Calzones

Calzones can be an easy, tasty dinner, and are easily customizable for different family members and their tastes. I use refrigerated dough because I usually don't have time to deal with yeast and such, but if you like to make your own crust, you can certainly do that. I'd say that one roll of refrigerated store-bought dough makes a calzone large enough to be dinner for three or four adults or 4 kids, depending on what else you serve with it and how hungry your people are. You can also cut the dough in half and make two smaller ones with different fillings. Here's a filling I really like, but you can put pretty much anything you want in there. Oddly, I tend to shy away from ricotta in a calzone, even though I generally like it.

Calzone:

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough, or homemade crust enough for one pizza
1 lb Italian sausage, (no casings)
1 carton fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 10-oz box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.
1 to 2 cups shredded mozzarella or provolone cheese

In a large, deep skillet, brown Italian sausage, breaking it up as it cooks. Drain fat and return to skillet. Add sliced mushrooms and saute a few minutes, until soft. Add spinach and stir to combine mixture and heat spinach through.

On baking stone or cookie sheet, unroll and spread out the dough. Place filling along one half, leaving a couple inches around the margin to seal. Sprinkle with cheese. Fold the empty half of dough over the filling and press edges together to seal the dough. Crimp sealed edge with a fork if desired. Cut a few small slits in top crust so steam can escape. If you want to be fancy, you can brush the top with an egg wash and sprinkle with parmesan, but you don't have to. Bake in a 375 oven for 15 or 20 minutes, or until the crust looks done. (Be careful of the top crust over-browning before the bottom one is quite done. If you think this is happening, tent a piece of foil over it.) Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving. Serve with marinara sauce over the the top or on the side of each portion.

"Toasted" Ravioli

I put "toasted" in quotes because that's really just a euphemistic way of saying "fried." I could have also put "ravioli" in quotes, because instead of using up any of our precious, real, from-scratch Zanone Family Recipe ravioli for this cocktail-hour favorite, I use some of the inevitable leftover filling and won ton wrappers. I can't give you the actual filling recipe, because if I did I'd have to kill you, but the one I will give you is quicker and easier anyway. You could also experiment with your own fillings. Ravioli was originally designed to use up leftovers, really. At first glance this may look labor intensive, but it's all pretty basic and mindless. It's easier than it sounds and the results are sooo worth it. Serve with marinara sauce.

Most grocery stores sell won ton wrappers, although I bought them super cheap at an Asian market near my work. There are about a billion in a package, but I usually get two just to be safe if I'm cooking for a crowd. (I'm usually working with an unknown quantity of leftover filling and just make them until I get tired of cooking and my guests get tired of eating, so outcome amounts for this recipe are inexact, to say the least.) You will need a food processor to grind the filling. If you end up with extra, freeze it and use it later in lasagna or stuffed pasta like jumbo shells.

Filling:

1 lb Italian sausage (in bulk or removed from casings)
1 bag or box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed as dry as possible (I put it in a thin dish towel and wring it out)
2 eggs
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
3-5 cloves garlic, minched
1 small onion, chopped
16 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped (optional)

Brown sausage, crumbling as it cooks. Dump into strainer over a bowl and leave it there for a minute. Sautee onion in small amount of remaining fat for two or three minutes. Add mushrooms and cook a few more minutes, then garlic for about 30 seconds before you dump the sausage back in, along with sausage. Stir and cook until everything is well combined.

Process filling in food processor until it is a consistent texture with no big chunks, but not total mush. It should be just wet enough to hold together in a meatball-type configuration. If it seems too wet, add some bread crumbs or cracker crumbs to tighten it up a bit.

Now, make a little assembly line. At one end is a large, deep skillet with about an inch of hot oil in it. Next to that is a plate, next to that a stack of won ton wrappers, next to that your bowl of filling. Somewhere near the wrappers and plate you need a small bowl of water. Lay wrappers on the plate--as many as you can fit without them overlapping. Dip your finger in the water and run it around the edges of each wrapper. Now, grab a little bit of filling, make a little ball (dosn't have to be rolled tightly or anything), and put it in the center of the wrapper, then repeat with all the other wrappers. Fold each wrapper over its filling so the edges touch, then press edges together firmly. I sometimes make a little fold to reinforce this but I'm not sure that's totally necessary. Carefully place each ravioli in hot oil, filling skillet but not crowding it (I usually keep adding as I make them, but you can do distinct batches if you don't like things to be at different stages of doneness in the same pan). Once the underside looks golden, gently flip them. Move to a paper-towel-lined plate and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve, but serve as soon after cooking as possible.

Roast Chicken with Polenta and Tomato Sauce

AKA, what I had for dinner last night. Years ago, I found a very simple recipe for "Chicken with two lemons" that I have made time and again ever since. I found the exact same recipe on line just now, so I'm pasting it here, but you could use any roast chicken method you like. (I can't usually get the skin to crisp and puff up as described, but it still looks and tastes delicious.) If you have some marinara in the freezer or (gasp!) can find a good jarred variety (not in my house!), this is really a simple and satisfying meal. I didn't have any prepared last night and it was still quick and easy to make a simple sauce while the chicken baked and the polenta boiled. And don't be intimidated by polenta--it's super easy and delicious. People just like to complicate peasant food and make it fancy, but you don't have to. Serve the chicken alongside the polenta and sauce, and add a nice spinach salad or green veg if desired.

Roast Chicken With Two Lemons

A 3- to 4-pound chicken

Salt

Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

2 rather small lemons

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wash the chicken thoroughly in cold water, both inside and out. Remove all the bits of fat hanging loose. Let the bird sit for about 10 minutes on a slightly tilted plate to let all the water drain out of it. Pat it thoroughly dry all over with cloth or paper towels.

3. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt and black pepper on the chicken, rubbing it with your fingers over all its body and into its cavity.

4. Wash the lemons in cold water and dry them with a towel. Soften each lemon by placing it on a counter and rolling it back and forth as you put firm downward pressure on it with the palm of your hand. Puncture the lemons in at least 20 places each, using a sturdy round toothpick, a trussing needle, a sharp-pointed fork, or similar implement.

5. Place both lemons in the birds cavity. Close up the opening with toothpicks or with trussing needle and string. Close it well, but dont make an absolutely airtight job of it because the chicken may burst. Run kitchen string from one leg to the other, tying it at both knuckle ends. Leave the legs in their natural position without pulling them tight. If the skin is unbroken, the chicken will puff up as it cooks, and the string serves only to keep the thighs from spreading apart and splitting the skin.

6. Put the chicken into a roasting pan, breast facing down. Do not add cooking fat of any kind. This bird is self-basting, so you need not fear it will stick to the pan. Place it in the upper third of the preheated oven. After 30 minutes, turn the chicken over to have the breast face up. When turning it, try not to puncture the skin. If kept intact, the chicken will swell like a balloon, which makes for an arresting presentation at the table later. Do not worry too much about it, however, because even if it fails to swell, the flavor will not be affected.

7. Cook for another 30 to 35 minutes, then turn the oven thermostat up to 400 degrees, and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Calculate between 20 and 25 minutes total cooking time for each pound. There is no need to turn the chicken again.

8. Whether your bird has puffed up or not, bring it to the table whole and leave the lemons inside until it is carved and opened. The juices that run out are perfectly delicious. Be sure to spoon them over the chicken slices. The lemons will have shriveled up, but they still contain some juice; do not squeeze them, they may squirt.

Ahead-of-time note: If you want to eat it while it is warm, plan to have it the moment it comes out of the oven. If there are leftovers, they will be very tasty cold, kept moist with some of the cooking juices and eaten not straight out of the refrigerator, but at room temperature.

Polenta

1 1/2 cups coarse ground yellow corn meal
4 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup parmesan or romano cheese, grated or shredded
1/2 stick of butter

Bring salted water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Slowly whisk in corn meal in a steady stream. Cover and allow to boil and bubble over medium heat, stirring every few minutes. In about 20 minutes, mixture should resemble a creamy but thick porridge (this is basically grits) and start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Turn off heat and stir in butter and cheese. Turn into a shallow baking dish (I have a smallish 8X10 rectangular dish that seems perfect for this amount of polenta) and smooth slightly, then let set for at least 10 minutes. To serve, just cut squares with a spatula and spoon sauce over. Delish!

Pasta with Shrimp fra Diavalo

I don't really measure anything when I cook, (unless I'm baking, which I don't do much because it requires an exactitude that I do not possess), so I'm guesstimating. You want a somewhat brothy sauce for this. Also, the "fra Diavalo" means spicy, but it doesn't really have to be.

1 lb thin spaghetti, angel hair, or other long, thin pasta
1 lg (28 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
1 pkg small or medium raw peeled and de-veined frozen shrimp
1-2 tbsp butter
1-2 tbsp olive oil
3-5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock
1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional spiciness)
one or all of the following: fresh or freeze-dried* basil to taste, Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Redfish Magic seasoning blend, Old Bay seafood seasoning, salt and pepper

Place frozen shrimp in a colander, run cold water over them for a few minutes, and leave them there to thaw a bit. Start a large pot of salted water for pasta. In a large, deep skillet, heat butter and olive oil. Add garlic and crushed red pepper (if using) and sautee until fragrant but not browned. Add wine or stock and reduce slightly (simmer 2-3 minutes). Add tomatoes with their liquid and any seasonings except basil (frsh herbs lose their flavor in intense heat and should go in toward the end of cooking). Bring to a good simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When your water comes to a boil and you add the pasta, it's time to add the shrimp to the sauce (overcooking shrimp makes them tough and gross--you just want them to turn nice and pink). Both should be ready about the same time. Toss pasta with sauce or spoon it over, as you prefer. Serve with crusty bread and a nice salad.

Alfredo sauce

1-2 cloves of garlic (minced)
butter
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
2 cups of milk
2T flour
shredded parmesean cheese (or mixture of cheeses)

Melt enough butter to coat the bottom of a medium sized saucepan. Add the minced garlic, sauté until fragrant (don't let them burn!). If you like garlic, add a few cloves, if not, then maybe just one. Add the heavy whipping cream and the milk. Let them warm up. Stir in the flour. Keep stirring it. Keep stirring it. Don't let it settle at the bottom. Keep stirring it.

OK, I know some people start out with an actual roux for this (mixing the butter and the garlic) and I've tried that and it just makes this really lumpy. For some reason, adding the flour after the dairy has worked for me. I went through a thousand batches of inedible alfredo before I finally got it (this was back in Massachusetts when I had nothing better to do than cook anyway).

When it gets frothy (it will get frothy on the heat) move it and dump in some of the cheese and stir it back in, putting it back on the heat again to get it bubbling, then off the heat when it gets too bubly). I use this four cheese blend (in the little plastic containers near the deli) that is delish. I use most of the cheese in the container when I make alfredo.

Serve this over anything. Toast, even. It is soooo good (but not really good for you). Liz will eat it better if it's on the ring shaped pastas or medium shells than on long noodles.

Alternates: add some chunks of ham to make it carbonara; mix it up with some spaghetti sauce for a creamy, zingy sauce.