Category Archives: Main Course: Meat

Main Course: Meat

Roasted Poblanos Stuffed with Ricotta & Chorizo

When a recipe calls for less than a handful of ingredients, requires about 10 minutes of work, and delivers amazing satisfaction, it becomes a favorite in our kitchen. That’s exactly the case for these stuffed peppers.

Most stuffed peppers feature heavy meat or rice stuffings, and are often bathed in tomato sauce. I’ve never much loved these, and neither does my husband. The inspiration for this dish came to me during Hurricane Sandy, when we had to finish off whatever was left in the refrigerator quickly. You can hold them in a roasting pan for 12 hours or so before roasting; they are an ideal make-ahead dish for entertaining, and depending on the rest of your menu, they can either serve as the main course or side dish. I’ve served the peppers reheated the next day too, and they are almost as good.

When selecting chorizo, look for the cured Spanish variety; we buy Palacios chorizo, which is all natural and imported from Spain. The fresh Mexican chorizo is too vinegary and crumbly for this dish.

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Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a side dish

  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for oiling the roasting pan
  • 1 pound fresh whole-milk Ricotta
  • 1/4 pound Spanish chorizo, casing removed, cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 poblano peppers, halved, stemmed, and seeded

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees (preferably set on convection bake). Lightly oil a roasting pan large enough to accommodate all the peppers.

In a medium bowl, combine the Ricotta, chorizo, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Arrange the pepper halves in the oiled roasting pan.

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Scoop the Ricotta mixture into the pepper halves and spread evenly to fill. Drizzle the top with the olive oil and roast in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden on top. If the cheese filling browns too much before the peppers are soft, cover with aluminum foil, then uncover during the last few minutes of roasting to evaporate excess moisture. Serve hot or warm.

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Main Course: Meat, Pasta Sauce

Tagliatelle with Beef Braciole in Red Wine and Tomato Sauce

This is Sunday food: beef is pounded thin and rolled around Pancetta, parsley, garlic, and grated Pecorino, then braised with red wine, aromatic vegetables, and tomatoes until succulent. The Pecorino melts inside the bundles, making the sauce even richer and ensuring the bundles hold together. In typical Italian fashion, the stuffed beef bundles (known as braciole in southern Italy, involtini in northern Italy) should be served as a second course, their rich cooking juices tossed with pasta as a first course.

Serves 4

For the bundles:

  • 1 and ½ pounds beef round tip steak, cut into 4 pieces and pounded thin with a mallet (about ¼-inch thick)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ pound Pancetta, finely minced
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • ¼ cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano


For the sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, minced
  • 1 carrot, minced
  • 1 celery stalk, minced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon minced Italian parsley
  • ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
  • 1 cup dry red wine
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 cups chopped San Marzano canned tomatoes
  • 1 cup cool water, plus extra as needed

To serve:

  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 1 pound fresh tagliatelle pasta
  • 1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano, plus extra for passing at the table
  • 1 tablespoon minced Italian parsley

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Make the bundles: Line a counter with a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper and place the two slices of steak on the foil or parchment in a single layer. Season evenly with the salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine the Pancetta, garlic, parsley, and Pecorino. Following the natural grain of the meat, and roll into tight bundles. The meat will be more tender once cooked if you roll with the grain instead of against the grain, so that when you slice the braciole later, it will be against the grain.

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Make the sauce: Warm the olive oil in a deep, wide saucepan large enough to accommodate the pasta later. Add the bundles and cook over medium heat, turning as needed, until the bundles brown evenly on all sides, about 10 minutes. (Don’t worry if a bit of the stuffing pops out while searing; it will add richness to the sauce.)

Stir in the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley, and chili, and cook until the vegetables are translucent and lightly golden, about 5 minutes.

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Deglaze with the wine and cook until it almost fully evaporates, about 3 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to release any bits and pieces that have stuck. Add the salt and pepper and stir in the tomatoes and water. Bring to a gentle boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 1 to 2 hours, or until the bundles feel tender when poked with a fork, adding a bit of water as needed to prevent scorching and to keep the sauce pleasantly moist and turning the bundles once in a while to promote even cooking. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning. Keep warm.

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When you are ready to serve, make the pasta: Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil. Add the salt and the tagliatelle, and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 2 cups of the pasta cooking water.

Remove the bundles from the sauce, and place the bundles on a platter; to serve the bundles as a second course, spoon on some of the sauce and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.

To serve: Thin out the braciole sauce in the pan with enough of the reserved pasta cooking water to obtain a flowing consistency; taste again and adjust the seasoning if needed. Add the tagliatelle to the sauce, sprinkle with the Pecorino, and toss vigorously to coat. Serve the pasta hot, sprinkled with the parsley. Serve the braciole as a second course.

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Main Course: Meat

Truffled Mushroom Chicken Bundles

A handful of ingredients merge to create an amazingly elegant and delicious main course with little effort. If possible, buy organic chicken for this dish; there are so few ingredients that each ingredient really should be of impeccable quality.

If you have trouble finding truffled Gouda or other truffled cheeses at your market, simply use Fontina from d’Aosta, Raclette, or  Gruyere instead, and if you have some on hand, drizzle with truffle oil just before serving. and depending on how salty your cheese is, you may want to use more or less salt to season the chicken and mushrooms.

Serve with canederli and a green salad tossed with lemon juice and olive oil for a splendid supper.

Serves 2

  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing the baking dish
  • 1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps rinsed, dried, and thinly sliced
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • ¾  teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ pound truffled cheese (such as truffled Gouda, or Tartufello), thinly sliced
  • 12 sage leaves, minced, plus 4 whole for serving

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Preheat the oven to 325° (preferably set on convection).

