20 Minute Lemon Broccoli Pasta Skillet

It's June, you guys!  This year went by so fast!  School will be over 3 weeks from today!  Maybe it was because my class was better or my life was better or both, but this year flew by.  Soon enough I'll be sleeping in and having pool parties, cooking and baking to my heart's content :)

But for now, I am getting home from work pretty exhausted.  This is a totally fun but totally crazy time to be a teacher.  Within the next 15 days of school, I have field day, field trips, fifth grade barbecue, spring concert, and countless other schedule-blowing extravaganzas!  By the time I get home, I'm lucky if I can make myself something quick like Ramen noodles.  Okay fine, that happened last week.  I may love the process of cooking but on nights like these when my eyes are closing before 7:00, I need something quick.

Enter 20 minutes lemon broccoli pasta skillet!  This was so quick and oh so good.  Is anything better than pasta with lemon and parmesan? I don't think so.  Add in garlic, spinach and broccoli, and what more could you ask for?!  I loved this meal, and I brought the leftovers for lunch for days until it was gone.  I kind of miss it. Guess I will have plenty of time to make it again real soon :)

Recipe:

20 minute lemon broccoli pasta skillet
from The Food Charlatan
serves 6

Ingredients:
3 quarts water
1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli, cut into florets
1 pound rotini pasta
3-4 cups spinach
4 tablespoons butter
1 large lemon, tested and juiced
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup fresh parmesan, plus more to garnish
salt and pepper


Instructions:

1) In a large pot, bring the water to a boil along with 1 tablespoon of salt.

2) Add the rotini and boil on high for 4 minutes.  Add the broccoli, cover, and cook 3 minutes.

3) Drain pasta and broccoli and return to pot. Stir in spinach and sprinkle with lemon zest.  Let sit for a few minutes so the spinach wilts.

4) Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Add minced garlic and crushed red pepper and saute for about 1 minutes until fragrant.  Turn off heat and add 2- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with more Parmesan.

Baked Ziti

This whole blogging without pictures thing is pretty stressful. I know I am forgetting some recipes!  But I guess the good news is that this is one I knew I wouldn't forget, because it was amazing.

Here's the crazy part: I hate ziti bakes.  Always have.  A bunch of ground beef ruining perfectly good ziti, and too much cheese, or not enough cheese... it was always one of my least favorite meals.  But then we had a pot luck lunch at school, and someone made a ziti bake and shockingly labeled it "vegetarian."  Since vegetarian options at pot lucks are not always ubiquitous, I tried some.  After one bite, I was trying to figure out who made it, because it was great.  After two bites, I threw my fork down in horror because I was positive I had ground beef in my mouth.  After frantically tracking down the teacher who made it, he sheepishly admitted he used soy crumbles because his wife is a vegetarian.  It was fake ground beef!  And the whole thing was delicious.  I stole the recipe from him and tried it out on my own.

Now, you probably think you know all there is to know about baked ziti.  I certainly did.  Ricotta cheese, right?  Wrong.  This one has sour cream instead.  Somehow when it bakes it ends up looking just like ricotta, so no one knows the difference, but it brings that extra tang to the dish.  Then lots of mozzarella cheese, right?  Wrong.  How about slices of provolone?  Don't worry, there is still some mozzarella (and Parmesan) on top.  It's just not your mama's ziti bake.  It's ziti bake for the 21st century.

If you are not interested in fake ground beef, feel free to use the real deal. Just don't invite me over for dinner.  But those of you who want to eat something that didn't get murdered, I have been trying out lots of different brands to see what I think.  So far I have tried Gardein and Beyond Meat.  They were both good.  Vegetarians, what plant-based meats do you prefer?  For me, I don't actually miss the flavor or texture of meat, so I really could do without it, but it makes me family happy.  You know it's very realistic fake meat when Nick is bringing leftovers to the police station for dinner.  Definitely a good compromise between meat and no meat!

Anyway, just make this baked ziti, even if you think you hate baked ziti.  It makes a giant casserole, it reheats great, and everyone loves it.  It's definitely going into regular rotation here - it was even requested this weekend!

Recipe:

baked ziti
from AllRecipes (and Mr. O.!)
makes 10 servings

Ingredients:
1 pound ziti
1 onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef (or your choice of fake meat!)
2 26-ounce jars spaghetti sauce
6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour crea,
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1) Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil.  Add ziti, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain.

2) In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat.  Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.

3) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish.  Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, all the provolone, all the sour cream, 1/2 of the sauce mixture, remaining ziti, all the mozzarella, and the remaining sauce mixture.  Top with grated Parmesan.

4) Bake for 30 minutes or until cheeses are melted.

Spinach, Mushroom and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Ah, Friday night. I have one puppy on my lap, a little white dog next to me, and a big old hound in her dog bed.  All is right in my world.

And all is about to be right in yours, because I foresee spinach, mushroom and ricotta stuffed shells in your future.   I have made many different types of stuffed shells, usually just going with my old standby of spinach and ricotta stuffed shells.  These are very similar, but with the genius addition of mushrooms.  The fresh basil helps out too.  I would have to say these are my new favorite stuffed shells.  They also reheat great!  And stuffed shells are just such a great meal: built in portion control, tasty, filling, and customizable.

Shhhh don't tell anyone that I will be in bed before 11:00 on a Friday night.  Is this 31?

Recipe:

spinach, mushroom and ricotta stuffed shells
from Handle the Heat
yields 4 - 6 servings

Ingredients:
20 jumbo pasta shells (about half a 12-ounce box)
1 24-ounce jar marinara sauce (or 3 cups homemade sauce)
1 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta
2 cups baby spinach, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
8 ounces chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup grated parmesan
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated mozzarella

Instructions:

1) Set an oven rack to the highest position and heat oven to 400 degrees.  Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Drain and run under cold water to cool.

2) Spread the marinara sauce in the bottom of a large broiler-proof baking dish.

3) In a bowl, combine the ricotta, spinach, basil, mushrooms, parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Spoon the mixture into the shells and place them on top of the sauce.

4) Sprinkle the shells with mozzarella and bake until heated through, 10 - 12 minutes.  Then increase heat to broil and broil until cheese begins to brown, 2 - 5 minutes.  Serve.

Summer Garden Pasta

I'm on summer vacation!  Truthfully the summer isn't off to a great start with a migraine and neck pain that has me strapping ice packs to my head, but hey: it's 11:30 in the morning and I'm still in pajamas on the couch.  Summer is awesome.

Besides having the summer off, one of my favorite parts of summer is having fresh local vegetables again: having tomatoes that are actually red and not pink and mealy, and having corn that's sweet and bright, and picking chives out of our garden (I love that chives are perennials!).  All of these things get highlighted in this summer garden pasta.  Plus, you know, bacon.  Because that's all I have to say to get my family interested in a meal. Bacon and pasta make these people happy, so I'll give it to them, along with some veggies to keep them happy and healthy!

