Tag: hard
Mortadella Pasta Salad
“Pasta salad: both pretty boring and the most popular dish at every outdoor gathering you go to, a true mystery of our time.”
Alison Roman
Thank you Alison for that oh-so-true food nugget.
While pasta salad has to be the most ubiquitous summer potluck item, there is much to be improved on the expected curly noodles, black olives, and bottle of Italian dressing pasta salad.
This recipe, brought to you by another great cookbook author Molly Baz, incorporates one of the most underrated meats in the Aperitivo case – mortadella.
You can sub any other thinly sliced cured meat from the case, but morty-d adds a beautiful creamy, fatty, and saltiness to the pasta salad.
This is a perfect salad to make a few days before, add the nuts and herbs before serving, and snack on it the entire day.
Mortadella Pasta Salad
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 lbs dried large short cut pasta – rigatoni, cavatappi, whatever the fun shape from the photo is called
- 1 lbs fresh mozz – cow or buffalo
- ½ lbs mortadella – thinly sliced
- ⅔ cup pistachios – chopped
- 1 cup basil leaves – torn
For the dressing:
- 1 ½ cup Castelvetrano olives – about one small container
- 2 lemons
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 ½ oz grated hard Italian cheese – Parm, Pecorino Romano, Toscano, Provolone
- ⅔ cup EVOO
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Boil noodles according to package directions in salted water. Drain and rinse under cold water to wash off the excess starch. Let cool.
Make the dressing:
- Pit the olives and tear the flesh in half. Add to a large bowl.
- Zest one whole lemon into the bowl. Cut both lemons in half and squeeze the juice over the olives.
- Grate the garlic into the bowl. Add the grated cheese.
- Pour in the EVOO, season with salt and pepper, and stir the dressing together.
Assemble the salad:
- Tear the fresh mozz and mortadella into bite-sized pieces and add to the bowl.
- Add the cooled pasta and gently stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and lots of pepper.
- Just before serving, add the chopped pistachios and torn basil leaves.
- Serve cold or room temp.
‘Nduja Tater Tots
If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it 1,000 times, WE LOVE ‘NDUJA. It has to be one of the greatest culinary ingredients of all time. Everything gets better when you add a little ‘nduja. Butter? Yup. Pasta? Yup. Grilled ham and cheese sandwich? Yup. And countless other times that haven’t been documented on the internet.
And it should come at no shock that ‘nduja makes the childhood favorite, tater tots, even better.
Homemade tater tots are easier than you may think, but do require a bit of touch and feel to get right. Using frozen, thawed potatoes makes for a more consistent tot, but they can be a little wet. Squeeze out the extra water with a kitchen towel or sturdy paper towel once they are thawed. When mixing, you might need to add a little bit more cornstarch to help them stick together better. And a quick nap in the freezer helps keep them together as well.
While ketchup might be the most traditional tater tot dipping sauce, this tangy yogurt dip with sizzled herbs brings some freshness and creaminess to the crunchy and salty tots. This dip also utilizes an underappreciated ingredient – herb stems! Yes, most of the time you pluck the leaves off and toss the stems. Instead, the flavorful stems get finely chopped and sizzled in oil that gets swirled into the dip.
Any of the ‘nduja brands in the Aperitivo case would work great for this recipe. You just need to let it sit out on the counter for a bit before making the tots.
‘Nduja Tater Tots
Ingredients
For the 'Nduja Tater Tots
- 3 cups thawed shredded potatoes
- 1-2 Tbsp 'Nduja, room temperature
- ¼ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1-2 cups fry oil (canola, vegetable, peanut, corn, etc.)
For the Sizzled Herb Dip
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 4 stalks parsley
- 4 stalks dill
- 2 scallions
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- ½ cup crème fraîche
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
For the ‘Nduja Tater Tots
- In a large mixing bowl, add the thawed shredded potatoes. Using a kitchen towel or sturdy paper towel, squeeze out as much water as you can. Pour out excess water and break up the clumps with your hands.
- Add in the ‘nduja, Parm, salt, pepper and cornstarch and mix until well combined.
- Scoop out a tablespoon of the potato mixture and form a “tot” shape with your hands. Make a cylinder shape using the closed, rolled-up fingers of one hand (like you are making a pretend telescope with your fingers and hand,) and the pointer finger and thumb of your opposite hand to form the top and bottom of the tot.
- Set the tots on a plate or small sheet tray and repeat until all the potato mixture has been formed into tots. Place the plate or tray in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up.
- While the tots are in the freezer, pour oil into a heavy bottom pot and bring the temperature up to 375°F.
- After 10 minutes, remove the tots from the freeze. Gently drop a few tots in the hot oil and fry until golden brown all over, about 4 minutes. Remove from oil using a slotted spoon and pour onto a wire rack set over a baking sheet or a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat until all the tots are fried.
- Transfer to a serving platter and serve with Sizzled Herb Dip.
For the Sizzled Herb Dip
- In a medium pan, add oil and heat over medium heat. Remove leaves and fronds from the herb stalks. Chop the leaves and set in a medium mixing bowl. Mince the herb stems and the scallions and add to the hot oil.
- Gently fry the herb stems until fragrant and sizzled, about 5 minutes. Pour oil and herbs into a glass jar or bowl to let cool.
- To the mixing bowl with the chopped herb leaves, add the yogurt, crème fraîche, lemon juice, and chopped herbs. Add a dash of salt and pepper, taste and adjust if needed.
- In a small serving bowl, add the yogurt mixture and swirl fried herb oil over the top.
Notes
Sizzled herb oil and yogurt mixture can be made 3 days ahead of time. Store separated in the fridge.
