Wild Olive

Wild Olive has been on my radar for years. I've always heard such good things about it but haven't ever committed to going. Once Will and I went to the Commune dinner where Jacques Larson was one of the guest Chefs, I knew we had to make it over to Wild Olive. Most of you who read my blog and those of you who know me on a personal level know about my love for pasta. If I had to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be pasta. Needless to say, I was excited to try out Wild Olive's pasta dishes. 

My little sister came into town from Atlanta and wanted to try somewhere new. She has become quite the foodie these days. Will and I were wracking our brains with all the new places and the many options we had. Then Lindsay said she was craving Italian. Our first thought was Obstinate Daughter (Larson's other restaurant new to Sullivans Island) but we had just gone with my in laws and knew it would be impossible to get a table so last minute. Although Wild Olive was not new, it was new to all three of us and Lindsay was on board to give it a try. 

We started with the mushroom bruschetta and a salad. The bruschetta was made with mushrooms, parsnips, cheese, arugula, pecans and a truffle oil. It was as good as it sounds. The bread was the perfect texture so when you took a bite it all didn't completely fall apart. The flavors were earthy and it had a lot of depth, but the salad takes the cake. The salad was a special that night and didn't sound like anything I haven't had before but the waiter was raving about it so we decided to give it a try. It was your typical apple with gorgonzola pairing of flavors but the dressing brought it home. Instead of gorgonzola crumbles on top, the dressing was made with the cheese and it was so good. To this day, I cannot pinpoint what was so good about it but all three of us couldn't get enough.

Lindsay and I split two pastas and Will ordered his own. When the pastas arrived to the table, Lindsay noticed that we received a pasta that wasn't ordered. There was a mix up with the order, so long story short, we ended up splitting three pastas! Yes, we paid for all three, but it was worth it. For once, we left with leftovers!

Above is the pappardelle (my most favorite type of noodle!) with guanciale, mushrooms, arugula and parmesan. It was melt in your mouth good. The pasta was perfectly al dente. The mushrooms selected were meaty and held their own against the guanciale which added a nice salty flavor along with the parmesan. The arugula added some greens with a peppery note. Aside from wanting more arugula, this was the perfect pasta dish. I would order this again in a heart beat. 

Below is the traditional gnocchi, which we didn't oder but received happily. I was glad that I was able to try out their marinara which tasted similarly to what I would make. No sugar, just the basics. It was exactly what I expected which was refreshing. The gnocchi itself was pillowy and light. It was perfectly texturally as well.

Below is the short rib special gnocchi that we did order. It swiftly took the first place trophy, just by passing the mushroom tagliatelle by a hair. This is a perfect dish for a cold night. You could tell that the short ribs had been cooking for a long time with a lot of love. The gnocchi was just as I previously described but I loved it even more in this dish as it perfectly juxtaposed the short ribs. It was such a well rounded, perfectly flavored dish. I would love to TRY and replicate this dish one day. If you are at Wild Olive and are so lucky that the short rib gnocchi is a special that night, order it.

Will ordered the traditional bolognese which was made with tagliatelle (also one of my favorite types of pasta). The bolognese was made with ground pork and veal. The restaurant chose to note on the menu that the bolognese, as traditional bolognese does, contains white wine and milk which I thought was odd/interesting. I would love to know why they chose to list it that way. Anyway, The dish was delicious and Will ate every last bite feeling satisfied.

Do you think we ordered enough food??

The star of the night

 My sister, Lindsay and I - fat and happy! 

It was a delicious meal that I still think about. I can't get back soon enough. Saving money for future trips is really cramping my style because I could really go for some of that pasta right now! Anyway, if you're in the area, or even if you're not- go to Wild Olive. I can promise you that you will leave a happy customer. Ciao!

Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with Sage Browned Butter

My sister in law was recently diagnosed with several food allergies. This has caused a challenge to her in that it is difficult finding food she can eat and recipes that she is able to cook. Many recipes she has to change and make adjustments. So when she finds a good recipe, it is a celebration! This was one she made recently and shared with me, because she knew I would like it too. She was right! This recipe is easy and so delicious. 

