Read 1,000 Jewish Recipes Online
Authors: Faye Levy
1,000 Jewish Recipes (114 page)
The Hungarian pepper stew called lecso makes a delicious pizza topping. I find it's a perfect dish for midweek during Sukkot, as it's easy to serve in the Sukkah and a welcome surprise when you serve it to friends who drop by during the holiday.
You can make it pareve or sprinkle it with a little cheese for a dairy version. Either way it tastes great.
2 cups
Lecso
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese or
1
â
2
cup coarsely shredded Swiss cheese or other firm kosher cheese (optional)
1.
Make dough and let rise. Cook lecso uncovered in a skillet over medium heat until it is very thick. Let cool.
2.
Lightly oil 2 baking sheets. Knead dough briefly, divide into 2 pieces, and put each on a baking sheet. With oiled hands, pat each portion of dough into a 10-inch circle, with rims slightly higher than centers.
3.
Spread lecso evenly over pizzas, leaving a
1
â
2
-inch border. Brush dough edges lightly with oil; sprinkle remaining oil over filling. Sprinkle with cheese, if using.
4.
Preheat oven to 425°F. Let pizzas rise for about 15 minutes. Bake pizzas about 18 minutes or until dough is golden brown and firm. Serve hot.
STUFFED VEGETABLES
A time-honored Sukkot entree, this stuffed cabbage has a sweet and sour sauce. When my Aunt Sylvia makes it, she uses the juice of Meyer lemons from her tree to flavor the sauce. Because these lemons are less acidic, she adds less sugar or supplements the lemons' acidity with sour salt, which is powdered citric acid extracted from lemons. In fact, sour salt, now found in kosher grocery stores, is the real sour agent used in old recipes. After all, this dish is a specialty of Jews of Poland, where fresh citrus fruits were not plentiful. Today many people prefer to use lemon juice.
One 3-pound head of cabbage, cored
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, minced
3 cups beef stock or broth, or half broth and half water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons raisins
1 tablespoon strained fresh lemon juice
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
Salt (optional) and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1.
Prepare stuffing and set aside.
2.
Carefully remove 12 to 16 large outer cabbage leaves by cutting them from core of cabbage. Put leaves in a large pot of boiling water and boil 5 minutes. Transfer them carefully to a colander and rinse gently with cold water. Pat dry with a towel. Coarsely chop remaining cabbage.
3.
Heat oil in a large, heavy casserole dish or stew pan. Add onion and sauté over medium-low heat, stirring often, 5 minutes or until softened but not brown. Remove from heat. Add the chopped cabbage.
4.
Trim thick ribs of each cabbage leaf slightly so you can bend leaf easily. Put 2 tablespoons stuffing on stem end of a leaf and fold stem end over it. Fold sides over stuffing to enclose it. Beginning at stem end, roll up leaf to a neat package. If any leaves are torn, patch with a piece of another leaf on the inside. Place roll, seam end down, in the casserole dish containing the onions and chopped cabbage. Continue with remaining leaves and stuffing. Arrange stuffed cabbage rolls tightly, side by side in the casserole dish. Chop any remaining blanched leaves and add to casserole.
5.
Add 2
1
â
2
cups stock to casserole. Mix tomato paste with remaining stock until blended. Add to casserole. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer over low heat 1 hour and 15 minutes. Add raisins, lemon juice, and sugar and simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt, if using, and pepper. Serve stuffed cabbage in deep dishes with plenty of sauce.
1
â
2
cups, enough for 6 to 8 servings
Use this easy-to-make stuffing to roll in cabbage leaves or to stuff peppers, onions, or tomatoes. Because the beef is not cooked before the stuffing is put in the vegetable, be sure to bake or simmer the stuffed vegetable long enough to cook the beef completely.
1
â
2
cup white rice, shortor long-grain
3 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 teaspoon paprika
1
â
2
pound lean ground beef
1
â
4
teaspoon salt
1
â
4
teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1
â
4
teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Cook rice uncovered in a saucepan of boiling salted water for 10 minutes; it should be partially cooked. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Transfer to a bowl. Heat oil in a skillet, then add onion and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, 5 minutes or until soft. Add paprika and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Transfer mixture to bowl of rice and let cool completely. Add beef, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper, if using. Knead with clean hands to blend ingredients thoroughly. Refrigerate in a covered container until ready to use.
 or
Â
Stuffed artichokes are a favorite on the Sephardic holiday table. Meat stuffing is common but for a change of pace for Sukkot, I like this colorful filling made of the season's ripe tomatoes.
4 large or 8 small cooked
Artichoke Bottoms and Stems
, fresh or canned
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
2 shallots or 1 small onion, minced
1
1
â
2
pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped, or two 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes, halved, drained well, and chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 sprig of fresh thyme or
1
â
2
teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
5 parsley stems
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (optional)
1.
Prepare artichoke bottoms.
2.
Heat oil in a sauté pan. Add shallots and cook over low heat, stirring often, until softened but not brown. Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Tie thyme sprig, bay leaf, and parsley stems together with string or in a piece of cheesecloth and add to tomatoes. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, about 20 minutes or until mixture is very thick. Discard tied herbs. Add basil, if using, and adjust seasoning.
3.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a baking dish and set artichoke bottoms in it. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Spoon tomato filling into each artichoke. Bake 10 minutes to heat through.
Note:
An equal weight of canned (a 16-ounce and an 8-ounce can) tomatoes can be substituted for fresh ones. Drain them, remove as many seeds as possible, and chop.
Stuffed mushrooms are often bland and not very colorful when they're made mostly of bread crumbs and a few mushroom stems. This one has lots of flavor from the nutmeg-scented spinach and cheese filling, and a vivid green color. You can serve these as a Sukkot appetizer for a dairy or pareve dinner or as an accompaniment for baked fish.
3
1
â
2
pounds spinach bunches, leaves rinsed well, or three 10-ounce bags rinsed spinach leaves, stemmed
3 tablespoons butter
2 large shallots, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1
â
4
cup heavy cream or milk
1
â
2
cup ricotta cheese (4 ounces)
6 to 8 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly grated nutmeg to taste
1 pound large mushrooms, stemmed, rinsed, and dried
1.
Add spinach to a large pot of enough boiling salted water to cover it generously, and cook uncovered over high heat about 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain well again. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Puree in food processor or chop with large knife until very fine.
2.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Add shallots and cook over low heat about 2 minutes or until tender. Add spinach and a pinch of salt and pepper and cook 2 minutes. Stir in cream and heat until it is absorbed by spinach. Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool. Stir in ricotta and 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
3.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Put mushroom caps, rounded side down, in a lightly oiled shallow baking dish. Sprinkle them lightly with salt and pepper. Fill with spinach filling. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
4.
Bake stuffed mushrooms for 10 to 15 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender and filling is hot. Serve hot.