pasta
Pasta With Roasted Pepper and Manchego Pesto
Makes 4 servings
Melissa, my pseudo adopted daughter, and family sent us a nice cheese package for Xmas and one was manchego cheese. Lyn saw this recipe in the Boston Globe and we tried and will try again and again. Of course, I cut it in half since there were only two of us but here is the complete recipe for 4.
From Milk Street: The idea for this pesto came from Spanish romesco, a heady sauce that counts nuts, olive oil, smoked paprika, and dried ñora peppers among its ingredients. In keeping with the Spanish theme, we use manchego cheese, a semi-hard aged sheep’s-milk cheese with grassy notes, a subtle piquancy, and a salty-savory finish. A generous dose of oregano adds bold herbal flavor and freshness.
2¾ ounces manchego cheese (without rind), chopped into rough 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup whole roasted or raw almonds
2 tablespoons fresh oregano
Note: I used a heaping tablespoon of dried, since my fresh is buried under 15″ of snow
1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup drained roasted red peppers, patted dry
1 pound Fusilli pasta (you could use whatever pasta you like)
In a food processor, pulse the manchego to the texture of coarse sand; transfer to a bowl. Process the almonds, oregano, paprika, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper until finely chopped, scraping the bowl. Add the manchego and half the oil, then process until smooth. Add the peppers and remaining oil; pulse until creamy.
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup water, then drain. Toss the pasta with the pesto, adding cooking water as needed to help the sauce cling. Season with salt and pepper.
What is Fusilli (foo-SILL-ee) it is a type of Italian pasta shaped like curly spirals or little springs. Fusilli is often served with thicker sauces like meat sauces and heavy cream sauces, since the grooves in the pasta trap sauce. The word fusilli comes from “fuso” meaning spindle—a spindle rod is traditionally used to spin the strips of pasta into a spiral shape.
Fusilli and Meatball Puttanesca
Lyn and I were looking for something for dinner and we came up with making Ravioli Puttanesca but use some of my meatballs chopped up and some Fusilli instead of raviolis. It’s the same basic recipe but I chopped up two meatballs and added some sundried tomatoes to the sliced cherry tomatoes.
I really like the results and will duplicate in future.
Meatballs optional
Breakfast Sausage Ragu cooking from the gut.
We took advantage of a special that Butcher Box was offering bacon and breakfast sausage. My son had recommended the bacon so I figured what the heck. Now with the pandemic you have to make do with what you have. The first thing we had to do is figure out if it had maple syrup in it. Mike never got the sausage so he did not know but suggested smell it. Not a bad idea so I opened the package and smelt away and it did not. Good thing is I still had my sense of smell and taste, if you know what I mean. I cooked a tiny pattie just to make sure and the nose did not fail me. Anyway Lyn made her sauce and I cooked the sausage etc. It was a mild breakfast sausage and I added some Italian seasoning while browning. When browning I like to flatten it and let brown flip then start to crumble, rather than start to crumble as soon as you put in pan. In my opinion it produces a moister browned meat.
I added green pepper, mushroom, spring onion after the meat was browned cooked for a minute then added some of Lyn’s sauce
Cooked the pasta and served.
All in all it came out pretty good for a cook from the gut meal. I think the mildness of the sausage made it possible.
Reign On Steve’s Vegetable Lasagna -Week 17
I remember trips to Maine and those great Sunday dinners of Rose’s. Her smile would grow if you ask for seconds and with one hand holding the edge of your plate making retreat impossible she would pile on the pasta, lasagna, meatballs…..and when you could hardly hold the plate up then she was satisfied you had ample seconds. Well this Christmas I made lasagna in her honor but added some vegetables since Lyn batted her eyes and asked do you think…… I never came up with those picture perfect lasagna but it always taste good.
Ingredients
- 1 box of lasagna noodles ( this time I cheated and used the oven ready ones)
- 1 container (32 oz.) Dragone Part-Skim Ricotta cheese
- 1 large zucchini slice very thin lengthwise – I used a mandolin
- I carrot julienned and roughly chopped
- 1 egg, beaten
- About 1-1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- 1 package (16 oz.) Mozzarella cheese, shredded
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan Cheese
- Pasta sauce -3-5 cups
How
Heat oven to 375
Combine the ricotta, egg, oregano, salt and pepper.
Add 3 cups of Mozzarella and ½ cup of Parmesan cheese mix thoroughly
Spread one cup of sauce on bottom of glass 13*9 pan
Place one layer of noodles – I laid them across since the fit nicely
Cover with a layer of cheese mixture
More sauce
Layer of zucchini and all the carrot
Cheese mixture
Sauce
Pasta
Cheese and sauce
I guess in whatever order you really want to.
Cover tightly with foil
Bake for about an hour minutes until sauce is bubbly
Cover with the remaining cheeses and bake until melted about 10 minutes uncovered
I also finished off with 2 minutes under the broiler I like that very slight crunchiness
Cover loosely and let sit for at least 15 minutes
I served with sauce, meatballs, chicken sausage and salad with 18 year old balsamic vinegar mmmmmmm anything is better with 18 year old balsamic vinegar
Leftover Turkey Day Chili
I looked at the container with the leftover turkey that was left for us. I had already had two or three left over sandwiches and could not bear the thought of another after all it has only been 2 days and Lyn and I had cooked a turkey for leftovers on Wednesday so it was really been 4 days. Wendy’s Dave did that for our family once when we decided to go out to a restaurant for Tday and we figured with original count at 13 we should do the same. Anyway back to the Chili this was make shift and quick so the measurements are a guess.
Ingredients
- 2 cups finely chopped turkey
- small onion chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 small green pepper
- 1 can pinto beans
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ¼ to ½ cup Lyn’s pasta sauce
How
Sauté the onion for about 4 minutes add the green pepper for another 2 minutes add garlic until you can smell about 30 seconds.
Add the rest of the ingredients bring to a boil and simmer until you’re hungry.
With the pasta sauce I just added enough until it look like a good amount.
Gourmet Dad, Don’t Let The Title Fool You 