- [Narrator] Sarah's Weeknight Meals is made possible by USA Rice, Sunsweet, Ninja, Chef's Choice, and thanks to the generous support of... (upbeat music) The 2016 Subaru Legacy.

With symmetrical all-wheel drive, plus 36 MPG.

It pairs well with every kind of road.

Subaru, proud sponsor of Sara's Weeknight Meals.

(upbeat music) - Pasta is so quick and easy, it's the ultimate weeknight meal.

But when you can make pasta and it's sauce in just one pan, well, it doesn't get any better than that.

Wow, doesn't that look fantastic?

Fasten your seat belts, I'm making two really tasty recipes that accomplish both.

Ooo, happy times.

There we go.

The first comes from my friend and slow cooker guru, Michele Scicolone.

I cannot wait to taste our pork ragu with - Broken lasagna and arugula.

- So good, so easy, and so achievable on a weeknight, you'll be making this every week.

My pearl couscous with shellfish is a sophisticated one pot meal you will love.

This whole dish is gonna end up in one pan, sort of like a risotto, but based on couscous, with shellfish.

Some tomatoes, clams, and mussels.

When they open up they give you a gift.

They give you their inner, briny juice.

- I love it.

You've gotta work for your meal.

(upbeat acoustic music) - Hi, I'm Sara Moulton, and welcome to Sara's Weeknight Meals.

Well, boy are we gonna cover this topic of slow cookers.

Because it's such a great way to get dinner on the table during the work week, and I have an expert here - Thank you - My friend Michele Scicolone.

I've known Michele for years.

She's written, 20 cookbooks?

- 20, yeah.

- Mainly on Italian food, but for some crazy reason, she's brilliant, and she thought, it's time to address the issue of slow cookers.

Tell us what we're making.

It's a pork dish.

- Yeah, this is a really unique pork dish.

It's from Maialino Restaurant.

- Oh I love that place.

- It's called a pork ragu, and it's served with broken lasagna and arugula.

This is a pork shoulder, and if you make the recipe make sure you get a size of pork that will fit into your cooker.

(laughter) - You know, I've learned that the hard way.

So, this is a fairly large slow cooker, right?

- Yes, it is.

That looks like a five or a six quart cooker.

And what I'm doing here is taking off the thick layer of skin and fat that's on top.

But you don't want to remove all the fat, because that will help to keep the meat nice and moist as it cooks.

- Fat is a good thing - Yeah - In a slow cooker, and you can always remove it afterwards.

- Exactly.

And the fattier meats actually do better in the slow cooker.

But I avoid those really lean pieces of chicken like boneless chicken breast.

If you do want to use a boneless chicken breast you can, but you've got to watch it really carefully, so it doesn't overcook.

- We need three tablespoons of olive oil.

- Right.

- So I'm making sort of the flavorings here.

- Yes, that's the flavor base.

- Okay.

And what size do you recommend for a family?

- A slow cooker?

- Yeah.

- Well, I tell everybody to get a large one - Really?

- I have no problem with having leftovers.

- I love leftovers, that's my idea of heaven - What's bad about that?

And most slow cooker dishes really freeze beautifully.

We need to sprinkle this with salt and pepper.

- Okay, on all sides?

- Yeah.

- Okay, so we'll start with salt.

And we're using kosher salt.

- Uh huh, yeah, I like kosher salt.

- [Sara] Is it important to season before you put it in the pan?

- [Michele] I think so.

- [Sara] Do you want to roll it over and I'll do the other side.

- I think it is, because the meat's gonna cook for a long long time, and you're not gonna have, you're not gonna wanna open your cooker as the food is cooking because that loses a lot of heat.

- I've heard that if you take the lid off, you lose 20 minutes.

- Yeah.

- Of cooking time.

- That's what I've heard as well.

- How finely do you want the celery chopped?

- Oh, just big chunks is fine.

Because it's really just going to be a flavoring.

So I've got the pork in here.

- And you didn't brown it?

- No, I didn't.

- Now, why didn't you brown it?

- Well, I've done a lot of experimenting, sometimes I'll take a half of a chicken or something and brown it, and I've also tried leaving the other half unbrowned, and I've found that the end result is exactly the same.

