Orecchiette with Broccoli Pesto

In honor of the Food Network coming back to Cablevision, I present to you my latest foray into the Food Network magazine recipe realm!

OK, well, I kind of made this dish before I knew Food Network was making a comeback on Cablevision, but just work with me here...

I've had my eye on this orecchiette pasta recipe since I first started receiving the Food Network magazine last year. It happened to be on the cover of the first issue I received and it really drew me in and made me want it.

Fast forward to one week ago, when I was racking my brain as to what I wanted to make over the weekend. My mind honed in on this pasta dish and I was sold. Of course I couldn't just use the recipe "as-is", so I made a few adjustments...

Orecchiette with Broccoli Pesto
adapted from Anne Burrell's Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe Pesto recipe (for Food Network magazine)

• 2 medium heads of broccoli
  
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 of a shallot
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
  
• Salt
• Ground pepper
• 1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 pound orecchiette pasta

1) Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Set up a bowl of well-salted ice water. Cook the broccoli in the boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes and then immediately plunge in the salted ice water. This will prevent the broccoli from being overcooked and will set the lovely green color.

2) Drain the broccoli and coarsely chop.

3) Place the broccoli in the bowl of a food processor and puree until it is a coarse paste.

4) Add the pine nuts, shallots, garlic and parmigiano and puree until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning. You will probably need salt and ground pepper.

5) Add the ricotta and pulse until combined. Taste for seasoning once again. It should be full-flavored and creamy. Set aside.

6) Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. (If you are making the pasta right after the pesto, just use the broccoli blanching water.) Cook the pasta 1 minute less than the cooking time on the package.

7) While the pasta is cooking, place the pesto in a large skillet and add about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the pasta cooking water. Place over medium-high heat.

8) When the pasta is ready, drain and add to the skillet with the pesto. Stir vigorously to combine and cook until the sauce is creamy and heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat, add 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil, if desired, and stir vigorously.

Hmmm...these pictures left something to be desired. For some reason the pesto and pasta took on a brownish tinge in the pictures, but I assure you that it was not brown in actuality!

I'm not sure how I feel about the resulting dish. I liked the flavor because I love broccoli and pasta. However, I think I was thrown off by the texture of the pesto. Whenever I've made pesto in the past, it's been with basil. The pesto always comes out smooth and silky. In this case, the pesto was chunkier and more "rustic" (which is a word Tyler Florence would most definitely throw around on any of his shows).

Still, it was pretty tasty. The pasta was tender and the pesto was flavorful and creamy. You could definitely tell broccoli was involved in this! But the flavor/texture was probably also due to my excessive use of cheese, once again. Feel free to cut back on the amount of cheese used if you don't like as much as I do. I would also have made the pesto with 1 1/2 heads of broccoli instead of 2 heads of broccoli. I found that there was a lot more pesto than pasta in the end. Orrrr, you could keep all the broccoli and simply make an entire pound of pasta instead of a half pound. Pick your poison.

And welcome back Food Network!

Eggplant Mushroom Casserole

I don't know why, but I've been craving an eggplant and mushroom dish for months. It's not as if I eat eggplant or mushrooms very often. I typically eat eggplant once per year. Mushrooms will come into the picture every once in a while. It's tough to eat anything vegetarian without running into a mushroom.

After researching on the internet, I found an Eggplant Casserole dish. What I love about cooking is that I can make changes without much fear that the end result will be inedible. I've run into that situation way too many times with cupcake creations.

I would apologize for my excessive use of pictures in this post...but:

1. Apparently some people don't actually read my blog, but "just look at the pictures".

2. I got a new digital SLR for Christmas and I've been really busy testing it out.

Suck it up!

So...back to eggplant & mushrooms...

Eggplant Mushroom Casserole
adapted from Best Recipes.com

• 1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 in slices
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 cup dry breadcrumbs
• oil for frying
• 1 onion, quartered and sliced
  
• 1 package sliced mushrooms (don't know the size but it's the standard blue package of sliced mushrooms)
  
• 8 large tomatoes, diced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil (or a handful fresh torn basil)
• 2 cloves minced garlic
  
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• Ground pepper
• 2 cups of your favorite grated cheese (mozzarella, provolone, etc...)

1) In a dish, beat the egg with the water until just combined.

