Cooking for One Recipes

Courtesy of Gabriele Corcos

Gabriele Corcos is a world-renowned chef, creating and crafting recipes from his heart. A love for Italian cooking, Gabriele’s passion stems from his home country of Italy and his many years of cooking alongside family, friends, and his global travels. He inspires and infuses dishes with ingredients often overlooked; creating unique pairings but done simply and easily. His passion for cooking, for food are driven by his love for his family, his wife, his children. And, he uses that passion to help others see the beauty in cooking.

Together, Gabriele and I came together to inspire young widows–widows in general to find the energy and the passion to cook for oneself. We have sifted through his many recipes to narrow down some of the simplest ones that can be made easily, inexpensively (for the most part), and with very little prep or time. I now share some of his recipes with you here below.

**Please note, that for the Lentil Soup Recipe, ingredients will be listed below, but the recipe and how to make it can only be found in the video special that Gabriele and I did together. You can view the video below or visit our Game On Glio Youtube channel.

Baby Greens with Grapefruit and Mint:

Ingredients-

1 grapefruit

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/4 of a cup plus 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

3-5 ounces of mixed baby greens

1 tablespoon of finely chopped/shredded mint

sea salt/black pepper

Directions-

Cut the top and bottom of the grapefruit so it stands securely on the work surface. Using a serrated knife (or the closest knife you have), following the curve of the fruit, cut off the rind where the pith meets the flesh. Trim away any left over parts of the pith. Slice the grapefruit between the membranes, reserving any juice. Strain 2 tablespoons of juice into a bowl. Add vinegar and then gradually whisk in oil.

Toss the greens and your now vinaigrette into a large bowl. Top with grapefruit you cut up and sprinkle your mint, then season with salt and pepper.

It’s that easy!

Salmon with Salsa Verde:

Salsa Verde Ingredients:

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup coarsely chopped parsley

1 tablespoon drained and rinsed capers

(calls for 2 anchovy fillets in oil finely chopped) use at your own discretion

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

salt and pepper

Directions-

2-4 wild caught salmon fillets; heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season fillets to taste with salt and pepper. Add salmon to skillet, skin side up and cook until lightly browned. Flip the salmon and cover the skillet. Total cook time 6 minutes (when fish is rosy pink in color, flaky, and skin is browned.)

Next, process the oil, parsley, capers, anchovies, lemon juice and garlic in a food processor or blender until parsley is minced. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Plate your fish, and add your salsa verde sauce on the side.

Couscous with Cherry Tomatoes and Olives:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (and more for seasoning)

1 cup of couscous

1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup (pits out) black Mediterranean olives, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

ground black pepper

Directions-

Bring 1 cup of water, 1 tablespoon of oil, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in couscous, remove from heat, and cover tightly with a lid. Let stand until couscous is tender and liquid has absorbed (5-10 minutes.)

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add your cherry tomatoes and pepper flakes and cook until tomatoes are warm (2 minutes). Stir in the olives and cook, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes begin to collapse (slightly fall apart). Fluff the couscous with a fork, add to skillet, add cilantro and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and plate.

Lentil Soup:

For more of Gabriele’s recipes order his cookbooks Extra Virgin and Super Tuscan here. Follow Gabriele @thetuscangun. Follow me @smtraphagen_writelife and @gameongliopodcast.