Napa Cabbage Salad with Marcona Almonds and Paški Sir
Have a head of Napa Cabbage from your CSA or farm share box? Not sure what to do with it? Make this salad!
The leaves of the cabbage get softened with some salt and tossed with a sweet and tangy dressing. It is fresh and bright, crunchy and sweet. A perfect salad to accompany a light dinner.
The cabbage doesn’t take too long to soften up – only about 5 minutes. So make sure you have everything else ready to go so you can plate and serve the salad before it gets too soggy.
Paški Sir is a Croatian sheep’s milk cheese that is salty, savory and tangy. It is delicious shaved over this salad, but feel free to use Parmesan or a Pecorino in its place.
This salad is super easy to scale up or down. A full head of Napa Cabbage should make 4 plated salads. But if you are making this for less people, use about 4-5 leaves per person.
Napa Cabbage Salad with Marcona Almonds and Paški Sir
Makes 4 servings
- ½ cup Marcona Almonds (about .25 pound container)
- ½ tsp lemon zest (or any citrus you have on hand)
- 1 head Napa Cabbage, tough outer leaves removed
- 1 tsp salt, plus more for seasoning dressing
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp Italian Cherry Blossom Honey
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ cup parsley leaves, torn
- 1 Tbsp sliced chives
- 3 oz. Paški Sir, shaved, plus more because more cheese is always better
Preheat oven to 350°F. Shake the plastic container of Marconas to redistribute the oil. Spread out on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 minutes until warmed and slightly golden brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle over the lemon zest and set aside to cool. Once cool enough to handle, roughly chop.
Remove the leaves from the cabbage core, tear off the tough white bottom, and tear into 3″– 4″ pieces. Add to a large bowl and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt over the leaves. Gently massage with your hands and set aside until ready to serve, about 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey and black pepper together. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and drizzle over the cabbage. Add the chives, parsely, shaved Paški Sir and the chopped Marconas and toss together.
Transfer salad to a platter or individual plates. Sprinkle on more cheese, chopped Marconas, salt and pepper and serve.
Aperitivo Cocktail Meatballs
While it feels very Mad Men-esque to serve tiny meatballs in a sweet jelly sauce, they are still a pretty damn good party food.
This takes a slight departure from the traditional grape jelly and ketchup mixture by using Wildly Delicious Beet and Red Onion Marmalade to achieve that same sticky sweet and sourness.
The Aperitivo twist on these meatballs is using mortadella. The yummy Italian bologna makes the meatballs moist and tender and adds a unique peppery flavor. These meatballs would also be great with pasta and tomato sauce, in a meatball sub or on a platter with a bright and acidic salsa verde dipping sauce
Using a tablespoon to measure the meatballs, this recipe makes about 30. If you’d like them smaller than a golf ball, use ½ tablespoon to scoop out the meatballs. Or if you have a very hungry crowd, this recipe can easily be doubled, or tripled.
Aperitivo cocktail meatballs
1 garlic clove- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan
- 1 – 1 ¼ lbs ground pork
- ½ lbs thinly sliced mortadella
- 1 jar Wildly Delicious Beet and Red Onion Marmalade
- 1 12 oz. bottle Heinz Chili Sauce
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Grate the garlic clove into a large bowl. Crack the egg in the bowl, add the salt, pepper and olive oil then whisk to combine.
Finely chop the mortadella slices and add to the bowl along with the Panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan and the ground pork. Mix everything together with your hands until all the ingredients are combined.
Before you roll out the meatballs, form a small tester patty and cook in a skillet for a few minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. The mortadella is quite salty, so you might not need to add any additional salt. After adjusting the seasoning, form all the meatballs.
Using a tablespoon to scoop the meat, form golf ball sized balls and place on an oiled rimmed baking sheet, about an inch apart. Bake for 16 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through.
While the meatballs are cooking, add the jar of marmalade and chili sauce to a crockpot. Fill the empty chili sauce jar halfway with water and shake to remove all sauce from the sides of the jar. Pour into the crockpot and stir to combine. Turn on the crockpot to HIGH to warm sauce.
Once the meatballs are cooked, add to the crockpot and gently fold into the sauce. Let the meatballs rest in the sauce for 30 minutes for the sauce to thicken and the flavors to meld together.
Keep the crockpot on low and serve with toothpicks.
Fiore Sardo and Pink Peppercorn Crackers
Try an update on the classic cheese shortbread crackers.
Pecorino Fiore Sardo is a firm sheep’s milk cheese from Sardina, Italy. It is sharp, earthy and smokey, pairing great with the floral and fruity notes from the pink peppercorns.
These crackers are a great addition to a cheese board and make a great snack to bring to all your holiday celebrations.
Fiore Sardo and Pink Peppercorn Crackers
- 8 ounces Pecorino Fiore Sardo – 0.5# piece
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room
temperature - 1/2 tablespoon crushed pink peppercorns*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Preheat oven 350°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
Remove the rind from the cheese and grate on the small holes of a box grater.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter, salt and pink peppercorns on low speed until blended. Add the grated cheese and flour to the bowl and mix on low speed until smooth.
Pour the dough out onto a cutting board and shape into a dish. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to ¼ – ⅛ inch thick. Using a smaller cookie cutter (or a champagne flute or shot glass) cut out dough circles and place on baking sheet.
Bake crackers 13-15 minutes until lightly golden and just starting to brown around the edges. Let crackers cool and store in an airtight container.
*Gently crush peppercorns by putting them in a Ziploc bag and push down on them with the bottom of a skillet.
