Happy Halloween!!!

Would you like some "worm pasta" for lunch today?

Or perhaps you would prefer to snack on some monster mouths??

Not that we like gross foods, but we do like to have some fun in the kitchen, and today we did have monster mouths for breakfast and worm pasta for lunch. And as weird (or gross) they may sound, they were delicious!
For the mouths it is as simple as can get, apple slices + almond butter (or pb) + mini marshmallows, quite a fun and delicious bite! (and with the exception of the marshmallows in there, also quite a nutritious snack. Nut butter + apples make a balanced snack with protein, fats and good carbs, plus all the goodness apples/fruits has to offer).
The pasta was homemade bucatini, the spaghetti-like one that has a whole in the middle and looks like a straw, and it was freshly made by the husband. It was fun making the pasta, and eating it too!
We added a bit of pumpkin puree to the pasta dough and it made the pasta incredibly delicious. You can actually taste the pumpkin, but it makes the dough soft and with a wonderful texture.
Then, being Halloween along with my obsession with pumpkin lately, we had to have a pumpkin sauce!
I made mine inspired on HEAB's pumpkin goat cheese sauce, and it turned out into a delicious Creamy Pumpkin and Goat Cheese Pasta Sauce!! I didn't follow the recipe posted by Heather, basically just got the idea from the combo of pumpkin and goat cheese, so I am posting here the way I did.
It could not be more simple or easy to make, and it was so good, I scraped every single bit of the sauce with a spatula before washing that pan. Oh, and adding a shaving of Parmesan cheese on top made this even better.
Hope you all have a great and safe Halloween! Matheus is beyond excited and can barely wait to go out tonight. At least now he has a belly full of nutritious food so a bite or two of candy won't hurt.
Happy trick or treating!
Ana

Creamy Pumpkin and Goat Cheese Pasta Sauce

2 small shallots, chopped
4 small garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
ground nutmeg (I never measure this, just grind a bit on top of the sauce)
1/8 tsp ground (rubbed) sage
1 to 2 oz goat cheese (again, I didn't measure, just took a blob and added to the sauce, I believe I used about 1 oz).
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Saute garlic and shallots in a pan until soft. Add pumpkin puree, broth, cinnamon (it might sound weird the cinnamon in here, but I promise, it taste good!), nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Bring sauce to a boil, add goat cheese and mix to incorporate. Add your favorite shape of cooked pasta to sauce and toss, serve with grated Parmesan cheese.
(We used bucattini, but I think penne pasta would be awesome with this sauce!)

Springtime Pasta with Homemade Ricotta

I love cookbooks, I have a thing for it and always find one more that I "need" to have!
However, even though I have many cookbooks and love to read and reread the recipes on them or on my favorite cooking magazines, for most of the time I use recipes and pictures more for an inspiration rather than something to follow strictly. For the majority of the recipes I choose to make end up tweaking a bit here and there and adapting when needed with what I have on hand.
To be quite true, what I have in the fridge is usually what dictates what I am going to make for our meals. I look in the ice box, a peek in the pantry, and I am out for a search of inspiration on said cookbooks and magazines!
The pasta pictured above was a case of a "let's see what is in the fridge" day. Armed with a bunch of spring veggies and some delicious homemade ricotta (my favorite!) I created the dish you see, which turned out to be pretty good, if I do say so myself!

First I set the oven on high and put some of the veggies I had in the fridge to roast: broccoli, carrots, yellow squash and asparagus - all seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil. Meanwhile I set a pot of water to boil and cooked some whole wheat penne.
Once the veggies were roasted and the pasta was cooked I tossed them together, added a few marinated artichoke hearts I had left in a jar and seasoned everything well with salt, pepper, and lots of delicious extra virgin olive oil. A few blobs of ricotta and grated fresh Parmesan cheese completed our one dish deliciousness of a meal! Could not have asked for more!
And this coming from someone who is not a big pasta fan. Seriously, pasta is something that I never crave or wish for, I actually never liked pasta until I tried the whole wheat variety, I find it a lot more flavorful and it has a bite to it which I grew to enjoy. (Regular pasta to me doesn't taste like anything... blech!) But I still don't eat pasta frequently, I need to be really in the mood to gobble it up.
To me this dish proved how the simplest foods end up being the most delicious and flavorful ones. Roasted veggies are just the best, and look at the bright colors! Plus there are few things that good cheese doesn't make it all the better, right?!
Enjoy!
Ana

Back and with Mushroom recipe to share!

