Shrimp in Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

Most of the time when I start making a dish like this, I think "Oh, I'll cook some pasta, and the sauce can cook that fast...dinner will be done in 15 minutes!" So I tell The Professor to go ahead and open up a bottle of wine, food will be here in a jiffy.

HAHAHAHAHA! I am incapable of cooking anything more complicated than a grilled cheese sandwich in less than 37 minutes.

Tonight, the sauce took a lot longer to reduce than I expected. So while I actually planned for the whole thing to take 30-40 minutes, it ended up being close to a bottle of wine an hour before dinner was ready.

This week Presto Pasta Nights is at The Sweet Kitchen!

Shrimp in Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

• Approximately 6.625 ounces of whole wheat fuseli, cooked (the cork screws)*
  
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 8 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1½ cups vegetable broth (I'd reduce this to 1 cup next time)
  
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ cup grated Asiago cheese
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 cup half & half
• 1/2 pound baby shrimp
• 5-6 basil leaves, roughly chopped

The box of pasta is 13.25 ounces, and I used half the box, hence the funky measurement.

Sauté onion & garlic in olive oil until onion is transparent, about 5 minutes.

Add tomato sauce, vegetable broth, bay leaf, and red peper flakes. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until reduced by half. Remove the bay leaf.

Whisk in the cream and grated cheese and return to a slow simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the shrimp and basil, and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the shrimp are done.

Toss the pasta with the sauce and serve with some bread to soak up the sauce.

I Played A Trick On My Mom Last Night . A Tabbouleh Trick.

See, my dear mother isn’t one to be adventurous when it comes to ethnic foods. Give her a bratwurst dripping in sauerkraut, and she’s a happy German lady. Give her a choice of lamb korma or pad Thai, and she chooses a glass of water, with a cracker on the side. It’s one of my dad’s jokes that my mom isn’t particularly daring when it comes to other-country foods.

Still, I had two recipes that I thought she’d like, if not love. Souvlaki – a Greek dish – is just a fancy way to say “marinated meat”. Some olive oil, some lemon juice, a little oregano and garlic…a few pieces of chicken breasts and voila! I thought she'd enjoy that one.

But I was totally unprepared for her reaction to my not-quite-authentic couscous tabbouleh.

I didn’t try to scam this one past her. I told her straight up what the name of it was, and when she asked “what is it?” I may have left off the “Lebanese salad” part of the description and jumped right into a list of ingredients. See, I know a few things about what my mom likes to eat, and I really, really, had a good feeling that she’d like everything in this: A few raw veggies (including one of her beloved red bell peppers), a little lemon juice, a sprinkling of completely non-authentic Parmesan cheese. And how can you actually dislike couscous?

What completely blew me away, however, is that I watched her take thirds (and possibly fourths when my back was turned) of the tabbouleh. I bit my tongue. I wanted to burst out “But Mama! That’s a Mediterranean dish!” And finally, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. When she spooned up just a wee bit more of the stuff (And I will admit, it was dang good) on her plate, I had to tell her. I can’t trick my mom for long before I feel guilty.

My dad (who – like me – will eat just about anything that gets in his mouth) told me it was a good thing I hadn’t told her first. But now? I’m not so sure. My mom’s starting to rock out with the adventures these days.

Maybe tomorrow night I’ll fix that lamb korma after all.

And to make matters even more fun, my maternal experimentation is being thrown into the ring for Presto Pasta Nights. Double fun!

Couscous Tabbouleh

• 1 box Parmesan flavored Couscous(I used Near East. I’ve never seen un-instant couscous around here)
• 1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3-4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Roma Tomatoes, diced small
• 2/3 of a large cucumber, diced small
• ½ of a large red bell pepper, diced small
• 4-5 scallions, finely copped
• 2 oz pine nuts
• ½ cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup chopped parsley

Directions

Cook couscous according to package directions. Then get busy chopping up your veggies.

Drizzle 1 Tbsp EVOO and 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice over the couscous and fluff with a fork.

Add your veggies, pine nuts and cheese, and fluff again.

Toss in your parsley.

Fluff-ernate again.

Now take a taste and add lemon juice, olive oil, salt and /or pepper as your heart desires.

Chill for at least 30 minutes. This stuff just gets better over time.

Update: Squash Casserole

Hey, remember this recipe? Squash Casserole?

This week, I was hit with inspiration. Inspiration in my new cure-for-all-ills: ricotta cheese. Lately, I have been addicted to the stuff. You wouldn't know that from my blog, but that's called "my real life".

