A Quick Garlic Spear Pasta Recipe

Here's a yummy pasta dish I cooked up last night, recipe requested by Katie* in a comment on my last post, who got garlic spears in her CSA and is wondering what the heck to do with them. (See? This is a full-service blog: you ask for it, we serve it right on up.)

A quick note about garlic spears/scapes: you really can use them as you would asparagus. They have a different flavor, of course, but they do well in any dish where you would use asparagus. Cook them for a little longer than you would asparagus, however: these guys take a little longer to get tender.

Hubby feeling up the garlic spears

Garlic Spear (or Garlic Scape) Pasta with Prosciutto, Shallots, Pine Nuts, and Goat Cheese

• 1 or 2 heads garlic spears, bottom inch or so trimmed, then chopped into ~ 1-inch or so long pieces, leaving the buds at the top intact. (But if the buds have looooong green parts coming off their tops, I chop that too.)
• 1 shallot, finely diced
• As much minced garlic as you and your family can handle (for us, that's a lot)
• 3 thin slices prosciutto (you could easily omit this for a delicious vegetarian meal)
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted in your toaster oven or in your pan -- just until they start to get fragrant
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup good quality dry white wine
• EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
• Goat cheese if you'd like it a bit creamy; omit if you don't want a creamy-type pasta
• 1 lb pasta of your choice (we always use organic whole wheat)

While your pasta is cooking, heat your EVOO in your pan on medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer -- add your shallots and let them get fragrant. Then add your prosciutto and let it cook up til it's nearly crispy. Then add your garlic and let it get fragrant and nice and yellow-ish.

Add your white wine -- you'll get a moment of divine smells from the wine hitting the hot pan. Then toss in your garlic spears, give it a stir, and let it cook a bit. If you need a bit more wine to keep the pan just a little wet, go ahead and add it.

Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, then toss with your drained pasta, as much goat cheese as you like (I use about 1/2 cup for 1 lb of pasta), pine nuts, and top with a little grated parmesan and salt and pepper.

YUM!

* Katie Kent, is that you?

Baked Ziti

This is one of those recipes that is so in my bones, I don't even remember where I originally got it from. All I know is that this is a recipe for ooey gooey warm deliciousness in a pan.

Definitely one to have around for the winter. And whenever you're watching a Godfather or Sopranos marathon. Am I the only one who craves homemade Italian food when I watch those? I see Carmela take a pan of ziti out of her fridge for the priest who's stopped by and I am like instantly drooling.

Anyway...I digress. Back to the recipe. It's like an easier lasagna, really. And the truth is that the last time I used actual ziti as the pasta in the recipe was nearly 8 years ago -- any short, tube-like pasta will do: penne, rigatoni, fusilli, whatever's easy and on hand. We actually like it best with Trader Joe's organic whole wheat fusilli, but that's just us.


Dena's Baked Ziti

1 lb. short, tubular pasta (like ziti or penne)
1 lb. ground beef (leave this out or substitute with fake meat for vegetarian version)
16 oz. mozzarella, grated
3-4 oz. parmesan, grated
4 (or more, if you're like me) garlic cloves, chopped
1 onion, finely diced
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
dash of oregano

Preheat your oven to 450F.

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. When it's shimmery and hot, add the onion and garlic and toss and let it get nice and warmed through, about 2 minutes or so.

While the onion and garlic are cooking, set the pasta to cook in boiling, salted water in a large pot.

Once the onion and garlic is very fragrant and the onion is starting to get translucent, add a bit of oregano, and after about a minute, add the ground beef and smush it with the back of a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces. Let it brown all over.

Once it's browned, add the crushed tomatoes and stir to get everything mixed together. Let it come to a boil, then stir and bring down to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Drain your pasta and put it back in the large pot in which it was boiled. Add the tomato-beef sauce and mix well. See -- this is why you have to make sure you use a big pot!

Add 1/4 of the mozzarella cheese to the pot and mix well so the cheese is everywhere, all melty and gooey and nice. Toss the remaining mozzarella with the parmesan so it's all mixed together well.

Transfer mixture to a 9x13 baking dish and spread it out evenly. Top with the mozzarella-parmesan cheese mixture and make sure it is evenly distributed across the top.

