Tag: Pasta

Creamy Lemon Pasta with Vegetables

Pasta is definitely one of my weaknesses. I would eat it every day if it was socially acceptable to do so. But alas, all those carbs probably wouldn’t be best. Adding vegetables to a pasta dish always makes me feel a little bit better about my choice though. MyRecipes.com had an awesome sounding recipe for Creamy Lemon Pasta with Vegetables.


Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup 1% milk
1 cup whole cream
Zest and juice from 3 lemons
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
16 ounces spinach fusilli pasta
2 pounds trimmed asparagus
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Season with salt. Cut asparagus into 1 inch pieces.
Add the asparagus to a steamer and add it to the pot. Cover and steam for 3 minutes. Set aside. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.
Add the olive oil to a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and saute for 1 minute.
Slowly whisk in the milk, cream, zest, and juice from 3 lemons. Season with salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Cook the pasta according to package label directions while the cream mixture is simmering. Drain pasta and return to the pot. Add the cream mixture to the pasta and stir to coat.
Add the Parmesan cheese, asparagus and tomatoes and mix to combine.
Serve with more cheese and lemon zest, if desired.
This dish includes some of my favorite flavors! You can use normal pasta but I thought that the spinach pasta would add nice flavor and color.
The asparagus stays crispy which is nice with the creamy pasta.
The tomatoes add a burst of bright flavor which makes it feel really fresh.
The lemon flavor is throughout the whole dish but isn’t overwhelming at all.
Plus, look how pretty it is!

Angel Hair Pasta with Mussels in a Red Pepper Sauce

I’m on a slight mussel kick at the moment. I can’t stop thinking about Eulogy’s beer mussels, Bona Cucina’s mussels in white wine, and most recently, a mussels in red sauce I had back in college. I found a recipe for Angel Hair Pasta with Mussels in a Red Pepper Sauce in an old Cooking Light I thought I’d try. I was hoping for a slightly spicy dish, so I altered some of the ingredients.
Ingredients:
  • 8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1/2 a yellow onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 large red bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 bag mussels, scrubbed and debearded
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to the directions on the box. Drain, and keep warm.
I wrote in my paella post how to clean and debeard mussels. It’s not terribly complicated, but it took me a while to be ok with debearding. Once the mussels are cleaned and debearded, you can begin cooking.
Add olive oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Chop your onion, garlic and bell peppers.
Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add the bell pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
Remove the tomatoes from the can, reserving the liquid. Roughly chop the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes, liquid, and wine to the pan and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Add mussels, increase the heat to medium and cover.
Cook for 7 minutes or until the shells begin to open.  If any do not open, throw those out; do not eat them. Add the pasta to the same pot and mix to coat with the sauce.
Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
When I first tried this, I didn’t add any cheese. And there was a little something just missing. It was ok, but somewhat bland.
I’d add a bit more spice next time. Maybe more red pepper flakes, or even a few drops of hot sauce.
My boyfriend suggested adding Parmesan cheese, and it did really help the flavor of the dish, so be sure to add some at the end!
This could be a really stellar recipe with a few modifications. What would you add to change this from a three star recipe to a five star recipe?
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Angel Hair Pasta with Mussels in a Red Pepper Sauce

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1/2 a yellow onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 large red bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 bag mussels, scrubbed and debearded
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to the directions on the box. Drain, and keep warm.
  2. Clean and debeard the mussels.
  3. Add olive oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Chop your onion, garlic and bell peppers.
  4. Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes.
  5. Add the bell pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
  6. Remove the tomatoes from the can, reserving the liquid. Roughly chop the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes, liquid, and wine to the pan and bring to a boil.
  7. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Add mussels, increase the heat to medium and cover.
  8. Cook for 7 minutes or until the shells begin to open. If any do not open, throw those out; do not eat them. Add the pasta to the same pot and mix to coat with the sauce.
  9. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
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Liberté at Sofitel Philadelphia’s Chestnut Ravioli

