Cherry Tomato Spaghetti with Toasted Pine Nuts

I haven't been in much of a blogging mood lately--for this blog and my other one.  And I have done some cooking and I just need to get caught up.  I even considered just stopping this cooking blog altogether, seeing how inconsistent I am with it.  Not to mention, we're on the verge of a big military move to Germany and we'll be on leave for a good month and a half...which means no cooking or baking until after we get settled in (we'll be in Germany after the New Year.  But my husband told me to keep it up.  So I will! 

Everyone pretty much knows that I'm a pasta fan.  This particular dish is very similar to the Ribbon Pasta with Tomato, Dill and Ricotta recipe that I posted a while back, and is just as terrific, if not better.  Believe it or not, this is the first time I've ever made a dish with pine nuts in it.  I love how nicely they pair with garlic and fresh cherry tomatoes.  This pasta is very light, but hearty.  And I'm definitely going to make it again.  I'm a huge fettucine fan, so I substituted that in for the spaghetti.  And I think that the colors of the pasta make a for a nice contrast against the vibrant red of the cherry tomatoes.

Cherry Tomato Spaghetti with Toasted Pine Nuts

from Cooking Light

2 (1-ounce) slices sandwich bread

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon garlic powder, divided

3 cups red cherry tomatoes

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1.  Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1 cup. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; pulse to combine.

2.  Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumb mixture to pan; cook 2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove from pan; set aside.

3.  Heat 1 teaspoon oil in pan. Add tomatoes to pan; cook for 3 minutes or until tomatoes begin to wrinkle. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and garlic; cook 30 seconds. Cover; reduce heat to low.

4.  Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Add pasta, remaining 2 teaspoons oil, basil, pine nuts, salt, and pepper to tomato mixture, stirring to combine. Toss pasta with breadcrumbs; serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Chicken with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms

I don't know why I never thought to pull recipes from the Cooking Light website a long time ago.  Everything I've tried so far in the last week or so has been fantastic.  Seriously. 

I would never have thought to use pecans as a base for pasta sauce.  Ever.  I was a bit concerned making the sauce as I'd over-toasted the pecans before putting them in my food processor.

By the way, I just got a Cuisinart food processor the other day at JC Penney's.  It was on sale for $99.99.  I've been dying to get one and finally broke down.  So I thought it would get it's debut helping me make this dish.  When I smelled the pecan puree, I worried that the dish would taste burned, but it didn't.  And then adding the mushrooms to the sauce?  It was fabulous--I mean FABULOUS!!!   

Both my husband and I devoured this dish.  I really had to try hard to leave some leftovers to take for lunch today.  And today, I couldn't wait for lunchtime.  Now I'm sad it's all gone.

Chicken with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms

by Cooking Light

3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

1 cup water

1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided

6 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms

4 cups cooked egg noodles

Chopped parsley (optional)

 

1. Place pecans in a food processor; process until smooth (about 1 minute), scraping sides of bowl once. With processor on, add water and 3/4 teaspoon salt; process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once.

2.  Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.

3.  Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add chicken; sauté 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

4.  Add shallots and mushrooms to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Stir in pecan cream; bring to a boil. Cook 1 1/2 minutes. Place 2/3 cup noodles on each of 6 plates. Top each serving with 1 chicken breast half and 1/3 cup sauce. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

I will, without a doubt, be making this pasta dish again and I want to try variations of the recipe...perhaps try a different nut (walnut maybe?) and pair it with rice. Delicious!

Ribbon Pasta with Tomato, Dill, and Ricotta

I got this recipe from this month's issue of Everyday with Rachel Ray.  The entire issue is fantastic and is filled with wonderful recipes for this fall. 

It's crazy, but I know a lot of people who can't stand Rachel Ray and cringe at the sound of her voice on the television--especially when they hear her cheesy sayings, like "EVOO" for extra virgin olive oil or "Yum-o!".  Well, I totally love Rachel Ray.  I love her recipes.  Just my style--quick, easy and downright delicious.  I love her personality--she's witty, fun and seems so down-to-earth. I love her kitchenware and gadgets (I own some of it).  I also love her magazine and talk show.  Wow...that's a lot of love.

Anyway, back to the recipe...I made slight substitutions, like baby spinach for the baby arugula and dried dillweed for the fresh dill--only because I had those handy.  The cherry tomatoes I used were so magnificently sweet and the dill made the dish more savory and delicious.  I can only imagine how much more wonderful this dish would have tasted had I used the fresh dill.  The hubby and I ate the pasta with a huge dollop of ricotta cheese.  I give this a huge "Yum-o!" all the way.  I think he does too.  Definitely making it again.  And it makes for a lovely presentation.  Something I'd definitely serve to a crowd.

