Roasted Beef Tenderloin

Ahhh the beef tenderloin. The melt in your mouth, buttery, impress your guests cut of meat. It's pricey and somewhat intimidating but SO worth it. I promise! The next time you want to cook a special meal. This should be it. I used a 3 lb cut, and it was about $29.

First things first. Lets prep the meat. The tenderloin will have a layer of fat on the surface. You will want to use a sharp knife and trim the fat off. Some of the fat will be in the middle of the meat, try to trim it the best you can. I ended up cutting the tenderloin into 3 pieces and it still came out perfect. 

(That's my husband helping me! ^)

Next, and a very important step. DRY the meat! No meat will ever brown or crust properly unless you dry off any liquid from it! So just take some paper towels and gently pay dry the tenderloin. 

Seasoning. I used just regular seasoned salt. Save the pepper until after browning, because it will burn while cooking. 

Preheat your oven to 475. In a medium sauté pan, heat a few drizzles of olive oil. On a high flame, start to brown each side of the tenderloin. We aren't cooking it, we just want a nice brown crust. So as soon as all sides look brown, remove immediately. 

Now place the tenderloin in a roasting pan, on a rack. 

Add.....BUTTER. Lots of butter. Nobody said it was going to be healthy! But it will be oh so good!

Stick a meat thermometer in. 

Place in the oven, and roast until temp reaches 120 for perfectly medium rare. 

Make sure you rest the meat for approx 10 minutes so it stays juicy and tender. 

Enjoy! 

Grilled Pizza!

I was trying to think of a fresh, quick, easy appetizer for summer. I came up with this grilled pizza perfect for entertaining or a quick dinner. 

Prosciutto, burrata cheese, over lemon arugula sprinkled with sea salt. It's the perfect combination of salty, creamy and fresh lemon. Burrata cheese is a type of softened, creamy mozzarella and you will fall in love with it! 

The second pizza is ricotta cheese and roasted heirloom tomatoes. These tomatoes are roasted until they are crunchy, sweet and full of garlic. 

Enjoy!

Grilled pizza with prosciutto, burrata cheese, over lemon arugula with sea salt. 

You will need:

• A stove top grill pan OR an outside grill

• 6 slices of prosciutto 

• 1 ball of burrata cheese, room temp   and drained. 

• half bag of arugula 

• juice of 1 lemon

• sea salt and cracked pepper

Separate the dough into 2 sections. Using a rolling pin and flour, roll the dough into a round pie shape. 

Heat the grill pan on a medium-low flame and grease the pain lightly with oil. 

Once hot, drizzle the dough with a bit of olive oil and place it oil side down. Grill about 6-7 minutes on each side, checking to make sure there are nice grill marks and that it isn't burning. Then flip. 

While the pizza is grilling, mix the arugula with the lemon juice and a dash of salt and pepper. 

Remove the pizza, add arugula and spoon the burrata cheese over it. Start to shred the prosciutto with your hands and place around the pizza. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and enjoy! Pairs great with a nice cold white wine!

                         Up next......

Grilled pizza with ricotta cheese and roasted heirloom tomatoes

You will need:

• A stovetop grill pan or outside grill

• 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

• 1 package of small heirloom tomatoes

• 4 garlic cloves minced

• salt and pepper

• 1/3 cup olive oil

Start by adding the minced garlic to olive oil, add salt and pepper and let sit for 30 minutes to infuse the garlic flavor. 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In the mean time, wash the tomatoes, then cut into slices. 

Foil a baking sheet, add tomatoes, and pour the olive oil garlic mixture on top. Roast for 1 hour until they are brown and garlicky. 

Heat your grill pan on medium low flame. Roll out the pizza dough again, drizzle with olive oil and place oil side down the grill. 

Grill for about 7 minutes each side. Check for good grill marks then flip. 

Top with ricotta cheese, add the tomatoes and sprinkle with sea salt. So easy, fresh and delicious! Enjoy! 

Make your own pasta!

I have always thought of making your own pasta a daunting, time consuming task. It is....but it is SO worth it. Trust me. I had a whole Sunday afternoon to myself, so I grabbed my ingredients, put on some italian opera music, and poured myself some wine. The results were SO GOOD! AND your guests will be really really impressed!

Spinach Ricotta Ravioli Filling:

1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta

1 egg

1/3 cup FRESH grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper 

1 frozen container chopped spinach. Thawed and drained. 

Mix together all ingredients, use salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to fill ravioli. 

Pasta

You will need:

3 1/2 cups of "00" Italian flour 

(You can use regular flour, but 00 has less gluten which makes the pasta not so "doughy")

6 eggs ROOM TEMPERATURE 

Lets get started. I used my kitchen aid mixer (the second love of my life) to make the dough. If you don't have one, just make a pile of the flour with a well in the middle. Add eggs in the middle and slowly start to incorporate the ingredients.  

If using a stand mixer, attach the dough hook. Then add half the flour and half the eggs. Put on low speed to mix. When it looks like they are mostly combined, add the remaining flour and eggs. 

The dough might start to look crumbly. That's ok. 

Keep mixing! 

When the dough sticks the hook and all is combined, remove and sit it on a floured surface. 

Start kneading the dough. You do not want it to be sticky, because you will never be able to shape it. I added quite a bit of flour during the kneading process. Push the dough down with both hands, and push away from you. Repeat until it is shiny, smooth and satiny. Now wrap the dough in cling wrap tightly, set aside and let rest for about 30-35 minutes. 

After the dough has rested, it's time to get started on your ravioli! 

You definitely do not need a pasta maker, it's just more work with a rolling pin. You will want the dough as thin as you can get it! 

I used an Atlas 150 (thanks for the gift Dad!) and it was super easy and got the job done quickly. 

• Cut your dough into 4 sections

• Use a rolling pin to flatten out the dough so it fits into the pasta machine

• Begin turning the handle to get the machine rolling on the widest setting. 

Roll the dough about 2 times through each setting. Just keep making the settings thinner until you can almost see through the dough! The pasta will double in size when boiled, so that's why it needs to be paper thin. 

Now lets make those raviolis! 

Take the filling out of the fridge and set aside. 

Take the pasta sheets and lay them on a well floured surface so it doesn't stick. 

Cut the dough into large squares. Each square will equal 1 ravioli. 

Fill each square with 1 teaspoon of filling. Fold over and gently tap around the edges to remove the air from the inside. 

Trim the edges evenly with a knife and use a fork to seal the outside. 

On a foiled baking sheet, sprinkle corn meal so the pasta does not stick. 

Repeat until you have the desired amount of ravioli. I did 16 for 2 people....but the next day I wish I had done more so I had left overs! 

Now lets get saucy! I wanted a light, creamy tomato sauce. I didn't want a heavy sauce to over power the ravioli. 

Tomato Cream Basil Sauce

You will need:

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon ricotta cheese

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoon chopped, fresh basil 

1/3 cup grated, fresh Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste 

4-5 cloves of minced garlic

Heat a large sauce pan on medium and drizzle about 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. 

Add garlic and sauté until fragrant. 

Add the crushed tomatoes, ricotta, cream, basil, sugar, cheese and salt and pepper. 

Stir and cook on low flame for about 30 minutes. Taste to see if you need more seasoning. 

Cooking the pasta:

Boil a large pot of salted water. Start to cook the ravioli in small groups so they do not stick together. Cook for about 7 minutes. Gently remove with a hand strainer and serve with sauce! 

This recipe was so fresh and delicious! It was well worth the work!!! Enjoy!