Baked Pasta and Veggies

This recipe appeared one night after facing a perfect storm of (1) lots of veggies and very little meat in my fridge (2) lack of inspiration, and (3) craving pasta.  Trying to convince yourself that eating pasta with "lots of veggies" somehow reduces the carb intake may be cheating a bit, but who cares.  This dish couldn't have been easier to make and The Boy and I were really happy with the turn out.  We may have even eaten it cold the next day.

Baked Pasta with Veggies

Veggies and Pasta:
oil
4 slices of bacon, cut into strips
left over cooked shredded chicken (if you have it) - optional
1 onion, sliced
6 - 8 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 bag of chopped kale
4 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and pepper

1/2 bag of penne pasta

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a dutch oven (like my fancy new Le Creuset), cook the bacon strips with a little oil on medium heat til crispy.  Remove with a slotted spoon.  Dump the onion, mushrooms and pepper into the pot and saute with the bacon fat for 4-5 minutes, until cooked a little bit.  Add the kale, garlic and optional chicken, continue to cook.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.  Return the bacon to the pot and keep everything warm on low heat

While this is cooking down, cook your pasta in salted boiling water until a few minutes before al dente.

Now onto the Bechamel Sauce.

Bechamel Sauce:
3 - 4 tbsp butter
3 - 4 tbsp Wondra flour
2 cups of non fat milk
1/2 tsp graded nutmeg
1/2 tsp powderd mustard
Salt and Pepper
1/2/ - 3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used gouda and white cheddar)
couple dashes of chipotle hot sauce

Melt the butter in a sauce pan on medium heat, add the Wondra and whisk for 2 minutes.  Add the milk, nutmeg, mustard and S&P and whisk until the milk thickens (a few minutes).  Add the cheese and hot sauce, let it all melt and get acquainted with one another, finally taste for seasoning.

Dump the pasta in with the veggies and add the Bechamel sauce as well. Mix to combine.  Shred a little bit of cheese on top if you wish and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Let rest for a few minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Basil Pesto

My family loves pesto, especially my father.  We will have it on bread with cheese, on pasta, on sandwiches or even in salads (I've added it to Caprese Salads when I don't have basil).  My version is fairly traditional with a few additions of parsley and cracked black pepper.  I also add a bit more garlic to make it more pungent.  Lastly, I only add a bit of freshly graded Parmesan Cheese at the end and fold it.

Basil Pesto:

4 garlic cloves, smashed
1-2 hand fulls of dry toasted pine nuts (maybe 1/3ish of a cup)
2 good pinches of salt
few grinds of freshly cracked pepper
1 very large bunch of basil (upwards of 30ish leaves)
1 large handful of flat leaf parsley
extra virgin olive oil, 1/4-1/2 cup
1/4 cup freshly graded Parmesan Cheese

In a food processor, pulse together the garlic, pine nuts, salt and pepper till a paste forms (maybe 15-20 seconds).  Scrape down the sides with a spatula and add the basil and parsley.  Pulse lightly every second until the basil and parsley are chopped finely.  Push the on button on the food processor and drizzle in the olive oil from the top until a nice smooth pesto forms.  Take out and put into a bowl, fold in the Parmesan Cheese and taste for seasoning.  It should be a little garlicky, salty, and most of all basily.

Butternut Squash Triangoli

It has been one hell of a week. Work was crazy, the boy is out of town, and I have one really nasty flu. I'm doped up on Sudafed, Advil, and lots of tea. It's times like these where, if I am even hungry, I need something quick and homey that doesn't take a lot out of me to make. I had some Butternut Squash Triangloli that Trader Joe's now carries and figured I'd add some vegetables to my vitamin lacking body. You can substitute the peas with spinach, kale, green beans, really any dark vegetable would suffice.

I know I have posted a previous butternut squash pasta recipe before but this is a nice tweak on it. I add pancetta, shallots and peas and also make it lighter without the brown butter sauce. I add some of the pasta cooking water and along with the vegetables, makes a nice and light sauce.

