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Entries in Pasta (11)

Sunday
06Dec2009

Sausage & Pepper Rigatoni Recipe

DateSunday, December 6, 2009 at 5:54PM

Bites of spicy sausage tucked between rounds of rigatoni pasta with crisp peppers in a warm tomato sauce, by Trevy Thomas.

Sausage & Rigatoni. Photo: T. ThomasThere’s sausage and peppers, then there’s rigatoni with sausage and peppers.   I think the addition of pasta, cheese and tomato sauce turns this classic dish into a heavenly comfort meal.  You can make all kinds of healthy choices to up the nutrition factor and lower the fat if you want.  I love gourmet chicken sausages, but have to blindfold my husband if I go that route (fun in a whole different way).  Spicy Italian sausages are really good too, and there are organic varieties of those available now.  Whatever you choose, try this dish on a cold winter night, or afternoon, and remember that food can do a lot to feed your soul as well as your belly.  Enjoy.

Sausage & Pepper Rigatoni Recipe

  • 1 pound rigatoni (or other tube-shaped pasta)
  • 1 pound spicy sausage
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 peppers (1 green, 1 red), chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1 32-oz. jar tomato sauce
  • Salt & pepper
  • 1 1/4 cup grated cheese (your favorite – I like Asiago)

Directions:

  1. Boil pasta in salted water until slightly underdone.
  2. Sauté sausage, casing removed, in olive oil, breaking up into bits with a spoon.
  3. Add chopped peppers, garlic and onion.
  4. Stir and cook about two minutes.
  5. Stir in tomato sauce, and season with salt and pepper if needed.
  6. Drain pasta, and pour half of it into a lightly oiled casserole.
  7. Top with half the tomato-sausage mixture, then 3/4 cup grated cheese.
  8. Finish with pasta, sauce and 1/2 cup grated cheese.
  9. Bake in 375 degree oven 30 minutes.

To go with:

Easy Salad Recipe



 

AuthorTrevy Thomas | Comment1 Comment | Print ArticlePrint Article
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Sunday
08Nov2009

Pasta with roasted acorn squash, mushrooms and pine nuts

DateSunday, November 8, 2009 at 11:54AM

Enjoy the flavors of autumn with roasted acorn squash and mushrooms on pasta, by Dave Utrata.

This recipe makes use of the wonderful winter squash that are currently abundant. After creating this, I realized it’s not so much brand new as a variant of other pasta toppings that one can find on the web. Nevertheless, I find this one has its own unique and filling capability, looks and tastes great!

 

Ingredients

1/2 acorn squash, peeled and cubed

1 cup sliced mushrooms, such as baby bellas

2 TBLSP pine nuts

1 tsp crushed savory leaf

cooked pasta; I’m heartily recommending rigatoni

olive oil

grated parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano)

Directions

Begin by tossing the cubed squash in a shallow baking tray with some olive oil and the crushed savory leaf.  When coated evenly, put in oven at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes to roast.  Remove and bring near stove top.

Cook the pasta as per normal and drain.

While the squash and pasta are underway, sprinkle the pine nuts into a flat cooking pan and begin slightly toasting them; heat and toss them about for even color.  Add the sliced mushrooms and some olive oil; let the mushrooms take on that nice dark color that shows they’ve absorbed the oil.  Add the roasted acorn squash cubes and stir gently.

Now plate a desired amount of pasta and top with some of this mixture from the pan.  Dribble with a little olive oil and top with freshly grated parmesan.

There you have it: simple and so satisfying, a great collection of good flavors.  And this time I was clever enough to actually use a decent camera to catch a nice photograph for you.  Continue to enjoy the fall harvest flavors!

 
AuthorDave Utrata | Comment4 Comments | Print ArticlePrint Article
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Tuesday
21Apr2009

Pesto Pasta

DateTuesday, April 21, 2009 at 3:21PM

A comforting one-pot pasta dinner from Trevy Thomas

Linguine Patrick Moore

I discovered recently that pasta can be comforting even in spring, especially when it's a cold evening.  I've been eschewing it lately because of its tendency towards heaviness, but sometimes you just gotta have what you need.  I needed pasta.  There are a million ways to make pesto, so take this as a guide and do what you want with it.  Where else can you get advice like that?  Use your favorite pasta, switch around the herbs, and add whatever cheese and nuts you have available.  The key to a dish like this is using it when you need a little comfort.  It tastes much better that way.

Pesto Pasta Recipe
Ingredients:


  • 1 pound fettuccine (or some other pasta)

  • 1/2 cup reserved pasta water

  • 1 clove garlic

  • 1 handful fresh herbs, such as parsley, cilantro, basil

  • Juice of 1/2 lemon

  • 1/2 cup nuts (shelled walnuts, pine nuts, or even mixed)

  • 1/4 cup or more grated cheese (such as parmesean)

  • 1/2 cup (approx.) olive oil

  • Salt & pepper


Directions:


  1. Cook pasta, reserving some of the hot cooking water.

  2. In a food processor, blend the garlic, herbs, lemon juice, nuts and cheese. 

  3. Once mixed, add olive oil in a slow stream and continue to process until sauce-like. 

  4. Drain the pasta and return to cooking pot. 

  5. Add sauce and reserved pasta water. 

  6. Season with salt & pepper to taste. 

  7. If there is any cheese and/or fresh herbs left, put them on top of the served dish.  Good.

AuthorTrevy Thomas | Comment1 Comment | Print ArticlePrint Article
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Sunday
29Mar2009

Noodle Stir-Fry with Chicken and Snowpeas

DateSunday, March 29, 2009 at 9:05PM

Fast, Asian inspired one pan dish by guest author, Heather Forsyth.



