Gluten-free lasagna

 

 A medical diagnosis of celiac disease is no barrier to making lasagna in my experience. These gluten-free pasta sheets by Chickapea, made from chickpeas and lentils, fit the bill perfectly.

Make your tomato sauce from whole peeled tomatoes and fresh carrot, celery, onion and extra virgin olive oil, and your ragu from ground meat without fillers.

Grate your parmigiano reggiano cheese from wedges, and use fresh mozzarella if that's in your recipe. 

Substitute a seasoned whole milk ricotta sauce with nutmeg for the béchamel normally made with wheat flour and butter, and you are good to go. I save salted pasta water left over from making other shapes of Chickapea pasta for other dinners to dilute the ricotta.

Your gluten-free family member will thank you for the effort. 

Trump tariffs make even middling Italian-sourced extra virgin olive oil out of reach for average Americans

 I ran out of this olive oil a few weeks ago. I had shepherded my three liter can over the winter to make it last. I paid $40 for it, now it's $55.

Fuhgeddaboutit.

 

 

I made this salmon with spinach creme sauce for Christmas Eve and it was a big hit

 Also very easy to make. I will do it again.

I made substitutions because I didn't have the exact ingredients: my own tomato sauce for the cherry tomatoes which made the outcome redder, half & half instead of heavy cream, and since the tomato sauce was made with basil I omitted the chopped parsley.

The recipe is very adaptable.

 

Olive oil prices expected to nearly halve in coming months as drought ends in southern Europe

The Deoleo brands

 

Extra virgin olive oil prices in Spain’s Andalusia stood at 6 euros ($6.33) per kilogram as of Nov. 6, according to Expana, an agricultural and food-focused market intelligence firm. That’s down around 19% on a monthly basis and nearly 35% off a record high of 9.2 euros in January.

Spain accounts for more than 40% of the world’s olive oil production, making it a global reference for prices. ...

Deoleo said olive oil prices should fall to around 5 euros per liter, a steep drop from highs of 9 to 10 euros, which had become the norm in Spanish supermarkets this year. ...

Kyle Holland, senior market reporter for oilseeds and oils at Expana, said most industry players were “very, very bearish” regarding the price outlook.

“The production numbers are key. For Spain, we’re looking at probably 1.3 million metric tons, compared to last season’s 670,000 to 680,000 metric tons, depending on who you speak to, so not far from double basically.”

More.

Olive oil prices have surged, so I switched again

I paid $40 for 3 liters from De Cecco. 

That's $13.33 a liter.

The origin codes for the oil in this particular can are ES (Spain) and GR (Greece).

The oil is good to April 2025.

I'm content with it.

My current olive oil comes from Puglia

 Harvested, pressed, and bottled in Italy.

My current bottle, almost empty, is best by Sep 12, 2025.

 

Happiness is fast and easy roasted red pepper sauce

Fast and Easy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

1 jar Mezzetta Roasted Red Bell Peppers, drained

1 ripe avocado

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1-2 T fresh lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, pressed

0.5 t salt

0.5 t black pepper

0.5 t crushed red pepper flakes

Add everything to a food processor and blend until smooth. Makes about 2.5 cups. Freeze half and use the rest on cooked black beans, pasta, vegetables, or sandwiches.

Happiness is Not Chick'n Bouillon Cubes

I use this stuff to rev-up my chicken stock/soup, which I do make from the carcass of the leftover chicken. It also works great mixed with extra virgin olive oil made into a paste for rubbing the inside and outside of the roasting chicken before placing in the oven.

Happiness is Mediterranean Tomato Sauce from Rosso and Lukins' THE NEW BASICS

Mediterranean Tomato Sauce, adapted

1/2 c extra virgin olive oil

1 2oz can anchovies in oil

4 cloves garlic

2 28oz cans San Marzano tomatoes

3 T capers in salt, rinsed

1/2 c pitted Kalamata olives

ground black pepper

1) Combine EVOO, anchovies and all their oil, and garlic in a ceramic-coated dutch oven, mash gently and saute over medium heat a couple of minutes. To speed this up I just throw it all in the food processor first to chop it up, then add it to the dutch oven.

2) Add the tomatoes and crush, then add the capers and olives, bring up to heat, then simmer on low covered about an hour, stirring frequently.

3) Before using or storing, grind over some black pepper to taste.

4) Rosso and Lukins use only 35oz of tomatoes but triple the olives, 1.5 c.

