Recipes for Cook

Showing posts with label pasta. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

I know, I know, Ive been a bad girl. I havent posted a recipe in weeks! Ive been pretty busy with parties and showers and all kinds of things going on. All happy celebrations so I dont mind it. With all the craziness that went on I did remember to snap a photo so I could blog about this wonderful dish. I made this for Steves Aunts Baby Shower last week and everyone liked it which makes me very happy!

Before I go on to post this recipe I just want to say Congratulations Melissa and Salvatore and Congratulations to Dana and Lenny!!! Both couples will be parents for the very first time!!!

Okay so here goes...its really very easy and you can add as much or as little garlic as you like or even use hot sausage or a mixture of sweet and hot. This recipe was written to feed a crowd but you can certainly make this for one pound of pasta and use only one bunch of broccoli rabe and half the amount of sausage. I hope you like it! Id love to hear your variation on this very popular dish so feel free to comment!

Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

Ingredients:

1 lb sweet Italian sausage (6 links)
2 bunches, broccoli rabe
4-5 cloves garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Crushed red pepper, to taste
Salt and peppr
Romano cheese, to taste
2 lbs pasta

Directions:

1. Remove stems from broccoli rabe and discard. Cut into bite sized pieces.
Boil broccoli rabe in a large pot of salted water for about 8-10 minutes. Drain (reserve 2 cups of water) and put into an ice cold water bath to stop the cooking process and set aside.

2. While broccoli rabe is cooking, remove sausage from casing and crumble. Saute sausage in oil with garlic and red pepper, constantly breaking it up. Once sausage is cooked add in broccoli rabe and toss to coat with oil. Let it cook together with a few minutes so the broccoli rabe picks up the flavors. At this point you can refrigerate overnight or until ready to cook the pasta.

3. Boil pasta (chose one that won’t fall apart such as orrechiette, cellantani, cavatappi, etc.) in salted water while reheating sausage and broccoli rabe mixture. Add some reserved water from the broccoli rabe to moisten the mixture. Add cooked pasta and toss while continuing to add more water as needed. It shouldn’t be soupy but should not be dry. Toss with cheese and a little more extra virgin olive oil.

Enjoy!

Friday, May 9, 2014

Libyan Home made Pasta Megata Rishdet Burma مقطع رشدة برمة

Megata (literally: chopped) is also known as Rishdet Burma in Tripoli - Burma means pot and this is to distinguish it from Rishdet Kaskas, another kind of fresh pasta steamed in a couscous pot. Megata is a Libyan dish of fresh home-made pasta cooked in a tomato-based sauce, often made with gideed (dried meat). Depending on the region, the dish can include different kinds of additions. In the west Megatat is made with beans, lentils, fava beans, chickpeas and fenugreek. The eastern method is with coriander, basil and fresh mint. A lighter version of Megata is cooked in milk or buttermilk instead of a tomato-based sauce. There is another variation (which is good for colds) where the pasta itself is made with a mix of thyme and flour, and served in a thyme and olive oil sauce.

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

Dough

6 cups of flour

3 cups of water

1 tsp salt

Sauce

2 handfuls chopped Gideed (or 500 g cubed fresh beef or lamb)

1/2 cup of oil

1 finely chopped onion

2 finely chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste

3 finely chopped cloves of garlic

1/2 cup lentils

1/2 cup of pre-soaked chickpeas
1/2 cup of dry fava beans

1/2 cup of fresh fava beans
2 fresh hot chillies (optional)

Spices

1 tablespoons fenugreek
1 teaspoon red pepper

2 teaspoons tumeric

1 teaspoon black pepper

Salt to taste (remember that the gideed is salty!)

Pour the flour in a deep bowl, add the salt, make a hollow in the center and add the water gradually, until the dough is firm. The dough is meant to be hard. Cover and leave to rest while you make the sauce.

Stir the gideed in a little oil.

Add the tomato paste, chopped tomato and onion and the spices. Stir on medium heat for a few minutes.

Add the pulses and chickpeas.

Add the garlic and chillies, then about 1 liter of water to the pot and cover and leave the sauce on medium low heat for around half an hour. Meanwhile return to the dough!

Once the dough has rested, form into a loaf and cut into slices.

Powder each side of each slice with plenty of flour.

If you have a pasta machine, put each piece of dough through the lasagna roller and layer the resulting lengths on top of each other, with a (very generous) dusting of flour in between to prevent sticking.

Cut each length into half and thin out again by putting through the machine for a second time.

The third time, put the dough through the tagliatelle cutter.

If you dont have a pasta machine, use a rolling pin to thin out each piece, then begin chopping from one end into noodles/tagliatelle. Ive demonstrated using only one layer, but you should stack four layers with plenty of flour in between then begin chopping.

