Pasta

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried
¹⁄₄ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
3 ¹⁄₂ cups butternut squash, cut into ¹⁄₂-inch cubes
10 ounces fresh lima beans or frozen, thawed
2 cups broth, vegetable or chicken
3 cups short pasta (I used a mixture of penne and elbow because that’s what I had)
¹⁄₄ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions
1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until tender and golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, thyme and crushed red pepper and stir 1 minute. Add squash and lima beans and sauté 3 minutes. Add 2 cups broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water. Drain and return to pot. Add squash mixture to pasta and stir to blend.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.  

Comments
This week I had lima beans and butternut squash in my CSA box.  Lo and behold Epicurious.com had a recipe to use both!  How fortuitous!  This definitely had a bit of heat to it due to the red pepper, but it was filling and tasty.  

Shown here with Pepper-Crusted Pork Loin.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
For  Sauce
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced (about 6 cloves)
1 pound meat loaf mix or ground beef
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¹⁄₄ cup half and half
1 (28 ounce) can tomato puree
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

For Ricotta Filling
24 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
¹⁄₂ cup fresh basil, chopped
1 large egg, beaten
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground black pepper

For Noodles and Cheese
9 ounces no-boil flat lasagna noodles
1 pound whole milk mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
¹⁄₂ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions
1. For the sauce: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the meat loaf mix, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and cook, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the meat is cooked, about 5-6 minutes.

2. Stir in half and half, bring to a simmer, and cook until the liquid evaporates and only the fat remains, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato puree and drained diced tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook until the flavors are blended, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste; set aside. NOTE:  You can substitute 6-7 cups of prepared spaghetti sauce for the two cans.  I used Roasted Tomato Sauce #2.)  

3. For the ricotta filling: Stir all of the ingredients together until combined; set aside.

4. To assemble the lasagna: Spread 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch baking dish (avoiding large chunks of meat). Place 4 of the noodles in a single layer in the baking dish. Spread ¹⁄₃ cup of the ricotta mixture over each noodle, and then sprinkle the layer with 1 cup of the mozzarella. Spoon 1 cup of the sauce evenly over the cheeses. Repeat the layering of the noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, and sauce twice more. Place the remaining 4 noodles on top, cover with the remaining sauce, and sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and the parmesan.

5. To store: Wrap the dish tightly with plastic wrap and then foil and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 1 month. (If frozen, the casserole must be thawed completely in the refrigerator, about 24 hours.)

6. To serve: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400*F. Unwrap the dish and cover tightly with aluminum foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake until the sauce bubbles lightly around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until hot throughout and the cheese is browned in spots, 25 to 30 minutes longer. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.  

Comments
When planning the last Game Day meal to go along with Art’s requested Tiramisu, I decided to go for a non-traditional lasagna. But then I started second guessing myself so decided that I should also make a traditional lasagna.  I found this recipe in The Best Make-Ahead Recipe which is a fantastic cookbook if you need to prepare food a day in advance.  

It was definitely hearty and meaty.  Not to mention super easy since it didn’t require the traditional Béchamel.

The Best Make-Ahead Recipe

Ingredients
Filling
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound chicken, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (8 ounces each) packages frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, coarsely chopped
1 cup white wine

Béchamel sauce
4 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons butter
4 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons all purpose flour
4 ¹⁄₂ cups whole milk
2 ¹⁄₂ cups Parmesan cheese, grated
Ground nutmeg, to taste
1 9-ounce package oven-ready (no-boil) lasagna noodles
1 pound whole-milk mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

Instructions
1. For filling: Heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and cook until done.  Melt butter in skillet, without removing chicken, and add mushrooms and garlic; sauté until mushrooms release juices and begin to brown, about 7-10 minutes. Add artichokes and white wine. Cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

2. For béchamel sauce: Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce thickens and lightly coats spoon, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Stir in 1 ¹⁄₂ cups Parmesan. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg.

3. Spread ²⁄₃ cup béchamel sauce over bottom of 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Top with 4 noodles. Spread ¹⁄₄ of artichoke mixture over. Spoon ²⁄₃ cup béchamel sauce over. Top béchamel with ¹⁄₄ of mozzarella.

4. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons Parmesan. Top with 4 more noodles. Repeat layering until last 4 noodles are placed on top, then spread remaining béchamel over the noodles. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. (This can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover with foil and refrigerate.)

5. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake lasagna covered with foil 1 hour (or 1 hour 15 minutes if chilled). Remove foil. Increase temperature to 450°F. Bake lasagna until golden on top, about 10 minutes longer.

