Anchovy & Italian Parsley Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:
6 hard boiled eggs, cut in half lengthwise
2 anchovy filets (packed in oil and blotted dry)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt
pepper

capote capers for garnish

Directions:
Place the yolks, anchovies, spices and condiments in a blender (I used my Vita-Mix)or food proccessor. Pulse until smooth.


Divide the mixture evenly among the halves. Garnish with a a caper.

My thoughts:

Ah, yes, deviled eggs again. I made this particular batch to serve along side Caesar Salad. I got the idea from a restaurant I visited a while back that had served their salads with an unexpected deviled egg garnish. It was a cute touch that honestly bumped up my enjoyment of the whole meal. Their version was a bit more traditional, I decided to spike mine with anchovies to better tie in with the salad. I normally just fork-mash my yolks but I didn't any random fishy bits or pokey bones in my final product so I Vita-Mixed them, which worked well, but as always, I found it a bit difficult to scrape out all of the thick mixture out from under the blades. Perhaps I am too impatient. Anyway! The texture was smooth and creamy and while they were perhaps the most savory deviled eggs I have every made, they did not taste overwhelmingly anchovy-y.

Anchovy-Parmesan Pizza Dough

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
2 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
3 anchovies packed in olive oil, drained and mashed


coarse-grain cornmeal for dusting
olive oil for greasing the bowl



Directions:

Pour warm water into the bottom of a stand mixer. Add sugar and yeast. Stir the mixture until the yeast is dissolved. Stir the the anchovies, olive oil and salt. Add the flour and cheese.

Using the dough hook and mix until the dough becomes a smooth, elastic ball. At this point you can fold the dough onto itself a couple of times if you'd like. Coat the inside of a large bowl with additional olive oil, and place the dough in the bowl, smooth side up. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and place in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 40 minutes. Remove plastic wrap, and use your fist to push down on the center of the dough. Fold the dough in half four or five times. Turn dough over, folded-side down, cover with plastic wrap, and return to the warm spot to rise again. Wait until the dough has doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500. Place 16-inch (or larger) pizza stone on lowest shelf position, for 30 minutes.


Punch down the dough and transfer to a clean surface. Divide the dough in half, and knead each half four or five times into a ball. Place one of the dough balls back in the oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Lightly flour a clean surface, place the dough ball on top, pat into a flattened circle, cover lightly with plastic wrap, and let rest 5 minutes*. Begin to flatten and push the dough evenly out from the center until it measures about 7 to 8 inches in diameter. Leave a 1/2 inch border of unflatted dough around the edges of the circle. Lift the dough off the surface, and center it on top of your fists. Rotate and stretch the dough, moving your fists until they are 6 to 8 inches apart and the dough is several inches larger. Then place your fists under the inside of the outer edge, and continue to stretch the dough until it reaches about 12 inches in diameter. The dough will drape down over your forearms. Start over if the dough tears or gets to thin. Do this carefully, preserving the raised edge. Sprinkle cornmeal all over the surface of a pizza peel or parchment paper.

Place the pizza dough into a circle on top of the cornmeal-dusted peel. Distribute pizza sauce on the dough, leaving the 1/2 inch of raised dough bare. Sprinkle with cheese and toppings.

 Slightly tilt the peel (or a parchment paper covered upside down baking sheet), and place the front tip of peel on the back side of the stone. Slide the pizza off the peel (or slide the pizza with the parchment paper off of the baking sheet), centering it on the stone as best you can. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling. Repeat with remaining dough.

My thoughts:

I made this dough to go with a fennel-red onion-caper-rapini topped pizza I made for dinner the other day. It was so good, I thought I'd share. It had a wonderful savory flavor that made it stand out from other pizza doughs I've made without being overpowering or fishy. It was very elastic and easy to work with as well. My husband liked that it was sturdy and flexible enough to fold a slice in half to eat it. He's from NY where that is apparently very important.

Roasted Eggplant & Tomato Pasta

1 1/2 pounds eggplant, striped* and cut into 3/4 inch wedges
1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1 pepperoncini pepper, sliced, seeds & stem discarded
3 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
6 anchovy fillets
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
feta cheese

1 lb cooked short pasta

*Cut the skin off in alternating rows, to help keep the eggplant from turning into mush. Example:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 . In a bowl, toss together the olive oil, salt, garlic pepper,anchovies, pepperoncini, cherry tomatoes and eggplant. Place on a baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes or until tender. Stir the roasted vegetables in their juices into the hot, cooked pasta. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with feta. Serve immediately.

