Pasta

Ingredients
¹⁄₄ cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
8-16 ounces sweet Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
6 sundried tomato halves, thinly sliced
5 tablespoons tomato paste
¹⁄₄ cup dry white wine
16-18 ounces flat pasta noodles such as fettucine, fresh or dried
12 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

Instructions
1. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, and add 2 tablespoons of salt.

2. If using dried pasta, drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until tender.  Drain the pasta.  If using fresh pasta, cook when finished with step 3.  

3. Meanwhile, in a 10- to 12-inch sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot. Add the garlic and cook until light golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the sausage and sundried tomatoes and cook, stirring, until the sausage is cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes. Drain the fat from the pan, then stir in the tomato paste and wine and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

4. If using fresh pasta, drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until tender. Drain the pasta.  

5. Add the pasta to the pan with the sundried tomatoes. Return to the heat, toss in the basil, and stir gently for about 30 seconds. Serve immediately.

Comments
This recipe comes from one of Mario Batali’s books.  If I had to guess, I’d guess that I found it in Molto Italiano.  While many of his recipes call for ingredients I just can’t find, every recipe of his that I have made has been amazing.  This one is no different.  When I saw the name of it I knew, immediately, that I had to make it since it contains all of Art’s most favorite ingredients.  All in one dish!  How perfect is that?  

As expected, this has turned out to be one of Art’s favorite dishes and one that he requests on a somewhat regular basis.  (In this house, regular means 1-2 times a year when it comes to food.)  I made it this time with plum tomatoes that I’d roasted in the oven to dry out, just to see how it would work.  If you use sundried tomatoes, they’ll be much more visible in the dish.  The oven-roasted tomatoes worked perfectly in terms of flavor!

Shown here with Grilled Eggplant.

Molto Italiano

Ingredients
1 pound pasta (I use orecchiette or shells)
1 cup frozen peas
12 ounces center-cut bacon, cut into ¹⁄₂-inch pieces
¹⁄₂ cup dry white wine
3 large eggs
6 ounces Parmesan cheese, shredded or grated (About 2 cups)
3-6 cloves garlic, minced
Salt
Ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook pasta as directed on package.  Place frozen peas in colander and drain pasta over the peas to thaw.  

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add bacon.  Stirring occasionally, cook until crisp.  Drain bacon and return to skillet.  

3. Add white wine to skillet and simmer until the wine is mostly reduced, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  

4. Meanwhile, crack eggs into a bowl and whisk well.  Stir in cheese and garlic.  

5. Add hot pasta and peas to the egg mixture and stir well until the pasta is coated, the egg is cooked, and everything is evenly mixed.  Then add the bacon mixture and season with salt and pepper.  

Comments
I’m not sure where the original inspiration for this method came from.  I went through a phase where I was trying to find the perfect carbonara and would make a new recipe every week.  I tried baked carbonaras and stovetop ones like this, and this was the winner after months of trials.  I like that the garlic isn’t cooked so it’s nice and flavorful.  

I make this with orecchiette because I like to be able to stir pasta dishes that are sauced prior to serving.  I also like the way the orecchiette cups the peas and other ingredients.  

Shown here with Filet Mignon with Balsamic Syrup and Goat Cheese.

Person - Gwen

Ingredients
1 ¹⁄₂ cups orzo (about 9 ounces)
¹⁄₄ cup olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
1 15- to 15 ¹⁄₂-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed, drained (Feel free to use a larger size can if you are a lover of chickpeas)
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
5 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup)

Instructions
1. Cook orzo in large saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender, stirring occasionally. Drain orzo.

2. Whisk olive oil, fresh lemon zest and juice, and minced garlic to blend in large serving bowl. Add drained garbanzo beans, cooked orzo, and chopped fresh oregano; toss salad to coat. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper. Gently stir in crumbled goat cheese. Serve orzo salad warm or at room temperature.

Comments
This recipe is adapted from Epicurious.com.  The original recipe calls for 15 ounces of goat cheese which I’m pretty sure is a typo for “one five-ounce” log of goat cheese.  Quite a difference between 5 and 15 ounces!  I really enjoyed this dish and I’d happily make it again in the future.  The flavor was great and all the flavors came together wonderfully.  

Shown here with Roast Lamb.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
10 ounces orecchiette (little ear-shaped pasta; about 3 cups uncooked)
1 pound small tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, minced
1 pound fresh mozzarella, diced into pea-sized pieces

Instructions
1. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain and return pasta to pot.