Clearly it has been months since I my last post in the blog... gee, where does the time goes? Seriously, is it just me or this year is flying by?
Everything has been nice around here with us in the past few months. I was one happy gal going back to school, loved my classes to the last second of lectures, so much so that I decided to apply for Grad School and pursue a masters in Nutrition. Right now I am still waiting to hear from the University to see if they accepted me or not, so keeping my fingers crossed here!
And while I wait I am taking a summer nutrition class (one that counts for the masters already), this time I chose an online class since Matheus will be out of school pretty soon, but I have to tell you that taking online classes is not quite my thing. I like to go to the class, watch the lecture and interact with the teacher, I like to see and talk to people! Besides, when you are taking a class online you have to manage your own studying time, being very organized and disciplined to not miss any assignments (and man do I have many of them!).
Anyways, I am truly enjoying my nutrition class and since I am home most of the time I am also having more time to play in the kitchen. Lots of recipes being made and photographed lately, and here is one that I made that the three of us just absolutely LOVED: Mushroom Ragu
Since my favorite publication (Cooking Light) decided to entirely reformulate their magazine in the worse way possible (why, why did they do that to my favorite mag???), I had to start looking for new cooking/food mags that would present me with nutritious and delicious dishes, and luck me, I did find a great one. Besides Eating Well which I already liked a lot and have know for years, I have been very fond of a relatively new magazine lately: Clean Eating.
Man this magazine is colorful and has great recipes from a nutritional point of view, plus they have the same views/ideals in terms of food as mine: fresh foods, no refined sugars, no processed foods, dishes based on whole grains, vegetables and fruits... I could not ask for more.
I have been making many dishes from Clean Eating and we have been adoring them all. Their recipes are tasty, made with fresh and simple ingredients and easy to make - always a big plus, right?!
The one that stood out from the ones I made so far was definitely the Portobello Mushroom Ragu from the May/June 2010 issue.
The sauce was delicious, fragrant and so flavorful. Matheus loves mushrooms, he is crazy about it and he devoured this declaring the best pasta sauce ever. Even the husband (big meat eater) loved this one too and kept commenting throughout the meal on how good it tasted.
And I really liked it too! I am not one who likes canned tomatoes, for some reason I think it tastes like the can, but I let the sauce cook covered for almost hour and the flavors melded beautifully, leaving no vestiges of canned tomatoes at all. The recipe called for all portobello mushrooms but I used a mix of that and creminis, so feel free to use your favorite mushroom here. If you like mushrooms, you have to try this one!
Here is the recipe the way I made, enjoy!!
Ana

Mushroom Ragu
(adapted from Clean Eating Magazine)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
12 oz mushrooms (I used portobello and cremini), cleaned and diced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 (15oz) can chopped tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pan, sautee onions for about 3 minutes, add garlic and sautee for a minute more. Add mushrooms and thyme and continue to sautee for a few more minutes until the mushrooms start to soften. Add the tomatoes and cook until the mixture is thick. Serve over pasta or polenta.

My Note: The recipe states to cook sauce for 10 minutes, I cooked mine for about 40 to 50 minutes (while I was preparing the rest of the meal), and I found that the flavors were way better than after only 10 minutes. So feel free to adjust cooking time here to your preferences.
And if 10 minutes is all you have to cook the sauce then by all means go with that, this sauce is so delicious that even with 10 minutes of cooking I am sure you are still going to enjoy!

Pumpkin Pasta!

I bet you are wondering what I have been making with all that amazing pumpkin I got, right? Well, with work and school out of the way and two weeks of winter break ahead of us I am back to post all recipes I have been making and saving pics on the last few months. My goal is to post something everyday, and hey, you can come back and bug me until I do!
I also have some interesting and unusual product reviews I want to post.
But first, onto the recipe of the pasta pictured above. It is an easy and delicious pasta combination that fitted the bill perfectly with the mounds of pumpkin puree we had on hand.
It is actually and older Rachel Ray recipe that I had made before and was repeated a few times. Easy and tasty, truly worth of trying!
The original recipe had hot sauce added to it but I didn't think that it would go with the pumpkin and the spices used in this recipe, so I omitted that - with great success I might add, I cannot imagine this with hot sauce, really.
Don't be intimidated by that pinch of cinnamon in the recipe, it will add a touch of warmness that will complement the pumpkin beautifully, even though you won't taste it or know it was there.
Also, note that I forgot to add the sage before I took the picture, but don't forget to add it there (even though you can make it without it), because sage + pumpkin is a wonderful combo too!
So, here goes my adaptation of Pumpkin Pasta, hope you all enjoy and I will come back with more!
And how's getting ready for Christmas going? I need to wrap presents, and think about the food, can you believe I haven't done that yet? Well, still got plenty of time!
Ana










Pumpkin Pasta

1 pound of penne pasta
1 tablespoon Olive oil (more if needed)
2 shallots or half onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree (1 1/2 cups puree)
1/2 cup heavy cream
A pinch of cinnamon (optional)
Pepper
Salt
Fresh sage leaves (about 4 of them), chopped
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook pasta in boiling water until all dente.
While pasta cook saute garlic and onions (or shallots) in olive oil until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth and pumpkin and whisk together to incorporate. Add the cinnamon and the heavy cream, mix together and add salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to low and let it cook for a few minutes to thicken the sauce to your desired consistency, add the chopped sage and the cooked penne. Toss all together and serve with lots of grated Parmesan on top!

