Vegetarian – Page 5 – The Constables Larder

Chard Leaves Stuffed with Mushroom Risotto

Tonight I adapted Mark Bittman’s post on Chard Stuffed with Risotto and Mozarella, which he in turn adapted from the restaurant La Zucca Magica in Nice. It makes for fabulous comfort food or a rich first course. Yum. If you make the dish, you might find his short video useful. It’s also really fast to put together if you have made the risotto in advance. Did I say yum already?

My version was to make a mushroom and shallot risotto with chicken broth (Bittman went with a lemon-saffron risotto). Vegetable broth would work quite well for you vegetarians out there.

Shallot and Mushroom Risotto
(Makes enough for 6 medium-sized stuffed chard leaves)
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cup arborio rice
2 medium shallots, finely diced or minced
1 cup white button mushrooms, thinly sliced*
6 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable)
splash of dry white wine
olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat your stock (I used a homemade chicken stock) in a saucepan until it very lightly simmering.

In a thick bottomed pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter and a dash of olive oil over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the shallots and cook for a minute or so, stirring regularly to prevent any sticking. Then add the mushrooms and continue cooking and stirring for several minutes until the juices from the mushrooms start to emerge. Add the arborio rice and stir it in until it is coated with the butter. Add a few turnings of salt and pepper grinders.

With a ladle, start adding the stock, never pouring more than 1/2 cup worth of liquid in at a time. Stir as continuously as you can bear (continuously is preferrable), and when most of the stock has been absorbed or evaporated, ladle in some more. You don’t want the rice to ever get too soupy or too dry — it should remain bubbling. After a few ladles-worth of stock, add a dash of dry white wine, stir in, then go back to adding stock.

Most cookbooks recommend that you start tasting your risotto after 20 minutes of cooking. You want the rice to be cooked but still have a bit of a crunch. In my case, the risotto took 25 minutes of cooking. If you don’t have quite enough stock, continue with water.

* Note: many folks use fancier mushrooms for risotto, such as porcini or shitake; those are delicious, but button mushrooms are cheaper and still quite good.

Stuffing & Cooking the Chard Leaves

6 Chard Leaves (or as many as you need)
Fresh mozarella, loosely diced
1/2 cup of broth (chicken or vegetable)
parmesan cheese, grated
olive oil

You’ll want to let the risotto cool before you proceed to the next step (of course, you won’t have this issue if you are using leftover risotto from the fridge). You’ll want to have a medium to large chard leaf for each risotto ball you are making.

With a sharp knife, remove the thick stalk running up the center of the chard leaves, leaving the two halves of each leaf connected by 2 or 3 inches of leaf at the top. Then parboil the leaves in boiling water for about 30 or 40 seconds.

Using your hands, make medium-sized balls of the risotto (I went with about 2.5 inches in diameter). As Bittman put it, it’s rather like making a small snowball. Then push in one side to create a cavity. Place a few pieces of mozarella in the cavity, then close up the ball around it.

Place the risotto ball at the point of the chard leaf where the two halves of the leaf connect, and the snugly wrap each leaf half around it until it is entirely covered.

Place the stuffed leaves snugly in a small/medium-sized baking dish, and pour some broth over top — enough to fill the dish with about a half-inch of broth. Then bake for 20 minutes at 400F.

Serve by dribbling some of the broth from the baking dish over the top and add a dribble of olive oil and some grated parmesan cheese. Some fresh pepper is nice as well. Note: I decided that this particular rendition of the dish was better without the lemon zest garnish Bittman uses in his version.

In the spirit of experimentation, I played with using collard green leaves as well for the wrapping and the verdict was clear: the chard was absolutely delicious; the collard greens were very quickly voted off the island!

A big thank you to La Zucca Magica and Mark Bittman for bringing this one to the rest of the world. Did I mention “yum”?

