Farfalle with Broccolini and the Ingredient "who shall not be named"

Tasty new spin on weeknight pasta

Okay, let's get right to it.  What is this unnamed ingredient?  It must be revolting to not even warrant a spot in the title!  Well, the truth is, this magic ingredient is everything but revolting, unfortunately it is tarnished with a nasty reputation.  I'm talking about Anchovies.  These greasy, briny, tiny little bony fish filets in a pull tab can have such a bad rap, and they really don't deserve it!  When used the right way, they are simple magic.  They add a depth and flavor to your food that you would not get any other way.  Major, major umami.   I urge you, I beg you, try the little suckers out with this recipe.  They really make the dish.  I promise that they do not make the dish taste fishy, and I guarantee you won't even know they're in there in the end!


This is a recipe that I adapted from a recipe of Giada's - just kicked it up a bit to be a little more complex. It's fast, easy, and oh so tasty.  I hope you give it a whirl and become an anchovy convert like me!


Ingredients:

• 1 box farfalle (bowtie) pasta
• 3 T butter
• EVOO
• 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 anchovy filets, minced (don't skip these!!!)
• 1/4 tsp Red pepper flakes
• 1 scant tsp dried oregano
• Approximately 3/4 cup seeded and diced fresh tomato
• 1 large zucchini cut into thin crescents
• 1 bunch broccolini, florets and top of stocks only (could substitute with 1 head's worth of broccolli florets)
• Grated parmesan
• S&P
• little bit of flat leaf Italian parlsey, chopped.

Try them, you'll like them!

Set up your pasta pot with water and bring to a boil.

Melt the butter in some EVOO over medium, medium-low heat. Add the garlic and anchovies and sauté for awhile, till anchovies 'melt' but garlic does not brown. Then, add red pepper flakes to taste, oregano, black pepper and a little bit of salt (anchovies and butter already have salt, and Parmesan is salty, so don't over do it)

Then, add the zucchini and sauté for a few minutes. Next, add tomato, and turn temperature down to medium low. I let all of these ingredients cook down till kind of mushy lumpy sauce is created. Perhaps this isn't the most gourmet way to serve the zucchini, but I like it when it falls apart and can help the sauce stick to the pasta. 

While your sauté cooks down, cook your pasta in salted water. When there are 5 minutes to go till al dente is reached, add your broccolini florets and cook along with pasta for remaining time. When done, drain the pasta and florets, and immediatly add the pasta and florets to your sauté pan. Reserve 1 ladle full of pasta water. Mix well and continue stirring and cooking over medium low for 2-3 minutes so that sauce permeates pasta. Add pasta water if you want it a little saucier.

Serve with a little fresh chopped parsley and Parmesan cheese on top.

Butternut & Acorn Squash Lasagna

Squashy goodness

I'll admit it - I'm having a full blow love affair with fall foods, particularly winter squash.  I didn't do any blogging this summer, but I assure you that I was crushing on summer squash and zucchini nearly as much during that whole season.  Now that the temperatures have dropped, those hard skinned, awkwardly shaped gourds are all over my kitchen (as well as some decorative ones around the house, too.)

This lasagna has been inspired by a couple different recipes - one from Giada and one from Martha, but it ended up being my version.  Most of those versions were leaning too much on the sweet side of things for my taste.  So here's a more savory version that is sure to please.

Squash Filling:

• 1 medium sized butternut squash, 2 acorn squash - seeded, halved, rubbed with EVOO, sprinkled with S&P, and roasted at 400 degrees until fork tender.
• 2 medium sweet onions, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 T butter
• 1 tsp dried sage
• Pinch of cayenne pepper 
• S&P to taste

Remove the squash from it's skins after cooking.  Mash with a fork until smooth. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan and sauté the onions over medium-medium high heat until they just begin to color, approximately 15 minutes.  Turn heat to medium low, and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until they reach a light caramel-y color.  Add the garlic, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Next, add the sage, cayenne, and S&P.  Turn heat off, and add the mashed squash.  Mash and stir well until all ingredients are well combined.  Taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary. Set aside until ready to assemble the lasagna.

