Cheese | I Can Cook That

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

So I realized today that this post for Homemade Macaroni and Cheese is my 200th! How crazy is that? Okay, back to your regular programing… time for an awesome recipe for Homemade Macaroni and Cheese!

Winter weather really makes me crave comfort food. When it snows (like it did this weekend) my need for comfort food escalates.

I’ve been looking for any excuse to make another mac and cheese recipe, so I jumped at the chance to make it during the snow.

I originally printed out this recipe from Cooking Light, but I changed it so much to fit what I could find it’s barely recognizable. The overall method is basically the same though.

Ingredients:

1/2 an onion, diced
1 bay leaf
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 1/4 cups 1% low fat milk
1 box uncooked elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
4 ounces cubed sharp cheddar cheese
4ounces cubed gouda cheese
Panko breadcrumbs
Grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Fresh parsley, chopped

Continue reading Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

I know, I know. It’s January. What the heck am I doing posting a Caprese recipe? I had a craving for a Caprese salad and I can’t bring myself to buy large tomatoes so out of season. Cherry tomatoes always seem to be around the same level of taste all year long, so I thought this might hold me over until the spring. The recipe incorporates all ingredients found in a traditional Caprese salad, while making it into a cute appetizer bite. I found this recipe on Taste of Home and mainly stuck to the recipe, with a few changes based on what I could find.

Ingredients:

1 pint heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, torn into smaller pieces
6 fresh basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Continue reading Caprese Tomato Bites

Spinach Spaghetti with Salmon Cream Sauce

Have you ever bought a bunch of ingredients just because they sounded good? I try to stick to a list, but this time I couldn’t help myself. I found fresh spinach spaghetti and it just sounded so wonderful, I had to buy it. I wanted to make a simple but flavorful dish so I was pretty happy to find salmon as well. I already had heavy cream and parsley in my fridge so this recipe for Spinach Spaghetti with Salmon Cream Sauce was the result!

Ingredients:

1 package fresh spinach spaghetti
1 tablespoon butter
1 8 oz fillet of salmon
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, roughly chopped
freshly grated Parmesan

Continue reading Spinach Spaghetti with Salmon Cream Sauce

Pancetta Crisps with Goat Cheese and Pear

With the holidays fast approaching, we all need more quick appetizer recipes for when friends and family come to visit. This one for Pancetta Crisps with Goat Cheese and Pear from Southern Living intrigued me: pear, pancetta, honey, and goat cheese. I was interested to see how these flavors would all play out together. Because this can be served cold, you can do most of it ahead of time, pop it into the fridge, and bring it out right before you need it. Note: I only made 6 servings but naturally this can be expanded to fit any number of people.

Ingredients:

6 thin slices pancetta (I just asked the butcher to slice it thin, but not as thin as proscuitto)
1 anjou pear
1/4 (2-oz.) package goat cheese, crumbled
Cracked pepper
Honey
Thyme leaves and sprigs

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Arrange the pancetta slices on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil.

Cook the pancetta in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp.

Transfer the pancetta to a paper towel and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Use an apple corer to core your pear. This was surprisingly easy (I have no clue why I thought this would be a battle).

Slice the pear into equal sized slices. I got 6 slices, plus the top and bottom of the pear.

Add the pancetta on top of the pear. Top with crumbled goat cheese. Sprinkle with pepper and some chopped thyme. This is where you can stop and pop these in the fridge if you are making them ahead. Right before serving, drizzle with a bit of honey.

It’s quite pretty, isn’t it?

But… how does it taste? I actually really liked this! It’s flavorful, different, and easy to eat with one hand (crucial for a get together where most are walking and mingling).

The pancetta was a wonderfully salty contrast to the sweetness of the pear and honey, the goat cheese added a nice creaminess and the thyme added little pops of flavor that brought the whole appetizer together.

There were some awesome textures in this as well. Overall, a definite keeper!

Mushroom Mac and Cheese

I grew up in a mac & cheese from the box household. You know, the kind with the powered stuff that you add to the macaroni, plus butter and milk. My mom (inexplicably) referred to this as baked macaroni and cheese, so I didn’t even realize that baked mac & cheese was the actual way it was supposed to be cooked until much later in life. As absolutely delicious as I assume traditional baked mac and cheese is, I can’t justify taking all that time to make it (maybe on a weekend some day). Apparently I’m not alone on that thought, because Cooking Light Fresh Foods Superfast cookbook had a somewhat sped up version. This version adds in some mushrooms to make a hearty Mushroom Mac and Cheese.

