Cranberry Beans, Sausage, and Arugula

This is an easy meal with a lot of flavor -- nice meatiness from the sausage, spicy-sweet bite from the peppers and arugula, offset by the creamy cranberry beans. You can eat it like a chili or serve over a grain; we served this over Israeli couscous.

Cook the beans first (we used fresh cranberry beans). In the meantime, brown the sausage; saute onion and garlic, add tomato paste, some cumin and cayenne...

add chopped fresh chilies (we used sweet Jimmy Nardellos and mild habaneros). Add the beans when they're al dente, and cover with chicken broth so the beans cook until creamy and absorb the rest of the flavors.

Just before serving, stir in a few handfuls of baby arugula. Stir just until it wilts. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Extra Creamy Baked Ziti

I haven't posted in quite a while because I've been away, eating delicious things like Brazilian mariscada at Muqueca in Cambridge, dim sum at Perfect Team Corporation in Flushing, and a bucketful of creamy carbonara loaded with crispy bacon cubes for breakfast (yes, breakfast) at Prune in Manhattan. Since coming back to the Bay, I've been busy preparing to teach a new course, and have been making mostly old standbys that I've already posted or that don't particularly deserve a post.

But my latest rendition of Baked Ziti, based on my old recipe already featured here, might merit another posting. This time, I did a few things differently:

1. I made an enormous amount of bechamel, using an entire container (~4c) of 1% milk and copious amounts of mozzarella and parmesan. The result was an especially creamy, cheesy finished dish.

2. I used turkey sausage, which cuts down on the fat. I also browned the sausage meat separately and then drained it well in a strainer before mixing it with the tomato sauce I'd already prepared. Taking out the extra grease here helps the sauce stick to the pasta.

3. I mixed the pasta with the meat sauce, and put about half in the pan. Then topped that with half the cheese sauce; then the rest of the pasta & sauce, then the rest of the cheese sauce. Keeping the pasta and the bechamel separate is key here: it prevents the pasta from soaking up all the bechamel, so that the finished dish has distinct layers of cheesy goo. Yum.

Morcilla-Stuffed Squid

Morcilla is Spanish-style blood sausage. It's meatier than boudin and has a coarser grind. The one we got (at The Spanish Table) was combined with rice, which makes a really nice, substantial stuffing mix. If this kind of thing scares you, you can easily make this recipe with normal bulk sausage.

You'll need (serves 2-3):

6 squid bodies, cleaned (remove inner cartiledge)

4 links morcilla or other sausage

1 onion, chopped

1/2T cumin

1t cayenne

1T paprika

1c red wine

for the sauce:

7 cloves garlic, crushed and sliced

1/2 onion, chopped

4 shallots, sliced

1T tomato paste

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1T paprika

In a large heavy skillet, heat some olive oil and saute the chopped onion until brown, about 8 minutes. Remove the sausage from its casing and add it to the skillet, crumbling it up with your fingers as you add it. Stir to combine; add spices to taste. Deglaze with red wine and let simmer until almost dry. Taste and adjust spices. Remove from pan and let cool.

When the stuffing is cool enough to handle, stuff squid bodies (but don't stuff them too much-- they'll shrink quite a bit when they cook). Secure opening with toothpicks.

Add oil to skillet (same skillet-- don't clean it out) and brown stuffed squid lightly, about 5 min/side. Remove. Add sauce ingredients: onion, shallot, garlic. Let cook slowly over low heat until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring so garlic doesn't brown. Add tomato paste; let caramelize, then stir to combine. Add tomato sauce and paprika; return squid to pan. Add some chicken broth or water so that liquid comes halfway up squid. Let simmer about 45 minutes, until squid is tender (can be easily pierced with a fork).

leftovers, in the pan

cross-section of stuffed squid

Bechamel Baked Ziti

I've been a lazy blogger and cook lately. This is a lazy dish that can be put together while you're working at home, and can serve at least 8 people (or cut the recipe in half). I served this with a watermelon, feta & mint salad as the appetizer, and followed it with a simple arugula salad.

