Light And Mini Farfalle Pasta For Spring

Tonight it was just me and my mother for dinner, and I was desperately in the mood to cook up something yummy. I originally planned to surprise my dad with home-made beer bread, but he was working late so his loss. Therefore, I made dinner for my mother instead, and I knew what made her most happy was a simple pasta with fresh herbs from the garden and anything that included mouth watering tomatoes. So I came up with a light and springy pasta dish that included just that. The sauce is nothing more than some olive oil and cooking water (okay, I did add a little bit of butter), and the flavors of fresh rosemary and grape tomatoes really shine through this simple yet delectable pasta dish. The asparagus and parsley also add a nice spring touch to the mini farfalle and well. . . parsley goes good with almost anything cheesy, Italian, and fresh. The dish was prepared in about ten minutes, so to those who live on a "busy schedule", you now have no excuse as to not cook this good!

Ingredients:
1/8 cup olive oil (plus more)
1/2 pound mini farfalle pasta
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup grated white cheddar cheese (plus more)
freshly ground black pepper
freshly ground salt
1 cup steamed and cooled asparagus
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 stalk fresh rosemary, finely chopped
3 or so "stems" parsley, coarsely chopped/torn (leave some whole to garnish)
LETS COOK!
cook pasta in well-salted water with some olive oil until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 3/4 cups of the pasta cooking water. Dry out pot and leave on high heat and then add olive oil until almost starts to boil it. Then add pasta and pasta water. Add butter, cheese, pepper, tomatoes, asparagus, parsley, and rosemary. Toss together and serve in shallow bowls or plates. Garnish with pepper, parsley, and cheese. May also need to add more salt. Serve warm and enjoy!

Leftover Makeover (Spinach and Pasta Salad)

Alright I am dedicating this post to Ky and LB for their patience and dedication toward my blog. I apologize deeply for not posting as often as I usually have in the past, but the school year is finally coming to an end (well technically three weeks left!) and I have simply just been so busy! I have three more posts that I have been desperately needing to publish (plus this one) which I promise to have them all up by the end of this month. . . by the end of this week. With that said, here is a little something that I threw together about a week ago with a few leftovers found in my kitchen. As this recipe is very easy, simple, and can obviously be made with leftovers; I absolutely loved the fresh and pure taste each ingredient gave.

This is a cold pasta salad, yet it is not the typical pasta salad one would think of. (Because quite frankly I have never been a fan of cold pasta salad.) However this one is different because there is actually lettuce to the salad and is so simple yet delicious! Everything is cold and is covered with fresh parmesan cheese to combine each flavor together. It is also extremely easy, and if you are thinking right now of popping in a frozen meal or pouring a bowl of cereal, well think again because this recipe probably takes just as much or even less time and is not only healthier but tastes fresh and like real food.

Ingredients:

already cooked and prepared ziti pasta (leftover work) about 1/2 pound

one cup frozen peas

1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

one sliced hard boiled egg

couple large handfuls baby spinach (about as much or more compared to ziti)

fresh herb and Parmesan dressing

LETS COOK!

defrost peas and add to salad bowl. toss with cold pasta, cheese, lettuce and egg. Before serving add dressing. Enjoy!

Another One Of Giada's (Pasta Ponza)

Mmmm Giada De Laurentis does not dissapoint once again. And this time it is with a cheesy, savory, Italian dinner entree known as Pasta Ponza. As Giada so fluently explains, Ponza is a little Island off the west coast of Italy where her and her aunt first experienced this sweet and savory dish. As I have recently promised to post all of Giada's newest recipes as I make them, this one is a bit different because the original calls for capers (bleh!) and two times the ingredients. So the recipe below is almost line for line Giada's except made without capers (because honestly, something about them just grosses me out!) and the amount is cut in half because I was only cooking for me, my mother, and my father, rather than a party of six.