Obviously this isn't my dream dish with vegetables sauteed in bacon grease, but my family loved it.  It's really flavorful, and the sauce is light but fantastic.  The fresh summer veggies are the stars of the dish, as they should be to celebrate the start of summer produce!

Recipe:

summer garden pasta
from Annie's Eats
serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:
12 ounces pasta shapes (I used a pound of tricolor spiral pasta)
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 medium zucchini, quartered and sliced thin
2 cobs fresh corn, shucked and kernels cut off
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup diced yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup veggie or chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
2 - 3 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
shaved parmesan for serving


Instructions:

1) Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente.  Drain well.

2) Meanwhile, in large saucepan or skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp.  Remove to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving 2 teaspoons of the bacon grease in the skillet.  Add the zucchini and corn kernels to the pan and sauce until crisp-tender and warmed through, about 5 minutes.  Remove to a separate plate or bowl.

3) In the same skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter.  Add the onion to the pan and saute until beginning to soften, 2 - 3 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and cook about 30 seconds more, just until fragrant.  Stir in the broth and bring to a simmer.  Lower the heat to medium and let simmer until liquid is reduced by about half, approximately 5 - 8 minutes.  remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cream.  Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

4) Add the drained pasta to the pan with the sauce and toss well to coat.  Stir in the chives, tomatoes, zucchini, corn, and bacon.  Serve immediately with shaved parmesan if desired.

Salisbury Steak Meatballs

I obviously don't like salisbury steak.... but I like Salisbury because it's next to our beach house.  Does that count?  And I know my family are big fans of all things meat, including but not limited to salisbury steak and meatballs.  This meal combines both, so I decided to try it out for them.

This meal makes a lot of food.  It says it serves 12 and that's no joke.  2 pounds of ground beef get the salisbury steak treatment by getting mixed with brown mustard, ketchup, beef case, Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper.  One note - there's no egg, and that makes them kinda crumbly so I would add a couple next time to help them stick together.  Then they get cooked in a sauce with many of the same flavors, like beef broth, Worcestershire, and Kitchen Bouquet, with the addition of some caramelized onions.  You serve the whole saucey, meaty mess over egg noodles and sprinkle it with pasta.  Voila: dinner.

As expected, my family all loved this meal.  It was hearty, filling and fit for a family of carnivores.  If that sounds like you, then go for it!

Recipe:

salisbury steak meatballs
from The Pioneer Woman
serves 12

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
3/4 cups seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup brown mustard
1/4 cup +1 tablespoon ketchup, divided
1 teaspoon powdered beef base or crumbled beef bouillon cubes
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 half stick (1/4 cup) salted butter
1 whole large onion, halved and sliced
2 1/2 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with a little beef broth to make a thin paste
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet
1 pound egg noodles, cooked to al dente and drained
minced fresh parsley

Instructions:

1) To make the meatballs, combine the first 8 ingredients in a mixing bowl (not including the 1 tablespoon ketchup or 1 tablespoon Worcestershire) and knead until completely combined.  Form into medium-sized meatballs and place on a plate.

2) Heat a large skillet or dutch oven over medium heat, and then add 2 tablespoons of butter.  When melted, add half the meatballs and gently move around the pan to brown.  When brown, remove them to a clean plate and repeat with the rest of the meatballs.

3) In the same skillet, add the onions and book for 3 - 4 minutes until golden brown and starting to soften.  In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup beef broth with the cornstarch.

4) Next add to the skillet 2 cups of beef broth, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon ketchup, and mustard.  Stir to scrape the bits off the bottom the pan.  Bring to a gentle boil and add the cornstarch mixture.  Return the metals to the pan, reduce the heat to low, and allow them to simmer in the sauce for 10 minutes or until meatballs are done and sauce is thick.  Splash in more beef broth if needed for thinning.  Add a little Kitchen Bouquet to give the sauce a deeper color.   Sauce should be thick and glossy.

5) Serve meatballs over a platter of egg noodles, tossed in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.  Sprinkle with minced parsley.

Penne with Tempeh, Caramelized Shallots and Goat Cheese

Guys, let's talk about tempeh.  That's TEM-pay.  No, not tofu.  Even I as a vegetarian can agree that tofu isn't always the most appetizing thing.  I'm still not quite sure how soybeans turn into that.  No, this is tempeh.  Also soybean-based, but its more of a cake than a marshmallow.  You can still see the beans.  The texture is much more meat-like than you'd expect.

I was intrigued by tempeh ever since I heard about it a year or so ago.  I knew, however, that my family would not be as excited to try it out, so I waited for a night when I was home alone.  For my birthday, Alex gave me this awesome cookbook called The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes Carnivores will Devour.  Isn't that an amazing idea for a cookbook!?  The recipes all look super intriguing and delicious, including this one.   I figured, even if the tempeh is gross, you have penne, goat cheese, and caramelized shallots to make up for it!

But then the tempeh was not gross.  Far from it.  It has made me a tempeh believer.  It gets marinated in soy sauce, dijon mustard, sesame oil, minced garlic, and lime juice (doesn't that sound like a marinade that you'd eat anything in!?).  Then it gets fried.  Hello?  Delicious marinade?  Fried?  What's not to like about this tempeh?  Trust me, if you aren't a fan of the texture of tofu, this is not like that.  It's got more of a meaty bite to it.  And the flavor is incredible.  The marinade really sinks in, and gets seared into it.  I kept thinking it would make a kick-ass sandwich.  I've never even said those words together, but that's what marinated tempeh makes me do.

The final dish altogether? Totally amazing.  I even got Mark to eat it despite his balking over the tofu.  Then I brought some to work for Laura to test, and she agreed that tempeh is far better than she expected.  It reheated well and I ate all the leftovers with gusto.  All I know is that there's another package of tempeh in my refrigerator right now and I cannot wait to try it out again!

Recipe:

penne with tempeh, caramelized shallots, and goat cheese
from  The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes Carnivores will Devour by Kim O'Donnel
makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon hot sauce of your choice (optional)
1 8-ounce package soy tempeh, cut into 1-inch strips
vegetable oil for pan-frying
2 - 3 shallot bulbs, sliced thinly (about 1/2 cup)
a few sprigs worth of fresh thyme leaves
salt and ground black pepper
12 ounces short pasta, such as penne, rotini or ziti
3 ounces soft goat cheese
3 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped roughly

Instructions:

1) Marinate the tempeh: in a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, mustard, sesame oil, garlic, lime juice, and hot sauce (if using).  Place the tempeh in a shallow dish in a single layer and pour the marinade on top, ensuring complete coverage.  Let the tempeh sit in the marinade at room temperature for a minimum of 20 minutes, or in the fridge for up to several hours.

2) Remove the tempeh from the marinade and gently pat with paper towels to minimize splattering when frying in hot oil.  Pour the oil to a depth of 1/4 inch into a wide skillet and heat over medium heat.  The oil is hot enough when it surrounds the tempeh with bubbles.