Cheese Filling:

• One 2lb container of Ricotta (either party skim or whole milk)
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• Scant 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
• S&P to taste

Mix all ingredients very well, and refrigerate covered until ready to assemble the lasagna.

Béchamel Sauce

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 4 cups whole milk, warmed.
• 1 heaping tsp fresh finely chopped basil
• Pinch of nutmeg
• S&P to taste

In a large saucepan, melt the butter.  Once melted, sprinkle in the flour. Whisk the mixture vigorously until smooth.  Let cook over medium heat, whisking very frequently, until the mixture starts to release a nutty smell and just starts to darken in color.  At that point, begin to add the milk in a small, steady stream, whisking furiously.  Make sure that all lumps are whisked out as you go.  Once the mixture reaches a thick liquid stage, you can add the rest of the milk more quickly, but you must continue to stir it.  Let the mixture continue to heat until it reaches a low simmer and thickens, about 5-7 minutes.  You want it to have a nice, thick, saucy consistency. Then, add the nutmeg, basil, S&P.  Taste, and adjust for seasoning. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside until ready to assemble the lasagna. 

For a quick video tutorial on making a béchamel sauce, look here. 

Other Ingredients:

• 1 box of no-boil lasagna noodles (I prefer Barilla brand. The no-boil noodles save a ton of time and turn out great!)
• 1 lb of shredded mozzarella cheese (I like Sargento brand)

To assemble the lasagna:
In a large glass baking dish, spoon enough sauce into the bottom of the pan to coat the entire bottom.  Next, add the lasagna noodles, with a very slight overlap between them. Top with a layer of the squash mixture, then more sauce on top of that.  Add the next layer of noodles, then a layer of the cheese filling, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella, and then with more sauce on top of that.  Keep alternating layers until you reach near the top of of the dish.  Finish with a layer of noodles with the béchamel sauce on top, sprinkled with shredded mozzarella and grated Parmesan.

Bake your lasagna according to the package instructions for the noodles - the Barilla brand goes into a 375 degree oven, covered with foil for 50-60 minutes, or until bubbly. Then, uncover and finish baking just until the cheese is melted and bubbly on top.

Let rest until it's warm, and serve. It's quite rich, so a small slice should probably do the trick. The hubs and I enjoyed it with a simple arugula salad on the side.

Pasta with Roasted Acorn Squash and Marscapone

Squash and tomatoes, ready to roast!

I'm convinced that nearly everything tastes better roasted.  Roasted garlic, roasted tomatoes,  and roasted squash are the stars of this show.  The roasting process both intensifies and sweetens the flavors of the veggies, and when combined with the creamy Marscapone cheese and the woodsy tarragon and earthy sage, makes a delicious, rich and satisfying sauce.   It's almost mac & cheese-ish with how creamy it turns out, but with far fewer calories!

Ingredients:

• 2 acorn squash, cut into eighths (quartered and halved again) and seeded
• 1 heaping cup grape tomatoes
• 1 head garlic
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/4 scant tsp ground nutmeg
• 1-2 cups chicken broth
• 3 dollops Marscapone cheese
• 1 T chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 T chopped fresh sage
• 1 lb tube style pasta, such as Cellentani or Penne 
• EVOO
• Coarse Kosher Salt & Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Cloves exposed, rubbed
with EVOO, ready to wrap
and roast!

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  While it heats, prepare your veggies for roasting.  Rub the squash with EVOO and sprinkle with S&P.  Toss the tomatoes with a little bit of EVOO, S&P. For the garlic, cut the top off so that the tops of the cloves are exposed. Rub the entire head with EVOO and then wrap in a piece of aluminum foil.  Place the squash cut side up in a glass backing dish, and sprinkle the tomatoes on top of the squash.  Place the foil wrapped garlic in a corner of the dish.  Put in the oven and roast for 30-35 minutes.  Check the garlic, the cloves should be soft.  Check the squash, it should be fork tender.  The tomatoes are done whenever the squash is done. 