Comments
This recipe is from Epicurious.com and slightly tweaked to add chicken.  The original is vegetarian and the chicken can easily be omitted.  I found the recipe in my search for non-traditional lasagna and could not have been more pleased.  I made this for Game Day and it was definitely a hit with everyone.  I will certainly be making this again in the future when I want something other than the classic lasagna.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
2 small winter squash, cut into small cubes
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch nutmeg
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound pasta (I used campanelle)
¹⁄₃ cup fresh sage, chopped
1 stick butter (8 tablespoons)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400*F.  Cover a baking sheet with foil and place the cubed squash on the foil.  Toss with the olive oil, salt and pepper, and nutmeg.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the squash is tender.  Remove from oven.  

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta as directed on packaging.  Drain well.  

3. Add butter to the empty pot and melt over medium heat.  Stir when butter begins to bubble and continue stirring until it browns.  Add sage and continuing stirring for 30-45 seconds to incorporate.  Remove from heat.  Add pasta and squash to the pot and stir well to combine.  Serve.  

Comments
I love butternut squash ravioli but I can’t find the premade stuff locally and I don’t really have the nerve yet to make homemade ravioli, even though I do have the pasta rolling attachments for my mixer.  The idea for this dish has been bouncing around in my head since I made Browned Butter Pasta with Tatsoi the other day.  Why not just take all the parts of butternut squash ravioli and throw it together in a bowl with browned butter and sage?  

It worked very well!  I think I would have been happier with a bit more squash, I only had about 3 cups total from my two squashes.  This was very delicious and I’m thrilled my experiment worked out nicely.  It’s also pleasant when that happens!

Person - Gwen

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₄ teaspoon black pepper
2 cups tomato sauce (I used leftover Roasted Tomato Sauce #2)
1 ¹⁄₂ cups sour cream
¹⁄₂ cup green onions, chopped
¹⁄₄ cup (2 ounces) cream cheese, softened
4 cups pasta, cooked and hot (8 ounces uncooked)
cooking spray
1 ¹⁄₃ cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.  Cook pasta If not already cooked.  

2. Cook meat in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well, and return meat to pan. Stir in salt, pepper, and tomato sauce. Bring to boil; reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

3. Combine sour cream, green onions, and cream cheese in a small bowl and set aside.

4. Place pasta noodles in a 2-quart casserole dish coated with cooking spray. Spread sour cream mixture over pasta. Top with meat mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover, bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Comments
I believe that this is a traditional potluck dish in the Midwest and, if it’s not, it should be!  It’s similar to Ziti, but uses some unusual ingredients.  Art says that he’s always weirded out by the inclusion of sour cream when he sees the recipe and re-amazed at how delicious it is every time he eats it.  Then he has seconds.  

Any pasta shape would work.  The idea of the dish is that it’s being made with leftovers from a previous night of spaghetti so that you’ll be using leftover cooked noodles and leftover spaghetti sauce.  Since I wasn’t using leftovers, I chose Mezze Rigatoni.  

This is an easy dish to prepare ahead of time and refrigerate (or even freeze) until needed.  Just be sure to adjust the cooking time as necessary to take the starting temperature of the dish into account.

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Ingredients
12 ounces center-cut bacon, cut into small pieces
1 red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cups basic tomato sauce
1 pound pasta (I always use Barilla’s Cellentani because it has great nooks and crannies to catch the sauce)
Freshly grated cheese, such as Pecorino Romano, optional

Instructions
1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot and add 2 tablespoons salt.

2. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, combine the bacon, onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes; set over medium heat and cook until the onion is softened and the bacon has rendered most of its fat, about 12 minutes.

3. Drain the bacon mixture in a mesh sieve or colander and return to pan. Add the tomato sauce, turn up the heat and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and allow to cook for 6 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta in the boiling water for about a minute less than the package directions, until still very firm; drain.

5. Add the pasta to the simmering sauce and toss for about 1 minute to coat. Serve topped with cheese, if desired.  

Comments
This recipe is one of the many I’ve tried, and loved, from Mario Batali’s fantastic Molto Italiano.  I’ve tweaked it only slightly to take into account availability of ingredients.  When I serve this pasta, people frequently forget that there are other things on the plate to go with it because the pasta is that awesome.  I think that I could safely say it is my family’s favorite pasta dish.  It’s also a ridiculously simple way to doctor up store-bought pasta sauce and turn it into something amazing.  I usually just use a jar of Safeway-brand Marinara sauce if I haven’t got any basic homemade sauce on hand.  

Shown here with Italian Style Meatloaf.

