Roasted Red Pepper and Kalamata Olive Pasta with Wrath Syrah

If you are looking for a simple dinner to make after a hard day of work, I don’t know if I could ever post an easier recipe for you. I throw all ingredients for the pasta sauce in a blender and there you go. It’s not that much more difficult than opening a jar of pre-made pasta sauce, yet you know everything that goes in it. And more importantly what is not in it. No oil, corn syrup, sugar. This vegetarian sauce is healthy, easy and full of flavor. I would recommend that one like garlic and olives before making this recipe. As the garlic goes in raw, it is quite garlicky. You could reduce the garlic and/or mince it and sauté first. I have also made this sauce with parsley instead of basil. I use what I have. The parsley makes the sauce bolder, while the basil lends to a sweeter flavor. The most difficult part of this recipe may be finding pitted kalamata olives. Both my local Trader Joes and Whole Foods carry them. Of course, you could try different olives and see how they work! I also really enjoy this over spinach spaghetti which I also get at Whole Foods.

WINE: 2007 Wrath Syrah 877/Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands (Monterey)
http://www.wrathwines.com/

This Syrah is gorgeous with an almost indigo hue. The nose boasts chocolate and hints of pepper. Blackberries and plums dominate the smooth full body. The velvety texture also displays spice and herbal characteristics. An extremely enjoyable and drinkable Syrah. It paired nicely with this dish and would recommend trying it or other Syrahs with this recipe.

RECIPE: Roasted Red Pepper and Kalamata Olive Pasta
Servings 2-3

Ingredients:
• 1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
• 5 oz. jar of roasted red peppers, drained
• 4 cloves garlic
• 12 pitted kalamata olives (~1/3 cup)
• 1/3 cup fresh basil or fresh parsley
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Your favorite pasta, cooked
• Grated parmesan cheese, to taste

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients except pasta and cheese in blender and blend until well combined
2. Heat over medium heat until hot.
3. Pour over your favorite pasta.
4. Top with grated parmesan.

Mushroom and Fennel Tortellini, Apple Gorgonzola Salad and Georis Merlot

Today was not the greatest of days. I locked myself out of the house, ran several unsuccessful errands and experienced poor customer service. My patience was very low. Thankfully, I had planned an easy dinner. I first made this about a month ago and must admit this recipe came together somewhat accidentally. Trying to find other uses for the sherry I had bought to make crab bisque, I had found a simple recipe for mushroom tortellini. I also had bought some fennel that I had forgotten about and needed to be cooked. I decided to slice that and include that in the meal. Immediately I noticed the beautiful aromas from the fennel which intensified when I added the thyme. Before stirring in the tortellini, I sampled the sauce and decided that some smoky bacon would complement the earthy flavors. And it did! However, I think my vegetarian friends can happily leave the bacon out. I haven’t tried it but some shredded smoked mozzarella may add some smokiness for those that want to forego the bacon. As I mentioned this meal is easy. I also enjoy how the flavors personify wintertime without the heaviness that can accompany a hearty meat dish. It’s not the most dazzling meal I have ever made, but a yummy Monday night supper.


WINE: 2005 Georis Merlot, Carmel Valley (Monterey)
http://www.georiswine.com/

Wine was not on the original menu for this evening. However, when driving home from my frustrating day, I decided that needed amended. I knew the fennel, mushroom and thyme in the pasta would pair nice with an earthy wine. I chose the Georis 2006 Merlot as most of the Georis wines fit this bill. This smooth Merlot was more fruit forward than I remembered with touches of spice and chocolate. It was probably not the perfect wine to pair, but I believe it played a big role in my being in a much better mood after dinner. Next time I think I will try a Syrah or perhaps I will stumble upon an earthy wine with anise notes. Hmmm, the 2006 Le Mistral (Syrah, Grenache and Alicante Bouschet) with its berries, herbs, and spice would be another fun one to test.


