Pasta Puttanesca

This is an easy weeknight pasta dish. It's a nice change from boring jarred pasta sauce and it doesn't take long to prepare at all. You can have all your chopping done by the time your water is boiling.

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup pitted chopped Kalamata olives

2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (14-ounce) can diced or crushed tomatoes

1 large handful of fresh spinach, roughly chopped

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to directions. 

2. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic until fragrant. Add parsley through red pepper flakes. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and simmer 5-10 minutes. Stir in spinach and allow greens to wilt, 1-2 minutes. Toss cooked pasta with the sauce. Top with Parmesan cheese. 

Review - Easy, delicious, everyone loved it. Really though, how can you go wrong with spaghetti? Adults love it. Kids love it. Serve with a green salad and you've got yourself a healthy meal.

Lemon Ricotta Pasta

I don't think I like ricotta. Or maybe I didn't buy a good brand. I don't know, but this dish was bland. Had I followed the original recipe it would have been even more tasteless. I added a couple large cloves of crushed garlic and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan and it still didn't have enough flavor. Jay suggested adding fresh basil, which would have helped. It definitely needed something extra.

8 oz. pasta, any shape

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

15 oz. ricotta

1 Tbsp. butter, softened

1 lemon

2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Salt and Pepper

1. Boil water for pasta. 

2. Grate the zest of the lemon and squeeze out all of the juice. Add both juice and zest to medium mixing bowl. Add to it the ricotta, butter, garlic and Parmesan.

3. Cook pasta. When pasta is almost finished throw in the peas. Ladle out about 1/3 cup of hot pasta water and pour into ricotta mixture. Whisk until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Strain pasta and peas. Pour back into saucepan. Pour ricotta sauce over the top. Stir until pasta and peas are coated. 

Review - This wasn't horrible, but I don't think I'll make it again, unless I change up the recipe. A lot. We all ate it, but it was just an 'eh' recipe.

Pasta with broccoli, peppers, and Kalamata olives

Apparently I have no clue what a sauce is. This is another recipe from the "Sauces and Dips" chapter of Moosewood. The original recipe is called "Broccoli Sauce." I don't know how this qualifies as a sauce. There's nothing saucy about it, at all. It was really good though so I don't care what they want to call it. I'm changing the name though because "Broccoli Sauce" is misleading and I don't want ya'll to be disappointed when there's no lovely sauce to ladle over your pasta.

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

4-5 large garlic cloves, minced

1-1.5 lb. broccoli, cut into florets and then roughly chopped, about 4 cups

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 small red or yellow bell pepper, diced

2 cups vegetable broth

2 Tbsp. flour

1/4 cup water

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved

1/2 - 3/4 lb. pasta (I had a hodgepodge mix of whole wheat macaroni and rotini)

Parmesan and black pepper

1. Boil water for pasta. 

2. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet. Add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until onion is translucent. Add the broccoli and salt and continue to cook another 10 minutes or until broccoli is tender. Add the bell pepper and saute 5 minutes longer.

3. Add broth and turn up heat until it boils. In small bowl, whisk flour and water together until flour is dissolved and there are no clumps. Pour into boiling broccoli mixture, stirring constantly. Sauce will thicken. Turn heat down and add tomatoes and olives. Keep on low while pasta cooks.

4. Cook pasta. Drain and add too broccoli mixture. Top with grated parmesan and freshly ground pepper. 

Do you see any sauce in this picture? No? Neither do I.

Sauce or no sauce it was pretty tasty.

Review - The kids couldn't get enough of this pasta. Just the pasta. I couldn't get either of them to try the peppers or the tomatoes. Josie could not be convinced that the tomatoes were in fact tomatoes and not bell peppers. I really liked this dish. It was good cold the next day too.

Cheesy Shells and Broccoli

I stumbled upon the blog Budget Bytes a few days ago. Good (healthy) food + inexpensive ingredients = right up my alley. I really want to try her recipe for chocolate lava cakes but I need to cut back on my sugar intake (I just polished off a pan of frosted brownies in under 24 hours). Anyway, this pasta looked too good and too easy to pass up and I'm glad I didn't. It was hit. I made a couple changes, nothing major though.

