Air Fryer Green Beans

 

Oh, how I love my air fryer. It turns out the most awesome French fries and tater tots. And don't pass up the opportunity to fire it up for all kinds of veggies, too. I used Yumna Jawad's green bean recipe last week and they were air fried to perfection. Nice and crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

The trick here is to make sure the green beans are in a single layer on the bottom of your air fryer. My air fryer is a 5.6 quart size...and I found that 10 ounces of green beans were the perfect amount for a single layer. So if you need a larger serving, cook your beans in batches. And eat them right away...they are at peak crispness the second they come out of the air fryer. 

INGREDIENTS
10-ounces fresh green beans, ends trimmed

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Lemon wedges, for serving

 

DIRECTIONS

1. Place green beans in a zip lock bag. Add olive oil. Seal bag and toss to coat.
2. Preheat air fryer at 380º for 2 minutes.
3. Empty beans from bag into a single layer in your air fryer. Cook for 10 minutes at 380º, shaking the pan half way through.
4. Remove beans from pan and plate them. Season with salt and pepper and top with lemon wedges for your guests to squeeze. Serve.

Pasta alla Norcina

 

Next time you are in Umbria, Italy...take a little detour to the town of Norcia. You will want to do this because this dish was created there and you will be able to get it served up to you in just about every ristorante in town. If a trip to Italy is not on the docket, you can create this masterpiece in your own kitchen in less than 30 minutes.

It's a wonderful marriage of mild Italian sausage, black truffle shavings and a creamy white wine sauce finished with the crowning glory of Pecorino Romano cheese. Okay...there is just one problem here. Black truffle shavings will require you to sell a kidney, so I have developed a workaround for those of you not wishing to go under the knife.

Say hello to my little black truffle cheat. It's Sabatino Tartufi Truffle Zest. It's 2-ounces of black truffle flavored greatness that will only set you back $13.99 at Amazon....whereas 2-ounces of real black truffle would set you back at least a Benjamin. So you will get the great black truffle flavor used in Pasta alla Norcina without the cost. Now if you were using the real thing, you would also get the texture of the black truffle...so this recipe substitutes cremini mushrooms to duplicate the mouth feel. Made this last Wednesday for Becky and I and it was awesome! Since the recipe serves 4, we had enough left over for Thursday night's dinner, too.

INGREDIENTS

For the Sausage and Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

16 ounces bulk mild Italian sausage

6 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 medium shallot, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves removed and finely chopped

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

For the Pasta and Finishing

1 pound dried, short-tubed pasta such as penne or rigatoni

2 teaspoons truffle zest

1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese, for passing

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, high-sided sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the sausage, breaking it up into small crumbles as it cooks. Stir often and cook until no more pink remains. 
2. Add the next 7 ingredients to the sausage and cook until the mushrooms and shallot have softened, about 4 to 5 minutes more.
3. Add the wine and bring to a simmer. Cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, until the wine is reduced by about half, about 1 minute. 
4. Add cream and bring to a simmer until thickened slightly, about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the cheese and stir to combine. Cover pan.
5. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook al dente. When the pasta is ready, reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and then drain pasta.
6.  Return the pan of sauce to medium-high heat. Add the pasta to sauce and toss to coat. Add the reserved pasta water, a little at a time as needed to get the sauce to your desired consistency. Add truffle zest and stir to blend. Taste and adjust sauce with salt and pepper as needed. Then serve, passing the Pecorino Romano cheese for your guests to add as desired.

Wine pairing: Brunello di Montalcino

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

 

Becky and I love Chicken Parmesan. I typically make it about three times a month. I buy a huge bag of frozen chicken breasts from Costco so that I always have the main ingredient on hand. All of the other ingredients are regulars in my pantry and fridge, so it makes for the perfect meal if I don't feel like going to the store.

I was perusing the Interwebs last week and stumbled upon a recipe for Chicken Parmesan made with chicken meatballs. I wish I would have thought of this sooner...but making meatballs with lots of spices is a great way to add some zip to the dish. I could use all of the ingredients I normally employ to give a real kick to my pork and beef meatballs....but with chicken!

So I tried this recipe out last week and I'm here to tell you....it was fabulous! Here you have some very healthy, lean chicken meatballs bathed in a very awesome marinara sauce as well as mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

If you want to make your own marinara sauce, I would use San Marzano tomatoes as the base. But if you want to cut your labor time in half, I would recommend you buy Rao's marinara sauce when you are at your grocery store (also available at Costco). Rao's absolutely crushes the competition in taste tests because it is made with all natural ingredients and no added sugar!

INGREDIENTS

For the Meatballs

1 pound ground chicken

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2  teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2  teaspoon garlic powder

1/2  teaspoon onion powder

1/2  teaspoon salt

1/2  teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

For the Baking Dish

2 cups of marinara sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (or more if you are a cheese lover)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In a large bowl, combine all meatball ingredients. With your hands, mix everything together well, but don't overwork the mixture. Form the meatballs to be roughly golf ball size and set them in an 8-inch square baking dish. Place baking dish in oven and cook for 40 minutes.
3. While meatballs are baking, heat marinara sauce in a large pan over medium heat.
4. When meatballs are done cooking, remove baking dish from oven and drain any liquid from the baking dish. Set oven to broil (rack should be near the top).
5. Pour the hot marinara sauce over the meatballs, then add mozzarella cheese, sufficient to cover all of the marinara sauce. Top mozzarella with the parmesan cheese.
6. Place baking dish back in oven and cook for approximately 5 minutes, until cheese is bubbling and golden brown. Then serve.

Wine pairing: Chianti