Baked Ziti

Nana's Baked Ziti

When I first moved to Magnolia, Texas, I worked at a credit union in Houston, where they celebrated Diversity Day each year.

Diversity day is a day when we recognize and celebrate our cultural differences. 

Well, what makes me unique to "these people"? These Texans? 

I am from NJ, of Sicilian, Irish and German descent, and my family, both sides,  emigrated through New York.

That might not seem like a big deal, but to ME, it is everything.

Moving to Texas was the single most eye-opening event of my life.

I never realized how different I was until I plopped myself down in the middle of people that were nothing like me. Not to say there isn't cultural diversity in New jersey, there Is! By far, New Jersey is MUCH more diverse than Magnolia TX, or even the "Big City" of Houston. Sure there are several different cultures represented here, but not nearly as many variety as there are  in the New York-Metro area.  At the same time, there are not nearly as many Italian-Americans. So while I was used to Cultural Diversity, I was Not so used to Cultural Singularity. I admit, I had feelings of loneliness. When I heard about this Cultural Diversity day I was over-joyed to share a little piece of me in the form of a Baked Ziti.

Baked Ziti is a dish of pasta, cheese, and sauce that is baked.

 For MY family, Ziti is something that is traditionally served on holidays, as its cooking process from start to finish is time consuming, but it can be prepared in advance. This is the secret to those giant dinner spreads Italian families are Known for- Make Ahead Dishes. Yup.

So, when I talk about ziti I want you to know that I AM the self-proclaimed expert. But only as far as my very own family and experiences.

I have to be honest, I don't even know if Baked Ziti is actually something made in Italy.

 What I DO know is that MY Italian-American family, that came through Ellis island and settled in New York, then the next generation in New Jersey, I know WE consider Baked Ziti to be a very special dish. So, for cultural diversity day I made it with great excitement and brought it in and shared it. It was well-received, and my coworkers made me feel accepted by asking a lot of questions about my dish and my culture.  I'd like to share it with you all too, and I'm glad to put it up on the Internet for y'all, but also as a permanent place for my own people, my daughters any my future grand children to be able to retrieve it long after I'm gone.  Its THAT special to me. 

I have planned to share it for well over a year, and have only been waiting for my mother to visit so we could do this project together.

Jersey Girl and Jersey Nana

 Of course, like all families, I have  learned to cook all of the traditional dishes of importance from my mom. My girls have learned from me. This is the way of the world and a chain that I hold dear and pray is never broken until the end of time.
 So Mom/Nana came to visit last month, we shopped together and cooked together with my 3 girls, I took a few (hundred)  pictures, and I wrote down our family recipe as we went along. Yeah. This recipe wasn't written down. We just do it. How precarious is that??? Kinda scary to think there could have been an apocalypse that wiped  us out and the ziti would be gone forever. 

Well, not really, as ALL Italian New Yorkers make almost this exact same recipe.. But I will sleep better knowing its up on the blog and printed in triplicate in the fire safe. So, here it is:

Baked Ziti

1. Meatballs

2.Sauce

3.Cheese mixture

4.Pasta

Start with meatballs

1 lb (80/20) ground beef or sirloin.

1/2 ground pork

2 to 2 1/2 cups coarse breadcrumbs

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 Tablespoons parsley

2 tsps Italian seasoning*

       *see my blend*

2 eggs

Mix it up. Make small meatballs, about the size of a gum ball. Line on greased foil-covered cookie sheet and bake on 325 for about 12 to 15 min. Lift foil from pan and pour into sauce, then bake next tray.. And follow until done.

After I roll out all of the meatballs, this is about 3 cookie sheets full, I pop the first batch in and have just enough time to get the sauce going while the meatballs cook. 

Ziti sauce

*I'm calling it "Ziti Sauce" because its different from spaghetti sauce or Sunday Gravy. This is such a complicated concept that I have to write another entire blog article to explain it so for now, just trust that it IS different. To me.*

3 to 4 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. (The good stuff, don't skimp here!)

2 onions, chopped

8 to 10 garlic cloves, chopped

1  1/2 lb Italian sausage, removed from casings.

3 Tablespoons Italian seasoning*

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tablespoons parsley (yes, Italian!)

1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes

1 (12 oz) can tomato paste

2 to 3 cups red wine 

3 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

In thick-bottomed pot on medium-high heat, saute onions for a few minutes until they begin to soften, add garlic, saute another 2 to 3 minutes, add sausage, cook another 5 minutes while occasionally stirring to break up the chunks. 

As the meat browns add the spices and then the paste.

