Pranziamo!!

The title of this post means "Let's eat!" and I thought this was fitting (as it generally always is) because this past Saturday afternoon, by the time I got back from doing tons of grocery shopping and staring at nothing but food, food, food, my stomach was grumbling for a little something tasty. I knew exactly what I wanted to make! Just like all of last weekend, Saturday was a dreary rainy day - cold and wet. I wanted something warm, hearty, and filling BUT at the same time I didn't want to eat something unhealthy considering the night before had been spent at Erin's dessert party where I indulged in many delicious things which I probably shouldn't have. Anyway, so I thought of the word "hearty" and pictured a stew of sorts and with my new pantry full of foods, put together a filling, vegetable filled italian concoction.

October 17, 2009

Stufato con Spinaci, Formaagio e Ceci

(Stew with Spinach, Cheese, and Chickpeas)

Ingredients:

- Extra Virgin Olive Oil

- Garlic

- White onion

- Diced fresh tomato

- Green hot pepper

- Canned whole peeled tomatoes

- 1 can chickpeas

- 1/2 can T.J.'s white meat chicken, shredded

- Capers

- Sabor a Jamon

- Salt

- Basil leaves

- Onion powder

- Sprinkle cinnamon

- Fresh leaf spinach

- Shredded mozzarella

I started out simmering my garlic, onion, freshed dice tomato, and hot pepper together in olive oil in my large frying pan. I find that this is usually a good base for most any dish you plan to sautee.

After this had been simmering for about 10 minutes, I tossed in the chickpeas and the chicken and let it all cook together and let the chickpeas get a little soft. Next I put in some of the canned peeled tomatoes and juice. The tomato serves as the base of this meal so adjust the amount of tomato you want to how much you plan to eat. At this point, I added all my seasoning: plenty of salt, a little "pig", basil leaves, onion powder, capers & caper juice, and lastly a sprinkle of cinnamon to give a hint of sweetness. I didn't know if it would really make any difference but Greg immediately noticed it, and liked it!

I think adding a level of sweetness to typically "salty" recipes is something I've really only just started to play around with. As Greg and I cook more and more, we expand our spice library which always helps in trying new things! This past summer we made a few new additions to this list of spices: cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and curry powder - all of which we now use on a regular basis! It's always exciting when you use a new spice for the first time. At that point the spice changes from just being an exotic name you see on ingredient lists to being a specific flavor that you can recognize. When trying to replicate dishes from our favorite restaurants we'll alter the spices a little each time we make it and then eventually find a combination that works the best - which is always exciting!

Anyway, at this point I have left my stew to simmer for 10-15 minutes letting it get piping hot. It was served immediately, topped with a fairly thick bed of fresh leaf spinach and then topped with a nice big pile o' cheese! The fun part about this dish is that when you get it, you can mix the cheese and spinach in yourself (or choose to not mix it in) and then the spinach slowly cooks and wilts down and the cheese becomes a fantastic gooey mess on top. Greg chose to mix his in completely whereas I picked away at my cheesy, spinach-y top layer. Either way, we both agreed this was a great solution to a quick, healthy, filling winter lunch. Yippee, another success!!

M