pasta with portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, + chèvre

Goodness, I am not doing so well in the beauty department with the recipes I've shared in 2012. But again, this one is worth trying even with the overall brownness of the dish. It is relatively quick and involves inexpensive ingredients that we typically have every day. With little flecks of green parsley it is even more tasty and just a tad prettier but, as you can see, parsley wasn't in my fridge when I prepared this meal (for the 3rd time in a month, I'll add) and it was still really wonderful. Maybe not 'share with company' delicious, but perfect for a weeknight with family, or with friends who are family.

Virginia is in a weird, in-between phase of weather right now. One day we'll have sleet and snow dust and misty skies, the next sunshine and fluffy clouds and crocuses peaking from beneath fallen leaves. Mother Nature can't decide if she should buckle down and get serious about Winter or skip on ahead to Spring. I'll take either, but the back and forth is really throwing me off. I waver between wanting a thick + meaty stew for dinner or a light salad with citrus. Grocery shopping is nearly impossible since the chances of my craving what I actually buy are slim, given that the weather is bound to drastically change 2 days later. I am falling back on old staples; meals that have proven themselves worthy no matter the time of year. Like this one, which I'll either fill my bowl to the brim with (cold, Winter day) or pair equally with a fresh salad (warm, Spring day). Either way it's a winner, and sure to stay in our rotation year-round.

Ziti with Portobello Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions, + Chevre

from Food + Wine

4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp butter, divided
• 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 3 large onions, chopped
• 1 tsp salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 lb portobello mushrooms, stems removed, caps halved and then cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 tsp fresh-ground black pepper
• 3/4 lb ziti (we use brown rice pasta in our house...just as silky as semolina, but whole grain)
• 3 oz soft goat cheese, crumbled
• 3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Method

1. In a large sauté pan, melt 1 tbsp of the butter with 2 tbsp of the oil over moderate heat. Add the onions, 1/2 tsp of the salt, and the sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are well browned, about 20 minutes (I let them go for closer to 30). Remove from the pan.
2. In the same pan, melt the remaining 1 tbsp butter with 1 tbsp of the oil over moderate heat. Add the mushrooms and 1/4 tsp of the salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and brown, about 8 minutes. Add the reserved onions, the parsley, the remaining 1/4 tsp salt, and the pepper.
3. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the ziti until just done. Reserve 3/4 cup of the pasta water and drain. Toss the ziti and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water with the mushroom mixture, the remaining 1 tbsp oil, the goat cheese, and the Parmesan. If the pasta seems dry, add more of the reserved pasta water. Serve with additional Parmesan.

lentil, olive, + mushroom veggie burgers

Mother Nature has been so fickle lately, flitting between gray, dreary, and frigid one day to 63* and sunny the next. She's a tease, I tell you, and I am ready for her to make up her mind. I've spent the last two months hoping for a big, big snowstorm, eager for a Winter as entertaining as last. But now that we're into February with no more than a few inches on record, I'm over it. Spring can dig in her heels and stay permanently, as long as she brings sunshine, warmth, and backyard barbecues with her. There are only so many casseroles and stews and butternut squash one can take in one season!

Last weekend I grew tired of waiting and took matters into my own hands when I made our weekly menu. I've had veggie burgers on the brain for over a year since discovering my favorite veggie patty, ever, at Boylan Heights here in Charlottesville. I am not a vegetarian, but I do eat a mostly vegetarian diet and am a fan of beef only on the rarest of occasions. What I love about that Boylan Heights veggie patty, and now this veggie patty, is that it doesn't try to imitate the taste or texture of meat. Instead, the actual ingredients of the patty are allowed to shine - in this case mushrooms, lentils, and Kalamata olives. Yum. 

For an extra-summery feeling, try serving the patties on english muffins adorned with lettuce, red bell pepper, alfalfa sprouts, sliced cucumber, and tzatziki. I promise you'll feel better about the state of the weather, at least for the evening. Also, if you read through the comments on the Post Punk Kitchen  post linked in the recipe below, you'll find many variations and substitutions for the ingredients in this burger. Just in case mushrooms or olives aren't your thing.

This is not similar in taste or texture to the Boylan Heights veggie patty, and that is not what I was going for. If you're interested in the BH recipe, you can find it here. I'll make it eventually, but it seems a bit complicated/time consuming and at this point I am happy to just visit the restaurant and let the chefs there make it for me. Plus, their sweet potato fries are the best around.

Lentil, Olive, + Mushroom Veggie Burgers
from post punk kitchen
serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced medium (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• fresh black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 1-1/4 cups lentils (I used dried lentils cooked in veggie broth, but the original recipe calls for canned)
• 1 cup breadcrumbs, divided (I used panko)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• cooking spray

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. Heat a large, non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion for about 3 minutes with a pinch of salt. Add mushrooms, garlic, black pepper, thyme, and parsley and saute for 7 to 10 minutes, until mushroom is cooked.
3. While mushroom mixture cooks, place the olives in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Remove from food processor and set aside.
4. When mushroom mixture is cooked, add to the food processor. Add all of the other ingredients EXCEPT 1/2 a cup of the breadcrumbs. Pulse until mostly smooth, but there should still be some texture. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs to the burger mixture, along with the chopped olives, and thoroughly combine.
5. Divide the burger mix into 6 equal pieces. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Form mixture into patties, spray with a little more cooking spray and bake for 15 minutes. Flip burgers and bake for 12 to 15 more minutes, until nicely browned. (I also pan-fried these instead of baking them, which was tasty too).

butternut squash + mushroom empanadas

It may seem odd to be posting a recipe for empanadas in the dead of Winter. To me empanadas are a Summer food, or maybe Fall; plucked up from a street vendor or taco stand, wrapped in waxed paper, eaten as you walk an outdoor festival or Charlottesville’s downtown pedestrian mall. They are perfect on-the-go, warm weather, sandals and short sleeves food; self-contained pockets of goodness you can eat as you walk. Outside. In the sunshine. So why, then, am I sharing these with you in the gray and bitter cold of January?

