workings of a non-traditional Italianized
4th of July meal.  When I think 4th of July, I think of hot dogs and hamburgers, pasta salad, potato salad and corn on the cob.  So I made a regular salad, a couple of mini hotdogs (I have no idea why they're so small but they taste like real hot dogs), and veal hamburgers with Asiago cheese.  I originally wanted to make turkey burgers or regular burgers, but I didn't find either at my grocery store, instead I found ground veal and thought it would be a fun

I even found sesame seed buns

experiment.
Let me tell you, it was a delicious experiment that worked out quite well!! I think I'll definitely be making veal burgers again so I'll have a separate post up with the recipe soon.  I made them quite simply and found sesame seed buns in the store as well.  I took out my indoor grill pan and grilled up my burgers and hot dogs and served it up beautifully with ketchup, mustard and mayo on the side.  And I had half a beer, delicious for only 87cents.  I wanted to drink the whole beer but I fell asleep before I could. It was definitely a long day!!
And then I had a plate of cold cherries and peaches all while watching Doctor Who in Italian and then in English (on my computer).  All in all, it was a good 4th of July!

Such gorgeous color

Recipe: Homemade "Italian" Style Mac & Cheese

Let me start by saying that Italians don't eat Mac & Cheese. It does not exist in their vocabularies. They definitely don't have cheddar here, so making a traditional mac & cheese is pretty much out of the question. I think the closest they have is a 4 formaggi sauce but it's very different than mac & cheese. It's heavier with stronger flavors since it usually involves gorgonzola (which is a kind of blue cheese I think).
I looked up Mac & cheese recipes yesterday because I was having a craving during work.  I found a wonderfully simply recipe Revolutionary Macaroni and cheese on Cate's  World Kitchen and decided to adapt it since I lacked certain ingredients (like cheddar).

Since I did not have access to cheddar cheese I used this wonderful creamy walnut cheese. It helped the consistency of the mac and cheese and also added a lovely crunch because of the pieces of whole walnut. Then to supplement that cheese I also used some parmesan cheese to round out the flavor.
I loved that the original recipe only required dirtying one bowl... That being said, because I'm me, I wound up dirtying 2 pots because I started cooking making my pasta in one that was too small.... Yeahhh. I made a large mess. Use the appropriate pots and pans!

Ingredients:
2 cups dried pasta (I used rigatoni)
2 cups milk (I used whole milk, but you can absolutely use 2% or skim)
1/2 cup creamy walnut cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
2 tsps pepper
1 pinch red pepper flakes (optional

Combine the pasta and milk in a pot (make sure it is big enough for 2 cups of cooked pasta!!) and bring to a simmer.  Add in salt, pepper and red pepper flakes at this point.  The flavors will really seep into the pasta.  Cook and continually stir on low heat until the pasta is cooked through.  It should take about 15 to 20 minutes but make sure the milk doesn't boil! If it boils (like mine did for a moment) it will go right over the edge of the pot and make a disaster for you to clean up!
When the pasta is just about done and the milk is almost all gone stir in the walnut cheese and parmesan.
Cover and let stand for about 5 minutes. Stir well to serve.

This was super simple to make and absolutely delicious. Cooking the pasta with milk definitely lended to the taste and really helped the overall creaminess of the dish.  I'll definitely be trying it again with different cheeses.

Pizza Pizza

I've had some great pizza over the years, both in Italy and in the states. I've learned that no two pies are exactly alike. Florence has some of the best thin crusted pizzas but they're not the same as pizzas from Naples. Naples has the original, the absolute best pizza that I've ever had in my life. You can not beat the thin crust with homemade sauce and fresh bufala mozzarella with oregano... Simple yet delicious. My mouth is watering at the thought. The ingredients in all Italian pizzas are fresh and very often organic. The vegetable toppings pack a lot of flavor even before additional seasonings.
But that's not to say that I haven't found some wonderful pizza here in the U.S.A. Pizza here, however, is enormously different. The pies themselves are larger and the flavor and ingredient combinations are drastically different too. I think that American pizza, whether fast food, homemade or 5 star restaurant quality  is generally more adventurous in its flavor pairings than most anything you'll find abroad. No Italian would dream of pputting pineapple or chicken or barbeque sauce onto a pizza.
Italians, I find, don't use their imaginations as much when it comes to food. They are so richly steeped in tradition that they don't often have to think outside of the box to get fantastic flavors and dishes. Here in the U.S.S we don't have the same kind of tried and true traditional mentality. We are a melting pot, a stew of traditions and cultures. As a result, our food tradition (at least on the east cost) we are often willing to play with our food, to combine one tradition with another.  Pizza is delicious, so is BBQ, so let's combine them together and make a BBQ Chicken Pizza. Like Thai food? There are many places that will put Thai spicing and traditional ingredients onto a pizza. One tradition is not enough. We can combine and play and experiment until we have something new and delicious.
The original, the traditional will always be respected and will always have a place in our diets but it is fun to try the new and untested.  In places like NYC, the unique and new is a challenge, it is something to be tried and enjoyed.
When my family makes pizza at home, we use the traditions that Grams shared with us but we also like to play around with sasonings with the sauce and vegetables that with use.  Grams showed us the typical margherita and marinara pizzas. But after her long exposure to the United States, she came to appreciate stranger combinations and was willing to try some new things.
Pizza is probably one of my favorite foods and part of that is because it is such a versatile food. You can stick with the traditional or you can experiment with outlandish ingredients that somehow when combined and baked together, no longer seem so outlandish.  There is literally nothing to love about pizza.

