09.24.12_Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli Pasta

Hello all, this is Phillip again. It's been hard to keep up with the blog recently with our new jobs. Even with the recent changes in our lives, we make sure to stick to our vegetarian home cooking lifestyle, even if we eat dinner a little bit later.

A couple weeks ago, Jonathan had to stay at work late, so I made our dinner. As with everything I cook, the easier the dish is, the better. Jonathan sent me this recipe for Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli and said it would be good to toss into pasta with some olive oil and lemon juice. Here's our version of Ina's great dish:

Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli Pasta
Serves 2

For the roasted broccoli:

• 1 large head of broccoli
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 1 TSP lemon zest
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• 2 TBSP pine nuts, toasted
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 TBSP julienned fresh basil leaves
• 1 TSP red chili flakes

For the pasta:

•  1/2 lb fettuccine
• 2 TBSP lemon juice
• 2 TBSP olive oil

 Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

I cut the broccoli florets from the stalks, leaving an inch or two of stalk attached to the florets - per Ina's instructions. I cut all of the florets in half, long-ways, and laid them flat on the baking sheet. I tossed the broccoli with the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, and roasted them in the oven for 25 minutes.

While the broccoli was cooking, I boiled the pasta. After draining the pasta and setting it aside, I pulled out the broccoli and tasted a couple florets. I don't ever remember eating roasted broccoli before, but it tasted a lot like the kale chips I like to make. There's just something I must love about roasting dark greens until they're about to char.

I tossed the hot broccoli with a little bit of olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, pine nuts, Parmesan and basil. Once I completed the roasted broccoli, I tossed it throughout the pasta, adding the remaining lemon juice and a bit more olive oil, salt and pepper.

This is a simple meal that was incredibly delicious. Next time, I would add even more broccoli, because I was so obsessed with it.

08.17.12_Baked Mac and Cheese with Smart Bacon

Apparently we've been busy because I have not posted in weeks! Last summer we had a weekly tradition to have friends over for dinner where we watched game shows on TV and made a new cocktail. Somehow this entire summer had almost passed without us reinstating our weekly gathering, but we finally had our first Wild Wednesday Thursday of the summer!

Phillip recently started a new job and at his going away party from his old job, everyone got him gifts under the purview of "eat well, drink well, live well." One of the gifts we got were ramekins from his coworker Rabiah. I had literally been shopping for ramekins the weekend before and could not find ones the size that I wanted, but luckily, Rabiah read my mind and found the perfect ramekins. I had yet to use them so Phillip suggested I make a baked mac and cheese for this weeks Wild Thursday.

I did some quick Googling and found a recipe that incorporated bacon. I decided to base my recipe off this one, but sub the bacon for Lightlife's Smart Bacon. It actually worked quite well, except the "bacon" stuck together when it came out of the package making it virtually impossible to separate it into individual strips. I think it was just this package though because I don't remember having this problem when I used it in our Coq-au-vin-less Coq-au-vin. Anyway, the mac and cheese was DELICIOUS and I served it with a simple salad with craisins, sliced almonds, cheese and a homemade lemon vinaigrette. Yum.

Baked Mac and Cheese with Smart Bacon
Serves 4
Adapted from Emeril's Three-Cheese Baked Macaroni

• 1/2 pound macaroni
• 5 slices vegetarian bacon
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 3 eggs
• 1 can (12oz) evaporated milk
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg (I used fresh grated)
• 2 cups grated Cheddar Jack Chees
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (1 ounce)
• olive oil
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 TBSP melted butter or margarine
• salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 475°. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the macaroni for 6-7 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. In a small saute pan, cook the vegetarian bacon in a little olive oil until it starts to get crispy. Add the minced garlic and saute another minute or two until fragrant. Add mixture to the cooked pasta.
3. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, evaporated milk, spices, salt and pepper and cheese. well then add the pasta and bacon to the cheese mixture. Stir well until it is completely incorporated.
4. Scoop the macaroni into greased 4" ramekins. Bake for about 10 minutes until the cheese is nice and bubbly.
5. Combine melted butter and breadcrumbs in small bowl. Carefully remove the ramekins from the oven and top each ramekin with a quarter of the breadcrumb mixture. Drizzle a little olive oil the top.
6. Turn the oven to broil and put the ramekins back in the oven for another 2-3 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes then enjoy!

06.29.12_Spring Veggie Pasta

 

Phillip and I always try to eat something a little more substantial on Fridays before going out for the night. Too many nights in college taught me light meals (ex: soup, sushi, etc) do not cut it when you plan on drinking. One of the things I like about vegetarian cooking is that typically the meals are lighter, but when the objective is a heavy meal it can be tricky. I turn to pasta a lot when I want something more substantial, and this dish, though light with all its veggies, was definitely filling. I think I even saw Phillip eat a mushroom or two...

