What dinner really looks like

I love blogging, I do. But some night I just want to eat. No matter how amazingly good the thing I just made, and how much I want to share the recipe with you. Sometimes, a girl just wants to sit down with a beer and chow to her hearts content. Which in my case means there will be no food left to take pretty photos of.

So I bring you a new series I'd like to start. It's called: What dinner really looks like. No styling, no props. No setting up lighting and thinking about composition or if tastespotting or foodgawker will accept it. (rejected: lighting... composition... ) Just FOOD. Real food. Haphazard, stained napkins. REAL LIFE.

Love it? Hate it? Do you only want to see pretty pictures? It's ok, no one likes to comment anyway, so I'll just keep on doing what makes me happy. ;) unless you speak up that is, then I'm happy to listen.

Pictured:
whole wheat spaghetti with diavola sauce
venison cooked in copious amounts of garlic and some good seasonings salad dressing
bruschetta made from whole wheat rolls, grape tomatoes, more good seasonings salad dressing, basil, shredded mozzarella, and 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar reduced. Seriously that balsamic reduction is the key to this tasting so so amazing.

Enjoy the haphazard random :)



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Chicken and Mushroom Pasta

Secret time. I also love making this minus the chicken... I know I know I go on and on about how awesome rotissory chickens are... but sometimes I just love me some extra bonus mushroomy goodness! If you want the recipe for this delicious quick Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Meal, head on over to Food Fanatic for the recipe and post!

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Fancy in 15 Flat

I love it when a meal looks like it took forever, when really it took 15 minutes total! I made this on a work night and when John pulled into the driveway and found this waiting for him on the table he was seriously impressed.


The secret are the muscles. I've never cooked them before and quite frankly they scare me. I bought these frozen in a butter garlic sauce from BJ's. Pop them frozen into a pan, heat for 5 minutes, cover and simmer for 3 minutes. DONE. I poured the butter garlic sauce off and added them along with some shrimp (fully cooked and frozen variety- just defrost first before adding) to wegmans diavola sauce. Boil up some whole wheat pasta and DONE. Dinner's on the table!! I'll have to let you know the brand next time I buy more of the muscles, since I just realized the cardboard box they came in is currently out at the curb in our recycle bin... and it's snowing out... so I'm not going out to look :D

What quick meals do you like to make? Give 'um up, I need ideas for dinner!!

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CSA Stirfry

With veggies starting to pour in it's time for another CSA basket recipe! This past week we had kohlrabi, I'd never had it before but it kinda tastes like brocolli stems. Just make sure you use a veggie peeler to get the outer layer off, that stuff is TOUGH and hard to chew.

CSA stirfry
recipe by steph chows

1 kohlrabi, peeled and chopped. I also used the leaves sliced thin
1 cup zucchini grated
3 carrots sliced
4 scallions sliced
1 head fresh garlic peeled and crushed
1 small onion sliced
fresh basil to taste
1/2 lb frozen shrimp thawed
1 bundle udon noodles (buckwheat noodles)
1 tsp chili oil
2 Tbs hoisin sauce
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 tbs oyster or fish sauce
squirt of sirachi or other asian hot sauce

Cook noodles according to directions, set aside.

In a wok or large pan drizzle chili oil and heat on high. Add garlic and onion and cook until starting to brown. Add kohlrabi, zucchini, and carrots and cook until tender. Add in hoisin, soy, and oyster sauce and stir to coat. Add scallions, basil, and shrimp at the end just to warm them through, do not overcook. Serve over udon noodles.

Use whatever veggies you have on hand, I know I'll be making this again and again this summer with whatever comes in our basket.

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Tuna Bow Tie Salad

Everyone has all sorts of memories from their childhood. I've got tons of good ones, especially ones involving my Nana...

see even then I was constantly eating...

Some memories though are not so amazing. On my list of not amazing is tuna bow tie pasta salad *bleh* I remember it being a fixture at family picnics (it was probably served at the picnic pictured above!), and I remember hating it. I'd be much happier eating a burger or hot dog, maybe a little ambrosia salad, but tuna bow tie salad.. ugggg pass that one right along.