Butternut Squash Trangoli with Peas:
1 Package of TJ's Butternut Squash Triangolini
2 oz. Pancetta
1 tsp butter
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup frozen peas
5 springs of thyme, leaves picked
Salt and Pepper


Bring a large pot filled with water up to a boil. While the water is heating up in a sauté pan, start cooking the pancetta over medium heat with the olive oil. Once the pancetta is crispy, take out with a slotted spoon and let drain on a paper towel. Add the shallot and garlic to the pancetta fat and let sweat.

Once the water is boiling, add a hand full of salt and add the pasta. Cook for 4 minutes.

Once the shallot has cooked a few minutes, add the frozen peas, butter, the thyme leaves a touch of salt, and some cracked black pepper. Once the pasta is cooked, add it to the sauté pan with 1/4 cup of the cooking water. Gently stir to combine everything.

Garnish with Parmesan cheese and serve with a caprese salad.

Linguine alla Carbonara

Thehave made the playoffs!!! This is very exciting news for the Bay Area and calls for a celebration. They play in their first playoff game for the first time in 7 years on Thursday, October 7th at 6:30pm and to celebrate I'm going to make a deliciously tasty dish that is saved for special occasions, well at least for me it is. I'm making Linguine alla Carbonara. My version isn't awful for you, I use whole wheat pasta, it doesn't have cream or butter but it does have eggs and lots of Parmesan cheese (ehh give and take right?). I add some vegetables also, and today I used bacon rather than pancetta because I had it in my fridge. I did tweak it a bit by adding some lemon zest at the end because, well, it sounded delicious and I had some lemons from my parent's lemon tree.

Linguine alla Carbonara

(2 dinner portions)

1/2 pound of whole wheat linguine pasta
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup frozen peas
3 slices of bacon, chopped into slices or 1/3 cup of pancetta
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
salt and pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes
zest of 1/2 a small lemon

In a large pot, bring a lot of water to boil. Salt the water with 1/3 cup of salt (a nice big handful) and place the pasta in the water, stir to make sure they don't stick to one another.


In a bowl, take the egg, 1/2 cup of the graded Parmesan and some freshly ground pepper, and whip together for a few minutes. Make sure there are no lumps in the egg mixture. *If you want you can add a splash of cream to make it extra creamy.

In a saute pan, add the bacon or pancetta on medium low heat and render the fat from the bacon. When the bacon is cooked and crispy, take out with a slotted spoon and set aside.

In that same saute pan, add the garlic and shallot and saute on medium heat till the shallot is tender and translucent. Add some cracked pepper, red pepper flakes, and frozen peas (it's going to be salty from the bacon so hold off on the salt for now) and stir to combine. When the pasta is almost done, add it to the pan with 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Turn off the heat and wait 1 minute. Add the egg and Parmesan mixture and quickly toss everything together making sure the eggs don't scramble but thicken a bit. Add the rest of the Parmesan cheese and the lemon zest and combine everything one more time. Taste for seasoning.

Garnish with some flat leaf parsley and some basil. FYI I'm enjoying this right now.

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter and Sage

For the first time in a long time I didn't feel like cooking. I went around the corner to try and pick something up that I could warm up and eat quickly. I stumbled upon this Butternut Squash Ravioli and immediately wanted to make it with a brown butter and sage sauce. I'm aware that this recipe is not good for you, but what the hell, it's god damn tasty and everyone deserves a little indulgence once in awhile. This is a super easy dish to make and took me maybe 12 minutes from start to finish. Add a salad and you have a complete meal.

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter and Sage

1 package of butternut squash ravioli

4 tbsp butter

7 whole sage leafs

salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg

Parmesan cheese and pine nuts for sprinkling on top

Bring a pot of water to boil and salt heavily (grab a fist full of salt and add it to the water). Boil pasta till they float and are almost cooked, about 6 minutes.

While pasta is boiling, take a saute pan and melt the butter and the sage leafs. Keep an eye on the butter and make sure it starts to brown but not burn. When the pasta is almost cooked take it out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon and add directly to the pan. Cook the rest of the pasta in the brown butter and sage for a few minutes and coat all the pasta, season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add a little bit of the pasta water if you would like more sauce. Serve with a sprig of fresh sage, freshly graded Parmesan cheese and pine nuts. Enjoy!