2) Dip the eggplant slices in the egg, and then in the crumbs, coating both sides.

3) Fry slices in a little hot oil until brown on both sides. Leave to drain on paper towels.

4) Meanwhile, in another pan, saute the onions in oil until lightly browned.

5) Add mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, basil, water, salt, sugar, and pepper. Simmer until onions are tender.

6) Coat a large, shallow 9 x 11 in casserole dish with non-stick spray.

7) Place half the eggplant in the dish, trimmed to fit in a single layer, and top with half the tomato mushroom mixture.

8) Top with half of the cheese.

9) Add the remaining eggplant and then spread the rest of the tomato mushroom mixture over this.

10) Top with the remaining cheese.

11) Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the top browns. Allow to stand for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Yum! Veggies galore! The vegetables were tender, the cheese was melted, and most importantly, the entire apartment smelled amazing. My roommate Kimmy agreed that the casserole was quite tasty, but then again she loves vegetables, so maybe she was biased from the start.

There are two things that would have made this dish even better for me:

1) Fresh basil: I didn't have any fresh basil on hand and didn't feel like buying half a plant just to get a few leaves. I used dried basil, but in hindsight, it might have been worth it to have some fresh herbs in there.

2) Cheese: I sound like a broken record. I know. But I could always use more cheese and this was no exception.

I know this dish isn't for everyone, but I'm having a personal need-more-vegetables period in my life. So there you have it. Eggplant and mushrooms have come together to satisfy my savory food cravings. Don't worry, cupcake lovers. They will be back again soon!

Peppermint Patty Cupcakes

Happy Holidays! A little bit belatedly. But what the heck, let's still celebrate! And what better way to celebrate than making cupcakes with peppermint and chocolate, right? I had entertained the idea of making some sort of peppermint cupcake, but then I heard about this phenomenon where you can actually bake York Peppermint Patties into cupcakes. What? Of course, I had to try this.

Peppermint Patty Cupcakes

from The Busty Baker's blog

• 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ¼ cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
• 12 small (1 ½-inch) chocolate-covered peppermint patties, such as York Peppermint Patties
  

1) Preheat oven to 350F and line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

2) Place chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally just until melted, 4 to 5 minutes.

3) Remove bowl from heat. Whisk in sugar and salt until mixture is smooth. Whisk in eggs to combine. Gently whisk in flour and cocoa until just smooth, taking care not to overmix.

4) Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each lined cup. Place one peppermint patty on top, gently pressing into batter. Top with 2 tablespoons batter, covering patty completely.

5) Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted halfway in centers (above mint patty) comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. (Note: I baked my cupcakes for ~35 minutes, but found that they were a bit overdone. I would recommend baking the cupcakes for 25-30 minutes instead.)

6) Transfer tin to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

I've seen a lot of websites which recommend freezing the peppermint patties before placing them in the cupcake batter, since this is supposed to ensure that the patty doesn't break up or melt as quickly in the oven. I've actually tried making these cupcakes with and without freezing the patties and I don't think it makes a noticeable difference.

Mint Frosting
from the About.com Guide

• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• dash salt
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk or cream

1) Cream butter, peppermint, and salt.

2) Gradually add 1 cup confectioners' sugar, creaming until light.

3) Add remaining confectioners' sugar and the milk. Beat until smooth.

4) Top the cupcakes with a thin layer of frosting.

I also drizzled the cupcakes with a thin layer of chocolate chips melted with a few teaspoons of mint extract. Mmmmmm. Chocolate!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I don't usually bake cupcakes using the recipe from other people's sites, but this time I kind of felt obligated to. I was concerned about changing the cupcake batter composition and ending up with a peppermint patty stuck to the bottom of my cupcake liner. Because it could happen. And it would happen to me.

I love this recipe primarily because it's a "one-bowl wonder". Seriously. I don't even have to break out the mixer for this one. A whisk and some elbow grease will do the job just fine. Plus, it takes me less than an hour to make the batter and bake the cupcakes. This greatly reduces my raw-ingredients-to-baked-cupcake wait

The first time I made these cupcakes, I think they came out slightly dry (see the picture below) :( But I still wanted to include a picture showing a cross-section of the cupcakes because really, how often are you going to see a mint chocolate-y center in a cupcake. Love it!

