Greek Omelette, Stuffed Strawberries, and Fresh Pasta: Good weekend eats at home

I know some of you probably read the title and thought, “Well that’s random.”  And yeah, it pretty well is, now that I put it on paper.  The thing is, I spent a weekend making lots of great stuff, and couldn’t help but share it with everyone.  Have I mentioned I love cooking with my husband? It’s good for relationships, a great team-building project.  And best of all, the outcome is pretty scrumptious.  What I’m sharing with you today is easier than they sound, which as many of you may know, that’s my kind of food.

My older brother has grown pretty infamous for what we called, his “garbage omelettes.”  Quite literally, he’d just about clean out the refrigerator into a skillet with some eggs, then dig in.  This made for some pretty strange flavor combinations, and occasionally some really disturbing smells, but I learned a lot from this technique.  Difference being, I usually try to keep a common flavor profile, which brings me to my first offering.  Last weekend we surveyed our fridge and said, “Let’s go Greek.” Normally we don’t make ours individually, just kind of Uncle Buck it by grabbing out largest skillet and dividing when folded.

Greek Omelette

• 2 scallions, roughly chopped
• 1/4 chopped onion

• 1/4 chopped green pepper
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 minced cloves garlic
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 Tbsp. Capers
• 1 Tbsp. sun dried tomatoes
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. parsley
• 1/2 tsp. dill
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 – 1/2 Cup crumbled feta
• 2 Tbsp. hummus (optional)

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil, then add the onion, green pepper, and garlic, cooking until soft.  When onions are translucent, remove from skillet and set aside.  In a small bowl, beat the eggs together, adding salt and pepper to taste.  Pour into hot skillet.  Add oregano, parsley, dill, red pepper flakes, sun dried tomatoes, capers, scallions, and feta, sprinkling evenly over the eggs.  Maintain on medium-low heat until the eggs have cooked through, and the feta is somewhat melted – feta doesn’t melt very well in this recipe, and will stay in a relatively crumbled state.  Fold in half, and serve with a dollop of hummus, if desired.

This next recipe was so easy, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it.  I first discovered these back in college, when a classmate brought in these delights to a carry-in.  She told me what she used, but left out exact amounts.  Like me, she liked to go on the “that looks right” scale of measurement.  Luckily, over time I’ve learned enough to eyeball, which is the heart of formulating many of the recipes I share.  What we have here are cheesecake stuffed strawberries.  Think over the awesomeness of that last sentence.  I’m only sad that this is my first opportunity to make these.  They’re bite-sized strawberry cheesecakes without all the extra sugar and eggs, plus they have only four ingredients!

For this recipe you could use cream cheese instead of neufactel; the only difference being that cream cheese uses both milk and heavy cream to make it whereas neufactel is only made with milk, making it naturally lower in fat while keeping the same flavor.  If you know you’ll be making these far enough in advance, I recommend you save a few egg cartons to store these.  It sure beats fighting to keep them upright in a bowl.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

• 2 lbs. of strawberries
• 1 8 oz. block of neufactel
• 1/2 C confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 C graham cracker crumbs (optional)

With a mixer, beat together neufactel, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla until fluffy and well blended.  Set aside.

Rinse and hull the strawberries. If you don’t have  fancy gadget for that, don’t worry. Rip off the leaves, and with a paring knife carve a hole down the middle of the strawberry, about midway down in depth.  When your berries are ready, scoop your fluffy mixture into a piping bag (the one you use for cake decoration) and shove the nozzle into the hole in the strawberry, squeezing some of that nuefactel goodness in, pulling up as you fill.  leave about a 1/2″ tall mound on top.  Repeat, repeat, repeat! Top with graham cracker crumbs if desired.  If there is any filling left, put it in a small bowl for additional dipping.

The final thing we made this weekend was home made pasta.  I had no idea it was so easy!  I’m not saying this will stop me from ever buying pasta again; I’m not sure I have the skill to achieve some of the shapes I need for other things.  But I am saying that it’s cheap, it’s easy, and it cooks very quickly.  A basic pasta maker runs from $25-40 dollars, and I strongly recommend the investment.  

The standard (and easy to remember) recipe for good old wheat pasta is this: 1/2 C flour and 1 egg per person.  So in our case, we used a cup of flour and two eggs.  It really was the perfect amount.  Flour into a large bowl first, make a well in the center to add the eggs.  Knead until solid.  Run through the flattening rollers of your pasta maker, adjusting to tighter widths until desired thickness. Then roll through the cutters. It’s ready to cook! Toss in a pot of boiling water for about a minute – that’s all the time really fresh pasta needs to cook, so I strongly suggest you wait until the rest of your meal is ready to boil.  The vital thing to remember about fresh pasta, is that in the time between making the rolling and cutting the pasta and cooking the pasta, you really need to stretch it out straight somewhere, or it will mold together into one big mass.  The only way to fix this is to run it back through the machine again.  We learned the hard way.  But now we know to drape fettuccine over the back of a chair while we make the sauce.  According to G.I.Joe, knowing is half the battle.

Tip of the week: On average, an unopened gallon of milk will keep up to ten days after the printed expiration.  Once opened, I advise drinking it fast.