Rigatoni with Eggplant Puree

This was one of those recipes that you want to jump in the kitchen right after you saw someone making on TV. As I was watching the lady make the pasta my mind could not stop saying "you have to make this one, you have to make this one...!"
So, I did, of course! And what a pleasant surprise!
I really enjoy eggplant dishes and this pasta did not disappoint, actually I think I just got a new pasta sauce for the top of my list of favorites!
The eggplant sauce was sooooo creamy, so delicious and flavorful, I was truly impressed and amazed by the silkiness of this dish.
Since I don't have a food processor, I used my blender to process the eggplant so my sauce was really more on the puree side, and I have to say that I loved the texture it came out. It was almost like a babaganoush pasta sauce if you will, a rich eggplant puree infused with the flavor of garlic, olive oil and a very subtle "tomatoyness" (hey, I think I created a new word!).
Very delicious and I already want to make it again!
The only thing I did different was to omit the red pepper flakes (as both me and Matheus just cannot stomach the heat) and to use basil in place of the mint, and I think that was a good move to be quite true. Oh, and I sprinkled the cheese on top, instead of mixing it in with the sauce.
Great, super easy dish, which I am sure will be even more delicious and flavorfull when I make it during the summer, at the peak of both basil and tomato crops!
Enjoy!
Ana

Rigatoni with Eggplant Puree
(Recipe from Giada De Laurentiis)

1 medium eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pint cherry tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, whole
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 pound rigatoni pasta
1/4 cup torn fresh mint leaves (I used Basil)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with partchment paper (or aluminum foil).
In a large bowl combine the eggplant, cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and red
pepper flakes. Spread vegetables in an even layer on baking sheet and roast in the oven until vegetables are tender and the eggplant is golden, about 35 minutes.
While the vegetables are roasting, place the pine nuts in a small baking dish. Place in the oven on the rack below the vegetables and roast until golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and reserve. (Keep and eye on these, they burn REALY fast!)
While vegetables are roasting cook the pasta until tender. Drain, put pasta in a large bowl and reserve 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid.
Transfer the roasted vegetables to a food processor. Add the mint and extra-virgin olive oil. Puree the vegetables.
Transfer the pureed vegetables to the bowl with the pasta and add the Parmesan. Stir to combine, adding the pasta cooking liquid 1/2 cup at a time until the pasta is saucy. Sprinkle the pine nuts over the top and serve.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Hi all!!

I am still here, yes! And I missed writing to this blog a whole lot, believe me.
Not that I haven't cooked or taken pictures lately, the thing was that Matheus started Kindergarten and things changed a bit.
Actually, for me the change was huge... he now stays in school for a long period and we lost our lunch time together (lunch still is the main meal at our house). And since he is very adventurous and loves my cooking I haven't had much motivation or inspiration to cook just for myself. It is pretty lonely while he is at school, and I do miss him a lot during the day.
The good thing is that he is pretty happy with school and comes home relatively early (2:30pm), so we still get a good part of the afternoon together to play, talk, snack and think about next day's lunch! :o)
Maybe it is supposed to be like this, as it comes a time when we need to "let them go" and face the world, but it is not easy, and I was certainly not prepared to be this soon...
All this, plus, I am looking for a job to get myself busy when Matheus is at school and it has not been easy to find something I truly like to do during the hours I am available. I got an opportunity which ended up not being a great one, and that sort of made me feel a little more frustrated.
But hey, life is here and now, and I will keep trying, in search of a job suited for myself. Eventually it will happen; meanwhile I need to cheer up and one of my favorite things to do is cooking, so here I go, into the kitchen again!!

I have many recipes I want to post, and there are some great ones that I have tried lately and really enjoyed. Today I am posting a very simple pasta recipe that I got from last month's Cooking Light magazine. It has one of Matheus and the Husband favorite ingredients, shrimp, and it was super fresh on a hot day!
The cooking is basically the pasta and the shrimp, which by the way was great, the little marinade with cirtus zest make them stand out and awesome just by themselves (I will definitely be making the shrimp like this again! And I think it would even be a good marinade to try on tofu... which I really like!).
Don't let the long list of ingredients shy you from making this, as most of it are basic staples you all must have around the house.
Fresh and tasty, a very nice dish for the last few hot summer days!
Enjoy!
Ana (who promises to not abandon the blog again!!!)

Garden Shrimp Pasta
(Adapted from Cooking Light, August 2007)
Serves 6 ( I made half recipe)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 pounds medium peeled and deveined shrimp
8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
5 cups chopped seeded tomato (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh mint
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

Combine 2 tablespoons olive oil and next 6 ingredients (through shrimp) in a large bowl; toss well. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp mixture to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until done. Remove from heat; set aside.
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Place pasta in a large bowl; add tomato, basil, and mint.
Combine red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil, sugar, and next 5 ingredients (through black pepper) in a small bowl. Pour over pasta mixture, and toss to coat. Place about 1 3/4 cups pasta mixture on each of 6 plates. Top each serving with about 3 ounces shrimp mixture and 2 tablespoons cheese.