RECIPE: Mushroom and Fennel Tortellini
Servings: 3
Ingredients:
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil, divided (or more to taste)
• 10 oz to 1 lb. mushrooms, mixed crimini, porcini, mushroom, shitake or any of these by themselves

• 1-2 fennel bulbs
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• OPTIONAL: 3-4 pieces of bacon
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• ½ cup dry sherry
• 1 lb cheese tortellini
• Fresh parmesan, to taste

Directions:
1. Cut mushrooms in half or fourths depending on size.
2. Thinly slice fennel.
3. Start water to boil for tortellini
4. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms and fennel.
5. Cut bacon and mince garlic.
6. When mushrooms and fennel are almost tender add bacon, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook until bacon is done.
7. Add tortellini to boiling water; cook for about 8 minutes or according to package directions.
8. Add ½ cup sherry to mushrooms, fennel etc. Reduce heat and simmer until tortellini is done, or at least five minutes.
9. Drain tortellini and add to a pan.
10. Drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil over tortellini and mix with mushroom, fennel etc. Simmer for a couple minutes.
11. Plate and top with grated parmesan.

RECIPE: Apple Gorgonzola Salad

This is my all-time favorite salad, copied from one of my favorite restaurants, DePalma’s in Athens, Georgia. Although the wine did improve my mood, my patience has not been completely restored. I suspect that my readers have all made a salad before. I will trust that you can decide the portions that match your preferences and mix them together in a bowl. Of course if you have any questions about this or anything else, I will happily answer them! Tomorrow.

Ingredients:
• Romaine Lettuce
• Red Onion, Chopped
• Capers
• Granny Smith Apple, chopped or sliced
• Walnuts, chopped
• Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
• OPTIONAL: Cooked Bacon, broken into pieces
• Balsamic Vinaigrette

Homemade Pizza and Wine Garage Bordeaux

I love pizza, good pizza. I guess it is the same way I feel about my wine. Although I am often willing to pay a higher price for wine, I don’t like to do it for pizza. Perhaps it’s because it would be way more difficult for me to make my own wine. I have noticed over the last couple of years that pizza inflation is out of control. When we lived in San Diego, we would drop $20 for a large cheese at my favorite pizza joint. I decided it was time to master the making of my own pies.

Before you attempt to do this at home, I must ask “Do you have a pizza stone?” If the answer is “No,” then buy one. I got mine on Amazon over two years ago for $30 (that’s a 1 1/2 pizzas in San Diego). In order to make authentic tasting pizza at home, I believe a pizza stone is mandatory…not optional. You put the stone in the oven on the bottom rack and turn the oven on to 450-500° (I did 500° with my old oven but found with my current oven that the crust was a little crispier than I liked). Thirty minutes later, slide you pizza onto the stone (it may help to remove upper oven racks before heating so you have more room when transferring pizza to stone).  In less than ten minutes you have a delicious pizza including a crispy outside and chewy inside crust. I also strongly recommend bread flour as this results in a chewier, genuine crust.

Besides saving money, I like the convenience of making pizza at home. I can make the dough and the sauce ahead of time and put in the refrigerator or freezer (freeze if not going to make in a day or two). I do suggest rubbing olive oil over the ball of dough before placing it in a Ziploc bag. It will make it easier to remove. When I know I am going to have a hectic day, I just pull dough and sauce out of the freezer that morning. When I get home, I place stone in the oven and turn oven on. The dough will need to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature (conveniently the same time as the oven needs to warm up). I use the time to chop toppings, relax and/or tackle a household chore. Then I roll the dough out, top and bake. It might have taken 45 minutes to get dinner on the table, but only about ten minutes was actually active.

Since the majority of the work is done ahead of time, this is also an awesome entertaining meal. I make pizza every time we have guests for a few days. We can be gone all day, but I can easily make dinner when we get home. I also like to make this when we have more than 2-4 people over to dinner. Everyone likes it. It’s easy to adapt toppings for vegetarians. People like to help make it. I can have more dough handy than I need and keep making pizzas until everyone is full (then just freeze remaining dough and sauce).