John had mentioned at some point that the only use for bow tie pasta was in this very dish... so I assumed that meant he liked this dish. So what do I do? Go and make this up thinking he's going to be all excited to eat it... WRONG.

So now I have a batch of this stuff and neither of us want to eat it... want some? Don't I make it sound so good? :)

Tuna bow tie salad
recipe made up from my very bad memory (Check out my mom's comment to see how it was really made back in my childhood!)

1/2 box whole wheat bow tie pasta (cooked, drained, and cooled)
2 cans white tuna packed in water, drained
1/2 cup frozen peas (actually I think moms version had broccoli maybe? and probably come celery and carrots.... maybe)
2 Tbs-ish italian salad dressing of choice
few glugs red hot (I'm positive that wasn't in mom's version)
salt/ pepper/ celery seeds to taste

Mix it all together, toss in the fridge.. and bring it to a picnic.. where I will NOT be eating it :)


What's one thing you always hated that was a fixture in your family meals? Or you know.. you can tell me something you love too, no need to be negative :)

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World Pasta Day

Did you know that today is world pasta day? Seriously! Of course I had to take part and help celebrate :)


John and I had turkey lasagna last night with mushrooms and zucchini mixed in, perfect! This is my go to recipe I made up forever ago. Perfect if you ask me :)


So what will you be making to celebrate?
Need some ideas? How about some homemade pumpkin gnocchi!?

The comfort of Lasagna

The temperature has been down right chilly here, and the snow keeps on blowing... my nice professional long black wool coat has been put back into the closet and replaced with my crazy warm BRIGHT RED ski coat... not so subtle I know... but darn warm. A hat is always required, and gloves are of course a must. *sigh* I am far from being any form of stylish this time of year. Yeah... you should have realized I'm one of those comfort over style girls... what shoes am I wearing you may ask? Certainly not a cute little trendy pair of "boots"... I use quotes because really most of these "boots" wouldn't last 5 seconds in this weather... I've got on sh*tkicker boots for sure... and they keep my feet happy and warm :)

I digress... either way you come from style wise, this lasagna will warm you up just right for dinner. You can make a batch, eat half, and freeze the other half, it keeps great, and packs up perfect for lunch time as well... although you might want to pack it up in a larger container than this one...



Turkey and Spinach Lasagna (or Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna for the veggies)
by steph chows

In a large pan with a little olive oil brown up
1 lb 99% lean ground turkey (or to make it vegetarian friendly, 1 lb of chopped mushrooms)

Once cooked through add in
1-2 cups frozen spinach
Set aside

In a medium bowl mix together
15 once container part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup lower fat parmigiana cheese
1/3 cup skim milk
1/2 cup freshly chopped flat leave parsley
1 cup fat free mozzarella shredded
salt and pepper to taste

You will also need:
26 once jar diavola tomato sauce (or other spicy sauce)
1/2 cup part skim mozzarella shredded (use this as the top layer... it melts better)
whole wheat lasagna noodles

First pour a little sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Top off with a layer of whole wheat lasagna noodles. Then add half of your turkey spinach mixture. Next spread a 1/3 of your sauce over top. Then do a layer of your ricotta mixture. Now do your next layer of noodles going in the opposite direction (if you went long wise first, go across the short way now) this helps hold everything together better when you slice it up! Then put the remainder of your turkey/ 1/3 of the sauce and remainder of the ricotta on top. Put on one more layer of noodles and sauce, and top with your park skim cheese!

Bake at 350 for around 45 minutes.


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Big sauce night

Awhile back John and unofficially made sunday "big sauce night" basically we'd have some kind of pasta with red sauce. We got out of the habit for awhile but we brought it back last night with a bang!! It was a beautiful day here, the perfect kind for raking leaves. Crisp blue skies, a slight chill in the air, beautiful. Last night the menu was thin spaghetti with turkey meatballs. I've taken a recipe that was originally from my Aunt and switched it up a bit, I LOVE these meatballs, perfectly garlicky and tender, what more could you ask for??