Pop it in the oven for about 5 minutes. Then turn the broiler on high and let it sit under the broiler for as long as it takes for the cheese to get bubbly and browned in places, but not burnt! Broilers can be tricky and finicky -- I find each one has its own temperament (so to speak), so you gotta watch it closely.

When it is browned the way you like it, remove, serve, and enjoyyyyyyyyyy. Press play on the Sopranos DVD.

Mark Bittman's Kasha Varnishkes

The New York Times' Mark Bittman is making kasha varnishkes today. It looks DELISH. I am so in the mood for comfort food -- pasta is definitely it.

And I'm expanding my Jewish food repertoire!

P.S. Love his blog, Bitten. Check it out.

Mushrooms, Delicious Mushrooms

 

Mushrooms are, to me, often the height of decadence and deliciousness. Sometimes eating mushrooms just makes you feel like that's what eating is all about. During the 10 years I was a vegetarian, mushrooms were my favored steak substitute. A grilled portobello mushroom often tastes as steaky as steak! Mushrooms' flavor is often cited as the definition of umami. I would agree: indescribable and the essence of savoriness.

So when hubby and I received our order of mixed dried wild mushrooms from Local Harvest (thanks to a great holiday gift certificate from my parents), I was so excited. And I knew exactly what I'd make first: my mushroom pasta. It's simple. Delicious. Rich and luxurious. And it's SO EASY!

Dena's Mushroom Pasta

3/4 lb crimini mushrooms
1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms
1/2 - 1 oz dried wild mushrooms (I used morel, chanterelle, lobster, etc)
As much garlic as you like (for us, that's about 6 cloves)
Pinch and a half of chili pepper flakes
Squeeze of lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp transfat-free fake butter
Pasta of your choice (I used whole wheat rotelle, but spaghetti is lovely in this dish, too)

Soak the dried mushrooms in very warm water for half an hour; drain (save the water/stock for later! It adds flavor to any dish), squeeze out water, and roughly chop.

Cook pasta.

Remove the stems and roughly chop the fresh mushrooms. Roughly chop garlic.

Pour 2 tbsp of olive oil into skillet set to medium-high. When the oil shimmers, add the fresh mushrooms and turn up the heat a bit. Stir them and keep stirring every 2 minutes or so to saute them over the high heat, letting them brown a bit and then keeping it moving so they don't burn, for about 5-7 minutes, or until the mushrooms have cooked down and turned a nice brown color.

Add reconstituted dried mushrooms and continue to stir for about 2 minutes. Add garlic and chili pepper flakes; toss and cook for about 2 minutes more.

Turn off heat and add drained pasta to skillet and combine with mushrooms. Add fake butter, remaining tbsp of olive oil, and squeeze of lemon juice and toss to combine.

Season with salt and pepper, top with grated parmesan, and ENJOY your umami experience.

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe & Italian Sausage

On Tuesday night, as planned, we had a delicious dish that I like to make when broccoli rabe is in season. I feel like I've seen variations on this dish a lot - in cookbooks and online. This is my take on this dish.

I love broccoli rabe's strong flavor that, to me, enhances a dish. I know a lot of people say that you have to blanch it to reduce its bitterness, but I find simply cooking it as I do below makes it taste just fine.

And as for the Italian sausage part of this dish, as I've mentioned before, I am a fan of faux meat. And often real meat squicks me out when I have to cook with it. So, my discovery of Tofurky's vegetarian Italian sausages was thrilling -- they are YUMMY! My husband, who is not so much a fan of the fake meat, even likes them. In fact, he really likes them. This is a high recommendation, believe you me. You should be able to find them in the refrigerated tofu section of your store. But if you enjoy the real thing, that would of course work very well! Just be sure to remove the casing and sautee until browned.

Dena's Pasta with Broccoli Rabe & Italian Sausage

1 pound pasta (as you know, I always use whole wheat)
1 medium onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tofurky Italian sausages, sliced
1 bunch broccoli rabe, roughly chopped and washed
1/2 cup low-sodium, low-fat chicken stock
2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan, grated, to taste

Cook pasta in salted water. Meanwhile, heat 1/2 tsp olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat; when it shimmers, add sausage and let it brown on each side. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Add 2 tsbp olive oil to skillet and add garlic and onion. When it's fragrant, add broccoli rabe and chicken stock, letting it simmer until broccoli rabe is wilted and tender, about 3-4 minutes.