3) Gently add the tempeh and turn with tongs or a fork, until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes.  Add more oil as necessary and allow to heat sufficiently before adding more tempeh.  Transfer the tempeh to paper towels and allow to cool slightly.  Sprinkle with salt.

4) Lower the heat and add shallots.  Add more oil if need be, but be careful, you don't want shallot mixture to be overly greasy.  Cook over medium-low heat, so they soften, sweeten and reduce but not brown, about 15 minutes.  Add the thyme and salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat.

5) Meanwhile, boil water for the pasta and prepare according to the package instructions. Crumble the tempeh into small pieces and add to the shallot mixture, stirring to combine.

6) In the bottom of a serving bowl, place the goat cheese.  Drain the pasta when ready (saving a few ounces of pasta water just in case the end result needs thinning) and pour into the bowl over the goat cheese.  With two wooden spoons, coat the pasta with the melting goat cheese.  Add the tempeh mixture and the parsley, stirring gently until well combined.  Garnish with Parmigiano-Reggiano, if you like.  Serve hot.

Cabernet Braised Short Ribs with Chard and Orecchiette

Braised short ribs are something that I used to eat in my carnivore days, and I haven't met anyone who doesn't love them.  We had them served at our wedding and Mark ordered them; he even tried to browbeat everyone who ordered chicken to change their minds!  So for all these reasons, when Annie's Eats posted a pasta dish with braised short ribs and chard, I knew I had to try it out.

The short ribs are slow cooked in a bath of cabernet (can you imagine a better idea?) with fresh thyme and parsley, onions, carrots, celery and garlic.  Some tomato paste adds color and flavor to the broth.  After the ribs are done, you tear them into pieces (I threw out probably way more than I needed to, but I was very critical of every piece!) and reduce the sauce a bit to make it thicker.  The recipe suggests straining the sauce, but I kept it the way it was because I wanted the vegetables in it (mainly for me!).  Then everything gets mixed together with some wilted chard and hot pasta, and voila!  Dinner.  It's a fairly easy dish but a bit time consuming, with the 2 1/2-hour braising time, so it's a good weekend meal.

The end result was just as fabulous as Annie said on her page ("gush-worthy", was her term).  Mark ate so many bowls of it, it was crazy.  Nick and my mom ate the leftovers the next day, and this was the message I got from Nick:

So, yeah, I'd say it went over pretty well :)

Recipe:

cabernet braised short ribs with chard and orecchiette
from Annie's Eats
yields 8 - 10 servings

Ingredients:
about 4 pounds meaty short ribs, excess fat trimmed
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 cup coarsely shopped onion
1 cup coarsely chopped carrot
1 cup coarsely chopped celery
4 cloves garlic, minced, divided
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (750 mL) bottle cabernet sauvignon
6 sprigs fresh parsley
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup chicken or beef stock
1 pound pasta shapes, such as orecchiette
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 bunch Swiss card, ribs removed and coarsely chopped
freshly grated parmesan, for serving

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Season both sides of the short ribs generously with salt and pepper.  In a large pot with a lid, such as a 5-quart Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add a few of the short ribs to the pot (as many as can be easily fit in a single layer).  Sear on all sides, about 2 minutes per side.  Remove seared ribs to a plate and repeat with remaining short ribs.

2) Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat.  If you do not have enough fat, add in more olive oil.  Add the onion, carrot, and celery to the pan.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften, about 5 - 7 minutes.  Stir in half of the minced garlic and the tomato paste.  Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and the tomato paste begins to caramelize, 1 - 2 minutes.

3) Increase the heat to high.  Add the wine to the pan slowly, scraping the bottom to deglaze the pan.  Maintain the heat at a low boil and let the wine reduce down to half the volume, about 12 - 15 minutes.  Return the seared short ribs to the pan along with the herbs.  If necessary, add the chicken or beef stock so that the short ribs are half submerged in liquid.  Bring to a boil.  Cover the top of the pot with a piece of parchment paper, then top with the lid to securely hold the parchment paper in place.  Transfer the pot to the oven and let cook until the meat falls off the bone easily, at least 2 1/2 hours.

4) When the meat is finished cooking, remove the short ribs to a platter.  Once cool enough to handle, shred into bite sized pieces.  Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta.  Cook until al dente, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water.

5) Strain the sauce left in the pot to remove the solids.  Return the pot to the stove over medium-high heat and let the sauce reduce to a thicker consistency, 5 - 10 minutes.  Once reduced, set aside to cool for a few minutes.  Skin the excess fat from the top of the sauce.

6) In a large saucepan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.  Saute the onion and remaining 2 cloves garlic briefly, about 2 minutes.  Add the chard to the pan.  Stir briefly, then cover to let wilt  Stir if needed to evenly wilt all of the chard.  Once pasta is cooked and drained and the greens are finished wilting, combine them together in the largest pan.  Stir in a small amount of the reserved pasta water (about 1/4 cup).  Then toss in the shredded short ribs and the cabernet reduction.  Mix gently until thoroughly combined.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, and if needed, add additional pasta water for more moisture.  Serve warm with freshly grated Parmesan.

Vegetarian Chili Mac

Chili is awesome.  So is macaroni and cheese.  So what genius thought up the idea to combine them into chili mac!?!?!  I don't know who did it.  But Kitchen Treaty posted a recipe for it on the Oh My Veggies blog, and I tried it, and I am now a believer.

Let's talk about the chili first.  It is the chilliest chili you will ever have.  I think it's because there are a whopping 2 tablespoons of chili powder in there.  And a tablespoon of cumin.  If you're looking for a bland chili, this is not the one for you.  This one packs a punch.  Plus, you know.  It's vegetarian.  There are some lovely kidney beans in there for protein, don't worry.

And then there's the mac and cheese part: pasta with lots of cheddar cheese melted over the top of the dish.  Mixed in with the chili.  I know, it's crazy, but it's good crazy.

happy hubby

This was a delicious, filling, comforting dish.  It also reheated really well and made for great lunches for Mark and me the week after I made it.  This is definitely a make-again meal.  

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas full of lots of great food.  Plenty more recipes are on their way to you as we close in on my third blogiversary!

helping himself to thirds

Recipe:

vegetarian chili mac

from Oh My Veggies

serves 6

Ingredients:

8 ounces elbow macaroni noodles

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup diced onion (about 1/2 medium onion)

1 cup diced green paper (about 1 medium pepper)

2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 small cloves)

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree

2 15-ounce cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

sliced scallions and sour cream for topping, if desired

Instructions:

1)  Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the macaroni al dente according to package instructions.  Drain and set aside.

2) In a 3-quart or larger skillet or saucepan, warm the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and green pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and salt, and stir gently to mix.  Bring to a boil, and then reduce hear to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

3) Add the macaroni to the chili and stir gently to mix.  Sprinkle cheese on top and cover with lid to melt the cheese.

