Tag: vegetables
Roasted Broccoli and Broiled Robiola
Do you miss that beloved childhood dish of mushy steamed broccoli and neon yellow cheese squeezed out from a plastic bottle? Hopefully not. But this updated take on “broccoli and cheese” can satisfy any cravings for the classic combo.
Similar to roasting cauliflower, roasting broccoli turns the cruciferous vegetable into a crispy, tender, and earthy bite.
Robiola is a creamy mild Italian cheese, made with cow and sheep’s milk (oftentimes labeled “due latte” or “two milks”.) It has subtle mushroom notes and a soft rind and is a great cheese to warm slightly and dunk crusty bread into.
Roasted Broccoli and Broiled Robiola
Ingredients
- 2 heads broccoli
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cracked pepper
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 piece Robiola Bosina
- Crunchy salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove the florets from the broccoli head and slice into bite-sized pieces. Slice the top part of the stem into ¼-inch thick slices. Spread both sections of broccoli out on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle over enough olive oil to lightly coat. Sprinkle on salt, pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes, flipping pieces halfway through. Once the edges get golden brown, remove from the oven and set aside.
- While the broccoli is roasting, gently slice the robiola into ¼-inch slices, using a serrated knife.
- In a smaller oven-safe serving dish (or on the same rimmed baking sheet,) lay the robiola slices over the broccoli. Place back in the oven and set to “broil.” Broil until the cheese starts to bubble and melt over the broccoli, about 3 minutes. It doesn’t take too long, so don’t walk away.
- Serve directly from the broiled dish (or transfer to a serving dish,) sprinkle with crunchy salt and serve.
Maple Butter Roasted Radishes
It doesn’t get much simpler than radishes and butter. But frankly, you don’t need much more. Sharp and peppery radishes get roasted until tender and juicy, then get tossed with melted maple butter. These make a great side dish and work with any variety of radish.
Maple Butter Roasted Radishes
- 1 bunch radishes
- Olive oil
- 3 tablespoons Ploughgate Creamery Maple Butter
- Crunchy salt
- Chopped assorted herbs, parsley, tarragon, chives
Preheat oven to 400°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Half or quarter larger radishes so all are roughly the same size. Place on baking sheet, lightly drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper until coated. Place cut side down and bake for 30 – 40 minutes until radishes are brown and soft.
In a medium skillet, melt the maple butter on medium heat. Add the roasted radishes and toss until all are coated. Transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle with crunchy salt and chopped herbs. Can be served warm or room temperature.
‘Nduja and Butternut Squash Ravioli with Maple Brown Butter and Crispy Speck
Butternut squash ravioli with brown butter and sage seems to appear on almost every fall menu, and for good reason – it’s delicious. This ubiquitous fall classic gets an Aperitivo twist by incorporating ‘nduja, maple butter and speck.
We’ve been using every excuse to eat all the Ploughgate Creamery cultured butter as we can. It is rich and tangy, and the maple version adds a subtle sweetness and smokiness to the sauce for this pasta.
The pasta element in this dish takes the (genius) technique from pasta artist Linda Miller Nicholson, who makes beautiful pasta by blending colorful ingredients with the eggs before making the dough. The ‘nduja adds a beautiful orange hue to the dough and is also incorporated in the filling. If making pasta dough from scratch isn’t your thing, don’t worry! Just make the ‘nduja-spiked squash filling and use store-bought wonton wrappers as the ravioli dough.
If you’ve ever purchased a butternut squash, you know that two are rarely the same size. You may need to adjust the filling ingredients based on the size of your squash. And if you’ve ever made ravioli before, you know that you almost always have leftover filling. But don’t toss out that tasty mixture. Thin it out with stock and make soup, stir into mac and cheese or spread on corn tortillas with black beans and cheese for autumn enchiladas.