Fusilli, Ricotta w/ Lemon, Tomatoes and Corn

Earlier today I came across Food Blogga’s Penne with Fresh Ricotta and Baby Heirloom Tomatoes, which is a beautiful take on a classic combination (just go look at her photographs – absolutely killer), and there was no question what I was having for dinner tonight. Food Blogga (aka Susan) had these amazing baby heirloom tomatoes, but I was stuck with something a lot less appealing — tomato envy. However, I had some grape tomatoes (poor chaps, buck up, it’s hard to compete with the fashion models) and had picked up some fresh sweet corn. Here’s my riff:

1/2 lb fusilli
1 cup grape tomatoes
1 ear, very fresh sweet corn
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup of ricotta cheese
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp pine nuts
handful of fresh parsley, chopped
handful of fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper

Halve the tomatoes and combine in a bowl with the lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, basil, and some grindings of salt and pepper. I was in a hurry so I microwaved the corn in the husk for 2 1/2 minutes, let it cool for a few, then cut the kernals from the ear and mixed into the bowl.

Heat a small saute pan (ideally non-stick) over medium heat and toast the pine nuts for a couple of minutes, periodically shaking the pan to roll the nuts.

Boil the fusilli until al dente (with dried pasta, about 10 minutes). When done, reserve a cup of the cooking liquid. Drain the pasta and return to the pot, then mix in the ricotta cheese and about 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid until the pasta is well coated. Stir in most of the grated parmesan.

Note 1: The Kitchn writes of an interesting approach where the ricotta is warmed in a bowl over the boiling pasta. Note 2. 101 Cookbooks has a post on making your own ricotta (mine was store bought whole milk ricotta).

Add the herbs and vegetables, as well as the pine nuts, and lightly toss. Taste and if you feel that the texture is a little dry, add a little more of the reserved cooking liquid or squeeze some fresh lemon juice and lightly toss again.

Sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese on top when serving. I think this dish goes really nicely with a Sancerre or an Australian or New Zealand Sauvingon Blanc (the Chilean Sauv’s are improving as well).

Experimenting with Peach Salsa

Some friends spoiled us the other week with a brilliant dish of mahi mahi covered in peach salsa, so I’ve been in the mood for it since. I decided to try a recipe for peach and avocado salsa I saw posted on Foodbuzz by TiffyC (that link will take you to the ingredients). It was good but I think I would hold the avocado next time (personal preference, not the fault of the recipe). I did a little experimentation with vinegars and the apple cider vinegar came out on top; I also tried adding chopped mint and liked the result.

Note: If I had used my head, I would have held the avocado and peach till last and chopped/mixed up all the other ingredients first to prevent mushiness with stirring (not the recipe’s fault since it calls for a light hand, but I was playing with flavors — in any case I think it makes most sense to add the peach and avocado last, lightly mix, then chill).

I ended up deciding that my own inclination pointed towards the more fruity recipe our friend Caroline used and was kind enough to share with me:

2 large ripe peaches, finely diced
2 tbsp jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 large navel orange, supremed with juice
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Vegetarian Lasagna; Strawberries with Basil and Honey

My kitchen is a complete disaster area right now. I’d share a picture but it might short out your monitor. The silver lining is that my first attempt at a vegetarian lasagna was successful (your first, you cry! ah but tis true — normally Lisl is the lasagna champ in this household but she’s on a plane to the UK). And so with no further ado:

Lasagna Components
2 golden zucchini (green zucchini or summer squash would work)
2 red or orange bell peppers
big handful of white button mushrooms
lasagna pasta
basil
parmesan cheese
mozzarella cheese
bechamel sauce (flour, butter, milk – see below)

Tomato Sauce
1 medium yellow or vidalia onion
3 cloves of garlic
14 oz can of skinless, whole tomatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper
cayenne pepper
bay leaf
parsley

Note on above picture: I didn’t end up using the orange pepper or green zucchini

Whip up a tomato sauce: in some olive oil, saute the finely chopped onion on moderate heat, then add the garlic, minced. Add the tomatoes, half a teaspoon of salt, some grindings of pepper, a healthy pinch of cayenne pepper, a bay leaf, and a handful of chopped parsley (I also added a touch of white wine). Do not chop up the tomatoes yet, but rather bring to a boil then let it lightly simmer uncovered for an hour if time permits. Then remove bay leaf and chop and mix the tomatoes with your spatula. Note: you don’t want this sauce to be too watery, or your lasagna will be equally watered down.

