Veggie Pasta

When my mom was visiting a few weeks ago, she made this yummy pasta dinner. It's very simple and great for those nights when you need to use produce before it spoils. I used a few more artichoke hearts than she did because Peter and I really love artichokes! I also decided to add shrimp (just because I had a lot leftover) but I think it would also be very tasty with chicken.



Veggie Pasta
4 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 pound shrimp, cleaned and deveined
1 can artichoke hearts
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 cup button mushrooms
1/4 green onion, diced
1 clove garlic, sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Prepare spaghetti according to package intsructions. Drain and set aside.

In a large pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and garlic. Saute until fragrant and then remove the garlic.

Add the green onion, tomatoes and mushrooms. Keep over medium heat for approximately 3 minutes. Add the artichoke hearts and saute for 5-6 minutes.

Reduce heat slightly and add the shrimp and spaghetti. Combine thouroughly and cook until the shrimp is pink and tender.

Top with parmesan cheese.

Beef Stir-Fry

Lately I have been craving Asian food. Luckily, I happen to have quite a few leftover veggies from last week that work well in a stir-fry dish. I picked up some beef and a few sauces at the store and planned to throw everything together. You can use any vegetables you happen to have on hand, the more the merrier! 

It turned out so great that I think I will repeat this dish later in the week with chicken instead of beef. Yum!



Beef and Vegetable Stir-Fry
1/2 pound top sirloin, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thickly sliced
1 handful snow peas
1/2 cup carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 medium size head of broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup green bell pepper, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1/2 cup red bell pepper, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 clove garlic, pressed
3 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons siracha sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Lightly season beef with salt and pepper. In a wok or large nonstick skillet, heat canola oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and mushrooms. Stir constantly until mushrooms are tender, about 3 minutes. Add beef and continue cooking an additional minute, until the beef is browned on the outside but still pink in the center. Add snow peas, carrots, broccoli and bell peppers. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in hoisin, Siracha and Sesame oil; continue cooking 1-2 minutes, until vegetables are crunchy and beef is cooked through. Serve over rice.

Spinach Lasagna

Recently we realized that we eat out way too much, especially on the weekends. We have gotten into this bad habit of eating out Friday through Sunday. While it has been fun, it's not exactly figure friendly. In an effort to eat in more on the weekends, I have decided to make one freezer meal every other Monday so we can eat leftovers on Sundays. I have been wanting to try a spinach lasagna for a while. When I was single, I would often stop at Central Market to pick up dinner. They had an amazing spinach lasagna in the prepared foods case. It was amazing!

I found this recipe from a simple Google search and while not exactly like the Central Market version, it was pretty close! I think next time I will substitute a white sauce for the tomato sauce just to try something new!



Spinach Lasagna

20 lasagna noodles

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms

1 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 cups fresh spinach

3 cups ricotta cheese

2/3 cup grated Romano cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 egg

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

3 cups tomato pasta sauce

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook mushrooms, onions, and garlic in olive oil until onions are tender. Drain excess liquid and cool. Boil spinach for 5 minutes. Drain, then squeeze out excess liquid. Chop spinach.

Combine ricotta cheese, Romano cheese, spinach, salt, oregano, basil, pepper, and egg in a bowl. Add cooled mushroom mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Lay 5 lasagna noodles in bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread one third of the cheese/spinach mixture over noodles. Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese on top. Spread 1 cup spaghetti sauce over cheese. Repeat layering 2 times.

Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour. Cool 15 minutes before serving.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 416 | Total Fat: 16.5g | Cholesterol: 63mg

Wild Mushroom Sauce

We eat a lot of salmon around here and while we love it, it does get a bit boring. I went on the the hunt for a sauce to add to the rotation. I love mushrooms so when this one popped up on my Facebook homepage I knew I had to try it. It's definitely time consuming but so worth it! We liked it so much that I think I will try it with chicken next time. Peter loved it so much that when I looked away from my plate for a moment, he stole a huge bite sauce from my plate. I will need to be more vigilent next time!

The original recipe serves six so I cut most of the portions in half. I also greatly reduced the amount of oil because it was way too oily!


Wild Mushroom Sauce
6 ounces wild mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and chopped
1/4 cup cognac
1/4 cup shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon thyme, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper

In a non-stick pan over medium heat, melt one tablespoon of butter into half a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the shallots and cook for about five minutes. Add half the amount of mushrooms and all of the garlic. Saute for five minutes. Pour in the cognac, remove from the burner and use a long match to light the alcohol on fire. Once the flames have subsided, move back onto the burner and add the chicken stock. Simmer for five to eight minutes, until volume reduces by one fourth. Remove from heat and stir in cream. Pour the sauce into a mini food processor and puree.

Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel and move back over medium heat. Melt the remaining butter and oil. Add the remaining mushrooms and saute for five minutes. Add the mushroom puree, thyme and salt and pepper. Keep warm while cooking the salmon. Reheat before serving.