Penne with Vodka Cream Sauce

I usually don't make pasta. It is one of those things that for me, once you eat it, you keep eating it. So I try and only make it for special occasions, or if I'm feeding an army of people. I'm using whole wheat Penne but you can use any type of pasta your little heart desires.


You can make this two ways, one going gung-ho and opt for the cream, or you can save calories and use whole or skim milk. You won't get the richness that comes from the cream but it isn't bad at all. You can also add meat to this sauce, not technically a Vodka Cream Sauce, but it adds some protein.



Penne with Vodka Cream Sauce

1/2 box whole wheat Penne Rigate
1/2 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
Salt and Pepper (about 1 tsp each)
1/2 cup vodka
2 bay leaves
1-2 pinches of red pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp marjoram (optional)
2 cans of tomato sauce
1/2 can tomato paste (small can)
2 tsp sugar (optional, depending on taste)
1/2 cup cream or milk
1 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
chiffonade of 7 basil leaves
Parmesan cheese for dusting afterwards

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes. Add the bay leaves and the dried herbs through the marjoram and stir to combine. Continue to saute the onion till translucent and add the vodka. Let some of the alcohol evaporate for a few minutes and then add the tomato sauce and paste, stir to combine. Add some water if the sauce it too think. Continue to cook on low heat for 20-30 minutes. Taste after 20 minutes and adjust for seasoning, add sugar at this point if necessary.

Meanwhile boil pasta water and cook pasta till al dente. Add pasta just before it's fully cooked to the sauce and continue to cook the pasta in the sauce. Once the pasta is cooked, add the cream/milk along with the fresh herbs and stir to combine. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

*If you don't feel like making your own tomato sauce, you can use store bought sauce and doctor it up a bit with some seasoning. In a saute pan, add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Add the vodka and let some of the alcohol evaporate. Add the cooked pasta with a bit (1/2 cup) of the cooking liquid and let the pasta finish cooking in the sauce. At the very last moment, add the cream/milk and toss to combine. Garnish with the fresh herbs and cheese.

Bolognese

Bay to Breakers is a yearly event in San Francisco that consists of a 7 mile trip from The Embarcadero, through Golden Gate Park, finishing at Ocean Beach. The boyfriend hosted everyone the night before so we could all wake up together (at 6am mind you), get ready and start the "race." A few girlfriends and I dressed up as Neon Ballerinas, while other members of our group just went for straight Neon. However, because everyone was staying the night before I decided to make dinner for everyone and decided I was going to attempt Spaghetti Bolognese. It turned out really well, it's not the classic version but it was pretty damn tasty. I made the sauce and let it simmer for a good 2 hours and the flavors developed really nicely.

Bolognese Sauce:

1/2 cup of pancetta

1 onion, finely chopped

2-3 large carrots, pealed, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 pork sausages (removed of their casings) or some sort of ground pork with seasonings

1/2 - 3/4 cup of white wine

1 dash vodka (optional)

2 cans of tomato sauce

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 1/4 cup of chicken or vegetable stock
2 bay leaves

2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp chili powder

pinch of red pepper flakes

salt and pepper (bout a tsp of each)

extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup heavy cream

Fresh basil and parsley chopped for garnish

Brown pancetta in a deep pot with a little bit of olive oil on medium heat till crispy.

Remove pancetta with a slotted spoon and start to sweat the onion, carrot and garlic in the rendered oil from the pancetta, you may have to add a little bit more oil at this point. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, fennel, chili powder and red pepper flakes. Let onions cook till translucent. Pull the vegetables out with a slotted spoon.

Brown the pork sausage and break up into small pieces with the back of your spoon. Once the pork is browned, add back the vegetables and pancetta and stir to combine. Pour in the wine and vodka to deglaze the pan and scrape the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Add in the tomato paste, the tomato sauce, broth, and bay leaves.

Let the sauce simmer on low for at least an hour to let the flavors develop. After an hour taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Right before you're about to combine the sauce with the pasta, add the cream and turn off the heat.

Boil pasta (I used whole wheat spaghetti) in very salty water till al dente. In a frying pan, add the pasta sauce and when the pasta is ready combine the pasta in the pan with a 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Let pasta finish cooking in pasta sauce. Garnish with fresh herbs (basil, parsley and even mint will be delicious) and some Parmesan cheese. ENJOY!