Add about 1 liter of water to the sauce pot. Bring to boil. Throw the pasta in the pot, a bunch at a time rather than all at once and stir gently. Let it cook for around 20 minutes.

Serve warm with wholemeal bread and lemon wedges.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Spring Pea and Stellette Pasta Salad with Fresh Mint and Parsley – We’re reaching for the Stars

This simple spring pasta salad is a lesson in culinary restraint. There are so many things we could add to this, but we’re not going to do it. I want to celebrate my tender and sweet spring peas, and delicate star-shaped pasta (Stellette) in a simple salad, and I’m not going to clutter it up trying to clean out the vegetable bins. Everything about this salad is subtle. The tender peas barely get cooked by sitting in the hot pasta for a few minutes. The dressing is nothing more than some lemon and oil. I finish with some fresh mint and parsley, salt and pepper and I’m done. Just stop and back away from the salad. There are many magical food pairings, but one of my personal favorites is mint and fresh peas. There is just something about those two ingredients getting together that makes both shine above and beyond what they are capable of alone.

Sure, usually pasta salads are a great excuse to chop up and use all those forgotten veggies in the bottom of the fridge yearning to be free, but not this one. Save that one for the company picnic. Today’s recipe is you and your lover, sitting on a blanket somewhere fresh and green, enjoying this and several others of life’s simple pleasures.

Ingredients:
8oz Stellette pasta
1/2 cup spring peas
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1.2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup chopper fresh mint
1/4 cup chopper fresh Italian parsley
*don’t forget to salt the water you boil the pasta in!

Monday, April 7, 2014

Pasta Rice

Pasta Rice

Ingredients

Boiled rice 300 gm
Chicken breast 2
Boiled macaroni 1 cup
Sweet corn ½ cup
Carrot chopped 1
Crushed black pepper 1 tsp
Worchester sauce 1 tbsp
Soya sauce 1 tbsp
Oil 3 – 4 tbsp
Spring onion 2
Salt to taste
Capsicum chopped 1
Tomato ketchup 3 tbsp
Garlic paste 1 tbsp

Method
Heat 3-4tbsp of oil in a wok.Add1 tbsp garlic paste followed by 2 chicken fillets cut into strips.Fry until the color of the chicken changes.Add 1 finely chopped carrot,1/2 cup boiled peas,1/2 cup sweet corn,1 finely chopped capsicum, salt as required and 2 chopped green onions.
Mix and sauté for 2-3 minutes.Add 1 cup boiled macaroni, 3tbsp tomato ketchup, 300g boiled rice.Mix well and serve on a warm plate.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Crock Pot Chicken Pasta

Slow Cooked Chicken Pasta

In Slow Cooker combine and put on low for 6-8 hours:
2 frozen chicken breast (about 3 lbs.)
1 pkg. Italian season
1 can cream of mushroom
Once chicken is cooked, shred chicken in slow cooker. Mix in:
1 8oz pkg. Of cream cheese
Serve over rice or noodles (I like noodles best)

Posted by Christen Sundberg

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Creamy Penne Pasta Bake with Zucchini

Vegan and non dairy creamy pasta bake with gluten free brown rice penne

A light and creamy pasta bake recipe for Spring.

Mac and cheese gets a makeover. Just in time for swimsuit shopping (also affectionately known around here as the annual Parade of Shame). It's time to start cooking light again, and give your body a break from all that white rice pasta, butter, and double cheese. It's time to kiss bacon good-bye. Hot weather is coming, Babycakes. The beach and poolside beckon. And I am not prepared. Are you?

I've been lax with my downward facing dogs (actually, I'm forbidden to do downward facing dogs these days, but that's another story). My lumbo-pelvic complex is cranky. My core is catnapping. And my biceps need curling. Or something like that. What it basically means is I've got some flab I need to banish. Remember that roll around my middle I call Doris? She's still here. She has not skedaddled. My usual winter weight gain of five hibernation pounds is eight this year.

I could blame those Raspberry Coconut-Almond Bars my husband keeps making (he who can eat cookies and brownies and still sport flat abs). I could blame fructan and fructose, and various unfriendly members of FODMAPs who may be the bottom line bloat culprit in my ongoing emulation of my halcyon pregnancy days (those of you with IBS symptoms despite going gluten-free might want to look into this fructose and polyol thing- it appears to have some merit).

But mostly I blame how much time I spend on the iMac. Sitting. Typing. Sitting some more. Social networking. The Internet is an amazing gift. But it is damn hard on the body. I'm vowing to get up and move more frequently. Shake my booty. Feel the burn. Or at least feel some heat.

So just in case you're in the same mood, too. I've made a lighter version of the classic baked mac and cheese.