This week, I decided to try another squash casserole. I wanted something that would hold together a little better than my last attempt. I decided I needed something a little more cohesion-building than sour cream - and the ricotta was just sitting there on my refrigerator shelf.

I think I have a winner here. The spice blend could be changed up in a quadrillion ways. Fresh herbs would be a wonderful substitute. I keep hoping McCormick's will send me a case of free seasoning, so I'm gonna blog about that option.

Squash Casserole

Ingredients:
Olive Oil cooking spray
1 pound yellow squash (4 small), cut small
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp McCormick's Roasted Garlic & Herb blend
1 cup? Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Italian flavored bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350F.

Spray a medium skillet with Olive Oil cooking spray. Put the squash and onion in the pan, and then spray them with it, too. "Spread the Spray" could be my new motto.

I think I put a little salt and fresh ground pepper in there too.

Cook about 10 minutes, until veggies are soft.
In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, sour cream and seasoning.

This is my new seasoning love:


And this is the yummy goodness that will hold the squash together:



Toss mixture with veggies.

Spray a 2 quart cooking dish with more of the "Spread the Spray" love. Pour in the squash mixture.

Hmmm...that needs something.

Look at the squash casserole, and decide it needs some more seasoning. I know! More Roasted Garlic and Herb Blend!

It'll look better in a little while. I promise.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Getting Warmer...

In a small bowl, mix together cheese and bread crumbs.

Mmmmm....cheese and bread crumbs...

Spread cheese-bread-crumbs mixture over casserole.




Bake for another 15 minutes, or until casserole is bubbling around the crust.

Ohh Baby

Portion out for your next 3 lunches before you inhale the whole delicious creation.

Chicken Pasta Salad

The whole thing started with a rotisserie chicken that I picked up today. I had simply planned on eating it over the next couple of days, but sometime between picking it up and getting it home, my brain started whispering "Pasta Salad...Pasta Salad". As I was putting my groceries away, I noticed the things languishing in the veggie drawer that really, really needed some attention. A half a bell pepper here, a few lonely stalks of asparagus there. It was enough to make a vegetarian cry at the neglect taking place in my fridge.

No vegetarians here, though, so I went on about my day. Talking to my sister later, I mentioned that I was thinking of making a chicken pasta salad later. And then she asked for pics and a recipe and I knew I was committed.

And also - hey! I can do Presto Pasta for the first time in ages (It's at What's Cooking this week)!

Chicken Pasta Salad

• 2 cups? chopped chicken
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 orange bell pepper
• 3 stalks celery
• 2 (small) carrots
• 1 cup+ shredded mozzarella cheese
• 12-ish stalks of asparagus
  

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup salad dressing (I used Parmesan Romano, which is no longer to be found in stores)
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic ( the dry kind, not the wet kind. You know, from the spice aisle, not the produce section)
• 1/2 tsp celery salt
• a bunch of fresh ground pepper
  

• 8 oz uncooked pasta (I had Wacky Mac to use up)

First up: The asparagus needs to be roasted a little, because I'm not big on raw asparagus. If you are, you can skip this part and just chop it up with the other veggies. I tossed it with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, some freshly ground pepper and a little kosher salt. I know, that's not the most original way to roast asparagus - but you know why everyone cooks it like that? Because it's damn good.


Yes, my loaf pan is safe to cook in. It's just well-used.

Stick that in a 400F oven for about 4 minutes - not enough to really cook it, because I still wanted some crunch. Just enough to talk it down from the ledge. Even asparaguses (Aspargi?) need love.

While that's going on, mix the sour cream, salad dressing, celery salt, minced garlic and some fresh ground pepper together. Taste and adjust if you want more salt or pepper, then set aside.



A note about the salad dressing: I hate 99.999% of the ones out there. Ranch makes me gag. Bleu cheese is just gross. But I think that - if you're into that kind of thing - either of these would make good substitutes.

Cook your pasta, and drain.

Sidenote about Wacky Mac: There's actual vegetables in there. You knew that? Then you should have told me NOT to say out loud "Hey! There's beet powder in this!" Because then your beet-averse husband will not touch your food - or you, after you've eaten it.

While your pasta's cooking, chop up your chicken, bell peppers, celery, carrots and asparagus into small pieces. I got all fancy-pants and used my peeler to shave the carrots, but I only have that kind of energy once in a lifetime. Also, has anyone else noticed that organic carrots are much smaller than the doped-up ones? Makes me wonder what kind of carrot-growth-hormone I've been eating.