Fire up your grill or broiler. Char the peppers on all sides and place in a paper or plastic bag for 10 minutes. Then peel off the skin and remove the seeds and stem.

Thinly slice the zucchini lengthwise, drizzle with olive oil and grill or broil briefly, taking care not to burn.

Thinly slice the mushrooms and saute them in a little butter and olive oil.

Next, create a bechamel sauce (white sauce). I decided to reference a few sources here and amusingly everyone differed. For a single cup of milk: Marcella Hazan used 2 tbsp of butter and 1.5 tbsp of flour; Julia Child used 1 tbsp of butter and 1.5 tbsp of flour; and Mark Bittman was right in the middle, with 1.5 tbsp of butter and 1.5 tbsp of flour.

I ended up going the Hazan route more or less. Heat the milk in a saucepan, with a dash of salt, until it starts to bubble. In another saucepan, melt the butter over low heat and then wisk in the flour. Remove from heat and slowly add in the hot milk, wisking aggressively. Continue to cook over low heat, wisking, if you want to thicken the sauce.

For the construction of the lasagna, I used “oven ready” pasta so I didn’t need to pre-soften but actually I would have preferred the latter since it would have made it easier to cut the pasta to fit my baking dish. I used a smaller but deeper pan than normal because I went multi-layer.

My layers (as best I can remember):
1. thin layer of bechamel, 2. pasta, 3. thin layer of tomato sauce, 4. zucchini, 5. grated parmesan cheese, 6. bechamel sauce, 7. pasta, 8. tomato sauce, 9. basil leaves, 10. bell peppers, 11. sauted mushrooms, 12. pasta, 13. tomato sauce, 14. grated parmesan cheese and torn chunks of mozzarella cheese.

I tend to cook light on salt, but you can always sprinkle a touch of salt and/or pepper on a layer or two as you form the lasagna. When complete, place in the oven for 45 minutes at 350F, or until mozzarella on top starts to brown.

Wish my pictures had come out better…

Strawberries, Basil and Honey

For dessert, I tried a very simple but surprisingly good combination I picked up over at Lucullian Delights, thanks to the Food Blog Search. It doesn’t get much easier than this: cut up your strawberries, chop up some basil, drizzle on some honey, and mix it all together. What’s really interesting is that the basil starts taking on the flavor of cloves.

Stuffed Eggplant with Greek Flavors

Lisl found herself missing authentic Greek food this weekend, and we had picked up some lovely young eggplants at the farm on Sunday. What she really wanted was Papoutsakia, which has ground beef and cheese, however there hadn’t been any time to pick up meat at the supermarket so I went vegetarian. I found a recipe on Epicurious that I modified to my needs, and was happy with the net results.

3 small to medium eggplants
2 large handfuls of fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese, chopped into small cubes
1/2 cup of black kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped or cut into thin strips
1 yellow or vidalia onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
salt and pepper

Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and score them in a crisscross fashion with a sharp knife, making sure not to cut all the way through to the skin. I used a metal teaspoon to scoop out the meat in the middle of the eggplants, making sure not to dig too close to the skin, and creating little eggplant “boats” (the scoring makes it easier to scoop the meat out and helps define the thickness of the edges).

Lightly salt the flesh side of the boats and place down on some paper towel to drain for about 20 minutes. Chop up the scooped eggplant, salt and let drain in a colander for 20 minutes. Then try to pick up any extra moisture with a paper towel.

Lightly coat the top of the eggplant boats with olive oil and either grill (face down) or broil (face up) the eggplant for about 5 minutes, being careful not to burn them. Then in a skillet, add several tablespoons of olive oil and cook the chopped eggplant until golden Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are almost translucent. Turn off the heat and add the tomatoes, parsley, feta and olives. Salt and pepper to taste. If the mixture seems too dry, add a touch of water to moisten it up, since it will dry some when baked.

If your kalamata olives are not pitted, smash each one with the flat side of your chopping knife (kind of like peeling garlic). This should make it pretty easy to remove the pit with your fingers.