Last Friday night, we invited some friends over for wine and pizza. My carnivore friends, Tony, Mariana, and Mike B. came over first, so I made a red sauce pizza with pepperoni, bacon, and Italian sausage (I precooked the bacon and Italian sausage). While eating that, Tony wanted to help with pizza number 2. He rolled the dough and topped with pepperoni, baby bellas and black olives. My vegetarian and non-cheese-eating friend, Jean arrived later and wanted half a pizza sans cheese. I suggested she help me make her pie. I rolled out Italian seasoned dough, and I asked her if she wanted red sauce or white sauce. She picked white with basil. Jean chopped up a bunch of baby bellas and oyster mushrooms. The mushrooms, fresh baby spinach, marinated artichoke hearts and some chopped onions were layered on top of the sauce. I completed the second half with a mozzarella/ provolone cheese blend (my favorite pizza cheese), sliced roasted red peppers, mushrooms, goat cheese and bacon. Omit the bacon and you still have a delicious yet vegetarian pizza. I sprinkled both halves of the pizza with Italian seasoning before baking. When the pizza was done, Jean drizzled a little more olive oil on top as well as a little red sauce.

WINE: N/V WINE GARAGE BORDEAUX BLEND, NAPA
http://winegarage.net/

One of the reasons, my husband, Mike and I wanted to have friends over was to drink a jug of wine we bought in Napa. Yes, I used the words “jug” and “Napa” in the same sentence. Located in Calistoga, the Wine Garage makes and sells wine out of a converted gas station. Two of their blends are pumped out of kegs via gas nozzles into jugs. Mike and I both really enjoyed their Bordeaux blend, a non-traditional blend of Cabernet, Carmenere, Merlot and Petite Verdot. We also liked the $30 price tag for an equivalent of 2 ½ bottles of wine, so we bought two. We knew it wasn’t a wine to store, so we needed an excuse to break one out. Everyone else agreed that the jug wine was fantastic, totally smooth with lush berry and chocolate notes. And it made an awesome pizza wine! We went through the first jug much more quickly than anticipated, so cracked open jug number two after dinner. I do think I need to make a small disclaimer if you want to order some of these jugs for yourself… “Drinking wine from a jug may result in spontaneous dancing.” I would be lying if I said “Footloose”, “The Humpty Dance” and the “Tootsee Roll” were not played at our house on Friday night.

To read more about our trip to Napa and the Wine Garage see my travel blog: Napa-Calistoga: Persian Palaces to Gas Nozzle Wine 
RECIPE: PIZZA DOUGH
Servings: Makes 2 pizza crusts. (I made two batches of the dough recipe on Friday night, made three pizzas and froze the last ball of dough).

Ingredients for Dough:
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
•3/4 tbsp. yeast (a standard yeast packet is 3/4 tbsp.)
• ¼ tsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• OPTIONAL: 2 tbsp Italian Seasoning (Recommended for white pizzas)
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 cups BREAD Flour
Ingredients for Pizza:
• ~ ¼ cup Cornmeal per pizza
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese per pizza (or just mozzarella or provolone)
• Red Sauce or White Sauce (see recipes below)
• Whatever toppings you want.

Directions for Dough:
1. Grease a large bowl with oil or butter.

Nice bubbly and foamy yeast

2. Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water in a different large bowl; allow yeast to foam (about 10 minutes).
3. Stir in salt and olive oil (and Italian seasoning, if desired)
4. Stir in 3 cups of bread flour.
5. Transfer to floured surface.
6. Knead, adding bread flour as needed (you can stop adding flour when no dough is sticky). Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
7. Place in greased bowl and let rise until double (~1 hour).
8. Punch down and let rise again until double. Punch down and divide in half. You can make, refrigerate or freeze at this point.
Directions for Pizza:
9. Sprinkle a paddle or large cutting board with cornmeal.
10. Roll out pizza dough into the best circle you can. You may need to add a little flour of sticking to your rolling pin. Make sure the crust is not bigger than pizza stone. Test that you crust easily slides on paddle or cutting board. If it doesn’t add more cornmeal. (This will allow you to slide pizza into oven with nothing more than a push from a spatula).
11. Top with pizza sauce, cheese & toppings. Leave about an inch rim empty for the crust.
12. Transfer to stone and bake at 500° degrees for 7-10 minutes. Check at 7 minutes. It is done when cheese is beginning to brown. (Remember pizza stone should have been in hot oven for 30 minutes prior to baking.)
13. Let pizza rest for 5 minutes before cutting. You can cut on and serve from pizza stone. The pizza stone also will keep pizza slices warm.

