#tomato

Home made Cavatelli with Tomato Sauce and Burrata Cheese

Theresa PizarroLeave a comment

Happy International Women’s Day!

Cavatelli with tomato sauce and burrata

Cheers to all the amazing women out there who makes the world a warmer, more loving place!

We wear so many hats and do so many different things at the same time (kind of like our computer screen with multiple windows open – my phone has over 200 open right now!) that we usually forget about the most important person to care for – ourselves!

If we do not take care of ourselves, we won’t be able to care for others. It’s just how it is. It took me long time to admit that but right now, recovering from yet another surgery, it is undeniably true.

So today, I’m giving myself a pass….for a little ME time, I dragged out my pasta board, some semolina, and some flour to make one of my favorite food – pasta!

Cavatelli maker

I recently got a cavatelli maker so it’s also the perfect chance to play with it!

Now, if you do not have one, don’t worry! You can use a fork, face down, and roll the dough up the tines to shape. Or if you have a gnocchi board, feel free to use that! Use the same motion in shaping as with the fork. I even saw a video where an Italian grandma used the bottom of a basket to shape this pasta. The basket bottom looked very much like a sushi mat to me, so you totally can use that too! Make do with what you have!

Cavatelli

Ingredients for the Cavatelli:

1 1/3 cups semolina flour

1 3/4 cups 00 or all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup water

Ingredients for the Tomato sauce:

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 28oz can crushed tomatoes

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

3-4 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for serving:

Handful of basil leaves, torn

2-4 balls of burrata

Olive oil

Salt

To make the Cavatelli:

1. In a medium bowl, mix semolina, flour, and salt with water until it forms a ball. Transfer to a clean surface and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. You can also make this dough in a food processor, a stand mixer, or a thermomix.

2. Cover dough with a bowl and let rest for about 30 minutes to rest the gluten and allow the flour to absorb the water.

3. Cut the dough into about 10 or so manageable pieces. Take one and cover the rest with the bowl to prevent it from drying out. You want the dough supple to make it easier to shape.

4. On a clean surface, roll out the dough into a rope about the size of your finger.

Notice the inverted bowl in the photo below? That is where the rest of the pasta dough is hiding.

If using a cavatelli maker: securely attach the maker to the table and feed the dough through the machine, turning the hand crank to cut and shape the pasta. Dust the pasta with flour as needed.

If you do not have a cavatelli maker: cut the rope into marble sized pieces and shape each one by using an over turned fork (or a gnocchi board, or a basket, or a sushi mat) and pressing and rolling the dough balls up over the tines. Dust the pasta with flour as needed.

5. Repeat until all the dough is used up.

To make the tomato sauce:

1. Heat up a saucepan and add the olive oil and garlic. Let the garlic turn fragrant and golden.

2. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Cover and simmer 10 – 15 minutes.

To cook the pasta:

1. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add a generous amount of salt.

2.Add the pasta by handfuls and stir the water occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking.

3. Boil the pasta until done to your desired texture, about 5-10 minutes.

4. Drain the pasta, saving some pasta water. Transfer pasta to the tomato sauce. Mix well. (You can also serve the sauce over the pasta if you prefer)

5. Add some pasta water if needed to thin out the sauce.

6. Serve pasta with torn basil leaves. Place a ball of burrata on top, cut in half and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt.

7. Enjoy!

Sourdough Focaccia

Theresa Pizarro1 Comment

We have been making homemade pizza for a few years now and it’s become a staple that I have 2 outdoor pizza ovens at the moment.

I also make our sourdough bread every week and need to switch it up with a few varieties using different flours, inclusions, or liquid to flavor the bread. Marshmallow stout instead of water for a chocolate chip sourdough batard anyone??

Between bread and pizza, there’s also focaccia! And here is a very easy recipe complete with a timeline to guide you!

You can split this bread in half crosswise to use for sandwiches, or just cut into squares, or rectangles to eat as is! Dip in olive oil, Trader Joe’s Garlic dip, hummus, baba ganoush…..It’s crunchy and soft, salty and herby…just delicious specially when still warm from the oven.

I use really good olive oil and salt as I believe it contributes to the overall taste of the focaccia. The olives are dry cured from Trader Joe’s, tomatoes and rosemary are from the backyard.