In a baking dish, fill each boat with a hefty portion of the stuffing and if you want, drizzle a tiny bit more virgin olive oil on top. Now the Epicurious recipe calls for broiling the dish for another 5 minutes, however I found that the eggplant boats needed to cook (melt) a little more, so I would recommend baking for 15 minutes at 350F before turning on the broiler for a few minutes at the very end.

We ate these with some fresh corn and it was quite satisfying, although with more time it would have been fun to add some other Greek elements to the plate.

Summer Bean Salad

We’re back up in the Catskills and dropped in at our favorite local farm stand. I got to walk into the fields and pick a peck of fresh parsley, which is always fun for a city boy like me. Continuing on the vegetarian bent, and armed with fresh corn, tomatoes and peppers, I whipped up a simple bean salad (I was put in the mood by Food Blogga, who had gone with more of a Southwestern bent).

1 can red kidney beans
1 can chick peas
1/2 red onion, loosely chopped
big handful of red and orange cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 (hot) fresh jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
2 ears of corn
2 lemons
olive oil
fresh oregano
fresh lemon basil
salt and pepper

Thoroughly rinse the kidney beans and chick peas in a colander, removing any loose skins. Let drain, and add to salad bowl along with the tomatoes, red onion, and jalapeno.

I normally prefer to grill corn, but time was limited so I cooked each ear of corn (with the husk still on) in the microwave for 2 min, 40 seconds. After it cooled slightly, I removed the husk (be careful not to burn yourself) and then cut the kernals off the cob with a sharp knife, setting the cob pointing vertical and slicing downward, then rotating to do another downward cut (note to self: see if there’s a better way).

I wanted a really clean flavor for the salad, so kept the dressing simple by combining the juice of two lemons, some olive oil, a small handful each of chopped oregano and lemon basil, and some salt and pepper. We didn’t have time to let it all marinate together, but when a salad like this is well mixed you get a wonderful combination of flavor with each bite.

Better than candy!

Right off the farm.

Zucchini Falafel (thank you Haalo)

Last night I decided to try the Zucchini Falafel recipe from Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once. Let’s just say that when both Lisl and I go back for thirds, it’s a winner. I’m not going to duplicate the recipe here since you can follow that link above to the source, and I followed it pretty closely for once. My comments: I decided to fry them in about an inch of corn oil (the diameter of my falafels were about an inch) and the result was delicious and crispy. If you would prefer to bake, Haalo has some tips in this comment (link).

I served them with a dipping sauce of natural greek yogurt mixed with a few drops of Sriracha hot chili sauce. I also whipped up a basic summer salad of tomatoes, peppers, shallots, spring onions, and cilantro with a dressing of olive oil, lime, rice vinegar and a few drops of sesame oil (yes, I’m definitely on a cilantro and lime kick right now).

Photography vent time: I’m definitely getting frustrated with my Mac and Photoshop CS3. I’ve been working out how to get the lighting and white balance adequate with my digital camera, but the radical difference between how colors are typically presented on Macs versus PCs makes it very hard to trust how an image is going to appear to others (on Macs these images might appear a bit washed out, while on PCs the saturation might seem fine). I am enjoying the visual art learning curve of food photography, but this is an irritant!

Dry Rub Pork #2, Stuffed Tomatoes with Black-eyed Peas

Well this was — hold on, I need to pour another glass of wine — an interesting night but the results were actually delicious (yes, miracles happen). You are going to say, you did WHAT with your oven in July heat? Well, let’s start with confessions. I left the grill on last night and so ran out of propane —

hey wait a sec, it was a long day of work and I was tired!
yeah?
well, that’s what my wife said too.

Anyway, the salient point is that outdoor cooking was out. I got home from work and the first question as I fed the munchkin was (well, the first question after, no you can’t “eat that plum / watch tigger and poo / pick mummy up from the train” … before eating your dinner) … ahem, was “what has to be used?” Answer: pork loin, the black-eyed peas I didn’t use for the salad the other day, and a couple of fat tomatoes.

