Leftover bolognese meat sauce can be a perfect “spaghetti pie” in NO time!

The bolognese meat sauce you made turned out alright, huh?  But now you are stuck with a mound of leftovers and don’t really want to eat pasta for the next week straight…so whattya do?  Do what I did and turn it into a “spaghetti pie” and impress your friends!

I never really understood the fascination with “spaghetti pie”.  To me, it just sounds like a huge pain in the ass and a lot of work– Make the sauce, make the pasta, mix the the pasta and sauce, let it cool….blah blah blah.  All for a damn “pie” that I’m going to cut into that will probably fall back in to looking like a plate of regular ‘ol spaghetti anyway?  Eh, not for me.   BUT, if I’ve already served a meal and have leftovers, well, that is a different story!

Our “Mangia Memoir” (what we’ll remember)

At 11:00pm, while dumping our leftover bolognese and linguine into a pie-pan and pouring eggs over it….

Husband: “what the hell are you doing?”

Me: “making spaghetti pie, duh.”

Husband:  “Interesting.”

The Meal: “Spaghetti Pie”

The Details: We tossed in our bolognese and pasta leftovers. Instead of just a couple eggs, we added about 8 to make it  like a frittata, so it could be eaten morning, noon or night. And it was.  It never appeared on the dining room table, but it disappeared over the course of the week, devoured by little creatures that quietly snacked late-night after a couple brewskies, or first thing in the morning before any one would notice.  Naughty.

The Verdict:

• 4 stars
• I think it was a little difficult for some to get over the “frittata” factor.  The extra dose of eggs helped to keep the pie shape and you literally could eat it with your hands. No plate necessary, which was convenient! But, I could see where normal folks might find it weird to eat this for breakfast.
• Would You Eat It Again:  2 votes yes, 1 vote “I guess”
• What Would You Change: I’d love to own a spring-form pan.  It would make it a LOT easier to get this little puppy out. This time, I had to let it cool and then give it a hearty WHACK! to get it out. Also, I’d add more parmigiano into the sauce prior, then still add the cheese layer to the top as a final crust.

Bolognese meat sauce is the perfect Sunday Night meal. Maybe this weekend?

The Meal: homemade bolognese meat sauce over linguine. Shared with friends on a Sunday evening to unwind from a busy weekend and get charged up for Monday morning.

The Details: combination of pancetta, various ground meats, “soffritto”, fresh bay leaves and a slow 3 hour cooking time.

The Verdict:

• 5 stars
• Everyone joined the “clean plate club” this night and we purposely made extra so we’d have enough for “to-go” containers for lunch the next day.  Bolognese is the gift that keeps on giving.
• Would You Eat It Again?:  Everyone agreed, yes!
• What Would You Change?:  serve a nice light salad with this dish. Between the meat and pasta, it is quite a hearty dish and it’s nice to something light between bites.

Our “Mangia Memoir” (what we’ll remember):

Gathering around a table for dinner with friends on a Sunday night, makes it feel like family. It’s nice to have this Miami “family” to be able to relax, unwind and just feel at ease.   Kelvin smiled from ear to ear the whole night (because Bolognese is his favorite), while there was a silence over the table as everyone devoured their food. Sometimes, words aren’t really needed to feel completely content.

The Recipe: (inspired by Williams-Sonoma Pasta Cookbook)

What I changed from recipe below: substituted additional pork/beef instead of using veal because it can be pricey. I use half/half instead of heavy cream and totally skip on the veal demi-glace. I feel like there is enough going on this sauce, that for a normal night, we don’t need to spend another billion dollars or add another million calories.

Ingredients:

•  4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 thin slices pancetta, finely chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, cut into small dice
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into small dice
• 1 celery stalk, cut into small dice
• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 lb. ground pork
• 1/2 lb. ground veal
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups unsalted beef stock or canned broth
• 2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
• 5 fresh sage leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup veal demi-glace
• 1 lb. homemade tagliatelle (see related recipe at left) or purchased fresh fettuccine
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions:

In a Dutch oven or large, heavy flameproof casserole dish over medium-low heat, melt 2 Tbs. of the butter with the olive oil. Add the pancetta and sauté until just starting to crisp, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, carrot and celery and sauté until aromatic and very lightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the ground beef, pork and veal, stir to break up, season with salt and pepper, and add a generous pinch of nutmeg. Increase the heat to medium and sauté until the meat is lightly browned. Add the wine and simmer until it is almost evaporated.