Now when the meat is pretty uniformly cooked you have to stop stirring and let it stick. Almost burn. I am serious. Just leave it alone! Key here is this bit of crust that's forming on the bottom of the pan has an incredible amount of flavor. You want for it to become dark brown, almost black. Almost. It's hard to keep from touching it. I took me years really, to find the exact moment when it's perfect but I can help you get there much faster by simply telling you, just when you can't stand it anymore and you think it's going to burn DON'T touch it. Give it one more minute. Or two. Then de-glaze with the wine and bring it to a boil. Use a wooden spoon to scrape that stuck-on flavor up and add the canned tomatoes. Bring that to a boil, then reduce and simmer while adding the batches of meatballs.

Next is the cheese

3 (30 oz) tubs of ricotta cheese

2 1/2 to 3 lbs shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

6 eggs

1/4 cup dried italian parsley

1/4 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning*

Mix this up in a large bowl, cover, and set aside. This bowl should be twice as big as you think because you're going to add the pasta to it. 

Next, boil your ziti al dente MINUS 2 MINUTES.

Means follow the package directions but subtract 2 minutes from the suggested al dente.

 Drain and plunge into ice water to stop cooking process then drain and mix with cheese mixture. Mix it with your hands to prevent the noodles from cracking and splitting. Mix it well, but gently, so the cheese coats the insides and outsides of the pasta.

Next, layer your pans. This will make 2 or more large deep trays. I use disposable aluminum trays because I freeze these and don't want to tie up my pans in the freezer. This also makes it easy to gift a tray to a neighbor or friend when they're sick or have a death in the family. (Another tradition. Someone died? Send ziti)

The layering is sauce on the bottom, a layer of cheese noodles, a layer of meatballs and sauce, another later of noodles, another layer of sauce, then cover with foil and bake for 50 min on 325 then remove foil and top with more shredded mozzarella then 10 more min in the oven till the cheese is golden and the sides are bubbling. Serve with another ladle of sauce over top and some fresh parm on top.

I love this dish so much. My whole heart and soul are in this dish from the moment I begin making it till it gets served and eaten. I hope you will make it and feel loved too!

Manga! 

*Italian Seasoning*

1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons oregano

1 tablespoon sage

1 tablespoon marjoram

1 tablespoon rosemary

1 tablespoon dried minced onion

1 tablespoon dried minced garlic

Grind for 5 to 10 seconds in blender

Grilling for Fun, and for Good Health

Here in Texas we do a lot of grilling. Don't get me wrong, we always liked grilling and made the most of the grill when we lived in New Jersey too, even grilling in the snow, but here in Texas the weather is almost always perfect for grilling, and if it isn't, just wait a few minutes!

Grilling make sense for so many reasons. First of all, its too hot to cook in the house right now. I can bake, boil, flame grill, smoke, deep fry, or steam almost anything outside, and save us money on cooling the house.

Grilling is healthy. cooking meat on an open flame allows some of the fat to drip out, without flavor being lost. 

Grilling keeps the kitchen clean. Especially if you also eat outside!

We grill for all of these reasons, but today, mostly because we had a scare a few weeks ago...

 My husband had a heart attack.

 The heart attack has left me feeling helpless. My husband feels better, and is back to work and feels invincible again, but I am worried for his health. We agree that there are some things in life that are out of our control, so we have decided to address the things that ARE in our control. Number one being our diet.

We like to grocery shop together, so this week we kept our eye out for things that would not be bad for our health. We are not ready to be health gurus, but we are both eager to take some baby steps, so instead of buying steaks we picked up some sea scallops. Instead of frozen veggies in a "sauce" we opted for fresh.  

I have to say, I enjoyed this meal so much more than I would have liked the bagged veggies! There was absolutely NO suffering associated with this meal! 

For the mixed veggies we washed and trimmed whatever was in the fridge, a half of a leftover red onion, a handful of fresh green beans, some grape tomatoes and 2 par-boiled potatoes. We tossed them with some fresh herbs from the garden, some black pepper and some salt substitute, then grilled them in a veggie pan.

For the asparagus we washed and trimmed them, seasoned with a little lemon juice, a pinch of garlic powder, and black pepper, topped with some lemon zest and set that in the grill in a foil packet. 

For the scallops, we were stumped. I knew we'd grill them in the fish basket, but I have always used the traditional salt, pepper, paprika, garlic mixture for the seasoning and that salt was just Not gonna work anymore. Then hubby remembered a small bit of powdered gold in the back of the cabinet!

 Feiney's Everything Rub!

 This was a gift from a friend of mine, Adam Feinberg. Chef and entrepreneur, as well as a member of an award winning BBQ Team called Crazy Coyote, Adam lives in Denver, Colorado, where he is a chef for The Kitchen Next Door, Union Station.  

