Pasta with asparagus, brussel sprouts and chicken with garlicky bread crumbs

Last night was one our (now) typical Monday's school, homework, basketball practice at dinnertime!!!

I threw this dish together based on what was in our refrigerator. If you have leftover cooked chicken, use it, I had bought some poached chicken at Trader Joe's and used that. Although the kids didn't want the pasta mixed with the veggies, they ended up mixing it in their bowls...

elbow pasta
2 Tbs. olive oil
3 cubes frozen garlic
1 pint brussel sprouts, quartered
1/2 C. chicken stock or water
1/4 C. creme fraise or sour cream
2 C. cooked chicken, cut into small cubes
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1/3'rds
1/2 C. Italian bread crumbs
1 tsp. garlic salt
Parmesan cheese
kosher salt and pepper

Boil pasta in salted water. While the pasta boils, heat olive oil in a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. Add brussel sprouts and garlic cubes. Stir to combine and add chicken stock and creme fraise. Saute for 3 minutes, add chicken and season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, garlic salt and a drizzle of olive oil.

Reduce heat to medium and add asparagus. Stir to combine and cook for 1 more minute. Drain pasta and add to pan. Garnish with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese before serving.

Fusilli with sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, lemon zest and asparagus

I am doing a corporate function tomorrow and prepared this dish for one of their meals. I wanted to share this delicious pasta recipe with you.

1 box fusilli
2 bunches fresh thin asparagus
1 C. thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
1 C. toasted pine nuts (Trader Joe's sells them pre-toasted)
zest from 1 lemon
2 cubes frozen garlic
kosher salt and pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 bunch fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
pinch of red pepper flakes
grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Boil pasta in salted water. While pasta cooks, lay a steamer over the pot and steam asparagus until just bright green, 2 minutes max. Plunge asparagus in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Remove from the bowl and slice into 2" pieces. Toss in a large bowl with sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, lemon zest, frozen garlic, olive oil, and a big pinch of salt and pepper.

Cook pasta until al dente 10-12 minutes. Drain and add to bowl, and toss to combine. Finally, add a handful of parsley and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese if desired. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve warm.

Other add-in's that would be delicious:
pitted kalamata olives
fresh baby spinach
grilled shrimp

Baked pasta with spinach, fennel and truffled pecorino

We had some friends over for dinner tonight and as it was last minute, I had to find something to make from the pantry. Here's what I threw together from my pantry.

ingredients:
1 box pasta ( I used elbow macaroni)
1 head fennel
1 box creamed spinach
1 C. fresh mushrooms
2 cubes frozen garlic
olive oil
truffled pecorino cheese
1/4 C. cream cheese
Panko breadcrumbs


Preheat oven to 450. Line a cookie sheet with either a Silpat mat or aluminum foil. Remove the top from 1 head of fennel. Quarter and thinly slice the fennel. Add it to the cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and add a pinch of kosher salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes.

While the fennel roasts, boil 1 box of pasta.
While the pasta boils, microwave 1 box of creamed spinach.

Heat a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. Add 1 Tbs. olive oil and while the oil heats, rinse and thinly slice a handful of mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms in the pan, add a pinch of kosher salt and pepper and 2 cubes of froze garlic. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn off heat, and add roasted fennel, creamed spinach and 1/4 c. grated truffled pecorino cheese. If you don't have this on hand, you could use a drizzle of truffle oil and a handful of grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese instead. Add 1/4 C. cream cheese (the chive cream cheese would be good in here too) and stir until melted.

Drain pasta and add to pan, stir to combine and place pasta and vegetables in an oven proof casserole dish. Sprinkle top with bread crumbs, a drizzle of olive oil and a small handful of the grated truffled pecorino cheese.

Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden brown.

We enjoyed this with a salad that our friends brought over.

This dish was surprisingly delicious and I was glad to use up some of the foods from my pantry and freezer.

Enjoy!

Mac and cheese with proscuitto

(Healthy, but don’t tell the kids) Macaroni and cheese with proscuitto


8 oz. pre-diced proscuitto
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
4 Tbs. all-purpose flour
2 cups non-fat or 2% milk
2 C. shredded skim mozzarella and cheddar cheese mix
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, saving ¼ C. for topping
1 pound elbow macaroni
Kosher salt and pepper


Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.