I doubled the recipe and made 2 13”x9” focaccia to eat and have enough to trade with a dozen home grown eggs. So please don’t be confused by the discrepancy between the instructions and the photos. 😊

I hope you will like this recipe as much as we did!

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Ingredients:

423 grams all purpose flour

181 grams bread flour

460 grams water

11 grams salt, plus more for sprinkling

115 grams starter, I used one straight from the fridge

12 grams good quality olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Toppings of choice, chopped herbs, olives, tomatoes, etc.

Procedure:

1. 10 am to 11 am

In a large bowl, mix flours, water, salt and starter. Mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the dough comes together.

Set aside for about 15 to 30 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the water.

Then mix the dough thoroughly, drizzling in the olive oil and pulling the dough up until well mixed. Use a plastic bench/dough scraper to help you pull up the dough and mix the oil in.

Cover (I use a clean, unused plastic hair cover!) and set aside for 30 minutes

#1

2. Bulk 11:15-1:15

#2
#3

Perform 4 sets of stretch and fold every 30 minutes, for 2 hours.

Photos 1 – 4 are the stretch and fold in the first 30 minutes, #2 at an hour, #3 at an hour and thirty minutes, and #4 was after 2 hours, the last of 4 folds. See how stretchy and smooth the dough looks after?

#4

3. Proof 1:15- 5:15

Pour some olive oil in a 13 x 9 inch pan.

Transfer dough to the pan and cover.

Every 30 minutes on the first hour, uncover the dough and stretch gently to fill the pan.

Cover and let rest for the remainder of the 4 hours.

4. 5:15 Preheat oven to 450F.

5. Drizzle the dough with about 2 -3 tablespoons of good olive oil.

6. Wet your finger tips and dimple the dough all the way to the bottom of the pan, multiple times.

7. Sprinkle with chopped herbs, olives, capers, cherry tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, etc.

*I used halved cherry tomatoes, chopped rosemary, olives, and Maldon sea salt. The other focaccia had the same toppings except it did not have tomatoes, as I only got a handful from the garden.*

8. Sprinkle with good quality salt.

9. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown.

*After baking, tops should be golden and edges crusty.

*Bottom should be toasted. This looks perfect!

Cut for sandwiches, this is what the crumb look like on my bake. Yummy!

Tomato Egg Drop Soup

Theresa Pizarro3 Comments

I wasn’t able to take photos as I was preparing this soup since I upgraded my phone and it took forever to sync with the old one.

In the meantime, I was totally phoneless (is that even a word?). I could’ve used the big Nikon dslr but it definitely would be in my way.

This soup cooked up really fast, about 15 minutes total, so it was ready way before my phone was done. I didn’t realize I had 12,000 photos and almost as much videos in there as I take photos with the phone when trying out and testing new recipes. I need to go and delete some one day. One day….

Anyway, the recipe….this is similar to the Egg Drop Soup you’ll find in most Asian restaurants, but with the addition of tomatoes. Trust me, it is very good.

My husband really loves Egg Drop Soup and since March last year, we had not gone out to eat at all. Time to try making it at home.

Someone sent me this recipe to try and after a few tweaks, I think it’s just perfect. I added a cup of water as the chicken stock made my soup a bit too salty for my taste. You may use 6 cups of chicken stock if you prefer your soup saltier.

I only have that one photo of the soup in the serving bowl, but if I make it again, I will update with step by step photos like all of my recipes!

Enjoy and I hope you’ll like it as much as we did!

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Ingredients:

2 ripe tomatoes, stemmed and diced

Pinch of salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 garlic clove, minced

5 cups chicken stock

1 cup water

Green onions, sliced

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water

2 tbsp soy sauce

Pinch of ground pepper

Procedure:

1. Sprinkle the tomatoes with a pinch or two of salt set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes until it softens.

3. Stir in the garlic. Cool for a couple of minutes until fragrant.

4. Add in the the chicken stock and water, cover and bring to a boil.

5. Stir the soup clockwise. Pour the beaten eggs into the center of the pot and keep stirring clockwise.

6. Stir in the reconstituted cornstarch, soy sauce, and pepper.

7. Simmer for a couple of minutes to cook the cornstarch and thicken the soup.

8. Pour into serving bowls. Top with the spring onion before serving.