Spaghetti with Alfredo

May 17th 2011

Pasta is what I turn to when I have a few veggies to finish, when I want a quick meal that tastes really good and when I feel like eating restaurant style food but at home. It is nutritious because you can throw in any veggie, relatively healthy when you don't use loads of oil and use whole wheat pasta and adult and kid friendly alike.

This is something that I like to make and serve with the sauce on the side because that way you can always add more if you like. I don't have a fancy name for it but it sure tastes pretty darn good.

Time: 30 min (preparation) 15 min (making)

Difficulty level: Easy

Ingredients:

• 1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped veggies [ onions, colored bell peppers, mushrooms, olives, garlic etc. totally your choice]. I have used what is mentioned here.
• olive oil (as needed)- approx 2 tbsps
• salt (to taste)
• pepper ( to taste)
• Alfredo sauce as per here
• Whole wheat Spaghetti (cooked per package instructions)
• Parsley (for garnishing)

Method de Preparation:

1. Step I : Chop all the vegetables. Add olive oil in a pan, add the garlic and onion and then the other veggies and saute everything together for a few minutes on medium-high heat till they are soft and cooked well.
2. Step II: Boil water for the pasta. Add a little bit of salt. Cook spaghetti as per instructions. Don't over cook and don't allow to dry also. Timing is important. When they are done and the water drained out, mix a couple of tsps of olive oil into this so it stays soft.
3. Step III: As you allow water to boil, start working on the Alfredo sauce after about 5 minutes. Add the required ingredients allowing the sauce to come together.
4. Assembly: Start with spaghetti, add some veggies and then pour some sauce artistically on the top. Garnish with a sprig of parsley. Add fresh ground pepper on the top if you like and dig right in :)

Black Bean Macaroni

Dec 1st 2010

Having grown up for the first 20 odd years of my life with little or no cheese at all, it is surprising how much I care for it now. I love cheese and I love the Pioneer woman because she does use a lot of it! However she does use a lot of meat and others that I leave out or substitute with some vegetarian ingredients. (Please read PS right now) Or like in this recipe, throw in something totally unexpected.

This is a great make ahead dish, that you take to parties, also for large groups at home, or when you are home for the holidays. It is simple but oh so divine. If you leave the Black Bean burgers out of it, it becomes your plain jane macaroni. Add them in and you will not be disappointed, I assure you.

Difficulty level : Easy 

Time:  30-40 min

Ingredients

• 4 cups Macaroni or any other pasta ( I have used Penne here)
• 8 Tablespoons Butter (Salted Butter)
• 2 whole Medium Onions, Cut In Half And Sliced Thin
• 2 morningstar black bean burgers (Thawed and cooked in the oven per instructions)
• ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 cups Whole Or 2% Milk
• ½ cups Half-and-half
• 2 whole Egg Yolks, Beaten
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• ½ cups Grated Gruyere Cheese
• ½ cups Grated Fontina Cheese
• ½ cups Grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
• 4 ounces, weight Chevre (soft Goat Cheese)

Method de Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook pasta for half the time of the package instructions or slightly more. Drain and set aside.
3. Thaw and cook black bean burgers per instructions in the oven, keep aside.
4. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a skillet and then saute onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown and soft. Set aside.
5. In a pot, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 1 minute. Pour in milk and half & half, then cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick. Reduce heat to low. Add salt & pepper to taste. 
6. Beat egg yolks and drizzle 1/4 cup hot mixture into the yolks, stirring constantly. Stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into sauce and cook for another minute.
7. Add cheeses and stir until melted. Add onions and burgers cut into small pieces and stir. Taste for seasonings and add more salt if needed. Add cooked pasta and stir to coat.
8. Reserve and sprinkle some onions on the top, before you put it in the oven to bake.
9. Pour into a baking dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until sizzling and hot. Serve as is or with any salad on the side.

PS:  I have recently learnt that a lot of cheeses contain animal enzymes which makes them non-vegetarian. I have also found that many brands make cheese without them, eg. Tillamook. So please read the label before you buy your cheese.

Confessions: I was super excited to try this recipe and when I eventually did, I went overboard and used 7 not 4 (yes, you read it right the first time!) cups of pasta.  It was a mistake, not intentional. Sheesh, you guys started judging me, I know. Hence the sauce looks lesser than in Ree's pictures. But I have to say one could get away with 5 cups easily and still have a pretty creamy macaroni.

Source : Fancy Macaroni

Pasta Casserole

March 10th 2010

This is extremely quick to make and great for finishing off leftovers both in the fridge and in the pantry. As long as you have some cheese and pasta sauce at home you are good :) Or  of course, you could make your own sauce too.

