Pesto Pasta with Mini Meatballs

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It's kind of funny...I couldn't wait to get to Italy and cook all these great dishes that I haven't been able to cook in Saudi, but I come to find that I can't get everything I want in Italy either!  I couldn't wait to eat kale...but couldn't find it anywhere, no matter how hard I searched.  Broccoli too...seems to have just disappeared from the Como area! 
And just a little note about Lake Como....I'm in love.  Just in love.  We stayed in a town called Menaggio...in my opinion, the best one on the lake...and it's just a short ferry ride to Bellagio and Varenna.  Menaggio (pronounced Men-A-jo) has a beautiful piazza and then you walk (uphill) all the way to our house.  We stayed where the old castle used to be in a 500 year old house.  It was so lovely and we made friends with the neighbors.  I was even lucky enough to be invited over for dinner!  It was great fun trying to talk Italian with them.  The food was wonderful.  (and yes, they even had the traditional Italian red and white table cloth)  :)

So, the next night I had to cook for myself and the girls.  No broccoli to be found, but at least they had cauliflower.  We'd already feasted on different tomato based sauces, so I wanted something different.  And keeping with the fact that I wanted to enjoy pork as much as possible, I figured some yummy meatballs would do the trick topped with a nice pesto sauce.  Had I been in my regular kitchen I would have made my own pesto, but with the serious lack of kitchen staples in my rented house, I went with the jarred kind.  Turned out wonderful and the girls really liked it as well.  Score one for mom!

Roasted Pasta Primavera

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Ciao!!!  Okay, so yes, I've been gone forever...well, 6 weeks.  It was Ramadan here in Saudi (their holy month where they fast from sunup to sundown) and that meant it was time for me and my girls to skip out of town.  We've been in Italy for the past 6 amazing weeks.  It was an incredible trip and I was able to spend time with my mom, stepdad and even my aunt and uncle.  I was apart from the dear hubby for 4 weeks until he met up with us.  We spent time in Lake Como (touring all the towns like Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio), Lucca, Pisa, Venice and ended in Positano on the Almalfi Coast.  
And now, here I am, back in Saudi.  (hoping that sounds more enthusiastic in words than it does in my head)  Ah, but if it weren't for living here, I wouldn't get to go on these amazing trips.  :)
While in Italy, I had rented a house and got to do quite a bit of cooking, so the next few posts will all be Italian style meals.  And it also means that I had very little choice (if any) of which plates to use for each dish....so, yeah, they all look the same.  ah well.    
First up....this super tasty pasta primavera.  Roasting the veggies brings out fantastic flavors and turns a simple dish into something spectacular.  This recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis, I had to tweak it a little because I couldn't find all the ingredients she called for, still...it was a great meal.  :)  Leave out the cheese and you have yourself a fab Vegan dinner!

Ingredients

• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips
• 2 medium zucchini or 1 large zucchini, cut into thin strips
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs or herbes de Provence
• 1 pound spinach flavored penne pasta
• 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a large heavy baking sheet, toss all of the vegetables with the oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to coat. Transfer half of the vegetable mixture to another heavy large baking sheet and arrange evenly over the baking sheets. Bake until the carrots are tender and the vegetables begin to brown, stirring after the first 10 minutes, about 20 minutes total.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixtures in a large bowl to combine. Toss with the cherry tomatoes and enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve immediately.

Quinoa Pasta with Pomodoro Sauce

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Back from a lovely 4 weeks in Vegas with my family and friends.  It was so nice to be able to go out to eat at fun restaurants.  I devoured tons of sushi.  Did a bit of cooking, but not much.  But, I did buy some great items to bring back with me for cooking.  One big one was quinoa and quinoa pasta.  (I also brought back panko bread crumbs, some hot sauces, saffron, and wild rice)  So, now I'm back here in Saudi and my cooking cap is on and raring to go!
I couldn't wait to cook up the quinoa pasta and I wanted to find a nice sauce to go with it.  This was just perfect.  I amped up the protein even more by adding cannellini beans.
An incredibly simple sauce with monster flavor.  The hubby likened it a bit to vodka sauce...minus the vodka and cream.  
Leftovers were great too!  Happy cooking!