Oh and although not very inspired to cook for me, I have been having fun with Matheu's lunchbox! :o)

Tortilla Roll Ups (his favorite so far!)








Broccoli and Cheese Calzone
Mixed Crackers, cheese, fruits and veggies!

Pasta with Peas and Ham

A very simple and easy dish to make when the pasta crave hits and you don't want to spend much time around the stove on a hot spring day!
I made it with spaghetti but I believe it would be even better with a shorter type of pasta, such as penne or farfalle; the sauce was more on the liquid side and it was hard to get the peas together with the long pasta strands. A shorter pasta and maybe even a spoon would help a lot!
However it was really taste and yummy, I made half recipe and there were no leftovers around!
Ana

Creamy Fettuccine with Peas and Ham
(Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, June 2003)

1 package fresh fettuccine (9 ounces)
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup frozen green peas
2/3 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded Parmesan cheese
Black pepper to taste
1 cup (4 ounces) ham, cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips

Cook pasta, drain. Meanwhile melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add peas, half-and-half, cheese, and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently (do not boil). Stir in pasta and ham.
Serves 4

Creamy Farfalle

I am always searching for new pasta dishes to try, as both the husband and Matheus are truly fan of the stuff. We have been adventurous lately with the pasta recipes, and I actually like trying these different dishes, as I usually make it but sometimes end up cooking something else to make up for most part of my meal (Not a big fan of pasta, plus due to my stomach issues I need to limit my consumption of tomato products and cream, both products that my husband adores in his macaroni!)
Last Sunday I made Farfalle With Creamy Mushroom Sauce, which involves a mix of fresh mushrooms, an ingredient that although we enjoy the flavors, I don't use very often. I don't exactly know why, but I guess it is because it is something neither of us grew up eating, so I was not used to cook with it.
Anyways, I saw the recipe and picture at my favorite magazine and knew I was going to try this dish. It looked pretty and seemed to be easy to make, two big pluses in my style of cooking.
So I went ahead, made the dish, and it was a hit! Definitely easy and simple to make, came together fairly quickly, looked pretty on the plate and tasted very good. What else could you ask for?!
It sure does have some heavy cream (not much though) in the sauce, and I believe that you do need this ingredient to give you a good creaminess and smooth texture to the sauce. But the flavors here goes a lot deeper than the cream itself.
The sautéed shallots and garlic imparted great taste to the sauce, and then there was the earthiness of the mix of mushrooms (I used shitakes and creminis), which melded nicely into the onion mix. But the real improvement to me came when the white wine was added and the sauce was reduced. Wow, the flavors here were great, I could have added just this to the pasta and would have been happy with it.
The cream and cheese sure added a lot of flavor, and the parsley some freshness and color as well. A great combination of flavors, it looked like pasta from a restaurant, and tasted just as it should, without being heavy as some pasta dishes we get when eating out.
The husband said he would like it to have a little more sauce, but I found it to be a nice and flavorful dish as is, and all in all it was certainly a success!
Enjoy!
Ana

Farfalle with Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce (Adapted from Cooking Light, December 2006)
1 pound uncooked farfalle (bow tie pasta)
1 tablespoon butter
12 ounces sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup dry white wine
2/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Cook pasta according to package directions. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, onion, shallots, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper; cook 12 minutes or until liquid evaporates and mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally. Add wine; cook 2 minutes or until liquid evaporates, remove from heat. Add the cooked pasta, cream, cheese, and parsley, tossing gently to coat. Stir in the remaining 1/2-teaspoon salt if needed. You can garnish with minced fresh parsley, and then serve.
Yield: 8 servings

Baked Pasta

Another weekend, and here I come with one more pasta dish... however, this was actually the recipe I made a couple Sundays ago. Yeah, I know, I have been a little slow with my postings, but I had so much going on this past week that among helping friends and taking my son to the doctor (winter is hard on the poor children… I hate cold weather!) I barely had time to get all my things done. But finally it seems that this week things will be better, and I sure have accumulated a few nice recipes to post.
Today it is Three Cheese Baked Pasta. Good, yummy, and if you like pasta as my husband does, then it is pure comfort food. He liked it a lot, and Matheus did too!
It is quite simple to make, and the flavors are the basic Italian ones, with the addition of cubes of provolone cheese that melt into little pockets of goodness throughout the cheesy baked dish. The ingredients blended together really well into an ooey gooey baked pasta concoction, which was easy to make and delicious to eat!
I love ricotta, and it makes for a good part of this dish, so I used my favorite, the homemade one. Make sure you use a good ricotta cheese here, as I am pretty sure it does make a difference.
The one ingredient that I don't actually think added much flavor wise to the dish were the sun-dried tomatoes. They kind of got lost into the sauce and you couldn't taste its flavor unless you bite into one. I guess I would prefer to have used my sun-dried tomatoes in another recipe where they could impart more of their great flavor and be more noticeable to my palate.
A basic baked pasta recipe, that brought happy smiles to the table in both my "boys" faces!
Ana

