I do have to say that dinner at our house generally does not suck.
Both of us have fun in the kitchen and – being the retired sloths that we are – actually have the time to really have fun in the kitchen.
That is not to say that every meal we have is a photo-worthy blog post. You can tell by the time between postings that many meals are merely meals. But when they’re good, they’re good!
Last night’s dinner is a perfect case in point.
A while back I bought some thin-sliced top round at the grocery store, thinking it would be great for Victor to make braciole – an Italian stuffed and rolled beef braised in a tomato sauce.
If you do a quick internet search, you will find a bazillion and one recipes – all slightly different but following a common theme. Like a basic pasta sauce, there’s no actual right-or-wrong way to make it – it’s personal preference.
The basic is thin-sliced beef, and filled with cheese, herbs, and breadcrumbs, rolled, tied, browned in oil and then braised in tomato sauce. That simple. The additions can be as simple as prosciutto or as lavish as pine nuts and raisins, hard cooked eggs and chunks of cheese. it’s totally up to the cook.
Victor chose prosciutto, bread crumbs, mozzarella cheese, olive oil and herbs for this version.
The other star on this double-star plate was homemade pasta!
We bought an attachment for the mixer soon after we moved west, because we lacked a good place to attach our old hand-crank pasta roller in our new, much smaller kitchen. One of the very serious considerations when I wanted to replace our dying Kitchen Aid was the ability to still use our numerous attachments. The new mixer accepts them all.
But I digress…
Victor has a couple of go-to pasta recipes, but I think his favorite is from Alon Shaya – the son of the woman who was a caretaker for his mom when she lived with us. It is easy to make and always comes out great!
Pasta Dough
adapted from Alon Shaya
- 1 1/4 cup 00 flour
- 1/2 cup semolina
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tsp olive oil
Mix flours. Make a well and add the eggs, egg yolks, and oil. Slowly mix in the flour and knead until smooth. Let rest 30 minutes before rolling to desired shape.
It is tender, silky-smooth, and light – not the belly bomb that so many pastas can be. And topped with his pasta sauce that had been the braise for the braciole was perfection!
We had some of the bread I made the day before in a basket on the table – and neither one of us touched it. We were oohing and ahhing too much to bother with it! And knowing how much I love bread says a lot!
Dinner definitely did not suck.