The Modern Nonna Ultimate Seafood Feast

This recipe is quite awesome, but I recommend that you use 1 1/2-2 times the seafood! I have half left over and will add more seafood and serve it over fresh tagliatelle I will make. Recipe as written on Instagram by The Modern Nonna:

A divine seafood dish, absolutely perfect in a beautiful white wine tomato sauce and incredibly delicious with crusty bread. You can use any seafood you love for this dish and I will give you all of the tips in my notes. This recipe makes 4-6 portions but feel free to add as much seafood as you like. You will need: 
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3 tablespoons olive oil 
1 finely diced onion 
1 finely diced celery stalk 
6 cloves of minced garlic 
salt, pepper, dry oregano to taste 
1/2 cup white wine — I used Sav Blanc
2.5 cups tomato sauce 
2 cups water, fish stock, or veggie stock (I used veggie stock)
1 bay leaf 
1 piece of any white fish or salmon that’s cubed 
12 pasta clams or any small clams that were washed and scrubbed 
8 jumbo tiger shrimp peeled and deveined 
6 large scallops 
parsley or basil for garnish 
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Please note: you can use cod, halibut, salmon, or any fish or seafood you love. You can use muscles or crab too. Any tomato sauce works just chose something cleaner —our homemade one only has salt tomatoes and basil in it. If any of the clams don’t open, throw those out as they are an indication that they are bad. 
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In a skillet with high sides or in a pot add the olive oil and let it heat up on medium heat. Sauté the onions, celery, and garlic for a few minutes until translucent. Add salt pepper and dry oregano to taste and you can taste and adjust later. Add the white wine and let it reduce for about a minute or two. Stir in the tomato sauce and water, or you can even use fish stock or veggie stock as well for more flavor. Add a bayleaf, let it come to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and let it second until your desired consistency. Mine was perfect after an hour. After the sauce has reduced add the fish, washed and scrubbed clams and let it boil for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and scallops and let them go until the clams open, which should take another 3-4 minutes. Garnish with parsley and enjoy with crusty bread or pasta. 
 

Pancho's Black Bean Soup

Ten years ago we went on a cruise trip to Mexico. On a stop in Cozumel, we shopped at a gift store named Pancho's that also had a cantina in the back (amazing food!). This recipe appears on the inside of a matchbook from the restaurant, and it is worth making!

1 1/2  lbs cooked black beans (1 lb uncooked bag), or two 14 oz cans

1 1/4 tsp ground bay leaves

1/4 tsp ground oregano

1/4 tsp ground cumin

2 minced garlic cloves

1 chopped jalapeno pepper

1/2 white onion, finely chopped

1 3/4 oz dry sherry

3 tbs olive oil

4 cans beef consommé

Mash beans slightly. In pot over medium heat, place olive oil, add onion, bay leaf, oregano, jalapeno pepper, garlic, cumin, and cook briefly until onion turns golden. Add consommé, stir, and add black beans. Bring pot to a gentle boil, stirring frequently to prevent the beans from sticking on the bottom. Add sherry slowly as you stir, salt and pepper to taste, and turn off heat. Garnish with a side plate of diced tomatoes and onions. Serve with garlic buttered and toasted French roll.

Fish Tacos with Slaw and Avocado Crema

This recipe appeared in a local publication and is a recipe from The Local, a Charlottesville VA restaurant.

2 ripe avocados 

4 oz chevre’ goat cheese 

Juice of 2 or more limes 

1 ½ tsp cumin 

2 c finely shredded cabbage, red or green 

½ red pepper, diced 

1 jalapeno pepper, minced 

1 small red onion, thinly sliced 

½ c cilantro leaves 

2 tbs apple cider vinegar 

Extra-virgin olive oil 

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper 

1 ½ lbs mild white flaky fish (rockfish, cod or tilapia) 

Favorite cumin-heavy spice mix (Tajin or Cajun) 

12-18 corn tortillas 

 

Make avocado crema: Blend avocado, goat cheese, lime juice, 2 tbs water and ¾ tsp cumin until smooth. Add a little more water if it is too thick, and more lime juice if needed. 

