This very traditional Italian dish will become a wonderful, easy and fulfilling weeknight family dinner.

Pasta Bolognese

By voloshyna, September 10, 2014

Ingredients:

• extra virgin olive oil - 1/4 cup
• medium yellow onion - 1, finely diced
• medium bell pepper - 1, finely diced
• celery stalks - 3-4, finely diced
• thickly sliced pancetta - 2 slices, finely diced
• ground beef - 1 lb.
• ground pork - 1/4 lb.
• garlic - 2 cloves, minced
• dry red wine - 1 cup
• diced tomatoes - 14 oz. can,
• tomato paste - 2 tablespoons
• chicken stock - 3/4 cup
• fresh thyme lives - 1/2 teaspoon
• crushed red pepper - 1/2 teaspoon or to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste
• salt - to taste
• fresh basil leaves - 1/2 cup, chopped
• fettuccine or other pasta - 2 lb, fresh or dried
• freshly grated Parmesan - to taste

Instructions:

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper and pancetta and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened but not browned, about 7- 8 minutes. Transfer the vegetable mixture into a large bowl. Heat  the remaining olive oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground meat and cook, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon, for 5 to 7 minutes, until the meat has lost its pink color and has started to brown. Stir in the garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 more minute. Pour 1 cup of the wine and 3/4 cup of the stock  into the skillet and stir to scrape up any browned bits. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and vegetable mixture, stirring until combined. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and cook for 40 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook for another 10 minutes. Add chopped basil leaves and remove from the heat. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain well, return to the pot and toss with the sauce. Serve the pasta in deep bowls and pass the Parmesan at the table.

What’s not to love about empanadas? That’s exactly that type of food I can eat in all day long. Mexican empanadas are a little bit remind me Ukrainian pierogies (not Polish). In Ukraine we make them with hundreds of stuffings, with cabbage, meat, potato, cottage cheese, apples, cherries and so on.

Most of the times we fry our “empanadas” on a skillet with enormous amount of sunflower oil, but this time I’ve decided to make a healthy twist and bake them in the oven. Plus usually we make a yeast dough for pierogies, but in this recipe I used a store bought pie crust. I’m not in Ukraine anymore, so can let myself to break the cooking tradition once in a while!

Liver and mushroom empanadas

By voloshyna, November 4, 2013

• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
• Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• chicken liver - 1/2 pounds
• portobello mushrooms - 2 1/2 cups, chopped
• medium yellow onion - 1, finely chopped
• port wine - 1/4 cup
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste
• ground cumin - 1 teaspoon
• kosher salt - to taste
• extra virgin olive oil - 2 tablespoons
• refrigerated pie crusts - 1 (15-ounce) package
• egg - 1, lightly beaten
• For the yogurt dip: -
• low-fat Greek Yogurt - 1/2 cup
• mayonnaise - 3 tablespoons
• finely chopped parsley - 1/4 cup
• smoked paprika - 1/2 teaspoon
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium-sized skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat. Add the chicken liver, mushrooms and onion. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly so that the ingredients are well blended. Pour in port; season with salt, pepper and cumin, if desired, and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside and let the filling cool. Process the liver mixture in a food processor until almost uniform. Roll out the pie crust dough and cut out rounds using a 3-inch cutter or a cup. Put 1 tablespoon of filling on half of the round. Fold the dough over the filling, pressing the edges with a fork to seal. Repeat with the remaining rounds and liver mixture. Arrange empanadas on the baking sheet lined with a parchment paper. Brush the top of each empanada with the egg wash. Bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix all the ingredients for the sauce. Transfer the empanadas to a serving platter and serve with a yogurt dip.

Risotto is one of the dishes that require some patience to cook. It will cost you some efforts, but you will not regret. As soon as you will put hot and creamy, perfectly cooked homemade risotto on your plate, you will become an absolutely happy person! A small tip – if you want to add a piquant taste to your risotto, use a little bit of truffle butter or truffle oil at the end of the cooking.

