Category: Cook’s Treat from Caridad

Pizza Rustica is a typical Italian Easter dish. It’s also a great way to clean out the fridge the rest of the year if you happen to have some salami, ham, or other Italian meats hanging around. This is my easy version of the classic since it uses pre-made puff pastry and/or crescent dough instead of homemade pie crust. The prep work is minimal but you will need at least an hour to bake. What to do in that hour? How about pouring yourself a glass of wine and grabbing a good book to read? I’d recommend Beringer Knights Valley cabernet and Lost in Little Havana so you can get started on the South Beach Security Series! You can find out more about the series at https://amzn.to/36KrDcR. P.S. – Pizza Rustica is more like a quiche than a calzone or cheesecake.

Ingredients

5 large eggs
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 ounces mozzarella cheese
2 ounces asiago, fontina, or any other Italian cheese
2/3 cup parmesan cheese
6-12 slices salami and/or soppressata, chopped
4-6 slices prosciutto or ham, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.

Grease a regular 9″ pie plate. Spread the crescent dough/puff pastry into the pan, making sure to cover the sides. Use any extra dough to make a lattice on the top of the pie after you put in the egg mixture.

Beat the five eggs. Add all the other ingredients and mix. Pour into the pie plate. Decorate with extra dough.

Bake for an hour or so. Pizza Rustica will be done when the knife inserted into the center comes out cleanly. If the pastry dough is getting too dark, cover it with foil.

Once it’s baked, remove it from the oven and let cool for about five minutes (if you can wait! LOL!)

This recipe will serve 4. You can also chill and eat it cold or at room temperature.

To mix this up, cook some spinach and squeeze out any water and mix in with the eggs. Some people will also make this with cooked sausage instead of charcuterie.

Buon Appetito!

I was lucky enough to get to know my husband’s maternal grandmother Elizabeth. She was a fascinating woman and lived to the ripe old age of 103. She shared a number of recipes with me including this tasty recipe for eggplant caponata. It’s a delicious mix of eggplant, olives, celery, onions, and other goodies. Caponata is used as an appetizer or side dish normally, but you can also mix it into a bowl of pasta! I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Ingredients

1 large eggplant
4-6 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions
2 stalks celery
1 28 ounce can plum tomatoes (not crushed ones)
4 ounces green olives
1/4 cup capers
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp sugar

Directions

Peel the eggplant and cut into one inch cubes. Hubby’s grandma would then salt the eggplant, let it sit in a colander for an hour and then rinse and dry it. Salting the eggplant this way can remove the bitterness and keep it more solid, but I find that with this recipe, it’s not necessary to do this.

Heat about 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a skillet. When shimmering, add the eggplant and cook until soft and starting to brown, about 5-7 minutes.

Remove the eggplant from the heat and put in a separate bowl. Do a quick wipe of the skillet with a paper towel and heat another 2 tbsp of olive oil.

Fine chop the onions and celery and cook in the oil until softened.

While the onions and celery are cooking, rough chop the green olives. You can also use a mix of green and calamata olives if you like. Add to the onions and celery and continue cooking, but do not let the onions brown.

Open the can of tomatoes and pour them into a colander placed over a bowl to collect the sauce. Open the tomatoes and remove an extra liquid. Rough chop the tomatoes. Once the onions are softened, add them to the onion/celery/olive mixture and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add capers to the onion/celery/olive/tomato mix. I normally use capers that are brined. If you use capers packed in salt, rinse them before adding them to the mix.

Return the eggplant to the skillet with the onion/celery/olive/tomato mix. Stir. If it looks like the mix is too dry, add a little of the reserved sauce from the tomato can, but do not make it too saucy.

Mix the sugar and vinegar until the sugar is dissolved. Add to the onion/celery/olive/tomato mix. You can add the pine nuts at this time, but I skip this step on account of the cost of the pine nuts. I’ve never tried it with another nut, like walnut or pistachio and it’s not really necessary.

Cover the skillet and cook at a low simmer for about 20-25 minutes or until the eggplant is soft and most of the liquid has evaporated.

Transfer into jars and seal. The caponata will keep for at least a week. If you want to keep it for longer, I recommend freezing it until you are willing to go through the process of preserving by boiling, etc. In our house, this never lasts long enough to require that! LOL!

Only 35 More Days!

I’m counting down to the release of Lost in Little Havana. Only 35 more days until you can get your hands on a copy of the first book in the South Beach Security series.

I love recipes that are quick to make but come across as if you spent all day cooking! Chicken Marsala is one of those recipes and it’s something I make pretty regularly, especially when the weather turns a little colder since boiling the pasta helps to heat up the house. LOL! The only thing that can take a little time with this recipe is soaking the dried mushrooms, but you can skip this step if you want or can’t find dried mushrooms. So for this Tuesday Tip, I’m sharing my recipe for Chicken Marsala. This recipe is for either 4 or 2 depending on your hunger.

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup dried porcini mushrooms (soaked and drained)
1 large onion sliced
3 cloves garlic thinly sliced
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup dried mushroom liquid
2 cups marsala wine
1 cup flour
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp granulated garlic
4-6 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp butter

Directions

At least an hour ahead, place dried mushrooms in warm water and soak to soften them. When you are ready to cook, drain the mushrooms and reserve the soaking liquid. Make sure to gently squeeze the mushrooms to remove any excess liquid. If the mushroom pieces are too big, do a light chop.

Place 1 cup flour, salt, pepper, and granulated garlic into zipper bag. Mix.

Slice chicken breasts into thin, evenly thick medallions. Place in zipper bag with the flour and toss until all pieces are covered.

Place 2 tbsp olive oil in frying pan and heat. When the oil is shimmering, take medallions from the zipper bag and shake to remove excess flour. Keep the bag with the flour for now.

Add chicken to the frying pan and cook until lightly brown. Remove from the pan and place to the side.

Add another 2 or so tbsp to the frying pan and heat again until shimmering. Add mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add garlic and onions and cook until softened. Add dried mushrooms that you soaked to the mix and heat for about 2-3 minutes.

Take two tbsp of the seasoned flour from the zipper bag and sprinkle it over the onion, mushroom, garlic mix. Cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add the chicken stock, wine, and reserved mushroom liquid and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half. Add 4 tbsp butter to the pan and stir the mixture. Once the butter has melted, add cooked chicken and any juices and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

Serving Instructions

You can serve the Chicken Marsala over either rice or pasta. If you’re going to serve it with pasta, like a ziti or or other short pasta, I usually cook the pasta for a few minutes less than recommended and finish cooking the pasta by adding it to the pan with the marsala. I made the marsala this time with a De Cecco Fusilli Corti Bucati (what a mouthful) that really held the sauce well.