All those colors make me very happy.

Once everything's chopped up, you're home free.



Put the pasta in a big bowl - seriously, big is important here - and dump in the dressing, reserving about a 1/4 cup. The Pasta is gonna soak up dressing like a sponge over the next couple of days, so I keep some in reserve to mix with it each morning while I'm putting my lunch together. Mix it until the pasta's coated.



Now, this is the true test: Have you chosen a big enough bowl? Do you even OWN a big enough bowl? Because you need to not only get the chicken and veggies in with the pasta, but you have to have room to mix it around a lot. You don't want some piece of celery feeling left out because it didn't get it's share of the dressing-love. Half the time, I have to dirty a 2nd bowl because I've guessed wrong again. And that doesn't help my case with The Professor, because he thinks I dirty bowls just for the fun of it.



There's a recipe in progress somewhere in this post, right?

Time to mix in the cheese. I usually cut a chunk up into little pieces, but the shredded mozzarella in my fridge has been open for a week. I have no idea how much cheese was left, but I'm guessing between 1 1/2 and 2 cups. Give it another stir.



Now, this is a LOT of pasta salad! But I can go crazy on this stuff. It usually shakes down like this: I'll dump some in a bowl for a snack. And then get a refill. And then 2 more. And then I realize that "snack" just metamorphosed into dinner, and I haven't fed The Professor yet.

I just realized that I had planned on using some artichoke hearts as well, and completely forgot. I'm too lazy to go add them now, though.

Cooking with Mama: Mac N Cheese

I'm at my parents house, and tonight's dinner was awesome, if I - the sous chef and pâtissier - do say so myself.

So in a quick-as-lighting update, here's a recipe we pulled out of the air.

Well, Mom looked around and gave me a ratio for cheese to macaroni. Then she told me what kinds of cheeses she had. Then she told me to use 5 cups of macaroni. Then she told me to mop the floors, polish the silver and dust the chandaliers.

Ok, ok. Not really on the mopping, polishing and dusting. And she boiled the macaroni for me, and preheated the oven. And gave me beer. And cooked the rest of dinner. And not only bought me Diet Mt Dew, but also had it chilled beside the beer.

Hmm..Maybe I should go get the dust rag.





Nothing-Fancy But Oh-So-Yummy Macaroni & Cheese

5 cups macaroni, uncooked
2 tbsp margerine
About 4 1/2 cups shredded cheeses (see notes); divided
About 1/4-1/2 cup milk
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp paprika

Call your mom, and have her boil your macaroni. Or boil it yourself.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Spray a 4 quart casserole with non-stick spray.

Drain macarni.

Stir in margerine and 1/4 cup milk until margerine is melted.

Stir in 2 cups of shredded cheese thoroughly. It'll probably melt immediately.
Stir in 2 more cups of cheese and pour in casserole.

Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Put into oven, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. If you like the browned-top look, turn on your broiler for the last 5 minutes.

Notes:
We had several different kinds of cheese to choose from. For the first two cups, I used mozzarella, because I knew it would melt, and it melts pretty smoothly. For the second two cups, I chose cheddar to give it some bite. My mom also had a little chipotle cheddar - a very little, around 1/4 cup - that I mixed in with the cheddar. The extra 1/2 cup on top was all cheddar.

Bowtie Pasta with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes

I could have come up with a longer title for this, but it would have taken the time that I have allocated to telling you how much I love and adore this:


This is my favorite seasoning blend. It will go with anything. It may even be tasty enough to eat all by itself on a spoon, but I’m not admitting to anything. A few years ago, I bought about 5 different McCormick’s blends, used them up – and then discovered they had disappeared from the grocery store when I went to buy more. I wanted to stage a Spice Aisle Sit-In, but I had finals that week. Walmart should be grateful that I went to grad school.

Last year, my life found new meaning when I rediscovered the Roasted Garlic and Bell Pepper blend at the store. I may or may not have cried, but there were no witnesses, so we’ll just call that an unsubstantiated rumor.

And Holy Roasted Peppers, there’s a recipe on their product page that I’m going to have to make.

Note to McCormicks: feel free to thank my free advertising with some free seasoning blends. I promise to love them, too.

This is my entry for the week for Presto Pasta Nights.