To make the sauce:
Cook proscuitto on a heavy nonstick pan on medium high heat for 5-6 minutes until it begins to crisp. Remove from pan and melt butter in saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes, then whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, then simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Stir in cheeses, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until smooth. Add in diced proscuitto, cover and remove from heat.

Cook macaroni in a pasta pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water and drain macaroni in a colander. Stir together macaroni, reserved cooking water, and sauce in a large bowl. Transfer to a 2-quart shallow baking dish.
Sprinkle ¼ C. grated parmigiano over macaroni and bake uncovered until golden and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes.

The Big Hand- Hamburger Helper Homemade

Emma asked for Hamburger Helper last week, I almost fell over. But who can blame her? A happy talking hand and a catchy tune! I decided to make my own version tonight and wanted to share my recipe.

1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
8 oz. petite diced tomatoes, juices drained
1/2 C. fat-free half and half or non-fat milk
1/2 C. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 C. shredded 2% mozzarella cheese
2 C. dry elbow pasta (or any pasta)
2 basil leaves (optional)

Boil pasta in salted water. While pasta boils, brown beef and add garlic salt in a deep sided pan with a lid. After beef is cooked through, add drained diced tomatoes and half and half. Stir to combine and add Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Stir to combine, cover and lower heat to low. Continue cooking on low heat until pasta is cooked, about 10 minutes. Drain and add pasta to tomatoes and beef. Add basil leaves and season to taste before serving.

15 Minute Meal for $15 on WTNH

Here is tomorrow's recipe that I will be making on WTNH, Good Morning Weekend Connecticut. It comes from my new "recession buster" series of classes that are beginning in April. The new schedule of classes will be up on my website by early next week.

Enjoy!

Egg noodles with chicken sausage and Parmesan

1 C. wide egg noodles
2-4 sliced chicken sausages
1 C. chicken stock
1 C. frozen peas
1 tbs. olive oil
1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese
pinch of kosher salt and pepper


Boil water in a medium pan. When water boils, add noodles and cook 6 minutes. While noodles cook, thinly slice chicken sausage and add to a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. Add ½ C. chicken stock to sausage and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add frozen peas and continue cooking. Drain noodles and add to pan with olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Add a pinch of kosher salt and pepper before serving.
*Optional- sliced mushrooms, quartered canned artichoke hearts, and cherry tomatoes are a delicious addition to this meal.

Pasta prima-nesca..

I am always morphing recipes that I come across and saw a rather good looking recipe for pasta puttanesca, but wanted to add more veggies and make it my own.

Here is the recipe I came up with. The kids loved it and the older one didn't even mind picking out the mushrooms!

By the way... if you follow this blog you will know how much I adore those frozen Dorot herbs. I had a bunch of fresh peeled garlic cloves sitting around and decided to make my own garlic puree for the freezer. I pureed it with just a touch of olive oil and spooned it out into Tbs. servings on to the Glad Press N' Seal, then I added a top layer and sealed around each spoonful so I have 1 tablespoon of pureed garlic as needed. I am so excited about this and plan to do the same with some fresh ginger I have too!

Ok, here's the recipe:

Cook 1/2 box of penne (or whatever pasta you have) in salted boiling water.

While the pasta boils, add 3 cubes of pureed (or frozen) garlic, 2 diced shallots (or 1/2 an onion), and 2 tbs. of olive oil to a large nonstick pan. Let that cook for 30 seconds. Slice about 1 C. of cherry tomatoes in half and about 1 C. of fresh button mushrooms into thin slices. Add the tomatoes and mushrooms next with a good pinch of kosher salt and pepper. Stir to combine and let cook for 1 minute.

Add 1/4 C. drained capers and a little of the pasta water if it seems too dry. You can also add in a few slices of chopped prosciutto if you'd like, or keep it vegetarian. Continue cooking on medium high heat until the pasta is ready (4-5 minutes).