Ingredients:

Sherry-Roasted Mushrooms

1 package cremini mushrooms

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Cooking Spray

2 tablespoons dry sherry

2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

8 ounces (half a box) uncooked elbow macaroni

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 small can of evaporated milk

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fontina cheese

Fresh oregano leaves, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the mushrooms, olive oil and garlic cloves on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. While the mushrooms are cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

When the mushrooms are finished cooking, add to a small bowl. Stir in the sherry and oregano. Reserve. Keep the oven on but lower the temperature to 400 degrees.

Add flour to a large pan and gradually add the evaporated milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes or until thick and bubbly, continue to stir constantly. Add the cheese and season with salt and pepper. I must have been all sorts of lazy this day because I didn’t even feel like shredding the cheese. I instead tore off small pieces and added it to the milk mixture, this ended up working out just fine.

Remove from heat and stir in the mushroom mixture and the pasta.

Add the pasta mixture to a 2 quart baking dish that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake the pasta at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until it bubbles. Sprinkle with oregano leaves and serve.

Oh happy creamy deliciousness. I loved this pasta, especially when I got some of the crunchy baked parts in a bite. In retrospect, I really wish I added a light layer of panko on top, just to add more crunch to the dish. But even without that extra crunch, this mac & cheese was really good!

I think this method can be applied to many versions of mac & cheese to make it quicker. Use Gruyere or Cheddar instead of fontina. Add sage instead of oregano, or use truffles/truffle oil, the possibilities are endless!

Yum

Mushroom Mac & Cheese

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 package cremini mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Cooking Spray
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
8 ounces (half a box) uncooked elbow macaroni
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 small can of evaporated milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fontina cheese
Fresh oregano leaves, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the mushrooms, olive oil and garlic cloves on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Season with salt and pepper.
Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. While the mushrooms are cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
When the mushrooms are finished cooking, add to a small bowl. Stir in the sherry and oregano. Reserve. Keep the oven on but lower the temperature to 400 degrees.
Add flour to a large pan and gradually add the evaporated milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes or until thick and bubbly, continue to stir constantly. Add the cheese and season with salt and pepper. I must have been all sorts of lazy this day because I didn’t even feel like shredding the cheese. I instead tore off small pieces and added it to the milk mixture, this ended up working out just fine.
Remove from heat and stir in the mushroom mixture and the pasta.
Add the pasta mixture to a 2 quart baking dish that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake the pasta at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until it bubbles. Sprinkle with oregano leaves and serve.

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Venison Chili with Jalapeno-Cheddar Corn Muffins

I spent most of Saturday in the car driving to/from North Jersey in a freak Nor’easter snowfall that really made the ride quite an experience. After yesterday, it is clear that winter is (sadly) not too far away, so I better get started on some of my favorite cold weather foods. First up, chili.

I just joined a new farm club called Arganica, that just started delivering to Philadelphia. I actually joined it because my CSA share is ending and I still wanted to receive different vegetables during the winter months. However, as I was looking over their offerings, their meat and fish section is what really caught my eye. I decided to take a chance on a new type of meat I’ve never cooked with before: venison. When I mentioned I was planning on making venison chili to my boyfriend, his eyes lit up. Here’s hoping my chili can live up to whatever high expectation he has for this meal! To go along with the chili, I also made pepper Jack corn bread muffins.

For those a bit wary about venison, the meat is actually quite lean; venison is lower in fat, calories and cholesterol than beef, pork, or lamb.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons oil

2 lbs ground venison

4 strips of bacon

2 cans red kidney beans, drained

1 can tomato sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon hot sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon ground chili

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 tablespoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 jalapeno (or similar) pepper, seeds removed and chopped

1 cup beef stock

1/2 cup weak coffee

Fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Sour cream

Cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

Are you getting sick of my pumpkin recipes? I think this recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce actually brings me to over a dozen posts on pumpkin-flavored desserts/meals. I wasn’t lying when I said I was pumpkin obsessed! Anyways, I’ve been trying to make this recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce from Cooking Light for almost 2 weeks, but for the life of me could not find wonton wrappers. I finally just adapted the recipe to use fresh pasta sheets from By George in Reading Terminal.

Ingredients (makes 3 servings):
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon minced fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, divided
6 pieces of fresh pasta lasagna sheets, rolled thinner if desired (I used pumpkin pasta, no surprise there!) – about 1 lb.
1 cup fat-free milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1 tablespoon egg substitute or one egg, mixed
3 tablespoons hazelnuts, chopped
Fresh sage leaves for garnish

Note: It would be super helpful to have a ravioli stamp, (or ideally, to have a ravioli maker!) but you can get the same results by pressing firmly and separating using a knife.

