Last Dinner of 2010

Before the new year, I wanted to cook something my roommate Jason and I would enjoy.  He was a big fan of my grilled Swordfish with a tomato bruschetta. Because I was down by Union Square, I decided to do my shopping at Whole Foods on 14th Street and Union Square.

 Above is the grilled swordfish, the tomato bruschetta, farro risotto with baby bello mushrooms, saffron, sage and parmigiano cheese. 

I cored my tomatoes and boiled them, which makes it easier to remove the skin. I quartered each tomato and removed the seeds so I was left with just the"meat" of the tomatoes. Once I diced up the tomatoes, I added chopped kalamata and picholine olives with some salt, pepper, sage and some good Italian olive oil. I let this mixture sit in the refrigerator until I was ready to plate it. 

This was my first time attempting a farro risotto. I learned in my Essentials of Italian Class that you can keep cooking farro without it ever becoming overdone and mushy. I started the risotto earlier in my preparation knowing I would not have a problem getting to the desired al dente texture. I eventually added in saffron, chopped sage and parmigiano. I finished the plate with some Italian pesto, which was a nice flavor combination with the swordfish, tomatoes and olive salsa. 

   

Pizza

If you do not know me well, I am a huge "Pizzahead." My favorite food item to cook and experiment with is pizza. Above is a pie we made after dinner. My friend Evan never eats before coming over knowing that we will be making some pizza at some point.

We made a traditional pie with baby bellos, balsamic cippolini onions and a mustard seed salami. The flavors really meshed well when the pizza was finished. I would have liked more color on the outer crust, but as usual, it was still amazing.