I used gluten-free brown rice penne with rice bran for the pasta. Organic soy milk and Smart Balance vegan "butter" for the cream sauce. Zucchini and garlic and chives for a flavor boost. And it was fab. Light. Creamy. Perfect for Spring.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

HUNGARIAN GOULASH HOMEMADE PASTA

This is MY kind of comfort food…slow simmered beef until it is fork tender, in a rich, full-bodied gravy and served over homemade noodles; it does not get much better than that. If you make this on the stovetop, it is done in about 2½ hours, at most. If you cook it in the crockpot, it takes about 8 hours on low.

2 pounds of chuck roast
1 medium onion diced
1 clove garlic minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 ½ cups beef broth (not bullion)
¾ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika (not the hot kind)
½ teaspoon dry mustard
healthy pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

Trim all of the white fat parts from a 2 pound chuck roast and cut it into one inch cubes. Brown the meat, onion and garlic in the olive oil. Drain any excess fat.

Add the rest of the ingredients and heat to boiling. Stir well and reduce heat to a very gentle simmer. Cover and simmer until fork tender (about 1 ½ to 2 hours depending on how tough the meat is). While this is simmering, make the noodles.

PASTA FOR FOUR

I made the dough for this in my kitchen aid (with paddle attachment). I made this before I got my new pasta roller, so it is a little irregular, but it still tasted great.

2 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil

I just put the wet ingredients in first, mixed for a couple seconds, then put in the dry ingredients and mixed until it turned into a nice soft dough. Depending on the moisture content of your flour, you might have to add or subtract a tablespoon of water to get the right consistency (so don’t add all of the water at once). Knead the dough by hand for five minutes (or by machine for 3 minutes).The dough should be smooth, elastic and a just a little tacky to the touch.

Wrap the dough in plastic and let it sit (at room temperature) for 20 minutes…this is the most important step. If you skip this step, the dough will not roll out right and will try to spring back on you. If you let it sit for 20 minutes, it will roll out much easier.

Flour your counter and roll the dough out as thin as you can get it (it is a very forgiving dough and will not crack or tear like piecrust). Keep in mind that when you cook the noodles, they expand, so whatever thickness you roll them out to…your final product will be almost twice as thick! Cut the noodles in thin strips and air dry for an hour or so (I dried my noodles on a baking rack).To cook, bring a big pot of salted water to a boil (I added a tablespoon olive oil to the water) and cook the pasta for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. When it starts to float, it is very close to being done; remove a piece and taste it for doneness.

BACK TO GOULASH

When the noodles are almost done, and the meat is ultra-tender, turn up the heat under the meat and thicken the sauce with a flour-water slurry (¼ cup water + 2 tablespoons flour shaken in a jar). Stir vigorously while adding the slurry to the sauce and cook until thick, remove from heat. Serve goulash over cooked noodles.
NOTE: The first hour that the goulash cooks, the aroma will be strong, but never fear…the second hour, something magical happens and it all mellows out and becomes delicious.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

15 Minute Tandoori Chicken Pasta

15 Minute Tandoori Chicken Pasta

Ingredients

Chicken (thinly sliced) 2 cup
Garlic paste 1 tsp
Lemon juice 2tbsp
Tandori masala 2 tbsp
Oil 2 tbsp
Tomato paste 2 tbsp
Ketchup 2 tbsp
Pasta sauce 2 tbsp
Crushed red pepper 1 tsp
Onion 2 tbsp chopped
Mix herbs 1 tsp
Water ½ cup
Penne pasta boiled 3 cups

Method

Heat oil. Add garlic paste; add onion sauté for 2 minutes. Add chicken, tandori Masala, lemon juice, ketchup, tomato paste, pasta sauce, crushed red pepper, mixed herbs. Fry till chicken done. Add in all sauce and seasoning with water. Fold in boil penne. And serve.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Chicken frittata with pasta

Chicken frittata with pasta

Ingredients

Chicken breasts 2
Finely chopped capsicum 1
Finely chopped onion 1
Finely chopped spring onions1
Finely chopped tomatoes 1
Egg 4
Spaghetti 1/2packet
Parmesan cheese 50g
Parsley 1/4bunch
Black pepper powder 1/2tsp
Butter 4tbsp
Salt as required

Method:-

Boil the spaghetti , drain and keep aside.Finely chop ¼ bunch pasrely,1 capsicum,1 onion,1 spring onion, and 1 tomato.Beat together 4 eggs in a bowl. Add all the chopped vegetables, boiled spaghetti,2 julienne cut breast fillet, salt as required,1/2tsp black pepper powder and 50g parmesan cheese. Mix well.
Heat 2tbsp butter in a wok and pour in the egg mixture. Do not move the mixture just allow the base to fry.After 3-4 minutes when the sides of the egg start shrinking away from the wok , flip the frittata over and cook the other side. When nice and golden brown, turn the flame off.
The delicious chicken frittata with pasta is ready to serve.