Ribbon Pasta with Tomato, Dill and Ricotta

by Rachel Ray

Salt and pepper (to taste)

1 pound egg tagliatelle, fettucine, or pappardelle pasta

3 Tbsp EVOO

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh dill (I used 1 1/4 tsp dried dillweed)

4 cups loosely packed baby arugula leaves (I used baby spinach)

3/4 cup fresh ricotta cheese

1.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the past and cook until al dente.  Drain and return to pot, reserving 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water.

2.  While the pasta is working, in a large skillet, heat the EVOO, 3 turns of the pan, and the garlic over medium-high heat, swirling the garlic in the oil, for 2 minutes; discard the garlic. 

3.  Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper; cook for 4 minutes, then add the dill and the reserved pasta cooking water.

4.  Add the tomatoes and arugula to the pasta; season with salt and pepper. 

5.  Serve the pasta in large, shallow bowls and dollop with the ricotta for mixing while you eat.

Enjoy!

Bowties with Ham & Sweet Potato Spice Cookies

My friend, Laura, had her baby shower yesterday afternoon.  She hits her 36th week today and is having her second little boy!

The baby shower was a potluck, so I decided to bring both a main dish and a dessert.

Pasta casseroles are one of my favorite things to whip up for parties.  One, I'm a huge pasta fan.  You can't go wrong with it.  Just about everyone eats it!  This particular dish was so simple to throw together.  The asparagus gives it a delicious crunch, the sundried tomatoes kinda give it a nice hint of sweetness and the melted havarti cheese just really brings it all together very nicely.  It's simply called Bow-Ties with Ham, and I got both the recipe and this picture (below) from Pillsbury.

Bow-Ties with Ham

by Pillsbury

3 cups uncooked bow-tie (farfalle) pasta

1 jar (16 oz) Alfredo pasta sauce

10 medium asparagus spears, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 cup)

1/2 cup sundried tomatoes in oil and herbs (drained and chopped)

1 cup diced cooked ham

1 cup shredded Havarti cheese (4 oz)

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 2-quart casserole with cooking spray.  Cook and drain pasta as directed on package.

2.  Meanwhile, in 3-quart saucepan, heat Alfredo sauce over medium heat, stirring frequently, until hot.  Gently stir in cooked pasta, asparagus, tomatoes and ham.  Stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese.  Pour into casserole.

3.  Cover; bake 35 to 45 minutes or until bubbly.  Top with remaining cheese.

I just love the fall.  I do a lot more baking at this time of the year because of the holidays and I love the aroma of vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin spice to completely saturate the house.  I found this recipe for Sweet Potato Spice Cookies in a Taste of Home Cookies & Bars book that I bought years ago.  Oh my goodness, the flavors in this cookie just meld so well together.  You've got sweet potatoes, cinnamon, nutmeg...and butterscotch chips, coconut and pecans to give it a nice crunch.  They were wonderful!  The kids especially loved them.  Even my husband gave it a rave review!  I am definitely going to make these again.

Sweet Potato Spice Cookies

Yield: 7 Dozen

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup finely shredded uncooked sweet potato

3 Tbsp orange juice concentrate

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1-1/4 cups quick cooking oats

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped pecans

1.  In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg, sweet potato, and orange juice concentrate.  Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.

2.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until firm.  Remove to wire racks to cool.

Enjoy!

Penne Panna Proscuitto e Piselli (My Version)

My friends and I frequent an Italian restaurant in town called Trattoria Bella Sera; only we call it Christina's because our friend, Melissa, knows the owner and that is her name.  When I wasn't on convalescent leave (which, sadly, is over in 2 weeks), we would go there just about every week.

Everytime we go there, I always say that I'm going to try something different.  But once the waiter comes for our orders, I always end up ordering the same thing--my favorite dish, the Penne Panna Proscuitto e Piselli, which is penne pasta sauteed with Italian ham, sweet peas and onions in an Italian white cream sauce (which, to me, is Alfredo sauce). 

When I order my pasta, 9 out of 10 times I usually order something with Alfredo sauce over marinara.  I can whip up a good marinara sauce at home when I make pasta dishes, but for some reason, I've always been scared to try alfredo sauce.  And let's face it...the store-bought alfredo sauce just doesn't do it for me. 

A few days ago, I found an easy recipe for Classic Alfredo Sauce, which I used to make my favorite dish from Christina's.  The only thing is that I used farfalle (bowtie) pasta instead of penne. 

