ultimate comfort food that is also a party hit! { spinach-cheese, aubergine-olive and tomato sauce pasta gratin }

Agora que vem aí o mundial... uma receita com as cores de Portugal ;)

I know I posted a pasta gratin just two days ago...

I'm telling you...

Better yet: I'm warning you...

This is no ordinary pasta gratin. This is The comfort food you've been craving your whole life, The most simple yet complex pasta dish, The perfect quick-whip recipe for unexpected guests, That tray of pasta you can freeze for those days you don't feel like cooking and also The tray of pasta you thought could feed two mouths but you end up eating alone on a Tuesday night (oOops... guilty!) ;)

I originally made this recipe for a big dinner with a lot of other dishes, for a regular meal I estimate it feeds around 6-8.

Gratinado de Massa com Três Faces

- 500g de massa à escolha (usei bandnudeln)

Espinafre e queijo

- 300g de espinafres, lavados

- 1 queijo mozzarella ou requeijão

- sal e pimenta

Puré de Beringela

- 3 beringelas, lavadas e cortadas em cubos

- 5 dentes de alho, com casca e esmagados

- sal, pimenta e garam masala

- azeite

- 6 azeitonas sem caroço, cortadas em rodelas

Molho de tomate rápido

- 2/3 de chávena de polpa de tomate

- alho seco

- sal

- pimenta

- orégãos

- manjericão

- azeite

- mozzarella ralado

- orégãos

1) Coloque a beringela e os alhos com casca num tabuleiro de ir ao forno, temperar com sal, pimenta e garam masala e regar com azeite; assar a 170ºC durante cerca de 30-40 min,

2) Escaldar os espinafres em água fervente temperada com sal até estarem tenros; escorrer e partir em pedaços; reservar,

3) Cozer a massa em água com sal; escorrer e passar por água fria; reservar,

4) Retirar a beringela e os alhos do forno, eliminar as cascas dos alhos e reduzir tudo a puré; incorporar as azeitonas,

5) Desfazer o mozzarela e misturar com o espinafre, temperar com sal e pimenta,

6) Levar ao lume todos os ingredientes do molho de tomate e cozinhar um pouco,

7) Espalhar um pouco de molho no fundo de um pirex grande, cobrir com uma camada de massa, espalhar o espinafre, nova camada de massa, espalhar a beringela, mais uma camada de massa, deitar o restante molho e cobrir com o mozzarella ralado,

8) Antes de servir, polvilhar com orégãos e levar ao forno a gratinar a 170ºC cerca de 20 minutos.

Three-Sided Pasta Gratin

- 500g pasta (I used bandnudeln)

Spinach and cheese

- 300g spinach, rinsed

- 1 mozzarella or ricotta cheese

- salt and pepper

Eggplant Purée

- 3 eggplants, rinsed and diced

- 5 garlic cloves, with peel, smashed

- salt, pepper, garam masala

- olive oil

- 6 pitted olives, cut down to rings

Fast tomato sauce

- 2/3 cup tomato paste

- dried garlic

- salt

- pepper

- oregano

- basil

- oilve oil

- grated mozzarella

- oregano

1) Bake the eggplant and garlic, seasoned with salt, pepper, garam masala and plenty olive oil at 170ºC for about 30-40 min,

2) Soak the spinach in boiling salted water until tender; drain and chop; set aside,

3) Boil the pasta in salted water; drain and rinse with cold water; set aside,

4) Take the eggplant and garlic out of the oven, eliminate the garlic peels, purée; mix in the olives,

5) Tear the mozzarella apart and mix with spinach, season with salt and pepper,

6) Cook all the tomato sauce ingredients over medium heat,

7) Pour a little tomato sauce on the bottom of a big pyrex, cover with a layer of pasta, spread spinach mixture, another layer of pasta, spread eggplant purée, yet another layer of pasta, pour remaining sauce and finish with the grated mozzarella,

8) When it's time to serve, sprinkle with oregano and bake at 170ºC for about 20 minutes.

the italian job { mushroom, dried tomato and mozzarella risotto }

I guess I was blessed with some great friends over here.
Thank you guys for making me feel so lucky :)

I don't know if the owners are aware of this yet - well... they should, considering the amount of times I've been sticking around, over pots and pans - but I really like this kitchen! It is really cozy and it's quite nice to cook there. Who knows, maybe it's the Italian aura - yes, the owners are quite nice too!
So yesterday I decided to make a surprise dinner there and I ended up choosing all Italian food. This meant whipping up risotto and pannacotta for three Italian - plus one canadian ;) - and very demanding judges. Quite demanding. Call me wary, but didn't you know how italian guys are harsh on "pseudo-italian food" made by non-italians? Worth hearing. Anyway... somehow, maybe because I was being nice and well-intentioned, I was told it was good...

