Black Pepper Fettuccine with Parsnips and Pancetta

Black Pepper Fettuccine with Parsnips and Pancetta

This is a recipe from the Babbo cookbook, which I absolutely love, by Mario Batali. The combination of pancetta and parsnips is just about perfect. I love to make homemade pasta and this black pepper fettuccine has a lot of zip to it. You can add as little or as much pepper as you like. If it's freshly ground, of course, it's going to be zippier. My farmer's market closed up shop this week and these were the last parsnips of the year. There were a few that were really bizarre looking, like something out of Lord of the Rings. That's part of the charm of buying local organic vegetables!

Black Pepper Fettuccine with Parsnips and Pancetta

Ingredients:
 

for dough*:

• 2 cups all purpose unbleached flour or Italian 00 flour
• 1.5 cups semolina flour
• 2 whole eggs plus 3 more egg yolks
• 1 or 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

for sauce:

• 1/4 pound pancetta
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 pound parsnips, peeled, halved and cut into 1/4 inch half moons
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley
• Parmigiano Reggiano cheese for serving

 Instructions:

Combine the flours on the counter and make a well in the center. Break the eggs in this well, add the pepper and, with a fork, beat the eggs and then start incorporating some of the flour. Continue this until the dough is firm and not very sticky. You may not use quite all of the flour. Bring the dough into a ball and knead until the dough is soft. Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 20 minutes. (You may also make this dough and knead it in your stand mixer, with the dough hook. Semolina flour is a little tougher to knead than regular flour).

After the dough has rested, roll the dough into sheets with your pasta rollers and then use the fettuccine attachment to cut into strips. I usually roll the dough to setting #6. Lay the fettuccine on a lightly flour towel while you make the sauce.

Bring a pot of well salted water to the boil.

In a large saute pan, cook the pancetta until it is browned and the fat has been rendered, about 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta to a plate lined with paper towels and set aside. Add the butter and olive oil and parsnips and saute over high heat without shaking the pan too much until they are golden brown about 5 -6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, add the parsley and cook 1 minute longer.

Cook the fettuccine in the boiling water for about 2 minutes. Take the pasta out with tongs and place directly into the saute pan with the sauce. Toss and add some of the pasta water to keep the sauce from getting too tight. Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

adapted from the Babbo cookbook, by Mario Batali

*I make my dough with a combination of semolina and regular flour, which I think makes a nicer taste and texture. If you only have regular flour, just use that. If you would like to buy semolina flour, here is a resource.

Sgroppino - Italian After Dinner Drink

Sgroppino - Italian After Dinner Drink

In Italy, digestivos are commonly drunk after the meal and when we were in Sicily, we certainly had our share of Averna after meals. But this digestive is drunk in the Venetian region of Italy and is bright, fresh and clean. A sgroppino is made by whipping together Italian Prosecco, lemon sorbet and vodka. Sgroppino means "to untie" as in, to "untie your stomach" after a meal. So you have a great excuse to make these after dinner! But hey, these are so refreshing we drink them on a hot summer day before dinner.

Some versions of this drink use gelato but most use sorbet, which has no dairy. When you make this drink, don't use a blender - whisk in the sorbet by hand so that it retains some of its texture. You don't want it too thick, but you don't want it real thin, either.

You can certainly buy store bought sorbet, but making your own is so easy. If you still haven't bought an ice cream maker, think seriously about purchasing one now. With all the fruits coming into season soon, there is nothing like fresh ice cream and sorbet. This is the one I use and this is my master ice cream recipe. But I also use mine to make sorbets. With some fresh fruit you can make sorbet with just water and sugar. That's it. No funny ingredients - better than what you can buy in the grocery store. And this lemon sorbet is outstanding all by itself. Keep the extra in a plastic container in your freezer.

Sgroppino

 Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups lemon sorbet
• 3/4 cups Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine)
• ¼ cup vodka
• fresh mint or lemon slices to garnish

Instructions:

In a small bowl or pitcher, whisk together all ingredients. Pour into chilled flutes. Garnish.

to make fresh lemon sorbet:

for the Lemon Sorbet

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1.5 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 8 lemons)
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Cool completely.

Add the lemon juice and zest to the sugar water. If not making sorbet right away, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Turn on ice cream maker and pour in ingredients. Allow to mix and freeze until desired consistency.

Nutella Bread

We love this bread.  I double the recipe when I make it and bake two loaves at a time and freeze one.  Then when my boys come home from college, I can just take one out.  It's great for a snack but it's especially good for breakfast with a cappuccino.  I keep it sitting on the kitchen island, in a glass domed cake stand, and it looks so pretty.  