RECIPE: RED PIZZA SAUCE
Servings: Sauce for 3-4 pizzas.

Ingredients:
• 28 oz can San Marzano tomatoes, Puree or Crushed (I think a nice brand of tomatoes makes a difference)
• 9 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions:

1. Mix all of the above together.
2. Spread desired amount onto crust. Caution: too much sauce can make crust soggy.
3. Divide any remaining sauce into portions for individual pizzas and freeze.

RECIPE: WHITE PIZZA SAUCE
Serving: Individual Pizza

Ingredients (depends on preference and how big your roll your crust):
• Olive oil
• 3-6 garlic cloves, minced
• OPTIONAL: ½- 1 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions:
1. Drizzle crust with olive oil until it is covered.
2. Spread minced garlic over olive oil.
3. If you want basil, sprinkle over crust. I like putting the basil under the cheese. The basil doesn’t brown and adds a nice flavor to the sauce.

Spinach and Mushroom Enchiladas with Ventana Chardonnay

One of my favorite recipes to make for my vegetarian friends are these Spinach and Mushroom Enchiladas served with Not Refried “Refried” Beans. It is great for company because you can assemble the enchiladas and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake. The enchiladas are smothered in a creamy cilantro sauce, and are fantastic for vegetarians and omnivores alike. It’s been awhile since I made this recipe so when I invited my non-meat eating friend, Jean, to dinner, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to resurrect it. Unfortunately, I did not know that Jean’s brother, also invited, hates mushrooms. He concealed what I am sure was his vast disappointment at the dinner menu until after he tried the enchiladas. After a couple bites, he revealed his true feelings about the mushroom. I tried to hide my embarrassment at serving such a poor choice to him when he continued that this was the first time he’d ever enjoyed mushrooms. I wondered if he was just being polite. However, several hours and several glasses of wine, beer, moonshine etc. Joe told me again how much he enjoyed dinner and wanted to try to make the enchiladas himself. He also suggested incorporating shrimp into the dish. If you do, Joe, let us know how it turns out.

WINE: 2008 Ventana Chardonnay, Arroyo Seco (Monterey)http://www.ventanawines.com/Ventana_Estate_Wines

A half cup of white wine goes into this recipe. I cannot in good conscience recommend “cooking wine” (though I will often recommend cooking with something cheaper if a large quantity goes into the recipe and you want something special with dinner). Anyway this pairing is easy, drink what you put into the recipe. In this case, Ventana is having an awesome sale on their Chardonnay ($60 a case), so you can put something cheap and yummy into your dish. This Chardonnay is lightly oaked so has a nice creamy mouthfeel balanced with some wonderful tropical fruit flavors. A terrific pairing for the enchiladas. In addition, my husband opened a bottle of Kukkula’s IPO, which is a Cab/Syrah/Zinfandel blend. I only had a sip, but the berry and cola notes paired fine with the dish. If you want to go red with the enchiladas, I do think a Zinfandel would be a good bet.