Here's the recipe for the sauce:

Classic Alfredo Sauce

6 Tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup heavy or whipping cream
1/2 tsp salt
Generous dash white pepper
Generous dash ground nutmeg
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 oz.)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
3/4 pound fettuccine, cooked and drained (again, I used farfalle)

For the dish I made, I added:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced ham
1 medium sweet onion (diced)
1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 cup frozen peas (thawed)

1.  In a large, heavy skillet, saute onion in olive oil until transparent.  Add garlic and saute for 1 minute more.  Add diced ham and peas.  Saute for another 2-3 minutes.  Set aside in another dish.

2.  Place butter and cream in the same skillet over medium-low heat.  Cook and stir until butter melts and mixture bubbles.  Cook and stir 2 minutes more.  Stir in salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Remove from heat.  Gradually stir in cheese until thoroughly blended and smooth.  Return briefly to heat to completely blend cheese if necessary.  Do not let sauce bubble or cheese will become lumpy and tough).  Stir in ham, peas, and onion mixture.

3.  Pour sauce over pasta in pot.  Stir and toss over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes until sauce is thickened and pasta is evenly coated.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley.  Serve immediately.

This isn't a great picture of how the pasta turned out, but it was delicious.  My husband isn't really one for heavy pasta dishes, but he loved this dish!  And now I'm not scared to try alfredo sauce anymore!

Spaghetti with Eggplant, Butternut Squash and Shrimp

I saw Giada De Laurentis whip this dish up on TV around Halloween time. She commented that the orange of the butternut squash and shrimp, as well as the black of the eggplant, along with the fresh orange-colored pasta she used made it look scary. I didn't think so, but I did think that the dish looked good--good enough for me to want to make. I was having my parents and brother over for dinner so I thought I'd try something new with them. The name of the dish says all about what goes into it, as you can see here. The recipe called for Japanese eggplant, but since I couldn't find any, I used the regular kind that you can find at any grocery store. Then there's the vibrant butternut squash (my favorite kind of squash), the large shrimp (my favorite seafood), garlic and onions.

Overall, I thought the dish was just okay and not anything to rave about. My family said it was good, but they didn't take too well to all the vegetables in it since they're used to some kind of meaty marinara sauce. Basically, what I had left when everyone had their serving was a dish full of noodles, eggplant, and squash. The shrimp was the biggest hit of the evening, although I must say that the butternut squash was wonderfully sweet. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be making this dish for a while. I think I'm more likely to use marinara sauce in the dish next time to give it more flavor, but I'm not so sure the combination will work well. Oh yeah...and I think I'd eliminate the eggplant. The squishiness kind of got to me. I don't know, we'll see. But hey, if you're curious and would like to give this a try go ahead. You might like what you get!

Spaghetti with Eggplant, Butternut Squash and Shrimp

(Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentis)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 small butternut squash, peeoled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 5 cups)

1 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled

1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 1/4 cups dry white whine

2 cups fish broth, fresh or frozen, or canned vegetable broth

2 pounds uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Salt and pepper

17.5 oz. orange-colored fresh spaghetti or linguine

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1. Heat the oil in a heavy large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for just a minute. Add the squash, eggplant, rosemary, and thyme and saute for 8 to 10 minutes.


2. Add the wine and broth and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer until the squash is tender and the liquid is reduced by about half, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.


3. Add the shrimp and simmer gently until almost cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.


4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but firm to the bite, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta (alternatively, you can use dried pasta which will take 8 to 10 minutes to cook).


5. Toss the pasta, squash mixture and butter in a large bowl until the liquid thickens. Serve and enjoy!
   
   

Pasta a la Vodka Casserole

I didn't have a chance to make this week's Barefoot Bloggers recipe, but earlier this week my friend Anna and I whipped up some Pasta a la Vodka Casserole. The recipe was borrowed again, from my friend Melissa's blog, Love at First Bite , and is really named Penne a la Vodka Casserole. However, we didn't have any penne on hand, and just used a mixture of different kinds of pasta, hence the Pasta a la Vodka Casserole. We were both so excited about making this recipe. She's Italian and I love, love, LOVE Italian food! Plus, Anna had taken a peek at Melissa's blog through mine and called to tell me that she wanted to make it. So we did, and let me tell you, it is wonderful! Can't you tell? Even Anna's dog, Howard, was itching for a taste. Isn't he cute?

Although preparing the dish took a long time, it was all worth it. Everything worked out really well. I had about half the ingredients and Anna had the rest, including the main ingredient--the vodka! The recipe calls for both hot and sweet Italian sausage, but I was only able to find sweet Italian turkey sausage, as seen below. I tend to prefer sweet over spicy anyway.