Because the long, slow cooking sort of equalizes.

If you like to brown, you certainly can, but it really isn't essential.

I need to wash my porky hands.

- Okay, and we're gonna soften, so what I've got in there is one white onion that I chopped up fine, and then one celery stalk that I just chopped course - [Michele] Perfect.

- And one teaspoon of fennel seed.

And this we need to cook for about ten minutes until it softens.

So, okay, some other basic questions.

I think a lot of people think you just throw everything in the pot, put on the lid, and walk away for eight to ten hours.

Is that correct or not correct?

- You know, there are some dishes that you can certainly do that with and get a good result.

But I always find, that if you want something really special I think, a little effort.

- A little, just a few little details.

- Yeah.

- How full do you fill it before it's too full - Yeah - Meaning, let's say I just fill that to the brim and put the lid on.

- Yeah.

- What would happen?

- Well you wouldn't want to do that, because it's too much for the heating element in the slow cooker to handle.

So, you'll get the most efficient cooking if its filled to, from about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way.

- [Sara] Okay.

So, next we're going to add, we've got some chicken broth.

Four cups?

- [Michele] Yes.

- [Sara] Yes okay, we're gonna bring the, this is very interesting, we're gonna bring this up to a boil.

Why are we doing that?

- Well that helps to get the cooking temperature to the right level.

If we start with a hot ingredient, we're not adding another cold ingredient to the slow cooker.

- By the way, I'm gonna add the thyme, couple sprigs of thyme to this too.

This is just about there, right?

Do you think we can put this in?

- [Michele] I think that should be fine.

- [Sara] So I'm just gonna dump this right on top of it.

(upbeat music) - [Michele] We need a little bit more liquid in here.

- [Sara] Okay, tell me why we need more liquid.

- Well again we want to go up to that ideal level that I mentioned of about 3/4 of the way full.

- [Sara] Okay.

- And it will cook more evenly if it's covered.

- [Sara] Basically covered.

- Yeah.

Doesn't have to be completely covered.

- [Sara] You'll say when.

- [Michele] That looks good.

- Okay, excellent.

Alright, so now, this is fancy schmancy, this has like little snaps on it.

- Yeah this is a great idea, I like these.

If you're going to a party and you want to bring a dish with you, this is great because it seals the cover.

- So it doesn't slurp out?

- Yeah.

- Wow.

- And you can put it in your car.

- So what do we need to set it at?

- So let's put it on high to give it a start.

It's gotta cook for like eight to 10 hours.

- Wow.

Well I think we should go have a glass of wine.

- Oh, what a great idea.

- And look at your latest photos, you're always traveling, you've gotta tell me where you've been.

- Oh I've been having a good time.

- Let's go over here.

(upbeat music) Alright, so tell me, which trip was this.

- Well, this was on a cruise that we took a couple of years ago.

I was teaching on the cruise ship, and Charles was doing a wine presentations.

Here's Charles, and this is in one of our favorite restaurants in Provence.

This trip is one of my favorite trips.

We visited Anna Tasca Lanza.

This was at her cooking school.

- I would imagine that your trips are pretty food centric.

Correct?

- Oh absolutely.

Food and history and wine too.

- Of course, it's a double whammy because Charles is a wine expert.

- Yup.

- Does all of this traveling help you to come up with ideas for your cookbooks?

- Oh, absolutely.

You try different ingredients, you taste new flavors, combinations you wouldn't think of.

There's just so much.

- It's just such an education.

- All around.

- It's really great to travel.

- Yeah, it is.

- Alrighty, so, I'm so excited to check out our pork ragu.

- Smells great.

- Eight to 10 hours later, so we've let it cool for about 20 minutes.

Let's put our wine out of the way.

We gotta get down to business and focus.

- I'm gonna take that whole piece of pork out, I'm using two forks.

- It's gonna probably fall apart a little.

- Yeah, that's okay.

- [Sara] And that's what your looking for, right?

- [Michele] Yes, exactly.

- Is that it's so tender.

- Look at that.