If you have never bought Nutella, it is a chocolate hazelnut spread that is very popular in Europe.  In Italy, it is eaten often at breakfast.  You can usually find it in your grocery store right next to the peanut butter.

Nutella Bread

makes one loaf

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (16 tablespoons, or 1 cup)
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• One 13-ounce jar Nutella 

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan, tapping out any excess flour.  (I like to brush the loaf pan with melted butter, lay a cut sheet of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan, butter that and then flour the entire inside and then tap out the excess.  It ensures that your bread comes out perfectly.)  In a medium bowl, whisk the 1-1/2 cups of flour with the baking powder and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  With the mixer at medium-low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each one gets incorporated before adding the next one.  Add the vanilla extract.  Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating at low speed between additions until incorporated.  Continue to beat for 30 seconds longer.

Spread one-third of the batter in the prepared pan, then spread half of the Nutella on top.  Repeat with another third of the batter and the remaining Nutella.  Top with the remaining batter.  Lightly swirl the Nutella into the batter with a butter knife.  Do not overmix.

Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes.  Invert the cake onto a wire rack, turn it right side up and let cool completely, about 2 hours.  Cut the cake into slices and serve.

The pound cake can be  kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.  It can also be wrapped tightly and frozen.

Easy Asparagus Ravioli and a Magimix Food Processor Giveaway!

As for this recipe, these ravioli are super easy and fun to make because you can use the wonton wrappers that I've used before for pasta sheets that are such a convenience.  You find them in the refrigerated produce section of your grocery store.  The filling is a snap to make in the food processor and the ravioli cook up in about 3 minutes!

Asparagus Ravioli

makes about 24 ravioli

you will need a 3" biscuit cutter

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces fresh asparagus, divided
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 8 green onions, chopped, white and light green parts only
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon red hot chili pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives, divided
• 1½ ounces pecorino cheese (or any other hard cheese you like)
• 4 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 package won ton wrappers, about 50 wrappers (I use Nasoya)
• 2 tablespoons butter

look how easy and fun these ravioli are to make using ready made wonton wrappers!

Instructions:

Take 6 ounces of the asparagus and chop into thirds. In a large fry pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the green onions and cook over medium low heat for about two minutes.  Add the 6 ounces of asparagus, sea salt, and peppers and stir. Add about 1/4 cup of water to the vegetables, cover with a lid and cook for about 8 minutes, or until the asparagus is completely tender. (If your heat is too high, the water may completely cook off so check it - add a little water if needed so the asparagus doesn't burn.) Once the asparagus is soft, remove the lid and cook for a minute or so just until the liquid has completely evaporated. Add 1 tablespoon of the chopped chives. Transfer to a bowl to completely cool. Don't bother washing the fry pan - you can use it again for the sauce for serving if you want.

Place the pecorino cheese in a food processor and process until finely ground.  Add the ricotta cheese, the egg and the cooled asparagus mixture and process until smooth, scraping down the sides with a spatula.  

Place a wonton wrapper on the counter (I like to work with four at a time).  Add a rounded teaspoon of the asparagus puree to the middle of the wrapper.  With a little pastry brush, or even your finger, brush water all around the wonton wrapper.  Lay another wrapper on top and, making sure all the air is pushed out, press down to seal all around the filling.  Press the biscuit cutter on top and push down.  Place the finished ravioli on a flour lined baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers and filling.  Lightly cover the ravioli with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. (If you're going to refrigerate for a long time, like all day, make sure there is plenty of flour on the bottom of the baking sheet. The filling will eventually make the bottom of the ravioli a little wet and they will stick if you aren't careful).  

To serve:  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Take the remaining 6 ounce of asparagus and, starting from the bottom of the spears, cut into coins, leaving the tips intact.  Heat the remaining olive oil and the butter in the large saute pan. Add the asparagus and 1/4 cup of water and cover, cooking gently until the asparagus is tender. Turn heat down to low.

Add the ravioli with a long handled strainer or spider, a few at a time, into the boiling water.  Allow to simmer but not boil, for about 3 minutes.  (If you boil vigorously, the ravioli can burst).  Remove with the strainer and add to the asparagus in the saute pan.  Gently stir, coating the ravioli in the oil and butter. Repeat with remaining ravioli. 

Turn ravioli out on a serving dish and garnish with the remaining chopped chives.

