Mario Batali's Arista Toscana

Happen to catch a new show on in the day time called "The Chew", a fun cast with varied recipes throughout the program.  Mario Batali prepared this recipe for pork it looked so good and seemed pretty simple to do so that was dinner that night.  I find the biggest stumbling block to cooking is deciding what to make, many times I stare at what I have available and then figure out what I can make without going to the grocery store.  Although I am .7 of a mile to the grocery store there are times you just don't want to go out again.  This was simple & hearty, always great when you can throw something in the oven and then use that baking time to get things done.  I served it with Japanese Sweet Potato mashed with toasted pecans which has a dark purple skin but inside is almost white, it had a slightly milder taste than our traditional orange yam.

Mario Batali's Arista Toscana

---adapted slightly

Ingredients:

Garlic Cloves (he calls for 24.....seemed a lot to me so I probably halved it0
2 Fennel bulbs sliced thin
    -----save Fennel tops (fronds), throw out ribs
4 large onions sliced thin
1/2 c olive oil
6-7 pounds Pork Loin Roast (he calls for bone in, I used boneless but would love to try it              again with the bone in cut just couldn't get it that day)  
salt & pepper
3 c whole milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°

Smash 1/2 of garlic into a paste and put in bottom of roaster pan, add onion slices, fennel.

Make slits into pork and stick garlic cloves into them, salt & pepper generously.  Pour milk, some oil onto onion mixture, then lay pork on top of onion/fennel mixture, lay fennel tops over pork.  Roast 60-75 minutes reaching internal temp of 145° then remove meat to carving board.
Blend 1/2 of onion fennel liquid mixture in blender adding a drizzle of olive oil to form a sauce consistency.
Arrange slices of pork over the rest of sliced onion/fennel and pass blended sauce in gravy dish.

I used the emersion blender.

Creamy Mascarpone Cheese And Wild Arugula Pasta

I'm a big fan of NPR, always enjoyed it on the radio but my current car came with Sirius Radio which I didn't think I would use that much but my husband would have bought the car just for that.  In fact he has been swayed by a car for its stereo system before, I just wasn't that into it.  However I spend a lot of hours on the road so after the 6 months of free Sirius I was convinced to buy the subscription.........6 months free has to have been a great promotion for Sirius.  Well if you haven't heard Click and Clack you gotta check it out online, between the Boston accents and their infectious laughter it'll give you an hour of fun whether you are into cars or not.  My father in law is a huge "Prairie Home Companion" fan, we would often listen to that coming home from State College after Penn State games with him.  The NPR website is a wealth of information on all types of subjects so when I saw this article on Arugula and I had a ton of it in my refrigerator I had my dinner side dish for the night.  The recipes in this article come from Susan Russo who is a contributor to "Kitchen Window" and her blog Food Blogga  is a great find for new ideas, especially after a visit to a farmers market.   This pasta recipe is really simple, easy, quick and for me could have been the whole meal. A good meal if you are home alone and you'll have some to reheat the next day---maybe.

Link for NPR article:
Fresh, Feisty Arugula:  More Than a Salad Green

Creamy Mascarpone Cheese And Wild Arugula Pasta

Ingredients:

1/2 lb spiral pasta  (Barilla Plus  my favorite)

3 oz mascarpone cheese (I used 6 oz)

zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

2 T pasta water  (I used 1/4 cup)

3 c packed arugula

4 T fresh grated parmigiana cheese (I stirred some into the pasta also)

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

extra olive oil for drizzling

Directions:

In a large pot, cook pasta in salted water till al dente.

Meanwhile in small bowl whisk mascarpone cheese, lemon zest & juice, salt & pepper, and hot pasta water until smooth and creamy.

Drain pasta, add back to pot with arugula and toss.  

Add cheese mixture and toss till coated.

Divide onto plates, top with grated parmigiana, red pepper flakes, and drizzle of olive oil if desired.

I add a bit of grated lemon zest on top
with the cheese and red pepper flakes.

Served it with Tilapia sprinkled with Old
Bay on Spinach.