My thoughts:

We've had quite a cherry tomato and eggplant harvest this summer. I was running out of ideas of what to do with them when we got a sudden chilly, rainy spell hit and I got the idea to do a roasted vegetable sauce. I was particularly overwhelmed that night so I gave my husband the recipe and he made it. It came out perfectly and required virtually no hands on time beyond chopping the veggies.

Curly Squid & Rapini Pasta

Ingredients:
1 lb cleaned squid, large tentacles halved
1 lb pasta
1 lb rapini (broccoli rabe), stems removed and corsely chopped
1/4 cup bread crumbs
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 anchovy fillets
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon
salt
pepper

Directions:
Cook pasta according to box instructions. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan. When hot, add the garlic, shallots and anchovies and cook, stirring occasionally until the garlic and shallots are softened and the anchovies have dissolved. Add the rapini and saute for about 5 minutes or until it has cooked down. Add the squid and cook until nearly opaque, about 5 additional minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice on the squid, add salt and pepper to taste and then cook on high with the lid on for 1 minute. Pour onto drained pasta and stir to evenly distribute. Add the bread crumbs and stir. Serve immediately.

My thoughts:

Today I cooked squid for the first time and I was amazed at how easy it was and how well it turned out. It was very tasty and kind of fun to see the squishy, misshapen squid curl and cook before my eyes. It was extremely easy, I made the whole thing in the time it took me to boil the water and cook the pasta. The trick with squid is not to under- or over-cook it. Just cook it until it is just opaque (even in the middle, you might have to flip it over and inspect) and you are all set.

A Sauce of Two Fishes

Ingredients:
32 oz can whole tomatoes, hand crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
6 oz can tuna, drained and flaked
10 anchovy fillets
6 canned or jarred artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
red pepper flakes

Directions:
In a large sauce pan, heat oil. Add garlic and saute until golden. Reduce heat to low and add the anchovies. Using the back of a spoon, mash the anchovies into the garlic until the texture is uniform. Turn the heat to medium, add red pepper flakes, tomatoes (in their juices) and simmer for 20 minutes or until it begins to thicken. Add the tuna, artichoke hearts and parsley. Cook for an additional 10 minutes and serve on hot pasta.

My thoughts:

This is a great sauce to make the day before you go to the store-most of the ingredients should already be in your pantry. Despite relying on several canned ingredients, this is a very fresh tasting sauce. This comes from using the best canned tomatoes available and lots of fresh parsley.

Cauliflower and Garlic Pasta

Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
3/4 lb dried pasta
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
2 tablespoon olive oil
5 anchovy filets
5 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package instructions. Five minutes before it is finished, add the cauliflower to the pasta and allow to steam for the remaining of the cooking time. Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, heat the oil. Add garlic and anchovies, stir until the garlic is soft and the anchovies have melted. Add red pepper flakes, stir. Add broth and heat through. Toss with cheese and drained pasta/cauliflower and serve.

My thoughts:

Another 10 minute meal. Super quick, tasty and a good way to get up your veggie intake without a lot of fuss.

Tomato Sauce with Anchovies

Ingredients:

28 oz canned whole tomatoes, crushed*
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
10 anchovy filets, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 lb fun pasta of your choice, cooked and drained

Directions:

In a medium pot, saute garlic in olive oil until just golden. Remove from heat. Add anchovies and mash the two together with the back of a wooden spoon. Then add the pepper flakes and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and salt. Continue to cook 20-30 minutes or until the tomatoes and olive oil has combined. There may be a slight film of oil on top. This is normal. Add the parsley and cook an additional 5 minutes. Toss with pasta and serve with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan.

*Pour tomatoes into a bowl and crush by hand.