4) Top individual servings with sliced scallions and a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

I was pretty depressed when this was Rachael's request for dinner when Tuck and Linda were coming to visit last month: spaghetti and meatballs.  Made from real meat.  I suggested lentil balls or beet balls, but no one was having it.  I was going to be touching meat and there was nothing I could do to sway them.  Rach claimed that she deserved the spaghetti and meatballs - her favorite meal - because she had just started her new job and was (and still is) feeling overwhelmed.  So hey, if I can don a pair of gloves and roll some meat into balls to cheer her up, I'll do it.

Now this is what I learned that morning.  It is seriously hard to get your house and a meal ready for a get-together by yourself.  Mark was at work, and I am not used to living in a house with less than 4 able-bodied women all bustling around the house!  I was running around like a crazy person and by the time Tuck and Linda arrived, my hair was wet and my floor was dirty.  Oh well.  I guess the food had better be good!

And, good it was.  Everyone told me that my meatballs were good.  Obviously I just ate spaghetti and eggplant parm, but Nick even whispered that my meatballs are better than Kenzie's.  Shhhhh, don't tell her that.  She's kind of known as the meatball queen.  And frankly, I'd like to let her keep that title.  While I am glad that people liked them, I was less than thrilled when I was making them.  Even the sauce kind of freaked me out, because you cook the meatballs in it.  Let's face it: I've seen Kenzie bake meatballs.  I know what comes out of them.  And so I know that's in the sauce.  Of course, my family claimed that's probably what made it taste so great, but hey, I'll stick with my eggplant.

With that said, if you want a good recipe for meatballs - or frankly anything meat-related - go to the Pioneer Woman.  She has never led me astray in the meat department.  Plus she has basset hounds.

Recipe:

spaghetti and meatballs
from The Pioneer Woman 
serves 8

Ingredients:
for meatballs:
3/4 pound ground beef
3/4 pound ground pork
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup fine bread crumbs
2 whole eggs
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
splash of milk
1/2 cup olive oil

for sauce:
1 whole yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup red or white wine (optional; I left it out)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper
8 whole fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

2 pounds spaghetti, cooked al dente

Instructions:

1) To make the meatballs, combine the meat, garlic, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, eggs, salt, pepper, parsley, and a splash of milk in a mixing bowl.  Mix together well with hands.  Roll into 25 1 1/2-inch balls and place on a  cookie sheet.  Place cookie sheet into the freezer for 5 - 10 minutes to firm up.

2) To brown the meatballs, heat olive oil in a heavy pot or large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add meatballs 8 at a time, turning to brown.  Remove and drain on a paper towel after each batch.  Set meatballs aside.

3) In the same pot, add onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes, or until translucent.  Pour in whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, and wine if using.  Add salt, pepper, sugar, and parsley.  Stir to combine and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.

4) Add meatballs to pot and stir in gently.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring very gently a couple of times during the simmer.

5) Just before serving, stir in basil if using.  Serve over cooked spaghetti.  Sprinkle with extra Parmesan.

Cold Peanut Noodles

Yesterday at work we had the magazine drive.  Unless you're a teacher, you cannot even imagine what this is like.  Here's a hint: Picture 500 kids screaming at the tops of their little lungs in the gym because there's a magazine drive woman standing in front of them with a 15-foot long plush snake, a giant teddy bear, and blow-up shoes.  She's wearing a light-up lanyard and those damn weepulls (AKA puffballs with eyes that for some reason the kids are dying to own).  She is bribing them to sell magazines and the ultimate prize is a limousine lunch at McDonald's.  Are you starting to get an idea of how loud the magazine drive is?  Now, add in the game that the magazine drive lady plays at the end of the assembly, where 67% of the kids try to cheat, and the fact that the first prizes get delivered the very next morning if they disclose 8 addresses of loved ones that we can send catalogs to.  Yeah, you're getting a good idea of it now.  And of course, it wouldn't be complete if one of my kids didn't scream cry by the end of it.

Fast forward to today, when my kids passed in their magazine drive envelopes before they passed in their homework.  Then picture my horror when, while the kids were at specials, the magazine drive coordinators dropped off the giant teddy bear in my classroom.  In fact, he was propped up in my seat at my desks when I returned from a meeting.   We won the honor of his presence for the day for having the most magazine drive postcards filled out.  Oh joy.  My aide, Barbara, and I immediately shoved him on top of the cabinets (with a yard stick) to try to hide him from our attention-lacking students (it worked... no one pointed him out till the last class).  I just love this picture.

Anyway, the point of all the magazine drive whining is that, at this point in time, I have a love-hate relationship with magazines.  This week, I hate them all because of the magazine drive toys which I know I will be confiscating in the very near future.  But then again, I kind of miss reading my mom's magazines, which I often did when I still lived at home.  I love to flip through cooking magazines and take pictures on my phone of the recipes I want to try.  I don't get any subscriptions myself, except for my beloved Food Network Magazine, which Nick got me one year for Christmas and unbeknownst to him, it automatically renews every year and charges his credit card (shhhhh!)  

One cool aspect of the magazine is there's always a miniature magazine each month featuring 50 recipes.  Sometimes it's 50 flavored popcorns, or 50 quick breads, or 50 pasta dishes.  This summer, it was 50 picnic salads.  I actually made a couple of them; I made a caponata pasta salad, but was disappointed in it due to my inability to find fresh fennel for it.  Then I made this cold peanut noodle salad, and it was pretty awesome.  I had my mom over for dinner and the two of us loved it.  Then Mark and I happily ate it for lunch at work during the week.

The peanut sauce was the best part of this dish; it's smooth and flavorful (besides peanut butter, there's soy sauce and rice vinegar and sesame oil and fresh ginger! Mmmmm).  It's also a little spicy (the recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of Sriracha.  No thanks, I'd like to keep my tastebuds; I used maybe 1/4 teaspoon!).  Basically if you need a good go-to peanut sauce, make this one.  Then add to it the red pepper, cucumber, and cilantro?  Yes please.  Not to mention the noodles.  Except here is my confession: the recipe calls for Chinese egg noodles.  I confess to having no idea what Chinese egg noodles are.  I used the ones you'd serve with beef stroganoff, and I am highly certain that those aren't Chinese.  I scoured the Asian section trying to find a clue and finally gave up.  Anyone want to steer me in the right direction?

So.  Magazines.  This week (and until the drive ends October 29) I will hate them.  But I have to thank them for this tasty, quick and easy recipe.

Recipe:

cold peanut noodles

from the July 2014 Food Network Magazine

Ingredients:

1 pound Chinese egg noodles

1/2 cup peanut butter

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons Sriracha (or less!)

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon grated peeled ginger

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 cucumber, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1) Cook pasta; drain and rinse.

2) Whisk peanut butter, soy sauce, Sriracha, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and ginger.  Toss with noodles.

3) Mix in bell pepper, cucumber and cilantro.  Season with salt and pepper.

