Gluten Free Pasta: Shrimp in Tomato Cream Sauce

Tweet

This recipe is a variation on one that I hadn't thought about in years.  It appeared in the Sunset Recipe Annual 1988 Edition: Every Sunset Magazine Recipe and Food Article From 1987.

Now the other day, when I bought a pound of medium (21-30 per pound) shrimp, I had no idea I would make this dish. I was musing on lighter, spring-is-approaching food and thought I'd make a quick shrimp and vegetable stir fry.  It wasn't until I passed a display of this gluten free pasta that the kernel of a recipe took hold as I vaguely began remembering making a cream and vermouth-based pasta sauce so very many years ago.

Having recently spent several weeks sorting through my considerable library of cookbooks, donating some to our local library, taking some to a used bookstore, and shelving most in my new(er) office bookshelves, it was easy to look back through a few older cookbooks until I found the recipe: Pasta with Shrimp in Tomato Cream.  Having some but not all of the specified ingredients, I did my own riff and pretty much changed a Mediterranean-ish recipe into one with a Creole bent using my recently purchased Lucile's Creole Seasoning.  And how perfect is that for Mardi Gras month?
Here's the recipe.

Creole Seasoned Shrimp in Tomato Cream Sauce Over Gluten Free Pasta

Recipe loosely adapted from Sunset Recipe Annual 1988 Edition

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons or less olive oil or (and this is really good) oil from the jar of sun dried tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled, deveined, cut into bite-size pieces
Lucile's Creole Seasoning to taste
1/2 cup oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch wide slices
1-2 tablespoons crushed Penzeys Bonnes Herbes (it's what I had on hand; you could use thyme and rosemary if you wish)
5-10 grinds green peppercorns
1 14-ounce can good diced tomatoes
1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock
2/3 cup very dry vermouth
1 cup whipping cream (see cook's notes)
1 8-ounce box gluten free rotelle pasta, or your favorite pasta

Prep:
Fill a large pasta pot with water and bring to a boil. Hold at medium heat after boiling until adding the cream to the sauce (see below).

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet large enough to hold the shrimp and sauce.  When the oil is hot, add the cut shrimp, sprinkling with the Creole seasoning, and saute until pink all over. Remove to a plate and cover to keep warm.

In the same skillet in which you cooked the shrimp, add the diced tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, chicken stock, vermouth, dried herbs, and ground green peppercorns. Stir to loosen the bits that may be stuck to the pan and bring to a boil.  Boil until the sauce is reduced by one-half. Season to taste with the Creole seasoning (remember, the shrimp has already been seasoned with this) and add the cream, stirring to blend.  Boil again until reduced by one-half, or pasta sauce-thick.  Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked shrimp.

Begin cooking the pasta in the boiling water around the time you add the cream to the sauce. The gluten free pasta listed here will be al dente in about 6 minutes.  Immediately drain the pasta in a colander or fine-meshed sieve and then add to the thickened sauce, off heat.  Stir gently until all the pasta is coated with sauce.

Serve immediately with a green salad and crusty bread of your choice for mopping up the sauce.

Cook's Notes:
Creme Fraiche may be substituted for the heavy cream.
Try to purchase organic food items whenever possible; they just taste better.

Copyright 2005-2014, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Christine's Quick and Easy Pasta Sauce With Ground Turkey

Tweet

The title actually says it all about this recipe.  It can be prepped, cooked, and ready to spoon over pasta in about 45 minutes.

My boys (now men) know this sauce well; until they had grown up and fledged, I'd made it for them often, always tossed with spaghetti (although today I used gluten-free spirals), and it never failed to satisfy.  Sometimes I think they liked it better than pizza.

The meat is optional and leaving it out will result in a sauce suitable for vegetarians and vegans alike.

A note about the ground turkey: That mushy stuff sold in some stores that looks and feels like it has glue in it? Try not to use that. Instead, find a good source for ground turkey that looks as though it really was extruded through a grinder rather than mashed into paste.

Yes, I'm using canned tomato products but if you have home made sauces, go for it.  The measurements are not set in stone.  What you want to achieve is a thick, tomato-y sauce that will cling to your pasta.

This is dedicated to my boys (now men).  The recipe is a secret no longer so hone up on those knife skills and get chopping.

