Ski Country Pasta

From Sherry Foster

1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 lb bacon
4 cups penne pasta
1 lb fresh spinach
1 1/2 Tbsp dijon mustard
5 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 cups grated monteray jack cheese
1/2 cup fresh chipped basil
garlic cloves
2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced

Toast sliced almonds
Cook pasta al dente in salted water
Fry bacon to crispy/crumble, reserving 6 Tbsp of bacon fat in the pan, add garlic and spinach until wilted
Whisk together mustard and vinegar, add drained pasta, cheese, spinach mixture, bacon, chicken, and basil

One Pot Wonder Thai Pasta

12 ounces linguine

4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup water
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
I tablespoon red curry paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce (and/or fish sauce, if desired)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 inches of a ginger root, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 large carrot, peeled and cut in 1/4 inch by 2 inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut in 1/4 inch by 2 inch pieces
3 green onions, sliced in half lengthwise and then in 2 inch pieces
1 cup roasted salted peanuts
2 tablespoons peanut butter

Add at the end of cooking:

5 cups baby spinach
Cilantro, diced (flat leaf parsley will work in a pinch)
Juice of two limes

Garnishes:

Chopped honey roasted peanuts
Mung bean sprouts

Place all ingredients except cilantro, spinach, and lime juice and garnishes in a large stockpot. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until pasta is al dente and almost all liquid has evaporated – I left about an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot – but you can reduce as desired .

Season to taste with salt and pepper , stirring pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot.

Remove slices of ginger and stir in cilantro and lime juice. Dish up the pasta and then sprinkle on garnishes as desired.

One Pot Wonder Tomato Basil Pasta

Serves 4 to 6 as an entree

12 ounces linguine pasta
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid ( I used zesty red pepper flavor)
1 large sweet onion, cut in julienne strips
1small package sliced mushrooms
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 large sprigs basil, chopped
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth (regular broth and NOT low sodium)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Spinach at the end
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, garlic, basil, in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano. Drizzle top with oil.

Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated – I left about an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot – but you can reduce as desired .

Stir in 4-6 cups of spinach.

Season to taste with salt and pepper , stirring pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Serve garnished with parmesan cheese.

Tuna Casserole

I can't explain why we like this, except to say: comfort food.

2 cans tuna
3 cups macaroni, cooked
2 cups broccoli, steamed
2 cups cheese, shredded

mix together, add sauce:

1 can cream of celery soup
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise
milk to own judgement of consistency

top with:

2 cups cracker crumbs
1/4 cup margarine melted
mixed together

Back at 350' x 30 minutes, or until bubbly

Ptarmigan Pasta

• 9 ounces uncooked pappardelle (wide ribbon pasta)
• 2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 3/4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cup halved yellow tear-drop cherry tomatoes (pear-shaped)                                 
• 1 1/2 cups halved grape tomatoes 
• 3/4 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 cups loosely packed trimmed spinach
• 1 1/2 ounces shaved fresh Parmesan cheese 
• 1/2 package bacon 

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain; keep warm.

Chop bacon, saute until crispy.

1. Add pepper and garlic to skillet; cook 1 minute or until garlic is fragrant. Add tomatoes; cook 45 seconds or just until heated, stirring gently. Remove the skillet from heat; stir in lemon juice and salt. Combine the hot pasta, spinach, and warm tomato mixture in a large bowl, tossing to coat. Top with cheese.

Adapted from Cooking Light, introduced to us by Kelly at the cabin.

Tania's easy pasta

1 jar pesto
1 250 ml container cream cheese
1 basket grape tomatoes
pasta

combine pesto and cream cheese over heat, cook pasta till tender, toss pasta with halved grape tomatoes, combine with sauce

Mac & Cheese

5 cups dry macaroni noodles

1/2 c butter
1/2 c flour
3 c milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 c grated cheddar

1 more cup of cheddar
1 large can diced tomatoes, drained
bacon bits

Cook pasta in large pot of water simmering for approximately 10 minutes, till done. Drain.

Prepare white sauce: melt butter, stir in flour, whisk in milk. Add salt. Whisk on medium heat, careful not to burn the bottom till thick. Turn off heat and stir in 2 c grated cheddar till melted.

Combine pasta and cheese sauce in casserole dish. Sprinkle more cheddar on top, then drained tomatoes and bacon.

Bake 350 x 20 minutes or till bubbly.

Pesto Pasta Salad

Here is Lisa's recipe for Pesto Pasta Salad.  It was a huge hit!

My only warning is that this recipe makes enough salad to feed a small nation.  That nation will have happy tastebuds, though.