Recipe adapted from Epicurious


Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 28 ounce can peeled tomatoes, puréed in a food processor
Kosher salt
3 large fresh basil sprigs
12 ounces quinoa pasta
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons cubed unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino



Directions:
Heat extra-virgin olive oil in a 12" skillet over medium-low heat. Add minced onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 12 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 2-4 minutes. Add crushed red pepper flakes; cook for 1 minute more. Increase heat to medium, add puréed tomatoes and season lightly with kosher salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens slightly and the flavors meld, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat, stir in basil sprigs, and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a 5-quart pot. Season with salt; add spaghetti or bucatini and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water.

Discard basil and heat skillet over high heat. Stir in reserved pasta water to loosen sauce; bring to a boil. Add beans and toss to coat, next add pasta and cook, stirring, until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat; add butter and cheese; toss until cheese melts. Transfer to warm bowls; serve with more cheese, if desired.

Italian Bread & Veggie Soup

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So, the other night I wanted to make a Ribollita soup...thought I'd bought all the ingredients, then got home and found out they didn't give me one of my bags.  Crap.  And it's not like I can just rush back out to the store...that requires calling a taxi...and well, I wasn't about to go through all that again.  
Instead, I improvised.  Took a couple of different recipes, pulled ideas I liked and threw this soup together. Thankfully, it worked out really well.  The whole family enjoyed it and there weren't any leftovers.  Nice.
It's a forgiving recipe...so you can add or remove ingredients with ease...enjoy!  Make it Vegan and leave out the cheese.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 Tbs herbs de Provence
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 turnip, peeled and cubed (small cubes...not big ones)
4 medium zucchini, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cans stewed tomatoes (with juice)
small head of cabbage (I used Napa), sliced thin
1 (3 inch piece) Parmesan rind
6 cups low-sodium Veggie broth (or chicken)
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
half a loaf day old french bread torn into pieces
Fresh grated parm cheese


Directions:
Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onion, carrot, celery, and sprinkle with seasoning.  Cook until veggies are tender.
Next, add the garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Add the turnip and zucchini...cook until tender (about 10 minutes)
Stir in the stewed tomatoes and their juices, the tomato sauce, the cabbage, the Parm rind and broth.
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. (45 if you have the time)
Remove the rind. (whatever's left of it)
Toss in the beans and cook till heated through.
Lastly, stir in the bread pieces, ladle into bowls and top with grated parm cheese.  You could also add a sprinkle of crushed red pepper.

Fresh, Simple Homemade Tomato Sauce

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We've been blessed with a great abundance of tomatoes from our garden.  I was hoping we would end up with cherry tomatoes (my fave for their sweet flavor) but instead we have Roma tomatoes.  Not a bad thing of course, just not the ones I'd eat for a snack all by themselves. 
The other day I was chatting with my friend, who lived in Rome for 13 years, and she mentioned making a nice homemade sauce with all my tomatoes.  Hmmmm...haven't done that yet!  And, as a bonus, we got lucky and the local grocery store had some fresh pasta in stock.  Fresh sauce, fresh (well semi fresh) ravioli.  Perfect!
I Googled a bunch of recipe ideas for the sauce.  There are more ways to make tomato sauce than I would have guessed!  But, I wanted simple...pure.  I wanted the tomatoes to shine.  So, with a few ingredients and a bit of time...I ended up with a lovely sauce.  
Since then, I've made fresh sauce one other time...with the same wonderful results.  Keep the tomatoes coming! (side note:  if you ever pop into the store and find tomatoes on sale, but maybe they look like they're on their last leg...buy them!  yep you read right.  Those overripe beauties will make you a beautiful sauce!  And save keep some money in your pocketbook!)


*important tip:  take the time to peel and seed the tomatoes.  Otherwise your sauce won't be nearly as good.  It's not hard and just takes a few extra minutes of your prep time...it's worth it.  Trust me.

Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs with Smokey Marinara

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I recently signed up for Pillsbury's daily newsletter.  I'm not a huge fan of their recipes mostly because they are not very healthy and they constantly use name brand items.  But, I did see this reicpe and thought it was a fun easy dish to make for me and my girls.
I wanted to add a bit more pizzazz, so I made my own smokey marinara (you can find the recipe here:  Smokey Marinara)  I really wanted to use bucatini noodles, but I couldn't find any at the store.  So, I settled for good ol' spaghetti.  I think next time I'll try a different cheese...the string cheese didn't melt very well.  But, all in all, it was a great dish.  :)

Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato Bucatini

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I had such a great time cooking dinners for my family in Ohio.  I cooked up a few of my all time faves...Smokey Minestrone Tortellini Soup and Smokey Chicken Tortilla Soup, but I also wanted to try out a few new ones.
Since I am currently obsessed with cooking, I brought some of my fave cooking magazines with me.  Looking through Cuisine at Home, I found a really yummy sounding pasta dish.  (ok, so for me almost all pasta dishes are yummy, but anyway...)  It's light, easy and full of flavor.  Great for a weeknight meal.  And if you're really short on time, just use some canned tomatoes (though the flavor won't be as pronounced.)  Many stores are starting to carry bucatini now...it's a fat spaghetti noodle that is hollow on the inside.  Sort of like a really long macaroni.  If you can't find them, sub out regular spaghetti noodles.

I'm going to post the original recipe which states it serves 2 people.  I just doubled everything and had plenty for grandma, me and the girls.  Happy cooking!  :)

Smokey Minestrone Tortellini Soup

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Getting together with friends tonight and I wanted to make something special.  Well, for one, it's my baby's birthday.  She's officially 3 today.  We did celebrate in Vegas a few weeks back, but I couldn't let her actual birthday go by without a little flare.  And of course, when asked what she wanted for dinner....Noodles.  
I didn't just want to make a pot of spaghetti (well, I just didn't have the time to do it the way I wanted)  So, I fished around my bookmarked recipes and found one for a smokey minestrone that included tortellini's.  I've already made a killer tortellini soup, so I decided to merge the two recipes together to create this one.  
I absolutely love a soup that is full of veggies, mainly because my girls will eat just about anything in a bowl with broth.  It's a fairly simple dish to make and you can save time by buying pre-chopped veggies.  I like to use my mandolin to slice...makes it go quickly! 
Looking forward to a night with my friends, my mom, and my girls.  The only major thing missing is my hubby.  (who, at this moment, is tucked away in bed...in Saudi)  :(  

Friday: Roasted Cauliflower Pasta

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I was lazily sitting on the couch playing with my iPad (greatest invention on Earth as far as I'm concerned) and  using my Cooking Light app.  I found this recipe and it sounded really tasty.  One, my girls like cauliflower...two, my girls love pasta....three, I just love trying something new.  Check, check, check.  Recipe on the menu this week.
I wanted to make it a bit more substantial, so I'm going to brown up some sweet chicken Italian sausage to go with it.  Takes away from the vegetarian aspect, but hey, I already had one veggie only dish this week.  :)  Not to mention, roasted cauliflower is just downright delish.
After weeks of not really having a menu to go by, I'm happy to be up and cooking again this week.  Even better that mom will be here to cook with me.  Happy cooking!

Friday: Italian Beef Stew

Pin It Now! Okay, so while my in-laws were in town, my hubby fired up the smoker.  He was rummaging through the freezer to see if there was anything else he could toss on the grill.  We found that I still have an obscene amount of chuck roast left in there!  With the move getting closer and closer, I know I need to start using up what we've got on hand.
Surfing around some apps on my iPad, I found this recipe from Cooking Light.  I have most of the ingredients already, so it was a perfect choice to cook.  I left if for Friday so we would have leftovers for lunch over the weekend.  I know it's not exactly a summer weather dish, but I love it just the same!  :)

Simply wonderful.

Wednesday: Giada's Pasta e Fagioli

Pin It Now! I'm slightly addicted to the Food Network.  Love watching the variety of shows...even if I catch a bunch of repeats.  I'm not a big fan of Giada's actual show, but I love her cooking.  

