Bucatini con Melanzane Spappolate -- Pasta in Chunky Eggplant Sauce

Our My Kitchen My World destination for the month of September is Italy and we are focusing on regional Italian cuisine.  I adore Italian foods and love learning more about the different regions of countries everywhere so I was very excited to give this a go.  I have a few regional Italian cookbooks and used the book, Rustico -- Regional Italian Country Cooking for this cooking quest. One recipe that immediately caught my eye was Bucatini con Melanzane Spappolate from the region of Calabria, right at the toe bottom of the boot of Italy...

I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand, including two lovely eggplants that my mom brought over from her garden. This was the first time I've ever had an eggplant sauce like this, with the eggplant essentially  mashed up -- spappolate is derived from spappolare which means to crush, mash, or pulp in Italian. This ended up being a delicious lunch that I wouldn't hesitate to make again, I think the sauce would be delicious with any pasta and also wonderful with spaghetti squash, which I plan to make it with next time.

Bucatini con Melanzane Spappolate 
Bucatini in Chunky Eggplant Sauce
adapted from Rustico -- Regional Italian Country Cooking by Micol Negrin

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped (I used roasted garlic cloves, smashed)
3/4 pounds eggplant, peel on, cut into 1/4 x 1/4 x 3-inch strips
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced (I used 1 pound of canned imported San Marzano tomatoes, and forgot to chop them, just ended up mashing them in a potato masher)
1 teaspoon minced oregano
12 basil leaves, torn
1 pound bucatini (long hollow spaghetti type noodles, also called perciatelli from what I've read)
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese


Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch saute pan over a medium flame. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds, then add the eggplant, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and the pepper.

Cook, stirring often, for 25 minutes, or until soft.

Crush the eggplant with a fork into a coarse puree while it is still in the pan, then add the tomatoes and oregano and cook 5 minutes more.

Stir in the basil and keep the sauce warm.

Meanwhile, bring 5 quarts of water to a boil. Add the bucatini and the remaining 2 tablespoons of salt and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. (Side note -- my pasta box said cooking time was 11 minutes for al dente, so be sure to taste test the pasta before you drain, you do not want it underdone, mine had to cook for about 12 minutes and was still plenty al dente!)  Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Toss the bucatini and sauce in a bowl.

Dilute with enough of the reserved cooking water to coat the bucatini and serve hot, dusted with the Pecorino.

If you are an eggplant / tomato / pasta fan, I bet you would enjoy this southern Italian dish too! Can't wait to browse through my cookbooks and try some more regional Italian cuisine!

End of Summer Tomato Sandwich

Was it really May when I last posted?!? I'm still here! I guess the summer just got the best of me and I decided to just go with the flow and enjoy every crazy minute of it, which meant no time to blog. Here it is September 1st and for whatever reason I figured I'd put a simple post up and try to get back in the blogosphere... 

This is barely a recipe but it has been one of my go to lunches while picky husband is running the grill. Instead of burgers or hot-dogs, I have a yummy tomato sandwich! I have not always loved tomatoes, infact, I didn't like them at all as a child. Tomato sauce, yes, but not anything with an tomato texture in it, thank goodness my tastebuds have changed over the years and I now thoroughly enjoy the once forsaken tomato.

Here are my musts for a tomato sandwich...

toasted bread (preferably and most often homemade French bread from this recipe)
mayonnaise (not too much, but a little on both slices)
fresh tomatoes (this year I grew Cherokee Purple tomatoes and they made amazing sandwiches!)

I also love to add thin slices/crumbles of goat cheese, it adds that perfect tangy touch!

I hope everyone/anyone who reads this has had a wonderful summer!  I can't wait to get back into the blogging grove and hope to have some yummy recipes to share soon :)

Enchiladas with Creamy Roasted Poblano and Spinach Sauce

These were the best enchiladas I've ever tasted! The creamy roasted poblano and spinach enchilada sauce is what really puts them over the top.  I will be making this sauce all the time. It's also wonderful as a dip with tortilla chips.  I found the recipe here while I was looking for a recipe to use up some spinach and poblanos I had in the fridge.  The original recipe calls for 3 cups of chicken, and I used diced roasted sweet potatoes instead of chicken and also made some with just cheese and they were both amazing!

Enchiladas with Creamy Roasted Poblano and Spinach Sauce

Enchiladas Especiales Tacuba Style

adapted from Rick Bayless's website, originally from Cafe Tacuba

2 fresh poblano chile

1 cup (lightly packed) roughly chopped spinach leaves

2 cups milk
2 cups chicken broth ( I used vegetable broth)

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter—or you can use vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped (I used roasted garlic)
1/2 cup flour

Salt

3 cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled chicken) (I used roasted sweet potato cubes in some and cheddar and colby jack cheese in some instead of the chicken, use whatever you like :) )

12 corn tortillas (I made homemade tortillas for these, totally worth the extra effort)

A little vegetable oil for brushing or spraying

About 1 cup Mexican melting cheese (Chihuahua, quesadilla, asadero or the like) or Monterey Jack, brick or mild cheddar

A little chopped cilantro for garnish

1. Make the sauce. Roast the poblanos directly over a gas flame...

or on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, turning regularly, until the skins have blistered and blackened on all side, about 5 minutes for an open flame, about 10 minutes under the broiler.

Place in a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel (paper towel worked fine) and, when handleable, rub off the blackened skin, tear open and pull out the seed pod and stem. Quickly rinse to remove any stray seeds or bits of skin.

Roughly chop and put in a blender jar. Add the spinach.