My thoughts:

My husband is from Staten Island (NYC) where there is a large Italian population. Right near his parent's house there is this amazing Italian grocery that makes their own mozzarella, salads, sauces, pastas and bread. Whenever we are in town we always stock up on goodies like anchovies packed in olive oil, unusual pastas, vats of olive oil and other hard to find imported goodies. Since it's summer, we had to stick to nonperishables this visit but we did bring home some delicious packed-in-Italy canned tomatoes and some wonderful freshly made Italian bread. Only a couple hours after making the 3 1/2 hour drive back to Baltimore, my husband made this yummy sauce using the tomatoes. It's really quick and easy to make and goes wonderfully with some good Italian bread. It's also not fishy for those of you who are afraid of anchovies. They melt right into the sauce and add a wonderful depth of flavor with no fish taste. I like using lots of fresh parsley in tomato sauces, especially when using canned tomatoes. It really makes the sauce taste fresh in a way that is often hard to accomplish with canned tomatoes. It is also a good idea to use the highest quality of canned tomatoes possible.

Savory Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup nonfat, plain yogurt
3 oz brick style cream cheese, at room temperature
1 onion, quartered
1 stalk celery, cut into pieces
3 anchovy fillets
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons capers
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon hot paprika
1 teaspoon celery seed
black pepper to taste


Directions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pulse until smooth. This is an easy recipe to multiply or adapt add more or less of each ingredent as the taste suits you.


Serve over: grilled vegetables (eggplant is especially good), baked potatoes or sliced fresh, raw veggies. You could even toss it with some shaved onion, sliced cucumber and tomatoes for a quick cold salad.

My thoughts:

This recipe came about as a happy accident. I came up with this sauce while trying to come up with a lowfat yogurt dip. I should have let the yogurt drain to form yogurt cheese, but I was hungry and didn't want to wait. I ended up being more pleased with its outcome as a sauce than I think I would have been with it as a dip. As a sauce it can be used on any vegetable or even on sandwiches, as a dip it would have been more limited in its possibilities. Anyway, it is really tasty and savory without (surprisingly given all the capers and whatnot) being salty. I really loved it on grilled eggplant and look forward to making a cucumber-tomato salad with it tonight.

Garlic Bread

Ingredients:

1 loaf good quality Italian bread*
16 anchovy fillets
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese, grated
black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Cut the bread in half lengthwise. In a small bowl, combine parsley, pepper Parmesan, garlic, butter and olive oil to form a paste. Spread evenly over both sides of bread. Arrange anchovy filets diagonally across the bread. Place on cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes or until just golden. If the bread is hot but not brown on top, place under the broiler 1-2 minutes to crisp and brown. Slice and serve.


*preferably the twisted kind with sesame seeds

Spring this recipe!



My thoughts:
This is the best garlic bread I have ever had. Using the butter and the oil together gives you the taste of olive oil with the browning and spreading properties of butter. You could leave the anchovies out, but they really add to the flavor. This recipe makes a fairly large amount of garlic bread. We ate one half and wrapped the other tightly in plastic wrap to freeze until our next Italian meal.

Super Deluxe Pizza Sauce

Super Deluxe Pizza Sauce
Ingredients:
1 small onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 anchovy filets, minced
4 oz mushrooms, diced
1/4 cup olive oil
24 oz (can) peeled, whole plum tomatoes, cut up

Directions:
In a large saucepan, saute the onions, mushrooms, garlic and anchovies, in olive oil, 5 minutes or until fragrant. Add tomatoes and stir. Cook 30-40 minutes or until thickened, salt and pepper to taste.


My thoughts:
This is a really, really tasty sauce. The anchovies just melt and add a nice depth to the flavor. It's a little bit time consuming, but if you are making your own pizza dough anyway, you have plenty of down time while you're waiting for it to rise.
Leftovers would be great on pasta.

Pasta with Shrimp and Peas

Pasta with Shrimp and Peas
Ingredients:
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled
4 anchovy filets
1 cup peas
1 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup parmesan, grated
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
juice of 1/2 lemon


Directions:
In a large pan, saute garlic in olive oil until the garlic become a pale gold. Remove from heat. Add anchovies and using the back of a spoon mash into a paste. Return to heat, cook 2 minutes. Add peas and cook for 5 minutes. Add shrimp and cook 5 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through and pink. Squeeze in lemon juice and remove from heat. Toss with hot pasta, bread crumbs and parmesan. Serve.