The New York Times - USA (2020-10-25)

8 D THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020

TIME: 50 MINUTES, PLUS CHILLING YIELD: 28 MEATBALLS, 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, more for serving, if desired ½ cup panko or other plain dried bread crumbs ¼ cup minced onion ¼ cup chopped chives or basil 2 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced 1½ teaspoons kosher salt ½ teaspoon black pepper ½ teaspoon dried oregano Pinch red-pepper flakes (optional) 1½ pounds ground turkey, very cold 1 large egg, beaten 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed 3 cups marinara sauce, more to taste

In a large bowl, combine cheese,
bread crumbs, onion, chives, garlic,
salt, pepper, oregano and red-pepper
flakes, if using, and mix well. Add
turkey and egg and blend with your
hands until well mixed. If you’ve got
time, cover mixture and chill for an
hour or up to 24 hours. These are
easiest to form into balls while very
cold. Form into 28 meatballs, each
about 1¼ inches in diameter.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a
large sauté pan. When hot, add
enough of the meatballs to fit in one
layer without crowding, and brown
on all sides, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer
to a plate, add another tablespoon of
oil to pan and brown another layer of
meatballs, transferring them to the
plate as they brown. Repeat until all
meatballs are browned, adding more
oil to the pan as needed.

When meatballs are all browned,
add marinara sauce to pan and bring
to a simmer, scraping up the
browned bits on the pan bottom.
Return meatballs and their juices to
pan, shake pan to cover the
meatballs with sauce, and lower
heat. Partly cover pan and simmer
until the meatballs are cooked
through, 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve hot, drizzled with more olive
oil and sprinkled with more cheese, if
you like.

Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

TIME: 45 MINUTES
YIELD: 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

1 pound Asian eggplant (about 3 large; preferably Korean, or Chinese or Japanese), halved lengthwise and cut into 4- to 5-inch segments 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 tablespoons gochujang 1 tablespoon soy sauce 2 packed teaspoons dark brown sugar 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil 2 garlic cloves, finely grated ½ cup olive oil 4 scallions, trimmed, cut into 3-inch segments, then very thinly sliced lengthwise, white and green parts separated

Place the eggplant in a colander
set inside a large bowl or the sink.
Sprinkle with the salt, toss to
combine and let sit for 30 minutes to
remove excess moisture.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, add
the gochujang, soy sauce, brown
sugar, sesame oil and garlic. Whisk
to combine, then set aside.

To a large nonstick skillet, add the
olive oil and the white parts of the
scallions. Turn the heat to medium
and fry the scallions, stirring often,
until crispy and evenly browned,
about 8 minutes. Using a slotted
spoon, transfer the fried scallions
onto a paper towel.

Reserve a small handful of raw
scallion greens for garnish, then fry
the remaining scallion greens in the
oil until crispy and lightly browned, 3
to 5 minutes. Transfer fried scallion
greens onto a paper towel.

Remove the skillet from the heat
and carefully pour the hot scallion oil
into a glass container or measuring
cup.

After the 30 minutes of salting, dry
the eggplant segments with a paper
towel. Place the skillet over
medium-high heat and add 2
tablespoons of the reserved scallion
oil.

When the oil starts to shimmer
and you see a wisp of smoke, add
half the eggplant, cut sides down,
and fry until browned and starting to
soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip once and
cook another minute on the other
side. Transfer to a plate, add 2 more
tablespoons of scallion oil back to
the pan, and repeat to fry the second
batch of eggplants. (If you are lucky
enough to have any scallion oil left,
use it to fry eggs or to dress a salad.)

Finally, sauce the eggplants: Add
the first batch of eggplants back to
the pan alongside the second batch.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and
pour the reserved gochujang sauce
over the eggplants. Toss until evenly
coated and the gochujang starts to
caramelize, about 1 minute.

Plate the eggplants on a large
platter and garnish with the fried
scallions and the reserved raw
scallion greens. Serve immediately.
(To store for later, transfer to a
resealable container and keep in the
refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. This dish
tastes great cold, straight out of the
fridge, or at room temperature.)

Gochujang-Glazed Eggplant

With Fried Scallions

TIME: 45 MINUTES YIELD: 4 SERVINGS

1 large Spanish onion, thinly sliced 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 4 cups seedless red grapes (1¼ pounds), destemmed 1 teaspoon fennel, coriander, cumin or caraway seeds, lightly crushed 1 pound any sausages, poked all over with a fork ½ cup parsley, coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons chopped chives 2 teaspoons rice vinegar or sherry vinegar, plus more to taste

Heat oven to 450 degrees. On a
large (13-by-18-inch) rimmed baking
sheet, toss together onion slices, 2
tablespoons oil, salt and pepper, and
spread in an even layer. Roast for 8
to 12 minutes, until the onions turn
translucent and the thinnest pieces
take on a pale gold color at the
edges.

After 10 minutes, add grapes,
fennel seeds and the remaining 2
tablespoons oil to pan with onions,
and toss well. Spread in an even
layer and nestle sausage into the
mixture.

Roast until sausage has browned,
25 to 30 minutes, flipping sausage
and tossing grapes and onions
halfway through.

Transfer sausages to a platter or to
individual plates. Add parsley and
chives to pan with grapes and onions
and gently toss (this warms up and
wilts the herbs). Use a slotted spoon
to transfer grapes and onions to
plates with the sausages.

