Scott's Kitchen

Saturday Supper: Roast Beef & Balsamic Vegetables

Earlier today we picked up a copy of one of those "Best of Fine Cooking" issues at the local market that included a recipe that caught our eye: Roast Beef with Balsamic Vegetables.

This is one of those super easy Saturday or Sunday afternoon dinner dishes. Basically, you slice a red onion, cut small red potatoes in half, mix them in some olive oil, rosemay, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and balsamic vinegar and combine with a well seasoned (kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, rosemary) beef roast in the same 9x13 Pyrex dish.

I went shopping early this afternoon for the "beef rump roast or top round roast" that the recipe called for. The butcher at our favorite local market (Bianchini's Market in Ladera/Portola Valley) said he'd be happy to cut one of either of those for us but instead recommended their sirloin tip roast. Never one to turn down a professional's recommendation, I bought a 3 lb sirloin tip roast and it turned out to be a great choice.

The original recipe called for fennel - but we don't particularly like the fennel taste so we just left it out. We agreed that the next time we make it we'd either add more red onion or add shallots instead of the fennel. Not that it needed either - it was delicious the way we made it without the fennel! [Update: a friend suggests throwing in a few beets to roast as well - great idea!]

Update: Baked Penne using Whole Wheat Penne

I made the Baked Penne with Sausage, Beef and Red Wine Sauce recipe that I posted last weekend again today - this time substituting whole wheat penne pasta for the traditional penne.

While whole wheat pasta is undoubtedly healthier, we all seemed to agree that the original version of this particular recipe was preferable from a taste standpoint.

If you're into the "nuttiness" of whole wheat pasta, you'll probably find the substitution works just fine - otherwise, stick to the original recipe!

At the local market I also noticed that DeCecco makes a spinach penne - called "penne rigate con spinaci" - we might try that next time! Note that DeCecco doesn't make a whole wheat penne.

Baked Penne with Sausage, Beef and Red Wine Sauce

This baked penne dish has quickly become a favorite in our household - we first made it last weekend - and, in this modified version, again today.

It's a great comfort food dish. Takes me about an hour to prepare it from start to serving. The inspiration for this recipe came from Lynne Char Bennett's column in the San Francisco Chronicle titled "Dry Creek Zinfandel makes a penne-wise partner" - January 23, 2009.

I've modified the recipe to a) reduce the mushrooms, b) add red wine to the sauce, and c) simmering the sauce longer to reduce the extra liquid (from the wine addition) and concentrate its richness - along with some other minor tweaks. But the core of the recipe remains Bennett's.