Risotto de Cogumelos, Tomate Seco e Mozzarella
- 500g de arroz arbóreo

- 3 dentes de alho, picados

- 300g de cogumelos frescos, finamente laminados

- 8 tomates secos de frasco, cortados em tiras

- 1 embalagem de bolinhas de mozzarella fresco

- 70g de queijo maasdammer, em pequenos pedaços

- 1 cubo de caldo de galinha

- 200ml de vinho branco

- 2 colheres de sopa de polpa de tomate

- água fervente

- azeite

- orégãos e manjericão

- mistura de pimentas, moída na hora

- sal

Refogar os cogumelos e o alho em azeite com os temperos e o caldo de galinha até estarem tenros; escorrer e reservar o caldo resultante e os cogumelos separadamente,

Levar um tacho anti-aderente a lume brando com o arroz e o caldo dos cogumelos, mexendo até este ter sido completamente absorvido,

Juntar aos poucos o vinho, mexendo e deixando absorver,

Juntar aos poucos a água quente e a polpa de tomate e ir mexendo, até o arroz estar praticamente cozinhado e ainda ter um pouco de água,

Incorporar os cogumelos e o tomate seco,

Juntar o maasdammer e misturar bem,

Por fim, juntar o mozzarella fresco e misturar novamente,

Servir imediatamente.

Mushroom, Sun-dried Tomato and Mozzarella Risotto

- 500g arborio rice

- 3 garlic cloves, chopped

- 300g mushrooms, thinly sliced

- 8 sun-dried tomatoes, jar kind, sliced

- 1 pckg small mozzarella balls

- 70g maasdammer cheese, chopped

- 1 cube dried chicken stock

- 200ml white wine

- 2 tbsp tomato paste

- boiling water

- olive oil

- oregano and basil

- mix of peppers, freshly ground

- salt

Sautée the mushrooms with the garlic in olive oil with the seasonings and the chicken stock until tender, drain and set aside the resulting stock and the mushrooms, separately,

Heat a non-sticking pan over medium heat and mix the rice with the stock until absorved,

Pour the wine bit by bit, mixing and letting the rice absorb it,

Follow with the hot water and the tomato paste, until the rice is practically cooked and there is still some water left,

Mix in the mushrooms and the tomato,

Add the maasdammer and mix well,

At last, mix in the fresh mozzarella,

Serve imediately.

Cooking for one { chicken breast, stuffed with cream cheese, mozzarella and herbs }

Back to the basics, or on how much I don't care about cooking for myself only ;)

Mano grande, esta é para ti :)

Peito de Frango recheado com Queijo Fresco, Mozzarella e Ervas
Ingredientes:

- 1 peito de frango, aberto

- meia bola de mozzarella

- 1 colher de sopa de philadelphia com ervas

- sal

- menta seca moída

- mistura de pimentas, moída na hora

- azeite

Preparação:

1) Abrir o peito de frango, temperar com sal, espalhar philadelphia num dos lados, dispor o mozzarella fatiado por cima e polvilhar com menta. Fechar o peito de frango (pode-se utilizar um palito),

2) Aquecer o azeite numa frigideira e cozinhar o peito de frango de ambos os lados em lume brando. Servir com massa com pesto e uma salada. 

Chicken Breast filled with Cream Cheese, Mozzarella and Herbs
Ingredients:

- 1 chicken breast, open

- half ball of mozzarella

- 1 tbsp philadelphia with herbs

- salt

- ground dried mint

- mix of peppers, freshly crushed

- olive oil

Preparation:

1) Open chicken breast, season with salt, spread philadelphia on one side, place mozzarella on top, sprinkle with mint and close (a toothpick may be useful),

2) Heat olive oil in a pan and cook the chicken breast on both sides over medium heat. Serve with pasta with pesto and salad.

Summertime! { tomato mozzarella risotto }

Imagem retirada do livro "O ingrediente perfeito" de Marcus Wareing
Picture from the book "One perfect ingredient", by Marcus Wareing

This is a delicious risotto, adapted from a recipe by chef Marcus Wareing. Cherry tomatoes and tiny mozzarella balls are candy to the eye on it!