We use this on Rosso and Lukins' Mediterranean Hero sandwich from the same cookbook, which is, in my opinion, absolutely fabulous, but is sort of a cheater's Pan Bagnat. We stir together canned atlantic salmon, chopped tomato, and red onion, and place this mixture in a hollowed-out side of an oiled french baguette cut lengthwise (stale is best). You top that with this sauce, then top that with sliced hard-boiled eggs and the other half of the baguette. Then we toast it in the oven at 350F for 15 minutes or so. Before serving we add romaine lettuce, and even avocado. The thing is glorious warm, room temperature, or cold. But this might be more glorious:

Pet Peeve: When the really nice looking white-skinned chicken thighs have just as much skin hidden underneath them by the butcher

Happiness is make-ahead Italian lentil loaf

Italian lentil loaf                                                        

                                                       

2 cups lentils

1 bay leaf

1 cup fine bulgur wheat

1 egg

1 T tomato paste

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

1T extra virgin olive oil

4 oz rapini, blanched and finely chopped

1 clove garlic, pressed

1/4 t black pepper

1/2 t ground fennel seed

1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes, ground

1 t salt

1 t Hungarian paprika

2/3 cup grated Romano cheese

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

Ketchup or tomato sauce

1) Prepare the lentils by washing them. Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a saucepan, add the lentils and bay leaf, return to a boil and cover. Simmer on lowest setting for about 45 minutes. When tender, drain and reserve both the lentils and the cooking liquid to cool. Discard the bay leaf.

2) Prepare the bulgur. Boil two cups of liquid made from the reserved lentil broth in a saucepan, add the bulgur, stir, cover and turn off the heat and let bulgur cook 15 minutes. Then uncover to cool.

3) Whisk an egg in a mixing bowl. Whisk in the tomato paste, onion, olive oil, rapini, garlic, black pepper, fennel, red pepper, salt and paprika.

4) Using a large silicone spatula, stir in the cheese, bulgur and lentils, finishing with the bread crumbs.

5) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

6) Grease two glass bread pans with Crisco.

7) Press the lentil mixture into the bread pans and bake about 40 minutes. The loaves are done when a toothpick comes out clean.

8) At this point paint the loaves with some tomato sauce or ketchup and bake 5 minutes more.

9) Let the loaves cool on the stove top until cool to the touch. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight for serving the next day with more ketchup or tomato sauce and a side salad. The loaves slice evenly and cleanly and servings can be easily reheated in the microwave on a plate and kept warm in the oven as you prepare the salad.

Serves at least six.     

Happiness is "quick" rustic loaves in the Chicago Metallic French Bread Pan

2 t yeast

1.5 c lukewarm water

dash sugar

2 t salt, generously rounded

.25 c rye flour
.25 c white whole wheat flour

3 c unbleached all purpose flour

splash olive oil

1) whisk water yeast and sugar in mixer bowl and let stand five minutes

2) add flour a little at a time starting with the rye and whole wheat and mix, using a silicone spatula to incorporate if needed, and add the salt when you still have one cup left to go

3) when you have one half cup left to go, add a generous splash of olive oil 

4) use spatula to turn out onto a floured board and knead-in the flour (dough will be sticky to start, so flour your hands also)

5) divide into two equal parts and roll out lengths to fit your pan

6) place in pan covered loosely with a clean damp dish towel to rise in a warm spot, about one hour

7) bake at 450 degrees F for 25 minutes on the middle level
8) allow to cool thoroughly on a rack before slicing  

Happiness is a Chicago Metallic perforated French bread pan

Chicago Metallic Commercial II Non-Stick Perforated French Bread Pan, currently $14.97 at Amazon.

I've had this one for four years. I seem to use it whenever the weather turns cold for the first time in the fall, and then over the winter get out of the habit again. The bread it makes goes wonderfully with soup for lunch, or with some EVOO all by itself at breakfast. I often make a heartier version of French bread with a half a cup of rye flour added in to the bread flour.

Happiness is Lefas Kalamata olive oil from Greece

The 3-liter can is only $19.99 at Russo's in Grand Rapids.