Stir Fry 006 I can tell it’s almost spring because I couldn’t resist buying a few handfuls of vibrant green, crisp snowpeas that appeared recently at my local grocer.  Snowpeas beg to be put in something stir-fried, with Asian flavors, and sure enough that’s what these ended up in.  For a really “authentic” taste, it’s worth buying the dark sesame oil.  It’s pricey, but a little goes a long way, and makes a big flavor difference here.  This recipe comes together quickly once you start cooking so you’ll definitely want to do your prep work ahead of time, unless you’re an extraordinarily fast hand with a knife (in which case you should give up your day job and become a sushi chef).  I use vermicelli or linguine noodles because I think the flat surfaces are best for this kind of dish, and I like the way they look, but you can use any kind you have handy.  Although I wouldn’t normally rinse pasta, in this dish you’ll want to remove the excess starch to make it easier to toss the noodles around later.


Noodle Stir-Fry with Chicken and Snowpeas



  • 8 oz. dried noodles, cooked
  • 12 oz. chicken tenders or boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips
  • 1 t. cornflour
  • 1 t. sugar
  • 1/4 t. salt (I know it seems redundant with the salty soy sauce, but it seems to need it)
  • 3 T. soy sauce
  • 3 T. vegetable oil, divided use
  • 2 T. dark sesame oil, divided use
  • 6-8 shitake mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 oz. (roughly 30 or so) snowpeas, halved lengthwise
  • 2-3 stalks celery, cut into 1" diagonal slices
  • 6 thin slices of fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • A few flakes of dried red pepper 


Cook the noodles then drain, rinse and set aside.  Mix cornflour, sugar, salt and soy sauce together in a medium bowl, then add the chicken and toss to coat. Heat 2 T. of the vegetable oil and 1 T. sesame oil in wok or large frying pan over high heat.  When very hot, add the chicken and stir fry for about 4 minutes.  Add the mushrooms, celery and snowpeas and stir-fry for 3 to 4 more minutes; then the garlic, ginger and red pepper and cook for another minute or two.  Transfer to a warm dish.  Lower the heat a little, add the remaining oils to the pan, then the cooked noodles.  Toss the noodles until heated through and coated with oil.  Return the chicken and vegetables to the pan and mix with the noodles until everything is hot.  This should serve 4, but in our house it only fed two of us, with just enough leftover to fight over for lunch the next day.




AuthorHeather Forsyth | Comment1 Comment | Print ArticlePrint Article
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Friday
27Mar2009

Pasta with Lima Beans

DateFriday, March 27, 2009 at 1:53PM

A man's take on pasta from contributing author, Dave UtraLima beans and pastata.

I often find myself reaching for pasta for those quick meal creations: easy to do, not much time involved, and go well with wine.  The added twist recently was to use up some items lingering in my refrigerator and cabinets, while still delivering a meaty, perhaps smoky flavor.  While you can expect that the flavoring balance on this should probably be tweaked to personal preference, I was fairly pleased with how this attempt turned out.

Ingredients


  • 5 "baby bella" (small portobella) mushrooms, sliced

  • 6 garlic cloves, sliced

  • 1-2 slices of rare roast beef, as in deli style cut - intended for sandwiches, chopped fine

  • 1 can Lima beans (with bacon added), drained

  • 1 cup pasta/tomato sauce - I used Bertolli's garlic & Vidalia onion sauce

  • 1 chipotle pepper from can in adobo sauce, chopped

  • some small green olives, sliced

  • dash white wine vinegar

  • olive oil as needed

  • rotini (or your favorite) pasta


    Start the pasta by getting enough well salted water to boil; follow the typical timing to prepare.  In a pan, begin sauteing the garlic and mushrooms in some olive oil.  When the mushrooms have absorbed oil and the garlic is just browning, add the roast beef bits and the chopped pepper.  Stir well, and then add the pasta sauce.   Stir in the green olives and the Lima beans. 
    At this point, you want to keep an eye on the mixture.  The beans can thicken the sauce too much if you're not careful.  Keep stirring and don't let the heat get too high.  The vinegar was used to thin the sauce, but it also seemed to accent some of the sweeter or more pungent notes in the taste, the sharpness of the olives, for example, while not overwhelming the smokiness of the bacon flavor of the beans and the chipotle.  Also, a bit of the pasta water may be used to think the sauce to the desired consistency.
    Drain the pasta, pour on the desired amount of sauce (this recipe provided me with enough sauce for two good sized pasta helpings) and add grated Parmesan as desired.  Serve with red wine, duh.
    As Heather pointed out in her last pasta offering, refrigerating some of this for tomorrow's dinner really does enhance the taste.  I don't know if this is because the pasta more fully takes on the taste of the sauce or if some cosmic melding of the flavors creates some new nuance of flavor.  But if I was happy with this the first night, you can be sure I smiled big the second night when I tasted it the next day!

AuthorDave Utrata | Comment2 Comments | Print ArticlePrint Article
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