I made these cupcakes again, one week after the first batch. The first time, although the cupcakes were a little overdone, I heard from reliable sources/taste-testers that the cupcake was still pretty moist and fudge-y around the peppermint patty center. The second batch of cupcakes were baked for less time (~25 minutes). This time, the cupcakes were moist and fudge-y throughout the entire cake, not just the center. If you enjoy chocolate and peppermint, you should definitely give these a shot!

Caramel Appletini Cupcakes

The cupcake bug bit me again this weekend. Initially, I was planning to make some sort of meal/dish that I could post here, but then I recalled that Iron Cupcake: Earth is back with a vengeance for Year 2. Since I've been seriously shirking my membership duties in the Iron Cupcake realm, I decided to check out this month's challenge.

"Apple". What? Apple? Seriously? If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably already know that I'm not really a fruit person. In fact, my biggest cupcake FAIL occurred while creating a cupcake for the Iron Cupcake "Summer Fruit" challenge. Need I say more?

The only way I could justify creating this destined-to-fail cupcake was to add alcohol. I know what you're thinking. I just made Chocolate Red Wine Cupcakes last week. Isn't it too soon to make another alcohol-infused cupcake? Well...no. It's never too soon. If you're even questioning this, then obviously you don't know me. I began thinking about how I could make this apple cupcake thing work out in my favor. And it hit me...Caramel Apple Martinis. Or rather, Caramel Appletinis. Yes. Yes. Yes. And then, I discovered some leftover apple vodka in the alcohol cabinet. Obviously, this cupcake was a part of my destiny.

After the usual perusal of blogs, I determined that Cupcake Rehab's Caramel Cake was a good "base recipe" to build on. Of course I made alterations. Why else would I even bother to take on the Iron Cupcake challenge?

Caramel Appletini Cupcakes
adapted from Cupcake Rehab's Caramel Cake
yields ~18 cupcakes

• 1/2 cup chunky applesauce
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 Tablespoons Caramel Syrup (I used Smuckers Sundae Syrup instead of making my own. I love shortcuts!)
  
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• splash vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup apple cider
• 3 Tablespoons apple vodka
  

1) Preheat oven to 350F.

2) Cream butter and applesauce for 20-30 seconds.

3) Add sugar and salt. Beat until light and fluffy.

4) Slowly pour caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed.

5) Add eggs & vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

6) Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda together in a separate bowl.

7) In another bowl, mix together the milk and apple cider. (It doesn't curdle!)

8) Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients.

9) When incorporated, add half of the milk/cider mixture, a little at a time.

10) Then add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk/cider mixture and finish with the dry ingredients.

(In theory I'm sure this works really well, but as I spent 10 minutes trying to determine whether or not the milk and cider would curdle when I mixed them together, I completely forgot to execute steps 8 and 9 and just dumped in the milk and cider all at once. So...if you're wondering whether or not this will kill the cupcakes, let me tell you that it won't!)

11) Once incorporated, add the apple vodka and beat for another 20-30 seconds.

12) Pour batter into cupcake liners, about 3/4 of the way to the top.

13) Bake at 350 degrees for ~25 minutes. (My second batch actually took 30-35 minutes to bake so make sure they're done before you take them out of the oven.)

Appletini Frosting
adapted from Cupcake Rehab's Vanilla Caramel Buttercream

• 1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 Cups confectioner's sugar
• 1/4 Cup milk
• 1/4 Cup apple vodka
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• a few drops green food coloring (optional)
• green sugar crystals (optional)
  
• Sugarbabies for topping the cupcakes (optional)
  

1) Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 2 cups of the sugar and then the milk and and vanilla.

2) Beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.

3) Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition, until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency.

4) Add the green food coloring and mix thoroughly.

5) Before spreading on top of cupcakes, do the following:

• Poke holes in the top of the cooled cupcakes
• Pour 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon apple vodka over cupcakes
• Let soak for 5-10 minutes
  
• Spread a thin layer of caramel over the cupcakes
  

6) Spread frosting on top of cupcakes. (I was too lazy to pipe the frosting, but there was definitely enough frosting to pipe onto the cupcakes.)

7) Top cupcakes with a sprinkle of green sugar and a single Sugarbaby.