And then I'm gonna take just two dinner forks, and shred the meat.

- [Sara] Okay.

- [Michele] This is fabulous.

Oh, it smells so good.

- Alright, I've gotta get the water on for the pasta.

- Good idea.

- Because we need the torn pasta over here.

And I'm gonna add some salt.

We're using broken lasagna, what's the point?

Why didn't we just use broken pasta?

(laughter) - That's the chef's way of doing it.

That's the way he makes it at Maialino, so I'd thought I'd go with that.

And you know, it's really a tradition.

- About how big?

- About three inch pieces should do it.

- [Sara] Okay.

- [Michele] Yeah, you want a nice size slab.

- This is sorta fun, this is like recycling when you break glasses.

(laughing) Okay, I'm gonna break it all and put it all in at once.

- I always say if you have kids in the house, they love the job of breaking the pasta.

- [Sara] Yeah.

Well, I guess I'm a kid.

(laughing) Is it really safe to leave a machine on for eight hours?

Let's say you put it on in the morning and you go to work.

- A slow cooker uses no more electricity than a 75 watt light bulb.

- Is that true.

- So imagine that you're going off to work, and you leave the light on in the closet, it's sorta the same thing.

- [Sara] No biggie, okay.

- So just make sure it's in a safe spot, you don't want anybody knocking into it.

- Okay.

- [Michele] This pork just shredded beautifully.

- [Sara] I have to say, I just want to literally dive in there.

- [Michele] I know, I know.

Okay, so I'm gonna put the shredded pork into the pot, because now it's cooled off a little bit.

- And I'm gonna grate some Parmigiano-Reggiano - Yes, yes.

- I know, one of your favorite ingredients.

- Absolutely.

(acoustic music) And then I will skim the fat off, just using a big spoon.

If you have one of those separators, the fat separators, that's even easier.

But you can just use a spoon.

- [Sara] Okay.

Sounds good.

- So I'm just gonna skim off some of this liquid fat.

Now, if you had made it in advance and put this in the fridge, it would be even easier to skim the fat.

- Right.

- Because it would be cold and it would really rise to the surface.

- That was the other thing.

You could put the whole thing together, cover it with the liquid, put it in the fridge, and then the next day, I'm just gonna dump that in there, just scrape it off.

It's so much easier.

Alright.

- [Michele] Isn't that great?

- [Sara] Let me check the pasta here.

I am going to drain this one.

And of course, we're not going to rinse it or toss it with oil.

- [Michele] No, no.

No that's not necessary.

- [Sara] Because we want the starch on there.

- [Michele] Exactly.

- You want dump that in?

- Okay.

- And then, do you need me to add the cheese?

- Yeah, just before we serve it we'll add the cheese, and we will also add the arugula.

- [Sara] And the butter.

- [Michele] And the butter.

- That's so interesting about arugula.

So that's gonna add a nice, bitter bit to it.

- [Michele] Why don't you put the arugula in.

It's about two cups of arugula.

- [Sara] Okay, and we have some Parmesan here.

- [Michele] Two tablespoons of butter.

That just gives the sauce a nice silky finish.

- Ooo, happy times, there we go.

- [Michele] And this is great, I love to cook the pasta right there in the sauce when I can.

- Finish cooking it.

- Yeah, finish cooking it this way, because it just helps it to absorb the flavor.

- It sort of marries the sauce to the pasta.

- Exactly, exactly.

Precisely.

Oh you said that so nicely.

- I like marriages.

We are both very happily married for some many years.

How many years have you been married?

- Oh gosh, it's gonna be 44.

- What?

- Can you imagine?

- So you got married when you were 15.

- Yes.

- Ooo, that's gorgeous.

Now speaking of the husband, your husband Charles, he picked our wine, its Chianti.

And why Chianti?

- Well, because Chianti is one of our favorite all purpose go to red wines.

- Food friendly.

- Very food friendly, it goes with a lot of different dishes, and... - You want to grab our wine, speaking of wine.

- Great idea.

- I'm gonna do one more little bit in here.

Yes, it's very food friendly.

- And it has nice fruit, but it's not so overwhelming that it would kill the flavors in the dish.

