Wilted Romaine Salad With Roasted Pears Taleggio And Hazelnuts Recipes

ROMAINE WILTED SALAD

Steps:

• 1. Boil eggs until hard, about 10 minutes.
• 2. While eggs are boiling, cut romaine into small pieces.
• 3. Cut bacon into bite size pieces and cook until crispy. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the rendered fat.
• 4. Peel eggs and cut into quarters, add to romaine. Chop onion and add to the romaine and eggs. Sprinkle bacon on top.
• 5. While bacon fat is still hot, add sugar and carefully add vinegar, cook until almost boiling and sugar is dissolved. Pour over salad while dressing is still hot and serve right away.

PENNE WITH TUNA AND WILTED ROMAINE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with a rack set on the middle shelf.
• Drain the tuna, reserving the oil, about 1/3 cup. If you do not have 1/3 cup oil from the tuna, add enough extra-virgin olive oil to yield 1/3 cup.
• Use your hands to tear the bread slices into large pieces and put in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until only fine crumbs remain, about 2 cups. Place the breadcrumbs on a baking sheet and toss with the reserved tuna oil. Season liberally with salt. Bake until light golden brown and crispy, 10 to 12 minutes, gently tossing the crumbs occasionally. Cool slightly on a cooling rack, and then use your hands to break up any large chunks.
• Meanwhile, bring a large stockpot of salted water to a boil (it should taste like sea water).
• While the water is coming to a boil, make the pasta sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large, straight-sided skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and a large pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Cook until the garlic softens and starts to lightly brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the grape tomatoes, capers and white wine. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the tomatoes start to soften and the wine is reduced by half, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the romaine and drained tuna. Season liberally with salt and cook until the romaine is completely wilted and the tuna is heated through, 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat.
• Cook the pasta in the salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water, and then drain the pasta.
• Toss the pasta with the tuna sauce in a large mixing bowl. Use as little or as much of the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce to your taste. Season with additional salt and crushed red pepper flakes if needed.
• To serve, divide the pasta among 4 to 6 plates, top with the toasted breadcrumbs and drizzle with additional olive oil.

ROMAINE PEAR SALAD

Steps:

• Mix balsamic vinegar, sugar, celery salt, salt and oil together and stir until sugar is dissolved.
• Toast walnuts, slice pears & strawberries. Break lettuces up into bite size pieces in large bowl. Top with walnuts, pears, strawberries and feta. Pour dressing over salad. You might not need all of the dressing - use according to your taste.

TALEGGIO AND PEAR PANINI

Steps:

• Preheat the panini machine. Cut the ciabatta loaf into 4 equal pieces. Halve each piece horizontally to make 4 sandwiches. Brush the bread on both sides with olive oil and place the bottom-half of the bread slices in the panini machine in a single layer. Heat until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Continue with the remaining top slices of bread.
• While the top slices of the bread are in the Panini machine, begin forming the sandwiches. Divide the cheese among the warm bread. Cover the cheese with slices of fruit. Drizzle the fruit with honey. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with a handful of arugula. Place the warmed top half of the bread over the arugula and return the competed sandwich to the panini machine for 1 to 2 minutes more to finish melting the cheese. Remove from the panini machine. Cut the sandwiches in half and serve immediately.