Add vinegar to rimmed baking
sheet and scrape up any browned
bits on the tray. Pour or drizzle pan
juices over the grapes and sausages,
taste, and sprinkle more salt or
vinegar on top, if desired.

Roasted Sausages

With Grapes and Onions

ADAPTED FROM “MY TWO SOUTHS” BY ASHA GOMEZ (RUNNING PRESS, 2016) TIME: 50 MINUTES YIELD: 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

¼ cup ghee (or use unsalted butter) 1 large yellow onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced 6 green cardamom pods, crushed 3 whole star anise 1¼ teaspoons kosher salt, divided 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1½ teaspoons turmeric powder 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¾-inch pieces 2¼ cups low-sodium chicken stock 1½ cups basmati rice ¼ cup chopped dried apricots ¼ cup sliced raw almonds, toasted ¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves

In a medium saucepan with a lid,
melt ghee over medium-high heat.
Add onions, cardamom, star anise
and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring
frequently, until onions are soft and a
very deep golden brown, about 15
minutes, lowering heat if necessary
to keep from burning them. Add
garlic and turmeric; cook and stir for
1 to 2 minutes, or until very fragrant.
Add chicken and cook for 4 minutes,
stirring to coat chicken with the
onion mixture.

Add stock and remaining salt,
increase the heat and bring to a boil.
Add rice, stir and cover. Reduce heat
to low and simmer until the rice has
absorbed liquid, about 12 minutes.
Remove from heat and let stand,
covered, for 12 minutes. Remove lid
and fluff rice with a fork.

Transfer chicken and rice to a
bowl, taking care to remove and
discard cardamom pods and star
anise. Garnish with apricots,
almonds and cilantro. Serve at once.

Weeknight Fancy Chicken and Rice

TIME: 20 MINUTES YIELD: 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

Kosher salt 1 teaspoon fennel seeds ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 large head fennel (about 8 ounces), trimmed, cored and thinly sliced 10 garlic cloves, thinly sliced lengthwise ¾ teaspoon red-pepper flakes 1 pound whole-wheat spaghetti 8 ounces burrata cheese 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, such as Maldon Black pepper

Bring a large pot of generously
salted water to a boil. Crack the
fennel seeds with the flat side of a
large knife or the backside of a heavy
skillet. Heat the oil, sliced fennel,
garlic, fennel seeds and red-pepper
flakes in a large skillet over low.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the
garlic and fennel are softened and
the oil is deeply flavored, 12 to 15
minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta
according to package directions until
al dente. Drain and return pasta to
pot. Reserve a few tablespoons of
the seasoned oil and fennel mixture,
then add the rest to the pot with the
pasta and toss to coat.

Divide the pasta and burrata
among four shallow bowls. Spoon
the remaining seasoned oil and
fennel mixture over the top and
season with flaky salt and black
pepper to taste.

Spaghetti With Burrata and

Garlic-Chile Oil

Readers of NYT Cooking often share their feel-

ings about recipes. Recently, one from Los An-

geles wrote that she’s been leaning into sheet-

pan dinners, meals that “feel deluxe but are se-

cretly super easy” — gnocchi roasted with

squash, and creamy burrata with roasted cherry

tomatoes on crusty bread. But the best part of

the letter was her description of sitting down to

eat a shrimp dish she made for her partner:

“What a win to see his eyes light up and his

shoulders relax. For a minute, we were just two

regular people, in a regular world.” Here are five

dishes for the week. EMILY WEINSTEIN

Five Dishes

To Cook

This Week

CRAIG LEE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

JOHNNY MILLER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

DAVID MALOSH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES. FOOD STYLIST: SIMON ANDREWS.

CHRISTOPHER SIMPSON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES. FOOD STYLIST: SIMON ANDREWS.

DAVID MALOSH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES. FOOD STYLIST: SIMON ANDREWS.

Feel free to experiment with the garnish, adding dried cranberries, hazelnuts, pine nuts or your own favorites.

If you want to halve this recipe, reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees; otherwise the smaller amount of food in the pan might get too brown.

Try to use ground dark meat turkey here if you can; it has a deeper, richer flavor than ground white meat.

Burrata for dinner is sort of a splurge but a delightfully fancy thing to do. You could make this simple and sophisticated pasta recipe by Sarah Copeland, or just grill or roast some vegetables to go with the burrata and call it a day.

This delicious version of a pulao, or pilaf, from the chef Asha Gomez, is an excellent way to use boneless, skinless breasts. The meat turns out plush, the rice gently spiced and with a glorious hue.

Speaking of deluxe but supereasy: Make this sheet-pan recipe by Melis- sa Clark with fat links of sweet Italian sausage from the butcher shop. A few tablespoons of vinegar and the drippings from the sausage keep the red grapes from being too sweet.

Inspired by the Korean dish gaji bokkeum, this recipe by Eric Kim is
salty, hot and sweet, and heaven with rice and greens for dinner. Start

the rice not long after you salt the eggplant.

A particularly satisfying iteration of a simple idea: a big pot of meatballs in tomato sauce, for when the world weighs on you. Melissa Clark wrote this recipe, and it’s just right. Go ahead and prep the meatballs in ad- vance, and bake rather than fry them for less mess and time at the stove.

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The New York Times - USA (2020-10-25)

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