Fresh Egg Pasta 2

Since I don't have a pasta roller at this point, I found the perfect fresh pasta in the refridgerated aisle of Whole Foods. The lasagna pasta was the perfect thickness and all. It is made by Via Elisa. I took out my last bit of homemade ragu from the freezer and made another authentic Italian lasagna. It was perfect!

P.S. It only took 2 minutes to cook the pasta, after the water started boiling. How quick is that.

Fresh Egg Pasta

My next step is making fresh egg pasta to go with my lasagna.

Jamie Oliver has a wonderful recipe and video.

Homemade Ragu Sauce & Lasagna

Since our Italy trip, I can't get the memory of the Italian food out of my head. The food was extremely different than the Americanized-Italian food. The entrees were made with simple and only a few ingredients. And because the ingredients were all fresh, you could taste each simple ingredient within the entree... Great concept! The Italians know what they are doing, they only have been around for over a couple of thousands of years ;)

Now, I could never eat in an Americanized-Italian restaurant ever again. So, my only option is to make the food myself. I found this wonderful authentic Italian recipe website, and started my path of experimenting. So, I spent the early afternoon making my homemade Ragu Napoletano Sauce and finished the late afternoon in baking the Lasagna. Let's just say the result was amazing. It didn't taste exactly like Italy, but it was close considering the ingredients are from America, with the exception of the parmesan cheese that I brought over from Venice. My honey said it was the best lasagna he has ever had in America... that says a lot :)

Ragu Napoletano (Meat sauce) does not come from a jar. Ragu is one of, what is probably, the three most popular sauces in southern Italy. It is cooked slowly for several hours and has some kind of meat in it. The type of meat depends on your personal tastes but, traditionally it's ground beef.

Olive oil (extra virgin):	1/2 cup
Onion (fresh):	1 small
Ground Beef:	2 pounds
Tomato paste:	4-6 ounces
red table wine (semi-dry or dry):	3-4 ounces
Italian peeled plum tomatoes (canned):	2 cans (about 28 ounces each)

How to do it:

1. Preheat a 2 or 3 quart sauce pan.
2. Once it is hot put in the olive oil and onion.
3. Sautee the onion until it is tender then add the ground beef and brown it.
4. Continue to cook the ground beef until all of the water has been cooked out of the beef.
5. If you are fortunate enough to find a meat supplier who does not add water to their beef you will be able to cook the meat for a shorter period of time (let me know where you buy beef).
6. Add the tomato paste and let simmer for about five minutes, stirring often.
7. Add the wine and let simmer another five minutes, stirring often.
8. Add the Italian peeled tomatoes (chop them a little with a sharp knife as they come out of the can).
9. Simmer this sauce mixture for about three hours, occasionally adding water to prevent over-thickening and burning.
10. Stir occasionally during the simmering process.
11. Add salt when the sauce is almost done.

Important Note #1: If you salt your sauce too soon when it is still watery or thin, you run the risk of your sauce becoming salty by the time it cooks down.

Important Note #2: When making Italian tomato sauces, spend the extra few pennies and get imported peeled plum tomatoes. American canned tomatoes like Hunts are just not the correct variety for sauce because the sugar content is much higher making your sauce sweet.

Lasagna Tradizionale (Traditional) is one of the dishes that hasn't changed much since it left the "homeland". I've eaten lasagna in many places in both America and Italy and for the most part they are basically the same, but I'll include it anyway just so that you'll know you're preparing it in the authentic way.

Lasagna noodles:	1 1/2 pounds
Neapolitan Ragu Sauce (see above recipe):	as needed
bite-sized meatballs:	30 on each layer
Hard-boiled eggs (sliced thin) :	2 eggs on each layer
Italian Sausage (Optional):	1 pound
Ricotta cheese:	1 1/2 pounds
Mozzarella cheese:	1 1/2 pounds
Pamiggiano (parmesan cheese-grated):	to taste

How to do it:

1. Following cooking time instructions on the package, cook the noodles in a very large pot with plenty of water so that the noodles can't stick together. You'll need to stir them often, but very delicately with something with no sharp edges (wooden spoon).
2. When the noodles are done to your liking (they really shouldn't be al dente which is just barely done, but they shouldn't be so done that they stick to the ceiling when thrown against it either), slowly run cold water into the pot until all of the water is cool. This serves two purposes. It stops the cooking process and it keeps the noodles from sticking together.
3. Remove the noodles from the water one at a time and place them on a clean dish towel (not terry) with a little space between each one.
4. Put the ricotta in a bowl and mix a couple of ladlesful of ragu with it to give it the consistency of apple sauce.
5. Now build your lasagna.
6. In a large rectangular baking pan (±18 x 12), put a thin layer of sauce so that it completely covers the bottom of the pan.
7. Next a layer noodles (Its OK if they overlap a little).
8. Now a layer (about a 1/4 inch) of ricotta with meatballs, boiled egg, and maybe sausage generously sprinkled on top of it.
9. Finally a thin layer of sauce, again with a generous amount of mozzarella and parmiggiano cheese on top of that.
10. Repeat entire layering process until your pan is full.
11. Finish it off with a little sauce, mozzarella and parmiggiano.
12. Bake in a 375 degree oven for one hour.
13. The last five minutes you can decorate the top with some leaves of fresh basil to give that "pro touch".
14. Remove from the oven and let it stand for 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature.
15. Cut into portions and serve.

