Quick Roasted Tomato Pasta

Being that I am "with child" and therefore get very hungry, but don't want to spend much time making dinner and certainly very little time around a hot stove, I like dishes that are quick. This was very quick. So quick I was done cooking and had consumed my dinner way before the night's NFL game came on.

I had a bunch of cherry tomatoes getting kinda wrinkly - and while I will eat them wrinkly my husband certainly wouldn't. How to disguise wrinkly tomatoes? Roasting! Roasting always brings out the flavor in anything. I simply tossed them with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, put on a baking sheet, and roasted at 375 until the skins had popped and they were releasing their juices. I added some sliced garlic about halfway through to the pan.

2 cups cherry or other small tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, sliced
pasta
garnishes - onions, pesto, parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toss tomatoes in a small amount of olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Put on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for around 15 minutes. You're looking for them to start looking "oozy". About halfway through add your garlic.

When done, put the whole mess on the cooking sheet into a saucepan with a teaspoon of olive oil. Keep warm.

Boil your pasta in a large pot with plenty of salt. When al dente, add to saucepan. I added a couple tablespoons of basil pesto and a 1/4 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese. If I had more ambition, I would have sauteed or roasted some chopped onion along with it.

Pesto Pasta Potluck

Italian Potluck at work - much thanks to my J-dog Joana for giving me the idea. It saved me from slaving over vegetable lasagna - which is good, but dang I didn't want to spend that much time in the kitchen on a summer night.

To me, pasta salad is all about throw together what you have. Pasta, whatever vegetables, and a dressing. Tonight I made use of the basil taking over my tiny garden and in fact, some of the tiny cherry tomatoes we have as well. I added some green onion and red bell pepper. I was going to add defrosted peas but forgot - oh well.

The recipe for the basil pesto can be found here.

Pasta Pesto Salad

2 boxes wheat rotini pasta
1 cup basil pesto
halved cherry tomatoes
1 red pepper, chopped
chopped green onion tops
salt and pepper

Boil 2 quarts hot water with enough salt that it's salty to the taste.

Boil the pasta until slightly more al dente than you would serve warm with sauce. Drain and plunge into icy water to stop the cooking. Leave a few minutes to chill if you are serving right away.

Drain and add the pesto. Add the halved cherry tomatoes, red pepper, and onion. Stir together. Taste, then add appropriate salt and pepper.

If I'd had some cheese, say feta or goat cheese, I would have added that. This could be done with boccacini, tomatoes, and julienned basil to make a Caprese pesto salad. Mmm!

Basghetti and Meatheads

That's how I referred to the classic dish when I was just a wee one. To this day I have difficulty saying "meatballs" rather than "meatheads". I got to thinking after watching a recent episode of Barefoot Contessa that I've never actually attempted meatballs from scratch. If I want meat in my spaghetti I usually just throw in ground beef and brown it up then throw the sauce on top. After making this recipe, I can say I probably won't be doing it again. What a hassle, and what a mess all that grease made. Granted I haven't even eaten it yet (Queen of Food Prep!) but I can't imagine it's going to deliver.

I'm including the recipe here off Food Network's site because Queen Ina doesn't allow her recipes to be posted more than 2 weeks after the show airs (can you see me rolling me eyes?!).
It also occurred to me the cost incurred to make these LK#@(H%$! meatballs was way more than if I'd just bought the great Butterball turkey meatballs, and they would have been a lot healthier.

Yield: 6 servings

For the meatballs:
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
*edit - I don't eat veal so I used 1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)
*edit - oops, yeah, I used wheat and I left the crusts on - egads!
1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 extra-large egg, beaten
Vegetable oil
Olive oil

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup good red wine, such as Chianti
* edit - since I'm pg I wasn't going to just open a full bottle and let it go to waste, so I used this cheapie 2-serving bottle of red. I didn't look at the label b/c I didn't want to salivate
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For serving:
1 1/2 pounds spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
Freshly grated Parmesan

Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs. (Her meatballs are enormous, and if I'd left them 2 inches they never would have cooked. I had 24 normal-person-sized meatballs)

Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan. (I used my Le Creuset Dutch oven which does not have a 12-inch bottom. Not all of us have enormous skillets Ina! Plus I like to make sauce in the oven - it NEVER would have fit in a skillet. Is she smoking again???)