Here, we sauted the sausage and about 4 cups of thinly sliced yellow onions together. We added about two cloves of garlic to this mixture and the aroma was just so invigorating!

Here, we later added whole tomatoes and heavy cream and the resulting sauce was mixed with our pasta. We had enough of the pasta mixture to fill the entire baking dish and then some. So we were each able to help ourselves to a serving. The pasta mixture could very well be served without baking it. I actually preferred the unbaked pasta to the baked version, but you find out which version works for you!

The baked pasta came out looking like this....cheese all bubbly and just downright yummy! Again, the dish took a while to prepare--about 40 minutes to make the sauce and then the same amount of time to bake. But you will find that it was time well spent! Here is the recipe below, which Melissa adapted from Emeril. And thanks again Melissa for another great recipe!

Penne A La Vodka Casserole

(recipe adapted from Emeril)

4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, cut crosswise into 1-inch slices

1 lb. hot Italian sausage, cut crosswise into 1-inch slices

4 cups thinly sliced onions

1 and 3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1/2 cup vodka

Two 16-oz. cans whole tomatoes, crushed in their juices

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 pound penne pasta

15 oz. ricotta cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese

1 and 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

1. Heat 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan over high heat. Add the sausages and cook, stirring, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onions, 3/4 tsp. salt, and the black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are just soft, about 4 minutes. Add the basil and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the vodka and tomatoes, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes. Add the garlic powder and heavy cream, stir to mix, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2. To cook the pasta, combine 4 quarts water, the olive oil, and the remaining tsp. salt in a large pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, add the pasta, and cook until al dente, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain well. Combine half of the ricotta cheese and half of the Parmesan-Reggiano with the remining 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Add the pasta and toss to coat evenly. Add the sausage mixture and mix well. Add the remaining ricotta cheese and the remaining Parmesan-Reggiano and mix well.
3. Transfer the mixture to a 9x13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Bake until bubbly and golden, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven. Serve with warm crusty bread.

Delicious! Just you wait and see!

Pasta! Pasta!

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore! And I LOVE Italian food. In the last few weeks, I've whipped up a few pasta dishes; two of which I'm able to share with you. They're so simple and so delicious!

One recipe I borrowed from Melissa of Love at First Bite. It's a spaghetti pie! Who knew that spaghetti could be mixed with a few ingredients, smushed into a pie dish and topped with mozzarella? It's the perfect dish to make especially since most of your cupboards or pantries already have the ingredients. It's also great because it's something that can be put together at the last minute and stored as leftovers. I actually thought it tasted better the night after, when my friend Anna dropped me off from school (we carpool). Anna is an international student from Germany, but her father is Italian and a wonderful cook. I was actually nervous to hear what she thought of the dish. And she said it was great, so I must be! Here's the recipe (taken from the Good Housekeeping magazine), and thanks to Melissa for sharing!

Baked Spaghetti Pie

1/2 pound spaghetti

2 large eggs

1 container (15 oz.) part-skim ricotta cheese

3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

1 cup marinara sauce

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain.

2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9-inch pie plate. In large bowl, with fork, beat eggs. Stir in ricotta and 3/4 cup Parmesan until blended.

3. Add spaghetti to ricotta mixture and stir until well coated. Transfer spaghetti mixture to prepared pie plate; top with marinara sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining 2 Tbsp. Parmesan.

4. Bake pie 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes for easier serving. Cut into wedges to serve.

Then, this past Thursday, I was dying for something somewhat homemade, rather than the TV dinners (SmartOnes) I've been heating up in my microwave. So I whipped up a quick pasta dish, again, with a few ingredients already in my pantry. Malu and I have made this a few times before and it's very good! No official name, but I think I'll call it Bacon Pasta Toss.

Bacon Pasta Toss

6 to 8 slices of bacon, chopped into small pieces

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic

14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes (any kind)

6 oz. can of tomato paste

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 bag of frozen peas

1 lb. farfalle (bowtie) pasta (or any pasta)

Sugar, to taste

1. Heat oil in a large skillet. Bring water to a boil in a large pot.

2. Saute garlic in oil for about 2-3 minutes and add onion. Saute until onion is transparent. Add bacon and saute for about 5 minutes.

3. Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package directions. In the last two minutes add the frozen peas then drain.

4. Add diced tomatoes to onion mixture; then add the tomato paste and mix until well incorporated. I like my sauce sweet, so I added about 1 tablespoon of sugar.

5. Once sauce is heated through, add drained pasta and toss well.

Yummy in my tummy! This dish also tastes tons better the next day...or the next! Oh, and if you're wanting to make the dish sweet without adding sugar, then try maple bacon. I like it better that way!