Three Cheese Baked Pasta (Adapted from Cooking Light, December 2006)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/4 cups diced onion
1/3 cup diced carrot
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (without oil)
1 1/4 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated fresh Romano cheese, divided
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1 pound uncooked penne
1 cup (4 ounces) diced provolone cheese
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400°.
Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, cook 10 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add sun-dried tomatoes, thyme, and diced tomatoes; cook 25 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
Combine 1 cup Romano, ricotta, parsley, and egg white in a bowl.
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain; return pasta to pan. Add ricotta mixture to pan, stirring to coat. Add tomato mixture and provolone, tossing just until combined (do not over stir). Spoon pasta mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Romano. Bake at 400° for 25 minutes or until bubbly and top is browned.
Yield: 8 servings

Penne Al Forno

The recipe I am posting today is a very nice one, with restaurant flavors! Well, and it should be, because I got the recipe from our local newspaper, and it actually came from a local restaurant, which coming to think about it, it may even be a chain, it is called Biaggi’s.
We went to this restaurant twice already and, coincidentally, my husband had this very same dish. He liked it a lot and, fortunately enough, the recipe was featured in a section of the newspaper where people ask for recipe of dishes they have had at restaurant and eatery places around the town.
The husband was really happy to see the recipe; he even clipped it out and saved it for us to try on the weekend. So, under his commandment, I prepared it for our Sunday’s Pasta Lunch!
The original recipe actually called for ziti, but I used penne pasta, which was what I had on hand.
The dish is full of flavors, imparted mainly from the prosciutto that is initially sautéed and the white wine later added to the sauce. It is a rich and creamy, deliciously tasty sauce that I believe most people would enjoy!
I actually would have liked it more without the prosciutto in it, as it is not my favorite flavor, but the sauce would certainly suffer from the lack of it, as it does give some nice sort of “smoky” undertone to the whole dish.
I made half recipe and used half-half instead of the cream asked for in the recipe, just because that was what I had on hand. To be quite true, I don’t think the sauce was less good because of it… and it was probably a nice change for our hips!
The chicken and shrimp are very delicious together with the sauce. This is not your everyday pasta; it is more of a special dish, to be made on weekends and even when you might have company around, but certainly one that is worth trying at least once!
Hope you all enjoy too!
Ana

Note: I just want to say that I am sorry for the picture being presented inside the pan… I should actually have baked it in a casserole-type dish, but just for the sake of my “dishwasher husband”, I decided to bake it in the same pan I made it and save my loved one a few minutes in the sink.
And as it was done everyone was so eager to try the dish that I ended up not plating it nicely enough for a decent picture… Hope you still enjoy it as it was!

Penne Al Forno
(adapted from the News and Observer newspaper)

1 pound penne pasta
1 tablespoon butter
½ cup chopped onion
4 ounces diced prosciutto
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
8 ounces shrimp
½ cup white wine
3 cups heavy cream (I used half-half)
2 ounces (1/2 cup) Parmesan cheese, grated
6 tablespoons chopped scallions (green onions)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain and reserve.
In a pan melt butter, add onions and prosciutto and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and chicken, sauté for 3 minutes. Add shrimp and continue to cook for 3 minutes more.
Add wine and cook until liquid is reduced by half, 3 minutes. Add cream and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir in the Parmesan and scallions, season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the cooked pasta and simmer for 3 minutes. Pour pasta into prepared dish, top with mozzarella and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. (I baked 10 minutes and them put it under the broiler for 2 more minutes to brown the top!)

Shrimp and Orzo Pasta

This was another dish I tried for our Sunday’s Pasta that was a success at our home!
My husband said he would like to eat some sort of shrimp dish last weekend. And since he usually grills meat on Saturdays, I decided to make a shrimp pasta dish for our Sunday lunch. Both the husband and Matheus really like shrimp; it is amazing how many of these little sea creatures those two are able to gobble up in one sitting. Needless to say they both enjoyed this dish!
It was simple to make and very tasty, which is a huge bonus for me! I actually didn’t have Romano cheese, so I used Parmesan, and it worked quite well. Although I guess the saltier Romano would be even better here. The only thing is I didn’t measure my basil and I believe I ended up using less than I should, so next time I will pay more attention to that.
I omitted the crushed red pepper and added about ½ cup of white wine to my tomato mixture, letting it reduce a bit (cooked a little longer than the recipe stated, so it wouldn’t be watery at the end). I like the taste of white wine with shrimp sauces; I think it adds a lot of flavor to it.
Anyways, it was a really good and simple dish. If you like shrimp, odds are you might enjoy this one too!
Ana

Shrimp and Orzo with Cherry Tomatoes and Romano Cheese
(Adapted from Cooking Light – April/05)

