Italian Anyone???

So I'm all about food that has bold, rich flavors without adding a lot of fat and grease. So this was a little menu I put together for a weekly dinner we have at my place. So here we go:

Start: Mixed green salad w/ citrus vinaigrette and candied walnuts
Main 1: Herb roasted pork tenderloin
Main 2: Three cheese and wild mushroom stuffed manicotti w/ Parmesan cream sauce
Main 3: Whole wheat spaghetti w/ Puttanesca sauce

Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Difficulty: 6/10
Prep Time: 2.5 hours
Cook Time: 25 min

• 2 pork tenderloins, about 4 pounds total, silverskin removed
• red onion, half
• 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
  
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, whole
• 3 tablespoons table sugar
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 4 quarts water
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs each of thyme and rosemary, stems removed, chopped
  
• 5 fresh sage leaves, chopped
• 3 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 4 tablespoons EVOO

1. Start by making a brine for the pork by heating the water enough to dissolve equal parts salt and sugar into the water. Add the bay leaves, peppercorns, red onion, thyme sprig, and garlic cloves into the water. Let this mixture come to room temperature.
   
2. Pour this brine into a ziploc bag and add the pork into the back into the bag. Be sure the brine solution is at room temperature before adding the pork! Seal the bag, place it into a bowl (just in case it leaks), and place it in the fridge for 2 hours.
3. Two hours later, remove the pork from the solution and pat dry with paper towels. Remove any peppercorns or bay leaves that might have stuck to the pork.
4. In a bowl, combine the chopped sage leaves, rosemary, thyme, dijon mustard, and EVOO and stir. Pour this mixture over the pork and massage it into the meat.
   
5. Season the pork thoroughly with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a hot pan under high heat, add the pork tenderloins to and cook to get a good sear and crust on each side.
   
7. Once the pork is brown and seared on all sides, place the pan in the oven for about 12 min or until interior temperature is 160 degrees F. Don't overcook it!!!
8. Once it's ready, remove the pan from the oven and let it rest for about 10 min before slicing. Slice in half inch slices and serve.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Puttanesca Sauce
Difficulty: 3/10
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min

• One 28oz can San Marzano diced tomatoes
• 3 anchovies
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• 1 cup Kalamatta olives, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup artichoke hearts, chopped
  
• 1 package of whole wheat thin spaghetti
• 1/4 white wine, Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio
• 3/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar, optional
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese (green containers not allowed!!!)
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped flatleaf parsley
  
• Kosher salt and black pepper to season
• EVOO

1. In a hot pan under med-high heat, add about 2 tblspn EVOO to coat. Add chopped onions and garlic. Saute for 3 min.
2. Add anchovies, artichokes, olives, and capers and saute for another 4 min. Be sure to break up the anchovies in the pan. They will break down and cook into the sauce.
   
3. Add white wine and reduce until there is hardly any liquid remaining in the pan.
4. Add the canned tomatoes to the pan. Bring sauce to boil and season w/ SnP.
   
5. Reduce heat to med-low and let sauce simmer uncovered for about 20 min.
   
6. Bring pot of salted water to a boil for the spaghetti. Add the spaghetti and cooked until al dente (around 8 min). Stir occasionally so noodles don't stick together.
   
7. Taste the sauce for seasoning and season w/ SnP if needed. If acidic, add sugar. Be sure not add too much salt since we already have the capers, olives, and anchovies in the sauce!!!
8. When the noodles are ready, drain and add directly into the puttanesca sauce. Stir to coat the spaghetti.
   
9. Top w/ fresh grated Parmesan cheese (not the green can stuff. that stuff is so foul.) and chopped parsley and serve.

Citrus Vinaigrette
Difficulty: 2/10
Prep Time: 10 min

• 1 orange
• 1 grapefruit
• 2 lemons
• 1 tbspn dijon mustard
• 1/2 tspn honey
  
• EVOO
• Kosher salt
• Fresh black pepper

1. Zest the orange and one lemon and place the zest into a bowl.
   
2. Juice the orange, grapefruit, and both lemons into the same bowl. No seeds please!!!!
3. Add the dijon mustard and honey.
4. Slowly wisk in about 1/2 cup of EVOO.
   
5. Season w/ SnP.

If the vinaigrette is too sour, you can add more honey to balance the grapefruit and lemon juice. I like to have equal parts oil to acid in my vinaigrettes. Some recipes have a 2:1 ratio of oil to acid, but I like mine to have a little more bite.