2. Meanwhile, mix remaining ingredients except for mozzarella.  Add pasta, stir to evenly distribute and then add cheese.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve.  

Comments
This is based on a recipe from Epicurious.com.  I’ve found that it is important to add fresh mozzarella after some of the heat from the pasta has had a chance to dissipate into the tomatoes and other sauce ingredients, otherwise the mozzarella will all melt and clump together and all of your pretty dicing efforts will be lost.  That’s what the original recipe instructed, and I did, so the mozz in this picture had to be taken back out of the pasta, rediced, and stirred back in once the pasta had cooled a tidge.  Learn from my mistakes and add the cheese last :)

I used beautiful orange tomatoes that are about 2 inches in diameter, so I eighthed them.  You want your tomato pieces to be about the same size as the orecchiette.  

Shown here with Mom’s Chicken.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped (about 3 medium)
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
¹⁄₂ cup red onion, finely chopped
¹⁄₄ cup fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
1 pound pasta shells, cooked and hot
Juice of ¹⁄₂ lemon

Instructions
1. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Immediately add freshly cooked pasta and lemon juice. Toss well. Season generously with pepper and serve immediately.

Comments
This recipe is from Epicurious.com.  If you forget the garlic, like I did, it will still be delicious.  It makes quite a lot and works as a cold pasta salad quite well also.  I used 4 tomatoes, 2 yellow and 2 purplish.  We all had seconds. Cold leftovers the next few days were also fantastic and I’ve modified the recipe to include the lemon juice I added.  It definitely enhanced the dish.

Shown with Baked Pesto Chicken.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients ¹⁄₂ cup olive oil, divided
4-6 Japanese eggplants (about 2 pounds total), cut into 1-inch slices
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed
¹⁄₃ cup red wine
3 cups marinara sauce (This is about 1 jar)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
8 ounces angel hair pasta
1 pound mozzarella cheese, diced
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 (17 ¹⁄₄-ounce) package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375*F.

2. Heat ¹⁄₄ cup of oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add half of the eggplant and toss to coat in the oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté the eggplant until it is golden and tender, about 10 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium. Add half of the garlic and sauté until it is tender, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer the eggplant mixture to a large bowl. Repeat with the remaining ¹⁄₄ cup oil and the remaining eggplant and garlic.

3. Add the sausage and wine to the same frying pan. Cook over medium-high heat until the wine evaporates and the sausage is brown, breaking the sausage into pieces with a spoon or spatula, about 8 minutes. Add the sausage, marinara sauce, and crushed red pepper to the eggplant mixture, and toss to combine.

4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the angel hair and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until pasta is still slightly crunchy and undercooked. Drain. Toss the angel hair with the eggplant mixture. Add the mozzarella and Parmesan and toss to combine.

5. Roll out 1 pastry sheet on a floured surface to a 13 ¹⁄₂-inch square. Transfer to a deep casserole dish that is around 2 quarts in size, allowing the excess pastry to hang over the rim. Spoon the pasta mixture into the pan. Place the second (unrolled) pastry sheet atop the pasta filling. Pinch the edges of the pastry sheets together to seal. Trim the overhanging pastry edges to about 1-inch. Fold the pastry edges in to form a decorative border. Cut a slit in the center of the top pastry to allow the steam to escape.

6. Bake until the pastry is brown and puffed on top, about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Let stand for 20 minutes. Serve.

Comments
This recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis.  It was fantastic!  I selected it to use the Japanese eggplant we’d gotten from the market and it turned out very well.  The original recipe calls for a 9-inch springform pan, but there is no way everything would have fit unless you’ve got a pan with very high sides.  I used a glass casserole dish that’s about 9 inches in diameter and around 4 inches deep.  Plating would have been easier with a springform, I’m sure!  

I didn’t notice any difference between Japanese eggplant and the other eggplant I’ve eaten.  Regardless of that, this dish was great.  In the future I might even skip the puff pastry part and just make it as a straight bake in the oven since the pastry was a bit superfluous even if it was pretty!

Internet - Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients
1 pound pasta (I use long noodles, any shape would work)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Red pepper flakes, to taste (I use a shake or two from my bottle)
1 cup pesto
6 eggs
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese, to taste

Instructions
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta as instructed on the package.  Drain.  

