Italian Dinner: Caprese Salad, Roasted Eggplant Pasta, and Pesto Gnocci

These are three dishes that I made for an Italian dinner - not completely homemade, but still delicious!

Eggplant Pasta
1 box short pasta
2-3 purple eggplants
about 5 tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
about 10 cloves garlic, sliced
herbs: basil, oregano, rosemary (fresh if possible)
Parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste

1. Score eggplant skin with a knife. This will allow for easy peeling later. Bake eggplant at 350 degrees F for about an hour. Allow to cool.

2. Once cool, peel eggplant and remove seeds. Skin should come off very easily, and the seeds should all be together in little "pods". Chop eggplant.

3. Prepare pasta. Drain, but do not rinse.

4. In a saucepan, cook onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper in olive oil over low heat. Cook until soft. Add tomatoes and cook for a few more minutes. Add eggplant and herbs. Continue to cook for a few more minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Mix pasta with eggplant sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving.

Pesto Gnocci (quick recipe)
1 package prepared potato gnocci (in the pasta aisle)
1/4 cup prepared pesto sauce + extra olive oil (if prepared pesto sauce is dry)
1/4 cup milk or half & half
fresh basil
crushed red pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

1. In a saucepan, heat prepared pesto sauce with crushed red pepper. (add extra olive oil if pesto is dry).

2. While heating the sauce, boil gnocci for a few minutes (until they float to the top of the pot). Transfer gnocci directly to the saucepan with a slotted spoon.

3. Add the milk or cream to the saucepan. Mix gnocci with sauce and cook for a few minutes, until sauce is mostly absorbed.

4. Plate gnocci and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

Caprese Salad
My grocery store (Wegmans) had a wonderful selection of interesting tomatoes--colorful heirloom tomatoes, brown tomatoes ("Kumatoes"), etc. that I used in this salad

tomatoes, sliced
fresh Mozzerella, sliced
fresh basil leaves
red onion, thinly sliced
extra-virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
black and crushed red pepper

1. Arrange tomatoes, Mozzerella, basil, and red onion on a plate.

2. Top with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and pepper.

Shiitake and Jalapeno Gyoza

These gyoza would make a perfect appetizer for a party.
Special hardware required: frying pan with a cover

1 cup shiitake mushroom caps, finely diced
1 cup finely diced tofu (or salad shrimp, for a non-vegetarian option)
about 3 jalapeno peppers, finely diced
1 cup shredded cabbage
1/2 white onion
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped.
about 5 large cloves garlic
fresh ginger root
3 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Sriracha chili sauce
about 40 gyoza or won-ton wrappers
about 1 tbsp corn starch
A few teaspoons of oil for frying

1. Saute finely diced mushrooms, tofu, and peppers in sesame oil and soy sauce until peppers are soft.

2. In a large bowl, mix cabbage, scallions, mushroom and pepper mixture, and chili sauce. Grate onion, garlic, and ginger into bowl and mix together. Add shrimp if using.

3. In a very small bowl, dissolve corn starch in water. This will serve as a glue for the gyoza.

4. Form gyoza by placing a small spoonful of filling into each gyoza wrapper. Wet edges of the wrapper with the corn starch water. Fold the wrapper in half and seal the edge. Then, crimp the edge by folding over small sections of the edge and pinching.

5. Heat a small amount (about a teaspoon) of vegetable oil in a pan. Place gyoza in the pan, trying to stand them up on their bottoms (so that the crimped edge is pointing upwards). Fry gyoza for a few minutes until the bottoms are golden brown.

6. Add about 1/2 cup of water to the pan and cover. The water will turn to steam. Steam for a few minutes until the water has evaporated. Remove from pan and serve!

Pasta with Spinach Cream Sauce

This cream sauce can actually be made without any butter or cream. Potato starch flour gives it a smooth creaminess (I find that wheat flour gives a grainy consistency).

1 small onion
5-10 cloves garlic
1 package frozen spinach
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups milk
1 tbsp. potato starch flour
salt, nutmeg, crushed red pepper, and black pepper (to taste)
prepared pasta

1. Chop onions and garlic.

2. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until soft.

3. Add potato starch flour and stir for a few seconds. Slowly add milk, stirring to incorporate. Cook milk for a few minutes until thick and bubbly.

4. Add frozen spinach (directly from package) and stir until spinach is completely thawed and incorporated into cream sauce.

5. Add a pinch of nutmeg, black pepper, salt, and crushed red pepper.

6. Add prepared pasta and cook for a few minutes with sauce.

Chick Pea and Fava Bean Salad

Chick peas and fava beans provide a hearty base for this salad. Mint and lemon provide a fresh flavor.

2 cans fava beans
2 cans chick peas
1 quart grape tomatoes
1 English cucumber
1-2 onions (red onion, Vidalia, and/or scallions)
juice of 3 lemons
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
handful of fresh mint
garlic powder (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)

1. Drain and rinse chick peas and fava beans.

2. Slice tomatoes in half. Finely dice or chop onions, and dice cucumber.

3. In a large bowl, mix lemon juice, olive oil, mint, garlic powder, and black pepper. Toss with beans and vegetables.

4. Allow salad to marinate overnight before serving.

Spinach and Jalapeno Quiche

Jalapeno peppers make this quiche deliciously spicy.
Special hardware required: quiche pan.

Crust
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white vinegar
A few spoonfuls of ice water

Filling
10 cloves garlic, sliced
1 large or 2 small onions, diced
2 packages frozen spinach
4-5 jalapeno peppers, diced
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup milk
4 eggs
cubed pepper jack cheese (1/2 cup to 1 full cup)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Chill quiche pan in the freezer so that it becomes a cold working surface for preparing the dough for the crust.

2. Dice chilled butter into pea-sized cubes.

3. In the chilled quiche pan, mix butter cubes with flour and salt. Add vinegar and ice water, about a teaspoon at a time, and knead dough. Continue adding water until the dough forms a tacky ball.

4. Place dough ball and quiche pan in the freezer for a few minutes to chill.

5. Remove quiche pan and dough ball from the freezer and flatten dough around the pan. Push up against the sides of the pan to form a crust. Use a fork to poke holes in the crust to prevent bubbles later.

6. Return finished crust to the freezer for about 10 minutes (or until the dough is almost frozen). This will prevent the dough from slipping down the sides during baking.

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

8. Place frozen crust directly into the oven and bake until golden brown.

9. While crush is cooking, saute onions, garlic, and jalapenos in olive oil. Add frozen spinach and cook until the mixture is very dry (any excess liquid will make the crust soggy).

10. Beat eggs and milk. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

11. Remove crust from oven and fill with vegetable mixture. Slowly pour egg over vegetable mixture to fill any crevices. Sprinkle with cheese.

12. Carefully transfer to oven and bake about 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the quiche comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.