Pesto Pasta Salad

 2 lbs farfalle pasta (bowtie)

2 T olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

1 1/2 to 2 cups of shredded Parmesan cheese

4-5 cups of pesto (get that at Costco..delish!)

1/4 cup of lemon juice (or juice from 1/2 a lemon)

small amount of mayo - less than a cup (if you're disturbed by mayo,  don't fear.  You don't even notice it, and it helps the pesto stick to the pasta.)

a bag of baby spinach leaves (trim stems)

1 cup pine nuts (or more) 

grape tomatoes - optional, but makes it more colorful and yum

Cook pasta al dente (11 -12 min) Drain and put in large bowl. Toss with garlic and 2 T olive oil. Let cool. Mix in cheese to taste. Mix pesto sauce with lemon juice and a small amount of mayo (to help it stick to the pasta) and mix with the pasta. Add spinach leaves, pine nuts and tomatoes. Serves about 16-18. Refrigerate. DELISH!

Penne with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Chicken

I had the best pasta at La Bocca in Whistler, and it reminded me of this recipe I used to make from "In the Kitchen With Rosie" (Oprah's former personal chef).  I'm happy to remember an old favourite:

1/4 c sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 c boiling water
6 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/4 c white grape juice
1 T Italian seasoning
3 T chopped shallot
1 1/4 cups chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup fresh peas or frozen peas, thawed
8 ounces dried penne
olive oil
1 T butter
5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 T flour
12 ounces evaporated skim milk
1/8 t ground nutmeg
1/8 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 c chopped fresh basil
5 medium black olives, thinly sliced
fresh parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl, add the boiling water, and set the bowl aside for the tomatoes to reconstitute.

Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil while proceeding with the recipe.

Combine the chicken and grape juice in a shallow baking dish.  Sprinkle the Italian seasoning on top.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the meat is no longer pink and the juices run clear.  Remove and shred the chicken, reserving the cooking juices.

Drain the sun-dried tomatoes and slice them thinly.

Saute the shallots, mushrooms in olive oil.  Add the reserved cooking juices from the chicken as well as the peas and sliced sun-dried tomatoes.  Simmer until the liquid has been absorbed and the vegetables are wilted.  Remove the pan from the heat and cover it to keep the vegetables warm.

Add the penne to the water in the large pot, which by now should be at full boil.  Cook 8 to 12 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce.  Melt butter in small, heavy saucepan.  Toss in the garlic and flour, then whisk in the evaporated milk.  Add the nutmeg and red pepper flakes.  Whisking continually simmer for 5 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in the basil.

Drain the cooked pasta and transfer to a serving bowl.  Add the chicken, vegetables, and sauce.  Toss and garnish with sliced olives and fresh parmesan cheese.

Linguini and Meatballs

 - Nick Stellino

Meatballs:

1/2 c milk

2 T garlic

1/4 c chopped fresh parsley

1/2 c bread crumbs

2 eggs

2 c freshly grated parmesan

2 T sugar

1 t montreal steak spice

2 pounds lean ground beef

Combine, form meatballs, brown in batches in olive oil, place in 9x13.

Sauce:

2 onions, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic

2 T basil

1 T thyme

saute together, scraping in meatball bits

add:

680ml can tomato sauce

2 T vegetable stock powder

2 c water

Pour sauce over meatballs, bake for 2 hours at 300 degrees.

Serve with linguini noodles and parmesan cheese.

Chez L.A. Chicken and Asparagus Lasagna

As found by Kelly

Yield: 16 servings.
4 lbs. Fresh asparagus
1 lb. Butter
2 C. Flour
2 C. Chicken Broth
4 tsp. Lemon Zest
2 C. Half and Half
2 C. Milk
16 oz. Ricotta Cheese
8 whole Eggs
1 box Lasagna Noodles
9 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts, cooked
1 lb. Mozzarella Cheese
1 lb. Parmesan Cheese
Roast asparagus in a small amount of olive oil in oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Make the white sauce with the next six ingredients. Mix eggs, and Ricotta cheese together, and add this to the white sauce. Cook lasagna noodles as directed on package, and coat the noodles with sauce, and lay in a 9 by 13 inch casserole that has been coated with Pam.

Double layer all the noodle layers.

Chop chicken and asparagus, spread over the noodles, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. One layer of noodles and repeat. Top with noodles, sauce and mozzarella cheese. Cook at 400 degrees for 30 minutes uncovered. Serve after casserole has sat for 15 minutes. Toping of red sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Marinara Sauce: DOUBLE THIS !!!!