Spring Pasta with Snap Peas

Serves 3-4

From Dinners for Winners

• 1/2 pound farfalle
• 1/2 pound sugar snap peas, halved
• 1 TBSP olive oi
• 1 lb mushrooms roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• a few handfuls fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, chiffonade
•  1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

1) Boil a large pot of water then cook pasta. When there's about one minute left, add snap peas and cook 30 more seconds. Drain and reserve 1 cup pasta water.
2) In same pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Sautee the mushrooms until they become tender. 3) Add cream and wine and cook for about 2 minutes, then add the Parmesan and spinach. Stir until the spinach wilts.
4) Return the pasta and peas to pot and slowly add the pasta water until the sauce is at your desired consistency.
5) Finally toss in the basil and season with some S&P.

06.19.12_Giada's Campanelle with Spicy Mint Sauce

Phillip has been getting a lot more alone time now that I have to stay at work until a normal time while he continues to get off at 4:00pm. One day while I was stuck at work, he watched the Food Network without me (I found this somewhat surprising) and he saw Giada making this Campanelle with Spicy Mint Sauce. He found the recipe and sent it to me. It looked super simple (per usual) and sounded really good. I'm always intrigued by savory dishes that use mint since we typically associate mint with dessert. Anyway we added it to the list and decided to make it one weekday when I didn't get off right at 5:00 since it seemed so simple to make.  Basically you boil pasta and then make a sauce similar to pesto, but instead of using basil and pine nuts, you use mint and a Serrano pepper. Delicious. We'd recommend adding a little salt and pepper to help season the pasta as well. A little S&P never hurts!

As a side I decided to make some homemade garlic bread since we had leftover bread from when we made the White Bean Kale and Pesto soup. I took a few slices of crusty bread, and lathered both sides with a mixture of melted butter and garlic powder. I sprinkled some dried parsley onto both sides and then baked them in a 400º oven for about 8-10 minutes.

Giada's Campanelle with Spicy Mint Sauce

• Salt
• 1 pound campanelle pasta
• 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 ¼ cups chopped fresh mint
• ½ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large serrano chile, stemmed, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Combine the mint, cheese, oil, chile and garlic in a food processor. Blend until smooth.

3. Drain pasta and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the cheese and toss until coated.

4. Add the sauce to the pasta and toss until coated.

02.12.12_Asparagus and Lemon Pasta

Our friend Laura bought us the Moosewood Restaurant: New Classics cookbook as housewarming gift when we moved into our new apartment. I finally sat down and flipped through it this weekend and found a ton of recipes that I can't wait to try. Phillip and I were originally going to grab carryout for dinner but as it got colder and colder outside, I decided I would much rather stay inside and whip up something easy than endure the (finally) winter weather for food. One of the recipes I had earmarked in the book was Pasta with Asparagus and Lemon. Without really reading the recipe I knew that this could not be difficult and that I would love it.

As I brought a large pot of water to a boil, I cut off the tough ends of a bunch of asparagus then trimmed off the asparagus tops by cutting the top inch or so off. Then I chopped the stalks of asparagus into small pieces. After the water was boiling, I dropped in just the tops and blanched them for 3-4 minutes. After removing the tops with a slotted spoon, I added the chopped stalks. I let these cook for 6-7 minutes before removing them.

Next, I added a lb of penne pasta to the boiling water and let that cook while I prepared the sauce. I got to use my mini Cuisinart again which I hadn't used in a while now that I have the full-sized one. I added 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 fresh lemon juice, the cooked asparagus stalks, a TBSP or so of the hot cooking water and S&P into the Cuisinart and gave it a whirl. Once all the pieces were mixed and the sauce was smooth it was ready.

I drained the pasta, tossed it with the asparagus lemon sauce, and added in 1/4 of Pecorino Romano cheese. I also topped the pasta with some fresh parsley for some added color and little extra flavor. The pasta was super delicious and as expected ridiculous easy and quick to prepare. I think I'll be making this again when I'm feeling lazy. Thanks Laura for the great cookbook!

01.29.11_Homemade Spaghetti-O's

Hello again! Phil here with another yummy vegetarian dish for you all. Jonathan found this lovely Spaghetti-O's recipe from the blog Tracey's Culinary Adventures last week, and we knew this one would be a winner. I can't speak for Jonathan, but I am a huge Spaghetti-O's fan, which is why we decided I would take the initiative on this one.