- Well that, I like that.

So, we're gonna serve this with a beet salad with walnuts and celery leaves.

I cannot wait to taste our pork ragu with - Broken lasagna and arugula.

- Yay.

(glasses clinking) Thank you.

- My pleasure.

(upbeat music) - Couscous, which is actually a little round pasta, is gonna be the base of my couscous and shellfish stew today.

I love couscous.

You're used to the instant version, I'm gonna use a whole wheat version today.

It's sort of, this whole dish is gonna end up in one pan, sort of like a risotto, but based on couscous, with shellfish.

So, I'm gonna get my shellfish going first.

So we're gonna start with some scallops and shrimp.

And it's just a little bit of many different kinds.

You could obviously increase it if you want to have more.

So I've got about eight medium to large shrimp here.

You know, because everybody wants to get a little taste of the shellfish, I'm just gonna cut these quickly in half.

These are shrimp that have been peeled and de-veined.

I'm gonna leave that last little bit on, it's sort of pretty.

And I have a little secret, I eat these end pieces.

I like crunch, what can I tell you.

There we go, now there's more for everybody, so everybody will get a bite of shrimp.

Get a couple tablespoons of olive oil in here.

I don't want to get crazy with the salt and pepper because as we know shellfish is sort of naturally salty.

(grinding) Okay.

This is a scallop, duh.

What's on here, this is called the foot.

It's a little muscle that attaches this piece to the shell.

The reason I like to remove this, is because this is really rather tough.

These are sea scallops.

Okay, let me get these guys here because I'm gonna season them too.

When you do go to buy scallops, really try to get what's referred to as dry or day boat scallops.

The fisherman go out, and they go out for days and days, so what they do is, they harvest the scallops, they shuck them and they throw them into a solution of water and a preservative so that they'll keep.

Now the trouble with that is first of all, there's a preservative in there, we don't really want that with our fish.

Secondly, the scallops absorb it like a sponge.

So if you've ever tried to sauté scallops, and they just are so wet that you can't believe it, it's because they were in that liquid.

Let me get these guys in here.

(pan sizzling) Okay, these only take a few minutes.

So while these are cooking I'm gonna mince some garlic.

I've already gotten my shallots chopped, and I'm gonna do two cloves of garlic.

There we go.

And this doesn't have to be terribly fine.

I'll give these guys another little turn.

Oh, I'm getting some nice color on the scallops, which is fine with me.

I think the reason that scallops are so popular, in some ways I think they're a good starter fish for children, is because they're so naturally sweet.

Okay, just about there.

(upbeat music) I'm gonna turn this down now.

So there's my shallots.

Stirring, stirring, stirring.

And then I'm gonna add my garlic.

Okay.

And then we have some tomatoes.

I chopped up four plum tomatoes.

And these are fresh tomatoes, I like them for their texture.

If it's off season and you really can't find any kind of good tomatoes, you can use canned.

I want to give this a tiny pinch of salt.

We're gonna let this cook for a few minutes while I talk to you about clams and mussels.

We're just softening them.

We have wild mussels today.

If you have the wild mussels, or even some of the cultivated have a little bit of a beard.

You need to pull it off, but you don't pull it off until the last minute.

You scrub them under water and then they're good to go.

All I need is 12.

But let me just show you how to get this off, all you really do is pull it, and if it give you a hard time like that, I grab a towel and let the towel help me.

Let's see if I can do it.

Or, I bring in the husband.

There we go.

So now, everything is gonna go in.

First we're going to start with a cup of white wine, which provides a great acidity.

And then you put in your shellfish, and as they're in there they open up, and when they open up, they give you a gift.

They give you their inner briny juice.

And that combines with everything else that's in here to make a delicious sauce.

So, in goes the mussels.

Then here goes 12 clams.

We're just going to use the littlenecks, because those are pretty available.

The thing about steaming shellfish like this, in the shell, is you have to keep checking it.

Because if you're just like, you put it all in, and you put on the lid.

I'm gonna crank it up to high now.

And you just let it rip, until all of them are open, which could take a period of five minutes, sometimes longer, then the first guy who opened will have been in there for a very long time, and the last guy who opened will just have opened.

