Penne with Roasted Asparagus

I found this recipe by The Newfangled Housewife a few months ago.  I've been waiting until I wasn't so overwhelmed with the move to try it out.  We made it tonight and it's pretty yummy.

Ingredients:

1 bundle of Asparagus
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
1 box penne
1/4c butter
1/3c Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/2c plus 2Tsp balsamic vinaigrette

Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Boil the pasta following the directions on the box, drain, and return it to the original pot. 

While the water is boiling, Wash the asparagus.  Hold each stalk near the end and break off the "woody" part.  It should snap off naturally. Cut the asparagus into roughly 1 inch bite sizes and spread them out on a cookie sheet.  I covered mine in foil for easy clean up.  Drizzle olive oil over the asparagus. Move the asparagus around a bit so it coats evenly.  I used this lovely olive oil because it was inexpensive at the local grocery store and I was feeling adventurous.

Add the minced garlic and (again) move the asparagus around so it's evenly covered in garlic.  Sprinkle with plenty of sea salt and pepper.  Bake for about 7 minutes.
In a small pot, bring the balsamic vinaigrette to a boil and let it reduce to about three or four tablespoons. Remove from heat and add the brown sugar.  Add the asparagus, and vinaigrette to the pasta.  Toss together with butter, sauce and cheese.  Sprinkle with more Parmesan if desired.  Serve immediately.

 

Lemon Basil Pasta with Grilled Chicken

I've started an herb garden in my kitchen window. I'm learning that the herbs I use the most are basil and cilantro. This is one of my basil recipes. (Just a warning for my friends, growing an herb garden is kind of cool. When I start talking about raising my own heirloom chickens, it's time for an intervention.) Anyway, My kids love this recipe. You can use more or fewer lemons depending on how lemony you like it. We love lemons, but found that four lemons was a little too much. Of course, this recipe is best when fresh lemon and basil are used.

Ingredients:

4 Grilled Chicken Breasts, sliced
1 lb penne pasta, cooked
1/2 stick butter
2-3 lemons
3/4c heavy cream
1/4c half and half
1 1/2c parmesan cheese, grated
20 Basil Leaves, chopped

Cook pasta. When you drain the pasta water, reserve one cup. Set pasta aside. In the same pot, melt butter over medium heat. Squeese in the juice of 3 lemons. Whisk together. Pour in cream and half and half. Whisk until hot. Add the cheese and continue to whisk until melted. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a little pasta water as needed to loosen up the sauce if needed. Toss the pasta and sauce together in a large serving bowl. Sprinkle the pasta with fresh basil. Serve with chicken breast.

The Best Lasagna. Ever.

I found this recipe on the Pioneer Woman's website. She calls it The Best Lasagna. Ever. The title alone made a believer outta me. I think that Lasagna is a lot of work to make. Now, I love to cook, but I don't want to take on Lasagna unless I know the payoff is going to be worth it. This one is worth it!

Ingredients:
Lasagna noodles, about 8
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage, hot
1.5 lbs ground beef
2-14.5 oz cans whole tomatoes
2-6 oz cans tomato paste
2 Tbsp Parsley (meat), 2 Tbsp Parsley (cheese)
2 Tbsp Basil
1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp salt (water), 1 tsp salt (cheese)
1 Tbsp olive oil
24 oz cottage cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
2-8oz packages Mozzarella cheese slices

Meat:

Put the pork sausage, ground beef and garlic in a large skillet. Cook the meat and drain off the grease. Add the tomato paste, whole tomatoes with juice, 2 Tbsp Parsley, 2 Tbsp Basil* and 1 tsp of salt. Mix well and simmer for 45 minutes.

*I used fresh basil instead of dried because I have it (for the Mediterranean Salad I made Sunday). I just rolled six leaves tightly and sliced it thinly. Then I sliced it a few long ways for good measure.

Noodles:

While meat is simmering, bring a large pot of water, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 Tbsp of olive oil to boil. Add the noodles, two or three at a time until pot is full. Boil the noodles for about ten minutes. After draining the noodles and rinsing with cold water, lay out the noodles on a cookie sheet. (for easier handling later)

Cheese:

Combine cottage cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, 2 Tbsp Parley, 1 tsp salt. Mix well.

After the meat, cheese, and noodles are ready, make an assembly line on your kitchen counter. Lay four noodles on the bottom of your 9X13 casserole dish, overlapping as you go. I'm using a pretty Polish Pottery Dish that Roger bought me for Mother's Day one year. Spread 1/2 the cheese mixture across the noodles. Lay down 1/2 of the Mozzarella cheese slices. If they are sliced really thinly, go ahead a double up the layer. Repeat with the other half of your noodles, cheese, Mozzarella, and meat. Now generously sprinkle Parmesan cheese on the top of your Lasagna.

Now bake the Lasagna at 350 degrees F for about 60 minutes. Or, if you are like me and made this Lasagna in the morning so you'd free up the afternoon to fight a child that doesn't like to do her homework, cover the Lasagna with plastic and put it in the fridge for later. It can refrigerate, unbaked, for about two days.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

I got a little worried while I was making this salad. My family generally protests ingredients like raw onions, olives, and tomatoes. But the combination of all these ingredients was pretty amazing. It was a little salty thanks to the feta cheese and the kalamata* olives. It was a little sour and tangy thanks to the red wine vinegar in the vinaigrette. It was really yummy!