Turkey Meatballs (adapted from Aunt Carols recipe)
1 lb. ground 99% fat free turkey (Aunt Carol uses... beef or a combination of beef, veal and pork)
1/2 cup grated cheese (Parmesan, Romano or a combination of these) (I used part skim)
1/2 cup panko (Aunt Carol uses Italian flavored breadcrumbs)
1 egg
1 medium onion, chopped or diced fine
3 or 4 good size garlic cloves,put through a garlic press or diced very fine
1 rounded tablespoon (about) finely minced parsley
Salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste
(Taste the mixture before adding salt. The cheese and breadcrumbs contain salt)
1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms (I added these to keep the moisture level up since we got rid of a lot of the fat by using the lean turkey)

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. If mixture is a little dry, add some water, a little at a time, until proper consistency is reached. Roll into meatballs, fry lightly on each side in a small amount of olive oil (I used olive oil in a mister spray bottle). When almost all the way cooked through, add spaghetti sauce and cover to steam cook them until done.

Note from Aunt Carol: You can double, triple, etc. this recipe. Also, I find that the beef, veal and pork combination make a softer meatball. Hope you like them!

Get well lasagna and cookies

We all know I'm a "feed the soul" kind of person. If someone is sick or has bad things going on in their life, I'm there with some form of comfort food. I know in the grand scheme of things it's not much, but I think food is one of the most comforting things when life is being turned upside down. I was telling my mom about what I was making and she started telling me about a neighbor who brought over a salmon casserole and warm pita chips after her dad passed away. The memory was so strong in her mind. A simple meal, yet filled with so much love, is so powerful. I can only hope I bring that kind of warmth and comfort to those I cook and bake for.

The short version is a friend had to go to the hospital with many weird symptoms and not a lot of answers for said symptoms. She totally rules the roost at home and John and I knew her husband and two kids could use a little bit of home cooking while she was stuck in the hospital. (side note: any good thoughts, prayers, whatever you believe in sent her way are much appreciate) She's home now but I know she still has a good amount of time left to recover.

Cue lasagna and cookies... The lasagna whips together in no time... the cookies take a little more time but as so worth the effort.


Let me share the simple recipe for this meat packed bad boy... cookie recipe to come in a bit :)
Meat and Cheese Lasagna

what you need
12 lasagna noodles (you don't have to cook them first)
1 lb ground beef
1 jar favorite tomato sauce (Diavola for me)
2 cups water
1/4 cup pesto
1 container part skim ricotta
1 egg
parsley/basil/black pepper to taste
2 cups shredded part skim mozzarella

Brown the beef in a pan, once cooked drain off excess fat. Dump in the tomato sauce, pesto, and water. Bring to a boil. White that is going on... in a medium bowl take your tub of ricotta, an egg, seasoning, and half your shredded mozzarella and mix it all up.

OK now layer in this order in a 9 x 13 baking pan
enough sauce to cover the bottom
4 noodles
1/2 of ricotta mixture
more sauce to cover
4 noodles
1/2 of ricotta mixture
more sauce to cover
4 noodles
remainder of sauce
layer of shredded mozzarella

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes with tin foil. Remove tin foil and let brown for final 10 minutes.

Quick and easy and oh so comforting :)

Pasta Ponzo

When I was down in DC my dad and I were planning on cooking this one night but we ended up visiting all the crazy good restaurants in the area instead :) Once back in Rochester I figured I'd give it a try. I tossed the ingredients together one morning and stuck it in the fridge for the day. Once home from work I topped it with the breadcrumbs and into the oven it went. 30 minutes later it was out and bubbling ready to be tossed with some nice al dente pasta!


Well it sure looked pretty! I really thought I'd like this more then I did... there was something a bit too acidic about it. Anyone have any suggestions on how to cut the acid?? The recipe is from Giada and you can find it here.

Pasta Pandemonium

Oh the trials and tribulations of making homemade pasta... I made some a little while back and it went totally smooth... I got cocky... and decided to make some spinach pasta...

oooo pretty

no biggie right? Yeahhhh except when you don't chop the spinach up fine enough... and then you go to pass it through the pasta cutting part... and the spinach doesn't get cut... so it becomes a HUGE mess! HAHAHAAH John came out into the kitchen to find me cutting the pasta with this...


Pretty resourceful huh!? It worked out seriously well actually :) although the pasta was ALL types of different widths... Makes it more fun right? Oh you want to see the mess I made on the counter of all the pasta??


