Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book (32 page)

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Cut the top third off the head of garlic, exposing all of the cloves. Tear off a large square of aluminum foil and place the garlic in the center. Drizzle about ½ tablespoon EVOO over the head, wrap it in the foil, and place it in the oven. Roast until golden in color and tender, about 45 minutes.

Once the garlic has been in the oven for 10 minutes, place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil.

While the water comes to a boil, place the eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, and onions on a rimmed baking sheet. Coat the vegetables with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO and season with the rosemary, thyme, and salt and pepper. Place the tomatoes on a separate rimmed baking sheet and dress with ½ tablespoon EVOO and salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables and tomatoes for 25 to 30 minutes.

About 10 minutes before the vegetables come out of the oven, salt the boiling water, add the penne, and cook to al dente. Heads up: before draining the pasta reserve ¾ to 1 cup of starchy cooking liquid, a ladleful.

Unwrap the roasted garlic and let it cool enough to handle, 5 minutes. Squeeze out all of the roasted cloves into a large pasta bowl. Add the tomatoes and mash together. Add the starchy pasta cooking liquid to the bowl and stir to combine into a sauce. Add the roasted veggies, pasta, parsley, and grated Parmigiano to the bowl and toss to combine. Adjust the seasoning and serve with extra cheese at the table.

Beet Risotto

This rich, ruby-hued supper is a true jewel of a meal. It is simple and satisfying yet deceptively deep in taste and texture. If you've never thought of rice as sexy before, make this for someone you love—you'll get your groove on for dessert!

SERVES 4

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Place the beets on a large piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with EVOO, about 1 tablespoon. Season with salt and pepper and fold the foil into a pouch. Roast the beets inside the pouch until tender, about 45 minutes. Allow the beets to cool for 10 minutes, then gently rub the skins off with paper towels. Transfer the beets to a food processor and puree them until smooth. Reserve the puree until the risotto is finished cooking.

Combine 2 cups of water and the stock in a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low to keep the stock warm.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the EVOO and the butter in a medium high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until the onions begin to get tender, about 5 minutes. Add the arborio rice and toast it, stirring constantly for 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the wine and cook until the liquid has been absorbed, 1 minute.

Add a few ladles of the warm stock to the rice and stir. Cook until the liquids have been absorbed, then add another ladle of stock. Continue cooking and adding the stock, stirring vigorously each time you add the stock to form a creamy risotto. When the rice is almost done, season with salt and pepper and stir in the beet puree. Cook a couple minutes longer, until the rice is creamy and tender but still slightly al dente. It should take about 18 minutes in total. Stir in the Parmigiano and taste to adjust the seasonings.

Dress the beet greens with the lemon juice, salt and pepper, and the remaining tablespoon of EVOO.

To serve, top shallow bowls of risotto with a few of the dressed greens. Top with one of the garnishes, if you like.

Olive Oyl was too skinny. If you ask me, Popeye should have given her some of that spinach with cheese and extra EVOO on top. This would have been a great date meal for the two of them. It works for John and me—but anything involving good food always does. Eat your greens and stay off the corncob pipes.
Toot! Toot!

SERVES 4

Bring 2 cups of the stock and 2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan; reduce the heat to low to keep warm.

Add as much spinach as possible to a food processor with a ladle of the stock that's heating up. Pulse the spinach to a puree and add more until all the spinach fits into the processor bowl. Season the spinach with a little nutmeg, salt, and pepper and add the pine nuts and cheese to the bowl as well; pulse to combine, then stream in another ladle of liquid and the ¼ cup EVOO. Turn off the processor and adjust the seasonings. Reserve.

Place a large skillet with high sides over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of the butter and 1 tablespoon of the EVOO. Add the onions and chopped or grated garlic, and sauté until the onions begin to get tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the arborio rice and toast it in the pan, 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook until all the liquid is absorbed, about 1 minute. Add a few ladles of stock to the pan and stir to combine; cook until all of the liquid is absorbed, then stir in more stock. The risotto will take about 18 minutes total to cook to al dente. Each time you add liquid, stir vigorously. This makes your risotto creamy and starchy.

While the risotto is cooking, heat the remaining tablespoon of EVOO and tablespoon of butter in another skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cracked garlic clove to the hot pan and cook until tender and dark, 10 to 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and deglaze the pan with the balsamic vinegar, scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon. Cook for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat.

Stir the spinach mixture into the risotto in the last 2 minutes of cooking time and taste to adjust the seasoning. Top bowlfuls of risotto with beefy mushrooms and serve.

This menu came out of word play. I was playing around with the term “vegetarian” and my head went down the random tangent of a menu that was meat-free and full of Asian flair and flavors: vegetari-Asian. So silly, I know, but nevertheless it is a tasty meal.

SERVES 4