Filed under: Italian, pasta | Tags: vegetarian, tomato, pasta, chevre, cous cous, feta, spinach
So I realized that almost everything I make now is inspired by the cheese that I get from Guinevere. Here are two more dishes that I made with them that turned out well, one with feta and the other with chevre. I am busy snacking on some cheddar and crackers as well!
From recipezaar:
Alexandra’s Feta Pasta (I don’t know Alexandra, jus the name of the recipe!)
1 (16 oz) bag frozen chopped spinach
2 (14 1/2 oz) cans diced tomatoes (one with Italian seasoning the other with onion and garlic)
1 onion, choppped
8 oz crumbled feta (but you can use more or less, I probably used less)
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbl olive oil
16 oz pasta (something large, short, and shapely like ziti… I used multigrain)
1/4 cup fresh parmesan, grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt, crushed red pepper, and pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 350 F and defrost the spinach. Boil water for pasta according to package directions in a saucepan. Meanwhile, saute the onion in in the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once onions are soft, add the garlic, then the tomatoes (partially drained) and the drained spinach. Drain the pasta when cooked and put half in a 9″x13″ pan. Put half the veggies on top, half the feta, and half the cream (and seasoning). Mix together and repeat. Sprinkle the parmesan on top, cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Take the foil off for the last few minutes to get a crusty top. Some people suggested adding bacon, green peppers, Italian sausage, or chicken breast, but I thought it was pretty good as is!
This recipe tastes really good and is simple to make but I am not always a big fan of using canned tomatoes and frozen spinach. Frankly, this time of year produces pretty watery tomatoes at the grocery store and there is no farmer’s market to speak of so canned seemed like a good alternative and I gave in.
Another recipe I tried was just jazzed up cous cous. I have had three boxes of “Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil” cous cous sitting in my pantry for at least a year so I finally decided to cook one. To make it more of a complete meal, I added bits of chevre and chopped fresh spinach. So try that too!
Filed under: cheese, pasta, snack | Tags: fondue, macaroni and cheese, pasta, stilton, swiss
Last week Guinevere gave me some eggs, a stilton style cheese, and a baby swiss. I put them to very good use:
Stilton Mac and Cheese
1/4 lb dry pasta (elbow macaroni!)
about a tsp of butter
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp each salt and dry mustard
about 2/3 cup crumbled stilton cheese, 1/3 cup grated low-fat mozzarella or whateva, extra for sprinkling
1/2 cup milk (I used skim)
Preheat the oven to 350. Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and stir in the egg and butter. Stir in the cheese and pour into a gresed casserole dish. Mix the mustard and salt with 1/2 tbl hot water and add to the milk. Pour the milk over the top of the casserole and sprinkle on some cheese. Cook for about 45 minutes of until the custard sets.
The macaroni recipe was adapted from President Reagan’s Favorite Macaroni and Cheese on Recipezaar. The egg is critical. This was incrdibly rich and crusty and easy to make and I am just infatuated with it!
Stilton and Swiss Fondue
some stilton and swiss cheese, about twice as much swiss as stilton (6 oz altogether? play with the quantities in this recipe)
1/4 cup dry white wine
splash of brandy
black pepper and nutmeg, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp cornstarch
bread or fruit or whateva for dipping
I kept adding wine and cheese so I am not sure what the exact quantities are. Just throw them in a saucepan, melt and mix them, and keep tasting until it is to your liking. It’s not like you can mess this up. It’s cheese and wine and garlic and brandy!!! I tried to eat it at the table but the cheese got hard before I could finish so I ended up eating it off the stove. The drawback of not having a fondue pot.
I have been cooking up a storm but haven’t updated for a while. I feel like I should be able to offer more insights into food than simply listing recipes. My insight here is that this is really good! Haha. I feel cool/talented when I cook it because there is a chemistry and transformation of ingredients that goes on. I made it for my Valentine as a pre-Valentine’s day treat.
Gnocchi in a Sun-Dried Tomato Bechamel Sauce
1 lb gnocchi
butter for cooking
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup parsley, minced
handful of sun-dried tomatoes, ready to eat (I think the more the better!)