I brought left overs to work and my friend, Josh finished it for lunch, raving about it- especially the brown butter sage sauce. 

Ingredients

Roasting the squash

Mixing up the ricotta stuffing for the shells

The roasted squash after mashing

The ricotta butternut squash stuffing ready to go!

Ready for the oven

All done!

Browning the butter

Adding in the sage leaves

Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with Sage Browned Butter

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 ounce package of jumbo pasta shells (I filled 25 shells)
2 cups of part-skim ricotta cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/2 cup packed fresh spinach (chop after measuring)
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
10 fresh sage leaves

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Peel the butternut squash and chop the flesh into cubes (dispose of the seeds). Toss the cubed squash with the olive oil and roast in the oven for 20 mins, or until the squash is fork tender.

2. Put the squash in a bowl and mash with a fork (or place in immersion blender and blend) until smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature. Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

3. Cook the jumbo pasta shells in boiling water until al dente and drain.

4. In a bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, garlic, spinach, egg, S+P and fresh lemon zest. Stir well. Then add the squash, folding in so it is evenly spread. Stuff the shells with this mixture and place them in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake the shells until they are hot all the way through, about 20 minutes.

5. While the shells are baking, prepare the sauce by melting the butter in a skillet over medium-low heat until the butter is golden-brown, about 10 minutes. (Be careful, its easy to burn the butter). Add the sage leaves and cook until they are slightly crisp. Remove the pan from the heat and squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon.

6. Drizzle the sauce over the cooked shells adding 1-2 sage leaves on top. Enjoy!

Adapted from: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Paprika Chicken with Pasta in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

This is one of my most favorite meals. I got the recipe from my favorite food blog, Crepes of Wrath (everything she makes is amazing). It is the perfect fall/winter meal. As soon as the weather turned cold I've had this dish on my mind, so when it was my turn to host supperclub, I knew just what to make!

There are a few things I do differently but for the most part I stick pretty closely to the recipe- it's that good!

The paprika chicken has the perfect amount of heat and provides a flavor I had never thought to mix with a pasta dish before. And the creaminess of the tomato sauce balances the heat from the chicken. Mmmm it is SO good. All you need is a side of veggies and a glass of red wine and you have one happy and satisfied belly!

Ingredients

Spices for the chicken

Spices rubbed into the chicken

Searing the chicken

Sautéing the onions and garlic

Voila!

Lara made a side salad of balsamic green beans, tomatoes, red onion and feta. It was the perfect match! 

Don't forget the parmesan!

Paprika Chicken with Pasta in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

6 large chicken breasts (I cut them in half, which provided an assortment of sizes of chicken breasts)

2 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper (divided) and more to taste 

1 1/2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes, divided 

3 teaspoons of oregano

3 teaspoons of dried basil

6 tablespoons paprika (I like to mix regular and smoked)

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 large yellow onions, diced

5 cloves of garlic

4 bay leaves

2 24 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes with basil 

1 4 ounce can of tomato paste

1 pound of pasta (I used shells because the store was out of orecchiette. I've also used linguine before)

1 1/4 cups of light sour cream

Directions

1. Season each peice of chicken with 1/2 tsp of salt and black pepper. Mix together the red pepper flakes, oregano, basil, and paprika. Rub the spices on the chicken breasts.

2. In a large skillet heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high and lay the chicken down in the pan. Sear each side of the breast for about 5 minutes on each side. (I had to do this in batches.) Place the chicken aside (it should be raw in the middle- the searing should only cook the outside)

3. If needed, add more olive oil to the pan  (I needed to) and turn the heat down to medium. Add the diced garlic and onions being sure to scrape all of the browned bits on the pan from the chicken. Sauté the onions and garlic until translucent (about 8 minutes)

4. Turn the heat down to low and add the tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves and stir to combine. 

5. Add in the chicken with the sauce and cover. Simmer for 1-2 hours making sure to stir the sauce and rearrange the chicken (every 20 mins) so none of the breasts are sitting directly on the pan for the entire time. 

