(Soft) Food Porn

Happy Turkey Day to all! In honor of a big day of eating…

I’m risking some interesting hits from the search engines with a title like that, and even more with what I’m going to say now….I mean soft food porn because unlike some of the hard core food porn at Gia-Gina’s, my cooking skills are a little less experienced, and less sophisticated. Cheaper actors/ingredients, B or C-movie director (me), bad lighting (my food pics never turn out good). Thus, soft food porn. ;)

I want to try and share with those of you in and out of Italy some basic things I’ve made lately that you might want to replicate at home!

Orecchiette con Brocoletti e Salsiccia – Pasta w/ Broccoli and Sausage

For those of you in the Bay Area, you can find oriecchiette (“little ears” pasta popular in Puglia, where Sante’s from) at A.G. Ferrari’s or maybe Andronico’s. It’s not cheap, but for a nice meal you can spend the $5. If you can’t find them, a pasta made with egg is best.

You should try and find sausage that has a casing, or membrane-like enclosure. I used a pork mix with finocchio or fennel seeds in them. Most of the sausage in the States doesn’t have this casing anymore, so you might have to look around or settle for some Italian sausage.

I used 2 small heads of broccoli, about 1 lb or so. You can chop them but not too small, including the more tender part of the stalk. I started off by steaming the broccoli (a little water, cover the pan) and a sliced clove of garlic quickly in a little olive oil.

After they started to become tender, I added the sausage. I had stripped the casing off and therefore was able to break up the sausage rather easily. If your sausage is pre-cooked, you want to wait until the broccoli is really cooked before you add it (and chop it finely). I had a glass of chicken broth (or water + bouillon) nearby and I added it when the liquid was running low. I cooked until the broccoli was breaking apart easily.

At the same time, boiling a pot of water (salted), cook the pasta. Drain, then add to the mixture in the frying pan. Mix briefly, only a minute or two, until the sauce is distributed well. Serve!

Baked Brie – Italian style

This is so ridiculously easy, it’s like taking candy away from a baby.

In Italy, buy the Sfoglia dough, or in the States, Phyllo dough would work, too. Use a small round or large wedge of brie. Place in the middle of the dough.

I spread pre-prepared pesto on top of the cheese, and then added some pine nuts I had briefly toasted in another pan. You can also cut the cheese horizontally and insert the ingredients here as well as on top.

Fold the dough over the cheese, making sure no ends are open. You may have some extra dough, you can cut it off. Put it in a pre-heated oven (my oven has no temp listed) I would say 350 or 375 in the States, and HOT in Italy. ;)

This took about 20-25 minutes to cook, but it may take much less in your oven – check the color of the dough, which will brown nicely. You should cut into it only right before you’re ready to serve because the cheese will start ‘escaping’ immediately.