DRY RUB PORK
I’ve fallen in love with dry rubs. Tonight’s combination came out really nicely (query: do they all?):

1 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp smoked paprika

I ground up everything but the salt and brown sugar in a spice grinder (okay it was Lisl’s coffee grinder but we won’t go there, will we? no, I didn’t think so). I had just over a pound of “family style” pork loin and so rubbed the spice mixture over it and let sit for about 20-30 minutes.

Since my grill was not an option, I broiled the pork on both sides in the oven for 2 minutes each side on a high rack (and sitting on a broiling pan), and then dropped it down to the middle of the oven and baked it at 300F for about 1.5 to 2 hours. Halfway through I pulled it out of the oven and dribbled olive oil and some apple cider vinegar on the top. Result? Killer. The outside crust was crunchy and the lower-heat cooking kept the inside moist. I should note that the pork loin was still in one piece, not sliced into “boneless ribs” as some butchers are doing these days — if you have smaller pieces you’ll have to reduce cooking time to keep the pork from drying out.

STUFFED TOMATOES WITH BLACK-EYED PEAS

2 large tomatoes
1.5 cups cooked black-eyed peas
1 handful of Italian parsley
1 large shallot
Red wine vinegar
olive oil
salt & pepper

In my case, I already had some leftover black-eyed peas, but if you are starting from scratch: soak 1/4 lb of black eyed peas for several hours, then drain, cover with fresh water, bring to a boil, then simmer loosely covered for 30 minutes (note: if you don’t have time to soak, no worries, just cook until tender, probably another 20 to 30 min).

Mince up a shallot and lightly saute it in some olive oil (note: if you want to save the extra cleanup, skip the sauteing and just mix them in raw).

Chop up a large handful of Italian (flat leaf) parsley.

Combine the peas, shallots, and parsley in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and ground pepper, a teaspoon of red wine vinegar, and a tsp of virgin olive oil. Add more vinegar to taste. Keep on mixing and adding salt until you are just a hair past how much salt you would normally have in the dish.

Take your tomatoes and carve off the tops of both (just like taking off the top of a pumpkin). Carefully take a small spoon and scoop out the flesh and seeds in the middle of the tomato, and let any liquid run out.

Get the oven up to 450F. Stuff the tomatoes with the mixture, place in a small baking dish, dribble some olive oil on the top and around the sides of the tomatoes, and place in the oven for 20 minutes. It should all melt together nicely when you cut into it.

Final Notes:
Another confession (there’s been a lot of that in this post it seems): you’ll see in the picture at the top something in the stuffed tomato that looks suspiciously like bacon. That’s because it is bacon. I had a misguided notion, but I can say that both Lisl and I had enough forkfuls missing the bacon that we were convinced it was much better without. Which is why I have the gall to put the vegetarian tag on this post, since my vegetarian friends can make the stuffed tomato dish. We’ll just pretend the bacon never happened. Photoshop, anyone?

Black-Eyed Peas, Cilantro Salad

While I will probably always remain an omnivore, I’ve been trying to eat more vegetarian meals. Tonight we went with a black-eyed peas & cilantro/lime salad, roughly inspired by a Saveur recipe, that came out really nicely.

For 2 full servings
1/4 lb. dried black eyed peas
1/2 yellow onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
fresh cilantro (coriander)
fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 medium tomatoes
3 spring onions (scallions)
1 jalapeno, or some pickled jalapeno slices
3 limes
extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper

Soak your black-eyed peas overnight or for several hours during the day. Cover with water in a pot with half a yellow onion and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cover, letting simmer for about 30-35 minutes or until tender. When done, remove onion, drain in a colander and cool by running cold water over the peas. When fully drained, add to salad bowl.

Remove seeds from your green and red peppers and chop to desired style (I chopped them up about 1.5 to 2 inches long, 1/3 inch wide), then add to bowl.

Take a very large handful of fresh cilantro and loosely chop, removing any excess stalk, then add to bowl. Take a handful of flat leaf parsley (discard the stalks) and more finely chop, and add to bowl.