If you recall from my last post, I am not the world's best cook, but with Jonathan across from me in new (large!) kitchen, I figured I could handle it. It's important to note that we made mini-sized version of the eggplant meatballs from a previous post as opposed to her chicken ones to make the meal fully vegetarian.

Mini "meatballs" ready to go into the oven.

After chopping an onion, a stalk of celery, and three small carrots, I sauteed them in a large pot. While they were sauteing, I (poorly) minced three cloves of garlic and added it in. I mixed in 2 1/2 cups of veggie stock and a 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes then simmered the mixture for 20 minutes.

Anybody can cook!

After the carrots softened, I used Jonathan's new immersion blender to make the soup. It took a few minutes of dealing with rogue carrots, but we could really see that creamy orange color coming out of the mixture. I added some salt and pepper and brought the soup back up to a boil.

I have no idea what I'm doing, clearly.

Once the soup mixture was at a boil, I put in two cups of ditalini pasta and let simmer for another 15 minutes. I used a little bit more pasta than she recommended, so we'd have enough for the next day's lunch. The mini meatballs came out at around the same time and looked perfect! Not bad for my first time working with eggplant.

I'm actually surprised with how much it tasted like Spaghetti-O's from the can, though this was much healthier! We both loved the meal and enjoyed it again the next day for lunch. We definitely recommend giving it a try if you're in the mood for a nostalgic meal - without all the sodium!

12.11.11_Spinach Stuffed Shells

A few months ago I made Giada's stuffed shells with arrabbiata sauce. The recipe was in one of the first cookbooks I ever received as a gift. They were super delicious but had pancetta in them. We were trying to figure out what we could make for dinner without having to buy a ton of ingredients and I noticed that we still had half of the jumbo shells left from the last time we made these. I decided we could make it vegetarian by leaving out the pancetta but I added spinach to make it a little more than just noodles, cheese and sauce.

After bringing water to a boil and dumping the remaining half of the box of jumbo shells, I sauteed a bag of spinach. I went ahead and used the entire bag because it wilts so much. I added some fresh grated nutmeg ("That little something that makes you go, hmm what is that?" - Rachael Ray), salt and pepper. I then let the spinach cool a bit while I mixed together the cheese mixture which consisted of:

15oz of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup of parmesan
2 egg yolks
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Black pepper to taste
1 tsp of dried parsley 
1 tsp of dried basil
1 clove of garlic

Once the spinach had cooled, I added it to the mixture. I then drained the noodles and sprayed a baking dish with nonstick spray. I stuffed each shell with about a tablespoon of the cheese mixture then put them into the baking dish. After the shells were all stuffed, I poured some marinara sauce I had in the fridge over top of the shells. I used about 2 cups. The shells baked for 30 minutes in a 350°. The shells were super yummy and I even had leftovers to take for lunch the next day!

09.18.11_Homemade Whole Wheat Ravioli

I have always wanted to try and make my own pasta but I never have felt a need to buy a pasta maker. Since I do not have the pasta maker to evenly cut out long strands for linguine or anything like that, I thought ravioli would be a good idea because I could just roll the dough out by hand and if it came out somewhat "rustic" it would be fine. The recipe that I actually found was for whole wheat pasta (which doesn't contain egg) so I thought this would be another good dish to have with Caitlin. She was coming over for dinner on Sunday so I thought this would be a good opportunity to make them since I would have all day to figure it out.

I ended up using a few different recipes for my ravioli. The original recipe that I found said that they did not like the filling they used and the sauce didn't really appeal to me (it looked like a paste they spread on top of the ravioli). So I decided I would use the original recipe for the dough, and then find another recipe for the filling and sauce. I just looked on Food Network for "Butternut Squash Ravioli" and came across Emeril's recipe for Ravioli and Sage Brown Butter.
Before tackling the dough, I quickly sauteed one shallot in olive oil (instead of butter for Caitlin) with some S&P before adding a package of the defrosted squash puree I bought at the store. I cooked for a couple of minutes, added some nutmeg, and then let the mixture cool completely while I was making the dough. The dough was super easy to make. Just mix the all-purpose and whole wheat flower together with some S&P and a little garlic and/or onion powder. I sifted the all-purpose flour to get rid of any clumps but when I sifted the whole wheat flour, all the little brown flecks of what I'm assuming were the wheat were left in the sifter. I ended up dumping those back into the mixture since I did not want to separate out the wheat! Then add in the wet ingredients which were just water and I added a tablespoon of maple syrup for sweetener. I had to add a little more water than the recipe called for to get all the ingredients combined and at a good consistency.

