Weekend

I was able to cook Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. On Saturday I prepared a salad with Salty Pecans, Gorgonzola Piccante and Craisins dressed with Balsamic Vinaigrette for a starting course. 

 During my Essentials Of Italian Class we made some amazing soups. I froze a Zuppa Di Farro from the class and decided to defrost it. Farro is a debatable species of grain or rice. This soup consist of onion, celery, carrots, garlic, fresh herbs, Pancetta, potatoes and a soffrito (pancetta, onion, celery, carrots, leeks, garlic, herbs, olive oil, tomato paste, and Farro). I finished off the soup with some Cacio Di Bosco, a blended sheep's and cows milk cheese studded with white truffles. 

Because I took the pizza class earlier that day, I decided I wanted to keep the dinner simple.  I decided to make Linguine with Meatballs. I seasoned the meat with various spices before baking them in the oven. I sautéed garlic and red onion with some olive oil and added some pomodoro sauce to spice things up.

Once the meatballs were done, I added them to the sauce and let that simmer to reduce down. 

Once the sauce was finished I tossed it with the pasta and topped it with the meatballs. I always have to top it off with some cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano. 

Sunday Night

Sunday night I made chicken with a white wine and oven roasted tomato sauce, mushroom rice pilaf and some roasted yellow and green squash. 

I seasoned the chicken with some salt, pepper and herbs before searing it. I did this with some oil and butter to get some color and texture on the outside of the breast. I removed the chicken and deglazed the pan with some white wine, oven roasted tomatoes and herbs. I then took the chicken and added it to the soon to be sauce.

I removed the chicken after being thoroughly cooked. I took some water and corn starch and brought the sauce to a boil. Once the sauce was at the perfect viscosity, I brought the heat down to simmer. I sliced the chicken on a bias and placed it over the rice. The roasted squash was a nice compliment to the dish.