Friday, August 30, 2019

End of the Week Pasta


Tonight for dinner I used up a few things that we had leftover and made a most delicious dinner. Chris commented that it was quite good.


I started off sauteeing some sausage. When that was cooked I added zucchini, sliced in 1/2 moons. Next, I added a little white wine and cooked that down. I had leftover sausage and peppers in that delicious Marcella Hazan sauce. That was stirred into the pan. The seasonings were adjusted, a little salt and pepper. 

Meanwhile, the pasta was boiling...

When the pasta was done I added it to the saute pan along with a knob of butter and a little pasta water. I served the pasta with a little bit of burrata cheese on top.


Just delicious! And only 2 pans to wash! Perfect start to the weekend.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Homemade Fettuccini with That Sauce


Homemade Fettuccini, recipe from Tide and Thyme, the only recipe I will ever use and the sauce is Marcella Hazan's Tomato, Onion and Butter Sauce. It does not get better than that.


On Sunday I made a pot of "the Sauce." Have a couple of containers in the freezer. With the abundance of amazingly delicious tomatoes, it seemed like the right thing to do.


It was a damn good dinner. I had to force myself not to go back for seconds.

Nothing better than freezer food.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Stuffed Tomatoes


August. Tomato time!
I found a recipe for Baked Stuffed Tomatoes online and altered it a bit. This dinner was quite the hit.  The tomatoes were from Cole's Farm Market.

I cut off the tops and removed all the seeds and the pulp from the tomatoes. I saved the pulp for the pan of Marcella Hazan's Tomato, Onion and Butter Sauce I was making.

I turned the tomatoes upside down and placed them on wire racks over a baking sheet so they would drain off any liquid.

While the tomatoes were draining, I sauteed some sausage.

I added a little of the Marcella Hazan's Tomato, Onion and Butter Sauce and some bread. Seasonings were the usual suspects, oregano, parsley, basil, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese.

I carefully stuffed each tomato hoping we would have no cracks. There was only one but it was not too bad.

These were heated up in the oven for 20 minutes at 350˚.


Delicious!!!

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Comfort Food - Fettuccine Alfredo

Homemade Fettuccine. There is something about having that for dinner makes me feel warm and fuzzy. It is true comfort food for me.

The recipe I use for the pasta is from Tide and Thyme. I made a batch on Sunday and was able to freeze enough for 2 nights dinner.


The Fettuccini Alfredo recipe is from an Epicurious.com post from 2003. It was the "true" Italian recipe. NO CREAM! Just butter, cheese, and pasta water.

Ingredients-
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
Dried egg fettuccine
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup) 

Method-
Melt butter in a large saute pan.
Cook fettuccine in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
Reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, then drain fettuccine in a colander.
Immediately toss the fettuccine with butter and salt in the sauté pan, then slowly add 3/4 cup cheese, tossing constantly and adding enough of the cooking water to keep pasta moist.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, then sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Pancetta, Zucchini, and Pasta


Wow. Zucchini season is here!! Time for my favorite summer pasta dish. This time there was a suggestion of adding pancetta and cream to the sauce. An excellent addition I must say.

Dice the pancetta and saute. Add sliced onion, I used red onion. Saute in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes on low heat. Add the sliced zucchini. Saute for about 7 to 10 minutes. You want the zucchini to get a little jammy. Add some white wine and let that cook down. Add some cream, I used one cup of heavy cream. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, and basil.

Cook the pasta. Once it is al dente add it to the saute pan along with some of the pasta water. Simmer for a few minutes. Add some parmesan cheese and a little butter if you like.

Now about the pasta. This would have been over the top delicious with homemade pasta. But there are only so many hours in the weekend. I found Ronzoni Homestyle Penne at the store. 2 ingredients. Flour and egg. The taste? Not bad. Not bad at all. It was a lighter pasta than the usual boxed pasta. We both went back for seconds.

Did I ever tell you the story about the time the Ronzoni Brothers visited my Mom?