Add the stock and cook until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, sage and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 1 1/2 hours. If the sauce seems thin, cook it, uncovered, until thick and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Skim the surface of excess fat. Add the cream and demi-glace. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaf and discard.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Generously salt the water, add the pasta and cook until al dente (tender but firm to the bite), 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the freshness of the pasta. Drain and transfer the pasta to a warmed large, shallow bowl. Add the remaining 2 Tbs. butter and 2 Tbs. of the cheese. Toss until the butter melts. Add the sauce and toss gently. Serve immediately. Pass the remaining cheese at the table. Serves 4 to 6.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Pasta, by Erica De Mane (Simon & Schuster, 2001)

Basil harvest, means homemade pesto time!

This year, we decided to plant a little urban garden on our skyscraper balcony.  We have flourishing basil, parsley and dill.  Unfortunately, the cilantro died a frightful death.  It was not a fan of these Italian fingertips.  I should have had my Puerto Rican friend Irmaliz nurture that little plant! Better luck next time.

So, our flourishing basil quickly turned into a jungle tree, so we need to make pesto, stat!

The Meal: Homemade walnut pesto over thin spaghetti, topped with shaved parmigiano, served with a savory Malbec wine

The Details: ever notice how expensive pine nuts can be? Ever realize how restaurants substitute walnut for pine nuts and we all think it’s to make it “fancier”?  Well, it might be that, but it might also be because walnuts are cheaper and they go a lot further. Walnut, basil, parmigiano blended in a food processor, streamed in with olive oil and salt/pepper to taste

The Verdict

• 4 stars
• For our first basil harvest of the year, it turned out great.
• Would You Eat It Again?: yes, for sure. It’s the perfect quick meal. Plus pesto is easy to freeze and defrost for a weeknight meal when you don’t feel like cooking.
• What Would You Change?: I think I went a little crazy on the garlic this time, so next time I’d pay attention to the number of cloves I was throwing in the food processor

Our “Mangia Memoir” (what we’ll remember)

It’s kind of an awesome feeling when you sit down to eat and realize that the tasty meal you are about to enjoy has come from the fruits of your labor.  One Saturday, on the 11th floor of our skyscraper, we got our hands dirty and planted these basil seeds, then watched them grow into this monster of a plant that is now feeding our family.  I think it made it taste that much better

The Recipe

• 1 cup toasted walnuts (helps get the oil out and more flavorful)
• 2-3 cups of packed basil (if you wash it, let it dry on some paper towels before putting into the food processor)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup or so of extra virgin olive oil (I usually eye-ball this based on the texture I want. Some people like their basil chunky and others smooth)
• 1/2  cup or so of parmigiano reggiano cheese (this can also be to taste, but keep in mind that the cheese changes the texture as well)
• Salt/Pepper to taste
• Secret Ingredient (Optional) – couple flecks of lemon zest and juice of 1/2 – 1 lemon.  It can really brighten up the flavor and be a nice unexpected twist
• Blend walnuts, basil and garlic in food processor. Add cheese and blend.  Stream in olive oil while blending until desired consistency is achieved.  Salt/pepper to taste.  If adding lemon zest, include in the initial blend and juice at the end.

Adventure anyone? What better way to celebrate the launch of a food blog than with fresh whole fish, a raw meat concoction and great friends? I don’t thing anything!

My loving husband decided that we needed to have a “launch party” for the birth of Mangia! Memoirs because of the hard work that went into it.  I believe that to be true, but I also think he may have been looking for a good excuse to have friends over, eat some food and down some wine.  Regardless, the impromptu launch party took place and let me tell you, we went on a culinary adventure joy ride!

We were thinking to go big or go home, so ended up creating food items that we had never ever made before and honestly, really had no idea how to.  First up, beef carpaccio.  For those not familiar with carpaccio, I’ve included a link, but it’s basically very very thinly sliced raw “something”.  There are seafood carpacci, beef carpacci, vegetable carpacci – you get the point. We’ve had these many times in restaurants, but the real kick here is that it is 100% RAW and I was serving it IN MY HOME.

I’d tried to do all the gruesome meat pounding before everyone got here, in order to salvage their appetites, but I’d have to say my favorite quote of the evening from our pal Kelvin, (as I lay delicate slices of meat on a plate), was “Soooo, uhh…that was marinated like ceviche, right?”  NOPE! Sorry, buddy, when I said raw, I meant RAW.  I honestly got a little nervous after that point, thinking “Alisa, what the hell are you doing serving raw meat to your friends?!  But the show must go on.  We served up the beef carpaccio with fresh arugula and shaved parmigiano, olive oil and fresh cracked pepper.  Overall, a HIT.

The “sleeper” favorite of the evening ended up being the pasta.  I really just made this as a “filler-up” dish from things we had lying around. Fusilli lunghi (long spirally pasta that looks the way someone’s hair would look if they got electrocuted)  pasta in a mildly spicy artichoke heart, tomato, garlic and white wine sauce.