Add hot pepper flakes, sausage, and pasta to skillet. Toss to coat pasta, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated parmesan on top. Autumnal and yummy!

Zee's Vegetarian Lasagna

A reader, Zee, has submitted a recipe for what sounds like a great vegetarian lasagna. As some of you know, I myself was a vegetarian for 10 years, until I had a craving for steak 7 years ago to which I just had to give in. I've been happily giving into it ever since. (Though I am very particular about where my meat comes from, what it was fed, and how it was raised.)

But because of my vegetarian roots, I am still a huge fan of faux meat, finding it oddly fascinating and satisfying. And if you read my weekly menu plans, you already know that we eat mostly vegetarian in Casa Dena, simply because it is easier, cheaper, and generally more healthy. That and sometimes I get grossed out when I have to cook meat with my bare hands, so I try to keep it to a minimum. Cooking with meat I can trust does help with the ick factor, though.

So I thank Zee for her submission and hope to get more from readers!

Zee's notes: This recipe isn't quite a veggie lasagna, per se. It's more of a fake meat lasagna. I'm vegetarian, but I missed my mom's lasagna from when I was growing up, so my mom and I came up with this recipe! It's quick and easy and tastes like home.

It's basically your typical lasagna recipe with a few twists. Here are my ingredients:

9 lasagna noodles
Mozzarella (grated) - be sure to save a few thin slices for the top! (something I always forget)
Ricotta
Parmesan
Egg
A jar of your favorite red sauce (I tend to use one with chunks of tomatoes in it to add more texture)
A tube of Gimme Lean(tm) fake sausage (it comes just like tubed sausage - you have to brown it and everything! - can be found where you'd find tofu and other Veggie friendly options)
Parsley
Maple syrup

Cook noodles according to package directions. Brown "sausage" then add red sauce and a little maple syrup (sounds weird, but the syrup gives it a little sweet tang that I love).

Mix grated mozzarella, ricotta, egg, and parsley in a bowl.

Layer thus: smear the bottom of your casserole dish with 1/3 of your "meat" mixture, cover with three noodles, add blobs of cheese mixture on top of noodles. Rinse, repeat until your noodles are gone (three layers). Meat, noodles, cheese.

On the top, along with your little blobs of cheese, add your slices of mozzarella and some grated parmesan, covering noodles as completely as possible to avoid burning.

Cook at 350F for about 30 minutes or until your cheese is all bubbly.

Hope you enjoy!

Dena's Pasta a la Grecque

I lived in Williamstown, Massachusetts for five years, several years ago. During this time, there were few restaurants in this quaint little New England town, and I visited nearly every single one in existence there at the time.

One of Williamstown's restaurants, Michael's, is one of those funny (and, I find, distinctly unique to the East Coast) hybrids of Italian and Greek cuisines. My favorite dish there was what the menu called "Pasta a la Grecque." Where it got this fancy-schmantzy name, I do not know.

Determined to make it at home, I studied the simple ingredients and came up with my own version. I've been making it ever since. It is still yummy.

(A note: when I first started making this dish, I was still eating regular pasta at home. I have since changed my ways and eat only whole grain pasta at home. The choice of pasta you use is, of course, up to you.)

Dena's Pasta a la Grecque

Serves 4

1 lb. pasta of your choice (I use Trader Joe's organic whole wheat)
1 1/4 lbs. broccoli, both heads and stalks chopped - slice the stalks pretty thin
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts
Olive oil
Feta cheese (I use light feta, which actually works perfectly fine)

Set pasta water to boil, making sure to salt it. Cook pasta to al dente and drain, reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water.

Set a large skillet on medium heat and add pine nuts. Stir every minute and a half or so, letting them brown and grow fragrant. When they are as brown and toasty as you would like -- for me, this is after about 4-5 minutes -- set the pine nuts aside.

