Cannellini al Gratin

This one got the thumbs-up. I used canned beans, because I didn't want to deal with cooking them myself, but dried beans cooked in an herbed mixture give the dish a fuller flavour.

Mats
2 cans cannellini beans with their canning liquid
1 large onion, diced
1 bulb of fennel, diced
3 carrots, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided into 1/2 and 1/4 cup amounts
1c breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In an oven-safe pan, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add the carrots and fennel and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the diced onion and cook another 7 minutes, uncovered and stirring frequently.
Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and add the vinegar, stirring well and scraping all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
Add the beans with their canning liquid, parsley, thyme and 1/2c Parmesan cheese. Stir well to combine.
The bean mixture should have enough liquid in it to just barely cover the beans. If it's short, add a little water.
In a separate bowl, mix the 1c of breadcrumbs, remaining 1/4c cheese with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Stir well
Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the bean mixture and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

NB:
If you want to use dried beans, start with 1 lb cannellini beans. Soak them overnight in a large bowl of cold water.
Put the beans in a pot with enough water to cover them by 3 inches.
Tie together 6 sprigs of thyme to 3 sprigs of parsley. Peel an onion, stick 3 whole cloves in it. Peel 6 cloves of garlic and chop them in half. Cut the fronds and stems off the fennel. Toss all of the above into the pot with the beans
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and boil with a semi-cocked lid for 30-45 minutes or until beans are tender. Discard the herbs, onion, garlic and fennel, but reserve some of the cooking liquid for use in the gratin.

This is why I just used canned beans. Easier and still quite tasty.

Italian-style stuffed Portobellos

This recipe was quite fast to make and wasn't a lot of effort. The balsamic marinade really helped mitigate any overly-mushroomy flavor and made it a delight to eat.

Mats

Mushrooms
1/4c olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 portobello mushroom caps, stems and gills removed

Filling
1 small onion, diced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
10 sun-dried tomatoes, halved
1/2c milk
10 oz spinach or arugula. I used a mix of the two greens
4oz mozzarella cheese, grated
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Tbsp breadcrumbs, lightly toasted

Preheat your oven to 375
Spray a baking sheet with cooking oil and place the mushroom caps, gill-side up in the pan
Combine the oil, vinegar and garlic in a mixing cup and stir well to make a vinaigrette
Pour marinade over the mushroom caps and bake for 30 minutes or until caps are soft.

Meanwhile, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion, basil, oregano, pepper and salt and saute for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes and crushed garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring often.
Add the milk and bring to a boil. Cook for 3 minutes
Add the spinach/arugula and cook until wilted. Spinach is really bulky, so you'll find it easier if you add the greens in two batches and wait for the previous one to wilt. Stir often, coating the leaves with the milk/onion mixture. It will take about 4 minutes for each batch to wilt down.
Add the mozzarella and stir well. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring constantly.

When the mushrooms are done, remove them from the oven and put them on plates. Top each mushroom cap with 1/4 of the spinach mixture, 3 cherry tomato halves and a sprinkle of the breadcrumbs.

Tortellini with Nutty Herb Sauce

Happy New Year! With the holidays finally over, I'm picking up where I left off - trying new, delicious recipes and using this blog as my recipe book. I inherited a pile of cookbooks from my husband's grandma and I can't wait to dive into them! Every cookbook is like a treasure chest - handing recipes down and around has been the secret language of families for aeons and I'm honored to be taken into their confidence.

My mom got me a beautiful pizza stone for Christmas, along with a book of neat pizza recipes. Not your standard tomato-and-cheese fare, so I'm really looking forward to trying those out too.

But for now, a new favorite.

Mats:
1 lb cheese tortellini or ravioli
3 Tbsp butter
100g walnuts (about 3.5 oz)
100g pine nuts (about 3.5 oz)
2 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/4c ricotta cheese
3 Tbsp cream
10 cherry tomatoes, halved

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Set aside
Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is all melted and begins to foam, add the nuts.
Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. The nuts will turn golden brown, and the butter will be a rich dark brown as well.
Remove the nuts from heat and add the thyme, parsley and about 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.
In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta cheese with the cream. Stir so the cheese is all gloopy.
Dish the tortellini into serving bowls and top with the nut-butter. Put a large dollp of the ricotta/cream mixture on top. Top with cherry tomato halves and enjoy.

NB: Since my husband can't eat whole nuts, after the butter and nuts were finished cooking I put them, the thyme and parsley into the food processor and ground it into a fine paste-like concoction. It came out really well.