I am lucky to live in such a food city. Everywhere around me, there are restaurants that deliver seemingly effortless food with beautiful presentation. Twice a year, center city hosts Restaurant Week, with pre fixe meals at many restaurants around the city. Recently, Center City District and Philly Homegrown compiled a free recipe book of meals offered during Restaurant Week. I would love to take the time to make each and every one of these recipes, but for now, I’ll start with Liberté at Sofitel Philadelphia‘s Chestnut Ravioli. The chestnut ravioli is served on top of a sweet potato puree, drizzled with a sage cream sauce, and topped with pancetta and crispy sage. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect winter meal?
Ingredients:
Ravioli –
 2 lasagna sheets of fresh pasta (in Philly, try By George in Reading Terminal)
 1 handful of sage leaves, chopped
 4 egg yolks (reserve the egg whites)
 6 ounces chestnuts, cooked
 2 tablespoons maple syrup
 Salt, to taste
Sauce –
 1 handful of sage, chopped
 1 pint heavy cream
 2 ounces white wine
Sweet Potato Puree –
 1 large sweet potato
 1 tablespoon butter
Garnish –
 4 slices panectta or bacon
 sage leaves
 olive oil

Begin to preparing your chestnuts. Using a paring knife, cut an X into the flat side of each chestnut. There are a few layers in a chestnut so don’t be afraid to cut pretty deep into the chestnut.
This is so while cooking, air can escape and the chestnuts wont explode. Add the chestnuts to a pot of unsalted boiling water. Boil for 15 – 20 minutes.
Remove the chestnuts from the water and allow to cool enough to be handled. (They will begin to peel back after being removed from the water.
When cool enough to touch, peel the shells off of the chestnuts.
Take 1/2 of the chestnuts and roughly chop.
Add the other 1/2 of the chestnuts to a food processor (I used a magic bullet) and blend until finely chopped.
Add the egg yolks, chopped sage and maple syrup to a medium bowl, mixing to combine. Add all of the chestnuts to the mixture.
Place one lasagna sheet on a floured surface. Add about 1 teaspoon of the chestnut mixture 6 times, spread evenly apart. With the reserved egg whites, brush around the filling.
Use a rolling pin to roll out the second lasagna sheet a bit more so that it is slightly larger than the first piece. Carefully lay the sheet over the first one making sure that there are no air bubbles. Using a ravoli stamp, press down around each filling.
Use a knife to cut around the ravioli stamp. Inspect the edges of the ravioli to make sure they are sealed (you can just use your fingertips to seal any edges that need to be closed). Set aside.
To make the sweet potato puree, peel a sweet potato and add to salted boiling water. (You can cut it into smaller pieces to make it cook faster… I honestly don’t know why I didn’t. Weird.)
Cook until fork tender (about 10-15 minutes). Pour out the water and add the sweet potato back to the pot over low heat. This will remove the rest of the water that might still be in the sweet potato.
Use a ricer to mash the sweet potato. Add the butter and mix to combine.
Add the puree to a plastic zip lock bag and set aside.
To make the sauce, add the white wine to a small pot. Bring to a boil. Stir in the cream and lower the heat to a simmer. Add the chopped sage and cook until the cream reduces by half.
To make the garnish, add the pancetta to a saute pan over low heat. Place a smaller pan on top while the pancetta cooks so that it can’t curl up.
When the pancetta is crispy, remove from heat. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the sage leaves and cook until crispy.
Bring a salted pot of water to a low boil. Add the ravioli and cook for 3-5 minutes. Drain.
To assemble, take the zip lock bag of sweet potato puree and cut off one of the lower corners. Pipe two thin parallel lines of sweet potato puree onto a plate. You want them about ravioli width apart. Add the ravioli in between the two lines and spoon the sauce over the ravioli. Top with pancetta and crispy sage leaves.
I’m pretty sure I used every pot and pan in my place to make this dish. As I was making it, tasting each part, I was a bit worried about how this would all turn out. Chestnuts, sweet potatoes, cream, sage and pancetta?
The flavors were FANTASTIC. Wow. It was a lot of work but I am so happy with how it turned out.
My sweet potato puree was a bit too chunky for my liking, but oh well.
This recipe is usually an appetizer, but I thought I’d make it into a meal by adding 3 to a plate instead of one.

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

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!

Gnocchi

I have wanted to try to make gnocchi for some time now. Luckily, I am part of a food swap and they were willing to let me experiment on them. Here’s hoping they turned out well! I used this article as a base for my recipe.
Note: I actually made the gnocchi twice because I wasn’t happy with the original result. I used smaller potatoes the first time (see below photo) and I found that the normal Idaho potatoes were much better for this recipe. (Special thanks to my boyfriend for a lot of his help during the making of the gnocchi)

Ingredients:
3 large russet (Idaho) potatoes, scrubbed
1 egg yolk
About 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Begin by pricking each potato all over with a fork. This will allow some of the heat to escape while it is baking in the oven.

Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven for about an hour and a half, or until the potatoes are soft.
 