‘Nduja and Butternut Squash Ravioli with Maple Brown Butter and Crispy Speck
Serves 4
PASTA DOUGH
- 3 tablespoons ‘nduja
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons “00” flour
- Cornmeal or semolina flour, for dusting
FILLING
- 1 small butternut squash, sliced in half, lengthwise
- 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- ½ cup hand labeled ricotta, drained
- 2 – 3 tablespoons ‘nduja, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper
ASSEMBLY
- ¼ cup walnuts
- 6 large slices La Querica Speck
- 6 tablespoons Ploughgate Maple Butter
- 1 cup starchy pasta water
- ¼ cup parsley, chopped
- Salt, pepper and more Parm to season/garnish
Pasta Dough Instructions
Blend the ‘nduja, eggs and hot water in a blender until smooth, then pour into a bowl of a stand mixer. Add the flour and mix with a paddle attachment until dough comes together. Remove from bowl onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is elastic and silky, about 3 minutes. Set in a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. (If using at later date, dough will keep wrapped in the fridge for up to 3 days.)
Divide the ball of dough into 4 pieces, keeping the pieces covered when not in use. Using a pasta roller or attachment on it’s thickest setting, pass one of the pieces of dough through the machine. Fold the dough sheet into thirds (like folding a letter for an envelope) and pass through the machine again. Repeat 2-3 more times.
Adjust the machine to the next thinnest setting and pass dough sheet through. Continue to reduce the thickness and pass the dough through until the desired thickness is achieved (setting 4 or 5 on a KitchenAid stand mixer pasta attachment)
Keep pasta sheets under a damp kitchen towel on a sheet pan dusted with cornmeal or semolina flour until ready to use. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.
If you don’t yet have a KitchenAid Stand Mixer, check out this great article from our friends at BetterFood.co to help find the perfect standmixer for your kitchen.
Filling Instructions
Preheat oven to 350℉. Drizzle squash halves with salt, pepper and olive oil and lay cut-side down on a baking sheet. Wrap the garlic cloves in aluminum foil and place on the same sheet pan. Roast for 45 – 65 minutes, until squash is tender and garlic cloves are soft and sweet.
Scoop the squash into a bowl and mash until smooth. Remove the garlic cloves from their paper and mix with the squash. Add the rest of the filling ingredients and stir until smooth. Set aside until ready to fill pasta.
Ravioli Assembly
Lay a sheet of pasta dough on a clean, flat surface. Scoop or pipe about 1 tablespoon of squash filling in a row about 1 ½ inch apart. Lightly brush water around each of the dots of the filling, and place another sheet of pasta on top. Gently press the top sheet of dough around each of the dots of filling to seal each ravioli. Cut into squares using a fluted pasta cutter or a knife. Set on a sheet pan lined with cornmeal or semolina flour and repeat with remaining dough and filling. Let pasta rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes (up to 2 hours) before boiling.
*If using wonton wrappers, place a wonton wrapper on a clean, flat surface. Brush edges lightly with water. Place about 1 tablespoon of the squash mixture in the middle of the wonton. Cover with a second wonton wrapper and press gently with fingers to seal edges. Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers and squash mixture until all have been used.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once at a rolling boil, add a handful of salt to the water. Gently drop the ravioli into the water and let boil 3 – 4 minutes, then remove from pot. Boil in batches if pot seems crowded. Keep 1 cup of pasta water to use for the sauce.
Sauce Instructions
Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add walnuts and toast until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Pour out onto a cutting board and coarsely chop. Wipe out pan and return to heat.
Add slices of speck and cook on each side until bright red and crispy, about 3 minutes. Place on a paper towel-lined plate until ready to use.
Return pan to stove and lower heat. Add the butter and let melt and become foamy. Cook until butter is amber in color and smells sweet and nutty. Turn off the heat and add the 1 cup of pasta water. Stir until the sauce starts to thicken.
Add the cooked raviolis to the sauté pan and toss gently to coat the pasta in the sauce, then season with salt and pepper.
Place a few raviolis onto each plate, spooning some brown butter over the top. Tear the speck into pieces and scatter onto the plates. Top with the chopped walnuts, parsley and grated parm.
Baked Belgian Endive with Epoisses and Golden Raisins
There is nothing, repeat, NOTHING wrong with eating a wheel of Epoisses, room temp, with a baguette. That sounds great. You can even watch this video of someone doing exactly that.
But if you are looking to try something a little different with the creamy and stinky French classic, this is for you.