In a medium (3-quart) saucepan, combine the milk and broth, set over medium-low heat to warm. (I just warmed these in the microwave)

In a large (4-quart) saucepan, melt the butter (or heat the oil) over medium. Add the garlic (I used about half a head of roasted garlic) and cook for a minute to release its aroma, then add the flour and stir the mixture for a minute. Raise the heat to medium-high. Pour in the warm broth mixture and whisk constantly until the sauce boils. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Pour half the hot sauce into the blender with the chiles and spinach.

Cover loosely (I remove the center part of the lid, secure the lid, then drape a cloth over the whole thing) and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining sauce.

Taste and season with salt, usually about 2 teaspoons.  (I started with one and tasted from there, 2 seems like a little too much.)

2. Finish the enchiladas. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Smear about 1/4 cup of the sauce over the bottom of each of four to six 9-inch individual ovenproof baking/serving dishes or smear about 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish. Stir 1 cup of the sauce into the chicken (sweet potatoes, for just cheese enchiladas I did not add extra sauce to the cheese, just rolled them up with cheese only and did sauce on top).

Lay half of the tortillas out on a baking sheet and lightly brush or spray both sides of the tortillas with oil; top each tortilla with another one and brush or spray those with oil. Bake just to warm through and soften, about 3 minutes. Stack the tortillas and cover with a towel to keep warm.

Working quickly so that the tortillas stay hot and pliable, roll a portion of the chicken up in each tortilla, then line them all up in the baking dish(es).

Douse evenly with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until the enchiladas are hot through (the cheese will have begun to brown), about 20 minutes. Garnish with the cilantro and serve without hesitation.

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I thought these were absolutely wonderful!  The homemade corn tortillas were amazing in this recipe. I used Rick's recipe for them using just Maseca and water and my new tortilla press and was so impressed. I usually prefer flour tortillas over corn, but these were just perfect for soaking in that delicious sauce and sopping it up. They did not get mushy like store bought corn tortillas and had a really nice toothsome texture after baking. So delicious!  I loved the gorgeous green color of the sauce before baking, it was so pretty. It darkened up a bit while baking but I just couldn't get over that soft mint almost seafoam green color.

Unfortunately my kids and picky husband wanted nothing to do with this dinner, not even the cheese ones, I was kind of anticipating that so made them something else instead as an option. Maybe next time I make these they will give them a try. I think if you took just one taste of this luscious sauce you would be a fan for sure :) Since I am the only enchilada fan I am linking these over to IHCC for their theme of the week, For Mom.  

Old Fashioned Buttermilk Pancakes

I found this recipe in one of my older cookbooks, Better Homes and Gardens Bread Cookbook from 1963.

I love these retro / vintage cookbooks and have fun paging through them and trying a recipe that may have been a favorite back in the day. 

I made these one weekend morning when I wanted to try a new pancake recipe, they seemed simple enough that even picky husband, a pancake traditionalist, might like them.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes

Better Homes and Gardens Bread Cookbook

2 cups sifted all purpose flour

1 teaspoon soda (baking soda)

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

~

2 slightly beaten eggs

2 cups buttermilk

2 tablespoons melted butter

Sift flour, soda, salt, and sugar into bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter, stirring only until flour is barely moistened. (There will be a few lumps.)  I'm going to add to just make sure they aren't big lumps, I like to whisk everything together pretty well so there are no flour clumps in pancakes, haven't had that issue with this recipe, but have in the past with recipes that say to barely stir anything.

Bake on hot, lightly greased griddle or electric skilled heated to 375 degrees. For uniform pancakes, use a 1/4 cup measure - or use a drip-cup pitcher and count 1-2-3 as you pour.

Turn cakes when center springs back to touch, or when bubbles on surface break. Flip cakes only once. Makes about 1 and 1/2 dozen 4 inch cakes. I made them a little bigger and got a good dozen.

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These were great, they definitely had that old fashioned buttermilk tang that lots of pancakes nowadays miss. I love trying pancake recipes and  do have a favorite non buttermilk pancake recipe that I've perfected over the years to my family's tastes but this is now my go-to buttermilk pancake recipe.  A nice recipe to have when you find yourself with a half used container of buttermilk on the verge of expiring and want to use it up...

These were absolutely delicious with some butter and grade B maple syrup. The whole family enjoyed them and that always makes me smile! Happy breakfasting :)

Hungarian Strawberry Shortbread

Our Tuesdays with Dorie  treat of the week is Hungarian Shortbread. I had never heard of Hungarian Shortbread before but love shortbread so was excited to give this recipe a try.  

Cookies with jam in them are my favorite kind, and I love making jam, but was unable to find the rhubarb called for. The recipes says that you can also use your favorite flavor or preserves so I went with some homemade strawberry jam.

Hungarian Shortbread uses a technique I'd heard of but never tried myself, grating / shredding frozen dough! I used my salad shooter with the shredding cone, which made this recipe super easy. I couldn't wait to see what it looked like after it baked...

Here it is just out of the oven. I had to add an extra 5 minutes on the baking time because the middle seemed undone at 40, but when it checked it 5 minutes later it looked just right!  These are absolutely delicious and I would make them again for sure! They seem like the perfect bar cookie to take along for a picnic.

And now I have a couple of photos of our last TWD recipe assignment, a lovely Lemon Loaf Cake...

I baked along with everyone two weeks ago but just didn't have the time to post on time so thought I'd save my pictures and put them up with the Hungarian Shortbread.

I love lemon loaf and this one was pretty yummy! The kids enjoyed this one as well.  And now one last photo to share, an inside shot of my Mushroom Pizza Rustica that we made a month ago. When I blogged about the recipe I didn't have any photos of a slice of it showing the filling. I took this photo of the leftovers the next day and it had been sitting in my "Cooking Photos" folder of pictures for the last month, so I thought I'd share that one this week too.  Thanks for visiting -- happy baking, everyone :)