Room for Dessert - Food Blog

This post is Avi’s. I am writing it and took the photos, but other than that, it’s all his. He came up with the idea, created the recipe and made the dish. And how yummy that was! This is one of two recipes (and counting ) he came up with lately, I hope we make the other one soon, and if it turns out to be a keeper as well - we’ll be sure to post about it.

That being said, this post is a part of the Presto Pasta Night blog event - it’s a weekly event, hosted by Ruth at Once Upon a Feast, and it’s all dedicated to pasta recipes. How cool is that? (Those of you who visit here often already know that Italian food is my favorite, but I bet you didn’t know that one of my best friends calls me “Paaaaasta”, because I always say this word with a mellow-and-totally-in-love-tone).

A couple of weeks ago, I don’t remember exactly when and how, Avi came to me with the idea of making a cream and raisins pasta sauce. The only other sweet-ish pasta sauce I’ve ever tasted was a divine one (at a restaurant named Divina, imagine that ), it was a cream based sauce with a touch of orange. Yum! So Avi’s idea reminded me of exactly that sauce, and evidently his idea sounded awesome.

Last Saturday he got around to making it. He used onion and garlic in his recipe, which I thought wouldn’t accompany the raisins very well, but it turned out that the man knew what he was doing! He also added a touch of lemon to the sauce, which was subtle but at the same time gave it a great taste-hint and aroma. All in all it turned out to be a great sauce, the light sweetness of the raisins is a great match to cream based pasta sauce, and it also was a great match to the goat cheese filled ravioli that it was wrapped aound.

I’ve filed this post under both Main Courses and First Courses, since in Italy pasta is usually a first course, whereas for Avi and me (and for many restaurants here in Israel), it’s definitely a main course.

Cream and raisins pasta sauce / Avi Revivo
Makes 2 portions

Ingredients:
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
250 ml cream (we used 15% fat)
1/2 - 3/4 cup raisins (we used mixed - dark and light)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
5 Tbsp white wine
salt, pepper
milk, for thinning the sauce if necessary

Directions:
1. Fry the onion until brown and caramelized.
2. Add the garlic and fry for 1/2 min.
3. Add the white wine, stir well and cook until partially evaporized.
4. Add the cream, lemon juice, the raisins and salt and pepper according to your taste. Stir well and cook for about 15 mins. If during the process the sauce gets too thick, add a little milk to it and stir well. Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

רוטב שמנת וצימוקים לפסטה / אבי רביבו
עבור 2 מנות

רכיבים:
2 בצלים קטנים, קצוצים דק
2 שיני שום כתושות
250 מ”ל שמנת (אנחנו השתמשנו ב - 15% שומן)
1/2 - 3/4 כוס צימוקים (בהירים וכהים, מומלץ לשים כמות גדולה יותר של בהירים)
2 כפות מיץ לימון סחוט טרי
5 כפות יין לבן
מלח, פלפל
חלב, לדילול הרוטב במקרה הצורך

הכנה:
1. מטגנים את הבצל עד השחמה וקרמול.
2. מוספים את השום ומטגנים כחצי דקה.
3. מוסיפים את היין הלבן, מערבבים היטב ומבשלים עד לאידוי חלקי.
4. מוסיפים את השמנת, מיץ הלימון, הצימוקים, ומלח ופלפל לפי הטעם. מערבבים היטב ומבשלים כ - 15 דקות. אם במהלך זמן הבישול הרוטב הופך סמיך מדי, מדללים עם מעט חלב עד שמגיעים למרקם הרצוי, מערבבים היטב. מומלץ להגיש בליווי גבינת פרמזן מגוררת.

Those of you who know Israel a bit, surely know that winter here is just a virtual season, not really different than autumn in every other country. But this year, I must tell you, we’ve suffered already 2 periods of really cold weather, and the third is to begin today. Can you imagine? It’s supposed to be the coldest weather Israel has known in 20 years! Brrr… just the thought of that makes me freeze to death!

So yesterday evening, being cold just from the thought of the upcoming bad weather, we decided to make our regular onion soup. And the most fun part in all this - we made it together. Cooking with Avi is one of my absolute favorite things. We get along so well in the kitchen, and it’s really fun to work together on the meal we’re gonna eat later.

This onion soup may seem a little lighter to you than the ordinary onion soup. This is mainly because we never have the patience to wait for the onion to fry till it gets that golden brown color - the thing that makes onion soups so brown. And yesterday we were more patient than ever! Anyhow, this is one of the best onion soups we’ve ever eaten, including those we ate in the Latin quarter in Paris. Also, it’s really easy to make, but again, if you want it to get really brownish, you should be patient.

This time I’ve decided to take pictures of the whole making process of the recipe.
But before that, two off-topic notes:
1. Barilla and America’s Second Harvest-The Nation’s Food Bank Network have partnered again in the fight against hunger with the launch of “The Celebrity Italian Table Cookbook.” This marks the second annual call on pasta lovers to join Barilla and America’s Second Harvest to help those in need.
Renowned chef Mario Batali, entertaining expert David Tutera developed six three-course meals and table settings inspired by Hollywood celebrities Marisa Tomei, Debra Messing, Stanley Tucci, Chris Daughtry and Natalie Portman, which can easily be recreated at home.
Through February 29th, Barilla will donate $1.00 to America’s Second Harvest for every cookbook downloaded, up to 100,000 downloads. Download your copy of the Barilla Celebrity Cookbook now, and help fight hunger in America at the same time!

2. Peabody and Tartelette have published the round-up of the neat “Time to make the doughnuts” event they’ve hosted (and in which I participated). Feast your eyes (and update your recipe stash) with the great creations here, here and here.

Peel the onions

Cut them into rings

Yes, there is plenty of onion to cut…

Fry the onions in a pot

Until golden brown (should be browner than this one)

Serve (preferably with cheese - grated or sliced, and fresh
ground pepper)

Onion Soup / Adapted from an Israeli food site
Makes 4 portions

Ingredients:
50 gr butter
6 medium sized onions (preferably white), peeled
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken stock
5 Tbsp white wine
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
salt, pepper
Recommended: Serve with grated parmigiano or mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Slice the onions into rings.
2. Melt the butter in a cooking pot, add the onion rings and fry until golden-brown. Stir from time to time.
3. Add the flour and stir until well blended.
4. Add the white wine and stir it in. Let it fill the onion with taste for 2 mins.
5. Add the chicken stock. Add the pepper according to taste.
6. Cook on medium flame for 20 mins.
7. Add the nutmeg and salt, stir and cook for 2 more mins, then take the soup off the flame.

מרק בצל / מבוסס על מתכון מוואלה

רכיבים:
50 גרם חמאה
6 בצלים בינוניים (עדיפות לבצלים לבנים), קלופים
3 כפות קמח
6 כוסות ציר עוף
5 כפות יין לבן
1/2 כפית אגוז מוסקט טחון
מלח ופלפל לפי הטעם
מומלץ: להגיש עם גבינת פרזמן או מוצרלה מגוררת

הוראות הכנה:
1. פורסים את הבצלים לטבעות.
2. ממיסים בסיר את החמאה ומוסיפים את טבעות הבצל. מטגנים עד להזהבה.
3. מוסיפים את הקמח ומערבבים היטב.
4. מוסיפים את היין הלבן ומבשלים כ-2 דקות.
5. מוסיפים את ציר העוף ומערבבים, מוסיפים פלפל לפי הטעם.
6. מבשלים כ-20 דק’ על אש בינונית.
7. מוסיפים את אגוז המוסקט והמלח, מערבבים ומבשלים 2 דקות נוספות. מורידים מהאש ומגישים.