After removing the potatoes from the oven, cut each potato in half to allow the steam to escape.
While the potatoes are still warm, scoop out the insides into a potato ricer into a bowl.
Place the potatoes onto a clean work surface, like your counter, and form into a rectangle and allow to cool enough that they are not hot to touch.
Season the potatoes generously with pepper. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl and drizzle the over the potatoes.
Measure 1 1/2 cups flour and sprinkle a bit of flour over the potatoes as needed (the less flour you use the better). Using a pastry scraper, mix the flour and egg into the potatoes by chopping everything up and folding it in on itself, until well mixed. The dough should sort of resemble coarse crumbs.
Bring the mixture together into a ball.
Sprinkle some on the work surface. Place the dough on top and flatten into a disk.
Dust the dough with more flour. Using your hands, fold and press the dough until the flour is incorporated. Do this two more times, incorporating the flour each time. If the dough still feels sticky, repeat once more.
Divide the dough into four equal parts.
Roll each section into a long thin roll, about 1/2″ thick.

Cut into 1/2″ to 1″ pieces.

Because I was making these for a food swap, I arranged all the pieces on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil and put them in the freezer overnight.
I then divided the gnocchi into freezer bags and popped them back into the freezer.
To cook, bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Drop the gnocchi into the water and cook for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, or until they float to the surface. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and top with whatever you prefer: tomato sauce, pesto, butter, etc. (I’m a big fan of tomato sauce with some pesto mixed in, yum!)

I tried a few of these and they were pretty good! I hope that they continue to get better as I make them but I thought this recipe turned out well, here’s hoping those in the food swap agree!

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.

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
Continue reading Zucchini Fusilli

Capellini with Shrimp and Creamy Tomato Sauce

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This weekend, I realized I was running low on tomato sauce in my freezer, so I whipped up a new batch to hopefully last me a couple months. I was left with an extra can of diced tomatoes and I also had some leftover capellini pasta from my Capellini with Clams and Saffron dish. Gourmet had a really delicious sounding recipe that incorporated both of these ingredients. The recipe is so quick, it is perfect for a week night dinner.
Ingredients:
1tablespoon olive oil
8 already cooked shrimp, deveined with the tails still attached, thawed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup sweet (red) vermouth
1 (14- to 15-oz) can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup heavy cream
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/2 a box of capellini
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped parsley, optional
The original recipe is linked above. I had already-cooked shrimp in my freezer (I meant to buy raw shrimp and misread the label, sigh) so I had to alter the recipe to make up for the precooked shrimp. My shrimp still had the tails attached because I think those are more attractive. Feel free to use whatever form of shrimp you’d like.
Start by thawing your shrimp. I just ran them under cold water for 3 minutes and allowed to dry in a colander.
Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and set aside. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and vermouth. and stir to combine. I left in the tomato juice from the diced tomatoes. You can drain the tomatoes before adding for a more chunky sauce. Heat until simmering.
Add cream and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for about 1 minute. Add in lemon juice.
Top the pasta with 2 shrimp per serving and spoon the broth over the pasta. Add the chopped parsley on top.
The sauce had a nice sweetness to it, but I think it could be further enhanced with a pinch of crushed red pepper to add a bit of heat. I regret not having fresh shrimp for this dish because the shrimp were relatively forgettable in my version. I like that my sauce was a little thinner than the original. I think this would be great (without the shrimp) as a reheated lunch after the pasta has had time to sit in the sauce.

Pappardelle with Cabbage, Prosciutto and Sage

My CSA share this week came with cabbage. I highly doubt most people would jump for joy over cabbage. I honestly had no idea what kind of meal outside of corned beef and cabbage even used this green. So it took some sleuthing for me to find a recipe that sounded like something I’d like. Cabbage plus pasta and prosciutto? That’ll do. (I found this recipe on My Recipes)
Ingredients:
1 package of pappardelle
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 a head of cabbage, chopped
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/4 pound thinly sliced prosciutto torn into smaller pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
While the onion is cooking, chop the cabbage, tear the prosciutto, and chop the sage. After the onion is soft, add the cabbage and broth. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the cabbage begins to wilt.
Stir in the prosciutto, butter and chopped sage. Cook while stirring until the butter melts.
Spoon over the pasta and serve.
So I’m not going to run out to the supermarket and buy all the cabbage they have to offer. But this dish was actually quite tasty. The sage and prosciutto were a great complement to the cabbage. My only complaint is I have no clue why the recipe called for pappardelle. I found it to be super difficult to eat with such thick pasta. If you plan on making this, go for another type of pasta that can still grab some of the prosciutto, cabbage and sage in every bite.

Capellini with Clams and Saffron

I am a huge Top Chef fan. So much that my parents bought me the Top Chef cookbook a few years back. However, when I moved, I stored it away and completely forgot about it. I recently found the cookbook again and came across Ilan’s dish: Fideos with Clams and Saffron. My CSA share this week came with broccoli, cauliflower and onion so I thought this would be a perfect way to use these ingredients. Note: I switched up the way this recipe was cooked, used less cream, and added onions and Parmesan. Otherwise, the recipe is pretty close to the original printed version.
Ingredients:
  • 1/2 pound capellini pasta
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 large pinch of saffron threads
  • 1/2 a medium sized onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup cauliflower florets
  • 1/2 cup broccoli florets
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
  • 2/3 cup white wine
  • 2 dozen clams
  • 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

Continue reading Capellini with Clams and Saffron

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.

 

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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

  1. Cook the pasta according to the “al dente” directions on the package. Drain and run under cold water. Set aside.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Combine the pesto and Greek yogurt in a large bowl.
  5. Add the pasta and vegetables and toss to coat.
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Italian Pasta Salad

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It’s almost July 4th weekend, so I am preparing a bunch of dishes for me to trek down to the beach.
I tend to make food that can marinate for a day or two so that I have time to make it without rushing around right before we leave. This time around, I decided to make a pasta salad based off my mom’s version.

Ingredients:

  • 1 box of tri-colored pasta
  • 1 can of pitted black olives, sliced
  • 1 package of cherry or grape tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup corn kernels
  • 1/2 can of black beans, rinsed
  • 6 mozzarella balls, halved
  • small jar of artichoke hearts, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 jar roasted red peppers, roughly chopped
  • Italian dressing (recipe below)

Ingredients for Italian dressing:

  • 1 tablespoon garlic salt
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 2 tablespoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 tablespoon dried parsley
  • 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup white wine or rice vinegar
  • 1 1/3 cup olive oil or canola oil

Continue reading Italian Pasta Salad

Shrimp Tomato Basil Linguine with Warm Goat Cheese Rounds

I had some left over goat cheese from my Orecchiette with Swiss Chard, Red Peppers and Goat Cheese dish. When I was looking for recipes, I came across this one for Shrimp Tomato Basil Linguine with Warm Goat Cheese Rounds from Cooking Light. I had no clue how seafood and goat cheese would be together, but was willing to find out!
Ingredients:
  • 1 (16 oz) box linguine
  • 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 (4-ounce) package log-shaped goat cheese
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium (~1 cup) onion, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 plum tomatoes (~2 1/2 cups), roughly chopped
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

Continue reading Shrimp Tomato Basil Linguine with Warm Goat Cheese Rounds

Orecchiette with Swiss Chard, Red Peppers and Goat Cheese

My CSA share came with Swiss chard this week. I wasn’t in the mood to do another leafy green side, so I looked for a recipe that incorporated the Swiss Chard within the main dish. I found this recipe in the Health section of the New York Times and thought it was worth a try.
Ingredients:
1 bunch of Swiss chard, stemmed and washed
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 red bell peppers, finely diced
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 garlic scapes, thinly sliced
Salt
1 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram
1 box of orecchiette
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

To begin, boil a pot of water over high heat. While the water is coming to a boil, prepare your Swiss chard. Add ice water to a bowl. When the water boils, add salt and the Swiss chard.
Boil for 2 minutes and remove using a slotted spoon and transfer to the ice water.
Reduce the heat of the leftover boiling water to a simmer. Drain the chard and squeeze the excess water out. Chop the Swiss chard and reserve.
In a saute pan, heat the olive oil and add the finely chopped peppers and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring often.
Bring the pot of water to a boil again. Add the pasta, cooking until al dente as directed on the box. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and set aside.
In the saute pan, add the garlic scapes and salt, stirring to combine.
When combined, add the chopped Swiss chard and marjoram.
Stir and lower the heat to warm.  Add the 1/2 cup of pasta water and stir in the goat cheese.
Add the orecchiette to the mixture and serve.
This was a nice alternative to the normal pasta with tomato sauce. The orecchiette helped catch some of the Swiss chard, peppers, and goat cheese so definitely use this type of pasta or another kind that can catch the ingredients. This made so much pasta, it will also be my lunch tomorrow. I have a feeling this will be better the next time around!
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