Note about kalamata olives: Kalamata olives are a burst of flavor. They are saltier than black olives. You could probably substitute black olives in this recipe, but black olives are very mild and I think you'd be missing out.

Salad:

4 oz bow tie pasta, cooked
2 cups cooked chicken, diced
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup artichoke hearts, chopped
1 cup kalamata olives, halved
1/2 cup red onion, sliced thinly
5 basil leaves, chiffonade*
1/4 cup pine nuts

*roll the basil leaves together tightly and slice thinly

Vinaigrette:

3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp canola oil
juice of 1 lemon
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 tsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp oregano

Prepare the vinaigrette first. Combine all of the ingredients together in a Tupperware container. Add the lid and shake it up. Set aside to allow flavors to mingle.

Cook the pasta in well seasoned water (per instructions). Drain and rinse with cool water. Add the chicken, feta cheese, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, basil, and pine nuts. Toss the salad with the vinaigrette and serve immediately. I added a little basil to the top of the salad as garnish.

Linguini with Pancetta and Parmesan

My friend Maria put this recipe on Facebook earlier this week. (I've tweaked it a little, but it's still basically the same recipe.) I was intrigued because I've seen capers in the grocery store, but have no clue what to do with them. So...I decided to try this recipe. Usually I don't even print up a recipe if I don't know what all the ingredients are because who wants to wonder around the commissary looking for an ingredient that you can't even pronounce. I got all the ingredients at the local commissary. (A commissary is military-ese for grocery store.)

3/4 package linguini
1 cup onion, chopped
a clove of garlic, pressed (or 1/2 teaspoon minced)
2/3 cup chopped pancetta (about 2 oz)*
1 (25.5-ounce) bottle of Muir Glen Organic Italian Herb pasta sauce**
1/4 c black olives, chopped
1 tablespoon capers (sold in a tall, skinny jar, usually located one or two shelves above the olives)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

*Pancetta is Italian bacon. I found it in the deli. The man working behind the counter told me it was cured and I didn't need to cook it, but I was suspicious. It looked raw to me. I googled it when I got home and it turns out that Pancetta is cured, like America bacon; however, like American Bacon it is RAW. It is sliced very thinly so it only needs to cook for a few minutes.

**(Actually any pasta sauce will probably work just fine, but this is what the recipe called for so that's what I used.)

Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta cooks, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. I'm a PAM girl. Add onion, pancetta, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Add pasta sauce; cook 5 minutes. Stir in olives and capers. Add pasta; toss well, and sprinkle with cheese.

This would probably be much better if I had remembered to buy a block of Parmesan, but we had to settle for the stuff in the green can.

Sesame Seed Pasta Salad

This is a great salad to take to a picnic or family pot luck. The sesame seed oil gives the salad a slight Asian flavor without being too strong or foreign. My sister gave me this recipe awhile back. I love using fresh cilantro in this recipe, but my husband doesn't like the taste of cilantro. Did you know that about a fourth of the population thinks cilantro tastes like soap? I heard that on the radio awhile back. I substitute dried cilantro. My husband says it's not so overpowering when it's dried. Fresh shredded chicken tastes best, but sometimes I substitute canned chicken without complaints from the family.

Ingredients:

1/4c. sesame seeds
16 oz bow tie pasta
1/2c vegetable oil
1/3c soy sauce
1/3c rice vinegar
1t sesame seed oil
3T sugar
1/2t ginger
1/4t black pepper
3c shredded chicken
1/3c cilantro, chopped
1/3c green onion

Boil pasta and rinse until cold. Toast sesame seeds in skillet. Combine oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame seed oil, sugar, ginger, and pepper in a jar and shake well. Pour dressing over pasta and toss to coat evenly. Mix in chicken, cilantro, and green onions.

Chicken and Linguine

Chicken and Linguine

This is a great recipe if you have kids who don't like a complicated flavor. It's light. It's simple. It's easy to throw together. You'll need:

4 boneless chicken breasts, diced

2 cups broccoli, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 Tbs butter

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 Parmesan cheese, grated

4 oz Linguine, cooked

Saute garlic in hot butter for about half a minute. Add chicken and broccoli. Saute until chicken is done, about three minutes. Stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil while stirring. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for two minutes. Toss chicken mixture with Linguini and cheese. Sprinkle it with salt before serving to really bring out the flavor. Serves 4

More than just Spaghetti sauce

When my husband was hospitalized with a bone infection, we stayed at the Fisher House in Landstuhl, Germany to be closer to him. One of the other guests was from Italy. One night she showed me how to make a delicious spaghetti sauce that didn't taste like it came out of the jar.

Saute minced garlic and a finely chopped onion until the onion is transparent. Lower the heat and splash in some red cooking wine. I just cover the bottom of the frying pan and let it cook for a few minutes, but I don't let the cooking wine boil dry...just simmer. Then add the jarred or canned spaghetti sauce. Turn up the heat and let it start to bubble. Pour over your cooked pasta and sprinkle with shredded or grated Parmesan-Romano cheese. This is the hard block of cheese, not the stuff in the green can. It's more expensive but it tastes much better. My neighbor just visited Italy and brought me home a block of Parmesan cheese that has matured. She says it's even better than what we can buy at the grocery store. I can't wait to try it.

Other variations:

Add ground Italian sausage to your sauce. Or chop up canned palm, canned artichokes, and/or fresh red pepper. It's really yummy and the kids like it, too.