Next up was the MAIN EVENT.  I’d been wanting to cook a whole fish for sometime (just to see if I could do it), and this ended up being the perfect night for it.  My husband and I went to the local fish market, Garcia’s Seafood, and purchased two jumbo red snapper and decided to follow the directions of 2 awesome ladies from Florida that demonstrated an ancient technique for baking fish.  Naturally, we found this on YouTube.  You can stuff the fish with any herbs you like (I chose lemon, rosemary and thyme), then pack the fish in course sea salt, creating a salt cast that develops over the fish and keeps it moist while baking.  The craziest part, is that the salt becomes hard like concrete and you have to literally CRACK the mold to get the fish out.  It was totally wild and so much fun! I used my grandma’s rolling pin for extra drama – thanks Gram.

The Verdict:

• 5 stars!
• Would You Eat It Again?: Heck, yea with multiple exclamation points
• Would Would You Change? Buy more fish.  For a party of 6, two fish was a bit of  stretch as a main course.

[Show as slideshow]

priligy lietuvoje

Our “Mangia! Memoir” (what we’ll remember):

This was a food event worth remembering and I definitely recommend it.  The fish was moist and fell right off the bone.  The herbs that we had stuffed within the fish cavity infused the fish with flavor. And surprisingly, even though the fish was encased in salt, it wasn’t salty (Heads up, though – there were a few salty areas, mostly around the edges where the fish was right up against the salt cast).  Since this was a new technique for everyone, the whole party was centered around seeing this come to life, which ended up being pretty darn cool.

Every one watched in anticipation as the fish was stuffed, packed in salt and then put into the oven.  We then held our breath as the rolling pin smacked open the cast and inside lie the fully in tact and cooked fish.  Once we slid the fish from the bones, everyone, as if on on queue, starting picking at the remnant pieces.

I mentioned that the fish cheek is supposed to be very succulent and instantly everyone started going for it!  Then conversation shifted to how if you are ever stranded, you should eat fish eyes, because there is water in them.  Next thing I know,  people are going for the EYES!!  It was like be shot back to caveman era – everyone was so primal!

If you like Pho, it’s a place to go.  Not the best in the world, but a go-to for Miami.

Restaurant: Miss Saigon, Coral Gables

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Items Ordered:

• Bo La Lot – Beef wraps
• Pho Dac Biet (includes the thin beef, meatballs and  all the “nasty bits” like tripe, tendon and other delectables)

The Verdict:

• 3-4 stars
• FOOD: Flavorful, well-prepared
• SERVICE: average
• AMBIANCE:  Above average. Smaller-sized (15ish tables), but clean, with stereotypical Vietnamese decor.

Our “Mangia Memoir” (what we’ll remember)

• I took the trek to the Gables with Kelvin, my Vietnamese friend, who happens to crave Pho on a weekly basis.  He has been on the “hunt” for the best place to get Pho in Miami, which has been a bit of a challenge to say the least.  I have (not so hesitantly, I might add) agreed to be his wingman (er, woman) on this quest.  Honestly, there are not a ton of options, especially when you come from a more diverse city, like Chicago, as he does. It seems that every place Americanizes the deliciousness and you have to specifically ask the waiter/waitress to beg the chef to prepare it in the authentic Vietnamese style. Miss Saigon was no exception here.  I get it…restaurants have to cater to their audience, but I wish there was a way to get the masses to really enjoy food the way it was MEANT to be enjoyed, not a dumbed down version because of silly Americans.
• The waiter was our entertainment for the evening.  Kelvin ordered the appetizer and the waiter said, “do you know how that comes out? You do, oh ok, because you have to wrap them yourself, you know?”  As if my little Vietnamese amigo didn’t know that — Psha.  My favorite was when we ordered 2 bowls of Pho and he said “You know how big those are, right? You want 2?  You do?! Ok.” And when Kelvin asked for it “Vietnamese style”, the guy said “Yea, we can do it.  With all the fatty stuff, right?”  If I wasn’t a culinary adventure seeker, without an immediate care for my waistline, I probably would have passed on the “fatty stuff” because he really failed in making it sound even remotely appetizing.

Sometimes the pros DON’T know best.  Ya just gotta make a recipe your own–and that is half the fun!

The Meal:  Chick Pea Pizza alla David Rocco, Mediterranean salad with chopped cucumber, tomato, hearts of romaine & lemon.

The Details: chick pea pizza, aka “la cecina”,  is allegedly a very common dish in Italy.  It is made from chick pea flour, a naturally gluten-free flour, olive oil, salt & pepper.

