Birthday Feast #3: Roli Roti Porchetta & Roast Pork Loin Sliders w/caramelized onions

This is where the pictures get even more incomplete! Above are some sliders I made with a mix of leftover porchetta, roast pork and caramelized onions the next day for hangover lunch. If I had arugula, I would have added that too.

If you’ve never had a Roli Roti sandwich before, get yourself to San Francisco’s Ferry Building on a Saturday for one–yummy roast pork belly wrapped around pork tenderloin and spices with arugula and caramelized onions on a crusty roll. They published their recipe for porchetta a few months ago, but at 7 lbs of meat, it was definitely something I needed guests to help me finish. Through some miscommunication with the butcher at the Asian market who didn’t speak the same language as me, my 5 lb piece of pork belly came in two pieces and my 2 lbs of pork tenderloin also came in two pieces, which resulted in a bit of a franken-pork roast. Compounded by the fact that I’ve never tied meat before, it was a bit messy (but it was fine):

Seriously, Best Lasagna Ever (thank you Smitten Kitchen!)

You have to make this! I don’t normally eat a lot of lasagna: I never order it at restaurants and we have it at home rarely. However, Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe and hailed it as her culinary Mount Everest, which piqued my interest. Soon after, Tuna Toast called it The Best Lasagna Ever. Boy, were they right!! Something that’s often a dense gut bomb was transformed into a light but comforting meal that had me looking forward to dinner several nights this week. Call me Garfield.

It takes some time to put together, but the methods aren’t difficult. The bolognese I knew I could handle. However, pasta was new for me. I got a KitchenAid pasta attachment for Christmas last year and had yet to use it. I’d previously attempted bechamel twice for moussaka and failed both times. Deb’s directions seemed straightforward so I went for it. We hibernated last weekend after consecutive weekends out of town, so I had the time to enjoy the process.

Cioppino

Apparently, winter months make me crazy for crab. Two years ago, I was living in Chicago and went all over town searching for Dungeness crab…but it was so expensive I got stone crab instead. Last year, in addition to the usual crab feeds, I had a jones for lobster rolls, which turned into crab rolls. This year, we’ve had steamed crab and Annie’s mac n cheese…

Polenta Lasagna

Yes, its kinda ugly but it tasted good!

There are a few things I will always order if I see it on a menu: polenta and brussels sprouts. My cousin made a vegetarian version of this lasagna a few months ago and it was awesome. You can put whatever you want in it. Hers had portabellas, ricotta, spinach and yellow squash. I made mine with spicy Italian sausage, padron peppers, eggplant, green pattypan squash, and a mixture of parmesan and cheddar cheese.

The recipe is super flexible based on whatever you have around. I think I need to find another brand for polenta in a tube because mine didn’t get as mushy as my cousin’s. Oh well…still good and an easy way to sneak in a lot of vegetables. I could reduce or eliminate the meat entirely.

Whole Wheat Pizza Bites

I hate showing up at someone’s house empty-handed. I learned it from my mom. She would always show up at peoples’ houses with something to share: a box of mangoes she got on sale, a bulging bag of goodies from her garden, a tiny pepper plant, or freshly baked zucchini bread.

Sure, wine is a no brainer but we eat at my cousins’ houses often enough that I feel like I should contribute something more. However, impromptu weeknight dinners always pose a challenge: what can I prepare in the 30-45 minutes I have between getting home and heading over for dinner?

Last week, it was pizza bites inspired by Annie’s Eats. I made a batch of Bittman’s whole wheat pizza dough the night before. We took walnut-sized balls of dough, flattened them out and stuffed them with various combinations of mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, marinara and sun-dried tomato pesto. I put the balls seam-side-down, brushed the tops with olive oil, and sprinkled parmesan cheese and oregano on top. I baked them at 400F for about 20 minutes.