Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

I needed a quick easy meal fast. I browsed a few recipes. I took a little from some, a little from another, and then still another. Here's what I came up with... Pasta & Beans 6 slices bacon, cut into small pieces 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 15 oz can chick peas, drained 5 oz tuna, drained juice and zest of 1 lemon reserved water from pasta Salt/Pepper Parsley, chopped Parmesan cheese 1lb pasta (orecchiette, shells etc) While the pasta cooks, heat the bacon in a skillet until done. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add chick peas and cook for about 5 minutes or until heated through. Add tuna, lemon, and zest. Cook until tuna is heated through. Add salt/pepper (be sure to taste because the bacon might have contributed enough salt). Add pasta and some of the pasta water until you reach the desired consistency. Top with parsley and Parmesan This dish basically came together in the time that it takes to cook the pasta. It can be adapted pretty easily. If you don...

We accidentally bought summer squash plants instead of zucchini plants this year - not that I find that much of a difference in taste. It has started to come in now. I was poking around looking for a recipe for squash and pasta and found this over at Smitten Kitchen. I tinkered with the recipe minimally.  I made a pound of pasta because if I'm boiling water for a 1/2 lb why not for a full 1lb and get a few more meals. I also used Gruyere cheese instead of the mozzarella because that's what I had. I used basil because I wanted some of that green to add to the color of the dish - yellow squash is a little blah looking. It came out very good but it is definitely a summer meal that you want to make on a cooler rather than hotter day. I liked that it was a one pot meal. While the pasta was boiling I was prepping the other ingredients. Then I used that pot to saute the squash although it was a bit slow going. Then all into the pot and right into the oven - yes at 400 it was a ...

Bacon & Spinach Pasta (Adapted from my brain) 1 lb pasta 6 slice bacon, cut into small pieces 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 c heavy cream 16 oz fresh spinach handful of fresh basil salt/pepper While the pasta is cooking, place bacon pieces in a skillet. Cook until browned. Add garlic and cook for a few seconds until fragrant. Add heavy cream and heat through. Place spinach and basil on top and cook until wilted. Add pasta, salt, and pepper. Gently mix until pasta is coated. This is one of those recipes that just comes together really quick. It's a great weeknight meal. I usually have all the ingredients in the house except maybe the spinach. I'm thinking it would work well with frozen spinach providing that you squeeze out the excess water.

I know, I know, I'm not a huge Rachel Ray fan either - a little bit too much of processed food for me. But every once it a while I guess you are bound to come up with a decent recipe. She has definitely done that with Pasta al Forno. This is, of course, done in 30 minutes, but it definitely has the flavor of something that is cooked longer. It is also a great way to heat up the house - since the oven is set to 500. I love making this on a cold weeknight - which we've had quite a few of them lately. Pasta al Forno (Adapted from Comfort Food) 1 lb of ziti or penne 2 T olive oil 1 onion, chopped 3 oz prosciutto, chopped 3 clove garlic, chopped 1 28 oz can of tomatoes 1/2 c heavy cream 1 t dried basil 1/2 t dried oregano 2 pinches of cinnamon salt/pepper 1/3 c Parmesan cheese, grated Preheat oven to 500. Grease casserole dish (I prefer butter for this recipe). Boil water for pasta. While waiting for water to boil and pasta to cook, place onion and olive oil in s...

I could get lost in this bowl of pasta This recipe struck me as very interesting. However, I was a afraid that by using tomato paste it was going to be very heavy tasting. It was actually quite good and not too strong on the tomato paste. Tomato Pesto (Adapted from Cooking Pleasures) 1/4 c pine nuts 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 c olive oil 6oz tomato paste 1/4 c fresh parsley salt/pepper 1 1lb of pasta 1/4 c Parmesan cheese Cook pasta according to directions. In a small skillet, toast pine nuts. Remove from pan and place in food processor. Saute garlic in 1T of olive oil.  Place in food processor. Add tomato paste, parsley, salt and pepper. Pulse until smooth. Place pesto in a serving bowl. Reserve some pasta water. Add pasta to serving bowl and mix.  Add reserved pasta water until sauce is to desired consistency. Add Parmesan and stir through. It is a very quick recipe to pull together. All the work is done while the pasta is cooking.  The original r...