Pasta Alla Norma

Pasta Alla Norma

There's lots of eggplant in season right now and here's the dish you want to make with it. This wonderful pasta dish is hugely popular in Sicily. It is named after Vincenzo Bellini's opera "Norma".  Bellini was a Sicilian born in Catania, where my mother went to school.  This dish is a delicious vegetarian dish, that uses a lot of the best ingredients of Sicily - eggplant, ricotta salata and basil.   And it's a snap to make. 

Most "Pasta alla Norma" recipes call for frying the eggplant, but I think roasting it is tastier and easier and doesn't take quite so much oil. 

The traditional recipe calls for ricotta salata - a fantastic dry salted ricotta popular in Sicily that is very different from the usual grocery store ricotta.  It is a firm cheese that you grate. You can find this item in better grocery stores and Italian delis or online. If you cannot find it at all, try substituting feta cheese but do try to find ricotta salata.  It's worth it!

ricotta salata - a sheep's milk cheese popular in Sicily 

 Pasta Alla Norma 

Serves 2-3 as a main dish

Ingredients:

• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1" cubes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided 
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 
• freshly ground pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• pinch of red hot chili flakes
• 1 14-ounce can whole tomatoes, crushed
• 8 ounces spaghetti
• 1.5 ounces ricotta salata
• handful of fresh basil leaves 

Use San Marzano tomatoes if you can.  If not, I like Muir Glen whole
tomatoes - they have a great taste 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400° F.  On a baking sheet, toss the eggplant cubes with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the dried oregano, sea salt and some freshly ground pepper.  Roast for about 25 minutes. 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for your pasta.

my favorite way of preparing garlic - grating
it on a coarse Microplane grater 

Place 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into a large saucepan or skillet.  Add the grated garlic and gently cook for about 1 minute.  Add the chili flakes and the crushed tomatoes (I like to just crush them with my hands). Simmer for 5 minutes, uncovered.  (Start boiling your spaghetti at this point. Don't overcook it.) Add the roasted eggplant to your tomato mixture and simmer for 5 minutes, covered.  

Remove the spaghetti from the pot and put it right in the eggplant tomato mixture. Toss well. Add torn fresh basil leaves and some grated ricotta salata.  Turn out onto a serving platter and grate some more ricotta salata on top and tear some more basil leaves for the top. 

Daring Bakers - French Macarons - Lemon with White Chocolate Filling and Chocolate with Nutella Filling

Being part of a group like The Daring Bakers certainly makes you stretch. The monthly challenges make you bake things you never would have otherwise.  That's certainly true of this month's challenge.  Although French macarons are wildly popular right now and are so pretty, I probably never would have put them on my "to do" list.  Beside, they are famous for being difficult to master and unpredictable.  And they sure did not disappoint.   

Macarons are little almond cookies that are made with egg whites and have a filling that you sandwich between two of the cookies.  If you want to see what the perfect macaron looks like, the famous Beverly Hills bake shop, Paulette's Macarons, is the place to go.  They make perfect macarons in a rainbow of colors, incredible flavors and snazzy packaging.  And they ship.  

In this challenge, we had the choice of any flavors and fillings we wanted to use, so I chose to do a lemon macaron filled with a white chocolate lemon filling and a chocolate macaron filled with Nutella.  

When doing the research for making the macarons, it became apparent that there was disagreement as to the best method.  Do you age the egg whites overnight or just bring them to room temperature?  Do you let the batter sit after you mix it up or after the cookies are piped?  Do you bake them at one temperature or bake them at a high temperature for a few minutes and then lower the temperature? Do you use powdered food coloring or is liquid food coloring okay?

Yeah.

I read macaron posts from all the usual suspects for baking expertise - David Leibovitz, Helen of Tartelette, and Aran of Canelle et Vanille.   I made my decisions and jumped right in.  One of the defining features of a perfect macaron is the little "feet" on the cookie.  If you make them right, they rise up and create the distinctive "foot" but this is no easy accomplishment.  My lemon cookies ended up with some feet but my chocolate ones. . . well, they had no feet.

I did age the egg whites.  I separated the eggs the night before and left the whites out all night at room temperature.  This dries the whites out a little bit and helps the texture of the cookies.  I also used powdered food coloring instead of the liquid because extra moisture in the batter can prevent the cookies from baking correctly and because Helen said so.  I ordered the powdered food coloring from Country Kitchen SweetArt, a great online place to shop for baking and confectionary supplies.  (The powdered food coloring is not an item I was able to find locally.)  I even bought some of these cute little pearlized sugar pearls.  They have them in so many colors - they're really fun.

