Christmas Pasta

Looking for something to serve on Christmas day? Here's a flavorful sauce with pancetta, Italian sausage, veal, pork and beef!

Cook Time: 20 min
Level: Intermediate
Yield: 4 servings


Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
1/4 pound pancetta, thick cut, chopped into small bits (Italian cured pork, ask at deli counter)
1/2 pound bulk hot Italian sausage
1 pound combined ground beef, pork and veal
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup good quality dry red wine
1 cup prepared beef stock, paper container or canned
2 (32-ounce) cans chunky style crushed tomatoes
A handful chopped flat leaf parsley leaves
1/4 teaspoon (a couple of pinches) allspice or cinnamon
Coarse salt and black pepper
2 pounds penne rigate, cooked to al dente
Grated Pecorino Romano, as an accompaniment
Fresh, crusty bread, for mopping


Directions

Heat a deep pot over medium high heat. Add oil, garlic, bay, and pancetta bits and brown for 1 minute. Add meats and brown and crumble them for 5 minutes.


Chop carrot, celery, and onions near the stove and add to the pot as you work. Cook vegetables with meat 5 minutes and add wine. Cook for 1 minute; add stock and tomatoes to the pot.


Stir in parsley, allspice, or cinnamon and season sauce with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, and cook 10 to 15 minutes minimum before serving. Reheated sauce only improves.


Toss pasta (cook off only as much pasta as you need at the time: half a pound for every 3 people) with a couple of ladles of sauce to coat, then top bowl with extra sauce. Top pasta with lots of cheese and pass bread at the table.


From: foodnetwork.com

Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Sausage Balls, Tomato-Basil Sauce, Cacio e Pepe Potatoes and Roast Broccolini

This meal can be made with less than 10 items - hello Express Lane!

Level: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4 servings


Ingredients

9-item grocery list:
2 pounds baby Yukon gold potatoes
1 tub bocconcini, bite size fresh mozzarella in water
2 pounds Italian hot or sweet fresh chicken, turkey or pork sausage,
bulk if available
1 1/2 pounds broccolini
1 head garlic
1 (28-ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken stock or milk
1 tub grated Pecorino Romano
1 tub good quality fresh pesto from the refrigerated cases of the market

On hand:
Extra-virgin olive oil, for liberal drizzling, 4 to 5 tablespoons total
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Quarter baby potatoes and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil then
salt water and cook until tender, about 12 minutes.

While potatoes come up to a boil, place a nonstick baking sheet
alongside a mixing bowl. Remove 12 pieces of bite sized mozzarella
from the water and set on work surface. Remove sausages from casings,
if bulk not available, and place in a bowl. Combine the meat into a
single mound then score it into 4 sections. Each section will yield 3
large sausage meatballs. To form each ball, take a handful of meat and
wrap it around a piece of mozzarella. Roll 12 balls. Wash up. Coat
balls with a drizzle of olive oil. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until cooked
through and evenly browned.

While the balls are cooking, trim ends of clean broccolini and scatter
evenly over a baking sheet. Grate or chop 2 to 3 cloves of garlic and
drizzle the broccolini and garlic with olive oil, then season with
salt and pepper and roast 12 to 15 minutes to crisp the broccolini
tops.

While the broccolini is roasting, add tomatoes to a small pot or
skillet, mash with a potato masher and season with salt and pepper.
Heat over medium heat then simmer to reduce about 8 to 10 minutes.

When the potatoes are tender, drain and return to the hot pot to dry
them out a little. Mash the potatoes with 1/2 cup stock or milk, 1/2
to 2/3 cup grated Romano cheese, a few generous handfuls, lots of
black pepper and a little salt.

Turn the heat off the tomatoes and stir in 1/2 cup prepared pesto.

Serve three cheese-stuffed sausage balls with tomato-basil sauce on
top or underneath, cacio e pepe smashed potatoes and broccolini
alongside.

From: foodnetwork.com