Adam gave me a packet of rub when I met him at The World Food Championship last November, and I used it almost right away when I got home. We made some butterfly chicken on the grill with them, and they were "Feintastic"! We used it 3 more times for butterflied chickens over December and January, and then there wasn't enough left in the bag to do another whole chicken so we were saving it for a smaller dish.

Feiney's Rubs are low salt, so they're perfect for someone on a low-salt diet. 

If you're interested in trying some Fein Rubs, check out Adams page ----Fein Tasting Foods, or if you're in the Denver area, treat yourself to something tasty at The Kitchen Next Door, Union Station,  and say hello to Adam for me!

The meal was outstanding, very tasty, and a wonderful way to begin our journey of healthy eating!  I am really looking forward to the day when I am not flat-out scared shit about my husbands health. He is my best friend, and I need him to be around for a very long time! For now, he is taking it easy, being careful with his food choices and taking ALL of these meds twice a day. I am hopeful that good eating habits and lifestyle changes will allow him to wean off of some of these, but for now they're helping to keep him alive. 

Oh, one more thing... a common theory that we have always appreciated but haven't embraced as much as we should... we are taking the time to recognize the blessings all around us! Look at these adorable white-tailed deer we saw on our way to the grocery store! 

Life is Good!!

Aglio e Olio, with a Mexican twist!

Aglio e Olio (or just Olio in my house) is an Italian dish of pasta made with a sauce of olive oil and garlic and tossed, or topped with Parmesan cheese. This is a Staple in our house, and it's one if those dishes that can be a main course, a side, or a light lunch by adding different meats, vegetables, herbs and spices.

Today I set about to make some olio for lunch because my friend Sonia sent me some Pappardelle pasta from New York that I was dying to try.

Sonia and I met in a cooking group on Facebook. She previously lived in Texas, but now lives in New York State. I, of course, am a Jersey girl living in Texas. She expressed a difficulty in finding ingredients for her Mexican dishes and I commiserated that I found it difficult to locate good quality ingredients for my Italian dishes. We became instant friends and began to share ideas and cooking tips. She has a great wealth of knowledge in Hispanic and Mexican cuisine. I picked her brain a LOT! 

During our chats we found that some of the things I had a hard time finding were in abundance in her supermarket and some of the things she found scarce were plentiful here in Texas, so we decided to send each other care packages! OMG! What fun!!

Here is the delightful assortment of pasta that Sonia sent to me! I can't even tell you how hard it was to save the ziti for cooking with my mom on her visit! It was hard but I had to do it because she is the Ziti Queen. So I set those aside and focused on the pappardelle. Very difficult to find here, although I don't know why. This is a wonderful pasta to eat!

So, I was thinking of the pappardelle from Sonia and I wanted to give it a creative sauce worthy of its cross country journey. This pasta wasn't to be wasted! I had to make it worth every bite! At that point I was stirring tomato sauce, and my jar of mojo was on the counter, having just added a blob to my sauce and the idea of using it in the olio began to form.

Mojo is something new in my house, I learned about it from my friend and fellow food enthusiast, Laura Lopez. Laura had mentioned she was making mojo (pronounced Mo Ho), a monthly event at her house. I was intrigued! Her explanation was simple; slow roasted garlic cloves in olive oil and lime juice. 

The day I made the mojo I couldn't find the original recipe. It was pretty basic, from what I remembered, half a dozen or more full heads of garlic, peeled and smashed with olive oil in the oven for a while then a few splashes of lime juice and another short while. We winged it and it came out great even if it was completely wrong! We ate it on freshly made artisan bread, spread it on sandwiches and added it to savory dishes every day for 2 weeks! We have since made it several times and find there is no need for a conventional recipe, if we're doing it wrong we don't want to know! So, I added some to the Olio as a substitute for the raw garlic and it came out delicious! 

Here is a quick recipe for Olio that you can adjust with additions as you like:

Oglio e olio

1 lb pasta 

4 Tablespoons butter

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 to 8 cloves garlic, sliced

1/2 cup cooked, or 2 large handfuls fresh spinach

1 cup pasta water

1/2 to 1 cup shredded parm

1. In a large fry pan, melt butter in olive oil and add garlic. Add the spinach and bring to a gentle simmer.

2. Cook the pasta a minute or 2 LESS than al dente. (pasta will finish cooking in sauce), reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain the rest

3. Add the pasta water to the sauce and bring to a boil.

4. Add the pasta to the sauce mixture, reduce and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes while sauce reduces. 

5. Remove from heat and toss with cheese.

*Sometimes I sautee some mushrooms, then deglaze with white wine before adding the butter and olive oil. I add pre-cooked things like chicken, shrimp, or artichokes at the end.