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped fine
1 carrot, grated
1/2 C. Butter
5 ripe Roma Tomatoes, quartered
1/4 C. chopped Fresh Basil Leaves
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Black Pepper
1 to 1 tsp. Sugar
2 C. Chicken Stock

Preparation Instructions:

In a quart sauce pan saute onions and carrots in butter. Stir in tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper, and sugar. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Puree in blender until smooth. Return to saucepan, add chicken stock and reheat.

tomato sauce with onion and butter

smitten kitchen

I could no longer resist this sauce, and frankly, I don’t know why I even tried to: food bloggers obsess over it, and they’re not a bad lot to base a recipe selection upon. Adam of Amateur Gourmet fell for it five years ago. Molly at Orangette raved about it over two years ago, with a bonus approval marking from Luisa at Wednesday Chef. Then Rachel Eats fawned over it too, and Rachel, you see, she lives in Rome right now — I want to be in Rome right now — Rome, where you can get authentic, perfect tomato sauce a zillion places every single day. And yet she stayed in and made this one. That sealed the deal.

So what is it with this sauce that it moves people to essays over it, tossing about exclamations like “brilliant!” and “va-va-voom” and promises that “something almost magical happens”? Is it garlic, a slip of red pepper flakes, a glug of red wine or a base of mulched carrots, onion and celery, as so many of us swear by in our best sauce efforts? Is it a spoonful of tomato paste or a pinch of sugar? Is it the best olive oil money can buy? It is none of these things, not a single one: It is butter. And an halved onion, cooked slowly as the sauce plops and glurps on the stove, thendiscarded when it is done.


Butter and the juice of stewed onion is all it apparently takes to transform a two-pound can of tomatoes to something velvety and lush. It manages to remind you of how fresh and sweet tomatoes are in the summer, but more fitting for the winter when canned tomatoes are the order of the day.

Another thing that blew my mind about this sauce: I, for one, am a grated parmesan junkie. I not only sprinkle it over my bowl of pasta, I like to have additional nearby, to apply a fresh coat to the layers of pasta that follow. So you can imagine my shock to find that I liked this dish even more without the parmesan. The flavor of the sauce is so delicate, fresh and sweet that it needed nothing at all.

Serves 4 as a main course; makes enough sauce to lightly coat most of a pound of spaghetti

28 ounces (800 grams) whole peeled tomatoes from a can (San Marzano, if you can find them)*
5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter
1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt to taste

Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan (it fit just right in a 3-quart) over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste (you might find, as I did, that your tomatoes came salted and that you didn’t need to add more) and keep warm while you prepare your pasta.

Serve with spaghetti, with or without grated parmesan cheese to pass.

Pasta with Artichoke and Leek Sauce

 - Nick Stellino

Cook 1 lb of penne, set aside

3 T olive oil

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1/4 t red pepper flakes

1 c sliced leeks, white part only

saute together

add to pan:

1 large jar artichoke hearts, reserving back one heart

3 T chopped fresh parsley

1/4 c white grape juice

cook 2 minutes

add to pan:

2 c chicken stock

cook till artichokes break with pressure from the back of a spoon, about 5-7 minutes

puree to a creamy consistency

add to pan:

1/2 c light cream (or canned milk)

3/4 t salt

1/4 t freshly ground pepper

1 pound cooked penne

1 T butter

1/4 c freshly grated parmesan cheese

sliced reserved artichoke heart

pizza

- Jamie Oliver

starter | serves makes 6 to 8 medium-sized thin pizza bases 

This is a fantastic, reliable, everyday pizza dough, which can also be used to make bread. It’s best made with Italian Tipo ‘00’ flour, which is finer ground than normal flour, and it will give your dough an incredible super-smooth texture. Look for it in Italian delis and good supermarkets. If using white bread flour instead, make sure it’s a strong one that’s high in gluten, as this will transform into a lovely, elastic dough, which is what you want. Mix in some semolina flour for a bit of colour and flavour if you like. 

Sieve the flour/s and salt on to a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a jug, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.

Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size. 

Now remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands – this is called knocking back the dough. You can either use it immediately, or keep it, wrapped in clingfilm, in the fridge (or freezer) until required. If using straight away, divide the dough up into as many little balls as you want to make pizzas – this amount of dough is enough to make about six to eight medium pizzas.

