Broccoli Rabe & Blue Cheese Lasagna

Broccoli rabe (rapini) is in season and I've been eating quite of bit of it during the past few months. One of my favorite ways to prepare it is sautéed with a bit of olive oil, garlic and chili, and served as a side dish. But this time, I decided I wanted to try something a little different

I started with my usual preparation, added a few leeks, and used it as a filling for a lasagna. For a bit of a twist I added blue cheese. This was so delicious I’m adding it to my recipe rotation and can’t wait to make it again!

Ingredients:
2 bunches broccoli rabe
2 leeks (thoroughly cleaned)
28oz jar crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried oregano
3 garlic cloves
¼ teaspoon chili flakes
12 lasagna noodles
½ cup blue cheese
olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until they are cooked through, but not mushy and falling apart. Drain the noodles and set aside.

While you are waiting for the water to boil and the noodles to cook, prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan and add 1 clove chopped garlic. Once the garlic is fragrant but not browned, add the crushed tomatoes. If the tomatoes are too chunky, run them through a food mill first (you don’t want big chunks). If you don't have a food mill, you can always smash the larger chunks with a fork or the back of a spoon once the tomatoes have heated up and started to fall apart on their own. Add the oregano. Add salt to taste if needed. Let the sauce simmer on low while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients.

Trim the hard green ends and roots from the leeks. Cut them in half lengthwise, then cut in half lengthwise again and then slice into ¼ inch pieces.

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the leeks and sauté until they are soft. Remove the leeks from the pan and set aside.

Trim the stems off of the broccoli rabe at about an inch below the leaves and discard. Roughly chop the leaves and florets into about 1 inch pieces. Rinse the broccoli rabe then gently pat dry. You don't have to completely dry all of the leaves, the moisture will help them steam while they are in the pan.

Add a bit more olive oil to the pan; add the chopped broccoli rabe, chili flakes, salt and pepper. Once the greens begin to soften add the garlic. Sautee until they are soft- but not mushy.

Once the broccoli rabe is done turn off the heat and add the leeks to the pan and gently mix together.

Add a bit of the sauce to the bottom of a 9"x9" baking dish.

Lay three noodles across the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of sauce on top of the noodles. Next add a layer of the broccoli rabe and leek mixture, then sprinkle a bit of the blue cheese over the greens. Top with another layer of noodles. Repeat the layers two more times, saving enough of the sauce to cover the top and a bit of the cheese.

Top the final layer with the last 3 noodles and cover with sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake. After about 20 minutes cover with foil for the rest of the baking time so the sauce does not dry up

Once out of the oven, drizzle with a bit of oil and let the lasagna sit for about 5 minutes then serve. Drizzle each plate with a bit more olive oil and enjoy!

Roam Artisan Burgers

So it’s a Tuesday night and you get a hankering for a burger. Well if you live in San Francisco you’re in luck. Mosey on down to Roam for one of the tastiest veggie burgers around. And it’s not a Garden or Boca burger, not that those are bad I just don’t want to eat them at a restaurant. Roam’s veggie burger patties are house made, organic, vegan and gluten free. And if that is not enough of a reason to eat a Roam veggie burger, their artisan buns are custom made at a local bakery, the pickles are made in-house and they source their produce from local farms.

And there is no shortage of great beverages. The shakes are made with organic ice cream or organic frozen yogurt and the sodas are house-made and sweetened with agave. For the grown ups there is a nice selection of micro brews and sustainably produced wines on tap.

Oh, and as a side note, for the other two days of the week when you might indulge in a beef, bison or turkey burger, all their meat is 100% grass feed and humanely raised on open pastures.

Roam Artisan Burgers
1785 Union Street (between Octavia and Gough) 
San Francisco, CA 94123
www.roamburgers.com

Chanterelle Pasta

This weekend I found myself the lucky recipient of a bag of fresh golden chanterelles. I know not everyone get as excited about these things as I do, but I felt like a kid on Christmas morning!

If you have not had the opportunity to cook with chanterelles, I highly recommend it. Not only are they delicious they are high in potassium, vitamin A and D, and contain amino acids that help boost the immune system and may help fight cancer, infections and rheumatoid arthritis.

These mushrooms have a delicate peppery flavor and a hardy meaty texture. I wanted to make a dish where the mushrooms would stand out as the main flavor component, so I chose fresh pasta made from scratch. Although you could use a dried or even store bought fresh pasta, taking a bit more time to make it from scratch is worth the extra effort.

I also wanted this pasta to be completely vegan. You may notice that most homemade pasta recipes include eggs, however it’s very easy to create an eggless pasta by adding semolina four.

Pasta Ingredients:
1 cup semolina flour
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup-1 cup water
¼ teaspoon salt (optional)

Mushrooms:
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 leek, cut in half lengthwise then thinly sliced
2 cups chanterelles sliced- about 1/4” thick
1 clove of garlic very finely chopped
1/2 cup dry vermouth
Flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Mound flour on a large wooden cutting board.

Make a well in the center of the flour and add water a little at a time, stirring with a fork until the flour has enough liquid for the dough to come together.

The dough will be sticky, but should not be wet. Gather the dough to form a ball.

Kneed the dough for 3 minutes. Scrape up all the sticky bits from the board, then re-flour the board. Continue kneading for 3 more minutes. Dust board with flour when necessary.

The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Cover the dough with a slightly damp towel and set aside while cooking the mushrooms.

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add leeks and cook for a few minutes until soft.

Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper, cover and cook until soft and they begin to release their water- about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about minute or two. Next add the vermouth and continue to cook for another minute until the liquid reduces to about ½. Add about 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley.

Adjust the salt and pepper if necessary. Cover and turn off heat.

Roll out the pasta.

Run through the fettuccini blade.

Place about ½ the noodles in boiling salted water. Fresh pasta only takes about a minute- be careful not to overcook. Store the remaining uncooked noodles in the fridge- they will keep fresh for several days.

Drain the pasta- reserving some of the cooking liquid. Gently toss pasta in the pan with the mushrooms- add a few tablespoons of the reserved liquid if the pasta is dry. Serve pasta in bowls, drizzle with a good amount of extra virgin olive oil and fresh ground pepper.

Servings: 2 main course or 4 smaller servings.

Green Eggs

We all know today is the day to wear green, but don’t forget to eat your greens! This recipe is perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sliced potatoes, 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup sliced onions
3 eggs
Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 tablespoon water
1 cup chopped mustard greens
Parmesan Cheese
Vinaigrette

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a bit of olive oil in a 10 inch cast iron skillet on medium heat. Add the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.


Flip the potatoes a few times while they are cooking so they brown on both sides.


When the potatoes begin to get crisp add the onions.


While the potatoes and onions are cooking crack three eggs into a bowl. Add the water and whisk.


When the onions are translucent add the eggs to the skillet.


Sprinkle with chopped thyme and fresh ground pepper. Put in the oven.


The eggs will cook in about 5 minutes so keep an eye on them.


When the eggs have cooked through take them out of the oven and top with mustard greens tossed in vinaigrette. Add a bit of shaved Parmesan if you have any on hand.

Vegetable Pot Pies

It was cold and raining and we had a hankering for some comfort food. These vegetable pot pies hit the spot. Warm, comforting and full of flavor. We topped the pot pies with an olive oil whole wheat crust. The dough is a little harder to work with so be patient with it. The whole wheat crust adds a nutty flavor that compliments the mushroom gravy and it’s so much more nutritious.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 onion cut into 1 inch pieces
1 leek sliced into 1/4 in pieces and cut in half
1 large shallot finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme
1 large portabella mushroom cut into small pieces
2 cups Cremini or button mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup fresh or frozen peas. If you are using fresh, lightly blanch them
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup dark beer or stout
1-2 tablespoons butter
1-2 tablespoon flour
Salt
Pepper

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.



Steam the potatoes, carrots and onion until tender. Don’t over cook. When they are done, set aside.



In a separate pan sauté the leeks, garlic and shallot in olive oil.



When the leeks are soft add the mushrooms, parsley and thyme salt and pepper.


When the mushrooms are soft add the water. Simmer on low for about 15 minutes.


When the water has slightly reduced add the beer and simmer on low for another 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust the salt and pepper as needed.


Make a roux with equal amounts flour and butter. To make the roux heat the butter in a small saucepan, when the butter it melted add the flour and stir four about a minute.

Add a bit of the mushroom broth to the roux and whisk.


Add the roux mixture to the skillet with the mushrooms. Gently combine. At this point the mixture should have the constancy of light gravy. If it is too thin, make a little more roux. It there is not enough liquid or the gravy is too thick add water to thin out. You want to make sure there is enough liquid so the pot pies have plenty of gravy.


Add the potato, carrot and onion mixture to the pan with the mushrooms. Add the peas. Gently mix.


Spoon the mixture into 4 oven proof crocks.



Cover each crock with the whole wheat pie crust and bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes or until the crust is done.

Whole wheat crust:
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup white all purpose flour
½ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
About 3 tablespoons water

Mix the four, oil and salt in a food processor. Slowly add the water until the mixture comes together. Divide the dough into 4 balls and roll each one out separately.

Orange Cashew Tofu with Broccoli

You may recognize the Orange Cashew Tofu from our January posting. We jazzed it up a bit and added broccoli and onion. It was so yummy we wanted to share this alternate version.

1 10 to 12 oz block of firm tofu cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup unsalted roasted cashews
1 cup broccoli cut into 2 inch pieces
1/4 cup sliced onion
About 2 teaspoons olive oil
5 Scallions cut into 1/2 pieces- use both the white and green part
Juice of 1 orange
1/4 teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 teaspoons grated garlic
3 teaspoons grated ginger
1 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes, or to taste
1 teaspoon hot chili oil, or to taste

I like to buy raw, unsalted cashews and roast them myself. If you are using raw cashews, roast them in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until toasted.

In a small bowl, stir together the orange juice, orange zest, soy sauce, honey and cornstarch. Set aside

Heat skillet to medium high and add a bit of the olive oil. When the oil is hot add the broccoli and onion and stir occasionally. You can put a lid over the skillet to slightly steam the broccoli and it will cook a little faster. When the broccoli is just about cooked through take it out and set aside.

Add a little more olive oil to the skillet and add the tofu. Stir occasionally.


After about 5 minutes add in the scallions and stir occasionally until the tofu is browned and crispy and scallions are soft (about another 5 minutes.) Transfer the tofu and scallion mixture to the bowl with the broccoli.

Turn down the skillet to medium low. Add the remaining olive oil. Add the garlic, ginger and chili flakes. Stir for 30 seconds or until fragrant.


Add the orange juice mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens slightly.

Add the tofu, scallion and broccoli mixture and the roasted cashews. Toss and cook for another minute to re-warm everything. Serve with brown rice.

Makes 4 Servings