Before anyone states the obvious, I know that I did not include caramel in the frosting for my Caramel Appletini Cupcakes, even though I used a Vanilla Caramel Buttercream as a base recipe. Caramel extract is pretty hard to find these days, ya know.

The cupcakes were pretty sweet and denser than most other cupcakes I've made. This probably had to do with using mostly applesauce instead of butter. But the cupcake was still pleasantly moist. I didn't use as much confectioner's sugar in the frosting as I typically would. I didn't want the frosting to overtake the cupcake flavor. The frosting ended up being slightly sweet and pretty light, so I really enjoyed it.

I pretty much got the same reactions all-around: "Tastes good, but definitely not a Caramel Appletini flavor." Ugh. The fruit-cupcake-curse has struck yet again! But I agree. It was difficult to pinpoint the apple flavor. My client said she could see there was some sort of fruit in it, but wasn't sure which fruit. I thought the applesauce, apple cider, and apple vodka would be enough, but apparently not. Maybe there's an apple extract available on the interweb somewhere...

The caramel flavor was also not very prominent. Kimmy thought I should rename the cupcakes Apple Cider Cupcakes, since the apple was more outstanding than the caramel and apple vodka. Yes, sadly, I couldn't taste the vodka! It just goes from bad to worse. The cupcake was denser than other cupcakes I've made, so it is probable that the apple vodka was lost in there somewhere. I purposefully added more vodka to the cupcakes and the frosting in order to recapture this flavor, but somehow it still eluded me. Katrin says the cupcakes were good, but not the best that she's ever had from TBK. I understand. The cupcakes didn't really live up to their name. But I will persevere and keep trying to come up with additional recipes to wow my blog-stalkers (I know you're out there somewhere!) and my friends to whom I force-feed my creations.

Chocolate Red Wine Cupcakes

The crazy cupcake lady is back! Betcha missed her! The other day, I realized that I hadn't created or blogged about anything new lately in the world of cupcakes.

Enter my friend's "Wine Tasting Party". Hmmm...somehow I still feel like we're still too young to really appreciate wine, but I was inspired by the concept. Why couldn't I make red wine cupcakes? So off I went to research this great new idea on the internet. And lo and behold...it's already been done. Yep. There are countless recipes on the internet dedicated to creating red wine cake/cupcakes. Why am I just hearing about this?!

Of all the web sites and blogs that I stumbled upon, my favorite was a blog called We are Not Martha. There's nothing scientific about how I chose their recipe. Their blog looked fun and of course, there was a giant "cupcake" cake in one of the red wine cupcake photos. Obviously, this was going to be a winner.

Red Wine Cupcakes
yields 25-30 cupcakes

• 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 5 oz. chocolate chips (about 1/2 a regular bag of chocolate chips)
  
• 1/2 C boiling water
• 2 sticks butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/4 C flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 3/4 C red wine (I used a Shiraz, but you should use whichever wine you like to drink)

1) In a heatproof bowl combine cocoa powder and chocolate chips and pour in the boiling water.

2) Using a whisk, stir the chocolate until it’s all melted.

3) In a larger bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Then beat in each egg one at a time until they’re all mixed in.

4) In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then slowly add this to the mixture, making sure it’s all combined.

5) Add some of the chocolate to the mixture, then some of the wine, alternating until all of it is blended.

6) Pour batter into cupcake liners, about 3/4 of the way to the top.

7) Bake at 350 degrees for ~20 minutes.

This cupcake adventure is a little unusual for TBK. I don't usually use the cupcake recipe "as-is" from another blog, which is what I did here. Here's the reasoning: 1) Chocolate & Red Wine: If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. Really, what could I do to enhance this cupcake? Not much. Although.... 2) I did find some Ikea Lingonberry jam in my refrigerator. (Lingonberries are pretty similar to cranberries, which I love!) I figured if I was going to use this jam in my cupcake, it would be best to use it in the cupcake frosting. The new name? Chocolate Red Wine Cupcakes with Lingonberry Cream Cheese Frosting. Whew! That was a mouthful. Like I said, I didn't want to mess around with the cupcake any more than this.