Recipe: Baked Carbonara

There are many people who love a good Spaghetti Carbonara, myself included. But it is a very tricky dish to do well. Most carbonaras utilize raw egg, meaning that the egg needs to be tempered (i.e. heated slowly with another liquid) so it doesn't scramble when added to the hot pan. It's tricky and definitely takes a few tries to master.
I do a mean carbonara, but sometimes, I just don't feel like exerting all that effort, so I came up with a carbonara bake. It's made similarly to the pasta pie that my grandmother made but his one utilizes all of the same ingredients as a delicious carbonara, but you don't have to worry about tempering the egg. And for anyone preoccupied about raw eggs and the possibility of salmonella, this is a great alternative. The egg in this carbonara is cooked all the way through.


 Ingredients

4 or 5 strips of thick back, sliced
1/2 package of frozen peas
1 lb of pasta (I used penne this time, but anything will work)

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg or 2 egg yolks
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (or provolone works as well)
Salt (for the pasta water)
Pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 dash onion powder
1 tsp dry basil
Non stick spray for the glass pan

Prepare your pasta as you usually do with a small amount of salt to the point of al dente and put to the side to cool in the pot. If desired, toss with a tsp of olive oil to prevent sticking. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a large sautee pan or wok, slowly cook the bacon over a low flame until it begins to crisp up. Then add the peas still frozen. When the peas have begun to defrost, add the pepper and heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg(s) and additional spices. Add red pepper flakes to taste. I love my food rather spicy, so I pour in quite a bit.
Pour the bacon and peas into the pasta pot. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Once the cheese has melted, slowly add in the egg mixture and well coat the pasta.

Spray a glass pan with non stick spray. Pour in the pasta and coat with the remaining cheese. Hint: the more cheese you add on top, the more moist the pasta will remain underneath.
Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted and the edges have begun to brown.

The finished product after baking for about 20 minutes. 

This recipe serves between 4 and 6 people depending on how large your servings are and whether you use this as a side or a main course. It's a great stand-alone or you can serve it with a light protein. 

I really do enjoy this dish. It's simple to make and you can easily adapt the recipe. You can change the vegetable, skip the bacon, replace it with sausage or with canadian bacon. You can even change the amount of pasta to cook for fewer people. It's an easy bake that generally gets gobbled up. And if you have leftovers, this is great the next day, either reheated in the microwave or in the oven.  

Hope you enjoy. 

-Raspberry Truffle

Recipe: Simple french onion soup

 3 raw onions, sliced thin
1 tbsp olive oil
1 boillion cube (preferably reduced sodium) boiled in the appropriate amount of water

Red pepper flakes to taste

oregano

salt and pepper to taste

For each bowl of soup: 

1 slice of thick wheat bread

thin slices of mozzarella (or your choice of cheese)



Saute the onions in a little bit of oil in a covered large saucepan over medium heat for 20 minutes or until the onions become soft and clear. Slowly stir in the boullion broth, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Bring to a boil for a few minutes and then let simmer for 15 minutes.

Place bread on a baking sheet; sprinkle bread with cheese. Broil 4-to-5 inches from heat for about 1 minute or until cheese is melted and golden.(I only make enough bread for the number of bowls of soup, so the bread and cheese are fresh and perfectly melted.)

Ladle soup into bowls and top with bread. 

My unique serving method: Place the whole piece of bread into a bowl and then ladle the onions and soup on top.

~Raspberry Truffle

Recipe: La Parmigiana #2

If you can't have glutten this is a great recipe for you. My Sicilian friend showed me how to make this. It's how his mother prepares it.

1 large eggplant or 2 medium eggplants
Pot of tomato sauce (homemade is best :) obviously )
250 grams of grated mozzarella
2 hard boiled eggs cubed
200 grams of prosciutto or ham diced
100 grams of mortadella diced (I don't like it, so I choose to omit this ingredient)
parmigian cheese
fresh basil shred into bits
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350*-400*.
Slice the eggplant into thin slices and salt lightly. 
In a pan, heat some olive oil and fry each piece of eggplant lightly. When the eggplant comes out of the pan, drain the excess oil on sheets of paper towel.
In an oven proof casserole dish, ladle a thin layer of sauce into the casserole. Lay down a layer of eggplant, cover with mozzarella, ricotta, basil, egg, the meats and a fresh grating of parmigian cheese. Season with salt and pepper and then cover with another layer of tomato sauce.  Repeat the layering until you run out of all ingredients.
Finish by coating the top layer  of eggplant with sauce and extra parmigian cheese.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until there is a lightly golden crust.
Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut and serve!

 ~Raspberry Truffle