6. Thirty minutes before dinner time boil your pasta in a pot of water. 

7. While the pasta is boiling, remove the chicken and place in a bowl (cover with foil) and set aside. Temper the sour cream by adding a spoonful or two of the tomato sauce to the sour cream and whisk until smooth. (This will allow you to have a smooth sauce instead of chunks that will form from the cold sour cream hitting the heat of the sauce)

8. If there is any fat sitting at the top of the sauce, skim it off, then add in the tempered sour cream and stir until combined, then your cooked pasta. Serve the pasta with the chicken.

It serves 6 with leftovers for the next couple of nights! I like cutting the breasts to make different sized portions of chicken. It provides a more customized meal, as some people will have smaller portions of chicken and others will grab 2-3 pieces! I usually grab a small piece of chicken and load up on the pasta :)

Grab a side of veggies and some vino! Salute!

Adapted From The Crepes of Wrath

Indaco

Ciao, friends! Indaco graced Upper King Street with its quickly known presence in August 2013. It’s a part of the Indigo Road Restaurant Group : Oak, O-Ku, Cocktail Club and Macintosh- talk about a dream team. Through the direction of their Exec Chef, Michael Perez, Indaco has held its own in this restaurant group, serving up wood-fired pizzas, homemade pastas and main entrees of seafood and meats. Think modern space with traditional Italian cuisine.

Will and I went to Indaco when it first opened and enjoyed our meal, but didn’t leave with the feeling that we needed to make a trip back as soon as possible.

It had been about a year, and we were both craving Italian. We decided to take a trip back. We thought that after recently being in Italy, it would give us a different perspective on the food and experience.

There is an option to do a family-style menu, which I would definitely like to try out in the future. The prices are on-par with other restaurants in the area.

We started out with an Aperitif which took us right back to Italy. Indaco's version tasted the same as the sweet pre-dinner drink we last had in Venice- with Aperol versus Campari.

Next, we ordered a bottle of wine and an antipasti- braised duck, honey nut squash, sunchoke, polenta, whey, parmesan and chives. It was savory and delicious. Will and I shared it and it was a good size for an antipasti. But because it was so good, we were both wanting more. 

The fall weather begins the start of what I call our "red wine season". Colder weather has me craving red wine and we go through the most wine during the cold months.

This bottle came from the region of Tuscany

For our entrees, we both ordered pasta dishes (unsurprisingly). I ordered the deconstructed carbonara, or the black pepper tagliatelle. This included house-made black pepper tagliatelle, pork tesa (standing in for the traditional pancetta), egg yolk, chives and of course pecorino romano. What would Italian be without cheese!? 

This take on carbonara speaks volumes about the authenticity and culinary creativity of this restaurant. The dish took me straight back to Italy....but with a twist. You could taste the pepper so distinctly in the tagliatelle. The pasta was cooked perfectly- it was strong enough to keep its form against the thickness of the egg yolk once broken and mixed in with the rest of the ingredients. It was perfectly seasoned, just salty enough without being overpowering leaving me thirsty. It was the perfect amount of food to leave me satisfied. You have to order this when you go to Indaco!

Will ordered the agnolotti, which was filled with milk braised pork, shiitake mushroom, pork emulsion, pickled red onion, fonduta and parmesan. He enjoyed the dish and found it the be a generous portion that left him feeling full. I tried a bite and again, it was seasoned perfectly. The agnolotti was delicious, but he would probably not order it again.



Lastly, dessert! I don't normally order dessert at restaurants because I would rather eat more on the front end, but I had been hearing so much about the budino I had to order it. Ok, lets be honest- I was on a mission from the start to get this dessert!

Holy Moly this dessert. This is a bold statement, but I think its my most favorite dessert I've ever had. It was perfect. Y'all, I'm not exaggerating. The toasted almond custard was the perfect thickness and consistency. The salted caramel held the strongest presence of the dish, both salty and sweet. The chocolate shortbread offered a more bitter than sweet crunch followed by the smooth sweet cream, which possessed just a hint of sweetness. It was perfectly balanced and I could have ordered ten of them. Of course, I pretty much ate the whole budino, and Will had a cappuccino. 

This trip to Indaco, Will and I left with an urge to return much sooner than a year! I would urge you to go soon, especially now that its getting colder outside. The cooler weather always has me craving Italian- Arrivederci!