Mediterranean Eggplant Pasta Cake

Okay, this is my first blog post in nearly a month!  I apologize for the lapse in posting.  To be honest, I was so insanely busy, I was hardly cooking either.  I think I have an excuse - getting married and going on my honeymoon sort of kept me busy :)  It was truly one of the most exciting, wonderful, and exhausting month of my life, but now the Ajemian household is calming down ( a little bit!) and I can finally get around to sharing the Mediterranean eggplant pasta cake, which by the way is one of my favorite dishes of all time.

First, you know how much I adore eggplant.  So imagine this: thinly sliced eggplant (I used my new mandoline), quickly pan-fried until it is slightly crispy and insanely delicious (I may or may not have devoured too many of them before the meal was put together).  This eggplant is laid out in a cake pan, forming a crust almost, and then on top you pour spaghetti mixed with a quick homemade sauce, cheddar and parmesan cheeses, basil and parsley, and an egg to hold it all together.  Bake it, flip it upside down, remove the pan, and voila: you have a cake, made out of eggplant and pasta.  Can you seriously imagine how amazing this was?!

It was a huge hit here, and I happily ate the leftovers all week long until every bite was gone.  It's so flavorful, and the eggplant "crust" makes for a pretty impressive-looking (not to mention ridiculously delicious) dinner.  In fact, typing this up now, I am wondering why I haven't recreated this amazing dish.  Oh yeah, I was wedding planning.  Well, the next time I go grocery shopping (does anyone else miss Market Basket?) I am picking up some eggplant and making this cake again!

Recipe:

Mediterranean eggplant pasta cake
from Fast Fresh Vegetarian, by Bauer Media Limited, 2013 (thanks Allie!)
serves 8
14.1 grams fat, 336 calories, 37.8 carbohydrates, 11.6 grams protein, 4.9 grams fiber

Ingredients:
12 ounces spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
12 1/2 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
vegetable oil, for shallow-frying
2 medium eggplants, cut lengthways into 1/2 inch slices
1 egg
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan
1/2 cup coarsely grated cheddar
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped coarsely

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a deep 8-inch round cake pan.

2) Cook spaghetti in large saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender; drain.  Place in a large heatproof bowl.

3) Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat; cook onion and garlic, stirring, 5 minutes or until onion is softened.  Add paste and tomatoes, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.  Season to taste.

4) Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in a large deep frying pan; cook eggplant in batches until golden brown.  Drain on parchment paper.

5) Whisk egg, cheeses and herbs together with a fork in a medium bowl.  Stir warm tomato sauce, then egg mixture, through spaghetti.  Mix well.

6) Line cake pan with eggplant slices, overlapping slightly and allowing slices to hang 4 inches over edge of pan.  Pour pasta mixture into eggplant-lined pan; press mixture firmly into base and corners.  Fold overhanging eggplant over filling.  Cover top of pasta with remaining eggplant slices.  Cover pan tightly with foil.

7) Bake pasta cake 30 minutes or until heated through.  Stand 10 minutes.  Remove foil and invert pasta cake onto a serving plate.  Cut into wedges to serve.

Ravioli with Goat Cheese and Spinach Filling

Yes, folks, another homemade ravioli recipe!  And this one is a little different for a few reasons.  I have made shrimp and chive ravioli (not a good idea), three cheese ravioli, and spinach and ricotta ravioli.  All were made from semolina flour, like traditional ravioli, and they were rolled out using my pasta roller that Kaz gave me for Christmas a few years ago.  This recipe intrigued me for a few reasons: first, that it is made with regular flour, and second, that it is rolled out by hand rather than using a pasta roller machine.  I wanted to try it to see if raviolis could be satisfactorily made with "regular cook's materials."  Can you use regular flour?  Can you just use a rolling pin to roll it out?  And obviously anything filled with goat cheese is A-okay by me!

The pasta dough recipe calls for just flour, hot water, an egg, and salt.  It was very easy to make it.  It has to sit for an hour, but other than that it was quick to throw together.  Then the filling was just spinach, goat cheese, parmesan, a pinch of nutmeg, and salt and pepper.  I will confess due to a guilty conscience that I ended up having too much filling left after I used all the pasta, and I spread it on pieces of toast and devoured it (see picture below).  There.  I feel better now.

The pasta rolling experience was quite a workout.  It is a lot more work to roll with a rolling pin many, many times, than to run sheets of dough through a roller machine with a crank a few times.  But again, I wanted to just prove that it was possible to do it with laymen's tools!  I was sweaty and tired by the time I had semi-thin sheets of pasta (they were definitely not as thin as when I used the roller), but it certainly was possible to do it.  I did use my trusty old ravioli mold to fill the raviolis with that amazing goat cheesy filling!

The raviolis get boiled for 5 minutes, and then you're done!  Then I had to deal with the sauce.  The recipe recommends a mushroom and parmesan cream sauce, and I had even bought all the ingredients for this.  But (and this is the second or third time this has happened) after all the work it takes to make ravioli, I was too tired to work on making anything else.  I confess again to using just a jar of tomato sauce!

The end result was of course amazing.  There was no way any pasta stuffed with goat cheese would be bad.  Kenzie and my mom both said they actually preferred the raviolis a little bit thicker (thanks, rolling pin!) and they loved the filling.  I happily ate the leftovers for lunch during the week and they stayed delicious and reheated well.  This would be a great recipe to try if you are interested in trying to make your own pasta without the benefit of a pasta roller or semolina flour.  Yes, it is possible :)




Recipe:

ravioli with goat cheese and spinach filling
from Julia's Album
makes 12 - 18 raviolis

Ingredients:
for ravioli dough:
1 1/4 cup flour
1 egg
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt
for ravioli filling:
1/3 cup cooked spinach (or 1/2 bunch raw spinach to be cooked)
2 ounces goat cheese
1/3 parmesan cheese, grated
nutmeg
salt and pepper

Instructions:

1) Mix flour with salt.

2) Stir water with egg until well mixed.

3) In a bowl, combine flour and egg-water mixture together and mix until well incorporated.  Knead the dough until well-textured and firm.  The dough should not be too wet or too sticky.  It should only stick to itself, but not to your hands.  It should not be too dry either.  Make the dough into a ball or disk, and wrap with plastic wrap.  Let the dough stand for 1 hour at room temperature before using.  This allows the gluten to work.

4) Meanwhile, make the filling.  Cook spinach until wilted and all liquid is gone.  It is very important that all liquid is evaporated.  Chop spinach.

5) Soften goat cheese by heating it up in microwave oven for about 5 - 10 seconds.  Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl: chopped spinach, goat cheese, and parmesan cheese.  Add a little bit of nutmeg to taste, and salt and pepper as well.  Set aside.  Your filling should not be runny; it needs to be firm.  You can refrigerate it to firm it up.

6)  Assemble ravioli: unwrap ravioli dough from plastic, and divide it in 2 equal parts.  Roll out each part of pasta dough very thinly on a floured surface.  Make sure to flour the upper portion of pasta dough and the roller to avoid sticking.  Lift the rolled dough several times during rolling to make sure it isn;t sticking, and flour working surface with more flour if necessary.

