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!

~Baked Bean Duo~

Would you believe that this is the first baked bean dish I've ever made?  For real.  My friend, Laura, hosted a birthday party for her son, Joey.  He turned three last week.  She was serving up some burgers and hot dogs.  And you can never go wrong with baked beans when you're eating some barbecue!

I'm usually lazy and end up buying some baked beans from the grocery store, but I thought I'd actually take the time to make some.  And this version of the classic dish came out delicious!  The "duo" refers to the fact that there are two kinds of beans--the kind that comes with the canned pork and beans and butter beans. 

As always, I look for the simplest of dishes to prepare...and this one was just that! And I love my baked beans to be sweet.  I love that sweet and salty combination.  You would think that will all the honey and brown sugar in this dish that it would be an overload, but I thought it was just right.

Baked Bean Duo
by Better Homes & Gardens Simply Better Cookbooks (Easy Potlucks, May 2006)

6 slices bacon (I used maple bacon--I love the sweet and salty combo)
1/3 cup chopped green sweet pepper
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 20 3/4 oz. can pork and beans in tomato sauce, drained
1 15 oz. can butter beans or black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp.  Drain bacon, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in skillet.  Crumble bacon; set aside.  Add sweet pepper and onion to reserved drippings; cook about 5 minutes or until tender.

2.  In 1 1/2 quart casserole, combine pork and beans, butter beans, ketchup, honey, brown sugar, half of the bacon and the sweet pepper mixture.  Wrap and chill remaining bacon until melted.

3.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until heated through.  Stir gently; top with remaning bacon.

Makes 3 side-dish servings.

Simply Sensational Strawberry Shortcake

My lady friends came over for a pizza night last Saturday evening and I made this dessert for them.  I was rude...as soon as I was done with my pizza, I made a bee-line for the dessert and told everyone to serve themselves.  I mean, I just had to have some of this right away. 

It has most of the same ingredients for a strawberry trifle that I make, but is a small step up from your typical strawberry shortcake.  In short, it's terrific.  And I love anything strawberry. I'll be sad when they go out of season.  Last night, I made myself a batch of chocolate covered strawberries!

Simply Sensational Strawberry Shortcake

by Kraft Food & Family

1 1/4 cups of milk (divided)

1/4 cup sour cream

3 Tbsp sugar

2 1/4 cups all-purpose baking mix (I used the Jiffy brand)

1 pkg (3.4 oz) Vanilla Instant Pudding

1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip

4 cups sliced fresh strawberries

1/3 cup sugar

1.  Heat oven to 425 degrees

2.  Beat 1/2 cup milk, sour cream, and 3 Tbsp sugar in large bowl with whisk until well blended.  Stir in baking mix just until well moistened.  Spread onto bottom of greased 9-inch round pan.  Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Remove cake from pan to wire rack.  Cool completely.

3.  Beat pudding mix and remaining milk in medium bowl with whisk for 2 minutes.  Stir in half the Cool Whip.  Toss strawberries with 1/3 cup sugar.

4.  Cut cake horizontally in half to make 2 layers; stack on plate, filling with half the strawberry mixture and all the pudding mixture.  Top with remaining Cool Whip and strawberry mixture.  Serve immediately.

White & Gold Pizza

For the last few weeks, I've been on this pizza kick, but wanting to make them at home.  So a few weeks ago, I stocked up on some refrigerated pizza crust just so I can make whatever kind of pizza that tickled my fancy, whenever I felt like it. 

Well, since Malu and I are having another movie night, I thought it was a perfect evening to try this pizza recipe that I found in a Kraft Philadelphia cookbook.  It's called the White & Gold Pizza and instead of using red marinara as a sauce, you use Philadelphia Cream Cheese!  And then, it's topped with cheese and carmelized sweet onions to make a sweet and savory pizza that we both thoroughly enjoyed.  It was delicious!

~White & Gold Pizza~

by Kraft Philadelphia Desserts and More (Vol. 24)

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Olive Oil (divided)

1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced

1 lb. frozen pizza dough, thawed (I used the one in the can--Pilsbury brand)

1 large clove garlic, minced

4 oz. (1/2 of 8 oz. pkg). Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened)

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated romano cheese (I used grated parmesan)

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

To Make It:

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

1.  HEAT 1 Tbsp oil in large skillet on medium heat.  Add onions; cook 15 to 20 minutes or until tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally.

2.  MEANWHILE, place pizza dough on lightly floured baking sheet; pat to 16x12 inch rectangle.  Mix garlic and remaining oil; spread onto dough.  Bake 10 minutes.

3.  SPREAD cream cheese onto crust; top with remaining cheeses, onions, and crushed pepper.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

You can make the carmelized onions ahead of time (which I did).  Cool, then refrigerate up to 2 days before using as directed.

Now, how easy was that?  Try it!  You'll be pleased with the results!

Tiramisu Bowl

Tonight, Malu and I are going to my friend, Leah's, house for dinner!  The theme is Italian night and since I didn't feel like making a salad or pasta dish, I opted to make some dessert.

Now, I've never attempted to make a real Italian tiramisu before.  I think it's because it's a little intimidating to me.  So...I opted for a faux tiramisu recipe from a Jell-O/CoolWhip/Baker's Chocolate (Kraft Kitchens) cookbook--you know, the kinds you find with the magazines at the register of grocery stores?  And not only is the dessert so pretty...it's so easy to make! 

I have to admit...I made a boo-boo.  I was supposed to drizzle coffee on both layers of Vanilla Wafers, but forgot to do the second layer.  I hope no one notices.  It still looks great though and I can't wait to taste it tonight!

Tiramisu Bowl

(Kraft Kitchens, Simply Stunning Holiday Desserts)

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Philadelphia Cream   Cheese (softened)

3 cups cold milk

2 pkg. (4 serving size) Jell-O Vanilla flavor instant pudding & pie filling

1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip (thawed & divided)

48 Nilla Wafers

1/2 cup brewed strong coffee (cooled & divided)

2 squares Baker's Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate, coarsely grated

1 cup fresh raspberries

Directions:

1.  Beat cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer until creamy.  Gradually beat in milk.  Add dry pudding mixes; mix wellStir in 2 cups of the cool whip.

2.  Line bottom and side of 2 1/2 qt. serving bowl with half of the wafers.  Drizzle with half the coffee.  Top with layers of half each of the pudding mixture and chocolate. (I added half of the raspberries to this layer).  Repeat all layers, starting with wafers.  Top with remaining cool whip and raspberries.

3.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours.  Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Now, doesn't that look delicious?!?