I thought today I’d make a Baked Ziti. Baked Ziti is just a pasta and cheese casserole. I used home made tomato sauce and home made ricotta cheese so it taste better. Half the cheese I kept plain and half was a seasoned spinach mixture. I didn’t want to just mix it all up and bake it so I used a pastry bag and just squirted the cheese mixture into the pasta in random spots. This way it is almost lasagna-like.

This recipe makes about 15 servings that freeze well.

1 lb twisted or hollow pasta- cooked two minutes less from package directions ( I used campanelle)

4 cups tomato sauce – preferably home made – plus extra for serving ( a recipe link for tomato sauce is at the bottom of this page)

4 cups ricotta cheese – preferably home made (easy to make but it takes an hour….recipe many places on this site)

13 oz Italian blend cheese – divide in thirds (my blend is hand shredded mozzarella, parmesan, mild provolone and sharp provolone)

4 eggs (one goes in each bowl of ricotta and two go in with the pasta)

5 oz fresh spinach

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

fresh crushed sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 garlic clove – ground to paste or microplane

pinch ground black pepper (for ricotta)

pinch dried oregano (for ricotta)

non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and spray a large casserole pan or a 1/2 pan with non stick spray and set pan to the side. Also spray aluminum foil on one side with non stick spray. (the sprayed side will go on top of the pasta).

Get out one large bowl, two medium sized bowls (one should be microwaveable).

In the large bowl combine the pasta, the sauce, one third of the Italian blend cheese and two eggs mix well and dump into large sprayed pan. Set to the side.

In the microwavable bowl add the spinach. Top the spinach with salt and pepper to taste. sprinkle the olive oil over the spinach and add the garlic. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave 2 minutes. This will be steamy so be careful and remove the plastic wrap. Mix well. This is one of the bowls that you will be adding the ricotta cheese to.

Two cups of ricotta go into each of the two bowls. Each bowl gets a beaten egg and each bowl gets 1/2 a pinch of pepper and 1/2 a pinch oregano. Mix well and set to the side.

Get out a pastry bag. If it’s a disposable one cut off the end about 3/4 of an inch. fill with ricotta cheese mixture and randomly squirt it into the pan of pasta. Repeat till done. Cover with sprayed foil and this goes in the oven for 75 minutes.

When it comes out it looks like this.

“Serve with extra sauce and parmesan!”

For best results you must use home made cheese and home made sauce.

I make tomato sauce a bunch of different ways. I’m calling this one Winter Tomato Sauce because most of the year I use real peeled tomatoes to make sauce. In the winter I used nothing fresh. This is a very basic tomato sauce recipe that differs from marinara. Tomato sauce is more complex than the quicker cooked marinara sauce. Today I used canned tomatoes and dried herbs. This sauce came out slightly spicy after I reduced it ( I usually don’t measure but today I did)……If you are very sensitive to heat you should cut the amount of black pepper and cherry peppers slightly…..you can always add back more pepper at the end. This recipe makes a really BIG GIANT BATCH of sauce and you will have to freeze it in portions. My regular tomato sauce is very similar. For that I use fresh tomatoes with skins removed and I concentrate the tomatoes in a low oven all day (8 hours or so) before I make sauce. I use some dried herbs and at the end I add some fresh herbs.

Ingredients for about 20 portions

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

8 hot/sweet jarred cherry pepper – chopped fine

1 medium sweet onion – chopped fine

1 Tablespoon ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons course sea salt

1 cup dry white wine

5 bay leaves

6 oz tomato paste

6 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane

6lb 6oz (one #10 can) ground tomatoes in puree

6 cups water

2 Tablespoons dried basil

Directions

Put a BIG sauce pot in medium high heat with the olive oil. When oil is hot add the cherry peppers, onion, salt and black pepper. When the onions look soft add the wine and bay leaves. Let it cook a couple minutes and add the tomato paste. Stir the tomato paste all around and when it looks slightly thickened add the garlic. Reduce the heat to medium. Stir that around and when you can smell it then add the can of tomatoes the water and the basil. Stir occasionally. In a while the sauce will boil but you want it to slowly simmer so you will be turning down the heat to around medium low….and eventually to low. Cover the pot half way with foil so the sauce doesn’t jump out on the wall. Let it simmer 3-4 hours. Tomorrow the sauce will taste sweeter so resist adding sugar. For best results use the next day. Freeze and portion whatever you aren’t using.

I had spinach and extra white wine hanging around so I thought I should make some spinach risotto. Risotto is very easy to prepare but you do have to keep stirring it vigorously for about 20 minutes straight. If you are ok with that then you can make risotto. Risotto is the one of the foods that doesn’t freeze well and one of the few foods where as a leftover it’s not as good as the original unless you re-purpose the risotto into fried risotto balls………so you try to make what you need…….Anyways this is probably the best tasting risotto you ever had…I know this because when we go out to eat most other risotto isn’t as layered with flavors as mine is….I usually make mushroom risotto with mushroom stock because that’s my favorite but this Spinach Risotto is also very good.