Next came the tricky part. My tiny kitchen really does not allow room for big projects like this and I also did not have a very big cutting board so I was really tight for space. I split the dough in half and rolled the first half out on a floured cutting board. I had to open the rolling pin my sister had given me a few years back since I had never used it (have I mentioned I don't back much?). After the dough was rolled out to the size of my cutting board I spooned on tablespoon of the squash mixture onto the dough. I managed to fit three rows of four on the dough, leaving about an inch in between each blob of filling.


Next, I wet my finger and drew a grid around the filling scoops so that when I laid the other layer of dough on top they would stick together. I rolled out the second half of the dough on another cutting board and when it seemed as big as the other piece of dough, I used my rolling pin to pick up the dough and gently laid it on top of the dough with the filling on top. I then took my finger and run it around all the spoonfuls of squash mixture and pressed the doughs together. I used a pizza cutter to cut the ravioli into squares and tossed the leftover dough back into my mixing bowl. I used a fork to crimp all the edges to keep the ravioli together and to make it look pretty and homemade. I then used the leftover dough to make a few extra ravioli. I ended up with 14 ravioli, but they were pretty big.

I prepared the ravioli earlier in the day an then covered them with plastic wrap until Caitlin came over. When we were ready to eat I brought a big pot of water to a boil and dropped the ravioli in. The ravioli cooked for about 4 minutes or so before I strained them in a colander. While the water was coming to a boil, I made the Sage Brown Butter for me and Phillip. I melted a stick of butter, added 12 leaves of sage, and just let it cook until it became brown, stirring occasionally.

I was really impressed with how the ravioli came out. None of them fell apart while cooking or being drained and they tasted delicious. It definitely took some time but it was fun to make my own pasta from scratch and I'd like to try it again and make regular pasta. I served the ravioli with garlic bread and a side salad. The salad consisted of spinach leaves, candied walnuts, and grapes. Yum! Caitlin and I used my favorite Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette and I made a Apple Cider Vinaigrette for Phillip. If you are looking for a fun weekend project I would definitely recommend trying to make your own pasta!

08.16.11_Avocado and Arugula Pesto

As many of you know I finally caved and joined Twitter earlier this year after avoiding it for years. I just did not feel a need to constantly be telling people via multiple platforms what I was doing at this very second. Then Britney Spears started releasing information about her unreleased album via her Twitter account so I gave in and joined so I could get the newest info the minute it happened like a true fan. After realizing its potential I have come to really enjoy Twitter as a means to connect with people you would otherwise never be able to communicate with (aka celebrities). At the beginning of the month when I was scouring the internet for vegetarian recipes, Giada DeLaurentiis, one of the people I follow on Twitter, tweeted a recipe for Avocado and Arugula Pesto with Linguine. Since avocado is in my top 5 favorite foods and I love Giada this instantly intrigued me and I added it to the recipe list.

I loved that all this recipe required was a pot for boiling the water, a food processor, and an oven (for toasting almonds). There was no chopping or prep so it took minutes to prepare. After getting a pot on the stove for the pasta I preheated my toaster oven to 350 degrees. Since the recipe only calls for toasting 1/2 cup of almonds (personally I would have like a few more almonds) I did this in the toaster oven because it preheats so much faster than my oven. Once I put the pasta in I started the pesto. If you have a normal sized Cuisinart this will be much easier for you than it was for me using my baby Cuisinart. I had to put things in in batches to make it all fit: first the avocado, lime juice, garlic, and S&P. After that was all smooth I was able to add the arugula in small batches. In the end it somehow all fit!
I really liked this pasta. It was something different rather than the typical marinara or pesto like we made for our Eastern Market pasta nights. I thought the avocado taste was much more subtle than the arugula, though Phillip disagrees, so maybe it just depends on your palate. I think this pesto sauce would also be great for cold pasta salads or even just as a spread onto of crostinis. I ended up serving the pasta with a baguette we got from Panera (so good!) and mixed olive oil, red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese for dipping. Too bad I don't have any left over pesto sauce so I could try that crostini idea out with the leftover baguette.

08.11.11_Pesto

As the week is coming to a close we needed to use up the other half of the Eastern Market pasta we had bought last weekend. I decided that I did not want to have the exact same meal and thought that a pesto sauce would go nicely with the both the tortellini and the spinach and cheese ravioli that we had left. Since I have made pesto before, and because it is one of the easiest yet most delicious sauces ever, I knew the ingredients I needed but wanted to double check the proportions of each item. I automatically walked over to my computer to look up a recipe but then stopped myself when it dawned on me that I could use an actual cookbook. Such a novel concept. I pulled out the first cookbook I ever owned, the Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook, which my mom gave to me as a house warming gift for my first apartment. As I sat on the couch looking up pesto in the index, Phillip looked over me and said, "Whoa. You're using an actual cookbook." Funny how much even cooking has been changed by technology. But I digress.