1/4 cup white wine
salt, to taste
2 cups bechamel sauce
For the bechamel sauce:
3 tbl butter
3 tbl flour
2 cups whole milk
salt an any combination of herbs, nutmeg, or cayenne
Melt the 3 tbl of butter for the bechamel sauce in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, stir, and cook for about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and bring to a boil, stirring the whole time. Let the sauce simmer on low heat for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Add salt and any herbs or spices that you like.
Melt the butter over low heat in a skillet. Cook the onions and parsley for about 10 minutes over medium heat and sprinkle with salt. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and wine and cook until the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the ingredients to the bechamel sauce and mix well. Cook the gnocchi according the directions, drain, and mix in with the sauce.
Filed under: Italian, pasta | Tags: caramelized onion, cheese, greens, pasta, vegetarian, walnuts
First post in a while! I’ve been slacking off on any sort of cooking over winter break (although there has been plenty of eating). I got the New Moosewood Cookbook for Christmas and this was the first recipe I made. Moosewood is like the vegetarian Bible and this pasta was elegant, delicious, complex, nutritious, and just damn pretty.
Caramelized-Onion Sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
4 to 6 large onions (6 to 8 cups), thinly sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 to 1 cup dry white wine
1 medium bunch arugula, spinach, or other leafy green, stemmed and minced
1 cup crumbled feta or blue cheese
3/4 lb short, shapely pasta (I used farfalle)
1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
parmesan
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium. Cook the onions for about 15 minutes. Add the salt, lower the heat, and cook from 10 minutes to an hour. Add the white wine and simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes over medium heat. Start cooking the pasta in boiling water and add the minced greens to the onions and cook for about 5 minutes (until wilted). Stir in the cheese over low heat. After draining the pasta, add it to the sauce and stir for a minute to coat in the sauce. Sprinkle on walnuts and parmesan and serve. Serves 4 to 5.
*Toast walnuts: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Chop the walnuts. Bake until brown, about 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn them!
I don’t like marinara aka “red sauce.” I like my pastas chunky! I am in a bit of a pasta rut lately. I want to find recipes that are interesting, simple, and nutritious but usually the best recipes I can find involve meat or gobs of cheese. Don’t get me wrong, cheese is delicious and often essential to pasta dishes, but I want a little variety. I picked mushroom ragu from Alice Water’s The Art of Simple Food. Chunks, tasty, nutritious, simple preparation with complex flavor… everything I was looking for! I served it on fancy colorful Italian pasta that my friend Erica left in my pantry in August and ate it with my neighbor Jamey.
Mushroom Ragu
olive oil and butter for cooking
1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced fine
1 large carrot, peeled and diced fine
2 celery stalks, diced fine
pinch of dried thyme or 6 thyme sprigs, leaves only
6 parsley sprigs, leaves only, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
2 pounds of mushrooms (I used white button but Alice advises a mixture of two or three types like chanterelles, black trumpets, hedgehogs, brown or white button)
1/2 cup cream or creme fraiche
1 cup water, vegetable broth, or chicken broth
salt
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery with some salt and cook until tender. Add the herbs. Cook for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Set aside. Clean the mushrooms if they are dirty. Saute each type of mushroom separately until tender and lightly browned in olive oil and a little butter. Turn the cooked mushrooms onto a cutting board and chop to the size of the vegetables. Combine with the vegetables and herbs and add the cream and broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Serve over pasta. Makes about 2 cups.
The soffritto or mirepoix
Cookin’ the mushrooms
Filed under: Italian, pasta, side | Tags: basil, caper, fresh mozzarella, pasta, tomato, vegetarian
My neighbor, Nate, and I ate this the other night while watching The Birds. I requested it so often growing up that my family started calling it “my pasta” (or “your pasta”). I have never seen this exact combination in a pasta anywhere else. It is pretty much my favorite thing to eat and Nate was very impressed.
Caroline’s Pasta
8oz fresh mozzarella, chopped
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 3oz jar capers
fresh basil, chiffonade
3 cups pasta (penne and farfalle are good for this)
olive oil (enough to coat the ingredients)
salt and pepper, to taste
grated parmesan
Mix the fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, capers (with brine), fresh basil, and olive oil in a bowl. Ideally you should let it sit and marinate for a couple hours. Cook the pasta in salted water according to the package directions. Drain and combine with the other ignredients in the bowl. Season and sprinkle with grated parmesan. It can be served warm or at room temperature. Makes 6 servings.