Christine's Quick and Easy Pasta Sauce with Ground Turkey
(print recipe)
Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey (not the mushy stuff), or other ground meat, optional
4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 large sweet onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 large red bell pepper, seeds and veins removed, chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
2 small Padrón peppers or 1 small jalapeño pepper, seeds and veins removed, minced
1 tablespoon (or more) organic Italian herbs
1 28-ounce can organic peeled tomatoes (I use Muir Glen Organic tomato products)
1 15-ounce can organic tomato sauce (preferrably sugar free)
1 6-ounce can organic tomato paste (preferrably sugar free)
1/4 to 1/3 cup dry red wine to rinse the cans (more certainly may be used)
small handful fresh basil leaves, torn
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
olive oil for the pan

Preparation:

If using ground meat, heat a heavy skillet over medium-high.

When a bead of water dances on the skillet, add roughly 2 teaspoons olive oil then the ground meat crumbled into pieces.

Allow the meat to sear for about 3 minutes then break apart with a wooden spoon and continue to sauté until no pink shows.  Drain all liquid (save this for the dog or kitties), remove to a plate and set aside.

In the same skillet, add a bit more olive oil then toss in the onions.  Sauté until they soften, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and stir, allowing the aromas to come up from the pan, about 2 minutes.

Add the peppers, Italian herbs, and the contents of each can.

Rinse the cans with red wine and pour into the skillet.

Stir and break the tomatoes up with your wooden spoon.
Add the cooked ground meat,

the torn basil leaves, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, give it a good stir and simmer it for about 15 minutes.  At this point it's ready for pasta, although you can simmer it longer if you have time.

I said it was simple.

Mangia!

Copyright © 2005-2010, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Whole Wheat Pasta With Chicken Sausage And Portobello Tomato Sauce

Tweet

Here's another recipe that was prepared and enjoyed just prior to the flu making its dastardly visit to chez moi. Top billing is shared by two ingredients in this dish:

the fabulous organic whole durum wheat pasta "snails" produced in Italy by Bionaturae, and the delicious nitrite free California Chicken Sausage made with basil and sun-dried tomatoes by California's own Premiere Meats. Located in Mt. Shasta, this company actually started out here in Humboldt county about 10 miles from my kitchen.

Just look at these cool whole wheat pasta pouches - their little mouths eagerly agape, awaiting the saucy morsels that will tumble in. The ridges on the outside enable the sauce to adhere there as well. Called chiocciole, this organic Italian import may be purchased on line here, but I got mine at our local Co-op and am fairly sure you should be able to find it at most good organic food stores.

Portobello mushrooms, sea salt-packed capers and the usual suspects of garlic, onion, organic fire roasted tomatoes, along with white wine and a goodly portion of parmigiano reggiano give their all to this tasty sauce. You want to dice everything so that it matches or is slightly smaller than your pasta shape. This way, the sauce won't overwhelm the pasta.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Portobello Tomato Sauce
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
16 ounces Chiocciole pasta or other whole grain pasta
4 Premier Meats California Chicken sausages, diced
2 portobello mushrooms, gills removed and diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 14-ounce can Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted diced tomatoes (simply the best!)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt packed capers, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups parmesan, grated
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
olive oil for the pan

Preparation:
Put on a large pot of water for the pasta over high heat. Add about 1 tablespoon kosher salt to the water and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, place a small amount of olive oil in a heavy skillet and put over medium high heat.
Add the portobellos and mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are soft, stirring frequently.
Add the garlic, give a stir and cook 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, capers and white wine. Stir again and simmer about 5 minutes or until the juices thicken slightly and everything is piping hot.
When the pasta is cooked, drain it in a colander, put it back into the cooking pot and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil. Give it a quick stir.
Just before serving, stir the parmesan into the sauce.
Serve on warmed plates, sprinkling each serving with the chopped parsley.

Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Butternut Squash Ravioli With Ricotta Sherry Sauce

Tweet

Here's another simple-but-elegant entrée that can be on your dinner table within 1/2 hour. Pick up these fresh butternut squash ravioli from your local gourmet foods store

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Ricotta Sherry Sauce
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
2 packages store bought butternut squash-stuffed, confetti ravioli
1 teaspoon Earth Balance, or butter
2/3 to 3/4 cup vegetable broth (depending on the thickness of your ricotta cheese)
1 cup ricotta cheese, low fat is fine
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley plus more for garnish
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon Sherry
1/2 teaspoon fine kosher salt
several grinds of good black peppercorns

Preparation:
Gently cook the ravioli in a large pot of boiling, salted water until just done.
Remove from the water with a skimmer, drain the water, and put the ravioli back in the pot on the same burner, now turned off, so they can dry a bit.