 I was so thrilled to make the pasta ponza, because it was only another excuse for me to go to my little herb garden and use the freshly grown parsley. It made the Italian cooking experience that much more authentic as well as filling my home with a wonderful, fresh aroma! This recipe parallels very similar to an older post, the baked tomato sauce, however the pasta ponza tops it one hundred percent. Pasta Ponza is so delectable with the fresh parmesan cheese, flavor popping grape tomatoes, and has now been ranked as a top pasta dish under my pasta favorites lists. (Don't worry I am not that much of a cooking geek, because all lists are kept inside my little head and have yet to be stored and sealed with a pen and some ink.)
Ingredients:
unsalted butter, for greasing
2 cups red cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup Italian-style seasoned dried bread crumbs
1/2 pound ziti
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated plus extra to top
few leaves freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
LETS COOK!
Preheat oven to 375 and butter an 8 by 8 inch glass baking dish and set aside. Combing tomatoes, olive oil, salt, and pepper in the baking dish and toss to coat. Sprinkle bread crumbs over mixture and drizzle again with olive oil. Bake about 20 to 35 minutes or until the top is golden. Allow to cool. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally until tender and al dente. Drain the pasta, and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add in tomato mixture and cheese. Toss well. Serve onto plate and sprinkle pepper if wanted as well as parsley and cheese on top for garnish. Serve, and enjoy!

Craving To Cook (Vegetable and Whole Wheat Pasta)

All day I was just craving to leave school and enter into my happy little kitchen and cook up something fresh, new, and exciting as well as something that symbolized the pure beginning that Spring had finally sprung. (Well it did a few days ago until the rain showed up. . . but I am positive within a few more days the sun will clear up everything and Spring will jump right back into it's place.) So I came up with any and every lousy excuse just so my mother would hand over her apron and measuring cups and allow me to prepare dinner for the family. And out of my fabulous vegetarian mags, I stopped upon a moderately easy recipe that called for vegetables and lots of them! I mean it only makes sense to add vegetables into a vegetarian magazine, right? I added a few of my favorite vegetables and mixed the recipe up a tad to make it an absolutely outstanding and wonderful dinner.

Well at least I loved this dinner! (And I am most certain any other vegetarian would love it as well.) But lets just say. . . my father is nearly a carnivore and my mother well . . . she pushes all her veggies aside and picks at her plate like a three year old! (Hm who would have thought a teenage girl would have to nearly beg her parents to eat their daily greens!) Regardless of their taste buds, this dinner was successful because the sauce was nothing more than salted water and a splash of wine, the linguine was one hundred percent whole wheat, and the dish consisted of lots and lots of plump, juicy tomatoes, freshly grown basil, green asparagus and zucchini, as well as organic mushrooms. All the flavors collided together to add spice and flavor to an ordinary pasta dish. After making so many fresh vegetables to add to my pasta, it is safe to say that Spring is right around the corner if not already knocking at my door.
Ingredients:
half of green zucchini thinly sliced
2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 cup fresh asparagus cut into one inch pieces
1 small onion coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine
whole-wheat linguine
1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves
grated parmesan cheese
LETS COOK!
Preheat oven to 450 F and toss together mushrooms, asparagus onion, zucchini, oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a large cooking pan. Roast about 20 minutes, stirring half way through. While cooking, over medium high heat in a pan cook tomatoes until soft and starting to shrivel (about ten minutes). Then transfer all vegetables to a large serving bowl. Boil salt water with some olive oil and cook pasta for about 8 to 10 minutes. In the same pan (that veggies were in before) pour wine and put back into oven for five minutes. Drain pasta but reserve half a cup of cooking water and add it into the wine in the pan and mix all together. Add pasta and basil and water/wine to bowl of veggies and stir together. Serve and add basil for garnish with cheese. Enjoy! (add salt and pepper if desired)

(Shh!!) Family Recipe: Spaghetti Carbonara

So this recipe has been in my family longer than I have, and it must be one hundred percent credited to the most wonderful grandfather out there. This is his specialty, in which has now been passed down to become mine as well. I have always been so fascinated as a little girl that he could easily throw such a lovely pasta together with out a recipe to look at and having it all in his head. It amazed me so much, that I wanted to be just like him. I grew up standing behind the kitchen counter watching his every move as he would vigorously chop up the onions and add alcohol to a family dinner! As I grew older, I too learned how to make this pasta by memory thanks to my grandpa. It has become my favorite dinner as well as my family's as well. We keep Spaghetti Carbonara a special dinner item by serving it only on special occasions such as birthdays, dinner parties, celebrations, and welcoming home events.