Spinach, Ricotta and Mushroom Ravioli with Homemade Marinara

Thanks to Mike and Cindy, I am the proud new owner of a new pasta maker! I decided to try it out but I had a hard time deciding which type of pasta to make. I have done the goat cheese thing and I hate marscapone, so I settled on ricotta. I searched for a yummy recipe but in the end I went with what I like. I kind of just made this up as I went along and it turned out great! I also had a new, smaller ravioli stamp. Now I don't always have to make the GIANT raviolis!

I know I have posted a pasta sauce recipe before, but I wanted to try something different. The other one is still very good but also very time consuming to make. This one only takes about thirty minutes from start to finish and is just as delicious! Peter said he still likes the other one better but he's not the one spending hours in front of the stove so sometimes he will have to deal with the easier version!

For the pasta dough recipe, please see this post.

Spinach, Ricotta and Mushroom Ravioli
1 1/2 cups chopped spinach, thawed, patted dry
2 cups button mushrooms, sliced
2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan reggiano cheese, grated
1 tablespoon olive oil
pinch nutmeg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Just before it begins to smoke, add the mushrooms and saute for ten minutes. Add the chopped spinach and cook for three minutes.

Move the mushroom and spinach mixture into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until course. In a large bowl, combine the mushrooms and spinach with the ricotta and parmesan reggiano. Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix thouroughly.


Homemade Marinara Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper

In a medium stockpot, heat the olive oil, add the onions and simmer until translucent, five to ten minutes. Add garlic and simmer for one minute. Add wine on high heat and cook until the liquid evaporates. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, parsley and salt and pepper for three minutes. Simmer fifteen minutes.

On one half of the pasta dough, drop a teaspoon of the filling, 2 inches apart. Fold over the other half of the dough, like a blanket. Press air out of the pockets. Use knife, or ravioli stamp, to cut into squares. Crimp edges with fork, unless you have used a stamp. Brush ravioli with egg wash. Dust ravioli and sheet pan with cornmeal, lay out to dry.

Bring 3 quarts of salted and oiled water to boil in a large pasta pot. Add three or four ravioli at a time, as not to crowd them, and cook for two or three minutes. Remove, plate and cover in a foil tent until you have finished cooking all of the ravioli.

Goat Cheese, Arugula and Mushroom Ravioli with Homemade Pasta Sauce

For the longest time if you asked Peter what his favorite dinner was he would have chosen avocado quesadillas. About a month ago I tried making ravioli and pasta sauce from scratch and the rest was history. After one bite Peter declared that the avocado quesadillas (while still very yummy) were no longer his favorite dish. We had a new champion.

I won't fool you, this is a very time consuming dinner to prepare. You need a few hours to spare in the afternoon in order to get everything done. Once I have my new authentic Italian pasta press (thanks to Mike and Cindy) the process will be much faster. For now, I am still rolling the pasta dough by hand. It's not bad exercise for your arms! I'll be buff in no time!

A big plus about this dish, beside the fact that it's delicious, is that it is very budget friendly. I have most of the ingredients on hand at all times. So, you spend more time making dinner but spend less money. It's a trade-off, I guess.

I like to stuff my ravioli with goat cheese, arugula and mushrooms but you can certainly experiment and try something new. I cut rather large ravioli so this recipe makes 8 large raviolis, 4 per person.

Goat Cheese, Arugula and Mushroom Ravioli
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, plus 1 for wash
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup cornmeal, for dusting
1 log goat cheese, softened
1 cup arugula, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, chopped

Combine flour and salt on work surface and shape into a mound. Make a well in the center and add eggs and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Beat with fork. Gradually draw flour in circular motion and continue until ball forms. Cut ball in half, cover. Roll until paper thin, about 1/8 inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut into a rectangle. Brush egg wash (1 egg, 1 tablespoon water, beaten) over the entire pasta rectangle.

In a medium bowl, combine the goat cheese, arugula and mushrooms. Mix thouroughly.

On one half of the pasta dough, drop a teaspoon of the filling, 2 inches apart. Fold over the other half of the dough, like a blanket. Press air out of the pockets. Use knife, or large ravioli stamp, to cut into squares. Crimp edges with fork, unless you have used a stamp. Brush ravioli with egg wash. Dust ravioli and sheet pan with cornmeal, lay out to dry.

Add the ravioli to pot of boiling water. Cook until al dente, about 4 minutes, or until the pasta floats and is pale in color.

Top with pasta sauce and remaining filling. Serve warm.

Pasta Sauce

1 large can (28 ounces) peeled whole plum tomatoes, San Marzano style, drained and chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3 tablespoons chicken broth

1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped

1 teaspoon garlic, chopped

1 sprig thyme

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

salt

black pepper

In a large pot (I use this one) over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and yellow onion until soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and thyme. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and let simmer, 5 minutes. Add chicken broth and tomato paste. Boil, reduce 1/3 volume. Add cream and cook until thick. Add butter, remove thyme sprig and keep warm until ready to serve.