Meantime, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, saute the garlic slices in the EB or butter until softened.

Add the ricotta cheese and the vegetable broth, whisking until smooth, until the sauce is the consistency you desire.

Add all the rest of the ingredients and mix well, tasting and adjusting to your liking.

Place a few of the ravioli on a warmed plate, drizzle with the sauce and a few sprinkles of the fresh herbs and serve immediately. A salad of crisp greens, citrus, roasted walnuts and goat cheese goes well with this.

Cook's Notes:
A good toasted walnut oil would compliment this dish. I would drizzle it over the top, sparingly, just before serving.

For the past two weeks I've been trying to get this recipe posted. But I've been down with the flu and no amount of wishing and hoping that I could blog has seemed to have mattered. This is one nasty flu bug that renders all the senses senseless - at least in my experience. Mr CC got it too and pretty much feels the same way I do, so at least I know it's not hypochondria. There are several other recipes waiting in the wings that I hope to share with you soon. But for right now, I'd like to finish just this one. The sauce is worth it.

Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Artichoke Pasta With A Creamy Cheesy Tuna-Artichoke Sauce

Tweet

Warning: If you've come to this blog looking for my more traditional low carb offerings, skip this post. This dish is high in fat and high in carbs and utterly, decadently delicious. If that floats your boat, read on.

So, what got into me? It was the pasta's fault. I couldn't resist. I went into my favorite Italian market and deli (Roy's Toscano Market in Eureka, CA) the other day and these jumped out at me. So softly green. Made in Italy. Two ingredients: Durum wheat semolina and dried artichokes. Produced by Maestri Pastai, the pasta is made using bronze draw plates that give it a rough surface and allows sauces to adhere better. I was doomed.

Then I had to come up with a sauce, didn't I? "Why didn't I skip this step and just glue it to my hips?" is what I ask no one in particular when I've indulged in something as highly caloric as this. Thank goodness I don't indulge very often.

Truly a what's-in-the-pantry sauce, I even managed to use a few locally produced ingredients which delights me no end: Carvalho's "minimal mercury" hand packed white coastal albacore (see Cook's Notes), Midnight Moon aged goat cheese, Humboldt Creamery half n half, cipollini onion and garlic from the farmers market. It almost makes up for the calories. Almost.

Creamy, Cheesy Tuna-Artichoke Sauce Over Artichoke Pasta
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
4 cups (about 1 pound) artichoke pasta or other small-shaped pasta
water
kosher salt for the pasta water
olive oil
1 cipollini onion, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 7.5-ounce can premium albacore tuna, broken up with a fork
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, cut into small bites
1 3/4 cup half n half
1 1/2 cups grated Midnight Moon goat cheese
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
pinch red pepper flakes
kosher salt and freshly ground black peppercorns to taste
fried capers for garnish

Preparation:
Fill a pasta or stock pot with water and bring to a boil. Add at least 1 tablespoon of salt and the pasta. Bring back to a boil then lower the heat and keep at a simmer until the pasta is just tender.
Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, toss and keep warm, covered.
In a skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the chopped onion and sauté until softened.
Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and stir until the garlic has softened but not browned.
Add the tuna and the cut up artichoke hearts and stir until warmed through.
Pour in the cream and bring just to a simmer. Do not allow to boil or it will curdle.
Off the heat, add the cheeses, stirring until melted.
Adjust seasonings with Kosher salt and black pepper to taste.
To serve, place the pasta on a warmed plate, spoon the sauce over the pasta and garnish with a few fried capers.

Cook's Notes:
Carvalho's hand-packed albacore is roasted in the can in its own juices so please don't throw the liquid down the drain. Just stir it into the sauce with the tuna.
I highly recommend frying up a handful of capers before beginning to make this dish. It takes no time at all and really gives the sauce a flavor punch.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Braised Pork With Pappardelle Pasta

Tweet

I know. I can hear the roar of questions: What? Is she crazy? Who in their right mind would braise pork in the middle of summer?

It seems I'm constantly apologizing to those poor northern hemisphere souls who are sweating mightily in a summer heat that only air-conditioning, a swimming pool or winter can mitigate, and who would never consider firing up a stove, let alone doing so for 3-plus hours.