As I started to create the frosting, I got a little anxious about the lingonberry cream cheese frosting. In the end, I decided it would be a good comparison project to frost half of the cupcakes with the regular cream cheese frosting and the other half with the lingonberry cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
(adapted slightly from We Are Not Martha's Red Wine Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting)

• 1 C butter, room temperature
• Salt, pinch
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 5-6 C confectioner sugar
• 2 t vanilla
• 3 t Lingonberry jam for every 4 oz. cream cheese*
  

Note: If spreading the frosting onto the cupcakes, you only need to make half the recipe above. I piped the frosting so I needed to make the entire recipe.

1) Beat the butter with the salt until it’s nice and fluffy.

2) Add the cream cheese and continue beating until it’s all combined.

3) Add the powdered sugar to the bowl about 1/2 C at at a time and beat to combine. Keep adding more until the frosting is at the consistency and sweetness-level that you desire.

*4) If making the Lingonberry Cream Cheese Frosting, whisk in the Lingonberry jam until combined.

5) Spread or pipe onto cupcakes.

This cupcake is a favorite. I think it may have been a bit under-done, so I would recommend leaving the cupcakes in the oven for a full 20 minutes instead of the 18 minutes that I left them in for (hey, the toothpicks came out clean!). My cupcakes sank a bit once they came out of the over, no matter how much batter I put in the cups. So the cupcakes ended up being flat instead of slightly domed. Can someone tell me where I went wrong? Thankfully, I don't believe the cupcake flavor suffered at all from this.

The chocolate was rich and I could definitely taste the red wine flavor, minus the red wine's alcoholic content. The cream cheese frosting was excellent. It was buttery and fluffy. One taste tester said she would just eat it by itself, minus the cupcake. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I definitely understand! The lingonberry cream cheese frosting was sweet but also tart, which is to be expected. My roommate really enjoyed it with the cupcake. I don't have any pictures of the lingonberry frosting because it wasn't very photogenic. Imagine a red blobby mess and that was my lingonberry frosting. I used reduced fat cream cheese in my frosting, which I think led to the softer texture. There is a very important lesson to be learned here: Don't skimp on the fat!

Scallion Pancakes

In my quest to remain in the favor of Food Network magazine, I decided to test drive another recipe from their beautiful pages. When I ran across a page with a recipe for scallion pancakes, I knew this was the one for me.

Eating scallion pancakes take me back to the days of high school, where we would frequently order Chinese food for dinner. I would undoubtedly request Chicken and Broccoli with an appetizer of Scallion Pancakes. Yum! And to think I didn't even know what these things were until I came to the United States. Horrors!

To break it down: A scallion is a mild green onion. Scallion pancakes are fried dough with scallions. And by the way, there's this amazing dipping sauce to go along with it!

Scallion Pancakes (slightly adapted from Food Network Magazine)
yields 6 pancakes

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (I used sea salt, but Kosher salt was recommended)
  
• 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, at room temperature
• 5 scallions, finely chopped
• Vegetable oil, for frying

1) Combine the flour and salt into a large bowl.

2) Stir in 1/2 cup hot water until blended. My dough was dry, so I added an additional tablespoons of water, although only 2 additional tablespoons are recommended.

3) Knead on a lightly floured surface until elastic yet firm, about 5 minutes. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside for 30 minutes.

4) Divide the dough into 6 pieces and keep covered. One at a time, roll each piece into a 4-inch-long log, then stretch into a 14-inch-long rope. Brush with shortening and sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon scallion. Coil the dough into a circle, cover and set aside. Repeat with the remaining dough.

5) Flatten the coils with your hand on a floured surface, then roll with a floured rolling pin into a thin circle. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

6) Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 pancake and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and repeat with the remaining pancakes, adding more oil as needed. Cut into wedges to serve.

But wait, did I mention the delicious dipping sauce? I didn't use the dipping sauce recipe which was provided with the scallion pancakes recipe for one reason: the recipe calls for sesame oil and there is no sesame oil in my apartment. So I scoured the Internet and found another recipe which matched the existing ingredients in my kitchen.

Ginger Dipping Sauce (slightly adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon sugar

1) Combine all ingredients and whisk to incorporate.

I really love this dipping sauce. It's salty and sweet, which is probably the greatest combination ever created. I can also drizzle the remaining sauce over white rice one day for a quick snack. I'm sure I can find other uses for it , but I haven't thought of them yet. Don't worry, I will.

