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Tag: fontina cheese

Turkey Burgers with Pancetta and Caramelized Onions

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • ½ cup pancetta, chopped
  • 1 small yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves

Heat a frying pan with the olive oil. Add the pancetta and sauté on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the onion and garlic. Saute for another 5 minutes on medium heat. Let cool and keep aside.

  • 1 pound ground turkey meat
  • 1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
  • 1/3 cup parsley, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 4 slices fontina cheese

Transfer the ground turkey, rosemary, parsley, salt and the pancetta mixture to a medium bowl. Mix well and form into 4 patties. Cook on grill or a frying pan. Melt cheese on top.

Serve in ciabatta rolls with tomato slices.

Jalapeño Fontina Cheese Burgers

These are the most delicious burgers ever! Perfect for the upcoming long weekend…

  • 1 pound ground beef

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

  • 3 large jalapenos, sliced in half and deseeded
  • 4 to 5 garlic cloves, with skin on, wrapped in aluminum foil
  • Drizzle of olive oil
  • Salt
  • ½ cup cilantro

Add the jalapenos cut side down onto a lined cookie sheet. Add the wrapped garlic cloves. Drizzle the olive oil over the peppers and sprinkle some salt. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes until the peppers are soft. Take out of oven and let cool. Scrape the skin off the peppers. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins and add to small processor. Add the peppers and cilantro. Process till smooth. Add to the ground meat. Add some salt and mix well. Form into four patties and let sit for an hour or so.

  • 4 slices Fontina cheese
  • 4 ciabatta rolls

Jalapeno Mayonnaise

  • ¼ cup non-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapenos

Add the yogurt, mayonnaise, garlic powder, salt and jalapenos in a small bowl. Mix well and serve with burgers and rolls.

Assemble the cooked burgers with melted fontina onto the toasted buns with the jalapeno mayonnaise.

Baked Chicken Sausage and Spinach Pasta

Sausage and Spinach Pasta I love one pot meals. They are so simple and quick to make- I try to come up with them as much as possible. What is better than a one pot meal, you ask? Well, it would be the one for which I have all the ingredients at home- no need to go to the grocery store. I realize most people hate going to the market- I am not sure why.. I love going to the grocery store. I am at a food store, literally everyday. I love coming up with what to make in the morning and then I go shopping for all the ingredients. I sometimes get embarrassed about being seen at the store by the employees. They all recognize me and sometimes ask me (in a very nice way) why I am here every day??

Anyway, as I was saying, this dish was very easy to make. I always have chicken sausage and chopped spinach in the freezer. I also make a batch of tomato sauce every week or so- it is great to have around, especially when packing lunch for my daughter. I put all the ingredients together and baked it in the oven. It was a quick, delicious, one pot meal…
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Buenos Aires- Day Two.. Dinner At Casa Felix

Day two started with a trip to the museum. It is walking distance to our hotel and best of all, it was free. It was not too big- just the right size for me.. it had a great selection of art. We spent about an hour in there and then saw a double decker bus that toured around the city. We got on to see the entire city- it was huge!!
We got off at La Boca which is a fairly poor area. It’s cobblestoned streets are lined with tango dancers and live music. Lots of cafes and restaurants are there as well. We had lunch and walked around a bit. We returned exhausted to our room to rest up for the main event of the day- dinner at Casa Felix, which is a closed door restaurant here in Buenos Aires. One has to call or email to make reservations about a month in advance. I got in touch with the chef a year ago and he asked me to get in touch with them closer to our trip. I was super excited about this meal as it is all farm to table. I also love the idea of going to someone’s home and eating a delicious meal.
We got there at 9.30- yup.. that was a little late, especially since we took our 9 year old daughter was with us. Anyway, we walked into a open style home with a courtyard near the entrance. Tables were set up there and other people were in a little garden off the kitchen. They war all drinking a lemon verbena drink (verbena was growing in the garden) and munching on fontina cheese wrapped in chayote leaves (chayote was growing in the garden as well!)
Cooking the Chayote wrapped fontina...
After a while we sat down to a delicious Bolivian peanut soup. Cumin and chili infused oil introduced a nice kick to it. I ordered a flight of wine to complement the dinner. All the wines were delicious.
Casa Felix- Peanut Soup

The next course was some sautéed baby potatoes that tasted like beets. It was served with a homemade ketchup with a side of fresh picked greens, herbs and flowers. Casa Felix- Beet Potatoes

Next was a watermelon and mint granita with a hint of tandoori masala. It was a great palette cleanser.
The main course was a chimichurri encrusted sea bream with sautéed green beans, pine mushroom and garlic confit. It was delicious. Casa Felix- Sea bream
We ended the meal with plums and caramelized figs in a jasmine and honey soup with cinnamon ice cream.
Casa Felix- Dessert
All in all, it was an amazing experience. My only regret- it was quite late when we finished and my daughter was exhausted.. but we couldn’t have made it without her.. but I guess it was okay as we all slept in the next morning…

Mushroom and Fontina Pasta Bake with Chicken Cutlets

Pasta Bake with Chicken Cutlets 2 This is my take on macaroni and cheese with chicken nuggets. I love coming up with healthier versions of these classic dishes that kids love so much. The problem is that most of the things our kids love to eat are not so healthy. I am always thinking of ways to come up with things they will eat happily which are healthy.