8 oz. pasta

1 large broccoli crown, cut into small florets

1/2 cup chopped onion (I used shallots because I had a few floating around that I wanted to use up)

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

2 1/2 cups milk (I used plain almond milk and the sauce turned out just fine)

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup Parmesan

Salt and Pepper

Tabasco

Add pasta to a large pot of boiling water. After the pasta has been cooking for 8 minutes add the broccoli to the same pot. Cook for two minutes more. Strain pasta and broccoli and pour back into large pot.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat melt the butter and saute the onions until translucent, 2-3 minutes. Add the flour. Using a whisk, stir and cook the flour mixture for 2 minutes. Add the milk and whisk to dissolve any clumps. Add fresh ground pepper. Allow mixture to simmer and sauce to thicken. Once sauce has thickened, stir in cheeses until fully melted. Add a splash of Tabasco and salt if desired. Pour cheese sauce over pasta and stir until pasta and broccoli are well coated.

Again, this is not a great picture. Husband is on swing shift so I'm flying solo during dinner time, which means I'm like a crazy woman in the kitchen between the hours of 4:30 - 7. Excuses, excuses, I know.

Review - Everyone loved this pasta dish. I loved it so much that I had seconds after the kids were in bed. I mixed three different kinds of cheese (cheddar, Parmesan, and some Cougar Gold). I think you could definitely play around with different cheeses, just make sure you have at least two cups. I only added a couple drops of Tabasco, which kept it mild enough for the kids. I served it with peas. I'll definitely be making this again.

Caramelized Onion Pasta

I discovered the "Sauces and Dips" chapter of my Moosewood cookbook. I found at least four sauces that I wanted to try, but this recipe won for this week. I'm not really sure how this qualifies as a sauce, but it was good so I don't really care what they call it.

1/2 cup olive oil

4-6 large onions, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 to 1 cup dry white wine

1 medium bunch arugula or spinach, chopped (I used a couple handfuls of spinach)

1 cup crumbled feta

3/4 lb. pasta

toasted walnuts, grated parmesan (optional)

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onions and saute over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Add salt and continue to cook for at least another 10 minutes, up to an hour, the longer the better. Add wine to deglaze the pan. Simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes.

2. Cook pasta. While the pasta is cooking, add the chopped greens too the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the crumbled cheese and turn heat to low.

3. Drain pasta and add to onion mixture. Sprinkle walnuts and parmesan cheese on top before serving.

Caramelized onions are delicious. It takes a little time to cook them, but it's well worth the effort. You can do the onions ahead of time and set them aside. I left mine covered on the stove for a few hours before dinner.

Just gettin' going

This is after about 20 minutes over medium-high heat

40 minutes and just about done.

Review - This was a really simple, but flavorful dish. Three out of the four of us liked it. My sweet little girl child is becoming quite the food critic. Apparently she doesn't need to even taste the food before she decides she doesn't like it. She took one look at this and requested tortellini, which she would eat every night if I let her. I'm not giving up. As long as one kid eats it I'm considering it a keeper. The only change I might make next time is to choose a different cheese. I thought the feta took away from the onions a little, so I might try something a little more mild or leave it out altogether.

Roasted Eggplant Lasagna

I've been on an eggplant kick lately. I've been trying to come up with ways to use that beautiful purple-skinned vegetable to replace meat in some of my favorite Italian dishes. I've made a couple vegetarian lasagnas in the past, but they've always just been so-so. In rolls the eggplant...

Most of the eggplant lasagna recipes that I found used eggplant in place of noodles. I didn't want to give up my noodles. I like my carbs, thank you. I made this recipe up, so again, the measurements are going to be slightly approximated. 

I only had one eggplant in the fridge. If you are going to make a 9x13 of lasagna and you want more than one layer of eggplant, you're going to need at least 2 medium-large eggplants. I had to throw in a layer of spinach because I only had enough eggplant to cover one layer and lasagna just isn't lasagna without multiple layers. 

