Roman-Style Fettuccine with Chicken

This is another terrific Italian dish from Giada De Laurentiis. I grew up thinking that if you were going to serve pasta, you had to smoother it in either a tomato or heavy cheese sauce. Oh what a sheltered life I lead! I have made this dish many times, and it's always a crowd favorite. When I tell Julie I'm making this for Sunday dinner, it always makes her smile.

The recipe calls for 1 1/2 lbs of pasta. Since pasta is only sold in 1 pound boxes, I usually go ahead and cook the full 2 pounds and include a little more chicken.

Giada lists this recipe as making 4 to 6 servings. My experience is it makes 8 servings, and more if you up the quantity of ingredients. Even if you invite friends over you'll still have plenty of leftovers.

If you don't have fresh herbs, it's OK to use dried, but just reduce the amount by 1/3 to 1/2.

I recommend serving this dish with a nice Chardonnay. It's a great one-dish meal to serve on a cold winter night.

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves
2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced
3 oz prosciutto, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, with juice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs. fettuccine
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley.

1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken until brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
2. Keeping the same pan over medium heat, add the bell peppers and prosciutto and cook until the peppers have browned and the prosciutto is crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
   
3. Add the tomatoes and their juice, wine, thyme, and oregano. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Return the chicken to the pan, add the broth, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta, stir and cook until tender per the directions on the package.
5. Remove the chicken and let it cool slightly on a cutting board. Using a fork and knife, gently shred the chicken. Return the chicken to the pan Stir in the parsley.
6. To serve, spoon the pasta into serving dishes and top with the chicken and sauce.

From Giada De Laurentiis Everyday Pasta

Calzones

This is a very popular dish from Cuisine Magazine. When making for guests, we make the dough ahead of time, and let everyone form and build their own calzone. Below are the fillings we used this Sunday. Be creative and post your own filling ideas in the comment section below.

The recipe calls for a starter dough. Don't skip this step. It only takes 5 minutes to makes, and the flavor and texture of the dough will suffer if you don't use it.

Calzone Dough

for the Starter:
1/3 cup + 1 Tbs all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
3 Tbs cold water

for the Dough:
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs warm water (85 - 95 F)
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 Tbs olive oil
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. kosher salt

Egg Wash:
1 egg
2 Tbs milk

Filling Options:

Chicken, Roasted Red Peppers, & Artichoke Hearts Calzone:
1 lb chicken tenderloins, cooked
1 jar cooked artichoke hearts, drained
1 jar, roasted red peppers, drained, and chopped
mozzarella cheese
ricotta cheese

Pizza Filling Calzones
8 oz, Pepperoni, sliced thin
1/4 lb frozen meatballs, thawed
1 medium onion, sliced thin and sauteed
1 medium green pepper, sliced thin and sauteed (with onions)
mozzarella cheese
ricotta cheese



Starter:

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour and salt. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Pour liquid over flour and stir with a fork.
2. Stir until all flour is incorporated. Mixture will be a stiff, heavy blob. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature.
3. After fermenting for 15-24 hours, the starter has grown and is ready for the final dough. It's bubbly and smells yeasty.

Dough:

1. Whisk the yeast in warm water (85 - 95F). After foam appears (about 5 minutes), whisk in the oil. In separate bowl, combine flour and salt.
2. To loosen the sponge, pour the liquid yeast mixture around the edge. Stir it lightly. The sponge will begin to pull away from the bowl.
3. Add dry ingredients to the sponge mixture and stir until allt he flour is moistened. The dough will be sticky and full of lumps.
   
4. It's time to knead. Turn dough out onto floured work surface. Lift and fold half of dough towards you. Flour hands and surface as needed.
5. Press down and away from you with heel of hand. Keep hands floured. Give dough quarter-turns; repeat steps 4 & 5. Kead 8-10 minutes.
6. Form 1 large ball. Dust with flour. Cover with plastic. Let rest 20 minutes. Cut into quarters. Tuck into 4 balls. Cover and let rise 2 hours.
7. After dough has rishe 2 hours, flour surface. Flip 1 ball over (keep others covered). Press dough with fingertips to form circle.
8. With both hands at top of dough, grasp the edge and rotate. This stretches the dough. Enlarges to a circle 7-8" in diameter.
9. Lay down the dough circle and check for any uneven spots. With your fingers, gently lift and stretch out any thick spots.
10. Put dough on parchment-lined baking sheet. Place fillings on half of circle leaving 3/4" clean border at edge of dough.
11. Lift edge of unfilled side and pull slightly towards you. This streches dough so you can cover filling to meet edge on other side.
12. Press edges to creat seal. Crimping ensures a tight bond between the two edges. Press each indentation twice to really seal it.
13. Calzones look better with an egg wash. Lightly brush each one with egg mixture.
14. Bake 10-12 minutes in 500 F oven until calzones are golden. Seve with warm marinara sauce
    

Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup

Here's another recipe from Giada's new cookbook. I made this on Sunday instead of salad. Publix was out of cannellini beans, so I substitued Great Northern Beans with no ill effect. I also substitued 1/4 tsp. of dried, ground sage for the sage leaves.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 Tbs olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
2 sage leaves, stems removed
2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1. Place a medium, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil, and shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally until the shallots are softened, about 3 minutes
2. Add the sage leaves, cannellini beans, and garlic and stir to combine. Add the chicken broth to the pot. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook gently until the garlic is soft, about 15 minutes.
3. Pour half of the soup into a large bowl. Carefully ladle a third to half of the soup from the bowl into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Pour the blended soup back into the pot and repeat with the remaining soup from the bowl.
   
4. Once all of the soup is returned to the soup pot, stir in the cream, salt, and pepper. Cover and keep warm over very low heat.