I halved the recipe since I only needed enough pesto for two servings and because I only had one cup of fresh basil (and no, we didn't steal it this time, we actually bought it). I put 1 cup of packed basil leaves, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup pine nuts, and a pinch of salt and black pepper into my baby food processor and gave it a quick pulse. Because I only have the baby Cuisinart I could not stream the olive oil in as I pulsed. I added a little bit of oil at a time until it all came together into a nice consistency. I used a little bit more oil then the recipe called for (I used 1/4 of a cup) because I wanted it to be a little bit looser and more or of a sauce then a paste.

A super close up of the pesto, in case you felt a need to see every speck of basil and cheese.

I made garlic bread again out of leftover buns from our Veggie Burger night. I changed it up a bit this time and just used garlic powder instead of fresh garlic and also sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top before toasting the bread. I always forget how much I love pesto until I have it. I only used half of the pine nuts so I put the rest into the freezer, as Rachael Ray taught me to, so that they would last longer. You don't want the "oil to spoil!" I can't wait to use the leftovers in another pesto dish sometime soon.

08.07.11_Eastern Market Pasta

Eastern Market ravioli

My friend Diana's sister, Rebecca, was visiting this weekend and they invited me and Phillip to come to Eastern Market with them on Saturday before my sailing trip. I had not been since I was a kid so Phillip and I got ourselves out of bed and headed over to meet them. We walked around, saw some cool artwork, and enjoyed free samples of local produce. I really wanted to buy something but we had not planned out our meals for the week so I did not want to buy produce and have it go to waste. Diana told me that inside they sold handmade pastas that were really good so we decided to check it out. We had a tough time deciding on just one or two pastas so we decided to buy four different kinds. The woman behind the counter told us the pasta would be fine in the fridge for up to a week so we decided two pasta nights in one week was acceptable. We ended up with three types of ravioli (smoked mozzarella for Phillip, goat cheese and basil for me, and spinach and cheese for both of us) and some tortellini.


After cleaning the apartment and doing laundry all day I was not really in the mood to make some elaborate meal. We decided to cook half the pasta for a quick easy meal. Because, as you know, I can't have just one thing to eat I decided to take the leftover buns from our Sloppy Joe night and make some garlic bread. Stealing another Rachael Ray trick, I used my microplane to grate garlic into melted butter, spread it on the bread and then just toasted it in the toaster oven. I also made myself my typical side salad with the raspberry vinaigrette. A quick, delicious, and filling meal where we did not feel like were leaving something out by not having meat.

Goat cheese and basil ravioli for me and smoked mozzarella ravioli for Phillip!

08.06.11_Dad's Birthday

Last Monday was my Dad's birthday. To celebrate we bought tickets to go sailing up in Annapolis for a sunset sail. My colleagues and I had gone a few weeks back and it was amazing. We had perfect weather, saw the sunset over the bay, and then went out to dinner afterward. Sadly the weather was anything but perfect for our trip on Saturday. We ended up having a memorable trip to say the least, full of crashing waves, rain, and the boat feeling like it was going to capsize and throw all of the passengers overboard.

Me and my mom, scared out of our minds...before the boat had even left the dock!

Prior to getting on the boat we went out to dinner. We were going to go to a restaurant right at the dock but when we got there they told us there power had gone out and they were no longer seating tables. We decided to wander down to the main drag of Annapolis and found Middleton Tavern. It was right by the water and had outdoor seating so we went in. This was my first time eating out this month since Phillip and I have been cooking every night and making sure that we cook enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day at work. I've always been somewhat aware of the lack of vegetarian options at restaurants (especially now that Caitlin has gone vegan) but it is completely different when it affects you directly. The restaurant had a total of one vegetarian entree. Luckily it sounded good to me, Tagliarini in a lemon butter sauce. We also ordered a vegetarian appetizer of macadamia nut-encrusted goat cheese with a mango salsa and soy glaze. So good. Sadly, the pasta underwhelmed and came out overcooked. Needless to say, watching my family eat their rockfish and steak was harder than expected. The rest of my family loved their food so if you are ever in Annapolis and not a vegetarian I would still recommend Middleton Tavern.

Me and my sister, Rachel, attempting to stay dry. Fail.