 

Make the slaw: In a large bowl, combine cabbage, peppers, onion, cilantro, cider vinegar, 2 tbs olive oil, ¾ tsp cumin. Season with salt and pepper, cover, and refrigerate at least 30 min, or up to 1 day. 

 

Drizzle fish with olive oil, and season with spice mix. Grill or pan fry fish, turning over once, 3-4 min per side. 

 

Wrap tortillas in foil and warm them on a grill, or in a 250-degree oven for about 5 min. To serve, arrange bite sized chunks of fish, slaw, and crema on each warm tortilla. Serve immediately. 

Charred Tomato Salsa

This is my favorite homemade salsa; great with chips, on tacos, and wonderful with any kind of eggs for breakfast.

1/2 white onion, chopped into 1 inch pieces

4 large garlic cloves, halved

2 tbs olive oil

4 -5 large plum tomatoes, halved

Sazon or Lawry's garlic salt

2 large jalapenos, seeds removed and halved or quartered

3 tbs fresh lime juice

1/3 c. chopped cilantro

1 tbs chopped or blended chipotle in adobo

Sprinkle garlic salt or Sazon on the cut side of the tomatoes. In a large skillet, add oil, onion, garlic, tomatoes (cut side down), and jalapenos. Char everything for 5-10 min on high heat until there is some caramelization and the vegetables are tender but not cooked through. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Add the vegetables to a blender with the lime juice and blend until smooth. Add the cilantro and chipotles, season with salt and pepper, and pulse until combined. Adjust seasoning to your taste. If it needs more heat, add more chipotle. Add more lime juice if it needs additional acid.

Simple Baked Egg Cups

 Preheat oven to 425°. Prepare as many muffin cups as you need with cooking spray. I use a six cup muffin tin that has deep cups.

For each cup, line the bottom of the cup with a slice of Black Forest Ham. Add a sprinkle of cheese, and any other filling you wish to include.

Break an egg into the cup, add salt and pepper to taste and another sprinkle of cheese.

Bake in a 425°oven for 15-20 min or until set.

Serve with Homemade Hash Browns.

Favorite Pizza Sauce

 2 tbs. olive oil 

1 yellow onion, diced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2 minced garlic cloves

750 g of passata or 28 oz can crushed tomatoes 

1/2 c dry white wine

1 tsp ground fennel or porketta seasoning

In a medium saucepan, add olive oil, onions, red pepper flakes and a generous pinch of salt. Cook until translucent. Add garlic and briefly cook until it starts to brown. Add the tomatoes, wine, and fennel. Simmer until thick, about 30 min. If you would like a smoother sauce, purée with a stick blender until smooth. Taste for salt and adjust. Note: in the first step when you are sautéing the onions, you can add two anchovy filets for some subtle umami

Roasted Butternut Squash, Bacon, and Sage Tortellini Dinner

I can’t find a link to wherever I found the recipe, so I’ve posted it below with apologies to the mystery source. It’s good but can be a little dry, Marc suggested serving with a little broth in the bottom of the bowl next time. Try it and see what you think!

2 c butternut squash cubes

1 bag tortellini

8 slices chopped thick sliced bacon

8 sage leaves, thinly sliced

Red pepper flakes

2 c chopped fresh spinach

Toss butternut squash cubes with oil and salt and roast on a sheet-pan in a 450°F oven until squash is fork-tender and golden brown around the edges, 15–17 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil the tortellini and fry up some chopped bacon until crispy in a large skillet; transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving bacon fat in skillet.

Add drained pasta to the fat in skillet along with the sage leaves and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (both optional!) and cook just until sage is fragrant and tortellini is ever so slightly crisped.

Stir in roasted butternut squash and bacon, and serve.

To add some greens, stir in a couple of handfuls of spinach along with the tortellini and wilt slightly in the hot bacon fat.