1 cup uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Cook the pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.
While pasta cooks, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper evenly over shrimp. Add shrimp to pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan.
Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan. Add onion, garlic, and red pepper; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add tomatoes, and cook 3 minutes or until tomatoes begin to soften, stirring occasionally. Stir in pasta and shrimp; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat, and stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, cheese, and basil.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)

Spinach Fettuccine

This past weekend for our “Sunday pasta” the husband requested a white sauce. I have a tried and true Alfredo Sauce that I always use and we all like a lot, but this time I decided to try something new. You know, if you repeat a recipe too much you start to get tired of it, and I don’t want that to happen with a favorite of ours. Plus, I wanted to have some added veggies to the dish, this way I would not need to have too many pots and pans cooking in the stove, it is still summer and a little warm here after all!
This Spinach Fettuccine recipe was exactly what I wanted and pleased us all, with pasta and vegetable rounded up in one dish!
It was relatively simple to make, but I had to make a few adjustments based on what I had on hand. I used a different creamy cheese, and Parmesan instead of Romano (what I had at home), and used milk with a little bit extra flour in place of the half-half, just because I didn’t have any at home, but I am pretty sure half and half would have made it even better!
I made half recipe for the sauce and used 1/3-pound whole-wheat spaghetti pasta (we like sauce!), plus I used fresh spinach that I had hanging around in the fridge.
It sounds like a lot of changes (and it was, now that I am writing it down…), but let me tell you, my substitutions worked well, because there was nothing but happy faces left at the end of the meal!
The sauce was delicious, very tasty and the spinach complemented it well, it really tasted great in there!
Oh, and let me not forget my major substitution… I sprinkled our pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, as I cannot stomach bacon in any form (and I wanted it to look like the picture in the magazine...). However, if you like the taste of it, then go ahead and indulge, I guess it would be a nice addition for those who happen to like it.
I served this dish with grilled chicken breasts. Yummy pasta for a happy Sunday meal!
Ana

Spinach Fettuccine (Cooking Light/August 2006)
1 pound uncooked fettuccine
1 tablespoon butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup (2 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
3/4 cup vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese
3/4 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
10 center-cut bacon slices, cooked and crumbled (about 1 1/4 cups)
Parsley sprigs (optional)

Cook pasta according to package instructions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water.
Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add reserved pasta water and cream cheese, stirring with a whisk until smooth.
Combine broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture to pan, stirring with a whisk to combine; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add pecorino Romano, stirring until smooth. Add half-and-half, salt, and pepper. Stir in spinach. Combine cheese mixture and pasta in a large bowl, tossing to coat. Place about 1 cup pasta mixture in each of 8 bowls; top each serving with 2 1/2 tablespoons bacon. Garnish with parsley, if desired. Yield: 8 servings

A different take on Pesto Sauce

When I saw this recipe at Karen's blog I almost instantly thought it would be a good one. Some of my favorite ingredients were mixed up in this recipe and I could almost taste it myself as I was reading through.
Pesto alla Trapanese was a great twist on pesto pasta. I was more than right when I copied the recipe and put on top of my list to try, this sauce was really delicious, even more than I imagined myself.
Although the color was not the prettiest, the ingredients' tastes in this sauce blended so nicely together that a bunch of flavors invaded each mouthful of pasta as I ate. I could taste the tomatoes, both fresh and sun dried, the garlic, the basil, and the oregano, all together and as a ingredient by itself. It was almost like every bite of it had a hint of flavor of one of the ingredients. I don't know how to describe it, but it worked very well for us, it was approved and we all liked it here at home!
The cheese gives a balanced saltiness to the sauce, just enough to complete the goodness. The only ingredient I didn't think added much in terms of flavors was the almond, but I am guessing I may not have used enough of them, as I didn't actually measured my ingredients. They sure added some texture, I could tell there were nuts in there, but not enough flavor to be identified by my taste buds in one bite.
A nice combination of simple and typical ingredients we may have at home, a great sauce for our usual Sunday's pasta dish; it will definitely be repeated around here!
Thanks Karen, for another great recipe!
Ana

Pesto alla Trapanese (from the book Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons)
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
4 pieces sun-dried tomato, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
75g blanched almonds
a good handful of basil leaves
leaves from 4 sprigs oregano
salt and pepper
75ml extra virgin olive oil
55g pecorino cheese, grated

To make this in the food processor simply put all the ingredients, except the olive oil and pecorino, into the bowl. Process it using the pulse button, adding the oil as you do so. Otherwise you can make it in a mortar and pestle. It should be coarser than Pesto Genovese. Stir in the pecorino, check the seasoning and serve on pasta.
Note: since I don't have a food processor I made mine in the blender, added all the ingredients and then the oil. It was quite thick, but seemed to blend fine.