To make the Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce, add a salted pot of water to your stove over high heat. Bring to a boil.

Begin by making the ravioli stuffing. Add the pumpkin, panko, Parmesan, minced sage, salt, pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg to a bowl. Mix to combine.

If you’d prefer to make the pasta as thin as possible, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough even more. Place a generous teaspoon of the pumpkin mixture on one sheet of pasta, evenly spaced (I used my stamp as a guide). My sheets were able to hold about 6 teaspoons of the pumpkin mixture.

Using a brush, surround the pumpkin mixture with a thin layer of eggwash. This will help hold the pasta pieces together.

Place another lasagna sheet on top of the original sheet, covering the pumpkin mixture.

Using the ravioli stamp, press firmly around each pocket of pumpkin mixture. If you do not have a ravioli stamp, just use your hands.

Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the ravioli into individual pieces. Repeat with remaining pumpkin mixture and lasagna sheets.

Your pot should now be boiling. Add half of the ravioli to the pot. Cook for about six minutes or until the ravioli begins to rise to the top.

While waiting for the past to cook, make your sauce. Add the milk and flour to a saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil and cook for one minute until it thinks slightly.

Remove from heat. Add the butter, stirring until it fully melts. Stir in the crumbled Gorgonzola. Add more minced sage leaves if you’d like.

Add 6 ravioli each to three plates. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the Gorgonzola sauce. Add a teaspoon of chopped hazelnuts, a few sage leaves, and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

This Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Saucewas pretty darn good. I think it could handle a boost in nutmeg though; there was something missing from the overall flavor of the dish.

I strongly suggest adding a lot of sage leaves to the plate, a bite of fresh sage with every forkful was delicious!

I liked using fresh pasta instead of wontons; wontons tend to break apart in the cooking process, especially with a heavier filling like pumpkin.

I wish I knew what ingredient would really kick this recipe up from good to great; please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments!

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with Ranchero Sauce

I have had quite the hankering for Mexican recently, so I was so happy that the October issue of Cooking Light included a bunch of delicious sounding Mexican inspired vegetarian meals. I decided to go for the Black Bean & Cheese Enchiladas, because they can easily be frozen for future lunches and dinners. I substituted a few of the ingredients for what I already had, but you can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

2 Cajun peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion

5 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups chicken broth, divided

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

The juice of 1 lime

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups pre-shredded Mexican-blend cheese, divided

3 thinly sliced green onions, divided

Cooking spray

10 (6-inch) corn tortillas

5 tablespoons light sour cream

Preheat oven to 400°. Prepare the peppers, onion and garlic cloves. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan over high heat. Add onion and cook for 1 minute.

Reduce heat to medium and add the garlic and salt. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 2 cups broth, parsley, tomato paste, and cumin.

Cook for 10 minutes, or until it thickens slightly, stirring occasionally.

While this is cooking, add the extra cup water and the chopped peppers to a food processor. Pour the onion mixture into the food processor when finished cooking. Blend until smooth. Stir in lime juice and cayenne.

Combine the beans, 1 cup of cheese, and half the green onions in a bowl.

Add 1/2 of the sauce to the bottom of a cookie pan coated with cooking spray. Add 3 tablespoons of the bean mixture to to each tortilla.

Roll up, placing the seam side down.

Add to the cookie pan.

Pour the remaining sauce over the tortillas.

Top with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with remaining green onions and serve with sour cream.

This recipe has so much flavor! I was really pleasantly surprised with how this turned out. I am pretty sure I didn’t allow the sauce to reduce enough, but it thickened up in the oven and still tasted wonderful.

A serving is two enchiladas, so I actually have 4 meals left over after making this. As I mentioned before, enchiladas freeze really well, so 3 are going into the freezer and one will be my lunch tomorrow, win!

To make this recipe more effective for a weeknight, you can make the ranchero sauce ahead of time an refrigerate it until ready to use. The recipe took about an hour from start to finish.

Southwestern Burgers with Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries & Chili Aioli

The high humidity continues in Philadelphia so I decided to just give in and have a summery meal. I made this inside on a grill pan, but the burger can be made on an outdoor grill just as easily. I will focus more on making the fries, because the burger is mostly stacking ingredients.

Ingredients:

Burger:

4 hamburger patties

4 slices of pepper jack cheese

1/2 a red onion, thinly sliced

1 avocado

4 hamburger buns

Sweet Potato Fries:

4 larger sized sweet potatoes, cut into wedges

Salt

1/2 stick unsalted butter

2 teaspoons chipotle powder

Chili Aioli:

1/3 cup mayo

1 tablespoon chili sauce (like Sriracha)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into wedges. I honestly don’t think I succeeded in actually getting “wedges” but oh well. Place on a baking sheet lined with tin foil and sprinkle with salt.

Melt the butter, either on a stovetop or in the microwave.

Drizzle the melted butter and sprinkle the chipotle powder over the sweet potato wedges.

Cook for 30-40 minutes, turning each piece over half way through so that they cook evenly.

While the fries are cooking, combine the Sriracha and mayo in a bowl.

Cook the burgers to desired degree of doneness. Toast the buns on the grill as well. Add about 1 teaspoon of the aoili to the tops of each bun. Top each burger with one slice of cheese, a slice of red onion and 1/4 of the avocado.

Serve with the fries and the aioli.

I am in love with this dinner. I seriously considered making this again the next night. The sweet potato fries were the perfect mix of sweet and spicy, especially when paired with the aioli. I could eat the fries and aioli by themselves! I always love avocado on burgers, and the addition of pepper jack cheese and red onion made it even more delicious. This is a must try meal!

Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

I honestly don’t know why I don’t make more dinners that involve chicken. I guess I just never have any on hand. This week, we were celebrating one of my friend’s birthdays by making her dinner and we settled on a chicken dish. I was really at a loss for what to make, so luckily Budget Bytes came to the rescue with her recipe for Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken. (Please excuse the photos in this post. I wasn’t exactly planning on making a post about it so they aren’t that fantastic. But this recipe is too good not to share!)

Ingredients:

For Chicken:

4 thin chicken breasts
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Basil, thinly sliced
Parsley, chopped

For Bruschetta:

4 medium roma tomatoes
1 small sweet onion
1 medium garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Continue reading Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken

Eggplant Parmesan Stacks

I received another eggplant in my CSA share this week so I thought I’d attempt Eggplant Parmesan. I saw this slightly different version of the recipe on MyRecipes.com, originally from Sunset Magazine and thought I’d give it a try.

Ingredients: (makes 2 servings)
1 eggplant
1/2 tube cooked polenta
Olive oil cooking spray
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves or 2 teaspoons dried basil
1 can (14 oz.) tomato purée
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (6 oz.)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Begin by preparing your eggplant. Rinse the eggplant and cut off both ends. Cut the eggplant crosswise into 4 equally thick slices.

Using only half of the tube of polenta, cut the polenta crosswise into 4 equal slices.

Lightly spray a cookie sheet with the cooking spray and add the polenta and eggplant to the sheet. Spray another layer of the cooking spray on the slices.

Cook for 20 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft and the polenta is heated through.

While the eggplant and polenta are cooking, prepare your onion, basil and garlic.

Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat and add the onion, garlic and basil.

Cook until the onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomato puree and 1/4 cup water.

Stir to combine. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat and cover to keep warm until the eggplant and polenta are finished cooking.

When the rounds are heated, sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the slices. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.

To assemble, add one of the larger slices of eggplant to a plate.

Top with 1 tablespoon tomato sauce.

Add one polenta slice.

Top with another tablespoon of sauce.

Repeat with another eggplant slice, tomato sauce, polenta slice & more tomato sauce. Top with 1 tablespoon panko. Repeat this process to plate the other eggplant Parmesan stack.

If desired, spoon the remaining tomato sauce around the stacks.

What an inventive “eggplant Parmesan” dish! It was really simple too, the whole meal was ready in just over 30 minutes.

I think I honestly prefer this version to the traditional eggplant Parmesan. I always find the breading to be a bit too heavy for the eggplant so the polenta was a happy alternative. Not to mention, I was able to make only two servings so nothing went to waste! Now to find a recipe to use the rest of my polenta…

Baked Brie

There is a Moroccan restaurant in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia called Figs that has the most fantastic Baked Brie dish. It comes in a clay pot and is topped with honey, lavender and almonds.

I randomly had a craving for this appetizer this weekend and decided to try to make my own.

Ingredients:

1 wheel of brie
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
Day Old Bread, or Toasted Pita

Continue reading Baked Brie

Zucchini Fusilli

Zucchini is another one of my favorite summer vegetables. It always taste so fresh and light, and really brightens up a meal. I usually just saute zucchini and summer squash or grill it, so I was in search of a recipe that actually incorporated zucchini into the main meal versus it just being a side. Sunset magazine had this delicious sounding recipe for Zucchini Fusilli.

