Fettucine w/ Fresh Tomato-Pesto

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16TH, 2010

4 stars (out of 5 - a great garlicky pesto sauce)

My mom was visiting and we decided to make her some home-made pasta, while she found this recipe for home-made pesto with tomatoes. I really really enjoyed it, although I have to warn you that it is garlicky! I decided to make it again for LX when she visited, and to see if I could replicate mom's cooking.

Ingredients:

500g fettuccine (or fresh pasta!*)
3 cloves of garlic (the original recipe called for 8!! Yikes)
1/2 cup loosely packed, coarsely chopped fresh basil
120g baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped**
2/3 cup (160 mL) olive oil
1/2 cup (40g) finely grated Parmesan cheese
3 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 jalapeno, thinly sliced***
1/3 cup (50g) pine nuts, toasted

{*Note. We used fresh pasta, as seen here: http://etryingtocook.blogspot.com/2009/12/fresh-home-made-pasta-fettucine.html. It was the perfect amount for three people, although it could do for four if you serve an appy).}

{**Note. The recipe suggested that we use baby spinach for a milder flavoured pesto. If you prefer, the original recipe called for 120g rocket. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure it's good.}

{***Note. The original recipe called for 2 red thai chillies, sliced thinly. I couldn't find these at the grocery store, so I just bought 1 jalapeno. In addition, since SB has a low tolerance for spices, I only added about 1/2 of the pepper.}

1. I first prepared the pesto, and just set it aside until we decided to cook to the pasta. This is one great thing about this recipe- there is no stress with the timing. To make the pesto, I first measured and chopped up my basil, garlic (only use 3!!), and spinach (I left it whole because I'm lazy).

2. I then crammed all these ingredients into my food processor. I had to process these ingredients in batches, adding more and more spinach because my processor is so small. I added the oil in batches as well, blending until smooth (look at how green it is!). {As I am uploading my pics, I am in the process of cooking and tasting this mixture - and I am worried. It's kinda bitter and just, well, garlicky. Fingers crossed!}

3. I then prepared the Parmesan cheese, tomato, lemon juice, and jalapeno, and toasted the pine nuts. Now I'm just waiting for the pasta. (BTW, is it me, or do pine nuts stink when you cook them? eww).

4. When everything was ready, we made the pasta, drained it, and threw in all the ingredients into the sauce pan. I didn't end up using all of the pesto mixture... just taste as you go.

5. The final product:

Overall, this was very simple to make and pretty delicious (fears unfounded). I only wish I had a bigger food processor. I would also recommend adding a bit of salt, and trying it with rocket, which I might do in the future. I think I enjoyed this because it is so different from our usual pasta sauces (and because of the garlic!). I also found that the tomato was a nice addition to add a bit of "freshness" to the dish. One note, if you make the main part of the pesto and then taste it, don't freak out like I did. The addition of the lemon and the Parmesan cheese really brings the flavours together and into a nice sauce.

Spinach-Ricotta Stuffed Pasta Shells

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22ND, 2009

4 stars (out of 5 - amazing sauce, okay filling)

During our week off before Christmas, SB and I decided to try out a few new recipes. This one looked different, and we liked the idea of the tapenade-tomato sauce. In the end it really was quite good, but a bit complex to make (not difficult, just many different things to prepare).

Ingredients:

350g large conchiglie (large pasta shells)
1 pack frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1-2 cloves garlic
4 tbsp olive oil
1 large can crushed tomatoes
50g crustless white bread, crumbled
1/2 cup milk
2 1/4 cups ricotta cheese
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1/3 cup tapenade*
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

{*Note. We make our own tapenade, but you can just use store-bought. If you don't have any on hand, you can skip it, but I really recommend trying it. I will try to post our (super simple) recipe for home-made tapenade soon, and will post the link here when I do.}

1. We first boiled the water for the pasta (as per the instructions on the box). Once it was cooked, we drained it, ran it under cold water (to prevent further cooking), and set it aside.

2. In a small food processor/chopper, we then added the bread...

3. ...milk...

4. ...and 3 tbsp of the olive oil...

5. ...and blended until smooth.

6. We then added the ricotta cheese, and seasoned with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg, again blending the mixture well.

7. Next, we added the chopped spinach. Because our food processor is so small, we had to gradually add the spinach, which made for a funny green colour halfway through (second pic).

8. The final mixture, which we set aside until the tomato sauce was prepared:

9. We then turned our attention to the tomato sauce, mixing together the crushed tomatoes...

10. ...tapenade...

11. ...remaining oil...

12. ...and the minced garlic...

13. ...and stirred the mixture well.