The ricotta, and my favorite squash

As promised, here am I with a dish using ricotta cheese, and this one was very yummy! I looked through a few recipes for Butternut Squash Lasagna and sort of came up with my own.
When I made the lasagna, I did not measure much, so I tried to figure quantities for the ingredients. Below I am sort of giving the directions as how I made mine, but you can use more or less of the ingredients, to suit your own taste. You can also make it with white (Alfredo) sauce instead of the marinara sauce, which I actually am going to try next, as I believe it may be even better than this one.
I made ours in individual bowls as I wanted to do individual portions, but a Pyrex dish will work just as well. And since the bowls were small I didn't do many layers, but in the pyrex you can do as many layers as you want. (some people like their lasagna to be "taller"!)
It was a very good and yummy dish, everybody liked it a lot at home, so I will probably be making this one again in the fall this year!
Hope you like it too!
Ana

Note: I forgot to mention in the recipe, I also added a few chopped sage leaves to the butternut squash puree when I seasoned it. I like the combination of squash and sage!

Butternut Squash and Ricotta Lasagna
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 cups butternut squash puree
about 3 cups Marinara sauce (or another pasta sauce you like)
Pre-cooked lasagna noodles
Grated fresh Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese for topping

Season the butternut squash puree with salt and pepper, set aside. Mix the ricotta with the mozzarella cheese, set aside (you can season this mixture too if you like).
Coat the bottom and sides of a (8-inch-square) baking dish with cooking spray. Spread some sauce in the bottom. Arrange noodles to cover the bottom over sauce; spread ½ of the ricotta cheese over noodles. Arrange 1cup squash over cheese mixture; spread 1cup sauce over squash.
Arrange more noodles over sauce; spread remaining cheese mixture over the noodles, and then 1cup of the sauce over it.
Make another layer of noodles over sauce; spread remaining sauce evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, cover baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake at 35o° for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes.

Pasta on Wednesday?

As you know the usual “pasta day” around here is Sunday. Since I am not a big fan of the noodles I don’t usually make it on weekdays, but pasta is my boys favorite food, so over the weekend we always have some sort of macaroni around.
However, I saw a pasta dish on a TV show the other day that looked amazingly good, with lots of vegetables and some interesting cheeses, smoked mozzarella being one of those.
The husband was working from home today, so the dish seemed appropriate, as I could get a one-dish meal with all of our favorite flavors in it. And it was a hit!
We liked the Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables a lot! The dish is chock full of yummy roasted veggies (my favorite!!), marinara sauce and three kinds of cheese. I loved the flavors of the vegetables, the combination of roasted squashes, red pepper, onions and mushrooms was just perfect, I could have had just that for my lunch! Hehe!
The marinara sauce added body, and even the peas were delicious, but the smoked mozzarella definitely lends the most flavor to the dish. We could taste it in every bite, not in an overpowering way, but in a very delicious and tasty way, it sort of flavored the tomato sauce. We all agreed it was a very nice dish with the smoked mozzarella flavor, which is something we don’t eat very often.
I made half-recipe and served it with sautéed chicken breasts (carnivores here…otherwise it would have been a nice vegetarian meal). Also, I used white cheddar in place of the fontina (did not find it), and forgot to dot the top with butter. For the first 15 minutes I baked it with foil on top, then removed it for the final 10 minutes of baking (just in case, I didn’t want the top to get dry)
Now I have to find some other dish with smoked mozzarella, to use up what I have left. Any suggestions?!
Enjoy!
Ana

Baked Penne With Roasted Vegetables
(Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis)

2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips
2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
4 cremini mushrooms, halved
1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix or herbs de Provence
1 pound penne pasta
3 cups marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)
1 cup grated fontina cheese
1/2 cup grated smoked mozzarella
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup for topping
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
On a baking sheet, toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and onions with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and dried herbs. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander.
In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, cheeses, peas, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.
Pour the pasta into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan. Top with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and butter pieces. Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Sunday’s Pasta

We were all sneezy with our alergies at its peak this weekend, so to make us a little happier I decided to make something different than our usual Sunday' pasta with either red or white sauce. Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Florentine came out perfect, creamy and cheesy! It was delicious, and the best thing is it was a one-dish meal, with starch, vegetable and protein included in one yummy bowl!
I used whole-wheat penne and white cheddar cheese. Also, I don’t actually like these canned soup things, so for the canned soup I substituted 1 1/4 cup evaporated milk + 1 tablespoon cornstarch + a little bit of chicken bouillon, which I put in a pan and cooked over medium heat just until thickened, let it cool a bit and added to the dish as indicated for the soup. (I used evaporated milk but I am pretty sure regular milk would work nicely here)
Very good dish, comfort food at its best! We all enjoyed it and hope you will too!

Ana

Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Florentine
1 teaspoon olive oil
Cooking spray
3 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
3 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (16-ounce) carton 2% low-fat cottage cheese
4 cups hot cooked penne (about 8 ounces uncooked tube-shaped pasta)
2 cups shredded roasted skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup, undiluted

Preheat oven to 425°.
Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add spinach, oregano, and black pepper; sauté 3 minutes or just until spinach wilts.
Place cottage cheese in a food processor; process until very smooth. Combine spinach mixture, cottage cheese, pasta, chicken, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, milk, and soup in a large bowl. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.
Cooking Light, March 2006

Sunday Pasta!