RECIPE: Spinach and Mushroom Enchiladas
Servings 4 (2 big enchiladas per person)

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced and divided (or more…I love garlic)
• 1 lb baby bella mushrooms, chopped (or whatever mushrooms you like)
• 1/2 cup white wine, divided
• 1 lb fresh spinach
• 11/2 tsp season salt or season salt, divided
• 8 flour tortillas (you can use corn but may need more, I find corn tortillas are often smaller)
• 2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese, divided
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 1 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9’ x 13’ pan.
2. Begin the filling. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté onions, 2 garlic cloves and mushrooms until onions are translucent and mushrooms are cooked. I cover skillet so mushrooms steam allowing me to use less oil.
3. Remove half of the mushroom, onion, garlic mixture and set aside for the sauce.
4. Add ¼ cup wine and cook for about two more minutes.
5. Add spinach and 1 tsp season salt/salt. Cook and toss spinach in pan until spinach is wilted and liquid has evaporated.
6. At this point, I assemble the enchiladas first as the sauce comes together very quickly. You can warm tortillas in microwave. I however, like to heat them one at time on a flat skillet. This is just a personal preference so I can control how warm each one gets. It is also easy to heat one tortilla while assembling another enchilada.
7. Divide filling into eights. Put one eighth into warm tortilla. Sprinkle with a little cheese, roll and place seam side down in 9” x 13” dish. Repeat eight times. (Adjust as needed if using small corn tortillas).
8. Make the sauce. In a small sauce pan combine chicken broth, wine, ½ tsp salt or seasoned salt, and 1 minced garlic clove.
9. Stir to dissolve before adding sour cream and cilantro. Stir to combine.
10. Add the rest of mushrooms etc. Reduce heat to simmer until sauce just begins to thicken. This will happen pretty quickly. I recommend stirring throughout this process.
11. Pour sauce over enchiladas, top with the rest of shredded cheese and bake 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and beginning to turn brown.

Not Refried “Refried” Black BeansServings 4-6

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 finely chopped jalapenos (2 if you want it spicier)
• 2 medium finely chopped onions
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 2 (14 ounce) cans black beans
• 1 can/bottle beer (You can play with different types of beer to see what you like best. My favorites are Dos Equis Amber and Honey Brown. Of course, you want to buy beer that you or, in my case, my husband likes.)
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• Salt, to taste

1. In a medium pan, sauté the onions, jalapenos and garlic over medium heat until soft.
2. Rinse one can of beans, but leave one with juice. Add to pan.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for at least ½ hour up to an hour and a half. If you have time to babysit this, the longer it simmers the better the flavors. You stir in a little beer at a time as it simmers to prevent beans from drying out. How much beer you use will depend on
4. OPTIONAL: You can use a potato masher to mash some or all of the beans if you want a creamier texture.
5. When done stir in 1 tbsp of lime and salt as needed. The beer will add salt, so only salt when beans are finished

Edamame Goat Cheese Ravioli, Rosemary Bread, and Boekenoogen Chardonnay

Recipe: Edamame and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Shitake Butter Sauce
Recipe: Rosemary Bread
Wine: 2007 Boekenoogen Chardonnay, Santa Lucia Highlands


Once upon a Saturday, my husband and I stumbled into the unpretentious tasting room at Boekenoogen (BOO-KA-NOO-GEN). After the tasting, we stuck around for a bottle of 2008 Chardonnay and took a Pinot Noir and a Syrah home. Obviously, we enjoyed the wine. However, Mike was a bit disappointed they weren’t sampling their 2007 Chardonnay which not only sounded delicious, but scored 96 points in Wine Enthusiast Magazine. A few weeks later, a friend and I stopped by Boekenoogen (by the way, I just love to say Boekenoogen). Unfortunately, Mike was in class and missed the opportunity to try the French Oaked Chardonnay. Although I am not normally a fan of 100% Oaked Chardonnay, this was an exception. The oak gave it a wonderful creaminess yet it maintained wonderful tropical fruit flavors. However, the best part was the finish reminiscent of crème brulee. Being the nice wife that I am, I brought a bottle home for Mike and told him I would cook him something special to go with it. The bottle was temporarily forgotten until Mike’s birthday when he began to contemplate what he wanted me to make him for dinner. He finally settled on Edamame and Goat Cheese Ravioli, and I knew it was the perfect time to break out the Boekenoogen.

