Rustic Comfort Food

I especially enjoy rustic comfort food during the winter. I made both of these dishes using whatever ingredients were in my pantry and refrigerator at the time.

I only had a couple ounces of store bought Italian sausage so I made meatballs to stretch the meat. I livened up the Italian sausage with some fresh thyme and parsley as well as some minced garlic, ground fennel seed, and ground coriander. When making meatballs or meatloaf you want to use more bread than one would normally think. The ratio is about two parts meat to one part bread. I like to use fresh bread crumbs soaked in water with the excess water wrung out. This makes the finished meatball more moist and tender. The reason I used penne was that my girlfriend wanted whole wheat pasta and penne was the only kind I had.

Meatballs, Whole Wheat Penne, Tomato Sauce














There was a butternut squash sitting in my kitchen for about a week, so I decided to make butternut squash risotto. I like my risotto to be really creamy so, once the rice is cooked, I add enough stock off the heat until the risotto moves in a wave when the pan is shaken. I garnished with butternut squash that I had blanched then sauteed as well as good extra virgin olive oil and some torn parsley.

Butternut Squash Risotto