I liked the final outcome of my scallion pancake endeavor, but I didn't love them. Here's why:

1. They were too dense. This might have been a result of me adding more water than recommended to the dough, but I think it was also due to the frying technique. You should probably add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan before frying each scallion pancake. I definitely could have used more oil in the frying process.

2. The recipe was time consuming. Don't get me wrong, I'll be the first person to appreciate anything made from scratch, but in all honesty, I spent several hours creating these appetizers. Unfortunately for Food Network magazine, I can purchase these for $5 in Hoboken and have them delivered within an hour. But am I still glad I made the effort? Heck, yes!

Sweet Potato & Crab Risotto

Right about now, you're probably thinking that I've fallen off my rocker.

Yep. I can't blame you. That's exactly what I thought about the person who posted this recipe on the Tastespotting website. The original recipe is actually a Pumpkin & Crab Risotto, but due to "IO Error" (for those of you who don't know, that stands for "Idiot Operator Error") it turned into my Sweet Potato & Crab Risotto. Seriously, who knew that canned pumpkin products are stashed in the grocery store's baking aisles? I posed this question to several friends and apparently everyone else knew except THIS blogger. Personally, I think this situation is quite misleading and something should be done about it. But I like sweet potatoes better than pumpkins anyway!

I also love risotto. If you've never made risotto before, know that it is a time-consuming dish to make, but it is so tasty once it's done. This recipe also yields several cups of risotto, so you can freeze leftovers to provide a quick meal later.

Sweet Potato & Crab Risotto
slightly adapted from Jennifer Adams' Pumpkin & Crab Risotto

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 cups Italian arborio rice
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup sweet potato puree**
• 1 8 ounce container mascarpone cheese
• 1 8 ounce package crab meat, shredded and cut into smaller lengths
  
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives (optional)
  

1) In a large pot, heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high, until butter foams.

2) Add minced garlic and stir for a few minutes, until slightly tan and fragrant.

3) In the microwave, warm broth for 2-3 minutes.

4) Add rice to the pot and stir for two minutes. (Keep stirring so it doesn't burn. I may have first-hand knowledge of this.)

5) Pour one cup of broth over the rice and stir until the broth is absorbed and the rice begins to thicken with creaminess.

6) For 25-30 minutes, continue attentive stirring of the rice, adding a cup of broth every few minutes once the previous broth addition is absorbed, until all of the liquid is soaked up and the rice is tender and plump. (The broth doesn't have to be completely absorbed by the rice each time. You can add more broth once you see that most of the previous broth addition has been absorbed. After the last cup of broth has been added, keep in mind that you don't want the rice to completely absorb all the liquid in the pot. This will make your risotto dry. If the rice looks creamy and not "soup-y", you can move on.)

7) Lower the heat to medium-low. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, sweet potato puree, crab meat, mascarpone cheese, maple syrup and sweet paprika.

8) Serve immediately with a sprinkle of chives. This is optional.

** To my knowledge, there is no such thing as canned sweet potato puree. But there is such a thing as canned sweet potatoes in syrup. Combine half a can of sweet potatoes with a tablespoon or two of the syrup and some water in a food processor. I used maybe a few tablespoons of water...I didn't measure but I made sure it had the consistency of a pureed vegetable. If you have spare sweet potatoes laying around, or you just want to do more work, you can use actual sweet potatoes to make this. Just dice them after they're peeled and boiled, then throw them in the food processor until pureed.
The result was a creamy, delicious transition between fall and summer. The color of the risotto turned a beautiful orange once the sweet potato puree was added. Surprisingly, the crab didn't seem out of place at all! It blends perfectly with the sweet potato flavor and makes the dish feel lighter than it actually is. The cheeses only enhanced the creaminess factor. (And as we all know now, I love cheese. Especially melted cheese.). The paprika added a little bit of spice. If you want more spice, you can add more to the risotto. Or you could experiment with adding a dash of chili powder, to really up the ante!

If you're planning on recreating this dish using pumpkin instead of sweet potato, let me know how it turns out! I'd love to hear reactions to the pumpkin, since I wasn't able to make it myself. This recipe is absolutely delicious and I think it would remain delicious, regardless of whether sweet potatoes or pumpkins are used. Enjoy!