Difficulty level : Easy

Time: 10 min ( Prep Time), 15-20 min ( Bake Time)

Ingredients

• Pasta (pre- prepared/ leftovers) or Cooked pasta ( cook as per instructions on the packet). Better to use small pasta ( rotini, penne, farfalle, elbow etc. ) instead of the string kinds.
• Pasta sauce (only if using cooked pasta) -options include marinara, pesto, even Alfredo if you can take all that cheese and creaminess :)
• Any vegetables ( optional)- only if using cooked pasta
• Cheese ( Parmesan, Mozzarella - shredded)
• Any spices you might have ( basil, thyme, oregano) a pinch of each
• olive oil ( to grease)

Method de Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 or 375 F.
2. Take a baking pan based on the amount of pasta you have, either a 9 x 13 or smaller.
3. Grease with a little olive oil.
4.  Can saute lightly whatever vegetables you like ( onion, garlic, bell pepper, black olives, mushrooms etc) in olive oil and add to the sauce if you are using cooked pasta. Stuff that you need to clear from the refrigerator also works! [optional]
5. Layer with pasta, sauce, cheese and repeat. If you are using leftover pasta then skip the sauce and just layer with pasta and cheese.
6. Sprinkle the spices in between layers or add to the vegetables while sauteing.
7. Cover with an aluminum foil  and bake for about 15-20 min. Take off the aluminum foil and bake at 425 F for the last 10 min so the top takes on a a crusty and browned appearance.
8. Oven temperature and times can be varied to suit taste.

Chef's Tip:  You could cook a few different kinds of pasta and bake it all together (if you want to finish them off) as long as they are in the general same family and size. Just don't cook spaghetti and penne and expect them to meld, won't happen!

 

 

A is for Alfredo, at least in our home :)

Dec 4th 2009

K loves cheese in any which form it will come, so it is no surprise that Italian is very high in his favorite cuisine list. The original recipe for the alfredo sauce is from here: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1855,140166-232207,00.html. It is a great recipe, and extremely easy. However I would definitely recommend using some milk instead of the recommended half and half fully because it made the sauce very heavy and thick.

Modifications I made to the alfredo sauce include sauteing some garlic and then some red onions in the butter. I also added some chopped walnuts before adding the cream cheese. Biting into the walnuts tasted good, yum!

This would taste very good with any thin pasta - spagetti, angel hair, linguine etc. However it would be too boring I thought, just pasta and Alfredo. So I used the butternut squash ravioli from Costco, cooked it per instructions and then poured this sauce over. That provided some extra taste and flavor. A quick meal and very yummy..but not so good for the tummy line :P

Next time, I think I will saute some peppers in with the onions and then use plain old spaghetti, for a change.

Pesto Pesto Pasta

A couple of months ago when Macy's had their semi-annual sale, I bought some stuff that I wrote about in a previous blog. One of the things I bought was this Bella Cucina Rocket Blender. http://www.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=330413&cm_mmc=GoogleShopping-_-6-_-77-_-MP677 , I think I paid only $20 for this. Thanks to the Spicy Tasty bloggers http://www.spicytasty.com/ for bringing this sale to my notice.

I bought it under the premise that I would use it for milk shakes and K could take it to work and V too when he eventually grew and rationed that it was being offered at a really good price. While I like the blender I absolutely love the small recipe book that came with it. Recipes for sauces and smoothies that you can use the blender for.

And most importantly I had to prove to K that this purchase was so worth it :P So I tried the pesto sauce recipe from the book and set about making some Pesto pasta. And we were not disappointed. I think it is a copyright violation to type out the recipe here, so I'll improvise a bit.

Pesto Sauce

Ingredients

1. basil fresh (a handful)

2. extra virgin or plain olive oil (1/3 to 1/4 cup)

3. garlic cloves (a couple)

4. pine nuts ( I slight toast mine) (2 tbsp)

5. parmesan cheese (1/3 cup or lesser)

6. salt (to taste)

7. pepper ( to taste)

Method de preparation

Mix all above in a blender and blend. I eyeball most of these ingredients, so you might want to start with a measurement and changed/add per preference.

Pesto Pasta

Ingredients

1. pasta of preference

2. veggies- chopped finely in thin strips [ I used bell pepper, onions and asparagus], you could add anything else

3. pesto sauce

4. olive oil

Method de preparation

1. Cook pasta per instructions and then drain out. I usually skip the salt when boiling the pasta, you don't really need it.

2. Take oil in a pan, add onion saute saute.

3. When done, add veggies, saute, saute. Use medium-high heat to keep the veggies crisp.

4. Add sauce and pasta and then saute for just a min and you're done.

Enjoy sitting or standing :)