Bowtie Pasta with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes

8 oz bow-tie pasta
½ lb asparagus, cut into 2” pieces
1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
½ yellow onion, chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil
½ tsp kosher salt
Lots and lots of the Roasted Garlic and Bell Pepper goodness
1 cup grated Parmesan or Asiago or Romano – or if you’re really lucky, a combination
¼ cup fake butter – or the real thing, if you have it

Cut up your vegetables and put them in a bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat. Pour them out on a baking sheet and sprinkle the salt and seasoning blend over them. I’m not going to lie, I go a little crazy with the seasoning. I don’t measure, I just pour a mound in my hand and sprinkle it around. Then I repeat.

Cook in a 350F oven for about 30-40 minutes, until the vegetables are shriveling a little and you can’t stand not to eat them any more.

Cook your pasta and drain. Toss the pasta, butter, vegetables and half of the cheese together until the butter is melted; sprinkle with remaining cheese and serve.

Notes: I am overflowing with fake butter spreads, so I used Smart Balance.
I love cheese.

Angel Hair Pasta with Spinach

The Professor and I both had "engagements" at work today that I needed to make a dish for. Recipes for Macaroni Salad and Asian Slaw will be forthcoming. But I also had to feed us, since I was out of refrigerated Tupperware containers full of tasty morsels to tide over our stomachs. I had some spinach and shredded cheese mix (a blend of Parmesan, Romana and Asiago) that needed to be used, and a half a box of angel hair pasta.

Waiting for two pounds of macaroni to boil never tasted so good.

Pasta? Did someone say pasta?

This is for Presto Pasta Nights - again, a last minute thing. And if you've never clicked through my little linky love to check these recipes out (sis, I'm talking to you), man are you missing out. But that's ok. I'm not missing out on anything.




Angel Hair Pasta

• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, large dice
• 1/2 green bell peper, large dice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, Romano and Asiago cheeses (or any combination thereof)
• 2 tsp dried basil

Cook pasta.

While pasta is cooking, sautee onion and bell pepper in olive oil for about 5 minutes, or until it's done the way you like it. Reduce heat to low and add garlic. Cook for another 3 or 4 minutes, remove from heat.


When pasta is done, drain and return to pot. Add onions and bell pepper, butter and spinach. Put the pot back on the stove with it turned off - I have an electric oven, so it stays warm for a little while. Toss the pasta until the butter is melted and the spinach is wilted. Add the basil and most of the cheese, and toss to combine. Serve with a little cheese sprinkled on top.

Yes, I DID say canned salmon

I've been poking around the back corners of my pantry lately, trying to use up the stuff that I've stockpiled. If there's anything my family is good at, it's packing every square inch of storage space in a house full of just about anything you can imagine. With me, the one place where I excel at maximum-clutter-per-inch is my pantry.

And today, as I was collecting bits and pieces from around the kitchen and putting them in the pile of what was going to be dinner at some future moment, I found a can of salmon.

The only thing I have ever used canned salmon for is salmon patties. In fact, I kind of had it stuck in my head that that's the only GOOD use for them. So I set out to prove myself wrong.

After we ate, I realized I had basically made tuna casserole in a skillet. But it had the three basic food groups: dairy, cheese and butter.



Salmon and Penne Skillet

8 oz cooked penne pasta, drained
1 tbsp butter
1 small yellow onion, cut in half and sliced
1 green bell pepper, cut in strips
1 can of salmon, drained with juice reserved
about 1/2 cup of milk
about 3 tbsp Parmesan Romano salad dressing (See notes for some substitutions)
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
3 oz frozen spinach
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
pepper, to taste

Saute onions and bell peppers in olive oil until the onions are transluscent. Whisk together the salmon juice, milk, Parmesan-Romano dressing, mustard and tarragon. Add to skillet and cook until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Add pasta, spinach, about 1/2 cup of cheese and pepper to taste. Stir until cheese is melted and then add the salmon. Cook until heated through and top with the remaining cheese.

Notes:
I would have used half and half, but I only had skim milk. So I added the salad dressing to thicken it up a bit, and figured the extra flavor wouldn't hurt. But since I think I'm one of about five people in the country with this particular flavor of salad dressing, feel free to use cream or 1/2 and 1/2 in place of the milk and dressing.

I would definately recommend cranking up the amount of mustard and tarragon - probably doubling it. I wanted it to have that slight mustard bite and it didn't - although if you use cream instead of the salad dressing, the mustard and tarragon flavors might come through a little better.

I need an herb garden!

After I typed this up and hit "publish" I realized this is perfect for Presto Pasta Nights! So that's where it's heading off to.

Roasted Acorn Squash Pasta

I learned something last night: Peeling raw acorn squash is not a job that I EVER want to do again. At the moment, I'm willing to accept that I did something wrong. I don't admit this often, so enjoy it while you can.

I cut the squash in half, scooped out the insides, and then sliced it along it's dips (as opposed to its ridges). The problem with acorn squash is that while it is quite possibly one of the cutest and most adorable looking of the squashes, it's a royal pain in the backside to get the peel off of the good stuff when it's not cooked. As I was almost finished getting the blasted peel off of the blasted squash, I realized my melon baller would probably have handled it a lot more gracefully than me and my knife.

Why do my moments of genius always come 10 minutes too late?



Roasted Acorn Squash Pasta

• 1 small acorn squash, peel removed (in whatever manner you prefer) and cut into 1 inch pieces


• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced


• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced


• 2 small green bell peppers (or 1 large), sliced


• 1 Tbsp olive oil


• Salt and pepper to taste


• 2 tsp dried rubbed sage


• 6 oz pasta (penne, bow tie, etc)


• 1 can diced tomatoes


• ½ cup shredded smoked Gouda


• ¼ cup shredded Parmesan

Preheat oven to 450F.

Toss squash, onion and bell peppers in olive oil, sage, salt and pepper. Put on a cookie sheet and bake until everything is getting a beautiful deep golden color, about 20 minutes, stirring half way through.

While the veggies are roasting, cook your pasta to what ever degree of al-dente-ness you prefer.

Toss the veggies, pasta, tomatoes and Gouda together (making sure to leave the most carmelized pieces of onion sticking to the pan, so that when you serve yourself, you can be sure to add them to your bowl. Hey! Cooks get certain privelages).

Serve with Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Notes: It's Presto Pasta Night again! I am loving this excuse to cook pasta once a week!

Oh my oh my oh my did I love the taste of the acorn squash. I usually either cook it with brown sugar to bring out the sweetness or make a "stuffed" squash. But roasting it made it buttery and good. I could have eaten the squash all by itself. It would make a great side dish. Or a main course ALL for me.

I also cooked up about a pound and a half of chicken breasts, cubed them and threw them in to satisfy the The Professor's carnivorous habbits.

I had originally planned to bake this after I mxed everything together, but the veggies and the pasta were hot enough to warm the tomatoes and melt the cheese. And I was starving.

Chicken Pasta with Creamy Brie Sauce

I've been drooling over Presto Pasta Nights for so long now. Every week I get my fix, and this week I dare to join in...

I tried something new for dinner last night. I love creamy cheesy pasta sauces (I also love herby-tomatoey sauces, and simple olive oil, and rivers of vodka sauce…but we’ll focus on one addiction at a time). And last night, I wanted something other than parmesan or romano melted into my clog-your-arteries butter and cream creation. If I’m going to kill myself with fat content, I might as well do it with varying tastes of high fat content. Right?

Chicken Pasta with Brie Cream Sauce

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz pasta (I used penne)
2 Tbsp butter
1 green bell pepper, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp Red pepper flakes
2 tsp Thyme
2 tsp Oregano
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup half and half
4 oz brie, rind cut off, cut as small as possible and divided
1 cup Italian bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350F.
Cook pasta, drain and move to a large bowl.

Cook chicken completely and cut into cubes.

Add bell pepper strips and garlic to butter in the skillet and sauté for 5 minutes so they are crisp-tender. Stir in the red pepper, thyme and oregano and cook for another minute. Add it and the cubed chicken to pasta, making to sure to scrape the pan.

Add 2 Tbsp butter and chicken stock to skillet and melt; add cream and stir constantly until it starts to thicken. Add half of the brie and continue stirring. When the brie is melted and the sauce starts to thicken, turn off the heat and stir for another minute.


Pour sauce over the vegetables and pasta, and toss until everything is…well tossed.

Pour in a 2 quart casserole and top with bread crumbs and then the remaining brie. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the top starts making your mouth drool with it’s golden goodness.

Notes:
Next time, all of the brie is going in the sauce. It didn't melt very well on top.I used the same skillet for everything , and I didn't wipe it out between any of the steps, so that I could be sure and get all of the stuff that stuck to the pan when it was time to make the sauce.

The Professor claimed that this was too spicy, but as we all know by now, he's kind of a pansy when it comes to spicy foods (I love you honey!). It does have a little heat, so if you don't like that kind of thing, cut the red pepper flakes in half.

Be smarter than I was: remember to cut the rind off the brie before you start cutting it into itty bitty pieces.

I’m wondering how this would taste with smoked Gouda…???