2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add red pepper flakes and stir for a few minutes.   Add the drained pasta to the skillet and stir.  

3. Add pesto to skillet and stir to coat pasta well.  Crack the eggs into a small bowl and then add them to the skillet on top of the pasta.  Break the yolks with your spoon or spatula and then fold the pasta over the eggs.  Repeat this folding motion until the eggs are distributed and cooked through.  

4. Season to taste and serve with Parmesan cheese, if desired.  

Comments
Once upon a time, when Food Network was still about cooks teaching people how to cook, I saw an episode of Essence of Emeril where Emeril Lagasse made this dish.  Try as I might, I’ve never been able to find the recipe online anywhere but, thankfully, it was simple enough that I could recreate it from my memory.  

Art fell in love with this the first time I made it, then we ate it every week for a month or so, and then I got totally sick of it and didn’t have it for 2-3 years afterward.  Art requested that I use the farmer’s market pesto and eggs for this dish and give it another try after a long hiatus.  

It really is a great meal.  Simple, fresh, quick and easy.  Good pesto makes all the difference!

Internet - Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients
1 pound thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cups sour cream  (Light sour cream works as well)
¹⁄₂ teaspoon kosher salt
¹⁄₄ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Extra lemon juice, if desired

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375*F.  Cook pasta following package instructions until al dente.

2. In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over low heat. When butter is melted, add minced garlic, lemon juice, zest, and salt.  Turn off heat.

3. Add sour cream and stir mixture together.

4. Pour mixture over drained pasta, mix well and then pour into an oven safe dish.  

5. Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove cover and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and top with Parmesan cheese.  Squeeze more lemon juice over the top if desired.  

Comments
This is another recipe from the wonderful Pioneer Woman.  I baked it in a 2-quart casserole dish as you can see in the picture.  Art was super hungry when we sat down to a late dinner and, between the two of us, we devoured about half of this.  It was great!  I think that, in the future, I’d want to find a way to get more colour into this dish… maybe peas?  Or broccoli?  Or mushrooms!  I’m sure I’ll experiment in the future as this dish is fairly simple and flexible.

The picture was taken before the Parmesan cheese was added.

Internet - Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons white sugar
6 tablespoons rice vinegar
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 pound soba or whole wheat thin spaghetti
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
¹⁄₂ cup green onions, chopped
¹⁄₂ cup cucumber, diced

Instructions
1. Place the first five ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves.

2. Cook the pasta according to package instructions and drain well.

3. Pour the sauce over noodles, add remaining ingredients and toss well.  Serve warm or cold, as desired.  

Note: If you’ve got other vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, or sugar snap peas, feel free to dice them and add them in with the green onions and cucumber.

Comments
I ran across this recipe on The Crepes of Wrath and, since I was looking for something other than rice to serve with a Chinese chicken dish, I figured I would give it a try.  This is a nice, simple recipe that would be very simple to add other ingredients to in order to make it more robust or a complete meal in and of itself.  I enjoyed it quite a bit and leftovers have been calling to me from the fridge since last night.

Shown here with Shredded Chicken with Sesame Mustard Sauce.

Internet - Crepes of Wrath

Ingredients
1 pound small pasta, such as wagon wheels
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 ¹⁄₂ pounds medium yellow squash and zucchini, cut crosswise into ¹⁄₈-inch-thick slices (I used 8 small zucchini and yellow squash, if you’re using larger vegetables, cut them in half lengthwise before slicing)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₄ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup fresh basil, finely chopped

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

2.  Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook chicken for 5-10 minutes a side, depending on thickness of breasts, until done.  Cube chicken to be roughly the same size as your pasta and squash slices.  Toss with pasta.  

3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until hot but not smoking, and then add half of squash and sauté, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer browned squash to a bowl, then heat remaining tablespoon oil and sauté remaining squash in same manner. Return squash in bowl to skillet.

4. Add garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, 1 minute. Add broth, salt, and pepper and simmer briskly, covered, until squash is tender and most of liquid is evaporated, 6 to 7 minutes.

5. Mix squash mixture with pasta and chicken mixture.  Stir in basil.  Serve immediately.  

Note: Top with feta or goat cheese if desired.  

Comments
This was inspired by a recipe from epicurious.com but modified based on comments left on the recipe.  It’s a nice, simple pasta dish with a lot of great flavors.  I used mini-wagon wheels for the pasta, but this would work well with any small pasta shape that stirs well.

Internet - Epicurious