It's all good, I cleaned it all up in due time ;) The pasta wasn't the prettiest, but it was darn tasty! Go ahead you know you want to make a big mess like I did :)

Whole Wheat Spinach Pasta
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2 eggs
6 oz frozen spinach, defrosted and chopped VERY fine

Mound the flour in the center of your work surface and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs and spinach. Beat the eggs and spinach and slowly start incorporating the flour. Once all incorporated knead for about 3 minutes. The dough should been elastic in texture. Keep kneading another 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and VERY elastic. Wrap it up and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into little portions and work through a pasta machine until you reach your desired thickness (or roll it out on a table using a rolling pin) Next either use a pizza cutter to slice or pass through the pasta machine cutting part. (I'm so specific aren't I?)

Boil a large pot of water and add freshly cut pasta. Boil about 6 minutes. Serve with your favorite pasta sauce.

TVP stands for tasty

Every heard of TVP? It stands for textured vegetable protein.

Sounds kinda weird and maybe gross right? But give it a chance! In this economy a seriously cheep high protein substitute is a good thing right?? It's under $3 a bag, and the bag could feed a large family for at least 2 full dinners if not more. Plus it's tasty!

It looks like some kind of dehydrated grain... then when you hydrate it... it looks like light tan ground beef... I'm making you want to try it right? Hmmm marketing skills not kicking in... Ok how about a picture of it in action?

whole wheat gnochi with TVP red sauce and portobellos

Hmmm that's not the best picture I took... is it? Darn, guess it is... well, you'll just have to believe me on this one... It's super tasty. Crazy healthy. Protein packed. Low fat. And when mixed with red sauce and pasta... you'd think you were having ground meet... not TVP. We made this up last friday (it's Lent, so no meat). Gnocchi cooks in 4 minutes so this whole thing was ready to go in about 15 minutes. Seriously I know! I love fast food don't you?

Portobello Pasta with "meat" TVP sauce
recipe by me. (Feeds John and me, that means three normal people, with sauce left over)

1 package whole wheat gnocchi
1 bottle (1 lb 8 oz) Diavola Red Sauce from Wegmans (or your favorite go to sauce)
1 cup TVP (I use Bob's Red Mill TVP)
1 cup boiling water (to hydrate TVP)
3 large portobello mushrooms sliced
2 tsp chopped garlic
olive oil spray
cottage cheese (if you are John or if you like to mix it into your pasta too)

Boil water for gnocchi.

Microwave 1 cup water in a medium size bowl or large pyrex cup for 2-3 minutes. Remove and add 1 cup TVP, let soak for 5 minutes or until water is absorbed. Set aside.

Spray a wok, or large sauce pan, with olive oil, saute garlic until brown. Add mushrooms and cook through, flipping after a minute or two to cook the other side. Add jar of sauce and TVP. Simmer until heated through.

Once water boils, add gnocchi and cook according to package directions (4 minutes). Drain, and immediatly divide between 2 or 3 bowls, top with sauce, stir in cottage cheese if desired. Serve.

Chow!

Homemade pasta

Happy Fat Tuesday!!

Pasta is one of those things that tastes 100 times better when it's home made, and in truth it really isn't that hard to make. I grew up making pasta dough, among other delicious things, with my Dad. He's 1/2 Italian and grew up where it was the men in the family's job to make pasta. He has two daughters so I get to inherit the men's role :) Ravioli is always my favorite to make with him! Tonight though I was going simple, just a little fresh pasta to have with some breaded zucchini and some red sauce. It's so simple, yet SO FLAVORFUL!

There was pasta hanging/spread out EVERYWHERE when John got home!

All you need is a pasta press and you are good to go! Doesn't it just look pretty :)

A quick dip in a pool of boiling water and we were ready to chow!

Whole wheat pasta
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 eggs
dash of salt
drizzle of olive oil

Pile flour and salt in a large bowl (or if you are brave, right on the counter) create a well in the center and crack eggs into it. Beat eggs with a fork and slowly start incorporating the rest of the flour into the center until well mixed. Then use your hands to kneed the dough into a ball, at this point you may need a little more moisture so a little drizzle of olive oil will do the trick! Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for about 20 minutes at room temperature.