My in-laws arrive today.  Now for some people, they might groan and moan about that prospect.  Me?  I'm a lucky one.  I love my in-laws.  My father-in-law is a retired Colonel in the Air Force.  My husband had me terrified to meet him the first time...then, a few glasses of wine later...we hit it off big time.  I think he finds me amusing.  My mother-in-law is a Mary Kay rep...and to her dismay, I didn't join the ranks.  (not my thing)  But she's great at what she does (earned a free car!).  She's a lot of fun and the girls have a blast with her.  So, yeah, we're totally stoked they're here to visit.  :)

My father-in-law loves Italian food.  (I knew I loved that guy!)  Since I am making a nice big Tuscan spaghetti on Friday, I thought I would keep with the flavors but make a nice soup.  I've already made two different versions of pasta e fagioli, but never one that doesn't even feature tomatoes!  However, the reviewers raved about it.  And it's Giada, the woman knows true Italian food!  This will be a wonderful dinner to sit down and visit with each other. 

Okay, so this doesn't look totally appealing, but let me tell you, this is SO good...the flavors are amazing.  Great soup, doubled the recipe and there still weren't any leftovers.

Friday: "Spaghetti" with Bolognese sauce

Pin It Now! Gazing into my freezer I noticed a bag of homemade marinara sauce and a pound of ground beef.  Perfect...pasta night!  Then I thought, maybe I can get more creative.  Instead of regular ol' noodles, I'll cook up some spaghetti squash instead.  Adding a power punch of veggie goodness.
If you've been following my blog, you'll see that I've cooked spaghetti squash quite a few times and I've never been disappointed.  (and my girls have never turned it down, though, they think it's just some kind of special noodle)  ;)  
This is a total "fly by the seat of my pants" recipe.  And totally off track from my usual "follow the recipe" method.  So, if you make this, I'd love to hear your thoughts and any tweaks you may have tried.  Happy cooking!  :)

Monday: Staci's Orecchiette with Fresh Tomatoes and Sausage

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To indulge my inner Italian, I'm declaring this week...ITALIAN WEEK!  (it makes me excited just to type that)  I've searched for some fun new dishes and I'm cooking up one of my personal faves.  

I know that Italian food sometimes gets a bad rap because of the high carb content.  However; I've been to Italy (yes, lucky me) and let me tell you, they aren't all obese!  The reason?  They don't eat a vat of pasta for each meal.  A typical Italian dinner will include at least three courses eaten over the span of a couple of hours (or more).  You'd start with an Antipasti (appetizer), followed by il primo (first dish that is usually pasta...about one cup worth), il secondo (usually meat or fish), and a contorno (a side dish of veggies).  Also there is bread and wine of course.  And usually espresso with dessert if ordered.

Now, as much as I'd like to sit for two hours and enjoy my dinner, my kids aren't going to go for that.  So, I'm forced to just enjoy the il primo course or il secondo.  I have prepared a true Italian meal once for a family party at my home, but that was pre-kiddos.

So, keep in mind, when preparing Italian food, keep your portions smaller and you won't have to worry so much about the carb count.  And best of all, just enjoy the deliciousness that makes Italian food so damn good.

For today, I'm making my fave pasta.  It started as a recipe I found in a cookbook and then I've tweaked it from there.  I love this dish.  Mostly because of the gorgeous and sweet tasting cherry tomatoes.  I don't bother seeding or removing skins...takes too much time and actually I like both.  Cherry tomatoes can be pricey, so I don't make this often.  Orecchiette is a pasta that gets it's name comes from its shape, which reminds one of a small ear. In Italian orecchio means ear, and the suffix 'etto' means 'small'.  It's a dome shaped pasta that is starting to show up more and more in regular grocery stores.  If you can't find any, use small shells instead.  

Hope you enjoy my fave pasta dish!  Happy cooking!

Tuesday: Northern Italian Trattoria Burger

Pin It Now! Wanna impress some dinner guests?  Make these burgers.  They'll think you went out and bought $25 gourmet burgers.  They are that good.  Everything about these burgers just rock...from the crispy cheese on top to the crispy prosciutto on the bottom and the creamy herb butter (that would go good on almost anything).  Most important, don't skip out on the hot capicola...it makes the dish.  (you can find it at your butcher counter)  
If you don't like spicy food, just cut back on the amount, however, when it's cooked into the burger, it's no where near as spicy as it is by itself.  