When the pasta is cooked, add it to the sauce with 1 C. of frozen peas. Cook another minute until the peas are cooked through and add a good 1/4 C. of grated Parmesan cheese before serving.

We all loved it, and I added a pinch of red pepper flakes to mine. It was yummy.

I am soaking beans (yes, the old fashioned way) to make a ham, smoked turkey and bean stew. My friend said she was making one and it sounded so good, I wanted to make one too.

Angel hair with garlic, peas and sun-dried tomatoes

Happy Day After Christmas.

I didn't have it in me to go to the market to buy anything for dinner, so we used whatever was around. This would probably fit into the 15 Minute Meals Category and we all loved it.

Here's the recipe for Angel hair pasta with garlic, peas and sun-dried tomatoes:

Boil water for pasta. Once the water is boiling, add a large pinch of Kosher salt and add pasta. Pasta only takes 5 minutes to cook.

While the pasta water is boiling, heat a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. Add 1 Tbs. of butter and 1 Tbs. of olive oil to the pan. Add in 4 cubes of frozen garlic and a pinch of Kosher salt and pepper. While the garlic melts, add in 1 C. of frozen peas and 2 Tbs. of sun-dried tomato paste.

If you don't have the paste, you can add in 3-4 chopped sun-dried tomatoes. If I had any proscuitto, I would have diced 4 pieces and added it in, but we didn't have any, so I added in some leftover diced chicken.

When the pasta is al dente add it to the pan with a little bit of the pasta water and stir to combine. Finish with another pinch of pepper and a good handful of grated Parmesan.

We all enjoyed this dinner tonight and the dwindling leftover Christmas cookies for dessert.

Sweet potato gnocchi

We had a lot of roasted sweet potatoes left over from Thanksgiving dinner tonight and I made sweet potato gnocchi.

Here's the recipe:

2 cups roasted sweet potatoes
2 eggs
3-4 cups flour
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 pinch dried sage
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Mash potatoes with a masher until pretty smooth, it's ok if there are a few lumps. Place on the counter in a lump. Make a small dent in the middle of the potatoes and add the 2 eggs and spices.

Knead with your hands (THIS PART IS VERY MESSY!). Slowly add in the flour little by little, and knead until it isn't very sticky. This part is a little hard to gauge, but it should feel softer than bread dough.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. While you wait for the water, make the gnocchi. On a floured surface, roll the dough out in several long snakes, and cut into 1-inch sections. Drop the pieces into the boiling water, and allow them to cook until they float to the surface. Remove the floating pieces with a slotted spoon, and keep warm in a serving dish. Serve with butter or cream sauce.

Gnocchi freezes really well. While you roll the gnocchi, place them on a lightly floured cookie sheet then freeze. Once frozen, place in a ziplock bag and when ready to use, boil water and follow directions for cooking.

Turkey meatballs (the easy way) and pasta

I am sleepy already, and it's only 10:50 in the morning. For dinner, I am going to my pantry and freezer.

Whole Foods makes fantastic turkey meatballs that are frozen. I cook them frozen in a jar of sauce and boil some pasta.

That's it, dinner in a snap.

I'll slice some cucumber and apples for dinner and we'll call it a night!

Greek Pasta Salad

We went to a neighborhood beach picnic this evening. It's an annual thing and something that I really, really love about our neighborhood. We are a real community and growing up, I never really knew anyone much less everyone on our street. I know it sounds a little Beaver Cleaver, but it makes me feel safe and happy.

Anyhow, I made a simple pasta salad and wanted to share the recipe with you.

Boil a box of pasta ( I think I used elbow)

In a bowl, add a can of rinsed garbanzo beans, chopped steamed broccoli, thinly sliced snap peas, a little green onion, and diced cucumber. In retrospect, I would have added some chopped sun-dried tomatoes, but I forgot. Add 1 C. of crumbled feta cheese with Mediterranean Herbs (You can find a block of this at the market)

Add a handful of pitted Greek green olives, a good pinch of kosher salt and pepper.

Once the pasta is Al Dente, rinse under cool running water.