Well, for one, I am long overdue in posting this recipe on Bella Eats. Had I uploaded the images of empanadas just after making them, at the beginning of October, when butternut squash was just starting its weekly appearance on our menu, there would still be Fall festivals and backyard BBQs to attend. I wavered with whether or not to even publish this one, thinking that I’d lost its window of opportunity along with that of a handful of apple dishes I’d prepared, until I received an email from a friend on Saturday. She and her husband were on their way to Bali. Bali! In January! How lovely.

Shortly after reading that email I watched Eat, Pray, Love (which, it turns out, is not nearly as good as the book) and stared longingly at the beaches and bike riding and sundresses of Indonesia, the warmth of it all seeping from the screen. That is what I crave this time of year, the ability to escape to someplace warm and tropical, if even for just one meal. If you’re at all similar to me then a dish like these empanadas, which are made up of Winter-ish ingredients but convey the spirit of warmer times, will be just what you’re looking for this January.

Unless, of course, your resolutions for the new year include limiting luxuries like butter in your diet. To that I say, “everything in moderation” and “invite some friends over”! These rich, savory, chock-full-of-butter pockets certainly are not something to have on hand for multiple days at a time, and so are really the perfect thing to make and experiment with when you have plans to eat with a group of people. Just as empanadas are an excellent walking food, they also work well at a mostly-standing, “lose the Winter blahs with tequila in one hand” party. I have a feeling that we will all be looking to add one of those gatherings to our calendars towards the end of this gray and dreary month, so keeping this recipe close will be handy. Trust me.

Butternut squash roasted with mushrooms and wrapped in a delicate, butter-full pastry has all the makings for a hearty Fall-Winter meal. The fresh tomatillo sauce, however, does throw me off. In a space where I try to share mostly seasonal recipes, anything that calls for tomatillos in the heart of January seems a bit hypocritical, does it not? Luckily, there are some good options for jarred tomatillo salsa out there, any of which would be an excellent (and much less time-intensive) addition to the empanadas. I would, however, keep this sauce in mind next Summer when tomatillos are available, and think about making and putting some away for the Fall and Winter months ahead.

Butternut Squash + Mushroom Empanadas with Tomatillo Sauce
from Gourmet, October 2002
makes 8 empanadas

Filling

• 1 cup diced (1/4 inch) butternut squash
• 1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
• 6 small garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 (2 to 3 inch) fresh jalepeño chiles, seeded and ribs discarded, finely chopped
• 1 pound fresh exotic mushrooms, trimmed and coarsely chopped (I just used cremini mushrooms, because I had them)

Sauce

• 1 dried pasilla de Oaxaca chile (I used a canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, also, because I had it) chopped finely
• 3 garlic cloves, left unpeeled
• 1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks discarded and tomatillos rinsed and quartered
• 1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt

Empanada Dough (from Gourmet, October 2004 - makes enough for 12 empañadas)

• 2-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup ice water
• 1 tbsp distilled white vinegar

Egg Wash

• 1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp water

Method

1. First, make empanada dough. Sift flour and salt together in a large bowl. Blend in butter with your fingertips or with a pastry blender until mixture resembles course meal with some (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
2. Beat together egg, water, and vinegar in a small bowl with a fork. Add to flour mixture, stirring with fork until just incorporated (the mixture should look shaggy).
3. Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and gather together, then knead gently with heel of your hand once or twice, just enough to bring dough together. Form dough into a flat rectangle and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least one hour.
4. Next, make filling. Preheat oven to 400˚. Combine together the squash, onion, garlic, jalepeño, and mushrooms. Toss with olive oil and a good sprinkling of salt and pepper, and spread in an even layer on a baking sheet. (The Gourmet recipe differs here, boiling and sauteing the vegetables. I love the flavor that is brought forth with roasting, so chose to cook the filling using this method instead.) Roast for 25-35 minutes, until the squash is tender and the mushrooms have released their liquid, stirring every 10 minutes or so. Remove from oven and cool in pan on rack.
5. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat dry, non-stick pan over moderately high heat until hot, then toast unpeeled garlic until lightly blackened, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Cool garlic and peel.
6. Simmer tomatillos, onion, garlic, chile, water, and salt in a large saucepan, covered, until tomatillos are very tender, about 20 minutes, and cool slightly. Puree sauce in a blender (or with an immersion blender) until smooth (use caution as liquid is VERY hot). Return sauce to pan and season with salt. 
7. Finally, assemble the empanadas! Keep the oven heated to 400˚. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and form each into a disk (you will only need 8 of these pieces, the rest can be stored in the freezer for up to 1 month). On a floured surface, roll out one disk into a 6 to 7 inch round. Spoon about 1/3 cup of filling onto center and brush edge of pastry with egg wash. Fold dough in half to form a half-moon, enclosing filling, and press edges together to seal. Crimp edge decoratively and move empañada to a large baking sheet. Make 6 more empañadas using the same method.
8. Lightly brush empanadas with remaining egg wash and sprinkle tops with coarse sea salt. Bake on middle rack of oven until golden, 25-30 minutes. 
9. While empanadas are baking, reheat sauce. Cut each empanada in half when slightly cooled, and drizzle about 3 tablespoons of sauce around them. The sauce will keep for about a week in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and is wonderful as a salsa or drizzled over burritos, fish, or chicken.