I empathize. I truly do. I spent most of my life in the hot, hot Sacramento Valley where summer temperatures could and did top 100 degrees for days on end.

What can I say? I don't live there anymore, Alice. I live on the cool, foggy-in-summer, 58-degree-average-temperature, far north coast of California. Dishes like this are standard fare for us. Well maybe not standard, but you catch my drift - I use my stove winter, spring, fall and summer.

I received inspiration for this recipe from an evening shared with my sister Alwyn and niece Ann at Della Santina's restaurant in Sonoma. There I had the special, Pappardelle Pasta in a Wild Boar Meat Sauce, which was so good I vowed to try making it at home. Then I saw Jamie Oliver's Pappardelle with Amazing Slow-Cooked Meat on Leite's Culinaria and I was hooked.

Yesterday, the arrival of friends L&D back from an extended vacation was all I needed to get me cooking. Riffing all the way with Jamie and Della Santina's, I came up with this dish. Not having a wild boar at hand and certainly not prepared to hunt one down, I used a tamer version - pork shoulder roast.

Braised Pork with Pappardelle Pasta

Click here to print recipe

Recipe inspired by Della Santina's Trattoria and Jamie Oliver
Serves 6 with leftovers
Ingredients:
2-pound boneless pork shoulder, can be tied.
olive oil for the pan
2 tablespoons freshly chopped rosemary
6-8 long sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
2 carrots, pared and chopped
2 ribs celery, strings pared off with a vegetable peeler, chopped
6 cloves really good, fresh garlic, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
1 - 28 ounce can whole, peeled tomatoes with juice (such as Muir Glen's Fire-Roasted or Trader Joe's with basil)
14 ounces fresh water
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 to 20 ounces dried pappardelle pasta

Preparation:
Use a cast iron Dutch oven if you have one. If not, use a stewing pot or some such thing that will easily hold the roast. Be sure to have a tight-fitting lid.

Season the roast all over with kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper.

Heat the pan over medium-high then drizzle with olive oil when hot.

Sear the roast on all sides until the meat is crusty brown and those delicious brown bits (fond) are sticking to the bottom of the pan, at least 5 minutes per side. Lower the heat slightly if necessary to keep the meat and fond from burning.

Remove the roast to a plate and tent to keep warm.

Lower the heat under the pan to medium and, beginning with the onions and carrots, saute the vegetables, adding the celery and garlic after 5 minutes, lowering the heat and stirring occasionally to keep it all from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Add the red wine (I used a 2003 Domaine de Fontsainte, Corbieres Red Table Wine from Berkeley wine importer Kermit Lynch), the chopped rosemary and the thyme sprigs (you will fish out the naked stems later) and deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom. Allow the liquid to reduce for about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, cutting them into chunks with a knife, then return the roast to the pot and add the water to cover most of the roast. If the liquid doesn't cover the meat entirely, don't worry. You will be turning it over several times during the braising period.

Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat to very low, and braise the meat for at least 3 hours or until the meat is fall apart tender, turning it occasionally so all parts come in contact with the liquid.

When the meat is done, the sauce can be reduced if you wish.

Remove the meat to a cutting board.

Using a pair of tongs, retrieve the thyme stems which will now be bereft of their little leaves.

Turn the heat up to medium-low under the pan and allow it to simmer, lid off, until the sauce thickens and is reduced by one-fourth to one-third. I did this because my sauce was pretty liquidy, yours may not need this step.

While the sauce is reducing, if necessary, cut the strings from the roast and shred the meat into small and medium pieces. Add the meat back to the sauce. Taste and add kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper if needed. Turn off the heat, set aside in a warm place and start the pasta water.

Cook the pappardelle until it is just over the al dente stage.

Drain in a colander, put it back into the now empty pasta pot and immediately drizzle with a bit of olive oil, tossing to coat. This will prevent the pasta from sticking to itself. Alternatively, you can toss the pasta with a ladle-full of the sauce.

Place servings of pasta on warm plates, ladle on some sauce and meat and serve to your adoring and deserving husband/significant other/family/dinner guests.

Cook's Notes:

This was good. A blogworthy dish if I've ever made one. And because I used not one but two of my favorite fresh herbs in the recipe, rosemary and thyme, I'm submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging which comes to us courtesy of my friend Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen. Her round up will be posted Sunday, August 5th. Be sure to check it out for great herby recipes from around the globe.