While the veggies are roasting, take your chopped onion and sauté in large sauce pan (large enough to hold the pasta later on) over medium low heat in EVOO with a little bit of salt and pepper until it just starts to caramelize, approximately 20 minutes. If it starts to burn at all, turn the heat down lower.

Bring your pasta water to a boil.

When veggies are done, add tomatoes to the pan with the onion, and scoop the squash from the rinds and fork mash in a bowl.  Remove 5 cloves of the roasted garlic (save the rest wrapped in foil in the fridge to use for another recipe or delicious garlic bread), and rough chop it and add to pan with onion.  Sauté all together for 2-3 minutes, then deglaze with the white wine, making sure you scrape up all the good caramelized bits from the pan.

Add the fork mashed squash to the pan, and season with nutmeg and S&P.  Add enough chicken broth to make the squash and veggies form a thick sauce.  Turn the heat to low and let simmer.

Cook the pasta according to package directions for al-dente pasta.

Rich, thick & creamy!

When the pasta is almost done cooking, add the dollops of Marscapone and the chopped herbs to the sauce.  Mix well, and continue to simmer.

When pasta is done, drain and do not rinse.  Add into pan with sauce, and let cook on low for 2-3 minutes to allow flavors to marry and permeate the pasta. Serve with a bit of parmesan on top.

Capresé Style Soup

Maryland was hit by a bit of an ice storm last night.  While the evening started off with a scenic snowfall of about an inch, it was quickly thwarted by the bully of the meteorological world, the evil "Wintery Mix." Soon, snow had turned to slush, and slush had turned to ice, and  every outdoor surface was coated with an ice glaze.  While somewhat pretty from within my nice cozy house, it is not fun to deal with.  Thankfully, it wasn't a very severe storm - the main roads were cleared relatively quickly, and to my knowledge there weren't any downed tree or power line problems.

So, while slipping and sliding my way up my front walk today after work, I began to think about how excited I am for summer.  A food blogging friend and I were just lamenting the lack of culinary creativity that strikes us in the dead of winter, and how everything is much more fun when you can grill outside, stock up on amazingly fresh and delicious veggies at your farmers market, enjoy homegrown herbs, and more.  Craving warmer summer days, I decided to do a winter version of a summer classic, and make a fresh tomato and pesto soup - let's call it Capresé style.   While nothing can touch the awesomeness of fresh summer tomatoes, the hubby and I enjoyed a 'sneak peak' of summer flavors in a dish that was still nice and comforting on such a crummy winter day.

So without further ado, here's my Capresé Style Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups grape tomatoes, sliced in half.
• 1 cup crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup red bell peppers, chopped
• 2 shallots, finely minced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2-3 chicken breasts - cooked and chopped into bite size pieces (I used a time saving rotisserie chicken!)
• 1 box of Chicken Stock
• 1/2 cup store bought pesto sauce (I used Trader Joe's brand)
• 1/3 box of small tube pasta of your choice (I used mini Penne)
• 1 T flour
• EVOO
• Butter
• S&P

Directions:

Sauté the mushrooms over medium heat in a little EVOO and butter until tender and the juices have released, 3-5 minutes.  Add in the shallots and a bit of S&P and sauté for another 3 minutes. Add in the garlic and the bell pepper and sauté until the bell peppers are tender. Add in the flour, and stir well.  Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly.  The pan might get very dry, but that's okay, just keep cooking and stirring.  Next, stir in your chicken and the grape tomatoes.  Cook until the tomatoes gets soft, about 3 minutes.  Then, add in your pesto and mix well.  Add in the chicken stock as well as 1 cup of water.  Stir well, and bring up to a boil.  Add the dry pasta, and instantly reduce heat to low.  Stir occasionally, and cook until the pasta is al dente.  Super easy, and pretty quick.  Enjoy!