2 lone lemons I've patiently been waiting for the lemons on my lemon tree. We've had the "tree" for about 4 years. Every year I get real excited because it gets tons of flowers and then gets tons of little baby lemons. Then they all fall off one by one and we end up with 2 lemons. They usually are ripe anywhere between November or December. I always try to make something special with them since they are such a scarce commodity. Something where lemons are center stage. They have a very thin skin and are very lemony. Look how thin the skin is So this year it was a classic dish - Spaghetti al Limone. I came upon this via Smitten Kitchen who came upon it via American's Test Kitchen. Spaghetti al Limone 1lb spaghetti, linguine,  angel hair pasta 1/4 c olive oil 1/4 c heavy cream 3 lemons or about 1/3-1/2 c lemon juice zest from 3 lemons 1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup fresh parsley Fresh basil (optional) salt/pepper Boil pasta in salted...

This is definitely a recipe for grown-ups - no kids allowed. This is not a recipe that a typical kid would like. This is a totally souped-upped version or bacon-upped depending on your perspective. Hmmm looks like regular Mac n Cheese... Smokey Mac n Cheese 1lb pasta (I used Campanelle) 4 oz thick cut bacon (preferably homemade*) 2 cloves garlic minced 1/4 c flour 1/2 c white wine 2 c skim milk 1/2 c heavy cream 1 t dry mustard 1 t ancho 1 t smokey paprika 4 oz Grueyre 4 oz cheddar cheese 1/4 c Parmesan cheese salt/pepper 3 tomatoes, cored and seeded 1/2 c panko 1T butter (perhaps additional depending on how fatty the bacon is and additional for greasing pan) Cook pasta in salted water for about 5 minutes. Pasta should be still pretty tough. Meanwhile cut bacon into small cubes. Saute in a saucepan until cooked - DO NOT drain fat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add flour and stir to form a roux. This should be fairly loose but you want it to cook unti...

So here's what I made with the fresh pasta. Tomatoes & Cream Pasta (Adapted from 365 Ways to Cook Pasta ) 1 lb fresh tomatoes (preferably plums or grape tomatoes) 1 T fresh basil 2 clove garlic, minced 1 1/2 c heavy cream 1 lb pasta salt/pepper Boil water for pasta. Peel, seed, and rough chop the tomatoes. If you are using grape tomatoes, there is no need to peel and seed them. Just cut them in half. Place the tomatoes in a skillet and a little salt to help the tomatoes release their juices. Cook off some of the liquids from the tomatoes probably about 10 minutes. If you are using regular tomatoes, it may take a little longer. If you are using grape tomatoes, it may be less time. Add garlic and continue to cook until garlic is fragrant. Add the heavy cream and basil. Cook over low until the sauce thickens slightly. Add salt and pepper. Pour over fresh pasta. There was a lot of liquid from the tomatoes, so I really cooked them down more than usual This is a ver...

There is nothing like fresh pasta.  Several years ago when we got back from Italy we sat down at the table to pasta that was perfectly acceptable before going to Italy and just looked at one another.  We all agreed that dried pasta was absolutely not the same. That is when I started either making my own pasta or buying it fresh from a local pasta store. There is really nothing more to it than flour and eggs. Sit back and have a cuppa - this one is a long one. But don't worry there are a lot of pictures. Fresh Pasta 2 1/4 c flour 3 eggs Place the flour in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Crack the 3 eggs into the center. Begin to mix the eggs with a fork, slowly picking up more flour from the sides. Once all the flour is incorporated, turn it out onto a silpat or floured surface. It will look like a big mess and you will start to wonder what is wrong.  Stick with it and knead the dough. This is great for building up those arms. Eventually it will com...