Mushroom risotto

By voloshyna, April 3, 2013

• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• medium yellow onion - 1, finely chopped
• celery stalk - 2, finely chopped
• extra virgin olive oil - 7 tbsp
• arborio rice - 2 cups
• salt - to taste
• dry white wine - 3/4 cup
• chicken or vegetable stock - 7-8 cups
• butter - 3 tbsp
• truffle butter - 1 tsp (optional)
• freshly grated Parmesan - 1 cup
• mushrooms - 2-3 cups, cliched
• portobello mushrooms or truffle salt - to taste (optional)
• fresh thyme - 2 tbsp
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste

Instructions:

In a small skillet melt 1 tablespoon of butter, saute mushrooms until tender. Add fresh thyme and season to taste, set aside. In a medium saucepan preheat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add finely chopped onion and celery and cook until soft, about 10 min. Then add the rice. Stir until the rice is well-coated with olive oil and it begins to turn a brighter white (2-3 min). Pour the wine and continue stirring until the wine is mostly absorbed. Then add 1 cup of stock every 1 minute, you have to stir your risotto pretty often. Cook for 15-17 minutes until al dente, add 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 teaspoon of truffle butter (optional). Add grated Parmesan and stir. Remove sauce pan from the heat and cover with a lid. Let to stand for 2-3 min. Combine your risotto and the mushrooms, serve immediately.

This is my very first risotto. Recently I watched one episode of Jamie Oliver show, about his traveling to Venice and I decided that risotto is my next must-try dish! I absolutely happy with this recipe and I recommend you to try it as soon as possible!

So creamy and incredibly delicious!

Creamy risotto with tomatoes and basil

By voloshyna, March 18, 2013

• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• medium yellow onion - 1, finely chopped
• celery stalks - 2, finely chopped
• extra virgin olive oil - 7 tbsp
• arborio rice - 2 cups
• salt - to taste
• dry white wine - 3/4 cup
• chicken or vegetable stock - 7-8 cups
• butter - 2 tbsp
• grated Parmesan - 1 cup
• chopped garlic - 2 cloves
• cherry tomatoes - 3 cups
• basil leaves - 1 1/2 cups
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste
• salt to taste - to taste

Instructions:

In a medium saucepan preheat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add finely chopped onion and celery and cook until soft, about 10 min. Then add the rice. Stir until the rice is well-coated with olive oil and it begins to turn a brighter white (2-3 min). Pour the wine and continue stirring until the wine is mostly absorbed. Then add 1 cup of stock every 1 minute, you have to stir your risotto pretty often. Cook for 15-17 minutes until al dente, add butter. Add grated Parmesan and stir. Remove sauce pan from the heat and cover with a lid. Let to stand for 2-3 min. In another sauce pan preheat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add minced garlic and fry for a 15 seconds. Add tomatoes and basil; cook until tomatoes are very tender, season to taste. Combine tomatoes and risotto in one pot and mix well. Serve hot, topped with the fresh basil leaves, Parmesan and drizzle with the remaining olive oil.

This butternut squash soup is just a perfect dish for this time of the year. The weather is getting colder and colder, and I can’t imagine something better, then a bowl of a hot soup for a dinner. This dish has really light and tender taste, exactly what you need to get the right autumn mood.

Butternut squash soup with ginger

By voloshyna, September 27, 2012

Ingredients:

• For the soup: -
• butternut squash - 1/2 medium ( pilled, seeded, and cubed)
• carrot - 1 medium ( pilled and cubbed)
• medium yellow onion - 1 ( finely chopped)
• freshly grated ginger - 1 tbs
• extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbs
• vegetable stock - 2 cups
• heavy whipping cream - 1/4 cup
• salt - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste
• For the fried sage: -
• fresh sage leaves - 7-10
• self rising flour - 1 1/2 tbs
• white wine - 2 tsp
• salt - to taste
• vegetable oil - 1/2 cup

Instructions:

Preheat olive oil in a medium sauce pan, and cook the onion,  carrot and squash 5-7 minutes, or until lightly browned.    Pour in enough of the vegetable stock to cover vegetables. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 30-40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.  Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in remaining stock and whipping cream to attain desired consistency. For a crispy sage leaves, preheat 1/2 of vegetable oil in a small saucepan. In a bowl mix together flour, wine and a little bit of salt. Deep each leaf in batter and fry until golden brown. Transfer into a paper towel.