What Went Wrong + TIPS:

Tony and I watch one of Cooking Channel’s programs called La Dolce Vita with David Rocco and have really enjoyed the journey David and his wife Nina take us on. They always end up filming exciting narratives in the exact places or scenarios Tony and I yearn for (i.e. a remote seaside picnic, a relative’s apartment in Florence, a lakehouse barbeque). Without a doubt, the narrative is the strong suit of the program (along with the frisky soundtrack). David Rocco tells a great story, but when it comes to recipes, stick to the other guys.  Sorry, David -  we love ya and definitely wanna be friends .  Come to our house and we’ll show YOU some “La Cecina”

1. FALSE ADVERTISING: The recipe he shared on the TV program didn’t match the details found in the actual recipe on the website. Not really a big deal, unless you weren’t planning to look up the recipe online….which we weren’t.  I mean, how hard could it be? What he showed us on the tele was a piece of cake (well, pie).  We were curious about the portion size, so ended up looking at the recipe and learned a key STEP that was missing from the TV program.  The chick pea batter has to sit for nearly an hour before placed into the oven. We definitely weren’t expecting that.
2. FLAVORLESS: The recipe could use a little SEASONING LOVE.  Be sure to the follow the recipe and then toss in your favorite seasonings like rosemary or thyme. Whatever you like.  And definitely, a little more salt.
3. COOL DOWN: if you try to take the pizza out of the pan immediately (like we did), you are going to end up with flaky broken mess.  Let is rest for about 15 minutes or so.  It will regain some of it’s form and elasticity, making it easier to slide out of the pain and cut into the shape you like.

What’s better than keeping TRADITION alive and  prepping food for 3 days to share with 25 of your closest friends?  Nuttin’

Major Mangia! Memoir: 2011 Italian Easter Celebration with 25+ friends at our apartment in Miami.

Over the years, I think Easter has really started to make it’s way to the top of my list of favorite holidays. The preparation leading up to Easter (in the Catholic church) is filled with a lot of drama, sacrifice and I think the stories are some of my favorite. I also think that Easter is the start of something new for a lot of people–a rebirth, the start of spring and nice weather, and of course, Easter bonnets!

For me, I think it was all of those things! I wanted to gather all of our “transplant” Miami friends/co-workers to celebrate together, Italian-style!

Miami Crew - minus Vince(taking photo) & Iggy

Just like last year, Weber and I stayed in Miami for Easter.  We’ve had a LOT of traveling already this year between the wedding and family stuff.  Hopefully next year, we can get the family to come down here for Easter?!

“Family” is such an interesting word because it connotes different things fordifferent people.  For me, “family” is something pretty indescribable. It’s more of a feeling than anything else–a mixture of love, loyalty, laughter and a billion memories all combined into this one big FEELING.  Our families are what make us who we are and they can never ever be replaced, but sometimes (and not very often), you meet someone or you have an experience or moment when you just breathe in and say “man, it almost feels like….family”.

Making ravioli

As we toasted with Prosecco at the beginning of the party, I looked around at all of these friends, co-workers, neighbors (most of which do not have any family here in Miami) and felt happy.  Happy to be together—Happy to have created a feeling of “family”, even when ours were thousands of miles away.

The great thing about technology is that even though our families are in fact thousands of miles away, phone calls, Skype and even iPhone FaceTime can let us celebrate together.

To all who came to the fiesta, thank you. To Weber & Tony, thank you for all the help making ravioli, rolling meatballs and everything else you did. Vince, thanks for taking all the photos!  And to my Pitocco crew back home–thanks for the all the help answering food questions and supporting me as I tried to pull off feeding 25 people! :)  Weber thought we’d never use all of those plates we got for the wedding!  I guess I had to prove that wrong early on!

What was on the menu, you ask? Buon Appetito!

The Menu:

• Prosecco toast in celebration of Easter
• Homemade Limoncello alla Tony & Alisa
• Homemade Ricotta Cheese Ravioli in homemade marinara sauce (Pitocco family secret recipes). Half-moon shaped ravioli.
• Homemade Spinach and 4 cheese ravioli in gorgonzola cream sauce.  Square shaped ravioli.
• Baked Rotini with seasoned ground beef, ricotta and mozzarella.  Half with egg.
• Homemade Pesto Farfalle (pesto made with spinach, arugula and walnut)
• Homemade meatballs
• Mild Italian sausage
• Hot Italian sausage
• Rosemary Chicken
• Charred Broccoli
• Cucumber Tomato Salad with fresh mozzarella
• Mixed greens salad with homemade vinaigrette
• Gavazoon (Pitocco family recipe)