Molly's Macaroni & Cheese

Cheesy deliciousness 

Generally, my hubby is a very adventurous eater. However, he is a big kid at heart and some of his favorite foods come straight off the kid's menu - chicken fingers, pasta with parmesan, pepperoni pizza, etc. etc.  He has a huge anatomy test on Friday, and has spent this entire gorgeous fall day at the school library studying even when he'd much rather be on the golf course.  So, to surprise him and to fill his tummy with some comfort & love, I decided to make him Macaroni and Cheese (albeit, a more grown up version), which he adores. Side note, when studying anatomy for hours on end, a dish with meat isn't always the most appetizing, another plus for mac & cheese! Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 smallish red onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped roasted red pepper
• 4 cups milk
• 6 parsley stems (leafy part removed)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp dried mustard
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 6 shakes of hot sauce (I like Frank's red hot)
• S&P
• 4 T, plus 2 T, plus 2 T Butter
• 4 T Flour
• 4 T bread crumbs (I like Panko style the best)
• 3 cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 1 cup Shredded Medium Cheddar Cheese
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
• 1 lb elbow macaroni

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, parsley stems, bay leaf, and some black pepper.  Turn to medium high heat and bring to a rolling boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer until ready to use.

Milk Mixture

While the milk is simmering, in a small skillet, sauté the onion in 2 T butter  and some S&P over medium low heat for 10 minutes.  Turn the temperature to low, and add the minced garlic to the onions.  Continue to cook until the onions are caramelized and reduced, approximately another ten minutes.

Caramelized Onions & Garlic

Now you're ready to make your roux.  A roux (pronounced 'roo') is a cooked mixture of flour and butter.  It is a thickening agent used to make sauces, as well as thicken gravy, soups, and stews.  Roux is something you might not get right on the first try - but that's okay!  Start off with just a little bit of flour and butter, and if it doesn't work out, you're not facing a major loss. New to this blog - I have added a movie along with some pictures to explain just how this works.  Click here to learn how to make a roux, and watch the first part of the movie.  For this roux, use 4 T butter and 4 T flour.

Once your roux is cooked, it's time to make it into a béchamel sauce.  Oh no!  Another fancy cooking term and complicated process!!  Well, not really.  Same as roux, once you've made one béchamel sauce, you'll find that it really isn't too tricky, and it is such a wonderful sauce to have in your repertoire as there are so many things you can do with it!  I also did a video on making a béchamel.  Click here to learn how to make it, and watch the end part of the movie. For this béchamel, use the seasoned milk mixture from above with the bay leaf and parsley stems removed, and add to the roux you just made.

Cheesy Sauce!

In a pasta pot, bring water to a boil and start to cook your macaroni noodles.

Once the béchamel is made, it's time to season it up.  First, turn the temperature to low/medium-low. Add the nutmeg, dried mustard, cayenne, hot sauce, and some more S&P. Stir well. Now add the caramelized onion/garlic, roasted red pepper, and all of the cheese.  Stir well and let it cook until the cheese is completely melted.

Ready to bake

When the macaroni noodles are cooked, drain them well and then add them back into the pot.  Pour your cheese mixture over the top, and mix well.  Grease a large glass baking dish, and pour the mac & cheese into the dish.  Set aside.

EAT ME NOW.

In a small saucepan, take the last 2 T of butter and melt it.  Remove from heat, and add the breadcrumbs and toss until they are all evenly coated.  Take this crumb topping and sprinkle over the top of your mac & cheese. Place the dish in the oven and bake until the breadcrumbs are golden brown and the mac & cheese is bubbling, approximately 30 minutes.  Remove from the oven, and let cool for 10 minutes or so.   The hubby and I like our mac & cheese with a squirt of ketchup on the side.  Enjoy!