You'll need (serves 8-10):

1 1/2 packages ziti pasta

2lbs spicy Italian bulk sausage (I used Molinari)

5 shallots, thinly sliced

6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

red chile flakes

3T tomato paste

28oz can of plum tomatoes

10 roma tomatoes (this is optional, but oh so good)

1c dry red wine

1 bunch basil

1/3c butter

1/3c flour

3c milk

1 1/2c grated mozzarella cheese

1/2c grated cheddar

1c grated parmesan/romano blend

Halve tomatoes and roasted, seasoned, in a 400 degree oven. Let cool slightly; remove skin.

Brown sausage, pouring out fat as it accumlates. Deglaze pan with wine and cook until liquid is absorbed. Remove sausage from pan. Add olive oil or reserved fat. Fry shallots, garlic and chile flakes, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Return sausage to pan. Make a well in the middle; add tomato paste and saute until it browns slightly. Stir to combine with sausage.

Add canned and roasted tomatoes. Julienne basil and add half to the pan. Cook over low heat until sauce is thick and flavorful, about 1 hour. You probably don't want to add salt because sausage tends to be salty, but add pepper to taste.

In the meantime, cook the pasta. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mornay (Bechamel+cheese) sauce: Melt butter in a saucepan and whisk in flour. Cook, whisking, over medium heat until golden brown. Add milk slowly and cook until thick, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in mozzarella and cheddar and half the parmesan. Combine 2/3 of this sauce with the finished meat sauce. Stir the rest of the parmesan into the remaining sauce and reserve.

Mix cooked pasta with the mornay/meat sauce. Pour into buttered gratin dish. Top with reserved mornay sauce.

Bake until set and top is golden, about 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving. (This looks rather gooey and unphotogenic when hot, so the pictures are of cold leftovers.)

Dressing Up Pasta Leftovers

One easy, quick way to make last night's pasta a little more interesting is to add a poached egg. When you break the yolk, it oozes deliciousness and coats the pasta. This works well for a pasta that doesn't have much sauce (tomato or cream) to begin with.

Another nice pasta trick that works well with a cut like spaghetti is to make a pasta frittata: just mix in a few eggs and bake until set, then cut into wedges. This makes a good lunch (served with a salad) or first course (served alone).

Springtime Pasta

This is a springier version of the classic (or not-so-classic) orecchiette with sausage & broccoli rabe. Here we used a mix of cooking greens, goat cheese, and walnuts to brighten up the dish.

You'll need:
4 large handfuls cooking greens, cleaned & trimmed (kale, chard, collard, mustard, etc)
1 lb spicy Italian bulk sausage
1 shallots, sliced
2-3 spring garlic, sliced
1/2c dry red wine
1T red pepper flakes, or more to taste
1 lemon
1/2c walnuts, toasted
1 box campanelle pasta (my new favorite!)

Boil water for pasta.

Heat olive oil. Saute shallots and garlic, stirring to make sure they don't burn, for about 4 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and saute 2 minutes.

Put pasta on to cook.

Add sausage, breaking it up into very tiny pieces with a wooden spatula. Let a lot of the fat burn off and the sausage brown slightly. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste.

Deglaze with red wine; cook until wine is absorbed.

Add greens, tearing them into small pieces as you add them. Cook until wilted.

Add just-undercooked pasta with some of its cooking water (about 1/2c) to the sausage & greens. Stir to combine.

Zest lemon onto pasta; stir. The water should be cooked away; taste and add more water if too dry.

Add goat cheese; mix (or serve dotted with goat cheese). Top with crumbled walnuts to serve.

Fennel, Leek and Sausage Pasta

This is pretty quick to put together once you've gotten everything chopped & sliced. The French mise en place is one of my favorite cooking concepts-- get everything ready in those cute little prep bowls (except I don't really have any, so I make piles or use mugs), and then you're not pounding garlic at the last minute while the oils overheats.

