Archive for August 1st, 2009

Again, inspired by Mark Bittman, I made my own baked ziti recipe, this one deliciously rich with the use of dried porcini mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and a three-cheese blend with tomato sauce.

The picture looks this way because I was having too much fun after midnight in Photoshop, attempting to make this photo look old. It’s a baked casserole, after all.

Create the sauce: I started with EVOO and a bunch of chopped fresh shiitake mushrooms. Add garlic. Sauté, then add a little red wine. Add the now soften porcini (you poured boiling water over them, didn’t you?), and then finally added chopped tomatoes. Muir-Glen for me, fire-roasted.

I also added one Niman Ranch frozen italian sausage link I had. I sliced it into thin disks.

After the sauce tightens up, add most of the porcini water (minus the sandy bits), and reduce more. In total, I probably cooked the sauce for about 25-35 minutes. Take it off the heat.

Boil your salted water, and cook the ziti or penne. (I prefer the penne rigate by DeCecco.) Add them to the sauce, stir, and then stir in about half of your cheese - as much as you like. I used a three-cheese blend from Whole Foods of Asiago, Parmesan, and Fontina. After the stuff all gets put into a baking dish, cover with more cheese.

So this ought to be a flavorful little dish… three cheeses. Garlic, mushrooms, and italian sausage. Hmmm.. yes, it turned out quite well.

As usual, I served a salad. And you get the benefit of full color this time around.

A very small bed of red-leaf lettuce formed the bottom, undressed. The main stars were the chopped Hanover tomato and avocado. Honey, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, a pinot grigio vinegar, and EVOO made up the dressing. The tomato and avocado got dressed, and then salted and peppered. The lettuce was just the backdrop.

On the side, two generous croutons that had been topped with a basil pesto before being toasted for 7 minutes in the oven.

Messygood.