2 medium/large eggplants, sliced lengthwise 1/4" thick

kosher salt

olive oil

2-3 shallots, chopped

15 oz. ricotta

2 eggs, slightly beaten

salt and pepper

1 tsp. oregano

10-12 uncooked lasagna noodles

24 oz jar of pasta sauce (I used Newman's Own Sockarooni)

2 cups shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan

Preheat broiler. Sprinkle salt on both sides of sliced eggplant and place in strainer and allow to drain over sink for 30 minutes. Rinse under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Place eggplant on a baking sheet, brush both sides with olive oil. Broil for 10-20 minutes, turning once halfway through, or until eggplant begins to brown slightly. Remove from oven and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix together shallots, ricotta, eggs, salt, pepper, and oregano. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Place a layer of uncooked noodles on top of the sauce. Next add a layer of ricotta mixture, followed by a layer of eggplant, then tomato sauce, and finish with mozzarella cheese. Repeat. Noodles, ricotta, eggplant, tomato sauce, cheese. I had quite a bit of sauce left so I added another layer of noodles, sauce and cheese. Sprinkle grated parmesan on top. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes or until cheese is fully melted and bubbly. 

Review - I really liked this dish. This was the first vegetarian lasagna that I didn't find myself longing for some Italian sausage after the first bite. I would serve this to company if we ever actually had people over. Jay ate two servings. Eli did pretty well, but didn't want to pick it up with his hands, so I had to feed him. No big deal. When I set the plate down in front of Josie her response was, "Gross!" We quickly had a little lesson on table etiquette. In the end she ate most of her serving, along with salad and bread. I could tell the kids weren't as excited about this dish as I was, but they ate it, so I was happy.

Mushroom Marsala Pasta with Artichokes

I'm hooked on Smitten Kitchen. Every recipe that I've tried has been awesome! 

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 pound mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned and chopped into small bits
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus 1 tablespoon for pasta water
1 cup dry Marsala wine

1 lb. pasta (I used a 13.25 oz box of medium shells, I think a pound would have been too much)

1/2 pound frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, quartered
1 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup cream (I used half and half)

1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Splash of Balsamic vinegar

Place the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for one minute. Add the mushrooms and one teaspoon of the salt. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until all the moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms have cooked down, about 10 minutes. Add the Marsala and continue cooking until almost all the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Stir in remaining salt. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta and add it into the mushrooms, Marsala and onions Add the artichoke hearts, Parmesan and cream and cook until the artichokes are heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley and pepper, then adjust seasonings to taste. I added a little Balsamic vinegar, as suggested by the original author. It definitely added a nice zing.

  

Review - Definitely a keeper! Everyone devoured this dish. Josie didn't care for the artichoke hearts, but I didn't chop them up so the pieces were a little overwhelming for a three year old. Eli inhaled his pasta. Jay had two servings. I served with my standard spinach salad. Not terribly time consuming. The hardest part was chopping the mushrooms. The rest of the dish goes together fairly quickly.

Cougar Gold Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 1 ½ quart baking dish. Bring 6 cups water to a rolling boil in a medium saucepan with 1 ½ tsp salt.

Add 2 cups elbow macaroni (8 ounces) and cook just until tender.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. You will need the following:

2 1/4 cups grated Cougar Gold
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups whole or skim milk

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. While whisking, gradually add the flour and milk. Stir in the following:

1/2 medium onion, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp sweet paprika

Simmer at a low temperature for fifteen minutes, stirring often. Remove pan from the burner and stir in 1½ cups of the Cougar Gold. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the cooked macaroni. Pour about half of this mixture into your baking dish and sprinkle half of the remaining cheese over the top. Pour on the rest of the mixture and top off with the cheese.

For a final touch melt 1 T butter and toss it with ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs. Sprinkle this mixture on top of your casserole and bake for 30 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are golden.

Serves 4-6 main-course servings; 8-10 side-dish servings

Review - This was ok, but a waste of Cougar Gold, in my very humble opinion. The flavor of the cheese was completely lost and overall, the dish was fairly bland. I've yet to find a macaroni and cheese recipe that lives up to my expectations. For now, I think I'll stick to the blue box variety.

If you're interested in ordering a tin of Cougar Gold cheese, here's the link: http://www.wsu.edu/creamery/