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Video: Italian finger foods: Chicken wings, spicy popcorn

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    >> hey, it's football season. great time to impress your family and friends with small plates that pack big flavor. chef mike isabella is the author of "crazy good italian." good to see you.

    >> thank you, thank you. tailgating type of foods, don't think italian.

    >> you don't. think more american, simple. do things like wings, burger and dogs and things like that.

    >> you'll show us how to make it a little italian style.

    >> today we're making some roasted chicken rings with pepperoni sauce.

    >> pepperoni sauce.

    >> you really don't think pepperoni, think of eating it just like this.

    >> sure.

    >> or like that.

    >> so what we're going to do, onions and garlic sweating in here. throw that pepperoni in. throw that right in here.

    >> how much is this?

    >> that's about, you know, a little less than a quarter of a pound.

    >> want to sweat it a little bit, let it come down. let all the flavors come out. there's a lot of fats inside of --

    >> really.

    >> inside of pepperoni.

    >> i did not know that.

    >> so that's kind of sweating down. i have some fennel seed and a little bit of chili flake that i'll toast up now. those are two main spices that are inside pepperoni. so when i make a sauce, don't want to dilute it so i have a little spice.

    >> pop it up a little .

    >> toast that up and throw it in here and toss that tomato sauce in here.

    >> all righty.

    >> and then a little bit of chicken broth .

    >> all of it?

    >> put it all in there. we'll threat cook, and this is going to cook for about 45 minutes, let it simmer until it gets nice and -- the pepperoni gets soft and loosened up, and then we're going to puree that sauce up a little bit.

    >> put it in a food processor .

    >> right in a blender. put in right in a blender, let it go for a couple of minutes. chicken wings , cleaned them up, tips off and the wings and we're basically going to marin ate these. throw that rosemary, lemon and garlic in here.

    >> mm-hmm.

    >> how long do you let this marin ate here?

    >> back into the refrigerator for about two and a half hours. you want to kind of threat get --

    >> leave it in overnight if you want to?

    >> won't hurt it at all. fresh rosemary and fresh lemon and garlic. break up the rosemary, too, fresh flavors in there. i'm just trying to build these italian flavors. rosemary, pepperoni, and then i'm going to take them out of the fridge, put them on to a roasting pan and pop them into the oven and roast them. ost them for about 30 minutes , 30, 35 minutes, until cooked through and then we have our -- our infamous pepperoni sauce. i have a little red wine vinegar to bring it out. eat pope rony a little times, sometimes you teeth with pickled vegetables and mustard, put a little vinegar to pop the flavor.

    >> and slather this on.

    >> slather it on. they look like buffalo wings .

    >> let's stick this in the back.

    >> do look like buffalo wings .

    >> a couple of other finger foods for us.

    >> popcorn.

    >> got some nice spiced popcorn here. basically what i did is i took flavors that my sister would eat as a kid. pasta with garlic, butter, parmesan cheese , a little oregano.

    >> and red pepper flakes.

    >> i like that.

    >> like a pizza popcorn.

    >> hazel nut and chocolate nut cookies right there.

    >> very nice.

    >> oh, good.

    >> that's awesome.

    >> that's delish.

    >> little garlic powder , butter, can't go wrong with butter.

    >> did you know there's fat in pep rone?

    >> mike isabella, thank you so

TODAY recipes
updated 9/24/2012 4:23:30 PM ET 2012-09-24T20:23:30

Recipe: Chicken wings with pepperoni sauce

Ingredients
  • For sauce:
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
  • 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
  • 6 ounces pepperoni, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
  • 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
  • 1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock
  • 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
  • For wings:
  • 8 whole chicken wings (about 2 1/2 pounds)
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 2 sprigs rosemary
  • Peel of 1 lemon (no pith)
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 11/2 cups pepperoni sauce
Preparation

For pepperoni sauce:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sweat for 4 to 5 minutes until soft and translucent. If the garlic begins to brown, lower the heat.

2. Add the pepperoni and sauté for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate dry sauté pan, toast the fennel seed over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, shaking the pan often to prevent burning. Add the chili flakes and toast 1 minute longer, then add the toasted spices to the pepperoni mixture.

3. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth and increase heat to bring to a gentle boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 50 minutes, stirring every now and then.

4. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Transfer the mixture to a blender and purée for 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth.

5. Pass the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer into a mixing bowl, using the back of a spoon or a silicone spatula to help the sauce pass through.

6. Finish the sauce by stirring in the red wine vinegar.

For chicken wings:

1. Using a sharp knife, remove and discard the chicken wing tips. Then, cut each wing into two pieces: find the joint and cut at the joint to separate the drumette from the wing.

2. In a large glass mixing bowl or other non-reactive bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, rosemary and lemon peel. Add the chicken wings and stir until well coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for 2½ hours.

3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove the wings from the refrigerator and let rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. Stir in the salt.

4. Place wings on a baking rack on top of a baking sheet to allow for even cooking. Don't rinse the marinade from the wings, but do make sure there's no garlic, rosemary or lemon peel on the chicken, as those ingredients will burn.

5. Roast the wings for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and crispy.

6. Pour ¾ cup warm pepperoni sauce into a large mixing bowl, add the wings and toss to coat. Transfer wings to a serving platter and serve the remaining sauce on the side.

Serving

Pepperoni sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat the sauce before you are ready to use.

Recipe: Spicy popcorn

Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1/2 cup popcorn kernels (white Amish recommended)
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons red chili flakes
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Preparation

1. Pour the canola oil into a large saucepan on the stovetop. Add the popcorn kernels and cover with a tight-fitting lid.

2. Turn the heat to high. When the kernels begin to pop, shake the pan every 30 seconds-keeping the lid on so that the popcorn doesn't burn. When the kernels stop popping (after about 2 or 3 minutes), remove from heat.

3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir frequently for 3 to 4 minutes, until the garlic turns golden brown.

4. Pour the garlic butter through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl and discard garlic.

5. Grind the Parmigiano-Reggiano, chili flakes, oregano and salt in a spice grinder until the mixture looks like sand.

6. Toss the popcorn with the garlic butter and cheese mixture until the popcorn is evenly seasoned.

Serving Size

Makes 10 to 12 cups

Recipe: Nutella cookie sandwiches

Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup Nutella, plus more for filling
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/4 cup raw sugar
Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Have two nonstick baking sheets ready or line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the brown sugar, sugar and Nutella on the second-lowest speed for 1 minute or until the ingredients are fully incorporated. Add the butter and mix on the third-lowest speed for 2 minutes, or until whipped and light in color.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add the flour mixture to the mixer on the lowest speed setting. Mix all ingredients for 2 minutes, stopping halfway through to scrape down the inside of the mixing bowl to incorporate all the ingredients. The dough will come together and pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl. It will look a little crumbly — that's okay.

4. Dust a work surface and rolling pin with flour to prevent sticking. With your hands, scoop out one-third of the dough and mold it into a small brick on your work surface. Rolling from the center out (north, south, east and west), gently roll the dough into a 1/16-inch thick sheet. Dust the surface of the dough with a little flour before rolling. If the dough starts to tear or stick to the rolling pin, dust with a little more flour.

5. Using a 2-inch ring mold or 2-inch circular cookie cutter, punch out cookies and place them on nonstick or parchment-lined baking sheets.

6. Add some dough from the mixing bowl to what's left over on your work surface and pull it together and roll like you did in Step 4. Punch out more cookies and repeat until all the dough has been used.

7. Placing the cookie sheets on the middle and lower oven racks, bake the cookies for 5 minutes, remove them from the oven, and sprinkle evenly with raw sugar. Put the cookies back in the oven, then rotate the baking sheets 180 degrees and switch the upper and lower cookie sheet positions so they bake evenly for 5 more minutes.

8. Remove the cookies from the oven, let rest on the baking sheet for 1 minute, and use a clean offset spatula to transfer them to a cooling rack.

9. When cooled, fill a piping bag (or Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off) with Nutella. Pipe 1½ teaspoons on the flat surface of half the cookies, and top with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate in a sealed container for 1 hour before serving.

Serving

For perfect room temperature butter, leave the butter on your countertop for 2 to 6 hours to completely soften. Cookies can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Serving Size

Makes 45 to 50 cookie sandwiches

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