Edamame and Goat Cheese Ravioli may sound like a strange combination. Trust me, pour some shitake mushrooms cooked in butter and garlic over the ravioli and it is absolutely delicious. This recipe is time-consuming, but not difficult. The ravioli can also be made ahead and freezes well. I adapted this recipe from one shared with me by my mother-in-law. She also bought me a ravioli/dumpling maker. It is a simple hand-held gadget that helps seal each ravioli. You can also seal each ravioli by pressing it closed with a fork. You can serve this as an appetizer or a vegetarian meal. We usually do it as a meal swerved with rosemary bread to soak up the extra yummy sauce. Any buttery and/or creamy Chardonnay will work perfectly.
http://www.boekenoogenwines.com/boekenoogen_wines.html

RECIPE: EDAMAME AND GOAT CHEESE RAVIOLI
Serves 4-5 (as a meal, makes about fifty ravioli)

Ingredients:
1 pound shelled edamame
8 oz. goat cheese
4 oz. cream cheese
½ tsp salt
50 potsticker wrappers
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup salted butter, or more if you like (you can also supplement some butter with olive oil)
3 cloves garlic, minced
10 oz. fresh shitake mushrooms
Grated parmesan cheese, to taste (optional)


1. Boil edamame until tender, about five minutes. Drain.
2. In food processor, combine edamame, salt, goat cheese and cream cheese until smooth.
3. Cover and chill for at least three hours or overnight. I often make the filling the night before.
4. Once filling has chilled, beat one egg.
5. Take a single potsticker wrapper and place 1 tsp. of filling in the middle.

6. Brush edges with beaten egg. Fold over the wrapper and seal with dumpling maker or fork. Transfer to a parchment line baking sheet.

7. REPEAT until out of wrappers and/or filling. Chill for at least two hours or overnight. I would freeze if going to spend more than a day in refrigerator.
8. Boil a LARGE pot with water. As this often takes a while, I do not start cooking the sauce until pot has or is about to boil.
9. Stem shitake mushrooms and thinly slice.
10. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat.
11. Add garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes.
12. Add mushrooms and cook until tender, 3-4 minutes
13. When you add the mushrooms to the butter, gently place ravioli in boiling water (do not thaw if previously frozen). Cook 3-4 minutes until ravioli float to top.
14. If you have a slotted spoon, use this to drain and remove ravioli. A colander works, but often some of the ravioli will open.
15. Pour butter mushroom sauce over ravioli. Top with parmesan if desired. Serve.


RECIPE: ROSEMARY BREAD
2 Loaves. This is my absolute favorite bread recipe. After trying, my seven year old nephew excitedly exclaimed after trying, “those green things are bursting with flavor.”

1 tbsp. yeast ( a standard packet is ¾ tbsp. yeast)
1 tbsp. sugar
1 cup warm water
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. salt.
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. rosemary
Additional olive oil to coat
Sea Salt, to taste (optional)

1. Grease a large bowl with butter or oil.


Bubbly yeast

2. Pour one cup of warm water into a clean bowl. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over water. Allow to sit about 10 minutes until bubbly.
3. Mix in 1 tbsp. olive oil, salt and rosemary. If using dried rosemary, allow to sit for a few minutes to re-hydrate.
4. Mix in two cups of flour.
5. Sprinkle flour over cutting board and transfer dough. Knead for about 5 minutes until smooth, elastic and not sticky. You will likely need to add flour as kneading.
6. Put dough in greased bowl and cover with a towel. Rise for about one hour or until doubled in size.
7. Punch down dough and let it rest for five minutes.
8. Divide dough in half. Shape into two rounded loaves. Rub olive oil over dough. Place on greased or oiled baking sheet. You can also sprinkle with sea salt.
9. Let rise again until doubled, 45 minutes - 1 hour.
10. Preheat oven to 375°F.
11. Gently slide loaves into oven (be careful not to disturb dough). Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.
12. Serve anytime with anything!

I have successfully frozen second loaf. Reheat from frozen at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes.