Fettuccine | I Can Cook That

Lobster Pasta in a Caramelized Fennel Sauce

Note: This post for Lobster Pasta in a Caramelized Fennel Sauce is sponsored by Wildgrain. Opinions are mine alone.

It probably comes as no surprise that one of the ways I show my love for my husband, family, and friends is through cooking. When cooking for those I love, I try to use high-quality ingredients so that the food is the best it can be. In the winter, my recipes become more comfort food-like, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to skip on quality!

Wildgrain is here to help me out on my quest for high quality ingredients that can be used to make oh so comforting winter dishes, like this recipe for Lobster Pasta in a Caramelized Fennel Sauce, adapted from a recipe on Food52.

Wildgrain is a bake-from-frozen membership that has two different box choices: Mixed Wildgrain and Bakery. The Mixed Wildgrain comes with an assortment of sourdough bread, hand-cut pasta, and artisanal pastries. The Bakery Box comes with an assortment of sourdough bread, breakfast baked goods, and artisanal pastries. All products are ready-to-bake from frozen, no prep required!

Everything included in the box is made with clean ingredients with no preservatives. The items are vegetarian, non-GMO, and contain no artificial colors.

Wildgrain has provided an exclusive code for I Can Cook That readers! You can receive $10 off your first box by using discount code ICANCOOKTHAT so you can try out Wilgrain for yourself!

I received a box chock full of awesome products, including two pastas, breads, croissants, and cookie dough. The pasta and bread in my box inspired me to make a pasta dish with plenty of sauce to sop up with bread! The addition of lobster makes this dish perfect for date night, or for a dinner party. The sauce can also be made ahead of time so that when you’re ready to cook, it takes no time at all!

Ingredients:

7 oz lobster meat, thawed if frozen
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
the juice of one lemon
12 oz container fettuccine, or other pasta of your choice
salt, to taste
3/4 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup torn basil leaves

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Easy Fettuccine Alfredo

Fettuccine Alfredo is essentially glorified mac and cheese (or more accurately, mac and cheese is a less glamorous fettuccine alfredo). I had a craving for some fettuccine alfredo on one of the multiple snow days we just saw in Philadelphia, and luckily I had everything on hand to make this ultimate comfort food, so it’s about time I shared a recipe for easy fettuccine alfredo!

This recipe for easy fettuccine alfredo uses just 9 ingredients, including salt and pepper. It doesn’t exactly reheat well though, so it’s not the best make ahead meal, but I have a good feeling it will be polished off in no time!

Ingredients (serves 4):

1 (16 oz) box fettuccine
salt, to taste
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
8 oz Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated
ground pepper, to taste
fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

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Lemony Broccoli Pasta

For whatever reason, I do not cook with broccoli. In fact, the last recipe I posted on my blog that included broccoli was in 2012!

I don’t exactly love broccoli, but I started feeling bad about my lack of broccoli in my cooking. So. Here’s a simple but delicious pasta recipe that comes together fast enough for busy weeknights!

This recipe is basically Pasta al Limone with broccoli thrown in. (I love pasta and lemons together. I’ve made Spinach Lemon Ricotta Pasta, Squash Ribbon Pasta with Lemon Herb Cream Sauce, Creamy Lemon Pasta with Vegetables, Linguine with Lemon Sauce, Spring Vegetable Penne with Lemon-Cream Sauce… are you sensing a theme here?)

Ingredients:

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
16 ounces long pasta, like spaghetti or fettuccine
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
the zest and juice of 3 lemons
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more for serving
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Kitchen Ingredients Used:

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Spinach Lemon Ricotta Pasta

Well. The weather refuses to act like spring.

But I’m sick of waiting for spring to arrive to make delicious spring food!

So this recipe for Spinach Lemon Ricotta Pasta has spring ingredients that are still comforting in chilly weather – spinach with a lemony ricotta sauce over fettuccine.

Ingredients:

1 pound fettuccine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 (5 oz bags) baby spinach
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
the zest and juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper, to taste

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Squash Ribbon Pasta with Lemon Herb Cream Sauce

Late August delivers some of the best produce! I’ve been using a lot of zucchini and yellow squash lately because it’s so darn plentiful right now.

This recipe is adapted from Cooking Light and makes the most of summer squash. I added some lemon juice to the dish to brighten it up a bit, but in general kept the recipe in tact.

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces)
1 medium yellow summer squash (about 8 ounces)
8 ounces uncooked fettuccine (I used spinach fettuccine)
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh tarragon
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
the juice of 1 lemon
freshly chopped parsley, for garnish

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Fettuccine with Seared Tomatoes, Spinach, and Burrata

There are few things pasta can’t cure. (I’m not a doctor so don’t hold me to this) Pasta is my ultimate comfort food. Growing up, it was literally the only food my grandma (my mom’s mom) would make for me when I would visit, with the exception of Thanksgiving dinner. If I’m in a bad mood, need a pick me up, or feel a cold coming on, I want pasta. So when Cooking Light’s March issue’s photo was of a beautiful bowl of pasta, I was immediately excited for what deliciousness might be inside. Paging through, the issue didn’t disappoint. I plan on making quite a few of these, so expect a bit of a pasta week coming up! (I’m also about to move so my precious kitchen tools are little by little being packed away.) I naturally had to make the one on the cover first, so here is my take on the Fettuccine with Seared Tomatoes, Spinach and Burrata.

First a little background on Burrata, which means “buttered” in Italian (interest peaked? I thought so). Burrata is basically the best mozzarella cheese ever. Why? Because it is mozzarella cheese with cream. Oh yes. You should be able to find it in the specialty cheese section of your supermarket but if not, mozzarella is obviously a fine substitute (if you can, sub in the mozzarella that is still in a brine to have a super creamy version).

Ingredients:

8 ounces uncooked fettuccine (I used a mixture of spinach fettuccine and regular)
Cooking spray
2/3 cup grape tomatoes, halved (about 10 large)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 ounces fresh baby spinach (about 3 cups)
4 ounces burrata cheese
Freshly ground black pepper

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Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic

This week is my favorite week of the summer: I received my first batch of tomatoes from my CSA. I love tomatoes oh so much (if you haven’t figured that out with all my posts including tomatoes as an ingredient). As a kid, I used to eat them whole, dipping them in ranch dressing. Not much has changed, except now I choose to dip them in hummus instead. Although I do love a good fresh, juicy tomato, there is something wonderful about a cooked tomato. Cooking Light‘s latest issue was (as usual) on point with a lovely, simple pasta recipe that includes tomatoes, garlic, basil … and not much else.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon kosher salt
8 ounces uncooked fettuccine
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 pints multicolored tomatoes (I used cherry/grape tomatoes)
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved
1/4 cup small basil leaves

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Shrimp Florentine Pasta

My boyfriend is allergic to shrimp. And I swear knowledge of this allergy makes me inexplicably crave shrimp. All. The. Time. So I wait for weekdays to make shrimp as much as my little heart desires. Another plus is that shrimp is a super quick meal. This Cooking Light recipe took a whopping 30 minutes from start to finish. And who doesn’t like shrimp, pasta, lemon, and spinach?

Ingredients:

8 ounces uncooked fettuccine (I used fresh pasta so it would cook faster)
2 tablespoons Melt buttery spread (or other margarine)
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
the juice and zest of 2 lemons
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach

Cook pasta according to package directions. If using fresh pasta, it will be done in 2-3 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Add Melt to a saute pan over medium heat. When melted, add the shrimp, garlic, and red pepper flakes to the pan. Cook for 4 minutes, or until shrimp are cooked. (It’s easiest to use tongs so that you can flip the shrimp after 2 minutes).

Add the cooked pasta, lemon juice and zest, black pepper, and spinach. The spinach will wilt significantly, so don’t worry if it seems like there is too much.

Cook for 3 minutes, or until the spinach begins to wilt. Serve immediately with a lemon wedge on the side.

I was not prepared for how strong the red pepper would be. If I made this again, I’d cut the red pepper in half. I actually ended up adding a tablespoon of whipped cream just to cut some of the heat.

I also wanted a bit more of lemon. I ended up adding lemon to the pasta throughout eating the dish. But the base flavors here were good! I just need to adjust the amount of ingredients and it would be a keeper! So, to recap: more lemon, less red pepper = perfect.

Creamy Spring Pasta

I was talking to my mom on the phone earlier this week and she mentioned she was making a creamy pasta with peas (her favorite) for dinner. Naturally, I had some taste bud jealousy and decided that I needed to have that as well this week. Cooking Light’s most recent issue had this Creamy Spring Pasta which sounded fantastic so I was able to!

Ingredients:

3 quarts water
2 ounces French bread baguette, torn into pieces
1 tablespoon butter
3 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1 batch of asparagus, cut diagonally into two inch pieces
1 cup frozen peas and carrots mixture
6 ounces fresh spinach fettuccine
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped sweet onion
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
3 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about 1/4 cup packed)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the torn bread to a food processor (I just used my Magic Bullet) and process until it becomes coarse crumbs.

Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add one minced garlic clove to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Add the breadcrumbs and cook for 3 minutes, sitting frequently. Remove from pan and set aside. Wipe the pan down so that you can use it again.

Your pot should now be boiling. Add the asparagus and peas and carrots to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes.

Use a slotted spoon to remove from the water (you need the water to cook the pasta). Add the vegetables to a colander and rinse with cold water.

Add the olive oil to the saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic cloves and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. While the onion and garlic are cooking, add the flour to a small bowl and gradually whisk in the chicken broth. Add this to the saute pan. Also stir in the milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 1 minute.

Add the pasta to the boiling water. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain and reserve.

Remove the milk mixture from heat. Add the Parmesan cheese, cream cheese, salt and pepper, stirring until the cheeses melt.

Add the pasta and reserved vegetables and toss to coat.

Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and tarragon and serve.

Doesn’t it just look like spring?

The sauce does a really great impression of a cream sauce. I honestly don’t think I’d be able to tell the difference between this sauce and one made with heavy cream.

I wish I had added some of the tarragon to the sauce as well to get more of that flavor, but it was still nice as little bites of tarragon flavor.

Asparagus this time of year is just perfect. It was still crisp and bright so it stood out through the cream sauce.

And the toasted bread crumbs were awesome. An extra crunch to top off the dish!

Garlicky Meatball Pasta with Avocado-Butter Lettuce Salad

Despite having an Italian mother, I have never made meatballs before. I’m almost embarrassed to admit it. Whelp, at the age of 26, I believe it is time to finally get my hands dirty and make some meatballs. One of Cooking Light’s 40 Fast Menus in Under 40 Minutes had a recipe for meatballs, so I used it as my base for this recipe.

For the Pasta:

9 ounces refrigerated fettuccine
12 ounces ground sirloin

2 sausages, removed from their casings
1/2 cup panko
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 3/4 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated

For the Salad:

1 cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups torn butter lettuce
1 cup sliced avocado

Because this is a very simple sauce, I’d suggest going for a premium high-quality marinara sauce.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil, combine the beef, sausage meat, panko, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, and egg in a medium sized bowl. The original recipe did not have the sausage included, but I thought it would add some extra flavor (I used these awesome sausages from Martin‘s in Reading Terminal- Mozzarella and Basil Sausages, amazing right?)

Shape the mixture into small meatballs. The recipe says to make 16. I ended up with 10. I wasn’t very good at the whole eyeballing-the-right-size-thing.

By now the water should be boiling. Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain over a bowl to reserve 1/3 cup pasta water.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. (stir to flip the meatballs so they brown evenly)

Reduce the heat to medium low and add the sauce and 1/3 cup pasta water.

Cover and cook for 11 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through.

While waiting for the sauce to cook, combine the red onion, olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper in a bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Add lettuce and avocado; toss gently.

When the sauce is finished cooking, mix in the pasta and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.

Serve the pasta topped with some Parmesan cheese and the salad on the side.

I love how simple this recipe is but still packs a bunch of flavor! My normal tomato sauce takes forever to make, so I’m pretty excited to have a quick sauce when I need it.

Oh. And the meatballs? Fan-tastic. I could eat these all day.

The salad was really delicious as well! There was a bit too many onions for my liking, so I might limit the amount next time I make this.

I seem to forget how yummy simple recipes can be, something I need to remember as vegetables and fruits come back in season.

Fettuccine with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Ever since the first week of my CSA share, I have anxiously awaited the arrival of fresh tomatoes. This week, I received my first batch! The share came with a bag of Roma tomatoes, a bag of Red tomatoes, and a pint of Sungold cherry tomatoes so expect quite a few tomato recipes to be posted in the coming days. Because this is my first real batch of in season tomatoes, I wanted to begin with a meal that would highlight how fresh these little guys are. Food & Wine’s Fusilli with Summer Tomato Sauce seemed like the perfect choice.

Ingredients:

2 pounds ripe tomatoes (about 4), chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

2/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil

1 pound fresh fettuccine pasta

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Heat a pasta pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil.

Roughly chop your tomatoes and mince the garlic.

Add the tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt & pepper to a food processor and puree.

Add the basil and pulse to mix.

Add salt to the pasta pot so that the pasta doesn’t stick together while cooking. Add the pasta. The original recipe used fusilli. If you use this, cook according to the directions on the box. I used a fresh fettuccine pasta I picked up at By George! in Reading Terminal because I thought it might soak up the sauce better.

Drain the pasta and toss with the tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Set aside for one minute so the pasta can absorb the liquid.

Top with additional Parmesan and serve.

Wow. I wish a quick batch of pasta always tasted this good. I was stunned with how delicious this was for so little work. (Honestly, the longest part of the process was waiting for the water to come to a boil). I really do believe that the fresh pasta is a way to go for this dish.

The tomato sauce is super thin, so if you prefer a chunky sauce, you might want to finely chop another tomato and put it to the side. Add the chopped tomato to the puree when you are mixing it with the pasta.

Fettuccine with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts

Despite growing up on pasta, I didn’t experience fresh pasta (besides ravioli) until recently, and I fell in love with it. As much as I wish I had my own pasta maker so that I could enjoy it all the time, I don’t have the space, money, or time to whip out fresh pasta for dinner. However, I found a place near me that sells fresh pasta in different widths (spaghetti to lasagna sheets) and flavors (egg, spinach, pumpkin, etc). So I was beyond excited when this month’s Cooking Light came with a recipe for fresh Fettuccine with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts. I made some very slight alterations (ie bigger mushroom to pasta ratio) but the overall recipe is mostly intact.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound fresh fettuccine
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup chopped blanched hazelnuts (You can find blanched hazelnuts in stores. I already had hazelnuts, so I blanched them myself. I’ve included a how-to below)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 package each of portobello, cremini, and shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved or grated
2 tablespoons chopped chives

To blanch hazelnuts:

As you can see in the bottom right corner in the above photo, I had shelled hazelnuts on hand. Instead of buying blanched hazelnuts, I decided to try on my own. It honestly was pretty darn simple!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet (just for convenience, use one with a lip so that they don’t roll off. Cook the hazelnuts for about ten minutes. Using a paper towel or a cloth towel, take a few hazelnuts at a time and rub them back and forth within the towel to remove the dark brown layer. Some of mine were being stubborn, but I think it was overall a success.

Blanched hazelnuts, w/ some brown left on (oh well)

Cook the fettuccine in boiling water with no salt or fat added (if there are directions, follow them. mine, I guessed 5 minutes and it tasted A-ok to me). When draining the pasta, put a bowl or measuring cup under the colander to reserve 3/4 cup water.

To prepare the mushroom/hazelnut mixture, melt the butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the blanched hazelnuts and cook for 3 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on them, you want a somewhat even toast on them. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

toasted hazelnuts

Add oil to the pan. When heated, add the garlic and mushrooms, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Stir in chopped sage, pasta, reserved cooking liquid, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and toss. I gave it a minute to sort of meld together over the heat (I have an electric stove, so I turned off the burner, but left the pan over the still warm burner). Remove from heat, and add cheese, hazelnuts, and top with chives.

This turned out great! The flavors were fantastic. I was pretty wary about a sauce-less pasta dish; my previous posts show how much I love sauce, but there was enough going on that a sauce wasn’t needed at all. A definite plus, this took about 20 minutes from start to finish! How I love feasible week day meals.

Pasta with Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce

As the days grow colder, I begin to mourn the loss of one of my favorite summer ingredients: tomatoes. I know, I know, tomatoes are available year round. But they lose their appeal when they begin to look like Styrofoam. Trying to get in one last hurrah with fresh tomatoes, I decided to try a recipe from Cooking Light (September 2010 edition, I’m a little late in my preparation), “Pasta with Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce”.

Ingredients

1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated fresh fettuccine (I substituted box spaghetti, I’m sure fresh pasta would really enhance this dish though)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved (about 1/2 cup)

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