Not only are the zucchini rolling in but the tomatoes have started as well. For some reason I never feel overwhelmed by the tomatoes.There is always something to do with them. It's time for a nice tomato sauce for pasta. This is another one of those non-recipes. It is very easy to make, not too heavy on the measuring, and always tastes great. Boatload of fresh tomatoes Fresh Tomato Sauce 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 10-12 fresh tomatoes, quartered fresh basil, oregano, parsley olive oil salt/pepper I cooked them down to a more sauce-like consistency this time Place onions, salt, and olive oil in skillet.  Caramelize the onions. Add garlic and saute until you start to smell it.  Add tomatoes and herbs. Continue to saute until tomatoes are to the desired consistency. Add additional fresh herbs. That's not a blurry photo - that's just steam Many times I'm very lazy and don't bother to skin and seed the tomatoes (this was one of...

I know, I know,  I already posted a lemon pasta recipe but this one is a little different. I had some lemons in the refrigerator and was all ready to make that recipe again but then I realized we had a nice little crop of spinach in the garden waiting to be picked. Basil, Spinach & Garlic ready to go Lemon Pasta with Spinach (loosely based on Smitten Kitchen ) l lb pasta 1/4 c olive oil 2 cloves garlic 3 lemons, juice and zest 1/4 c  heavy cream handful of basil a generous bunch of fresh spinach, chopped into strips 1/4 c grated Parmesan salt/pepper Cook pasta until al dente in salted water. Remove pasta and reserve 1 cup of pasta water.  Set pasta aside. Dry pot and pour olive oil into pot.  Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Carefully add lemon juice. Stir in heavy cream.  Add basil and spinach.  Stir and then add pasta.  Stir in Parmesan cheese.  Season with salt and pepper. Add some of the pasta water if you feel...

DO NOT be deceived by the blah-looking pasta you see here. This was such a creamy, lemony, yummy pasta.  I found it in one of my old Fine Cooking magazines from 2006 (yes I do have so many recipes ripped from magazines that I've been dying to try that I needed to database them.  This was the pre-gee-every-recipe-is-posted-online days. And we won't even discuss how many cookbooks I have with recipes awaiting testing!).  Plus now that it looks like I have a job again, I better get cracking on some of these quick-cooking weeknight recipes! I didn't have fresh parsley, which would have made it a lot prettier looking. I also decided to use penne since that's all I had on hand. I used vodka too instead of the gin or grappa because once again that is what I had on hand. So maybe this isn't really the original recipe from the magazine, but it's still really good and you should try it! Trust me!

I've been making this pasta salad so long I don't even know where I got it from originally. It's a little different than your regular old pasta salad as it has a citrus dressing. It was a nice addition to the Brunch table. Chicken & Bow Tie Pasta Salad 1lb cooked farfalle pasta 2 c cooked chicken, shredded 1 1/2 c red seedless grapes, halved 1 c celery, cut on the diagonal 1 c grape tomatoes, halved (optional) 1/3 c red onion, minced Dressing: zest of 1 orange 1/3 c fresh orange juice zest of 1 lemon 1/2 c fresh lemon juice 1 T rice wine vinegar 3 T olive oil pinch of sugar may be necessary parsley chives salt/pepper In a large bowl combine all of the salad ingredients.  In a small bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients.  Taste and add additional sugar if necessary. Pour over salad. I made this the day before.  I found it needed additional dressing the next day - the pasta had absorbed all the dressing so it was a little dry. But ...

So I couldn't leave well enough alone.  My brother gave me this recipe for this really great pasta, sausage, and cabbage dish.  It uses fontina cheese. The cheese melts and it makes you think that it's a cream sauce.  It's really good but I had to play around with it a little. First I had to make fresh ricotta. Now I know this sounds intimidating but believe me you can have fresh ricotta in about 20 minutes. I used this recipe but you know, of course, I adapted it to what I had in the refrigerator. Here's what I used: 1/2 gallon 2% milk 2 c half and half 1 c low fat plain yogurt 2 tsps vinegar 1 tsp salt Basically you pour the ingredients into a pot and it will start to look like this after a few minutes: Don't pay attention to the shadow of my head in this picture ;-) Then it will start to separate after about 15 minutes on medium heat and will look like this: Curds & Whey (so tempting to make a Miss Muffet joke) Then you strain it for a...