No side dish is necessarily needed for Spaghetti Carbonara for the main course is rich and filling enough from the creamy egg sauce that is cooked by the spaghetti pasta itself, and sweet bacon caramelized by the finely chopped onion. Each bite is thick and tasty and filled with such extravagant flavors. Not only is it one of the most wonderful and best tasting dishes any one has ever had, but it is just lovely to serve to others for it creates quiet a show when presenting the dish to friends and neighbors. This makes a lot of pasta, and one may assume there will be left overs, but by the end of the night it is guaranteed that plates will be licked clean and there will be one giant empty bowl left on the kitchen table.
Ingredients:
one box of regular spaghetti
one package of thick, uncooked bacon
half (or a little less) of regular sized white onion
few sprigs of fresh parsley (give or take about 4 or so)
five eggs
about 3/4 cup or more fresh ground parmesan cheese
one cup white wine
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt
LETS COOK!
In a large bowl crack all eggs and then add cheese and roughly chopped up parsley. With fork, beat eggs and mix together to create sauce. slice up all the bacon into bite size pieces and add to frying pan over medium-high heat with the oil. Then, do a rough to small chop of the onion.(make this a coarse chop, but you also want the onion to be in very small pieces) When bacon is about 1/3 way cooked add onions to the pan. Fill large pot with 3/4 way of water and add a handful or so of salt and let pot come to a boil. When onion and bacon is almost but not all the way cooked, add the wine and bring heat back down to a low. Let simmer and have wine reduce most of the way. (by the time the wine has almost completely reduced its size, the bacon should be crispy, and thoroughly cooked through). Add spaghetti and cook about 13 minutes or until Al dente. When bacon mixture is complete, add to the giant bowl of the egg sauce. Drain pasta and add to the giant bowl as well. Mix until all elements are completely and thoroughly combined.  Garnish with fresh parsley on top and sprinkled parmesan cheese. Serve warm, and enjoy! (Also, this is even better as left overs and heated up in microwave!)

Linguine with Shrimp and Orange Shrimp sauce

So I am going to have to admit I stole this recipe from the good and trust Houston Chronicle. Many of my recipes do indeed come from the Houston Chronicle, for whoever is documenting these recipes in the newspaper must be amazing chefs as well as geniuses. I first made this dinner on an ordinary night for my parents, in which we enjoyed eating by the fire while watching Wheel-Of-Fortune. My mother and I agreed that I should make it again for my grandparents when they came in town, because it was that good. (For me to re-make a recipe, and to even re-make it for my grandparents, means it MUST be an A+ recipe.) When I was first telling my grandma of this recipe, she turned to me saying she made it the past week from her newspaper in San Antonio! What are the odds? with there being dozens and dozens of recipes in two separate newspapers. Therefore, I am here to tell you, (and yes, I do have witnesses) that this is one pasta you do not want to skip over.

My camera was not completely cooperating with me, so the photo did turn out a bit blurry. However, as it may not appear, this pasta is rich, creamy, warm, and perfect for any night and any occasion. The odd orange sauce is what caught my attention and is what made this pasta an outcast compared to the typical fettuccine alfredo or spaghetti and meatballs. (Recipe has been modified by me and my grandma to create an even better pasta experience.)
Ingredients:
3/4 pound large shrimp
2 medium cloves garlic
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
1 pound linguine
6-7 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
1 cup whipping cream
2-3 tablespoons flour
LETS COOK!
Fill a pot for the pasta with about 6 quarts of water, place over high heat, and bring to a boil. Add a few handfuls of salt and olive oil to the pot. Peel and devein the shrimp. Cut one-third of the shrimp into 1/2-inch pieces and leave the rest whole. Peel and lightly crush the garlic cloves. Put the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet, add the garlic, and place over medium-high heat. Saute until garlic cloves are lightly browned on all sides, then remove them and discard as much as possible while still leaving the olive oil in the pan. While the garlic is sauteing, dissolve the tomato paste in the white wine. After removing the garlic closes, add the wine with dissolved tomato paste to the pan and cook until the liquid has reduced by about half. Add the whole shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the shrimp have turned pink, 2 to 3 min. then remove the pan from the heat. When the water for the pasta is boiling, add about 2 tablespoons of more salt, add the linguine, and stir until all the strands are submerged, Cook until al dente. Finely chop enough parsley to measure 2 tablespoons. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked shrimp to a cutting board. Chop Finley into a "mush", then return them to the pan. Place the pan back over medium-high heat and add the cream. Cook until the cream has reduced by about half, and add flour if sauce appears more liquidy than creamy. Add the raw shrimp and the parsley. Season lightly with salt and pepper and cook until the shrimp pieces turn pink, 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat. When the pasta is done, drain well, toss with the sauce, serve, and enjoy!