You'll need (serves 4-6):

1 1/2 lbs pasta-- we used orecchiette (ear-shaped) and campanelle (bellflower-shaped)
1 large (28oz) can peeled tomatoes & their juices
3T tomato paste
1c half & half
1 very large leek (or 2 smaller ones)
5 shallots (or 1 onion)
6 cloves garlic
2 large bulbs fennel (2 lbs)
1/2c sun dried tomatoes
5 uncooked sausage links (about 1.3 lbs)
1c grated parmesan, and more for serving
2T fresh marjoram, chopped, plus some for serving
1T cumin
1t red pepper flakes
2t dried oregano
1/2t cayenne
1t fennel seeds, toasted

Boil salted water for the pasta.

Clean your leeks by slicing them through the root, lengthwise, almost to the dark green top. Then turn and slice again, so the leek is split into quarters but held together at the top. Wash well and shake dry. Slice off root and discard; then slice thinly. Stop at the dry dark green tops.

Slice shallots or onions and fennel. You don't need to remove the fennel core-- just slice very thin.

Saute everything in 1T butter + 2T olive oil, salt & pepper, until brown and caramelized.

In the meantime, slice garlic & sun dried tomatoes. Add them to the pan when ready, with all the dried herbs & spices. Saute until fragrant (about 3 minutes), then push everything to the sides of the pan and add the tomato paste to the middle. Let brown a bit (2 minutes), then stir together.

Push to the sides again. Squeeze the sausage out of its casing into the middle of the pan (if you're using a low-fat sausage like turkey or chicken, add some oil first). Add marjoram and more cumin if you want. Saute, breaking up sausage, until brown. Stir together.

This would be a good time to put the pasta on.

Add tomatoes in their juices and break them up with the back of a wooden spoon. Stir to combine everything and cook until liquid evaporates, about 6 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Then add half-and-half (or cream!) and stir together; simmer until cream thickens and the whole thing starts looking like a sauce. Then add grated parmesan, stirring to combine.

Mix pasta with sauce; add a sprinkle of marjoram for color, and serve with more parmesan.

Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is really very cool, and a nice lighter, healthier alternative to pasta. Of course, it doesn't taste like pasta-- in fact, it doesn't taste like much at all-- so whatever you put on it is going to stand out. I chose a combination of sweet, bitter, and spicy here-- using Aidell's Apricot-Ginger sausage, broccoli rabe, and hot peppers.

You'll need (serves 2-3):

1 spaghetti squash
1 long sausage (like Aidell's apricot-ginger) or 2 normal sweet italians
1 bunch broccoli rabe (this bears very little resemblance to broccoli. You can substitute any cooking green.)
5 cloves garlic, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1T cayenne
1T crushed red pepper
1/2c red wine or Madiera
4 anchovies
1T tomato paste
1c baby roma or other grape tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
2T grapeseed oil
grated pecorino to top

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Poke holes in squash with a skewer or knife and place whole squash in baking dish with some water. Bake about 1 hour until soft. Cut in half to open. Scoop out seeds. Using a fork, pick out the flesh (it should magically turn to long pasta-like strands) and place in bowl. Set aside. (You can do this in advance, which would make this a good weeknight dish.)

Blanch broccoli rabe in salted water to remove some bitterness, if you want.

Slice sausage (you want meaty slices-- about 1/4-1/2"). Heat oil until almost smoking in a not-nonstick pan. Add sausage and cook until brown. Scoop out with a slotted spoon or spatula and set aside.

Add sliced onion to oil in pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring, until fond (browned bits from the sausage) is absorbed by the onions. Add anchovies, cayenne, red pepper, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and cook 2 minutes. Add tomato paste; let brown before stirring in. Add garlic and broccoli rabe; cook 2 minutes. Add reserved sausage and wine. Stir, scraping anything stuck on the bottom of the pan. Add tomatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed and tomatoes are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add squash and stir to combine. If there's still liquid in the pan, continue cooking until all liquid is absorbed. Serve topped with lots of grated pecorino.