Ingredients for around 5 servings

1/2 large sweet onion – finely chopped – ideally rice sized

1 cup risotto rice ( I used arborio)

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup dry white wine

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane

5 cups hot vegetable stock (actually you need 4-5 cups…this you have to eye ball for yourself at the end of cooking. If I only used 4 cups the risotto will turn dry for my leftovers so I use 5 cups so the leftovers are better)

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

pinch saffron

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground black peppet

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

a few grates fresh nutmeg

8 oz fresh spinach leaves

Directions

In a pot on medium high (towards high) heat add the oil and butter and when they are hot add the rice and onions….stir…stir…stir. Fry them up but don’t brown till onions are soft and clear.stir…stir …stir. Add garlic..stir..stir..stir…when you can smell the garlic add the wine.stir.stir.stir. After the wine absorbs add about a cup of hot stock and stir. stir. stir till it absorbs and repeat till you get 4 cups of stock in. At this point you can add the basil, thyme, saffron, peppers, and cheese….stir. stir. stir. Now stir in the spinach. The rice should be soft….ideally you want the rice slightly al dente…The risotto might start tightening up. Decide NOW if you need to add a little more stock……Most likely you will add some if not all of the cup.

I don’t think you will need any spice adjustments. Some people might want to serve with grated cheese but I don’t think anymore is needed.

Enjoy!

I went to the Asiana Market in Glendale and after shopping I got inspired to create something Asian Style. I came across these beautiful Korean leeks. They were big bright and fresh looking. The Korean leeks aren’t tough like regular leeks and are more like giant scallions. Some of the other things I picked up were Seafood Mushrooms and Shiso Meshi Seasoning…..I think Seafood Mushrooms are a lot of BANG for the buck….They coast only a little over a dollar a package and are tender delicate small mushrooms with stems that have a very unique seafood flavor….I love them! Another thing I picked up was Shiso Meshi Seasoning….(while I was looking for bonito flakes) The Shiso Meshi Seasoning is made of red Shiso leaves (from the mint family…..sort of mint-ish, basil-lee-ish), dried plum and lime. I thought all of these things together would make a delicious pancake and they FORKING DID! Asian Pancakes do differ from American Pancakes and are more about the filling than the pancake so they should be more filling than pancake. I embellished the pancakes with a few other things and also came up with a dipping sauce. This is not an authentic Asian recipe…….but it makes Forking SUMPTUOUS Asian Style Leek Pancakes. I made two giant pancakes that were about 12 servings….You can either make several smaller pancakes or two giant pancakes that you split up. My photo doesn’t show all the vegetables packed into the pancake. Down below is a photo that better shows how the pancake taste. The dipping sauce is also delicious and you can use it for a variety of other things.

Ingredients for about 12 servings

2 bunches Korean leeks (they come bundled in twos) – sliced thin like scallions, use all the white and most of the green. Super dirty parts I toss and soak the rest in a bowl for dirt to come out like regular leeks. I rinse twice and drain.

1 5.3oz (150g package) seafood mushrooms – cut root ball off and the mushrooms into thirds

2 cups flour

1 Tablespoon Shiso Meshi seasoning (or substitute furikake)

1 teaspoon course sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 cup water

2 eggs – slightly beaten

1 Tablespoon black sesame seeds

1 Tablespoon Korean Red pepper threads (or a small amount (1/4-1/2 teaspoon) of ground red pepper preferably Korean)

canola oil to fry pancakes

1/4 cup soy sauce – (dipping sauce)

1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil – (dipping sauce)

1 teaspoon (heaping) Korean chili paste – (dipping sauce)

2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar – (dipping sauce)

1 Tablespoon hoisin – (dipping sauce)

2 garlic cloves – either ground to paste or microplane – (dipping sauce)

1 Tablespoon pure honey – (dipping sauce)

2 Tablespoons scallions – (dipping sauce)

optional – to serve – top the pancakes with a little extra Korean Pepper Threads and sliced scallions

Directions

In a large mixing bowl combine leeks, mushrooms, flour, Shiso seasoning, salt, white pepper, water, eggs, sesame seeds, Korean pepper threads. Mix well and set to the side.

Either make the dipping sauce now or while cooking the pancakes. In a small bowl combine soy sauce, sesame oil, chili paste, rice wine vinegar, hoisin, garlic, honey and scallions.

Get a big fry pan on medium high heat with about a 1/4 inch of oil….When the oil is hot add either half the pancake mixture (if you want two big pancakes) or what is easier to do is to make several smaller pancakes. Turn down the heat to medium high and don’t flip over until the bottom is nicely browned. Turn to brown other side when ready and repeat till done….

These are FORKING SCRUMPTIOUS!