Important Note #1: If you decide to include sausage, you can either fry it in the skin and slice it thinly after its cooked. OR You can squeeze it from its skin and cook it so that its crumbly. Either way is just fine.

Important Note #2: Get real mozzarella cheese, the soft white circular cheese. Do not get the shredded kind.

Recipes from www.steve-slater.com.

Recipe: Pork Fried Rice

Instructions:

1. Heat vegetable oil at medium-high heat.
2. Scramble eggs soft (still runny).
3. Remove eggs.
4. Add vegetable oil and turn heat to medium.
5. Add cooked rice and stir-fry (consently stir-fry so that the rice won't burn.)
6. Add salt and stir-fry
7. Turn heat to medium-high.
8. Add soy sauce and stir-fry
9. Cook and stir-fry cooked rice for a while.
10. Add more oi from the rim and stir-fry to keep rice moist.
11. Sitr in diced roast pork.
12. When pork is reheated, add vegetables and stir-fry.
13. Stir-fry in green scallions.
14. Stir-fry in eggs.
15. Finished.

Recipe: Ultimate Fun Cee

Preparation:

1. Hydrate dried black mushrooms for 2 hours.
2. Hydrate dried seaweed for 1 hour.
3. Hydrate dried tofu for 1 hour.
4. Hydrate dried dates for 30 minutes.
5. Hydrate dried fun-cee for 30 minutes.
6. Hydrate dried black moss for 30 minutes.
7. Hydrate dried lily flower for 5 minutes.

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in wok.
2. Sauté celery, dried black mushroom and dried seaweed.
3. Sauté dried date.
4. Stir-fry
5. Sauté dried tofu and dried lily flower.
6. Stir-fry
7. Turn to medium-low heat.
8. Add fun-cee on top.
9. Turn to medium-high heat.
10. Cover to steam until water is boiling.
11. Add black moss and cut length to 1-inch long.
12. Uncover and stir-fry.
13. Add water if liquid is low.
14. Turn to medium heat and stir-fry.
15. At end, add a tablespoon of soy sauce and teaspoon of sugar.
16. Cover until liquid has evaporated.

Recipe: Steamed Fish

Instructions:

1. On a plate prepare fish with dried tangerine peels, ginger, green scallions and a pinch salt on top.
2. Bring shallow water to boil within a wok.
3. Place fish in, cover and vent on high temperatures.
4. Cook for 15 minutes.
5. In a separate pot, sautee olive oil with a few cloves of garlic.
6. Check fish by making sure chop sticks can hit bone.
7. Place fresh green scallions on top.
8. Pour garlic infused oil on top of green scallions and fish.
9. Place soy sauce on top.

Recipe: Fish Balls

Instructions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a medium pot.
2. Place fishballs into boiling water.
3. Turn temperature to low.
4. Cook for 15 minutes.

Recipes: Retro-Posting

When I was home for the holidays, one of the best part is getting some great home cooking. I'm happy to share some of my favorite dishes from my parent's kitchen.

Homemade Pizza

My honey and I have been making homemade pizza since Adrian and Jenny, my sister, made them for us during Thanksgiving. So, now we don't eat any other pizza but homemade ones.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 of a pre-made Pizza dough recipe (from Whole Foods' freezer section)
  
• 1 cup Organic Marinara Sauce
  
• 2 cups Organic Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
  
• 2 Organic Italian Sausage links (from Whole Food's meat section)
  
• Optional: Sauteed Sliced Mushrooms

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Have you wonderful hubby roll out the pizza dough into a 1/8 inch pizza crust, which is his favorite part. While husband is working on crust, take casing off the sausage, crumble meat into hot skillet and cook. Place marinara sauce onto the pizza dough. Place 75% of the mozzarella cheese on top. Place Italian sausage on top. Place remaining cheese. Bake for 15 minutes. Don't open oven until 15 minutes have passed for a perfectly baked thin crust pizza.

Recipe: Chinese Greens

Cover and cook until you can smell the greens. It should only take about three minutes. A sign of overcooking is when the greens turn yellowish.

Recipe: Fun Cee

Who can you learn to cook from but from the best. So, here we have it, a new series of recipes from my parent's kitchen.

Ingredients:

• Vermacelli - 1.76 oz. (Best brand: Longkow)
• Cooked Chicken or Cooked Roast Pork
• Black Mushrooms
• Green Scallions
• Sliced Carrots & Celery
• Garlic - 1 clove sliced
• Chili Soya Cheese
• Soy Sauce
• A pinch of Salt
• A teaspoon of Sugar
• Vegetable Oil

Instructions:

1. On high, heat up the wok. Add vegetable oil.
2. Turn heat down to medium. Sautee sliced garlic for 1 minute. Take garlic out of oil.
3. Add black mushrooms for 2 minutes.
4. Add a pinch of salt, noodles and Chili Soya cheese then stir fry for 2 minutes.
5. Add 1 1/4 cups of water. Turn heat to high to boil water. After water reaches boiling point, turn heat to low. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until half of the liquid evaporates.
6. Add remaining ingredients, with the carrot and celery on top therefore it will remain crisp. Turn heat to medium-high and cover for 1 minute.
7. Uncover and stir. Cover again.
8. Cook until majority of liquid is evaporated.
9. Uncover and stir. Add green scallions. Stir and finish.

{This was my first time using the video feature on my compact camera.}