Verona – A City of Love, Wine, and Pasta e Fagioli

Going to second base with Juliet… Sorry Romeo, you snooze, you lose.

Whenever one of your friends travels abroad, you get that response of, “Wow, it was absolutely breath taking!” but you never quite understand what they meant because you’ve haven’t seen it before. Now, I traveled to Italy with my family once before when I was 13 so I couldn’t really comprehend the beauty and history that surrounded me. Finally, I’m returning to the motherland of great food with my school on a 12 day food tour and all I could say on the flight over was, “Where’da food at?”

Verona was our second stop in Italy and I never knew that it was the birthplace for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I guess the “No Fear” Shakespeare guidebooks weren’t thick enough to leave an impression on my skull back in high school.  Nonetheless, our tour guide took us through Juliet’s fabricated estate (it was very touristy) and I got the chance to win some luck in love by touching Juliet’s bosom on her statue. What guy could pass that up?

After a long day of touring the city my friends and I started to get hungry and quickly gathered to search for a place to eat. We wanted to find a place that was authentic yet different… and on the water because we knew it would be beautiful but I’ll get to that later. We ended up finding this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant called “Trattoria Vecio Mulin” that had only a few tables situated outside in the back. The tables only had seating for two and we were a party of six; so we knew what we had to do… DATE NIGHT! We sacrificed our group dinner to dine at this establishment, and for good reason, because when we stepped out near the water all we saw was this…

I mean look at that. That’s not something you dine across from every day. It looked like I was in a museum looking at a painting… BUT IT WAS REAL. Coincidentally, it was nearing sunset so the light was hitting all the right places. I was starting to understand what my study abroad friends have been talking about.

So we dine. We paired up and went on our dates. The menu had various dishes that were foreign to me… even as an Italian. It had Verona’s traditional pastas and even horse and donkey meat. As adventurous as I can be at times, I don’t think I wanted to eat Little Miss Pony today, thank you. However I did have a taste because Jimmy ended up getting the horse (kind of tasted like veal). Our professors informed us that Pasta e Fagioli was considered a traditional dish for the city of Verona… and it was on the menu so I knew I had to get it. However they had a variation that incorporated shrimps, mussels, and clams into the soup to add a little depth. I gotta say, it was the best Pasta e Fagioli I’ve ever had… sorry mom. Not too thick, yet perfectly filling. Freshly made pasta with hearty beans and paired with some warm, crispy bread. To top it off, Ally and I shared a local bottle of red wine that washed it all down so perfectly.

I was actually somewhat jealous of Ally’s dish. She got what I was going to get, but me being all chivalry decided she could get that and I got the Pasta e Fagioli instead. Not that I’m complaining but I gotta say her dish won.

Check it.

She was generous enough to give me a few bites and I couldn’t believe how fresh it tasted. The pasta tasted like it was made the day of. Absolutely delicious.

Hours have passed and we are still sitting there, enjoying the wine and soaking in that beautiful view. I’ll never forget it. We were all just so awestruck to have the pleasure to share this experience with each other. It kind of puts into perspective what’s really important: Friends, Love, and Food. I think people underestimate how powerful food can play into our daily lives. It can even be the highlight of our day. Just some food for thought.

After this experience I finally understood what all of my friends were talking about. While I was sitting there, looking at that view, dining with some of my good friends, all I could think was, “Wow, I’m so lucky to have this opportunity.”

Bouna Notte,

Dom

Red Wine Risotto with Green Peas

 Monday, March 25, was one of the most miserable days, weather wise, that I have personally experienced at SJU. The snow didn't know whether it wanted to be rain or sleet and the sky decided to make everyone depressed by being 50 shades of awful. Plus, not 5 days ago did Rita's hand me a free water ice but all of Philadelphia had been thrown back to January 1st. Great.  Anyways, due to the atrocious weather I found myself in a peculiar mood. I had a policy presentation that morning which made me stressed, it was monday which made me depressed and to cap it all off, the weather made me drained of any emotion. In short, the horrible Monday that was March 25th inspired me to cook because cooking makes me calm and so very happy.

The very first recipe that came to my head was my mom's red wine risotto with peas. Its creamy and savory and absolutely satisfying. My brothers and I actually call it "Barney rice" because the green peas in contrast to the purple arborio rice make it look like mom got mad at Barney and did away with him in our dinner. But trust me, no Barney bits here! (I'm just not normal, I know). Back to the food. This risotto takes about 50 minutes to make but it's worth it if you have some time to spare. I specifically wanted to make something that would take me a while prepare because I needed a solid amount of time just to be by myself and do what I love. 

Since it's obvious I was in need of a pick me up, this is definitely a comfort food. Not only is this dish very colorful but the flavors create a unique blend that is savory, buttery, and rich. the peas add a nice freshness that surprisingly compliments the merlot. With it I made my walnut crusted chicken which I will post the recipe for soon! 

I hope you all enjoy this recipe and if you make it, it brings you the same joy when you cook it and when you eat it. Bon Appetit! 