7) Flour the ravioli mold.  After you have rolled the 2 portions of dough very thinly, place first layer of dough on the ravioli mold so that it covers all 12 holes.

8) Place a small portion of ravioli filling into each indentation, making sure not to overfill.  The filling should be at the same level or lower as the flat part of the mold.  Place the second layer of pasta dough on top of filled ravioli.

9) Using a rolling pin, roll across the mold and along the edges to separate the ravioli.  By now you should have extra dough hanging off the outside 4 edges of the mold.  Carefully separate it.  Continue rolling the pin along the inside edge of the raviolis to separate them from one another.

10) Flip ravioli mold to release ravioli.  Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Boil ravioli for 5 minutes and drain.  Serve immediately, or place them on a plate of baking sheet in the freezer to freeze.  After they are frozen, place them in a plastic bag and keep frozen until needed.

Stir Fried Singapore Noodles with Garlic Ginger Sauce

Apparently the theme of the week was Asian noodle dishes, because two days after posting the Filipino pancit recipe, here's another one: stir fried Singapore noodles with garlic ginger sauce.  Drooling yet?  Well hold on: imagine soft rice noodles mixed with fresh stir-fried vegetables like peppers, shallots, mushrooms and peas, and douse it all in a garlic ginger sauce.  Now you're drooling.

In real life, if I read that explanation to my family, more than half of them would whine as soon as I said "mushrooms."  In the interest of world peace, I left them out of this recipe.  I also meant to use a few different bell peppers to add lots of color, but only found one lonely green one in the refrigerator (and of course 2 days later I found another green and a red hiding behind the giant head of broccoli).  As I said the other day, I randomly have tons of cabbage on hand right now, so I used some chopped cabbage in place of mushrooms (and bean sprouts, which I haven't been able to find anywhere in years.  Literally).

The rice noodles -yes, this is gluten-free! - get soaked in cold water while you stir fry all the vegetables until they're tender-crisp.  Then you toss the noodles in and stir fry them too.  After you remove it from the heat, you add the sauce slowly - there is a lot of it - and little by little, it gets absorbed and thickens and sticks to the noodles perfectly.  Mmmm.

This was Rachael's request; I made it for lunch one day when it was just me, her and Alex home.  They liked it but wished there were less peas (I did double the recipe, and perhaps doubling the peas was too much).  There is a lot of flavor; that sauce is full of chicken broth and soy sauce and garlic and ginger and even something called mirin, which is a sweet Japanese rice wine used in cooking (think, lower alcohol content, higher sugar content).  Apparently it has a pretty mild flavor but is awesome for making sauces "glossy" and helping it cling to foods due to its almost syrupy texture (yes I did my research).  Got any good mirin recipes for me?  Because I have a huge bottle of it now :)

Recipe:

stir fried Singapore noodles with garlic ginger sauce
from Pinch of Yum
serves 4

Ingredients:
4 ounces thin rice noodles
1 tablespoon oil
2 bell peppers. thinly sliced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 cup bean sprouts
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 cup frozen peas
sliced scallions for topping
for the sauce:
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons mirin
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek (I skipped this; it adds spice)

Instructions:

1) Soak the rice noodles in a large bowl of cold water.  Wash and cut all the vegetables.  Mix the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and set aside.

2) Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Add the peppers, shallots, bean sprouts and curry powder.  Stir fry for 3 - 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and peas; stir fry for 2 minutes.  The vegetables should be bright and tender-crisp.

3) Drain the water from the rice noodles and add the noodles to the pan with the vegetables.  Add a little splash of sauce - about 2 - 3 tablespoons - and stir fry, moving the noodles around in the pan continuously so they don't stick together in one big lump - they should move freely and easily.  After a few minutes of stir frying, remove the pan from the heat.

4) Once off the heat, add the sauce in small increments, tossing/stirring the noodles in between each addition, until the desires "sauciness" level is reached.  The goal is for the sauce to thicken slightly when combined with the other ingredients and cling to the noodles instead of soaking into the noodles.  Top with scallions and more sauce if desired.

Filipino Pancit

These are the kinds of crazy recipes that I end up cooking when I ask for my mother's help in meal planning!  On my last grocery store trip, my goal was to buy mostly healthy food to help get us all in wedding shape.  I have lots of healthy recipes to share with you in the next couple weeks.  However, I can never say no to a good pasta dish, and when Mom stumbled upon this one, she was hooked.  It's a huge (serves 12 - 16) dish of stir-fried noodles mixed with vegetables, pork, and a flavorful sauce.  The blogger it came from worked in an orphanage in the Philippines for a year, and said this was their birthday party go-to meal.  I can see why!  Quick, easy, delicious, and hugely portioned, this would be a great go-to for us too.  I mean, except for the fact that it does have pork (don't worry, any pieces that accidentally made their way into my bowl were fed to Daisy under the table).

My mom has been talking about "the porky noodles" for the last week.  The name kind of grosses me out, but then again I am not entirely sure how to say pancit.  Even though this recipe makes a giant amount, it all went quickly and was gone within days.  It reheats pretty well too.

I liked how the recipe calls for "noodles" and "vegetables."  It's a very versatile meal.  You don't have any bell peppers (or like me, only have one small one?!)  Toss in some cabbage (because again, like me, perhaps you find yourself strangely with 2 cabbages in your fridge).  Can't find vermicelli or pancit noodles?  Rice noodles work fine, or just plain thin spaghetti, which is what I used.  The options are endless and can be based on your preferences or whatever you happen to have on hand.

Doesn't this recipe make you want a giant wok?  Definitely going to register for one :)

Recipe:

Filipino pancit
from Pinch of Yum
serves 12 - 16

Ingredients:
2 pounds uncooked noodles (this version used a combination of pancit and vermicelli)
4 cups sliced mixed veggies: cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, green onions, etc.
1 pound lean pork, cut into very small pieces
1/2 cup oil
1 onion, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 pork bouillon cube (I couldn't find it anywhere; I used chicken)
6 cups water

Instructions:

1) Soak the vermicelli in water for about 5 minutes or until soft.

2) Brown the pork in the oil with the soy sauce, garlic, and onion.

3) Add the water and bouillon cube to the pork and bring it to a low simmer.  Add the vegetables and cook for 5 - 10 minutes.  Add the uncooked pancit noodles and soaked vermicelli.  Simmer over low heat until the noodles soak up all the broth.

Fettuccine Alfredo

Allow me to again express my gratitude and appreciation for the Pioneer Woman.  Besides the fact that she has basset hounds, and that she used to be a vegetarian (although she is as far from it as you can get now), she is just the best food blogger to go to when you need comfort food recipes.  I was explaining this at dinner the night I served this alfredo, and said, "she just has the best recipes for.... what's the word?" and Rachael said "normal people food."  Touche.  When I want to make normal people food that I know my family will love, Ree Drummond knows her stuff.