14. We then spread the tomato sauce on the bottom of a medium-sized casserole dish. You should use a large one if it fits in your oven - ours doesn't and we had a bunch of leftovers that needed to be cooked later :(

15. After spreading out the tomato sauce, we then (gently) opened the shells and stuffed them with the spinach mixture (not too much)...

16. ... and placed them in the casserole dish on top of the tomato sauce.

In the end, we tried to squish in as many as we could!

15. We then sprinkled with the Parmesan cheese and cooked at 350F for 15 minutes (until heated through). You may also want to add toasted pine nuts.

Overall, this was quite a good dish, although it was really the tomato-tapenade mixture that made it delicious. I really loved the tomato sauce and will probably do it again for other pasta dishes. The spinach filling was okay, but could use some more salt and flavour... somehow. Any ideas?! We will definitely be trying this one again!

Fresh, Home-made Pasta (Fettucine)

MONDAY, DECEMBER 21ST, 2009

4 stars (out of 5 - delicious but a time-consuming process!)

When we returned from Italy last year, we went into a total pasta withdrawal and craved the home-made fresh pasta that we had been living off of for the previous three weeks. We decided to buy a pasta-maker and try it out ourselves. Now we're addicted!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour*
4 eggs (large)
1 tbsp olive oil
Pasta machine**

{*Note. You will also need some extra flour for the rolling process... perhaps another 1/2 cup at most}.

(**Note. If you do not have a pasta machine, you can cut the pasta with a knife, although this will probably make an already time-consuming process even longer, so I don't know if I would recommend it!}.

1. First, we measured the flour into a medium-large bowl. Although you are supposed to sift the flour first, we are always too lazy, and it turns out well, regardless. You want to then hollow out a little hole in the middle of the mound of flour.

2. We then added the eggs to the dipped area of the flour.

3. We then stirred the mixture in the bowl, until it was all mixed into a dough (this becomes quite tough and you need good arm muscles!!). With our hands, we then kneaded the dough (adding flour as we needed when it became too sticky) until it was a fairly evenly kneaded, and pretty dry ball.

4. When it looks like the picture below, we then wrapped it in Saran wrap and placed it in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

5. After it had set in the fridge, we started to roll out the dough. Use a lot of flour here so that it doesn't stick. Also, the dough needs to be pretty dry to be able to go through the pasta machine without a mess.

6. Along the way, we made it into an elongated shape, so that it would fit through the pasta machine. You can see the width of the pasta machine in the third pic below.

7. Once it was about the right shape and about 1/2 inch thick, it was ready to go through the machine. However, because the machine elongates the dough so much, we first cut it in half!

8. We then put it through the pasta machine on the largest setting ("7" in our case).

9. We then kept putting it through the pasta machine on a subsequently lower setting each time ("6" then "5" etc.). At some point it will become very long again and you will need to cut it. Please remember to keep adding flour to each step. If your dough becomes too sticky, it becomes very tricky not to make a mess.

10. Finally, we finished on the "4" setting. This is for very thick noodles, which we like. However, you may find that a "3" or a "2" works better for you.

11. Once it was at the desired thickness, we put it through the other side of the machine, which cuts the pasta. It's a good idea to have a clean plate waiting for the pasta on the other end.

12. This is how it looks on the plate. We have found that it separates it pretty well, but that there is always 2 noodles stuck together which you have to separate by hand (pretty easily if you have added enough flour along the way).

13. We then piled the separated pasta on another plate. Because it can become so compacted, make sure to add more flour at this point so that they don't stick together, and fluff the noodles up once and a while.

14. We then just added them to a pot of boiling water for about 2 minutes (for VERY al dante... 3 for less so, depending on the thickness). Serve it then with some of you favourite pasta sauce.

Here is SB's served with his mom's great salmon recipe (http://etryingtocook.blogspot.com/2009/06/salmon-dinner-guest-recipe-merci-eliane.html):

Overall, the home-made pasta is a great treat. I can't really comment on the effort (although I know it is pretty time-consuming), since SB really takes care of the majority of it, with me as his assistant. I don't know if my arms could handle it! It's a bit of trial and error to find the right thickness and cook-ness for yourself. One other warning: after getting used to home-made pasta, it's hard to go back to the store-bought!! Now, we have to find a great home-made pasta sauce recipe... sigh.