Cut 2 medium tomatoes into eighths, and add to bowl. De-seed a hot jalapeno pepper, then chop and add. If you don’t have access to fresh jalapenos, a handful of pickled jalapenos loosely chopped will still work well.

Thinly slice 3 spring onions (scallions) starting in the white and cutting as high into the green as you can (where the green is still fresh), and add. (Optional: slice up and add some red onion)

Squeeze the juice from 3 fresh limes over everything. Add 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (that is a guess — it could have been more since I never really measure my olive oil amounts; really you should do it to your own taste).

Mix up your salad, but try to be gentle so that you don’t mush up your peas. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes so that the peas start to take on the flavor of the lime and olive oil.

Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. I found that I used more salt than I normally use in a greens-based salad, so add salt carefully as usual, but be prepared to taste and add more.

We served this with Presidente beers (a Pilsner-style beer from the Dominican Republic). While I didn’t think of it at the time, some lightly toasted pita bread would also make a nice accompaniment.

P.S. this keeps overnight in the fridge really well (possibly even better) since it all marinates together.

Eggplant Parmesan, and risking the ire of M. Hazan

Marcella Hazan wrote on eggplant parmesan, “Perhaps some cooks find it too commonplace to attract their attention, but at home I have never stopped making it.” Hear Hear!

I knew that there would be no time last night to make dinner, so the day before I prepped this simple dish with these lovely baby eggplants.

With large eggplants, you normally lop off the green top, then slice the eggplant lengthwise about 3/8 inches thick. Goddess Hazan (G.H. for short) recommends peeling them first, and also seeping the eggplant for 30 minutes with a sprinkling of salt (standing them up in a colander), then patting them dry. For her eggplant parm, G.H. handles her components separately. She coats the eggplant slices in flour and then fries the slices in 1 1/2 inches of olive oil. She cooks her tomatoes separately, and just does multiple layers of eggplant, tomato, cheese, basil, until the last layer of eggplant upon which she finally puts a layer of cheese and pops in the oven at 400F for 35 minutes.

Don’t tell G.H., but I cheated and skipped all of that. I just took off the tops of the baby eggplants and placed in the baking dish whole and uncooked (they ended up looking like little squids, so perhaps if you are trying to feed this to an imaginative 10 yr old, you might cut them in half). I made a tomato and basil sauce rather than layering individually.

My independent streak might not serve me well with G.H., but perhaps she’ll bless me for using tinned plum tomatoes. But wait, on tomatoes, GH also says, “When buying canned tomatoes, if one has a choice one should look for whole, peeled plum tomatoes of the San Marzano variety imported from Italy. They are the best kind to use and, if possible, settle for no other.” Oh dear. I DON’T REMEMBER. I mean, I THINK they were Italian but San Marzano? and what if something else was on sale? Noooooooooooo!

Moving on before I get struck by lightning: I whipped together a very simple sauce. I chopped up a medium yellow onion and sauted it in a saucepan with a dash of olive oil until translucent, then added two whole tins of skinned plum tomatoes, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, about a tablespoon of salt, a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a few grindings of fresh pepper, and two large handfuls of basil, loosely chopped. I brought this to a boil then let simmer for about an hour, stirring gently so as not to break open the tomatoes until the very end when I turned off the heat and chopped up the tomatoes using my wooden spoon (they are so fragile at this point they break up pretty easily).

Tomato Sauce
2 tins whole, skinned, plum tomatoes
1 yellow onion
1 tbsp salt (but really do this to taste)
1 tsp cayenne pepper (or chili powder)
2 large handfuls of fresh basil, chopped
ground pepper
olive oil

I placed the eggplant in a baking dish and spooned half of the sauce around them. Then I scattered a generous layer of grated parmesan cheese and grated mozzarella cheese. As you’ll see in the below picture, I ended up getting impatient with grating and just layered a few more slices of mozzarella.

The final step was to put a layer of the rest of the tomato sauce on the top and pop into the oven for an hour at 350F. I let it cool, popped it into fridge, and reheated the next night for a quick, painless, and delicious meal. Commonplace and basic? No doubt. Satisfying? Unquestionably.