The Bard waits not for slackers...

Mr CC and I are taking off for a week of great plays, dear friends, tasty food, long walks, tastier microbrews, hot weather (swimming pool provided) and more plays. Ashland calls, as it does every August. This year I'll be doing some cooking for the group in our "kitchenette". We'll see how that turns out...

I'll be back Aug. 6th. See you then.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Squash And Cauliflower Stuffed Mexican Hat Pasta With Mediterranean Red Pepper Sauce

Tweet

I made this dish several weeks ago and had pretty much decided it wouldn't make it onto my blog. Taste-wise, there's nothing about this that's not to like. The squash, grown in my sister Cynthia's garden, and the rest of the ingredients in the stuffing are all top notch; the pasta hats so cute, hand made in Italy with all-natural vegetable colors; the red pepper sauce fresh and delicious.

So what's not to post? An error on my part caused the pasta to not cook thoroughly, resulting in tough, rubbery little stuffed hats. The taste was divine but the mouth feel and degree of difficulty in using a fork left something to be desired.

Oh well. Lesson learned: Either cook the little hats completely before stuffing (the photo above shows them cooked for the 4 minutes the package called for), which I think would make them more difficult to stuff - ever tried to stuff a floppy little pasta hat? - or, immerse them completely in the sauce while baking, which would detract from their absolute cuteness and eye appeal. Or, use a different pasta.

You can find these little cuties on-line here. Click here to see what I've done with another of their pastas. And, if you give these little hats a try, let me know if they turn out better for you than they did for me.

Squash and Cauliflower Stuffed Mexican Hat Pasta With Mediterranean Red Pepper Sauce
Christine's Original Recipe
Ingredients:
1 package mexican hat pasta with lids
2 large heads fresh cauliflower, roasted and pureed
3 cups squash puree
1 1/4 cups shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup coarsely chopped, fresh basil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground black peppercorns
1 cup walnut pieces, buzzed in the food processor until coarsely chopped
1/2 cup egg substitute or 2 whole eggs, beaten to blend

Preparation:
For the cauliflower, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
Break the florettes into pieces and place in a large roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.
Cover the pan with foil and roast in the oven for about 40 minutes. Remove the foil lid and continue roasting until the cauliflower is a soft, caramelized golden brown.
Puree in a food processor. You should have about 5 cups puree. Set aside.
Click here to see how to make the squash puree.
Click here to see how to prepare the red pepper sauce. You may need to make a double batch.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta hats and their lids and boil vigorously for 4 minutes.

Remove the hats and lids from the water with a slotted spoon and drain them briefly on paper towels. Set them on waxed paper while preparing the stuffing and sauce (see sauce recipe here).

In a large bowl, combine the cauliflower puree, the squash puree, the shredded parmesan and the basil. Add salt and generous grindings of black pepper to taste.
Stir in the walnuts and the eggs (I used Safeway's Best of the Egg egg substitute) until fully combined.
Have a large roasting pan at the ready drizzled with a small amount of olive oil then wiped with a paper towel.

Stuff each pasta hat with about 1 tablespoon of stuffing. Place the lid on the hat and put into the roasting pan lid side down.

Repeat with the rest of the hats, lining them up in cute little rows.
Pour the red pepper sauce over the hats, cover with foil and roast in a 350-degree oven for about 40 minutes or until the pasta is cooked through.
Serve with a fresh salad of spring greens and a golden balsamic vinaigrette.

Cook's Notes:
Barring the use of the Mexican hat pasta, I suggest using large pasta shells or even manicotti shells.

5/6/2007: The photo turned out horrible, so I'm just going to tell you that I made a delicious soup with the leftover cauliflower-squash stuffing that went like this:

Roast 2 heads (not cloves, whole heads) of garlic in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove the cloves and mash them with a fork. In a large pot, bring 4 to 6 cups of low sodium vegetable broth to a simmer.

Add the stuffing mixture to the pot of broth and stir to blend. Stir in the mashed garlic. Bring the whole thing to a simmer then serve in warmed bowls topped with a dollop of red pepper sauce, a spear of roasted asparagus and a spoonful of cooked Dungeness crab meat. It was not at all photogenic, but it was really, really good!