So I remove them as they open, that's what you need to do.

I'm just gonna clean up a teeny bit.

I'm gonna start on my couscous in just a second.

(upbeat music) Let me see if anybody has opened up yet.

Ah!

Yes, the mussels are beginning.

And as soon as they open, get them out.

Now you may be wondering, why am I doing this with the strainer?

Because I want to save all of the juices that come out.

We're collecting juice to cook our couscous in.

There goes my first clam.

Now let me just say, if I was making this for the husband, because he's picky about certain things, I would let this cool and remove all the shellfish from the shells.

But I'm having my good buddy Heather over to try this this afternoon.

And I know she's cool, she's young, she's everything goes.

So I'm not gonna bother because I like the way that the shellfish looks in the shell.

Let me just put this over here for a second.

We're gonna start with, see all that stuff?

This is liquid gold, this is the best stuff, it's so flavorful.

So first we're gonna put this in there, because we need two cups for our couscous.

Now, I'm gonna put this in there, and this is wonderful stuff too.

We're just about there.

So I'm just gonna top this off with some chicken broth I have here.

You could certainly also use water.

Let me put a little oil in there, another two tablespoons for my couscous.

So we're toasting it first.

So today I'm going to be using Israeli couscous, and the reason like it is it's a larger round, a larger bead of dough than the traditional couscous which is tiny, tiny pebbles.

Now, while that's just toasting for half a second, I want to make reference to this bread.

And all you do, very simple, is grill it on both sides in a grill pan, or sometimes if I'm cheating I just pop it in a toaster.

Nobody will know the difference.

And then, when it's done, you brush it with some olive oil and you rub it with a cut clove of garlic, and then you just sprinkle it with some salt.

And you can do this ahead of time.

And then then is gonna be sort of our side bread, garlic bread.

And I think we're ready to add the liquid to my couscous.

And then it takes, I don't know, about five minutes or so, six minutes whatever, til it seems tender.

(dishes clanking) We want to just, I'm bringing it up to a boil.

I'm gonna turn it down to a simmer.

Okay, I'm just gonna put the lid on here, and then we'll add all the shellfish back in.

(knocking) Oh hey, come on in!

- [Heather] Hi Sara.

- Hey Heather, how are you.

- Good, how are you?

- We like people who bring wine.

- Always, for you, anything.

- Wanna just pop that in the fridge?

- Would love to.

- So, I thought, I'm not quite done, because I'm still making this shellfish stew for you.

But would you like to make the dressing with me?

- I would love to make the dressing with you.

- So we'll come on down here.

- Great.

- Here, I'm gonna give you the bowl.

I need to chop, mince one garlic clove.

We're making creamy, I hope you like garlic.

- Love garlic.

- This is sort of a garlic meal, I have to say.

So, two tablespoons of sherry vinegar.

Put a pinch of salt, and then whisk it.

I've now got garlic fingers, with a hefty pinch of salt.

You want to dissolve the salt in the vinegar.

It doesn't dissolve well in oil.

Now you can put two teaspoons of mustard in there, that's Dijon mustard.

- Great.

- Dijon mustard acts as an emulsifier, it makes it sort of thick.

I'm just getting the garlic.

So this we're eating raw, you want it really pretty fine.

Okay, then we are gonna add the cream and the oil, and it's two tablespoons of each.

I'm gonna add some pepper too, and I like black pepper.

Now, traditionally when you have a white sauce you should be using white pepper, okay whisk quickly.

- [Heather] Oh I'm sorry.

- Now we're in to the I Love Lucy part of the show here.

But, I don't like the taste of white pepper.

The reason people say don't use black pepper in white things is because it's black flecks so everybody wonders if there's bugs in there.

Let's have a taste.

- Okay.

- This is it.

We're gonna never kiss again, anybody.

That's awfully good.

Ooo, I forgot the pepper.

Isn't that nice, tangy?

Okay, give it another whisk.

- Okay.

- And let's go down and see how our couscous is doing.

You can just park that right there.

- Absolutely.

- Let me just say, we're going to put that on arugula, tomato, and sliced olive salad.