Unfortunately, her recipes are excellent but oh-so unhealthy.  However, let's be honest: fettuccine alfredo is something that is not meant to be healthified.  When my aunt Linny came to visit, we decided to make her this since she doesn't get to have pasta much at home because of Tuck's no-carb diet.  We figured it was go big or go home!  And this recipe only has 5 ingredients, so it is quick and easy enough to throw together on a weeknight.

We did decide to throw in about 3 cups of chopped broccoli with the pasta to pretend that we were making a healthy dinner.  Unfortunately, my mom also insisted on throwing in some chicken from a rotisserie chicken she'd bought, which was gross, but she kept the pieces big enough so that I could pick them out (and slip them to a sweet old basset hound under the table).  Feel free to add both or neither to yours if you'd like.

Obviously, this was excellent.  We all loved it.  It's rich, it's cheesy, and it's comfort food as its best.  I will caution you that it didn't reheat well - as most cheese-based sauces tend not to do - so make sure you totally devour it on the day you make it :)  But if you are looking for a fettuccine alfredo recipe, this is it.

Recipe:

fettuccine alfredo 
from the Pioneer Woman
serves 6

Ingredients:
1 pound fettuccine noodles
1 stick butter
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups freshly painted parmesan cheese

Instructions:
1) Cook pasta according the package directions.

2) In a saucepsn or skillet, warm butter and cream.  Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

3) Grate parmesan cheese and place half of it into a large serving bowl.  Pour warm butter/cream mixture over the top.

3) Drain pasta and immediately pour it into the bowl.  Toss a couple times, then sprinkle inn the other half of the parmesan.  Toss to combine, thinning with pasta water if necessary.

4) Serve immediately as a main course or accompaniment to meat or salad.

Lasagna

Well I never would have imagined this, but guess what I have become?  I have become the woman who brings other families lasagnas when something bad happens.  This is shocking to me for a number of reasons.  First of all, if you had told me two years ago that I'd be bringing dinner to anyone, I wouldn't have believed it.  Secondly, and most importantly, I hate lasagna.  Or at least I used to.

I'm sure you remember my old posts ranting about the people who bring lasagnas.  We unfortunately frequently had bad things happen in my family growing up, and lots of people were kind enough to bring food.  We looked forward to some people's (Tammy and her Olive Garden stuff, Courtney's mom and her ham and her soup, etc.) but I always dreaded the lasagnas.  Part of it was the meat.  The other part was just the sheer number of them.  I think when something bad happens, people want to bring something hearty, filling, and easy to heat up again, and thus the lasagnas.  I know I've told the story before, but one time there were literally 7 lasagnas in my freezer.

Meat sauce!  Yikes.

I have since given up my intense hatred of lasagna.  I realized over the last couple years that I just hate the traditional hamburger, sausage and red sauce lasagna.  I like Mexican lasagna, the white sauce and vegetarian lotsa green lasagna, summer lasagna, and I have made lasagna roll-ups more times than I can count.

So, imagine my panic when a friend's father passed away and I offered to cook him dinner, and he asked for lasagna.  And when I offered the above recipes, he said, "make it with meat.  Hamburger."  YIKES.  And thus I became the woman who makes meat lasagnas for people.

I resorted to the Pioneer Woman for this one.  She never steers you wrong when it comes to comfort food.  Plus she called this recipe The Best Lasagna. Ever.  That sounded promising.

The recipe was discomforting, I won't lie.  There was hamburger and sausage in there.  Hot breakfast sausage, nonetheless!  And you make a meat sauce with it.  Yeesh.  Then there's dried basil and parsley - not fresh - and it calls for cottage cheese rather than ricotta.  Oh, and it asks for the fake parmesan cheese.  You know - the one that comes in a container that is nowhere near the refrigerator, and it smells like feet and has no resemblance to cheese?  And sliced mozzarella cheese that you just lay over the top.  Sounds bizarre, doesn't it?!  Put all these ingredients together and you get.... what my I have been told is the best lasagna ever.  I know, I didn't see that coming either.  I made two lasagnas, one for my friend and one for my family.  My mom declared it the best lasagna ever, and Rach agreed.  All traces of it were gone and taken to work the next day.  My friend agreed that it was a great lasagna and his mom even asked for the recipe.  I can't tell you my opinion because I didn't go anywhere near that meaty casserole, but for all you carnivores out there, if you are lasagna people, this may be the next recipe you need to try.

Recipe:

lasagna
from the Pioneer Woman 
serves 12

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 pound hot breakfast sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (14.5 ounce) whole tomatoes
2 cans (6 ounce) tomato paste
4 tablespoons dried parsley, divided
2 tablespoons dried basil
2 teaspoon salt, divided
3 cups lowfat cottage cheese
2 whole beaten eggs
1/2 cup grated (not shredded) parmesan cheese
1 pound sliced mozzarella cheese
1 package (10 ounce) lasagna noodles

Instructions:

1) Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2) Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic.  Cook over medium-high heat until browned.  Drain half the fat.  Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, 2 tablespoons basil, and 1 teaspoon salt.  After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes while you are working on the other steps.

3) In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated parmesan, 2 more tablespoons parsley, and 1 more teaspoon salt.  Stir together well.  Set aside.  Cook lasagna until a dente.

4) To assemble: arrange 4 cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary.  Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles.  Spread evenly.  Cover cottage cheese with a layer mozzarella cheese.  Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.

5) Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture.  Sprinkle top generously with extra parmesan.

6) Either freeze, refrigerate for up to 2 days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, to until top is hot and bubbly.

Spaetzle

Spaetzle in its ice bath!

Yeah, it's New Year's Eve, 10:30 PM, and here I am blogging about spaetzle.  Again, 2 years ago tonight, I wouldn't have seen this one coming!  But this is my kind of night: low key, lots of good food, and reminiscing about spaetzle.  I'm a total dork - for many reasons, including the fact that I am blogging about spaetzle on New Years Eve, but also because I made it as part of my Sound of Music Austrian feast along with the paprikash soup.  I ended up tossing them into the soup, and I would definitely recommend that.

So, what is spaetzle?  Basically it's a homemade noodle, and far easier than the homemade pasta that I've made before.  You make a very quick and easy dough - it's literally just 3 ingredients - and then push it through a colander into boiling water.  That's it!  You scoop them out and put them into ice water to stop the cooking, and voila: spaetzle.  It's kind of messy but it's really fun - you just may want another set of hands; mine got pretty tired holding up the strainer and pushing the dough through the holes with the spatula.

But really, that's all you have to do, and you have these lovely, soft dumpling-like noodles that you can do whatever you want with.  I've seen them in soups, served with butter, browned in a pan, etc..  Your options are endless.  For me, tossing them into the paprikash soup was a home run idea.

Spaetzle in the soup!