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Heart Healthy Pasta With Quick Tomato Sauce

Tweet

Barilla has come out with a new brand of pasta called Barilla Plus. It's a multigrain pasta that includes lentils, chickpeas, egg whites, spelt, barley, flaxseed, oat fiber and oats.

Wow! Talk about healthy. You've got your egg whites and legumes for higher protein, barley and oats which raise soluble fiber and my very favorite, flaxseed, for those ever-important omega-3s. This is a pasta I can get behind.

All that heart-healthy goodness plus it tastes good! Really, it does. Paired with my super-easy and quite-healthy-and-delicious-if-I-say-so-myself tomato sauce, this dish was ready and plated in about 1/2 hour. And while I added chicken this time, I would omit it the next time I make this sauce, it's that good on its own.
This is my entry for HOTM3, Ilva and Joanna's blog for heart healthy recipes, The Heart of the Matter - Eating for Life. This month the theme is pasta, on the light side. No heavy creams or butter sauces, thank you.

Not only is this sauce light of fat, it's also packed with lycopene from the canned tomatoes and the anti-oxident goodness of onions and lots of garlic. Fresh basil leaves round out the flavors beautifully.

I call this a pantry pasta because most of the ingredients came out of my cupboards. Sometimes dinner is like that.


Christine's Quick Pantry Pasta
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
1 box multigrain pasta, I used Barilla Plus rotini
1 sweet onion, chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large can Muir Glen Organic fire-roasted whole tomatoes
1 regular size can Muir Glen Organic tomato sauce
2 tablespoons Italian tomato paste
1 glass jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
1 can chunky chicken, optional (mine came from Costco)
fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
good olive oil
kosher or sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper (I use tellicherry)
freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Preparation:
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until it has a good feel to you when you bite into a piece. A bit more than al dente.
Drain pasta, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, stir, cover and keep in a warm place.
In a cast iron skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat.
Add chopped onions and saute until soft.
Add chopped garlic and saute 2 minutes. Do not allow to burn.
Add canned whole tomatoes, breaking them up a bit with the back of a spoon.
Add the tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir to blend. Turn heat to a simmer.
Add the artichoke hearts, chicken and fresh basil. Give it a stir and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
Season the sauce to taste with just a bit of salt and generous grindings of freshly ground pepper.
To serve, place warm pasta on oven-warmed plates and spoon sauce over, being sure to get a sampling of all the goodies.
Garnish with a sprig of fresh basil and a light dusting of freshly-grated parmesan reggiano.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Mac N Cheese Southwestern Style...

Tweet

... Or, how to get a prepared dish on the beach for hungry beach-nighters in just under 2 hours. That was my challenge for this week's dinner on the beach; make a lot and keep it hot my battle cry.

Christine's Somewhat Southwestern Mac N Cheese
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
1 pound elbow macaroni (can be Dreamfield's)
1 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 pound cheddar cheese, shredded
several tablespoons white whole wheat flour
1 cup pimiento stuffed green olives, buzzed in the food processor
1 4-ounce (or more) can diced green chiles, use jalapenos for more heat
4 cups frozen sweet petit corn kernels, such as S&W, thawed
1/4 to 1/2 chile in adobo sauce, minced (careful, these are hot!)
1 to 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
4 eggs
2 cups 1/2 & 1/2
4 ounces sliced black olives
Earth Balance or butter for the dish

Preparation:

Cook the elbow mac in a large pot of boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, stir and set aside in a warm place.

Shred the cheeses (I used my food processor), keeping them in separate bowls

Divide the flour between the two bowls and toss with the cheese.

Whisk the 4 eggs with the 1/2 & 1/2 until well blended.

Stir the diced green chiles, green olives, adobo chile and sauce, corn, salt, pepper and all but 1 cup of each cheese into the macaroni. Check for seasonings.

Pour the egg mixture over the macaroni mixture and mix well, I used my hands, they work very well for tasks such as this.

Butter a large oblong glass casserole dish and pour in the mac N cheese, spreading evenly the the edges.

Put the rest of the cheeses on top of the casserole along with the sliced black olives.

Bake in a 375-degree oven for about 45 minutes or until very hot and bubbly.

To pack to the beach, cover the casserole with foil and place in a cardboard box just large enough for the dish to fit snugly. Don't forget to take hot mitts with you. And a large serving spoon.

Watch the entire dish disappear, especially when the teenagers arrive.

Good night

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

My Life At The Moment

Tweet

Lest anyone thinks I've fallen off the face of the earth, I haven't.