Make a dijon vinaigrette of :
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
the juice from 1 lemon
1/2 C. olive oil
1 tsp. Greek Seasoning (McCormack makes it)
a pinch of salt and pepper

Stir to combine and add vinaigrette to the bowl. Add pasta and stir to combine. I made this earlier in the day and stored until ready to use.

It was delicious, healthy and super easy. P.S. You can also add chopped artichoke hearts.

Pasta with mushrooms and truffle oil

We had a really nice relaxing day today, the kids even bundled up and rode their bikes outside. We ate dinner with our neighbors tonight and I have been in the mood for truffle oil, so I made a really simple pasta. Here's the recipe.

Boil a pot of water for pasta, I used linguine.

While the water boils, melt 2 tbs unsalted butter in a pan on high heat. Rinse 1 package of button mushrooms and quarter. When the butter is melted, add the mushrooms and saute for 5-6 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and a couple grinds of black pepper. When the pasta is just al dente, add it to the mushrooms. Stir to incorporate and add 3 tbs. of truffle oil. The truffle oil is very strong, so don't be tempted to add much more. Add in 1 handful of chopped fresh parsley and about 1/4 C. of parmesan cheese. Serve.

We had some mahi mahi that I bought at Trader Joe's the other day. It was marinated and frozen and I let it thaw in the fridge, then I baked it at 400 for 15 minutes. It was ok, a little tough for my taste, but fine.

The pasta was a hit and we all enjoyed it.

Baked pasta primavera

My friend Sue loves to make this pasta and here is a version of hers.

Boil penne pasta. While the water and pasta boil, dice 1 zucchini, a 1/2 onion, a handful of mushrooms, and a small Japanese eggplant.

Saute the vegetables in 1 tbs. olive oil until they soften. Season with salt and pepper.

After pasta is cooked until al dente. Drain and preheat oven to 375. Combine 2 C. tomato sauce with 1 C. skim ricotta cheese. Add in sauteed vegetables and toss to combine with pasta. Bake, uncovered in an oven proof casserole dish for 20 minutes until sauce is bubbly.

I like to turn the oven to Broil for 3 minutes before removing from the oven to get the top of the baked pasta a little crispy. No one else likes the little crispy bits, but I love to pick them off the top!

Weeks end

We have a dear neighbor who is 91 years old and still plays competitive tennis. She is amazing, and the best part is that she has a great sense of humor.

We invited her over to dinner last night. She lives alone and quite frankly, she is great fun to have around. I made a simple dinner of penne pasta with tomato sauce with ground turkey and mushrooms.

The recipe couldn't be easier. In a pan, add a little olive oil. When it shimmers, add 1 package of ground turkey and 2 cubes of frozen garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a few shakes of Italian Seasoning. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until the turkey is cooked through.

Heat a large pot of water and a healthy pinch of salt. While the water boils add a package of rinsed sliced mushrooms to the ground turkey. Saute for 3-4 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium low and add in a jar of tomato sauce, I like Rao's Marinara, it taste about as close to homemade as I've ever had. Turn the heat down to low and cover.

When the water boils in the pot, add in a box of pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes.

While the pasta cooked, I made a green salad with romaine, hearts of palm, dried cranberries, cucumber, shredded carrots, sunflower seeds, garbanzo beans, and 1 crumbled hard boiled egg.

I made a dressing with 1/4 C. red wine vinegar, a pinch of salt, pepper and sugar and 3/4 C. olive oil. Shake it all together in a jar and serve with the salad. It makes enough for at least a few salads.

We had a great evening of memories from when my friend was young and the girls got to hear about her childhood memories. She is a special woman.

Tonight was grilled boneless skinless chicken thighs and some bakes french fries (McCaines makes ones called 5 Minute Fries that are decent and not outrageouly high in sodium or fat). I've know I've written the recipe for the chicken thighs before; basically it's olive oil, lemon juice, Greek seasoning, salt and pepper. Grill on both sides and finish in a 450 degree oven covered in aluminum foil for 10 more minutes.

We ate outside and listened to the thunder storms roll in.

I've bought pork spareribs to grill tomorrow night, but we have a b-u-s-y day tomorrow and I'm not certain I will want to cook. Maybe we'll save them for Sunday.