Divide into small pieces (around 8) and work through pasta machine to flatten. Start at the highest number on the side and work your way thinner (lower number) I only did mine to a 3... for ravioli we aim for a 1! Thick dough ravioli is a pet-peve of mine... BLEH! I like mine THIN! Anyway... once you have your nice thin sheets, crank them through the cutting part of the machine (the part in the front right side of my photo above). I did a thicker fettuccine cut as apposed to a spaghetti size width. Separate the pieces and hang to dry. Once you are done cutting all of the dough boil up some water and get ready to chow! Make sure your sauce is done first though, since this pasta will cook up quick (4-8) minutes depending on how thick you made it, and how dry it's gotten since you made it.

Drain and serve it up with your favorite sauce or whatever else you like!

Come back tomorrow for the zucchini recipe, a perfect meal if you are celebrating ash Wednesday and can't eat meat tomorrow... or for a Friday in Lent... or you know if you don't ever eat meat :D

Lasagna for the heart

I'm a big advocate of treating tragedy with good for you comfort food. When something bad strikes, I'm immediately to the kitchen to cook something up to send/ drive over to the person in need. Last week when I heard the news of a friend's father passing I immediately started making a shopping list of things to prepare to bring to him and him family.

Big batch of homemade lasagna, check,
Big batch of his favorite cookies, check.

Lasagna travels well, pretty much everyone loves it, and you can freeze leftovers (if you have any). All you need to do is have the person pop the whole thing in the oven to rewarm or slice out a piece to fit in the microwave. Perfect.


Comforting Whole Wheat and Veggie Lasagna
350 degrees for 45 minutes covered plus 15 more uncovered

6 whole wheat lasagna noodles (uncooked)
1 medium zucchini sliced into long wide (lasagna noodle shapped) pieces about 1/4 inch thick
1 large jar of your own go to pasta sauce (wegmans diavola)
1 container sliced mushrooms
15 oz reduced fat ricotta
1 egg (lightly beaten)
2-3 cups part skim mozzarella divided (depends on how cheesy you want it)
fresh basil and parsley to taste (you can use dry if you don't have fresh on hand)
fresh ground black pepper to taste
(feel free to toss in any other veggies you have on hand, I like to add in bell pepper and spinach)

In a small bowl mix ricotta, egg, 1-2 cups mozzarella, black pepper, basil and parsley.

In your baking pan pour a little sauce and shake the pan around until it coats the bottom. Layer 3 lasagna noodles on top of sauce. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over noodles. Sprinkle 1/3 of the sliced mushrooms along with 1/3 of the remaining sauce to cover. Layer 3 more noodles and repeat with ricotta, mushrooms, and sauce. For the final layer cover with long wide slices of zucchini, followed by remainder of ricotta, mushrooms, and sauce. Finish by topping off with mozzarella.

Cover with tin foil and place in the oven. I normally turn the oven on now, no need to preheat with something like lasagna. Heat at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove foil for final 15 minutes to brown cheese.

shrimptastic

Sunday nights have turned into sauce night for me and John. This past week we made skinny pasta and topped it with turkey kielbasa, shrimp, and mushrooms in a red sauce. Easy, fast, and delicious!

Cook the pasta (whole wheat for me!) according to the package, I like mine aldente yum! Slice up the turkey kielbasa and mushrooms and toss in a sauce pan with a little olive oil spray. Toss them around until they are nice and browned, at this point plop in a jar of your favorite sauce (in a pinch wegmans Diavola sauce is the hands down best in my opinion, spicy!) Stir and turn the heat down to low. I used frozen cooked shrimp so once they were defrosted I just tossed them in the sauce for the last few minutes to warm them up.

This meal goes from start to finish in 20 minutes. Top with some parmasian cheese or a little parsley and you are good to go! I also added in a bunch of spinach into mine for a little added boost.

Chow!

Venison for dinner

So although the following pictures may lead you to believe otherwise... I am NOT a hunter!

at a pals camp in VT having fun target practice with his hunting riffle

practicing my aim for states with my awesome camo bow... (this would be very funny for those of you who know me well... ) "seriously you have a camo bow... didn't you grow up in NJ??"