As with many things in spring, gardens need tending, animals need surgeries (what?), taxes need doing, and a house needs putting in order after several months of painting and tile work. I'm still here. Eating simply and tending to the needs of things and critters around me.

I do have a few recipes waiting in the wings - I used the remainder of the Blue Squash to make a filling for Stuffed Mexican Hat Pasta and then used the remainder of that filling to make another delicious soup with roasted asparagus and crab. If that doesn't have you drooling, wait until you try the Mediterranean Red Pepper Sauce I whipped up recently.

As for the animal surgeries: my 17-year old calico cat was whisked (by me) to Sacramento this past Saturday where veterinarian son Josh operated on her lower eyelids which had turned in and were causing her a great deal of pain. She's recovering quite well and is warm and cozy here in my office.

Clown dog, Skip, presented me with an hugely swollen muzzle when I returned from the valley on Sunday which has been determined to be an abcess that will be lanced this week. He's currently on meds and even with a fever acts like everything in the world is so very groovy and "do you wanna play? Now?"

One last thing. I know I haven't been visiting my blogger friends lately (you know who you are) but I want you to know that all of you are in my rss reader and I see what you're cooking up daily. My life should return to somewhat normal soon and I look forward to "seeing" all of you in person.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved.

Italian Pasta In A Spicy Tomato, Portobello, Golden Bell Pepper Sauce

Tweet

Pretty to look at and a treat for the tummy, this pasta dish was eye-popping good, flavorful, packed with fresh ingredients and, hyperbole aside, truly delicious.

The pasta, available here, is hand made in Italy. The colorings are all natural, made from tomato or red peppers, beets, spinach or nettle and turmeric. I mean, wow!, what's not to like here?

Compulsive readers (should I have any) will know that I don't normally "do" carbs like pasta. But this particular one changed my mind. Rich with vegetable goodness, high in protein (a 2-ounce serving had 9 grams), and low in fat with zero saturated fat, this is the kind of pasta into which I can stick my fork every once in a while.

Aren't they beautiful?

Italian Pasta in a Spicy Tomato, Portobello, Golden Bell Pepper Sauce
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
1 medium sweet onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 golden bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 medium portobello mushrooms, stem and gills removed, cut into 1/2-inch dice
5 medium organic tomatoes, coarsely diced, juice and pulp reserved
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaping teaspoon organic, dried thyme leaves
1 very small, hot dried red pepper (or 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes)
Kosher salt
freshly ground pepper medley
1/3 cup dry white wine
juice of 1/2 of an orange
good olive oil
1 teaspoon Earth Balance (or a few spritzes cooking spray)

Preparation:

Prepare all of your vegetables and keep separate.

If using a dried chile pepper, place it and a pinch of salt in a mortar and grind it with the pestle until it's in small flakes. If you like your chile hot, leave in the seeds. Otherwise remove them. Set aside.

Set a large pot of salted water on the stove to boil.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente.

Drain the water from the pot by pouring the pasta into a colander. When drained, place the pasta back into the pot, drizzle with about 2 teaspoons olive oil, toss gently until coated, cover and place at the back of the stove to keep warm.

In a large skillet over medium heat, place about 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon Earth Balance (or, spray the skillet with cooking spray then add 2 teaspoons olive oil).

When oils are hot add the diced onion and gently saute until the onion is beginning to soften. Do not brown.

Add the thyme, crushing it between your fingers, and stir the pan.

Smell the good smells wafting from the pan.

It gets better.

Add the portobellos and saute until they begin to soften and release their juices.

Add the garlic, stirring until it becomes aromatic. Take care to not let it burn.

Add the bell peppers and saute until they begin to soften.

Up to this point, you should be sauteeing, adding ingredients and sauteeing some more for a total of 10 to 12 minutes. In other words, do this quickly. You don't want your pasta getting gummy on you.

Now, pour in the diced tomatoes with their juices and turn the heat up to medium high. Give a few stirs.

Pour in the white wine, orange juice and red pepper flakes, stir and continue to cook until the sauce thickens, about 4 minutes.

Off heat, season to taste with kosher salt and pepper.

Divide pasta among warm plates and top with the sauce.

If you're serving your vegan son, do not add grated parmesan.

Serve with a salad of spring greens and walnut pieces drizzled with a tasty vinaigrette.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved.