Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette
Sun-dried tomatoes are super healthy, and this recipe is a simple way to get a little more into your diet. I originally made this to dress one of our fresh salads, but Paul couldn't resist trying it on some of the chicken cutlets we were having and it was delicious.
2 tablespoons vinegar (I used white wine, but you could really use anything)
Put everything into a blender (don't be afraid to add the garlic from the sun-dried tomatoes into the blender as well) and blend until everything is well smooth and well blended. Pour and enjoy.
Occhio di Bue (Bull's Eye)
Add large can, 28 oz. of tomato puree to a large sauce pan. Add in two tablespoons of Villa Cappelli Spaghettata. Let the sauce come to a boil and cook down a bit to thicken up, probably no more than 6-8 minutes. Then slowly add your eggs one at a time to the sauce. The eggs should sink into the sauce a bit so they actually poach in the tomato sauce.
When all the egg whites are white and cooked through you are done. Use a spoon to gently lift the eggs and as much sauce as you can from the pan onto your plate. Spoon out a little extra sauce as well for each plate.
Make sure you have a good spoon or piece of bread to get every last drop of sauce!
Quick and Easy Broccoli and Kale Soup
This is a pretty easy recipe, and you can adjust all the ingredients to suit your own tastes. And be sure to include the Kale. For those of you "afraid" of it, it literally disappears into the soup once blended and offers a ton of nutritional value.
Ingredients
3 heads of broccoli (chopped up, including stem, just cut off any brown bits)
1 stalk of celery chopped
6-7 stalks of kale
1 chopped medium onion
1 anchovy (optional of course)
2 cloves of chopped fresh garlic
Salt, pepper, and pepper flakes to taste
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of bouillon (or one small cube)
1/2 Cup fresh ricotta
1/4 cup grated pecorino
Coat the bottom of a medium pot with Villa Cappelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Throw everything in but the water, bouillon and cheese. Cook until everything starts to get a little soft and you get a little caramelization or color on the veggies. Add in the water and bouillon and let it come up to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes. Throw everything into a Vitamix (or other high powered blender) with the cheese and blend away. You might have to do this in batches. Serve with a drizzle of fresh Villa Cappelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil up on top.Note, if you don't have the cheese on hand or want to use something else, you can substitute cream, milk or even cream cheese.
Grandma Cappelli's Ragu
This is a recipe right from the kitchen of Paul's mom, so you know it's going to be good.
First, a word on the meat. Here in Italy we just say we are making ragu, and the butcher know the cuts to give us, but in the states you should probably ask for "stew cuts." This should definitely include some bone-in pieces. We recently included a few pieces of oxtail as well with amazing results.
Ingredients (feeds 12...hey, this is Italy, we feed a lot of people)
1.5 lbs. each of Veal, Pork and Lamb
3 Tablespoons of Villa Cappelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 onions
1/4 a cup of white or red wine (can use a splash of vinegar as well if you prefer)
Two 680ml (23oz.) jars of pureed tomatoes
Half a jar of Villa Cappelli Sun-Dried Tomato Spread
3 Tablespoons fresh basil
Salt and pepper
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| Brown meat on both sides. |
First, drizzle some Villa Cappelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the bottom of a pan. While the oil gets nice and hot, lightly salt and pepper the top of your meat. When the oil is hot add the meat seasoning side down. While the bottom cooks, season the other side of your meat in the pan. Brown the meat on both sides. You aren't "sealing" in any flavors or juices, you are caramelizing the meat to add some nice flavor.
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| What the finished sauce looks like. |
Cook your meat in batches, taking it out when both sides are done. Add your onions to the pan. Let the onions cook until at least translucent if not a little longer. Add the wine or vinegar to deglaze your pan. Next add your tomato and Villa Cappelli Sun-Dried Tomato Spread. Let the sauce cook a bit, then taste. Add salt and pepper to taste, and more sauce or spread if you like.
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| Going into the slow cooker. |
Place the meat in the slow cooker. Grandma Cappelli doesn't use one, but I find it invaluable. You can cook this on the stove, just adding your meat back into the sauce, but you will need to check it religiously every 20-30 minutes and cook it very very slow for a good 3-4 hours. The slower cooker just makes the process a little more fool-proof and easier.
After adding your meat, pour the tomato sauce over the meat, and cook for 4-5 hours on high or 7-8 hour on low. Add in your fresh chopped basil.
When you are ready to serve, spoon out your meat using a spider or slotted spoon. Reserve the meat on a plate and cover to keep warm. Add the remaining sauce to some al dente pasta, 200g per person, preferable penne or rigatoni, and toss. You can reserve a little sauce for everyone to spoon on top. Serve with some grated Parmigiano and you are good to go.
The meat is always served as a second course which is one of the best the things about this dish. You have a starter and a delicious fall-off-the-bone-meat second course all in one pot!
Oh, and I forgot to take a picture of the final dish. And there wasn't a drop of leftovers, so I guess everyone liked it!
Buon appetito!