Meanwhile, chop broccoli, garlic, and onion. When pine nuts are done and out of skillet, turn up heat to medium-high and add 2 tbsp olive oil; when it is shimmery, add garlic and onion. When they are fragrant and the garlic is nearly toasted and the onion is translucent, set them aside (with pine nuts is fine). Add 1 tbsp olive oil to skillet and add broccoli. Toss with olive oil to coat; add 1 tbsp water and cover to let it cook through and steam a little, for about 5 minutes.

When broccoli is cooked through, add pine nuts, onion, and garlic back into skillet, along with drained pasta and reserved pasta water. Toss it all together with another tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil if you wish, add salt and pepper, and serve with plenty of feta cheese on top.

And yes, this was last night's dinner, according to plan.

Winston's Pasta Puttanesca

For those of you who have seen my menu plan for the week, you will recognize this recipe as dinner from Monday night. It's one I've had in my repertoire for years, and it is fast, easy, and delicious. In fact, that's where it gets its name: puttanesca, because it is fast and easy, just like the ladies of the night! I love that fun food fact.

And since it comes from my dear friend Winston, who is another one of my food heroes -- he could saute napkins and I'd eat them, he's THAT GOOD -- it is sure to be a gourmet take on a classic, and always a crowd-pleaser. I've made this many times when we've had people over for dinner, and coupled with a yummy salad, it is a perfect dish to serve and impress.

Winston's Pasta Puttanesca
Serves 4
1 pound whole-wheat organic pasta (or whatever pasta you prefer)
2 or 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly or minced (or less if you prefer -- we just like garlic in our house)
1 shallot (or red onion if you don't have a shallot), diced
1/4 cup capers, drained
1 28 oz. can diced or whole tomatoes, with juice (if you use whole, you'll need to dice them)
1/2 cup olives, any kind and variety you like
1 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning (or oregano if you don't have Italian seasoning)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or a few diced anchovies if you are into that kind of thing)
Salt & pepper to taste
Parmesan, grated, as garnish


Cook pasta. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. When it shimmers, toss in garlic and shallot and let them cook a little. When the garlic is fragrant and the shallot is near to translucent, toss in the capers and sprinkle Italian seasoning and let the seasoning bloom, about 1 minute.
Add tomatoes and let the sauce simmer for a bit, about 2-3 minutes. Add olives, vinegar, and stir, then let it simmer just a bit more, about 1 1/2 minutes. Turn off heat.
Drain pasta, add to sauce, salt and pepper to taste, and stir. Serve with grated Parmesan on top.

Andrea's White Wine Chicken and Pasta

So far, I am loving this blog because I am getting some great dinner ideas from folks! A friend of ours, Andrea, who is of Italian descent and grew up in San Antonio (so she's got GREAT food in her background!), submitted this recipe, which I am dying to try. It's one of her go-to meals -- you know, the meals you make when you need dinner to happen quickly but also deliciously.


Andrea's White Wine Chicken and Pasta

Andrea's notes: I threw all of these ingredients in a pan one night in hopes of making a different recipe. After getting half-way down the ingredient list, I realized I was missing an ingredient (even though I was so sure I had everything I needed to begin with). The modified result wasn't too shabby. It's simple, quick, and can be as flavorful as desired, so it's something everyone can enjoy.

Ingredients: chicken breasts, pasta, white wine, garlic, oregano, parsley, ground pepper

Step 1:
On medium heat, warm 1 or 2 cups (depending on how many servings you desire) of your favorite white wine (something smooth, not incredibly fruity so that you avoid blending contrasting herbs with fruit. One of my favorites is a 2003 Andretti Estate Chardonnay. It has a low alcohol taste. Andretti is very crisp and light. I'm sure you could also do this with a dry wine or a red wine of choice).

2. Add crushed garlic and season to taste with oregano, parsley, and fresh ground pepper.

3. Add in chicken breasts and turn as needed. Keep on medium heat so as not to boil/thicken the wine.

4. Bring a pot of water to boil, add pasta and cook until al dente .

5. Once the chicken is done (for me, this is about 12 -15 minutes), pour wine sauce and chicken over pasta.

Goal: as the chicken cooks, it will absorb the wine creating a moist, flavorful chicken.

Considerations:
Serve with bread and side salad. Use whole-wheat pasta, or organic ingredients including a semi-organic wine.