Meat (and Veggie) Lasagna

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH, 2009

3.5 stars (out of 5, with potential for 4.5 stars out of 5)*

{*Note. I was befallen with yet another cooking disaster... this one out of my hands! SB gave the final product 3.5 stars because we ended up with only the veggie version. He said that he would probably have given the meat one 4.5 stars. You may be asking: "What happened to the meat one?"... see below!}

This was a meal I had been planning to make for a long time. We had frozen ground beef in the freezer, and some extra in the fridge from burgers we had made last week, and I thought: a lasagna would be perfect to 1) use these ingredients, and 2) have leftovers for the weekend so that we don't have to cook each night. Well, it was a good idea; unfortunately, it did not turn out to last as long as I had anticipated. BTW, this is yet another recipe from PW from her blog: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_lasagn/

Ingredients:**

{**Note. These are the ingredients for a full-sized lasagna, as directed from PW. However, my pictures depict smaller versions (approx. half), as I only have a small convection oven that fits a 9" square pan.}

Meat sauce:

1.5 lbs. ground beef***
1 lb hot breakfast sausage (ground)***
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans whole tomatoes
2 cans tomato paste***
2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp salt

Filling:

3 cups cottage cheese (low fat)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the stuff from the bottle)
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt

Other layers:

1 lb sliced mozzarella cheese (real mozzarella, but pre-sliced!)
1 package lasagna noodles

{***Note. For my veggie version, I added 1 package ground round. For a full veggie lasagna, I would suggest adding two packages, which should be plenty. For the sausage, mine was not really ideal as it had an outer skin. However, I was able to break it up quite well. I am not sure where to get ground up sausage without the skin. Finally, if you are going to buy tomato paste, may I recommend another brand besides Hunt's? See below...}

1. First, I cooked the ground beef and sausage, with the garlic, over medium-high heat. I ended up switching to my wok, as I was afraid that the meat would overflow! As you can see, the sausage is a bit chunky here, so I broke it up as I cooked. As a vegetarian, this was probably one of the grossest things to cook :(

2. Once it was cooked and browned, you can see how much better the sausage mixed in. So, if you are unable to find the proper sausage, I think any hot Italian sausage will ultimately work.

3. PW recommends draining 1/2 the fat. Our meat was extra lean, but I still thought this was a good idea. I left about 1/3 of it in there.

4. Leaving it over the heat, I then added the whole tomatoes, tomato paste and the herbs...

5. ... unfortunately for me, and this recipe, I found this little gem in my can of Hunt's tomato paste. I say unfortunately because I had already added most of the can to my meat. Eggshell, anyone? Ewwwww...

This is what it looked like before I chucked it out :(

6. Having had to discard my meat dish (I'm sorry, but I couldn't let SB eat that - I have no idea how that shell got in there, where it had been, or how much I had missed. Not worth the risk!), I turned now to my vegetarian version. I was very lucky to have been cooking this at the same time, therefore having a back-up to the "Eggshell Debacle", but it is missing the sausage component/flavour. Oh well. You then simmer this meat sauce for 45 minutes, uncovered. I wasn't sure if the liquid would reduce from the tomatoes, so one suggestion I have is to not add the entire can of liquid with the tomato. This is what it looked like, all ingredients in the meat sauce.

7. As this simmered, I cooked the lasagna, rinsed in cold water, and set them out on a flat. surface You want it al dente.

8. I then made the filling by adding the cottage cheese to a bowl...

9. ...beating the two eggs, and stirring them in with the cottage cheese.

10. Finally, I added the Parmesan cheese...

11. ... along with the parley flakes and salt.

12. I stirred the mixture well, and set it aside until the meat was finished simmering.

13. Once everything was ready, we were on to the layering part. First, SB made me butter the bottom, to prevent sticking. Then we layered, starting with a layer of noodles (overlapping a bit)...

14. ... followed by about 1/2 of the cottage cheese filling, evenly spread...

15. ... and half of the mozzarella cheese (note: we didn't have enough to cover the entire layer, and it was still very cheesy!).

16. We then topped the cheese with just less than half of the meat sauce, spread evenly...

17. ... and repeated the process, starting with the noodles and the rest of the cottage cheese mixture...

18. ... followed by the remainder of the cheese, and topped by the meat sauce.

19. Finally, we topped it off with a generous layer of Parmesan cheese (note, this is the shredded stuff that comes in a bottle).

20. We then cooked it at 350F for 30 minutes until bubbling (although this took a bit longer in our oven!!), and let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

Overall, this was a delicious lasagna, and we ate it all by the afternoon the next day. It was very disappointing to have to throw out the meat one, but I will definitely try it again (perhaps with another tomato paste brand!). We both really enjoyed all of the flavours, and the ingredients were things that I had in my household regularly, so it wasn't a stretch. One final thing that I liked, was that it was a no stress recipe. You just kinda cook everything at your own pace.