Tag Archives: italian

Leftover Prime Rib Porcini Ragu

Beef, Main, Make Ahead, Recipes, ,

Leftover prime rib porcini ragu

What to do with the leftover prime rib?  Why not make the absolute best ragu?  This was absolutely delicious and a great way to not waste such expensive leftovers!  Enjoy!

Save Print
Leftover Prime Rib Porcini Ragu
Author: 
Cuisine: Italian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 pound leftover prime rib, ground in a food processor or chopped fine
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 oz dried porcini mushrooms
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped fine
  • 1 small carrot, peeled, chopped fine
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
  • ½ cup red wine
  • 28 oz beef broth
  • 28 oz tomato puree or your favorite tomato sauce
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
Instructions
  1. Boil the cup of water in microwave and then add the porcini mushrooms. Let sit for 15 minutes.
  2. Strain the porcinis and chop fine, reserving the porcini liquid.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes.
  4. Add the carrots and the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.
  5. Add the prime rib, stir well and then add the red wine. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  6. Add the beef broth, reserved porcini liquid, tomatoes, bay leaves and fennel seed. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper as needed.
  7. Simmer for 90 minutes.
  8. This is great served with fresh pappardelle or fettuccuine pasta.
  9. Can be frozen up to 6 months.

 

Leftover Prime Rib Bolognese

Beef, Main, Recipes, , , , ,

left-over-prime-rib-bolognese

I made a 13 pound, 5 rib prime rib on Christmas for 9 people.  Needless to say, there was quite a bit leftover.  What to do with it?  There wasn’t enough of the lean rare pieces in the middle to make a family meal, I had been thinking maybe stroganoff.  I knew I would make beef stock and French onion soup with the bones but what about all the meat?

Then, I thought, if I saved the lean pieces and ground it up, isn’t that just the most amazing ground beef?  Then the idea of leftover prime rib Bolognese was born.  It was totally delicious, I had all the ingredients on hand and bonus, there was enough leftover to freeze for Lasagna Bolognese.

Save Print
Leftover Prime Rib Bolognese
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8
 
Ingredients
  • 2 Pounds leftover prime rib, beef roast (ground in the food processor) or 2 pounds ground beef
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 Oz of pancetta or bacon chopped
  • 1 Large onion, chopped fine
  • 2 Carrots, peeled and chopped fine (I use the food processor)
  • 3 Celery sticks, chopped fine
  • 3 Cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp crushed red pepper (optional)
  • 6 Oz can tomato paste
  • 1 Cup white wine
  • 1 Cup milk
Instructions
  1. Heat a dutch oven on high and add the olive oil. Add the pancetta to the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes until it starts to crisp and renders some fat.
  2. Add the onions to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the celery, carrots and garlic to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  4. Add the tomato paste, thyme and crushed red pepper if using. Stir well for 1 minute until the tomato paste becomes fragrant. Add the wine to the pan and simmer for 3 minutes until it starts to reduce.
  5. Add the milk to the pan and stir well.
  6. Add the ground prime rib to the pan, season with salt and pepper and stir well. Place the lid almost all on the top of the pan (crack it a little or it will overflow) and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for one hour.
  7. Adjust the seasoning if needed.
  8. Serve with your favorite pasta. I prefer fresh pappardele or fettuccine.
  9. Leftovers can be stored in the freezer for 6 months.

 

Italian Panini

Recipes, Sandwiches, , ,

Italian PaniniSo, my latest sandwich-kick idea is an Italian Panini.  A Panini is an italian sandwich, that is cooked and pressed, so that the outside of the bread is a little crunchy and the inside is warm and gooey from melted cheese.  Is there any way that you could put melted cheese inside foccacia rolls, melt it and it wasn’t going to taste good?  I think not.

There’s a lot of different things you could do here.  Add some chicken.  Fontina instead of provolone.  Mix pesto into a little mayo and have pesto mayo.  Add soppresetta.  Add hot peppers.  You get the drill. Continue reading Italian Panini →

Chicken Marsala

Chicken, Main, Recipes, , ,

chicken marsala

Chicken Marsala, a classic dish but too often at a restaurant the sauce leaves me feeling ripped off.  Bland.  Sorry but there is nothing worse than a wasted restaurant meal.  You know what I am talking about.  When  you order the wrong thing and it stinks which in most cases your companion ordered the right thing………you know what I am talking about!

Anyway, I digress.  When  I saw this recipe I knew the sauce would be great as it has prosciutto in it.  Salty, smoky prosciutto.  The only change I made was to add shallots.  I cannot seem to make a recipe without some type of onion in it, sorry.  I will say the amount of sauce this made was better for 2, than 4, so next time I will probably double the sauce.  If you do double, just remember it will take longer to reduce.  I served mine on a tiny bit of spaghetti.  Delish! Continue reading Chicken Marsala →

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken, Main, Pasta, Recipes, , ,

Chicken Cacciatore

I love just about anything braised in my dutch oven.  Especially on a cold winter night, it’s just so comforting.  I’ve always loved Chicken Cacciatore.  Braising the chicken makes it super moist, fall off the bone.  Most recipes call for peppers but I don’t use that in this one, I prefer chicken cacciatore without the peppers.  This recipe is very forgiving.  For the chicken you can use a cut up whole chicken, or just split breast, or just thighs, whatever you have on hand or whatever your favorite.  You could  make this with boneless chicken but the bones add a richness to the sauce that will be missing.

If I am serving this on pasta, I like to shred the chicken (I have spoiled my family!) but you can serve the chicken by itself with pasta on the side (or just skip the pasta if it’s January and you are trying to lose a few pounds!  boo) Continue reading Chicken Cacciatore →

Pasta Pesto with Chicken & Grape Tomatoes

Chicken, Main, Pasta, Recipes, , , ,

Pasta Pesto with Chicken & Grape Tomatoes

I love pesto!  We have an herb garden in the summer and I use the basil all summer long for caprese salads but when the summer is over, I pick all the basil and make huge batches of pesto.  It stores great in the freezer.  I like to freeze it in an ice tray and then put the pesto cubes in a zip lock bag in the freezer.  Then you can easily grab as much pesto as you need.  Continue reading Pasta Pesto with Chicken & Grape Tomatoes →

Lighter Chicken Parmesan

Chicken, Healthy, Main, Recipes, , , , ,

Lighter Chicken Parmesan

My family LOVES chicken parmesan and I do too but the traditional recipe with flour, egg and bread crumbs sautéed in lots of oil is a special occasion dish.  I wondered if I could lighten it up so we could enjoy it more often.  I told Bill I was making a “healthy” chicken parmesan and he made a face.  He wasn’t sure that would taste so great.  Continue reading Lighter Chicken Parmesan →