Happy New Year!
I hope things are going well so far in 2017! I'm happy to step back into this space after taking a little break. It means things are back-to-normal - the kitchen makeover has been completed! It took about a month and while there were a couple of inevitable snags along the way, we're very happy with the outcome. Now...after all the dust, the fuss, and the cleanup (special thanks to my husband who did most of it!), we're simply enjoying the result.
Despite the somewhat relentless string of colds and viruses my family and I seem to be coming down with this winter, we've managed to stay functional and to hold on to our appetites. So I've been pretty busy in the kitchen since we've been up and running again, making up for lost time and comforting ourselves with home cooking. Taking a break and changing things up is good (I feel a renewed energy in the kitchen) but it's amazing how quickly we got tired of take-out and restaurant meals, and how much we missed simple home cooking!
I've been able to cook since New Year's eve so I've had a good amount of time to load my family up on our favorite stir-fries and rice dishes; we've enjoyed a few lingering pancake breakfasts and I even got to make some Christmas cookies that I didn't get a chance to whip up before the holidays. While we've generally been sticking to family favorites, I got a chance to try a new recipe in the form of this ragù I'd like to chat about today.
You might expect a meat sauce when you hear ragù (and doesn't anything "ragù" sound especially appealing in the wintertime) but this one is made with chestnuts and mushrooms, and these two ingredients truly are the stars of this dish, which comes from Lidia Bastianich. I have been watching Lidia's PBS cooking shows for many, many years and her food - especially, her pasta dishes - are always mouthwatering and calling my name! And this particular dish - this chestnut and mushroom ragù she made and served with spaghetti on the show - really had me swooning and running into the kitchen at the first opportunity!
It may be my love of chestnuts, or my general partiality to anything "ragù", which in turn conjures up pasta, that had me itching to try this. It's easy to make with a handful of ingredients (aside from the headliners, you need only a few other mainly pantry ingredients) and you end up with this unusual "sauce" that's deliciously earthy yet slightly sweet from the chestnuts.
It's satisfying and hearty but light at the same time. It's not only great with pasta (I paired it with pappardelle) but also excellent as a side with meat (because you have the mushrooms and some carbs in the form of the chestnuts), as a topping for bruschetta, or frankly, eaten all on its own!
I hope you're eating well so far in 2017 and I wish you many happy meals with loved ones around the table this year!
I've been able to cook since New Year's eve so I've had a good amount of time to load my family up on our favorite stir-fries and rice dishes; we've enjoyed a few lingering pancake breakfasts and I even got to make some Christmas cookies that I didn't get a chance to whip up before the holidays. While we've generally been sticking to family favorites, I got a chance to try a new recipe in the form of this ragù I'd like to chat about today.
You might expect a meat sauce when you hear ragù (and doesn't anything "ragù" sound especially appealing in the wintertime) but this one is made with chestnuts and mushrooms, and these two ingredients truly are the stars of this dish, which comes from Lidia Bastianich. I have been watching Lidia's PBS cooking shows for many, many years and her food - especially, her pasta dishes - are always mouthwatering and calling my name! And this particular dish - this chestnut and mushroom ragù she made and served with spaghetti on the show - really had me swooning and running into the kitchen at the first opportunity!
It may be my love of chestnuts, or my general partiality to anything "ragù", which in turn conjures up pasta, that had me itching to try this. It's easy to make with a handful of ingredients (aside from the headliners, you need only a few other mainly pantry ingredients) and you end up with this unusual "sauce" that's deliciously earthy yet slightly sweet from the chestnuts.
It's satisfying and hearty but light at the same time. It's not only great with pasta (I paired it with pappardelle) but also excellent as a side with meat (because you have the mushrooms and some carbs in the form of the chestnuts), as a topping for bruschetta, or frankly, eaten all on its own!
I hope you're eating well so far in 2017 and I wish you many happy meals with loved ones around the table this year!