Ingredients:

4 medium sized zucchini
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup pesto
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon plus 1 tbsp. salt, divided
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 box fusilli
1 cup fresh finely shredded Parmesan cheese (about 2 oz.), divided

Cheesy Corn and Black Bean Quesadillas

I love corn, but after three weeks of having 6 ears of corn in my CSA share, I’m running out of ways to use all of it. I adapted this recipe from All You to use fresh corn kernels.

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 ears of corn
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 ounces pepper Jack, shredded
3 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 10-inch flour tortillas

Begin by cutting the kernels from the cob.

Prepare your garlic, onion, and jalapeño pepper.

Rinse and drain the black beans and add to a bowl.

Using a potato masher (or a fork), coarsely mash the beans.

Heat the corn over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes stirring occasionally until the corn begins to brown.

Add corn to the bowl with the black beans. Heat the oil in a saute pan. Add the onion and jalapeño and cook for 2 minutes.

Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

Add to the beans and corn. Allow to cool, about 10 minutes.

While the mixture is cooling, shred your cheese. If you can find it, grab pre-shredded cheese from the supermarket to speed up the process.

Add the cheese to the mixture and season with salt and pepper.

Heat up a griddle or a saute pan if you don’t have a griddle. Place a 1/2-cup portion of the bean mixture on half of a side of a tortilla.

Fold the tortilla in half and place on the griddle or in the saute pan over medium-high heat.

Cook for 6 minutes (3 minutes on each side if using a saute pan) or until golden brown and crispy. Cut into wedges and serve. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Despite the jalapeno and the pepper Jack cheese, there really wasn’t much heat at all. If you want to turn it up a notch, either use another chopped jalapeno or use 1 serrano pepper instead.

This would be quite good with some fresh salsa if you have time, but this dish works well on its own as well.

Pesto Pasta Salad

I am in a pasta salad making mood, so I decided to make one more batch for this weekend. I already made one pasta salad for this weekend, but I have a bunch of these ingredients on hand from other recipes and I don’t want them to go bad over the long weekend. I used a recipe from My Recipes as a base and substituted ingredients I already had, and ended up with this Pesto Pasta Salad!

Ingredients for the pesto:

1 or 2 bunches of packed fresh basil

1 bunch of packed fresh parsley

4 garlic cloves, minced

Juice and zest from 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup walnuts (or toasted pine nuts)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Ingredients for the salad:

1 box gemelli or other short pasta

1 small container plain 2 percent Greek yogurt

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

3 small cucumbers, sliced

1 red onion, chopped

1/2 cup feta cheese

Cook the pasta according to the “al dente” directions on the package. Drain and run under cold water. Set aside.

To make the pesto, combine the basil, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper and walnuts in a food processor. (I ended up being just short of 1/3 cup walnuts, so I also added in a few toasted pine nuts.) Blend until smooth. Pour in olive oil and blend until there is a thick paste. Add the Parmesan and combine until blended. Add more salt and pepper, to taste.

Prepare all of your vegetables. After chopping the red onion, run it under cold water to remove some of the bite. Slice your cucumbers and halve your tomatoes.

Combine the pesto and Greek yogurt in a large bowl.

Add the pasta and vegetables and toss to coat.

Because I am making this for the weekend, I only made a tiny batch fully mixed so I could taste it. The pesto mixture is so so creamy that you honestly might not even need the feta. The tomatoes and red onions add a wonderful contrast to the pesto and the cucumbers add a nice crunch to the salad. I will try to take some photos this weekend of the fully assembled salad, but if it is anything close to what I just sampled, I think my friends will be happy.

Yum

Pesto Pasta Salad

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

Pesto:

1 or 2 bunches of packed fresh basil
1 bunch of packed fresh parsley
4 garlic cloves, minced
Juice and zest from 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup walnuts (or toasted pine nuts)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salad:

1 box gemelli or other short pasta
1 small container plain 2 percent Greek yogurt
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
3 small cucumbers, sliced
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese

Instructions

Cook the pasta according to the “al dente” directions on the package. Drain and run under cold water. Set aside.
To make the pesto, combine the basil, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper and walnuts in a food processor. (I ended up being just short of 1/3 cup walnuts, so I also added in a few toasted pine nuts.) Blend until smooth. Pour in olive oil and blend until there is a thick paste. Add the Parmesan and combine until blended. Add more salt and pepper, to taste.
Prepare all of your vegetables. After chopping the red onion, run it under cold water to remove some of the bite. Slice your cucumbers and halve your tomatoes.
Combine the pesto and Greek yogurt in a large bowl.
Add the pasta and vegetables and toss to coat.

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