I know I know... it sure looks like I am a hunter. Can't a girl be a wicked good shot and cloverleaf with an old school muzzle loader, AND place second at the NY State competition in the category Adult Female Bow Hunter Freestyle A Class, and NOT be a hunter? Hmmmm yes yes it is possible.

I know it may be hard to believe but it's true! I love shooting at targets, paper targets or even the big foam animals (they are just too funny, ooo a panther *thump*) (seriously the range I go to has big foam panthers, bears, skunks, and about 20 other varieties of random animals... AND you can shoot from a tree stand for the real deal experience, wind and rain included some days haha) There is something about an arrow hitting dead center and making that wonderful *thump* sound that gets me every time :)

John is also not a hunter, but he grew up in a family of them and his dad and cousins still go deer hunting every year (bow and gun season). I really have respect for bow hunters, it's not an easy thing and add in the elements of wind, a moving target, and guessing yardage, it really is a skill that requires a lot of practice. Don't get me wrong I could never do it, I was joking with John the other night about it... His mom knows I love shooting bows and such and keeps saying I should go out hunting with his dad... I can just see me, draw back, in site, thump... OMG what did I just do *bawling crying*. Yeah that's pretty much how it would go down. hahah that or his dad would have the deer all in site and I'd start screaming "run dear!! run for your life!!!" hahaha

This all being said I'm a total hypocrite because... gasp... I really like venison. Thankfully John came with a yearly venison bonus package (all boyfriends really should come with add on bonuses don't you think?) So I get my fill without any of the badness :) John cooked up an awesome sauce with ground venison for dinner which we had over pasta...


I asked him what was in it so I could blog about it... but he's not talking... so you just get a picture. It was soooo good and even better the next day after it had all marinated all night... mmmmm

PS. my parents didn't even let me have water guns as a kid... yeahhhhh wooops! sorry mom and dad :)

Ok one more really funny picture...

why do people always make you pose like this with a gun??? yup i'm a dork

Healthy Turkey Meatballs

Even though it's summer time sometimes all I want is a BIG bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. If you go to some Italian places they will give you a delicious HUGE portion floating with oil... If you come to my house you'll get a delicious flavorful bowl of YUM! I'll have to write another day about making pasta, it is much easier then you think but definitely takes some time. I didn't have that kind of time this weekend so I used some box whole wheat spaghetti for this recipe. Nice quick and healthy! The meatballs come from my Aunt Carols recipe. Aunt Carol makes AMAZING food! I'm always trying to steal recipes from her. Since John doesn't eat red meat so I've adapted her recipe a bit to use lean 99% fat free turkey meat but keep the nice juicy flavors and textures. Onto the turkey meatballs!! Italian

Turkey Meatballs (adapted from Aunt Carols recipe)
1 lb. ground 99% fat free turkey (Aunt Carol uses... beef or a combination of beef, veal and pork)
1/2 cup grated cheese (Parmesan, Romano or a combination of these) (I used part skim)
1/2 cup Italian flavored breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 medium onion, chopped or diced fine
3 or 4 good size garlic cloves,put through a garlic press or diced very fine
1 rounded tablespoon (about) finely minced parsley
Salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste
(Taste the mixture before adding salt. The cheese and breadcrumbs contain salt)
1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms (I added these to keep the moisture level up since we got rid of a lot of the fat by using the lean turkey)

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. If mixture is a little dry, add some water, a little at a time, until proper consistency is reached. Roll into meatballs, fry lightly on each side in a small amount of olive oil (I used olive oil in a mister spray bottle). When almost all the way cooked through, add spaghetti sauce and cover to steam cook them until done.

Note from Aunt Carol: You can double, triple, etc. this recipe. Also, I find that the beef, veal and pork combination make a softer meatball. Hope you like them!

I cheated and used boxed whole wheat pasta (I like Ronzoni) and Wegmans Diavola sauce, it's an amazing spicy sauce and if you have Wegmans near you TOTALLY GET SOME!!!! (Don't however get Wegmans whole wheat pasta... kinda tastes like cardboard haha) Super fast healthy turkey meatballs, enjoy!