Some notes about the colander: I know there is such thing as a spaetzle maker, and I kind of want one (perhaps it will appear on my registry!)  But truthfully it's not needed.  I have lots of colanders for some reason, and I tried out a couple, but finally decided on a metal one with many good sized holes. Small holes don't work well and will kill your arm as you try to force the batter through, and hole placement is key too - make sure however you are holding the colander is not going to pour the batter right into the water, and that the holes are on the bottom.  It sounds complicated but this was a simple method, and you end up with such great little noodles!  Try this!

Recipe:

spaetzle 
from Smitten Kitchen 

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
7 large eggs
1/4 cup milk

Instructions:

1) Combine the flour, eggs and milk in a large bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

2) Prepare an ice bath.  Bring a large pot of well salted water to boil.  Set a large colander with holes anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2-inch wide over the pot.  Put on 2 potholders to avoid being burned by the steam.  Pour 1/4 of the batter into the colander and press it through the holes with a flexible spatula.  Boil for 2-3 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to fish spaetzle out and drop it in the ice bath.

3) Continue with remaining batter in 3 batches.  It is important to use only a little batter at a time - and even less if your pot is smaller - because if you push too much batter in at a time, it becomes one huge dumpling as opposed to hundreds of tiny twisty ones.

4) When you're done with the batter, drain the spaetzle well and toss it with a small amount of olive oil to keep it from sticking.  You can use it right away, or keep it in the fridge for a day until needed.

Kale and Pumpkin Stuffed Shells

Merry belated Christmas!!!!

Okay, 'tis the season again: the season when I become a terrible blogger.  Last year, my excuse was that the aftermath of getting engaged was too exciting and crazy, and this year, it's because we were n Florida for the last week.  I had plans of keeping updated with posts (and I had planned to cook, for that matter) but all the fun things to do (as well as my mid-week flu) sort of took precedence over cooking and blogging!  The good news is that I have 4 days of vacation left, so I will try very hard to catch up on the plethora of recipes I made before I went on vacation.

The bad news is that the jury is still out on this first recipe.  Some people liked it, some (guess who) hated it, and there were definitely some issues in attempting to translate a vegan recipe into one that my family would eat.  For instance, it calls for "one batch of vegan ricotta."  I wasn't about to use fake ricotta, and since I wasn't sure what a "batch" was, I just had to add it until it looked right.  It also called for a bunch of kale, and my bunch was so enormous that I ended up hacking off probably only a fourth of it.  You will just have to eye it.

Then there was the sauce issue: what kind of a sauce do you serve with pumpkin stuffed shells?  I thought that pumpkin and tomato just don't seem to be good partners, so I was at a loss of what to put on top.  The blogger said she made a "vegan béchamel," so that's what I decided to try.  Unfortunately, I had to take Daisy to the vet that night, and I ran out of time.  Kenzie volunteered to finish up the meal for me, so she made the sauce and topped the shells with it and baked them.  I texted her to ask how they were going, and the response was, "the sauce turned into molten rock."  I asked if that meant they were ruined, and she replied, "meh tastes decent."   Not the most glowing of reports, and I wasn't sure what molten rock was like to eat, so I went home with a healthy old hound to give them a try.

Here's what I think: these have potential.  The mixture of pumpkin and ricotta is smooth and creamy and a little bit sweet, sweetened a bit more by some balsamic and a little honey.  The slightly bitter kale offsets the sweetness.  But the béchamel was pretty weird... it somehow hardened into a rather unappetizing rock (now I get the molten rock reference, but it was more rock than molten).  Maybe it's not supposed to get baked, and only gets added afterwards?  Vegan béchamel is maybe a different beast.  Either way, I think I would try either tomato sauce or something else again.... if there is an again, since as you probably guessed, my mom hated them (she isn't a pumpkin fan)!

Recipe:

kale and pumpkin stuffed shells
from A Baker's Doesn't

Ingredients:
1 batch of vegan ricotta (or regular ricotta!)
1 bunch of kale
1 box of large shell pasta
1 1/2 cups pureed pumpkin
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
olive oil for pan
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1) Boil a pot of water and cook shells until al dente.  Drain and set aside to cool.  In the meantime, heat a large skillet with a little olive oil.  Cook down the kale leaves until wilted.  Add salt, pepper, honey and vinegar.  Stir, and once well combined, add kale and pumpkin to the ricotta.

2) Stuff shells and place in a baking dish.  Add a few dollops over finished tray, and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the tops get crispy.

Soba Noodle Salad with Edamame

This is a recipe that I have wanted to try for a long time now.  The only issue was finding soba noodles!  They are noodles made from buckwheat flour, and apparently most supermarkets around here are against carrying them.  When I ran into them at Market Basket, I bought a few packages of them and then grabbed the other ingredients I hadn't already stockpiled to make this soba noodle salad with edamame.

I actually made the sauce for this salad the day before, though not because I am some excellent meal planner or anything; I know for a fact that I had bought a cabbage, but it was MIA and I was too tired to run out and grab one.  So the next night, I stopped on the way home and grabbed a cabbage, and thus began phase 2 of soba noodle salad.  Not that the sauce took that long to make, but just as an FYI, it was totally acceptable to make it the night before and be eating dinner the next night with about 10 minute's work!  The sauce, by the way, is made of a wonderful mixture of thinks like soy sauce, orange juice, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic.

Basically on day 2, all I had to do was shred the carrots and cabbage, cook the noodles, and throw it all together, topped with sesame seeds and scallions.

How was it?  Let me put it to you this way.  My mom is always a bit nervous around anything other than "normal" pasta so she grabbed a tiny bowl to try a bite of it just to be polite.  That tiny bowl was discarded almost immediately upon her first bite, and she grabbed a real bowl and filled it right up :)  She and Kenzie both admitted they loved it way more than they thought they would.  Rachael and Mark loved it as well, and it was all eaten up between lunches and dinners over the next day or two.  Quick, easy, healthy, and delicious!


Recipe:

soba noodle salad with edamame
from Flourishing Foodie
makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon Sriracha hot chile sauce
1 tablespoon ginger
1 clove garlic
2 cups frozen edamame beans, thawed
1/2 pound (8 ounces) dry soba noodles
4 cups napa cabbage, shredded
1 cup carrots, shredded
2 green onion stalks, thinly sliced
2-3 tablespoons sesame seeds

Instructions:

1) In a food processor, add the soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, canola oil, sesame oil, orange juice, Sriracha, ginger, and garlic.  Pulse until the ginger and garlic have become minced.  Set to the side.

2) Thaw the edamame beans in a bowl of cold water.

3) Shred the cabbage and carrots together.  Slice the green onions.  Set to the side.

4) Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add the soba noodles and boil following the directions on the back of the package.  Once cooked, rinse under cold water and then let sit for 2 minutes in a bowl of cold water.  Rinse again.

5) In 4 medium sized bowls, place 1 1/4 cup cups of the cabbage/carrot mixture on the bottom.  Layer with the soba noodles and edamame.  Drizzle the sauce on top and then finish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.