Tag: Spaghetti

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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Linguine and Clams

I’m sure this happens to everyone: you go out and buy ingredients for a specific recipe, but then are left with “extras” from that recipe. Normally, it’s not a big deal and you can just incorporate it easily into another recipe. But when I went to make Sheet Pan Paella recently, my supermarket was only selling 50 packs of clams. That’s a lot of clams!

To use them up, I decided to make Linguine and Clams, but used what I had on hand to make it work. So, technically, I made spaghetti and clams. And it tasted just as good. 🙂

I love the relative simplicity of this dish. It also reminds me of my grandpa; linguine and clams were his favorite. So I was surprised that I hadn’t posted a recipe for Linguine and Clams on my blog yet. Time to fix that!

I adapted this version of Linguine and Clams from Bon Appetit.

Ingredients:

  • 1 heaping tablespoon salt
  • 12 garlic cloves, divided
  • 4 oz day old bread, cut into smaller pieces (I used half of a sandwich roll)
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup olive oil
  • the zest of one lemon
  • 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/3 cup dry white wine
  • 2 dozen clams, scrubbed
  • 1 (16 oz) box linguine (or spaghetti)
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley (I randomly had curly parsley on hand. Flat works too)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

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Slow Cooker Parmesan Herb Pork Loin with Chunky Tomato Sauce

For whatever reason, I tend to shy away from making pork or ham.

So when my friend and I were having our cooking marathon, I figured it was a good time to add one in for some variety.

We found this Southern Living recipe for Slow Cooker Parmesan Herb Pork Loin with Chunky Tomato Sauce on myrecipes.com. I couldn’t resist a freezer friendly slow cooker meal, especially when it’s served over pasta!

(Please excuse the quality of these photos. This recipe was too good not to share, even with crummy photos!)

Ingredients:

  • 3 small onions (~2 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion)
  • 1 large carrot (~1 cup chopped carrots)
  • 1 large fennel bulb (~1 3/4 cups chopped fresh fennel bulb)
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth
  • 3 1/3 teaspoons salt, divided
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper, divided
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
  • 2 (1.5 lb) boneless pork loin roast
  • 1 (16 oz) box spaghetti, cooked according to package directions

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Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara is the definition of simple, elegant decadence.

Carbonara is typically made with pork fried in olive oil, grated hard cheese, raw eggs, and pasta. Versions use pancetta or bacon for the pork, pecorino romano or parmigiana reggiano for the cheese, and spaghetti, linguine or fettuccine for the pasta.

With just a few (ok, 6) ingredients, you can make this oh so delicious recipe.

I made a more traditional version of this, using a Mario Batali recipe as my inspiration.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 8 ounces cubed pancetta
  • 1 (16 oz) box spaghetti
  • 1 1/4 freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, divided
  • 4 large eggs, separated
  • freshly ground black pepper

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Pasta Alla Norma

Created with De Cecco

Pasta night at my house is a very important night. Every Sunday, we have a pasta dish, but like to switch up what exactly the dish is. It’s always fun to experiment with new ingredients, with pasta always being the constant.

So it is pretty important for me to use premium pasta, like De Cecco Authentic Italian Dry Pasta. Since 1886, De Cecco has made its pasta in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. The 130-year-old company still uses its original family recipe and high-quality ingredients to create a variety of pasta types.

De Cecco pasta is made with only the best coarse durum semolina, whereas flour is used in most other ordinary pasta brands. This translates into De Cecco being a firmer pasta that doesn’t get mushy or fall apart, even if you overcook it by a minute or two.

This week, I had a hankering for eggplant, so I decided to make Pasta Alla Norma. Pasta Alla Norma is a pasta dish with fried eggplant slices tossed in a chunky tomato sauce. The dish is topped with grated ricotta salata and basil.

Note: Ricotta Salata in America doesn’t pack as much punch as its Italian counterpart. If you can find it, go for an Aged Ricotta Salata. If not, use a bit of grated pecorino Romano along with your Ricotta Salata.

Ingredients:

  • 4 medium sized eggplants (look for ones that feel heavy for their size)
  • ½ cup olive oil, plus more if needed
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1 (28 oz) can of San Marzano whole tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
  • 1 (16 oz) box De Cecco spaghetti
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced basil
  • ¼ cup grated ricotta salata
  • ¼ cup grated pecorino Romano
  • Salt and pepper to taste

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Lemon-Browned Butter Cod with Hazelnut Pilaf

Have you ever made an Armenian-style pilaf? This style of pilaf adds toasted spaghetti or other noodles to the rice. This recipe for a Browned Butter Hazelnut Pilaf is really stellar. The cod recipe that goes along with it is also tasty, but the real star is the pilaf. The recipe, from the latest Cooking Light, is a quick meal, so it’s great for something a little different for a weeknight dinner!

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
  • 2 ounces uncooked thin spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces
  • 1 cup unsalted chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup uncooked basmati rice
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
  • 1/4 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
  • 4 (6-ounce) cod fillets
  • the juice of one lemon
  • 4 lemon wedges (optional)

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Chicken Piccata with Spaghetti

One of my earlier posts on this blog was a chicken piccata recipe. I used to make chicken piccata probably once a week, because it was one of the only recipes I knew! But since I’ve committed to learning how to cook, I haven’t made it in probably 2 years (there are so many recipes I have to try, I rarely go back to my previous go-to recipes). So I decided to revisit the recipe with a few tweaks.

I’ve seen commercials for Land O Lakes Sauté Express products and just loved the idea. The Sauté Starters, made with butter, olive oil, and spices, are an easy way to cook up chicken or fish effortlessly. The Sauté Express Sauté Starters are specifically made for cooking on a stovetop and are portioned out in one ounce servings, enough to cook two chicken breast or fish fillets. So I thought the Garlic & Herb Sauté Express would be great in chicken piccata.

Because I use the same pan to both make the sauce and cook my chicken, my piccata is browner than most you’ll find in restaurants. So I apologize for the presentation. But trust me, the flavor makes it worth it!

 

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 lb chicken tenderloins (about 8 pieces)
  • 2 squares Garlic & Herb Sauté Express, divided
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
  • 1/3 cup white wine (whatever you have around the house)
  • ¾ cup chicken stock
  • The juice and zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 box spaghetti (or your favorite pasta)
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
  • 2 tablespoons drained capers
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

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Pasta with Wild Mushroom Sauce

Oh pasta, how I love you. Pasta, or any Italian food for that matter, is my ultimate comfort food choice. I was sent Lidia Bastianich’s newest cookbook: Lidia’s Favorite Recipes– 100 Foolproof Italian Dishes, from Basic Sauces to Irresistible Entrees, which after my first page through, I already knew would be one of my favorite cookbooks. Lidia Bastianich obviously knows her Italian dishes, she’s been in the cooking industry for most of her life; she has a number of best-selling cookbooks, owns 6 restaurants, and is basically the face of Italian cooking on PBS. I’m also happy to let you all know that I will be giving away one copy of this awesome cookbook! More on that after the recipe…
The cookbook makes Italian recipes approachable. A lot of the recipes include childhood favorites of mine, Chicken Parmigiana, Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Italian Wedding Soup. There are recipes that the photos look so fantastic I can’t wait to try them (I’m specifically talking about the rice balls. Oh. My. Goodness.)
But I had to test out the cookbook with my favorite Italian staple: a pasta dish.  The Tagliatelle with Wild Mushroom Sauce sounded just wonderful. But something didn’t want me to make this recipe. My supermarket didn’t have wild mushrooms or tagliatelle! Well, the show must go on. This is my somewhat adapted version of the recipe, Pasta with Wild Mushroom Sauce.
Ingredients: (makes 6 servings)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed and peeled
  • 1 1/2 pounds fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, sliced and baby bella mushrooms
  • 4 fresh sage leaves
  • 1 cup chicken stock (or vegetable stock to make vegetarian)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 pounds fresh or dry thin pasta (spaghetti, tagliatelle, etc.)
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

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Hake Meuniere over Spaghetti

.With Julia Child’s 100th birthday fast approaching, the food blog world has been celebrating in the best way we know how: honoring Julia Child through her recipes.  I am currently reading a book about her life called Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz. (I will have a review of this book when I’m finished reading). I just got to the chapter which describes Julia’s first encounter with French food. Her first meal in France was Sole Meuniere, a simple but absolutely delicious dish. I couldn’t get it out of my mind, so I made a slightly altered version of Julia’s version over spaghetti. I wanted to make it with sole, but my market was all out. Hake is a similar fish, so I substituted it for the sole, so I bring you Hake Meuniere over Spaghetti.
Ingredients:
  • 1 pound fresh spaghetti
  • 3 skinless and boneless hake or sole fillets, 4 to 6 ounces
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 4 tablespoons clarified butter (ghee)
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 lemon, cut into wedges
 
Excerpted from The Way to Cook by Julia Child. Copyright © 1989 by Julia Child. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

  Continue reading Hake Meuniere over Spaghetti

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

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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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