Lightly oil a 9-inch pyrex or other baking dish. Scatter the shiitake in the baking dish.

Lay the chicken thighs in the dish, with the smooth side facing down. Season with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Divide the truffled cheese evenly among the thighs and sprinkle with half of the minced sage. Roll into neat bundles and spread out in the dish so they are not touching, seam-side down.

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Season the shiitake and the top of the chicken bundles with the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Drizzle with the olive oil. Scatter the remaining sage all over the shiitake and chicken bundles.

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Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake another 10 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Serve hot, garnished with the whole sage leaves.

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Main Course: Meat

Escarole and Sausage over Crispy Bread with Melted Cheese

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This is a delicious, one-dish meal that my husband and I crave when the weather is cold and our energy is dragging.  Try broccoli raab instead of escarole, or simply omit the sausage for a vegetarian version. But whatever you do, buy really good bread, because the bread’s texture and taste unify all the ingredients into a beguiling whole. We buy flat Turkish bread from the Taskin bakery in New Jersey when we don’t have our own leftover focaccia.

A word on Kashkaval: this is a semi-soft sheep’s milk cheese typical of Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey. I grew up enjoying it thanks to my Romanian-born mother. It is available in most well-stocked cheese shops, and ranges from milky and just  a tad sharp when aged a few months, to salty and almost crumbly when aged longer. For this dish, select the younger Kashkaval, as it will melt better and won’t overwhelm the other flavors. If Kashkaval is not available, use a good quality imported Fontina from Val d’Aosta, or another mild melting cheese of your liking.

Serves 2

For the sausage and escarole:

  • 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1  teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
  • 1/2 pound  spicy Italian sausages with fennel seeds, casings removed and crumbled
  • 1 pound (1 large bunch) escarole leaves, washed thoroughly and chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the bread:

  • 4 cups cubed Italian focaccia or other neutral flatbread
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 pound fresh Mozzarella (preferably bufala), drained and torn into bite-size pieces
  • 2 ounces young Kashkaval or Fontina from Val d’Aosta, rind removed if needed and coarsely grated

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Make the sausage and escarole: Place the olive oil, fennel seeds, garlic, and chili  in a wide pan that has a tight-fitting lid. Warm gently over medium heat until aromatic, about 1 minute.

Add the crumbled sausage and cook 10 minutes,  stirring often, or until the sausage is nicely browned all over. Add the escarole, season with the salt and pepper, and cover.

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Cook 10 minutes, stirring once in a while, or until the escarole softens and collapses and releases its liquid; the liquid is essential to this dish, so keep the lid on. Remove from the heat until you are ready to serve.

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Make the bread: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (preferably set on convection). On a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper, toss the cubed bread with the olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Toast in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, or until the bread just begins to take on a golden color and starts to get a bit crunchy here and there; do not toast it all the way through, or the dish will be dry,  as the bread has to bake a second time with the cheese.

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Scatter the Mozzarella and Kashkaval on top of the toasted bread.

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Return to the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the bread finishes toasting and browning, and the cheeses melt.

To serve: Reheat the sausage and escarole. Spoon one-quarter of the hot bread and cheese mixture onto each of 2 plates. Top each with one-quarter of the hot escarole and sausage mixture, then another layer of the bread and cheese mixture, and finally the remaining escarole and sausage mixture. Pour any pan juices from the escarole and sausage over the finished plates and serve hot.

Main Course: Meat

Roasted Cabbage Bundles Stuffed with Pork and Ricotta

Unlike most stuffed cabbage dishes, these bundles are not at all heavy or rich; they are quite light, thanks to the addition of fresh Ricotta to the stuffing. I’ve never been a big fan of stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce, so I cook these bundles with a splash of homemade chicken or beef broth and plenty of sliced onions for sweetness.

Roasting the bundles covered for the majority of the cooking time keeps them nice and moist; uncovering them and raising the oven temperature in the last few minutes gives them a glorious browned top and crunchy exterior that contrasts nicely with the tender inner layers.

Serve 3 bundles per person as a main course, or just one per person as a palate-teaser at the start of a meal. The bundles can be assembled a day before roasting; pour on the broth just before slipping them into the oven.

Serves 2 as a main course, 6 as an appetizer

  • 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 large Savoy cabbage leaves (preferably outer leaves)
  • ¼ pound fresh whole-milk Ricotta
  • ¼ pound lean ground pork shoulder
  • ¼ cup (1 ounce) freshly grated Pecorino Romano
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ¼ cup minced Italian parsley
  • ½ teaspoon ground fennel seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
  • ½ cup chicken or beef broth

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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (preferably set on convection). Brush a 9-inch round pyrex baking dish with the olive oil. Place the onion in the dish. Season with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper; toss well and set aside.

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add the cabbage leaves; cook 3 minutes, or until the cabbage leaves are tender and pliable. Rinse under cool water and drain well, then gently blot dry.

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In a bowl, stir together the Ricotta, pork, Pecorino, garlic, parsley, fennel seeds, chili, ¼ teaspoon of the salt, and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon of pepper.

Arrange the cabbage leaves in a single layer on a large sheet of parchment paper on the counter. Place one-sixth of the pork mixture on the lower part of each cabbage leaf. Wrap each leaf around the filling, first bringing up the bottom, then folding over each of the two sides.

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Roll each into a neat bundle. Place seam side down in the dish on top of the onions. Pour in the broth and season the top with the remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt.

Cover with aluminum foil or parchment paper and roast in the preheated oven 30 minutes. Uncover, raise the oven temperature to 425 (preferably set on convection), and roast until golden brown and crisped on top, about 5 more minutes. Serve hot, spooning the pan juices and onions over the cabbage bundles.