So in this version the chicken cutlets are breaded and sauteed in a non-stick pan. They are delicious with parmesan cheese in the breading. I could just eat the cutlets on their own. They are crispy and healthy and most importantly the kids love them.

I decided to pair the cutlets with pasta I made with sauteed mushrooms, a bit of homemade tomato sauce and fontina cheese. I love fontina cheese since it melts so well and has a great nutty flavor. It is mild enough for the kids to enjoy.

I gave this dinner to my daughter and her friend. They loved it! There was silence for a few minutes as they ate- now when does that happen when you get two girls are together?? It was fabulous!

My husband and I ate it with a nice green salad and red wine. It was delicious evening…

  • 10 ounces cremini mushroom, sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ pound elbow pasta, cooked al dente
  • ½ cup grated fontina
  • 1 cup marinara sauce

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil on high heat. Add the mushroom and sauté for 4-5 minutes on high heat, stirring constantly. Add the garlic and salt and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Turn the heat off and keep aside.
In an ovenproof pan, add the cooked pasta, sautéed mushrooms, grated fontina cheese and the marinara sauce. Mix well and bake in a 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve with the chicken cutlets on top.

  • 1 pound chicken breast, pieces pounded thin
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour mixed with one teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 cup bread crumbs mixed with one teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 2 eggs, beaten mixed with one teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

In 3 large wide bowls add each of the three ingredients to set up a breading station.
Take a piece of thin chicken cutlet and dip into the flour bowl patting the excess flour off. Dip into the egg mixture and then cover with the breadcrumbs. Place the breaded chicken into a large non-stick frying pan with heated olive oil. Bread all the chicken pieces and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side on medium heat till the chicken is cooked (time may vary depending on the thickness of the pieces).
Serve on top of the baked pasta.

Pasta Bake with Chicken Cutlets 1

Easy Meatball Lasagna

Meatball Lasagna3 There is a constant argument in my house about serving red sauce with any pasta meal. While I like red sauce, I like variety more- so I end up experimenting with different kinds of sauces or sometimes no sauce at all. My husband is not too happy when the pasta is served without a sauce.

This dish is a compromise since it has the red and white sauce. I had the leftover meatballs from the previous day and I felt quite adventurous. I sliced the meatballs and sauteed them in a little oil and kept them aside. I wanted to make a lasagna with the left over marinara sauce in the fridge. I didn’t have any ricotta cheese- I decided to substitute a bechamel sauce instead. To give the sauce a little body and texture, I sauteed some onions before adding the all purpose flour and creamy fontina cheese. Fontina cheese is a must ingredient in my fridge. It is mild and nutty and melts really well on anything.

I layered the no-cook lasagna noodles (another ingredient found in my pantry) with the two sauces and the meatballs. I topped it all with some shredded cheese and stuck it in the oven. I was very excited to taste this experiment. I was hoping my daughter and husband will feel the same excitement when they taste it- and they did. They both loved it! I was extremely happy and very proud of myself.

It is easy to come up with ideas for left overs if your pantry and fridge are well-stocked. With lasagnas, sky is the limit- you can add as much or as little- as long as the ingredients are good and fresh.

I served it with a salad and a Merlot.
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Penne with Shrimp and Asparagus in a Creamy Garlic Sauce

Asparagus and Shrimp Pasta 2 As I have mentioned before on this blog, everyone in my family loves shrimp. To save money, I buy frozen shrimp from either Trader Joes or Whole Foods– I do try to make sure it’s American shrimp. It makes me feel better knowing the shrimp haven’t travelled very far to get to my table. I always have at least one bag of frozen shrimp at hand- very helpful on a busy day.

I had a lovely bunch of asparagus in the fridge and I thought of pairing it with the shrimp. I was flipping through the ten thousand food magazines at home and came up with anchovies. Now, before you start gagging- anchovies are delicious when used in sauces and dressings. Most people who think they don’t like the fishy taste don’t realize that the ‘fishiness’ goes away as soon as the anchovies dissolve or melt and what comes through is this a very complex nutty, salty flavor equal to nothing else out there.

When I am thinking of a recipe, I visualize it in my mind- step by step. In this case, I was planning on making a white wine and cheese sauce with an anchovy base. I was planning on adding the asparagus and then the shrimp and finally the penne.

I cooked the sauce- quite easy, didn’t take very long at all. I then added the trimmed asparagus to the pan. I looked at the frying pan and realized the asparagus, shrimp and penne were not going to look very appealing all mixed in together. So I quickly took the asparagus out and sauteed it separately in a pan and decided to add it on top instead. That worked out a lot better- it looked fabulous. We eat with our eyes first and the thought of serving an unappetizing meal was not very exciting.

The meal tasted great and it looked good as well- very important. I served the pasta with garlic bread and some red wine- good stuff all around!

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