Another tip I discovered when making these macrons is how to lift them from the parchment.  They stick a little and I read about some other tips on how to get them off, like sprinkling a little water on the parchment. But really, using my large Santoku knife did the trick.  It was much better than a spatula.  Just wipe your knife off after every few cookies. 

And my final tip - what to do with all those egg yolks you have leftover? Refrigerate them and make a nice vanilla ice cream or homemade pasta the next day.

 Lemon Macarons

Ingredients:

• 2.25 cups  (8 ounces) confectioner's sugar
• 2 cups (6.7 ounces) Almond Flour*
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 5 egg whites (have them at room temperature)
• 1 tablespoon very finely grated lemon zest 

for the white chocolate lemon filling:

• 8 ounces white chocolate, melted
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

for the chocolate macrons:

• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• nutella 
• 

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Combine the confectioner's sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl.  

Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks.  Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks. **

Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine.  If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time.  Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches.  Be gentle.  Don't overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.

Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (e.g., Ateco #806).  You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off.  It's easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.

Pipe one-inch-sized mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners or parchment paper.  Let them sit for about 20 minutes before baking.

Bake the macarons for 5 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375 degrees. Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back  in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.   (I did 6 minutes, but I think my oven is a little hot).   Cool on a rack before filling.

Yield:  10 dozen.  (Note: My yield was less than this.)

*Almond Flour is not generally a hard to find item.  If your grocery store carriesBob's Red Mill organic products, you can usually find it there.  Also, most health food stores carry this product.  

**Stiff peaks is when you remove the beater and the egg white peak stands straight up.

for the White Chocolate Lemon Filling:

Mix together until smooth and then let set until thickened up.  When macarons are cooled, sandwich about a teaspoon between two cookies. 

for the Chocolate Macarons with Nutella Filling

Follow directions for Lemon Macarons, but leave out lemon zest and substitute about 4 Tablespoons cocoa powder.

When cool, place a layer of Nutella between two cookies.

A Different Turkey for Thanksgiving - Stuffed Turkey Breast(Turkey Breast Stuffed with Apples, Cranberries and Pecans)

Here is an alternative for Thanksgiving for those of you who either don't want to cook a whole bird or don't have to. In our household, a whole bird is a must but if you want something different for Thanksgiving, here is a delicious alternative.  I also think that turkey white meat is pretty bland and dry and this recipe gives it a lot of flavor and combines the turkey and stuffing in one neat package. 
This is a whole turkey breast, doboned and rolled with a stuffing of cranberries, pecans and breadcrumbs.  It is basted as it cooks with apple cider and chicken stock and is really delicious.  

Most whole turkey breasts are sold with the bones.  The ones that I have seen in the grocery stores that are boneless are very small and the meat is not very good. They aren't suitable for this recipe.  You will have to buy a whole turkey breast and debone it, something that is not hard to do.  I've made a video showing you how to debone the turkey breast and it's at the bottom of this post. 

serves 6-8

Stuffing can be prepared a day ahead if you like.  You can also assemble the whole thing the day ahead and refrigerate it and just roast it the next day (make sure your stuffing is completely cooled.) You will need kitchen twine for this recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 7-pound bone-in turkey breast
• 1 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced  (about 1-1/2 cups)
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2-1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs (I used whole wheat bread)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1-1/2 cups apple cider
• 1-1/2 cups chicken stock

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Bone the turkey breast, being careful to keep the skin intact.  The skin will act like a wrapper for the whole thing. Lay plastic wrap on the breast and pound it till it's flat.  

a whole, bone-in turkey breast

Toast the pecans in the oven on a sheet pan for about  8-10 minutes until fragrant. Place in a plastic bag and pound until the whole pecans are broken up into pieces.  Lower oven temperature to 350°F.

Saute the onion, apple, celery in 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan until soft, about 8 minutes.  Add the bread crumbs, pecans, parsley and thyme and mix thoroughly.  Season with salt and pepper.  Completely cool the stuffing.

Combine the chicken stock, apple cider and 2 tablespoons butter in a large pyrex measuring cup and warm in the microwave until butter has melted and mixture is hot.  Set aside.

Lay the turkey breast flat on the counter and season with salt and pepper. Spread the cooled stuffing mixture on top. Roll the turkey breast up tightly and tie with the kitchen twine.  Lay the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan and roast in a 350°F oven for about one hour, basting every 15- 20 minutes with the cider mixture. Remove from oven, cover with foil and let sit for 10 minutes before slicing. 

enjoy it!