As I have said here before, it is kind of a tradition in our family to eat pasta on Sundays. Now, let me tell you, I am not a big fan of pasta (Sunday is basically the only day of the week I eat it), but lately I have been inspired and trying to make pasta dishes other than the usual penne or spaghetti.
Today it was Lasagna! Very yummy!!
There is a recipe that I like which is very easy to make and yet very flavorful. I used whole-wheat lasagna noodles today and everybody agreed that they were delicious (including the Husband, which could not tell they were actually whole-wheat). I boiled the noodles first (for 8 minutes), and for the meat sauce I sautéed some onions and garlic before adding the ground beef and proceeding with the recipe.
The original recipe asks for 1/3 cup of cheese to top the lasagna, but I think that is way too little cheese, and in my world there is never enough cheese! So I don’t measure my cheese and just add enough to make it all cheesy and delicious! You can vary the recipe to your tastes, using ricotta instead of the cottage cheese, adding veggies to the red sauce, or even replacing the beef with ground turkey (which I have done before and actually prefer).
I like this recipe because although it is lasagna it is not too heavy. Plus, it is versatile, easy to make, and always pleases everybody!!
Enjoy!

Ana

Lazy Lasagna (Adapted from Cooking Light - Sepetember 1997)
1 pound ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 (16-ounce) carton cottage cheese
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Cooking spray
1 (8-ounce) package precooked lasagna noodles
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350°.
Cook meat in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Add sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Combine cottage and Parmesan cheeses in a bowl; set aside.
Spread 1/2 cup meat mixture in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodles over meat mixture; top with half of cottage cheese mixture, 1 cup meat mixture, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. Spread remaining meat mixture over noodles. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, and bake 5 more minutes or until cheese melts. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Turnips for the first time…

Today I tried a new recipe from the October issue of Cooking Light and it was a big hit. Honey-Roasted Root Vegetables was super easy to make and so delicious that I will definitely be repeating this one over and over throughout the winter months. The vegetables got soft and tender, sweet and salty, a perfect combination and balance of flavors! I followed the recipe and added a little bit more salt and a few cloves of garlic to the mixture. There was no way I was going to turn on my oven to roast some veggies and not throw in some garlic cloves… I love garlic, especially roasted! (I like “roasted” anything!)
I don’t even have much to say about this dish, except that it was so good that I am in love with it! The shallots and garlic were perfect and of the veggies my favorite was definitely the sweet potatoes, which happens to be one of Matheus’ favorite veggies too, and he also loved the side dish today!
Besides being a new recipe, it was also the first time I tried Turnips! I have not made it before and don’t actually remember eating it in either my mother or grandmother’s home. A new experience today, something different that I actually liked and will make again for sure!
The veggies were the side dish and coming from an Italian heritage, Sunday is usually “pasta day” around here. Today was no exception and we had Fettuccine Alfredo, another CL recipe. This one is our basic and favorite Alfredo sauce; I have been making it for years. It is creamy, cheesy and best of all it is light, no added cream in this one. Plus, it is not difficult at all to make, and if you want to prevent lumps just try making it as I do: dissolve the flour in the milk and add it all at once to the sautéed garlic, then slowly cook it over low heat so that the flour cooks properly and the sauce thickens without leaving any raw flour taste.
Maybe in the real “cooking world” Fettuccine Alfredo won’t pair up well with Honey-roasted veggies, but we had it together today, along with roasted chicken, and lunch was actually surprisingly good!
Here go the two winner recipes, hope you all like it too! Happy Sunday!

Ana

Honey-Roasted Root Vegetables
2 cups coarsely chopped peeled sweet potato (about 1 large)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped peeled turnip (about 2 medium)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped parsnip (about 2 medium)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped carrot (about 2 medium)
1/4 cup tupelo honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 shallots, halved
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450°.
Combine all ingredients except the cooking spray in a large bowl; toss to coat. Place vegetable mixture on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 35 minutes or until vegetables are tender and begin to brown, stirring every 15 minutes.
Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup)
Cooking Light, October 2005
(Notes: recipe says 8 servings, but I would say it serves 6, the veggies shrink a lot… we ate most of it today, and are only 3 people!)

We actually had "spaghetti alfredo" today, as we only had that pasta shape in the house...

Fettuccine Alfredo
1 tablespoon margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 /3 cups milk
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided
4 cups cooked fettuccine
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
Freshly ground pepper

Melt margarine in a saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Stir in flour. Gradually add skim milk, stirring with a wire whisk until mixture is blended. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly.
Stir in cream cheese; cook 2 minutes. Add 1-cup Parmesan cheese, stirring constantly until Parmesan cheese melts. Pour sauce over hot cooked fettuccine, and toss well to coat. Top fettuccine with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, and pepper.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)
Cooking Light, January 1996.