How to make fresh homemade pasta will come another day...

Chow!

john's version with shredded mozzerella and parmasian on top

You can also use this recipe and add it as a meat layer in lasagna! YUM!

Peppers Onions Pasta

So last night I made up a batch of fiesta dip for a BBQ I'll be attending this weekend. Since I was already chopping up green/red peppers and red onions (which made me cry sooo bad last night) I figured I'd incorporate them into dinner. I basically took 1/4 cup of red 1/4 cup of green and 1/4 cup red onion and a dash of red pepper flakes and some black pepper and in a VERY hot pan whip it up with a little spray of olive oil and blackened the outsides up nice, I then added in a little water that smoked up the whole apartment but steamed the veggies nice without making them soggy.

In the meantime I had some whole wheat no yolk egg noodles boiling on another burner. Once those were done I drained and tossed them in with the peppers mixture and drizzles on a little bit of olive oil. Take it off the heat and serve with a little grated parmasian cheese. Delicious!


Random pepper pasta for one!
1/4 cup of red pepper
1/4 cup of green pepper
1/4 cup red onion
dash of red pepper flakes
black pepper to taste
whole wheat no yolk egg noodles (as much as you want to chow)
1-2 Tbs grated parmisian cheese
olive oil to spray and to drizzle

In a hot pan sprayed with olive oil blaken peppers and onion, add red pepper flakes and black pepper. Add a little water to flash steam the veggies. Boil pasta according to directions, drain and add to pepper mixture. Toss with a drizzle of olive oil and serve with grated cheese.

Chow!

Shimp marsala

So while I was home a month or so ago I had made this "dish for one" and it was delicious. I kicked the mom and dad out of the house so they could have a nice date night and promptly started walking around the kitchen grabbing stuff that looked good together. In the end it was fantastic! Serve it up with some nice fresh bread and you are good to go!

Shrimp marsala for one
small handful of linguine (about 1.5 servings)
10-12 cooked frozen shrimp defrosted
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
2-4 shakes red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup marsala wine
few sprigs fresh parsley ripped into small pieces

Bring pot of water to boil and cook linguine according to pasta box. Set aside.

In your favorite saute pan heat olive oil then add garlic, red pepper, black pepper. Saute until lightly browned. Add shimp and toss to coat, pour in wine and cover to steam for 30 seconds. Remove cover and add in parsley. Stir, then pour over cooked linguine and toss to coat.

Enjoy a super fast and easy meal with a nice glass of wine (no not the cooking marsals wine, go buy yourself something nice haha)

Pumpkin Gnocchi - vegan friendly

That's right I was on my last bite when I realized I hadn't taken a picture after they were cooked... wooops! Here is the last one in a nice spicy red sauce. Delicious!

So John and I love gnocchi (NYOH-kee), or if John is saying it (YON-kee)... yes it's an ongoing debate on how to say it. It seems most places in the world pronounce it like I say it... however when in a totally old school italian restaurant in Gates NY... it's the way he says it... hahaha. Since Gates is also known as "little Italy" I seem some cred to it... but being i'm part italian... I'm saying I'm right :) Anyway.... gnocchi is the only white pasta he will eat out, I know crazy huh (we eat the whole wheat kind at home though) I've tried making these before with yams but in a time crunch this recipe is the best! It's super fast and easy. Even though it's made with pumpkin you really can't taste it, it tastes like normal potato gnocchi!

Pumpkin Gnocchi
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup fresh or canned pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
14 cups water

Combine 1 3/4 cups flour, pumpkin puree, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir well to form a smooth dough (dough will be slightly sticky). Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Shape dough into a 12 x 3-inch-long roll. Cut roll lengthwise into 6 (1/2-inch-thick) strips, and cut each strip into 12 (1-inch) pieces. Press each piece of dough with a lightly floured fork. Place gnocchi on a lightly floured baking sheet; set aside.

Bring water to boil in a large Dutch oven. Add half of gnocchi; cook 3 minutes or until done. Remove gnocchi with a slotted spoon; place in a colander. Repeat with remaining gnocchi.

sliced up and ready to be shaped

all ready to go into the water