Molto Italiano

Ingredients
1 pound pasta shells
1 stick unsalted butter (¹⁄₂ cup)
Salt and pepper, to taste
3-4 cups tatsoi leaves, lightly packed
¹⁄₂ cup fresh sage, chopped
¹⁄₂ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions
1. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook pasta as directed on the package.  Drain and return to pot.  

2. When pasta almost done, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir the butter in the pan as it foams.  When butter begins to brown, add it to the pasta, turn the heat to medium, and mix to coat with butter.

3. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add tatsoi and sage and cook until slightly wilted, about 1 to 2 minutes. Toss with parmesan and serve immediately.  

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Comments
I found this recipe at Appetite for China which is a great food blog.  I was looking for interesting things to do with the Tatsoi that came in my CSA box this week and a simple pasta dish fit the bill.  The dish was great although we all found the Tatsoi to be a tidge on the bitter side.  It did give me some inspiration for future pasta dishes of a similar nature, so keep your eyes peeled for those!

Internet - Appetite for China

Ingredients
²⁄₃ cup olive oil
²⁄₃ cup Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
¹⁄₂ cup fresh lemon juice
³⁄₄ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound dried rotini (or other small pasta)
¹⁄₃ cup fresh basil, chiffonade
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Instructions
1. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, ³⁄₄ teaspoon of salt and ¹⁄₂ teaspoon of pepper to blend. Set the lemon sauce aside. (You can also do this with an immersion blender.)

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite, about 10 minutes. Add the pasta to the lemon sauce, and toss with the basil and lemon zest. Season the pasta with more salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to bowls and serve.

Comments
This recipe is another from Giada De Laurentiis’s Everyday Italian.  I’ve named it based on Lance’s exclamation of “Chicken and Screws!” when he came to the dinner table tonight.  This is a great pasta dish, very simple to bring together, and has a robust lemon flavor.  

Shown here with Chicken Piccata.

Everyday Italian

Ingredients
4 pints small tomatoes, quartered
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons olive oil
16 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into ¹⁄₂-inch cubes and frozen for 10-15 minutes
1-2 cups fresh basil, chopped
1 pound small pasta, cooked and drained

Instructions
1. Toss tomatoes, sugar, and ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt in large bowl. Let stand 30 minutes. Transfer tomatoes and any accumulated liquid to salad spinner and spin to remove seeds and liquid. Return tomatoes to bowl. Pour tomato liquid through fine-mesh strainer set over saucepan, pressing on solids to extract juice. (You should have about 1 cup liquid.)

2. Add vinegar and garlic to pan with tomato liquid and simmer over medium heat until reduced to 3 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature then whisk in oil.

3. Add cheese, basil, cooled dressing, and pasta to bowl with tomatoes and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.  

Comments
I recently got a trial issue of the Cook’s Country magazine.  This recipe comes from the August/September 2009 issue.  I’m actually pretty pleased with the magazine and look forward to reading through more issues, although I’ll be getting it in annual form instead of with a monthly subscription.  

I modified the recipe a bit since I wanted to include pasta.  I think I like the recipe I posted previously for Pasta Caprese more, but this was still very tasty and I’ll probably end up making it again.  

Shown here with Grilled Filet Mignon.

Cook’s Country 2009

Ingredients
1 pound ziti, rigatoni, or other medium pasta shape (I use Penne)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 small zucchini, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in purée
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
¹⁄₄ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper
1 egg
1 (15-ounce) container Ricotta cheese (Part-skim is fine)
²⁄₃ cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
¹⁄₃ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 pound mild/sweet Italian sausage, casings removed and sausage crumbled, optional

Instructions
1. Prepare pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, warm the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, zucchini and garlic. Sauté for 3-4 minutes.  Add the crushed tomatoes; reduce heat to medium-low.  Cover the pan and cook until the vegetables are very soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Preheat oven to 325*F. Blend together the egg and Ricotta cheese until smooth. In a 3-quart casserole dish, layer the pasta, Ricotta cheese and tomato mixture, ending with a layer of the tomato mixture. Sprinkle the top with grated Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Bake until golden brown on top and bubbling, about 45 minutes.  

Optional Preparation:  If using sausage, cook in the skillet over medium-high heat for step 1 before adding vegetables.  Omit olive oil and add vegetables to skillet.  Prepare the rest of the recipe as directed.  

Comments
When I’m feeling lazy, I skip layering the components and just combine them all in a casserole dish and stir well before topping with cheese.  This is a great baked pasta dish.  You could easily use prepared pasta sauce instead of crushed tomatoes, and just adjust the seasonings to taste.

I used Barilla’s Plus pasta for this and can’t tell a difference in taste between it and white pasta.

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