- Oh, I can't wait.

- So we're staying very Spanish.

This is vaguely Spanish.

This is sort of like a faux paella.

Oh good, that looks almost done.

And so we're gonna add that juice, we don't want to waste anything.

Yeah, you want to just, the sink is getting crowded, but just go ahead and put it in there.

(mussels clanking) I'll put the lid on, let me give it a stir.

I hope you don't mind, I decided to leave the shellfish in the shell.

- I love it.

You gotta work for your meal.

- So I understand you're moving tomorrow.

- [Heather] Yes, I'm moving to my first new place.

- I know that you don't really have very much equipment, so I though maybe we would review the kinda things, basic pots, that you might want to get.

So I set up a little equipment corner for you.

- Oh wonderful, thank you.

- Let me show you.

So let's start with the skillets.

I'm not saying you're gonna get all of these at once.

- [Heather] Right.

- It's good to have a good old fashioned cast iron skillet.

It's great to have a large skillet as well as a small skillet, and we'll talk about the other materials.

But cast iron's just great, it's all purpose, it keeps even heat, and they're really cheap, particularly for someone who's first starting out.

- That's me.

- If you can get a stainless steel pan, that's terrific.

Stainless steel is the coating.

- Okay.

- Because it doesn't react with food.

This one actually has a sandwich, it's great if you can get one with aluminum or copper, those are a little more expensive.

- Worth the investment.

- And then we have a non stick, and the non stick, this is actually stick resistant, which I prefer over non stick, because non stick, even though they're improving the formula, if you heat it over high heat it gives off these toxic fumes.

So see if you can find a good stick resistant.

Okay, a basic sauce pan for making stews and soups and rice, and again another splurge if you can, a pasta pot.

Because pasta is really cheap and easy to make.

- [Heather] It is.

- When you're young like you.

Alright, let's get ready here.

I'm going to chop a little bit of parsley.

Anytime you have a stew or a soup or a slow cooked item, it's always good to dress it up and freshen it up with some herbs.

And I'm just gonna do a little bit of parsley.

You notice I'm using a sharp knife and I'm just relaxed.

You don't see my arm up in the air.

- [Heather] Not at all.

- Let the knife do all the work for you.

Okay, so, wow, doesn't that look fantastic?

- It does.

- So what we're gonna do, I'm gonna try to get to the bottom So we want the broth and the mussel, you want a little bite of everything, I'll get a clam, here's another mussel.

- Did you make this all in this pan?

- I did, isn't that incredible?

- That's great.

- Well that's another thing to keep in mind, is when you're cooking, you want to try not to make too terrible a mess.

That is for you, however.

We are not done, no we are not done.

- Oh, that looks beautiful.

- Okay, so let me just set myself up and we're gonna go sit down.

And with your salad dressing that you made from scratch (laughing) - I did.

- You did.

- With your help.

- You did.

Do you have any particular shellfish that you like, or do you like it all?

- [Heather] I love it all actually.

- Let's go, we'll grab your wine and we'll go sit down.

- [Heather] Great.

- Wow, so this is the perfect wine, a rosé, to go with our meal.

I've fallen in love with rosé.

They're sharp, they're crisp, but with a little bit of round bodied fruitiness.

And it's gonna go perfectly with the shellfish I think.

- [Heather] Good to know.

- Thank you for joining me on Sara's Weeknight Meals for my meal in a pan, it's so easy.

No mess, no stress, it's fantastic.

And I hope to see you next time for more of Sara's Weeknight Meals.

Let's dig in.

- I can't wait.

- [Sara] Yay So how big is your kitchen.

- Well, it's a city apartment, so you can imagine.

Postage stamp.

- [Narrator] For recipes and videos, go to our website, saramoulton.com (upbeat music) Sara's weeknight meals is made possible by: USA Rice, Sunsweet, Ninja, Chef's Choice, and thanks to the generous support of.

The 2016 Subaru Legacy.

With symmetrical all wheel drive, plus 36 MPG.

It pairs well with every kind of road.

Subaru.

Proud sponsor of Sara's Weeknight Meals.

(piano music)