For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan.

The sauce I tasted before the long simmer was very strongly flavored of the wine. This is probably my fault for the wine I picked. But still, I like my tomato sauces on the sweet side, and this is definitely NOT sweet. We'll see how it tastes after it's mellowed and picked up the flavor of the meatballs. I have a feeling this is a "grown-up" sauce, and I like mine like I liked it when I was a kid - sweet like Prego. Granted I'd never eat Prego now, but still. Mine is a little grown-up since it has brandy in it...

Since I had bought 3 pounds of ground beef and had some red peppers in the fridge I decided to do a 2-for-1 and made some baked pepper filling as well. I'll add that tomorrow...

Light Pasta Salad

When it's hot and you don't feel like cooking, a pasta salad is right up on my list. The only "cooking" involved here is boiling the pasta. Since the salad is so simple however, it really benefits from the best ingredients. Here, we had some heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil from the garden, and a heavy-for-its-size lemon. Seasoning with salt and pepper is also really important.

Summer Italian Pasta Salad

1 lb whole-wheat rotini pasta
2 heirloom tomatoes
10-12 fresh basil leaves
1 fresh lemon
parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper

Put your water on to boil with plenty of salt in the water. The water should be "salty as the sea". This is the only time to get flavor into your pasta.

Put the pasta in, and while cooking, prep your other ingredients. Cut the tomatoes into bite-sized wedges. Roll up the basil leaves into a cigar shape and slice very thinly end to end. This is what is called "chiffonade". Roll the lemon firmly on your counter with the heel of your hand to get the juice flowing.

Cook your pasta to slightly more al dente than you would to pair it with a warm sauce. Drain, reserving some of the cooking water, and return the pasta to the pan over low heat, and add the tomatoes and basil. Grate about 1/4 cup of parmesan over the pasta, and add a couple tablespoons of the cooking water. Stir. Grate the lemon rind onto the pasta, cut the lemon in half, and juice it over the pasta. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to your preference. Stir and serve.

I really like the fresh flavors of the ingredients that came out. Next time I'll add more tomato just because I love it so much.

Gnocchi'n on Heaven's Door

Lest you think I was not a proper wife and didn't make something FABULOUS for our 1-year anniversary, I give you dinner, Guns 'n Roses style. Having become the recent owner of a ricer, and having some fingerling potatoes growing sad and forgotten in our veggie basket - gnocchi was to be the new recipe of the evening.

Have you ever had gnocchi? It's pasta. Made from potatoes. And done correctly they are light and airy and wonderful. The best gnocchi I ever had was in London's Notting Hill neighborhood. Since then I've wanted to make them, but didn't have a ricer, and like Alton Brown, I hate uni-taskers. Recently I read you could use a regular box grater to grate the cooked potatoes. Makes total sense. I don't know why it didn't occur to me.

We made gnocchi in cooking class a month or so ago so I felt I had my technique down. Potatoes, eggs, flour - that's all there is to it. The starch in the particular potato matters, and I'd always heard fingerlings were the best but all the recipes I seemed to find involved russets. I'm trying those next time because they sure are easy to find and I think the skin comes off easier as it's thicker.

Potato Gnocchi
(serves 4)

1 pound russet potatoes
3-4 egg yolks
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 cup all purpose flour, plus more for dusting

You can bake the potatoes in the oven, or boil them in water. Cook until they are tender when pierced with a skewer. You don't want to overcook them or the flesh will soak up more water, and more water equals more flour. A light hand with the flour is the key here - more flour equals a less tender gnocchi. Don't overwork the dough.

Let the cooked potatoes stand just long enough so that they are cool enough to handle. The hotter the potato when you rice them, the fluffier.