Timing-wise, it’s a good idea to roll the pizzas out about 15 to 20 minutes before you want to cook them. Don’t roll them out and leave them hanging around for a few hours, though – if you are working in advance like this it’s better to leave your dough, covered with clingfilm, in the fridge. However, if you want to get them rolled out so there’s one less thing to do when your guests are round, simply roll the dough out into rough circles, about 0.5cm thick, and place them on slightly larger pieces of olive-oil-rubbed and flour-dusted tinfoil. You can then stack the pizzas, cover them with clingfilm, and pop them into the fridge.

ingredients

• 1kg strong white bread flour or Tipo ‘00’ flour

or 800g strong white bread flour or Tipo ‘00’ flour, plus 200g finely ground semolina flour

• 1 level tablespoon fine sea salt

• 2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast

• 1 tablespoon golden caster sugar

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 650ml lukewarm water

tomato sauce

Heat a saucepan, add a splash of oil and the sliced garlic and cook gently. When the garlic has turned light golden, add half the basil, the tomatoes and a few pinches of salt and pepper. Cook gently for about 20 minutes, mashing the tomatoes until smooth, then taste, season again and put to one side.

for the tomato sauce

• extra virgin olive oil

• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

a bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked

• 1 x 400g tin of good-quality plum tomatoes

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Add toppings.  Bake 20 minutes at 500 degrees, watching carefully.

Natalie's Lasagna:

"Here is my version of the sauce recipe.  I doubled it to do 3 foil lasagna pans.  It was big enough that I needed to use two big pots to cook it up. "

In each pot:

1 small onion - chopped and sauteed until soft.  Remove and set aside until after beef is browned 

1 lb of hamburger - browned

Add:

onions back in

1 small green pepper chopped

1 zucchini chopped small

6 or so mushrooms chopped small

1 - 28 oz can diced tomatoes (add liquid too)

1 - can tomato paste

1 - tall can tomato sauce (I used Hunt's - they are maybe 20 oz or something like that)

2 tsp OXO beef liquid  (I'm sure you could sub powder oxo dissolved in a bit of water)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Cover and Simmer at least an hour on low. 

For each pan of lasagna I used 9 lasagna noodles (3 noodles per layer), so plan on a full box plus a few more.  The noodles are a bit long for the pans so I cut the cooked noodles down to fit. With the cut down bits you can actually piece them together and one box will do it for all 3 pans. 

Cottage cheesy layer in the middle:

Mix together and refrigerate until ready to assemble

1 pkg chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 500 mL cottage cheese

2 eggs

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Assembly:

1) Big scoop of sauce on the bottom of each pan - just enough to barely cover

2) 3 noodles

3) Sauce

4) Shredded Mozzarella - I just buy the generic bag pre-shredded (about 1 Kg, I think)

5) 3 noodles

6) Sauce

7) Cottage cheesy mixture (divided amongst all 3 pans)  spoon around and spread out with a spatula a bit

8) 3 noodles

9) Sauce

10) Shredded Mozzarella

Cover with foil and Bake or freeze.  This time I sprayed the inside of the foil with a shot of PAM so it didn't stick to the cheese. 

Bake @ 400 F for 45 min and broil for a few minutes just to get cheese bubbly and brown.

From frozen - I'm guessing it would take more like 1 1/2 hours, maybe a bit more. 

ENJOY!!

Chicken Parmesan

4 chicken breasts, halved

3 beaten eggs

1 c bread crumbs

3 T grated Parmesan cheese

1 14oz can tomato sauce

½ c grated mozzarella cheese

¼ c grated Parmesan cheese

Mix bread crumbs and 3 T Parmesan cheese. Dip chicken in eggs, then in crumb mixture. Fry until golden brown. Put pieces in baking dish and spread tomato sauce all over chicken. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese and mozzarella. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Serve with pasta noodles.

Pasta e Fagioli

2 tsp olive oil

2-3 turkey Italian sausage, casing removed

½ sweet yellow onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes, blended

4 cups of chicken broth

2 15 oz cans of white beans, drained

1 tsp of dried basil

½ tsp of dried oregano

pinch of crushed red pepper

sea salt and fresh cracked pepper

1 cup of tube shaped pasta

1-2 cups of fresh baby spinach

2 T fresh parsley, chopped

Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and sauté. Add the sausage, and cook until done and well crumbled. Add the garlic and stir constantly for 60 seconds before adding the chicken broth. Pour the tomatoes and their juices into a large bowl, blend the tomatoes thoroughly, then pour into the pot. Add the drained beans and seasonings to the soup and simmer partly covered for 1-2 hours.

When you are ready to eat, turn the soup up to a slow boil, then add the pasta and cook per instructions. Taste the soup and re-season if needed. Once the pasta is cooked, add the fresh spinach and parsley. Serve with a bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.

Be careful not to add to much pasta because it will thicken up the soup too much.