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Rapini, Pea, and Tomato Pasta

May 31, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Rapini, Pea and Tomato pasta

I made homemade pasta noodles the other night with a great vegetarian sauce of vegetables straight from our CSA share. It was one of those dishes where you just keep throwing veggies in that you have on hand and then are pleasantly surprised when it comes out great! I used Rapini greens, freshly shelled english peas, and leeks from the CSA. You could easily substitute with onion and frozen peas if that's what you have on hand. I'm sure it would be great with other cooking greens as well: kale, chard or spinach would probably all work. I was in the mood to make fresh pasta that night but store bought will work just as well. Mine is Bucatini shaped. Penne, Rigatoni or macaroni would all work. Rapini, Pea & Tomato Pasta 2 medium leeks, chopped 1 bunch Rapini greens, chopped 1 1/2 cups english peas, freshly shelled 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp italian seasoning pinch red pepper flakes 28 oz can diced tomatoes 1/2 cup white white (water or broth would … [Read more...]

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Orzo with Tomato, Zucchini and Parmesan

November 6, 2010 by · 1 Comment
Orzo with tomato and zucchini

This is a quick and easy pasta dish that I whipped up the other night for my mom. It worked well for a light dinner on it's own or could easily be a side dish. We had kind of a late lunch that day and didn't want to eat much so I made this veggie pasta. This simple dish only has a few ingredients: orzo, zucchini, tomatoes, Parmesan, and lemon juice. I used my Mandolineto cut the zucchini into a fine julienne. If you don't have mandoline, I highly recommend you get one. It makes julienned vegetables take no time at all. I had no idea how much I'd love it until I got one. Seriously, money well spent! Ingredients: 2/3 pound of orzo 2 medium zucchini, fine julienne 8 early girl tomatoes (about 2 cups), chopped 3 oz Parmesan, finely grated juice of 1/2 lemon salt, pepper  to taste red pepper seeds (optional) Bring pot of salted water to boil. Cook orzo according to package instructions. While water boils julienne the zucchinis into the finest setting on … [Read more...]

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Ratatouille

September 8, 2010 by · 2 Comments
ratatouille

This past Christmas I put Mastering the Art of French Cooking on my wish list. I really enjoyed the movie Julie & Julia and thought it would be fun to try my hand at some of the French techniques. I LOVE this cookbook. Everything I've made in it so far is unbelievably fussy and taken forever to cook. Everything I've cooked in it has also been unbelievably delicious and worth the effort. This year we've been having a Julia night once a month or so. It's been fun to try my hand at making fancy food. We've had friends over a few times to enjoy a recipe or two from the cookbook and watch the movie. Don't be surprised to see more Julia recipes popping up over time. For a while now I've been eyeing the Ratatouille recipe and planning to make it when I received eggplant from my CSA share. Well, this week's share seemed made to order for ratatouille! I used the tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini from this week and the parsley from last week. I only needed a few other ingredients and I had … [Read more...]

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Handmade Beet Pasta

September 5, 2010 by · 3 Comments
Beet Pasta ball

A friend reminded me I never followed up on that homemade beet pasta I talked about a few weeks ago. I did make it, and it was delicious! I started making fresh pasta a few years ago when my husband bought me the attachment to go with my Kitchenaid Mixer. Homemade pasta is easy and fun to make. We like to make it so much that when the new extruder attachment came out this year, we had to have it! Remember when you were a kid and you used those fantastic presses to make fun Play-Doh shapes? It's just like that but now you're an adult making dinner! Anyway these definitely fall into the category of "gadgets I love"! It's also a great way to involve the kids in the kitchen, my son is always happy to help out with pasta making. Isn't the color of that beet pasta coming out amazing! You only need a small amount of beet puree to make this beautiful color. The beet flavor doesn't really come through much into the flavor of the pasta, it's more about the color . You can make a multitude … [Read more...]

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Homemade Sausage Lasagna

August 1, 2010 by · 1 Comment

I'm finally getting around to that Lasagna recipe! Time got away from me a bit the last few days. Homemade lasagna is really quite easy to make and absolutely delicious. For mine I've started making handmade fresh pasta sheets and wow is it fabulous! You don't have to go that fancy though to start with, lasagna noodles from the store will work just fine or if you can find them you can buy freshly made pasta sheets at some stores or Farmer's Markets. I will feature a post soon on how make your own pasta. I started making my by hand a few years ago when I got some of the pasta attachments for my KitchenAid mixer. It is fun! My mom makes a great lasagna and taught me how to make it when I was a child. It has been a family favorite for many years. This recipe is for a sausage lasagna. I also make a great Spinach Lasagna which I'll feature soon too. This recipe makes a large 13x9 full pan of deep dish lasagna. It will serve a crowd. It also freezes beautifully. I often make it and … [Read more...]

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Chunky Tomato Pasta Sauce

August 1, 2010 by · 4 Comments
Pasta Sauce Photo

My family loves a good pasta with red sauce night. Being a foodie there is no way I can just heat up a jar of sauce and call it dinner. I HAVE to mess with it. This is a good basic recipe that can be varied in a lot of ways, using whatever vegetables you have on hand. It's a great way to clean the fridge of all the remnants from the previous weeks CSA shares too. This recipe uses a jar of organic marinara sauce to make it easy but using fresh tomatoes makes it even better if they are in season. Ingredients: 1 large fennel bulb, diced 1 large onion, diced 1 zucchini, diced 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 red bell pepper, diced 3 Teaspoons olive oil 1 jar organic marinara sauce 1 large can organic diced tomatoes 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil( 2 tsp dried will work but fresh is sooo much better!) 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh oregano (2 tsp dried will work too) Red Pepper Flakes (optional, amount varies by your preferred spice level, 1 use about 1/2 teaspoon) Heat … [Read more...]

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Israeli Couscous with Beet Greens and Parsley Root

July 9, 2010 by · 1 Comment
Beet Greens and Parsley Root photo

Remember how I told you not to throw away those beet greens? This recipe is a great side dish to serve with grilled meat or as a vegetarian dish all on it's own. I used Israeli Couscous which is a much bigger size of pasta than the regular couscous you may have used previously. I prefer the larger grains in this dish but regular couscous would work just as well if that's all you can find. From my CSA share I used the beet greens & stems and one parsley root in this dish. Any cooking green could easily be substituted into this very versatile dish. Israeli Couscous with Beet Greens & Parsley Root To prepare the couscous: 1 tablespoon Olive Oil 1 1/3 cups israeli couscous 1 3/4 cups very hot water In a medium saucepan saute the couscous in the olive oil over medium heat until lightly browned (about 5 minutes). Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cook, covered, for 12 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. While couscous is cooking … [Read more...]

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