Scrape the peels off the potatoes and rice or grate the potatoes. Spread the riced potatoes out in a thin layer to expose as much of their surface as possible to the air. You should have about 2 cups of potatoes. In a large bowl whisk together 3 egg yolks, the cheese, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Add the potatoes and mix well. Sprinkle half cup of the flour over the potatoes and using your knuckles, press it into the potatoes. Fold the mass over on itself and press down again. Sprinkle on more flour, little by little, folding and pressing the dough until it just holds together. If the mixture is too dry, add another yolk or a little water. The dough should give under slight pressure. It will feel firm but yielding. To test if the dough is the correct consistency, take a piece and roll it with your hands on a well-floured board into a rope 1/2 inch in diameter. If the dough holds together, it is ready. If not, add more flour, fold and press the dough several more times, and test again.

To form, cut the dough into 4 to 6 pieces. Roll out each piece into a rope about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 1/2 inch thick pieces and lightly flour any sticky sides. You'll now form them into dumplings with the ridges that are familiar to gnocchi. The ridges are what helps sauce stick. I doubt you have a gnocchi board - the tines of a form work just as well. Rest the fork upside down and at a 45 degree angle. Hold the gnocchi to the fork with your thumb and with light pressure press down and away from you. The gnocchi will roll away down the fork and get the impression from the tines. It will be slightly curved. Don't worry, it will take practice to get the right force and motion.






Rope for cutting








At this point you can lightly dust the gnocchi, place on a cookie sheet in the freezer, and freeze for later use. Simply move them to a ziptop bag when they are frozen through. Or you can bring a large pot of salted water to boil to cook them. They only need about 90 seconds to cook. Place them in the boiling water and when they float to the top, they are done. Use a skimmer or strainer to fish them out and dump into prepared sauce.

Frozen gnocchi can be placed in boiling water for cooking and remove when they have floated to the top - slightly longer than fresh gnocchi.

Sauces should be prepared and kept barely warm to simply coat the gnocchi and heat them through. I did a very simple brown butter coating with another grating of Parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of kosher salt. A simple cheese cream sauce, a light marinara, or a pesto would also be excellent. Next time I'll be doing the basil pesto when the basil in the garden gets mature enough.

These took a long time from start to finish (being about an hour or so) but were well worth it considering how long I've waited to make them myself. They had a really strong potato taste plain, but I think switching to russets will help. Next time I'll watch the flour content more to try and make them even lighter. They were really good and went well as a side dish to our pork loin and Italian squash.

Potluck Dinner

Last weekend we had a lovely afternoon at a friend's house. We were attending a matinee of her most recent dramatic endeavor, and afterwards we had a nice potluck dinner. I volunteered to make the entree and a vegetable side dish. Both dishes made use of a "bechamel" - one of the 4 classic French sauces from which all others originate.

My entree was a macaroni and cheese casserole reminiscent of tuna noodle casserole. Instead of tuna I used chicken, and instead of noodles we used wheat penne pasta.

First, I poached the chicken breasts in a combination of cool water, a splash of whiskey (bourbon, whisky or brandy would be fine), some peppercorns, and a couple bay leaves. Just barely let the water come up to a simmer, and simmer about 8-10 minutes. Be careful because over-cooking will make the chicken tough and dry.



Once cooked, let the chicken breasts cool and then shred or cube into bite-sized pieces.



Every bechamel begins in the same way - savory vegetables or garlic sauteed in a fat to a certain point of brown, and then flour added to help thicken the eventual sauce. Here, I've sauteed the onions in butter until soft, then added flour. You want to cook the flour a bit to cook the pasty taste out but not too long such that it browns. When you have a mostly white sauce, it is considered "blonde". You may realize this is the same process for making a "roux". Many Cajun dishes begin with a roux that is browned deeply to a deep rich brown color.

The next step in a bechamel is to add a liquid to make it saucy. Usually this is a broth, milk or cream, or a combination. Here I've used a combination of broth and milk. Usually you are heating the milk or cream while cooking the roux so that when you add it to the flour mixture the temperature doesn't drop suddenly.



The sauce will thicken, based on what ratio flour to liquid you use. Adding nutmeg to the bechamel is very traditional, along with salt and pepper to taste.

You'll want to cook your pasta or noodles more al dente than normal as you'll be cooking it in the oven. Along with the pasta and sauce, I used frozen peas that had been blanched and cooled, cheddar cheese, the pre-cooked chicken, and some breadcrumbs for the top.

Chicken Pasta Cheese Bake, adapted from Macaroni and Cheese by Marlena Spieler

4 chicken breasts
2 bay leaves
5-6 peppercorns
2 tablespoons whiskey, brandy, or bourbon
6 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup flour
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups hot, not boiling milk
grating of fresh nutmeg
12 oz pasta or noodles
6 oz sharp cheddar, shredded
1/2 to 3/4 cup fresh or frozen peas
3-4 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs

Preheat over to 375 degrees.

Cover chicken breasts in a large saucepan with water and bring to a slow simmer with the bay leaves, peppercorns, and whiskey. Let simmer 8-10 minutes until there is no pink left in the breasts. Do not overcook. You'll want to skim off any foam that develops as they cook. Cool and chop or shred into bite-sized pieces.

Blanch the peas in hot water for 2 minutes, then cool in ice water. Drain and set aside.

In a large saucepan melt 4 tablespoons of the butter, add the onion and cook until softened. Raise the heat slightly and add the flour. Cook for a few minutes to cook out the flour taste, and take off the heat. Stir in the broth and hot milk and return to the heat. Cook the sauce over medium-high heat for 7-10 minutes or until thick. Use a whisk to beat out any lumps. Add salt and pepper to taste along with the nutmeg. Set aside.

Cook pasta or noodles until al dente but less cooked than normal and drain.

Butter a large shallow caserrole pan. Add 1/4 of the sauce to the bottom of the pan along with 1/4 of the cheese. Add 1/3 of the chicken, peas, and noodles, in layers. Repeat the layers 2 more times and end with the sauce and cheese. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and dot with 2 tablespoons butter.

Bake about 30 minutes until brown and crisped in places.



The vegetable side dish I made was Creamed Spinach. It begins the same way, with a bechamel of onions, butter, and flour. I added only milk, and a lot less, as you want this sauce to be thicker than that for the pasta dish. Add 2 defrosted and drained packages frozen spinach to the bechamel. Add salt, pepper, and a dash of grated nutmeg to taste.



Creamed Spinach

2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup milk
2 boxes frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add onions. Cook until softened. Add flour and cook a few minutes to cook out floury taste. Add milk and cook until incorporated and thickened. Add spinach, breaking up strands. Cook until heated through.

Give Peas a Chance

I had been seeing a lot of blogs lately with peas. Spring peas. They had been on my mind a lot since I used them in a casserole on the weekend. So today, when I had leftover pasta and a quick weeknight supper to make I decided to do a pasta with spring pea puree.

I decided I wanted a creaminess, and some herbs. I had chives, that would be good. I was out of cream...so I used sour cream. Definitely need some parmesan... I whirred it all up in the food processor but the flavor was way sweeter than I would have imagined, so I decided I needed some onions for earthiness and spice (really a shallot would have been perfectly delicate). Heated it up with the pasta and more chives and cheese on top and voila!

Spring Pea Pasta

1/2 - 1 bag frozen spring peas, or fresh (remember, no fancy farmer's markets here)
a creamy ingredient - cream, sour cream, or ricotta cheese
olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 an onion or 1 shallot
herbs - chives or something similarly delicate - mint perhaps

Blanch the peas in boiling water for just a few minutes, then plunge into cold water to stop the cooking. Whirr them up in the food processor or blender with the creamy ingredient, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Chop the onion or shallot and soften in some olive oil and the butter. Add the peas and heat. Here I wish I could have added more cream. You can add another tablespoon of butter to finish the sauce too. Add leftover pasta or add pasta you've just boiled up. Garnish with parmesan cheese, herbs, or a dollop of ricotta. mmmm.

I am the captain of my suburban food domain.