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups canned low-salt chicken broth

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup finely chopped onion

2 garlic, cloves, minced

1 cup arborio rice, or medium-grain white rice

1/2 cup dry red wine

1/3 cup frozen peas, defrosted, optional

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus additional for garnish

Salt and black pepper

Bring the broth to a simmer over medium- high heat. Cover the broth and keep it warm over very low heat.

Melt the butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat.

Add onion and saute until translucent, about 8 minutes.

Mince garlic.

Stir in the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.

Stir in the rice and cook for about 2 minutes and stir until rice is toasted.

Add the wine and stir until it is absorbed, about 1 minute.

Add 3/4 cup of hot broth at a time until there is no broth left. Simmer over low heat until liquid is absorbed, then add more. 

When all the broth has been absorbed, add peas and parsley, stir. I used dry parsley, so only a few dashes.

Next,  add the 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.

                                                

 Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle additional cheese over and serve.

Enjoy! Now Shut Up and Eat.

Love,

Laura 

Salmon in Papillote

Happy New Year, Shut Up and Eat followers! I hope 2013 is being kind to you all! Before I introduce our latest dish, I wanted to use this post to talk about New Year's weight loss resolutions. I know it seems like a pretty generic topic for this time of year, but I am hoping to put a bit of a positive spin on it.

When I think of New Year's resolutions I have visions of people being so gung-ho about their goals for about two weeks to a month and then they get off track, give up and eventually say "well maybe next year." I'm here to say that I think we need a new view and set of expectations for these finicky New Year's resolutions.

Whenever someone starts a New Year's weight loss resolution or any weight loss program in general, they think it's best to go cold turkey and immediately eliminate all of those unhealthy habits they have built up over the years. While this strategy may logically make the most sense, when it's applied to reality it ultimately ends up failing. When we choose to go cold turkey, we can only stick to the plan for a few days at most. And then when we fail we blame our selves and become even more convinced our goals our impossible to reach. STOP THE MADNESS. It's not you! It's the strategy you're using!

If you really want to accomplish these goals you have to cut yourself some slack! Organize steps that you will take to reach the ultimate goal. Instead of saying "I want to loose 30 lbs. by May" say "I want to loose 30 lbs. by May by having small goals of loosing 5 lbs. every month. By breaking the ultimate goal down into little goals you are automatically taking a lot of stress out of obtaining your ultimate goal.

Now, how exactly should you accomplish the small goals without getting off track? Make SMALL changes. For example, if you don't eat breakfast everyday, start. If you don't exercise that often or if all, don't hit the gym everyday! It will turn into another hated chore. Start off going twice a week and increase the number of visits as you go along! If you don't have the healthiest diet, try changing one meal at a time. Make dinner your healthy meal and soon enough you'll find it much easier to start changing your other meals. The point is to pick small changes and slowly but surely ease your self into a new life style.

Oh! And that's another thing! Don't see your New Year's resolution as a diet! The word "diet" alone is accompanied with negative connotations and negatively is not welcomed here. See your resolution as a lifestyle change! You want to be a better you and you're doing this for yourself! No one starts working on a goal hoping to have all of their work undone when they reach it. By viewing your goal as a lifestyle change you are automatically less likely to fall back into those old habits. And hey, if you mess up, so what?! You're human! It's ok! You're going to mess up! Everyone does. Just know that all hope is not lost. You're goal isn't ruined. Just take a minute to remind yourself of why you started and why your goal is important to you.

So as a way to help you keep those healthy New Year's resolutions, I thought a healthy dinner would be a great way to get you started and going! Salmon in Papillote is a very easy, clean, basic recipe that has all the nutritional density you need to make a happy, healthier you. Without further ado, enjoy this new recipe! And have an amazing 2013!

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup sliced zucchini

1 cup sliced onion

Freshly cracked pepper

4 Salmon fillets (5-6 oz. ea.)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1-2 cloves of garlic

Gather, clean and prepare your vegetables for chopping. You can choose any vegetables you want with the exception of green, leafy ones because they won't add flavor properly. I decided to add some asparagus.

Next, heat a non stick pan to medium heat and then coat the pan with the olive oil.

Chop your vegetables to medium thickness.

Cut four 12 inch pieces of parchment paper or foil.

Juice one lemon.

Next, sauté carrots for about 2 minutes before adding the other vegetables because they take the longest to cook.

Season carrots with salt and pepper. Minced garlic and add to the pan.

Add other vegetables, season and toss them to coat with the oil. Sauté until soft but not cooked entirely.

While you wait, play with your puppy :)

Next, prepare your salmon steaks and preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Your vegetables should look like this when they are ready.

Scoop a portion of the vegetables onto all of the foil sheets.

On top of the vegetables place one salmon steak and season it with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle lemon juice on the salmon steaks.

                                               

Then, wrap the foil around the food but not tightly. You want there to be a way for steam to escape.

Place foil wraps on cookie sheet.

Place cookie sheet into the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes.

Ta-da!

                                              

Serve with rice and enjoy your healthy, New Year's dinner!

Love,

Laura