The bitterness of the endive is balanced by the fattiness of the cheese and the sweetness of the golden raisins and the honey drizzle at the end. It makes a hearty side dish on a cold night. And you only need half the wheel for the recipe, leaving you the other half to eat with that baguette.
Baked Belgian Endive with Epoisses and Golden Raisins
BREADCRUMB TOPPING
- 4 ounces Italian bread (about ⅓ of a field&fire loaf)
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons EVOO
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon La Quercia Pesto Bianco lardo spread* /
ENDIVE
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 Belgian endives, sliced in half, lengthwise
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup sweet Riesling
- ½ cup golden raisins – about .15 pounds
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- ½ wheel Epoisses or 4 ounces a washed-rind cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 teaspoons honey
*If you are needing to keep this dish vegetarian, omit the Pesto Bianco and add ½ teaspoon of salt to the breadcrumb mixture instead.
Preheat the oven to 350℉.
Slice the outer crust off the bread and tear into small pieces. Combine the bread, parsley, olive oil, crushed red pepper and black pepper in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Toss together with a wooden spoon and cook until brown and toasty, around 8 minutes. Halfway through, add the Pesto Bianco. Transfer to a plate and let cool. Wipe out the skillet and return to medium heat.
Add the butter to the skillet. Once foamy, add the endive, cut-side down. Let the underside develop some color, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set on a cutting board. Sprinkle 1 tsp of the salt on the cut-side of the endive, getting in between the leaves.
Add the minced garlic to the remaining butter and let cook for 1 minute. Be careful not to burn the garlic, adding a splash of olive oil if the pan seems too dry. Add the wine and raisins to the skillet and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining teaspoon of salt and return the endive to the skillet, cut side up.
Place the skillet in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set to broil. Slice the Epoisses into 4 pieces. Top each endive half with a piece of the cheese and the bread crumb topping. Set back in the oven and broil until melty and golden, about 2 minutes.
Let cool slightly and top with chopped parsley and a light drizzle of honey. Serve with sauce and raisins spooned on top.
Salad Combo – Smokey Blue, Balsamic Onion and Apple
There are countless combinations that can be created with ingredients from the shelves of Aperitivo, and over the years, certain combinations have become favorites. Staff members have their go-to combo they recommend to customers, and customers have come back and shared amazing and delicious pairings they’ve put together at home.
Whether it’s for a salad, flatbread, pizza or nachos, certain ingredients just taste great together.
This salad combines smokey blue cheese, tangy cipollini onions, crisp and sweet apples and crunchy pumpkin seeds. It’s great for the fall, when Michigan apples are at their peak. You don’t really need a recipe for this salad, just use your best judgment. Making it for one person? Use a small piece of cheese and only part of the apple. Making it for a crowd? Use a bigger piece of cheese and a big apple. You get the picture.
Rogue Smokey Blue, Balsamic Cipollini Onion, Apple and Pumpkin Seed Salad
- Small tub Balsamic Cipollini onions, quartered
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Mixed greens
- 1 piece Rogue Smokey Blue, crumbled by hand
- 1 Honeycrisp apple, cored and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- A handful, toasted pumpkin seeds
- Salt and pepper
In a bowl, pour in a nice splash of the liquid from the onions. Drizzle in the same amount of olive oil, season with salt and pepper and whisk until combined.
Add the mixed greens to the bowl and toss until they are lightly coated in the dressing. Transfer to serving dish.
Top dressed greens with crumbled pieces of cheese, chopped apples and toasted pumpkin seeds. Serve and enjoy.
Grilled Zucchini with Halloumi and Mama Lil’s Peppers
Taking advantage of a bountiful summer farmer’s market harvest, these grilled zucchinis make a great vegetarian main course or a beautiful accompaniment with grilled fish.
Coming from Cyprus, Halloumi is a semi-firm sheep and goat’s milk cheese. (Find it near the fresh goat cheese in the Aperitivo case!) It is a salty and tangy cheese with a high melting point, meaning it will hold its shape when exposed to high heat. So it is the perfect cheese to grill!
