You know the problem—the latkas on top are hot, and on the bottom of the pile not-so-hot and soggy. The solution: bake the latkas! Not only do you use less oil and not have to worry about hot oil splattering the kids, but everyone’s latka is done at the same time! Depending on size, anywhere from 9-12 latkas will fit on a traditional cookie sheet, so use 1 or 2 sheets depending upon the # of guests.

Makes 14-18

* Ingredients 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
* 1/2 onion, grated
* 4 eggs, lightly beaten
* 1/4 cup matzoh meal (corn meal works too)
* 3 tbsp Stonehouse extra virgin olive oil
* 1 tbsp kosher or sea salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Grate the potatoes with skin on or off as desired—I like the skins—and put them in a colander. Dip the colander into a bowl of cold water to rinse off the excess starch—this will help the latkas crisp up nicely. Shake and press excess water out, then dump into a clean kitchen towel and pat dry. Drop the potatoes into a clean, dry bowl and mix in the eggs, matzoh meal, extra virgin olive oil, and salt.

When the oven is ready, drop a few drops of olive oil onto the baking sheet(s) and spread it around with your hand. You want just enough to coat the sheet, no extra. Scoop golf ball-sized mounds of potato mix onto your hand, press flat, and lay on baking sheet.

Bake 10 minutes, flip latkes over, and bake five minutes more. You want the first bake to be the crispy one so cook to desired crispiness on the first round; the second is just to cook thru. Have everything ready to go on the table for when your latkas are done. Plate and serve; voila, everyone has a hot one!

* 1 lb. of Orecchiette pasta
* 4 Italian sausage links
* 3 cloves of garlic, minced fine
* 1 bunch of rapini
* Salt & Red Pepper Flakes to taste
* ¼ cup of parmesan cheese
* ½ cup STONEHOUSE ESTATE OLIVE OIL

1. Procedure Brown sausages in frying pan with some STONEHOUSE ESTATE OLIVE OIL. Chop into slices and set aside.
2. Separate the rapini stems from the leaves. In a pot of salted boiling water, blanch the rapini leaves, remove from the pot with a hand strainer and shock them in an ice bath. This will preserve the rapini’s color.
3. Cut rapini stems into 1” pieces and blanch in the same pot of water. Shock the rapini stems in an ice bath. Set the blanched leaves and stems aside.
4. Add salt to large pot of water and bring to boil, add Orecchiette pasta and cook 9 minutes for al dente.
5. Strain pasta and set aside.
6. To order: heat STONEHOUSE ESTATE OLIVE OIL in a large sauté pan or pot. Add the sliced sausage and cook. Add the minced garlic and cook until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the rapini stems and leaves and cook a little more. Add the pasta and cook until just heated through.
7. Add salt and red pepper to taste, and finish with two Tb. of STONEHOUSE ESTATE OLIVE OIL.
8. Top with parmesan cheese and serve hot. Mangia!

This recipe is easy, fast—30 minutes— and the scent of garlic and onions cooking will soothe your frayed soul. If you don’t have these minimal items you need to evaluate your life, or, at least, make sure to buy them on your next market stop. This is a modified version of an actual Spanish pasta dish, garlic and pepper pasta.

* Stonehouse HOUSE BLEND Olive oil
* Garlic olive oil
* TBS butter
* 2 cloves garlic per person, chopped
* ½ onion per person, chopped
* Red bell pepper (if you have it), chopped
* Sprinkler of hot chili flakes (these are often delivered with your pizza in small containers—save them!)
* Whatever pasta you have
* Grateable cheese (if you have it)
* Chopped herbs: parsley, cilantro (if you have it)
* Sea salt
* Fresh ground pepper

Put the water on to boil the minute you come home. This will give you enough time to change, listen to messages, and feed the cat. When the water is ready, toss in the pasta and cook as you like. When pasta is done toss into drainer, shake our excess water, (you can save a little to toss back into the “sauce” as the starch from the pasta gives a bit of thickness) drizzle olive oil over pasta and shake. Olive oil keeps the pasta from sticking together if it’s done before the sauce.

Roughly chop the onion (and pepper if you have it)—the bigger pieces will give the appearance of food in the pasta— cover with water in a saucepan and place on medium heat. This is a cheater way to jump start the cooking. When the water has burned off douse with olive oil, toss in butter and a few generous grinds of sea salt and continue to cook. You can skip the butter but never the olive oil! Continue to cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, so the onions don’t burn. Keep a glass of water on hand to deglaze the pan if the onions stick. Adjust the heat so it’s as high as it can be without burning. If you have any stray vegetable—zucchini, asparagus, even sun dried tomatoes—toss in after 10 minutes and cook 10 minutes more. If veg-less, cook the onions 10-15 minutes, toss in the garlic, dried chili flakes, drizzle in a little garlic olive oil; if you have tomato paste in a tube, squirt a bit in here. Stir for 1-2 minutes. Toss in the pasta and mix. Plate and garnish with cheese and herbs if you have them, salt and pepper and viola! Welcome to your life.

* 2 cups pitted kalamata olives (or your favorite olive)
* 3 anchovies, rinsed and patted dry
* 3 tbs. drained capers
* 3 tbs. STONEHOUSE HOUSE BLEND OLIVE OIL
* 2 tbs. Fresh lemon juice
* 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
* 2 tsp. fresh thyme
* Salt & ground Pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until coarse, but uniform. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with slices of crusty baguette.

This is a recipe a talented cook friend of mine found in the Babbo Cook Book. The dish really became something to me when it was served to me in Apulia, mixed with blanched bitter greens. The fava bean is worth the toil…

* 2 lbs. of raw fava beans
* 3 cloves of garlic, minced fine
* Lemon juice to taste
* STONEHOUSE HOUSE BLEND OLIVE OIL
* Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Procedure Remove fava beans from pod
2. Put the beans in a pan, bring to a boil and remove from heat and put pan into ice bath to cool off
3. Peel the fava beans from their casing
4. Process fava beans in food processor or mash with spoon well
5. Combine ingredients in bowl and serve on bread, toast points or use as a spread