Happiness is lycopene from tomatoes in pizza, linked to lower incidence of cancer

From the story here:

Research last year showed tomatoes can slow the growth of stomach cancer, and the World Health Organization recommended in May that other countries follow a diet high in olive oil, fruits and vegetables. ... This is not the first time pizza has been said to help prevent cancer. Research in 2003 discovered people who eat pizza at least twice a week are 59 per cent less likely to develop cancer of the oesophagus, have a 34 per cent lower risk of throat cancer and are 26 per cent less likely to get bowel cancer. Dr Silvano Gallus, of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmaceutical Research in Milan, said at the time: 'We knew that the tomatoes used in the sauce are considered to be a food that prevents certain tumours. 'However, we did not expect that pizza as a whole offered such high prevention against cancer.' 

Happiness is Cento extra virgin olive oil in the 3-liter can

Filippo Berio raised its prices enough recently for me to try Cento.

And you know what? Cento is better!

Happiness is blanched and sautéed Broccoli Rabe with tonight's pasta and sausage

Otherwise called rapini, the whole business is eaten so there is no waste, just the ends of the stems which are cut off before washing and soaking in cold water to freshen and then blanching in salted boiling water. About 4-5 minutes does the trick, in about three batches.

Plunge the cooked rapini into an ice bath in the sink to stop the cooking, then drain on a rack and use immediately, or refrigerate overnight for the meal the next day. They are sauteed in olive oil with garlic and hot red pepper flakes, but with a hot Italian sausage and fresh garlic already in the pasta, I like the greens just in oil. They are loaded with good things. The nutrient balance score is 93 out of 100 and the protein quality score is 98 out of 100 at nutrition data.self.com .

I paid $2.69 for the bunch at Meijer.

Happiness is low-sodium barley lentil soup for lunch

Barley growing in Provence to the right, lavender to the left

3 cups turkey stock from Thanksgiving, made from the leftover bones

6 cups water

3/4 cup green lentils, rinsed

3/4 cup hulled barley, rinsed

2 bay leaves

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 small carrots, chopped

1 large garlic clove, chopped

extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon French sea salt

2 teaspoons dried rosemary leaves

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

 

1/ bring the stock and water to a boil and add the lentils, barley and bay leaves

2/ simmer at a low boil one hour, covered

3/ chop the onion, carrots and garlic and saute in the olive oil until softened, set aside

4/ to a spice grinder add sea salt, black pepper, rosemary and thyme leaves and pulse until powdery

5/ when the barley and lentils are soft, add the sautéed vegetables and the spices to the soup and stir occasionally while simmering, twenty minutes more

makes about eight cups, approximately 310 mg sodium per cup (lentils 15 mg, barley 15 mg, onion 10 mg, carrots 105 mg, salt 2325 milligrams = 2470 mg/8 = 308.75 mg/cup)

Happiness is low-sodium split pea soup with smoked pork hock

1.5 lb smoked pork hock, soaked in water (about 115 mg sodium/oz = 2760 mg sodium)

1 lb split peas, rinsed (250 mg natural sodium)

3 carrots, peeled and diced (about 126 mg natural sodium)

1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 10 mg natural sodium)

12 cups water

1/ bring 12 cups fresh water to a boil, add split peas and simmer partly covered about one hour

2/ meanwhile soak the smoked pork hock in fresh cold water while the peas simmer

3/ dice the carrots and sauté in extra virgin olive oil

4/ chop the onion and add to the carrots and sauté until soft-ish

5/ remove the pork hock from the soak and add it to the soup

6/ add the vegetables to the soup

7/ cover and simmer another hour or two

8/ remove the hock and when cool enough remove the fleshy meat, chop it finely and return it to the soup, heat through and serve

Makes about 12 cups (you can make this soup thicker by subtracting a cup or two of water at the start, but you will increase the sodium concentration accordingly)

Sodium per cup 262 mg (3146 mg/12)

Happiness is sodium-adjustable barley, beef and mushroom soup for lunch

6 cups water

.75 cups hulled barley, rinsed

1.25 cups leftover, strained and defatted beef stock made from a chuck roast

8 oz. leftover shredded beef chuck (braised in onions, rosemary, peppercorns and 1 T balsamic vinegar all day)

.5 cup sauteed baby bella mushrooms, sauteed in extra virgin olive oil and chopped

1/ boil the water, add the barley, and simmer covered until puffed up, about 1 hour

2/ add stock, beef and mushrooms and heat through on simmer, about 15 minutes

makes about 8.5 cups

contains about 32 mg natural sodium per cup

add 1/8 teaspoon salt per cup served or to taste (an additional 291 mg)