Pesto Stuffed Eggs

I thought these eggs would be a pretty addition to an Easter buffet or perfect for a Spring brunch. I love deviled eggs but these are a nice change. They are filled with a mixture of pesto and ricotta cheese with a little lemon juice for zing. They are super easy to make and just look like Spring to me.

The proper way to boil an egg so that it does not end up being rubbery or have that greenish yolk is to place the eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to a boil and then immediately remove from the heat and let them sit in the hot water. You start timing them from this point - 12 minutes for a large egg. Place into an ice bath and this will stop the cooking and produce beautiful yolks.

If you routinely buy fresh eggs from a farm, like I do, you will quickly learn that fresh eggs can be very hard to peel. The older the egg, the more the lining of the egg pulls away from the shell. If you are using fresh eggs, you can try a little tip from Julia Child that I use. After the eggs have set in the ice bath, plunge them back into simmering water for 30 seconds. It makes the peeling a little easier. There are people that swear that adding a little salt or baking soda into the water also helps. I've even tried poking a tiny hole in the large end of the egg and that seems to help. If you don't have perfectly smooth peeled eggs, don't worry about. They still taste great! Do you have a great tip for peeling eggs? Please share it if you do.

makes 12 stuffed eggs

Ingredients:

• 6 extra large eggs
• 3 tablespoons ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons pesto (I like to make mine from spinach if the basil is not great)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• sea salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin oiive oil (or more) 

Instructions:

Hard boil the eggs by placing the eggs in a medium saucepan and covering them with cold water by at least an inch. Bring the water to a boil, place a lid on the pot, remove from the heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 12 minutes.

While the eggs are sitting in the hot water, prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice water. Remove the eggs from the hot water and place in the ice bath to stop the cooking. (If the eggs are very fresh, bring the hot water back to a boil and after the eggs have cooled, plunge them in the hot water for 30 seconds. Remove and peel.) After the eggs have cooled, peel and cut the eggs in half.

Scoop out the yolks carefully and place them in a bowl. Add the ricotta cheese and pesto and mash together with a fork. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and olive oil. Continue to mash and taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning. If the mixture is overly dry, add a drizzle more of olive oil to thin.

Place the eggs on a serving dish and fill the cavities with the yolk mixture. I like to use a pastry bag with a jumbo tip to fill the eggs. Refrigerate until ready to serve (wrap lightly with plastic wrap).

Roasted Pepper and Mozzarella Bites

Boy, talk about an easy appetizer. How about using just two ingredients (three if you want to add the chopped basil) for a pretty, delicious dish of bite sized morsels? Roasting the peppers is an easy thing to do and if you've never done this yourself, start now. You will have another great technique in your cooking arsenal that will come in very handy. You can use this method to make Peperonata or to roast peppers for a sauce or side dish.

When buying mozzarella, buy the kind that is packed in water in plastic tubs. Pleased don't buy that rubbery stuff that is vacuum sealed in plastic. Fresh mozzarella will always be packed in water. I buy the "ciliegine" ("little cherries") which are a perfect size for this dish. If you can't find those, buy the larger balls of mozzarella and just cut them up.

Roasted Pepper and Mozzarella Bites

makes about 20 pieces

Ingredients:

• 2 bell peppers, one yellow and one red
• 1 tub fresh mozzarella, preferably the cherry sized
• olive oil
• salt and pepper and/or seasoning that you like (I like Montreal Steak Seasoning for this)
• 3-4 fresh basil leaves 

Instructions:

Set oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place the whole peppers on the foil and place under broiler. When the tops of the peppers have turned black, take tongs and rotate peppers. Keep turning peppers until the skin is completely charred. Place peppers in a brown paper lunch sack or in a large zip lock bag. Close. Let steam for 10 minutes. Remove peppers to a cutting board and let cool.

After peppers have cooled, skins will slip off easily. Remove all skins and then cut peppers in half, removing stem carefully so peppers don't tear. Remove seeds carefully. Slice each pepper half into about 5 or 6 strips. Season pepper strips.

Drain 20 to 22 mozzarella balls. Place mozzarella in small bowl and drizzle some olive oil on them. Sprinkle some salt and pepper and/or your seasoning (don't be skimpy with the salt) and toss.

Take each mozzarella ball and wrap with a strip of pepper. Secure with a toothpick and place on serving platter. Repeat with remaining peppers and cheese. Slice some fresh basil, if you like, into chiffonade and sprinkle over the appetizers.