Pre-Christmas Dinner Part 2:)

Ok, on to part 2: the main dish.

This is a dish my mom often makes and always is a crowd-pleaser. You cannot go wrong with this dish and it's great when entertaining: oven baked. And best of all: Red and green coloring for Christmas!

Pollo alla Fiorentina

Ingredients:

6 chicken breasts
breadcrumbs
2 cups marinara sauce
1/2 cup red wine
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup of round rice
1/4 cup black olives
2 packs of frozen spinach
1 pack of ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
butter
oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven at 180C.

Coat the chicken breasts with seasoned breadcrumbs (I usually put oregano, basil, parsley, garlic powder and black pepper).

In a large pan, heat some oil. When ready, add the chicken.

Remove from the pan and set aside.

Combine the marinara sauce (tomato sauce with garlic, same seasoning as the breadcrumbs, garlic and a bit of sugar cooked during 15 minutes) and red wine.

Remove part of the mixture (about 1 cup) and set aside.

Add the broth, rice and sliced olives.

Bring to a boil and transfer to the oven dish.

Arrange chicken on top.

Cover with foil and cook for about 25 minutes in the oven.

In the meantime. squeeze the excess water from the spinach and combine the parmesan, ricotta, eggs and spinach together.

Mix well.

Remove chicken from the oven and place the spinach mixture on the sides of the dish.

Add the remaining marinara wine combination on top. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top and bake for another 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve.

Doesn't it make for an awesome presentation :)

Enjoy :)

Pre-Christmas Dinner Part 1:)

Since our good friends come from Galicia, they usually go back home to spend Christmas with family and friends. This year, as we stayed in Madrid for the Holidays, we decided to have our Christmas Dinner and gift exchange with them 2 weeks before Christmas. I wanted to make something special and I think it was :) They all loved it!

On the menu:
Jamon and brie melted on garlic bread
Smoked salmon, mayo, honey mustard, pesto bites
Onion soup
Pollo alla florentina
and dessert was brought by our friends

With the rushing from the dinner activities, I only took pictures of the main dishes: the soup and the chicken. My Mom gave me the idea of doing the chicken dish as the colors are Christmasy :)

Onion Soup

Ingredients:

4 onions
2 liters of meat broth (I made mine using beef and pork bones)
3 tbsps flour
salt and pepper
16 mini toasts
Thyme
1 cup gruyere cheese (I used mozzarella)
2 tbsps butter


Slice the onions.

In a large pot, add the butter and heat. When ready, add the onions.

Sweat them until they start turning brown.

Add the flour and mix well.

Add the meat broth and cook for about 1 and 1/2 hours. (sorry, forgot to take a picture).

Pour the soup into individual oven proof bowls.

Top them off with the mini toasts and grated cheese.

Broil in the oven until the cheese melts and starts browning.

This soup is one of my favorites in the winter. Nothing like a warm onion soup to make you feel like you take on a cold day!

Enjoy :)

Let's have some sausages!

I have had this recipe saved up for a few months (ashamed look here) and, as I am trying to catch up on my blog, here it goes.

My bisnonna (great grandmother)'s recipe for tomato and meat pasta sauce always calls for some italian sausage in it. I just love the taste of the chucks of meat mixed in with the pasta and decided to give it a twist.

Spinach and Sausage Linguini

Ingredients:

6 sausages (italian or flavored)
1 cup of frozen spinach
500 grs linguini
1 green onion
2 garlic cloves
3 tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine
2/3 cup meat broth
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
oil

In a large pot, bring some water and salt to a boil.

Cut the onion, garlic and tomatoes.

Grill the sausages.

In a large pan, heat oil. When ready, add the green onions and garlic.

Sweat for a few minutes.

Add the tomatoes (peeled if you prefer).

After a few minutes, squish the tomatoes forming a paste.

At this point, the water should be boiling so add the pasta and cook it.

Add the white wine and reduce.

Add the thawed frozen spinach to the sauce.

Add seasonings (you can add oregano, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper) and meat broth.

Slice the sausages and add them to the sauce.

The pasta should be ready by now, drain.

Add the sauce to the pasta pot.

Add the parmesan cheese and mix well.

And there you have it!

Enjoy :)