There are a few staple ingredients in the Aperitivo “kitchen” and Mama Lil’s spicy pickled peppers are one of those. Grown in Washington’s Yakima Valley, these Hungarian goathorn peppers are made in a similar style to Italy’s Calabrian pickled peppers. They are sweet, spicy and totally addicting. Once the jar is empty, don’t toss that flavorful oil! Use it in vinaigrettes, toss it with fresh pasta or pour it in a bowl and dip some crusty bread in it.
Grilled Zucchini with Halloumi and Mama Lil’s Peppers
Serves 4 – Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit
- 1 medium shallot or small red onion – thinly sliced
- ½ cup sherry vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ coarsely chopped Mama Lil’s peppers
- 2 pounds zucchini – halved lengthwise (or hotdog-style)
- 1 package Halloumi
- 3 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup torn basil
- Kosher salt and pepper
- Crunchy salt – Maldon, Jacobson, etc.
Heat a grill for medium heat. Mix sliced shallot or onion with sherry vinegar in a large bowl. Let sit for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in the sugar, a pinch of salt and chopped Mama Lil’s. Set aside.
Toss halved zucchinis with 3 Tbsp vegetable oil on a large rimmed baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and place on the grill. Grill on each side, until tender and charred, about 15 minutes total. Remove from the grill and let cool slightly. Once cool, tear or slice into bite-sized pieces and place in the bowl with shallots and Mama Lil’s.
Toss Halloumi in same olive oil from the zucchini and place on the grill. Grill a few minutes on each side, until crispy grill marks form, about 8 minutes total. Remove from grill, slice into bite-sized pieces and add to zucchini mixture.
Gently stir everything together, add additional ¼ cup olive oil and torn basil leaves. Transfer mixture with a slotted spoon onto large platter. Top with additional basil leaves and crunchy salt.
Need a wine pairing? Try this amazing Malagouzia from Greece.
Creamy Panzanella Salad
Fresh and bright, crunchy and packing a salty bite, Panzanella Salad is the perfect summer dish. Panzanella is a traditional Tuscan salad made up of tomatoes and stale bread. The Aperitivo version includes a creamy goat cheese for an added level of richness. Have a few tomatoes that aren’t going to win any beauty contests? Use them up here! Those tend to be the most flavorful!
CHEVOO is a brand of marinated goat cheese made by Aussies transplants in California. Any of their magical flavor combinations would work in this salad, but the Smoked Salt and Rosemary is our favorite!
This salad gets multiple of layers of saltiness from the anchovies, the marinated goat cheese, and the extra virgin olive oil from the CHEVOO jar. So be sure to taste before adding additional salt.
Creamy Panzanella Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound assorted heirloom tomatoes – different colors will make the salad pop
- 1 medium-sized cucumber
- 1 medium pepper – any color
- 1 loaf bread – Our favorite is the Levain from field&fire
- Assorted fresh herbs – thyme, basil, chives
- 1 jar CHEVOO Smoked Salt and Rosemary marinated goat cheese – cheese and oil separated
- 2 fillets Ortiz Anchovies
- 1 tbsp Beaufor Whole Grain Mustard
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- Salt and pepper – to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the bread – Cut the loaf into bite-sized cubes, discarding some of the harder pieces of the outer crust. Toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil from the CHEVOO jar and toast in a 350℉ oven for about 10 minutes, until dry and golden. Place in a large mixing bowl.
- Prepare the vegetables – Peel the cucumber, slice in half and remove the seeds with a spoon. Chop into bite-sized pieces. Cut the tomatoes into chunks, discarding seeds if desired. Seed and chop the pepper into bite-sized pieces. Mix into the bowl with the bread and add the chopped fresh herbs, saving a few to garnish at the end.
- Mix the vinaigrette – Break up the anchovy fillets with your fingers and add to a small bowl. Whisk in the mustard, vinegar and 3 tablespoons of the oil from the CHEVOO jar until smooth. Add a few cracks of black pepper to taste. (You can also puree this in a blender to better break up the anchovies.)
- Pour the vinaigrette over the tomato and bread mixture, making sure to get the bread fully saturated. Break up the pieces of cheese with your fingers and drop onto the bowl and gently fold in. The cheese will melt into the salad, adding a creamy and salty bite. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste.
- Let sit for a few minutes to let all the flavors meld together, then serve.