It may seem like a lot of work, but it's really not.  Just a long list of ingredients.  I couldn't find smoked prosciutto, so I'm just using regular.  (but I'm going to find it somewhere!)
  

For a side dish, I'm going to make a lovely risotto.  Click here for the recipe:  Spring Green Risotto

Gourmet, melt in your mouth, ooh and ahh deliciousness....

Spring Green Risotto

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I'm making this as a great side to the Trattoria burgers.  A lot of people get a little skiddish when they think about making risotto.  It's really not as hard as is seems, just time consuming, and a good tip is to have everything prepped before you get started. 

I've also been dying to try marscapone and wasn't sure how to cook with it, until now.  You can find it at most supermarkets, and I know for sure that Trader Joe's has it in stock.  And of course, the marscapone does add to the fat content, but hey, gotta indulge once in awhile.  ;)  


This rice was rich and creamy, but not overly so.  It is very time consuming to make; however, it's easy.  So, you just have to make sure you can park yourself by your stove and you can make a killer risotto very easily.  

Thursday: Lasagna Soup

Pin It Now! Okay, so it's not exactly lasagna soup, but it does taste like lasagna!  Found this recipe by Paula Dean...before even looking at the ingredients I assumed it was going to be loaded with fat.  I mean, it's Paula!  But, I was pleasantly surprised..not a lick of butter!

My mom is in town and we loved the idea of making this, but I didn't have any oven proof bowls.  So, we headed out to Home Goods and found some for a decent price.  (yes, I know, who goes out to buy bowls just to cook a recipe?  Me.)  

It's a very simple dish to make and doesn't take much time.  Another great Italian meal for this week's menu.  I'm in heaven!  Thanks Paula!

Friday: Spaghetti Squash Boats with Homemade Marinara Sauce

Pin It Now! Well, we've made it to the end of the week...and my freezer is no longer bursting at the seams.  By, now; however, I'm out of frozen meat to cook.  What a perfect night for a vegetarian meal.  I saw this on an episode of Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives.  I quickly hit record and then played it back to get all the steps and ingredients. I've cooked with spaghetti squash before and loved it...my girls too.  This takes a bit of time (cutting veggies, simmering sauce), but they outcome will be worth it, plus you get a dish chock full of veggies.  :)  
You could also prepare the sauce ahead of time and have it ready to go when you put together the filling. 
It's an amazingly delicious dish, full of flavor and healthy veggies.  Can't wait to make this again!

Tuesday: Smokey Ribollita Soup

Pin It Now! Soup?  Again?  hell yeah.  I truly find that my girls will eat just about anything if it's in some sort of broth.  Never made this soup before...never heard of it either.  But, I just love the taste of fire roasted tomatoes.  (and I love that I can buy them in the can and not have to worry about making them myself)  I make another recipe ( Four-Cheese Stuffed Shells with Smoky Marinara)  that uses the fire roasted tomatoes and I just love that smokey taste.  
I'm sure for you die hard carnivores out there, tossing in some pancetta or even Italian sausage would taste great with this too.  ;)  

Friday: Spaghetti with Fresh Soppressata

Pin It Now! I swear I should have been born Italian.  I just LOVE pasta dishes.  Word of warning...this dish needs to be prepared a day ahead.  You need to marinate the sausages overnight.  

It only makes 6 servings, and I'm worried there won't be any leftovers... :/  This is another one of those dishes where I'll spend the extra money and get the San Marzano tomatoes.  (no, they aren't paying me to advertise for them...I just really love the taste of these compared to the other canned tomatoes...it's a HUGE difference)

Buona cucina!  (happy cooking!)

*Note:  I googled Ssppressata and found that it is supposed to be Italian cured dry salami.  So, not sure why Food & Wine called this "Fresh Soppressata"...none the less...it was AMAZING!!!

Tuesday: Slow Cooked Soup...Minestrone Style

Pin It Now! It's going to be one of those days when you know you just won't feel like cooking when you get home (from work, errands, whatever..).  So pull out the slow cooker and let dinner cook itself!  This delicious soup is packed with veggies and flavor.  You can save even more time by buying pre-chopped veggies.  Then all that's left for you to do when you get home is cook the noodles (unless you did the night before) and throw them into the pot with the zucchini and spinach!  Soup's on!