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Archive for the ‘We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes)’ Category

Glories of the Garden Pasta

Posted in We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , on August 18, 2017| Leave a Comment »

PENNE with HEIRLOOM TOMATOES, BASIL, GREEN BEANS and FETA

I haven’t posted a recipe in quite a while, but tonight’s dinner was so damn good, I really want to share it with you.  It was an easy dish to prepare, with a little earlier in the day prep.

Before I post the recipe I just have to extoll the virtues of using fresh ingredients;  Spending some summer time at the Jersey Shore affords me with an unbelievable assortment and supply of fresh vegetables and herbs.  I don’t have a garden in my yard because I’m not here consistently to keep it watered and weeded.  NO PROBLEM!  I have my own basil plants and peppermint and my neighbor who is growing oregano, thyme and rosemary has told me to help myself any time, any day.  And for the vegetables themselves, I love going to Matt’s Farm Stand.  We have been feasting on the corn so sweet, it’s like sugar on a stick, tomatoes so sweet and juicy that adding basil, is like gilding the lily.  Matt grows a lot of his own vegetables and obtains the rest from farmers around the Garden State.

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Penne with Heirloom Tomatoes, Basil, Green Beans and Feta Cheese **

That’s enough about that, here is the recipe.

2 Cups chopped fresh tomatoes (I used regular tomatoes)

6-8 oz. green beans, trimmed, strings removed and cut in half if they are long

2 TBS olive oil

1 TBS balsamic vinegar

1 plump garlic clove, minced

2 TBS slivered basil

Sea salt and ground pepper

3/4 # penne

2 oz. crumbled Feta cheese

Combine olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, basil, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Let sit for up to 4 hours or less (I put it together and went to the beach for a couple of hours).

Put a large pot of salted water to boil.  Add the string beans and boil for about 5 minutes.   Prepare a bowl of ice water.  Remove the string beans with a slotted spoon and put into the ice water.  Once cool, drain and put aside.

Bring the water back to a boil, cook the pasta till al dente per package instructions;  A minute or so before the pasta is done, drop the string beans into the pot with the pasta.

Drain and toss with the tomato mixture, add the Feta, toss to mix and serve either hot or at room temperature.

Easy, delicious, vegetarian, perfect for a summer supper!

** The photo is from the NY Times recipe.  I strongly advise using plump juicy red tomatoes instead of Heirloom which are not as juicy.  I also chopped my tomatoes much smaller so I would get a more sauce-like consistency. I cut the beans in half and slivered the basil.  This photo looks like Food photography and not at all like mine looked.

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Pasta Primavera With Asparagus and Peas

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Spring Is Here And So Are The Asparagus Photo by Andrew Scrivani

Spring Is Here And So Are The Asparagus
Photo by Andrew Scrivani

Spring is here, asparagus are aplenty and we love them in our house.  I was about to toss out last Wednesday’s Food section of the NY Times when the headline, Breaking the Pasta Myth caught my eye.  I started to read the article which seemed to  be  pretty focused on fresh pasta and I’m not a fan.  I like my pasta secca or dry pasta;  the cooking time is so much more reliable and in many cases the amount of time it takes to reach al denté state, gives you plenty of time to finish up your sauce.

However, at the end of the lengthy article there was a recipe for this Pasta Primavera and as I read it, I could imagine just how good it would be and the perfect Saturday night supper for my husband and me.

INGREDIENTS

1/4 lb. sugar snap peas, stems trimmed

1/2 lb. asparagus, ends snapped

2 TBS unsalted butter

3/4 cup English peas

1/4 cup thinly sliced spring onion or use a shallot

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

12 oz fettuccine or tagliatelle

2/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano at room temperature

1/2 cup crème fraîche or whole milk Greek yogurt at room temperature

3 TBS finely chopped parsley

1 TBS finely chopped tarragon

DIRECTIONS

Bring large pot of heavily salted water to boil over medium-high heat.

While water is coming to boil, slice snap peas in half and asparagus stems into 1/4″ thick pieces; leave asparagus heads whole.

Melt butter in large skillet or braising pan over medium-high heat.  Add snap peas, asparagus, English peas and onion.  Cook until vegetables are barely tender (but not too soft or mushy), 3-4 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute more.  Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

Cook pasta, drain well, transfer pasta to vegetable mixture. Toss with vegetables, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, yogurt  and herbs.  Season generously with salt and pepper.

Recipe from NY Times

** What I did;  I increased the amounts for the ingredients because I wanted to cook a whole pound of fettuccine.  I used fat free Greek yogurt because that’s what I had.  I think next time I will use crème fraîche or whole milk yogurt because the dish was a bit dry.  And I actually had reserved about 3/4 cup pasta water which I also added.  When I reheated the leftovers, I drizzled some basting oil on top before popping into the microwave and it was very good and moister.

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A No-Recipe For A Weeknight Pasta Supper

Posted in Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes) on May 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

That’s right, there’s no recipe;  If the New York Times Cooking and Food section can do it, so can I, lol.  I worked late tonight, almost to 7:00 and walked home.  The last thing I wanted to do was cook dinner but I did because I knew I needed to use up those asparagus and that bag of arugula, not to mention I still had the quart of grape tomatoes I bought last Friday.

So here’s what I did and you can do it too – this is really simple and very delicious if I do say so myself.  I put of pot of salted water on the stove to boil for the linguine.  I put a tiny bit of olive oil, a good-size pat of butter and a garlic clove (minced) in a frying pan and threw in a couple of handfuls of grape tomatoes, on low heat.  I chopped up a bunch of asparagus  and another garlic clove and put them in my braising pan with some olive oil over low heat.  Seasoned everything with salt and pepper and added red pepper flakiest to the mixture.  Once  asparagus started cooking, I  turned up the heat under the water.  After the asparagus had begun to soften, I added a can of rinsed Canellini  beans and about 3/4 cup of broth to the asparagus mixture as well as the now caramelized and burst tomatoes.    I added the cooked pasta (reserving a cup of the water) to the braising pan, tossed it well and sprinkled it with Romano cheese.  And there you have a tasty dish made with ingredients that were hanging out in the refrigerator.

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Pappardelle with Carmelized Onions

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 14, 2015| 1 Comment »

Pappardelle with Caramelized Onions

Pappardelle with Caramelized Onions

 This was supposed to be yesterday’s Friday meatless pasta but yesterday was spent cleaning the house and prepping for a small dinner party.  Just in case you were wondering  what I served and I hope you are, I made Chicken with Lemon and Olives and Rigatoni with Roasted Vegetables and Arugula.  I will post the chicken dish sometime soon. 

Back to today’s pasta – This dish is not a quick weeknight meal BUT certainly if you have about an hour and half  you will be rewarded with one delicious pasta dish.  We have to caramelize the onions first, so let’s start there with the Caramelized Onions.

INGREDIENTS:

6 TBS unsalted butter

15 medium yellow onions (about 6 lb), halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 tsp coarse salt or 1 tsp table salt

1 TBS sugar

DIRECTIONS:

In a 8 quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, melt butter over medium-high.  Add onions and salt.  Cook, stirring often, until softened and just beginning to brown, 35 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium.  Add sugar and cook, stirring often to scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of pot, 35 -40 minutes (lower heat if bottom of pot begins to scorch).

When done, onions should be deep golden brown and have a jam-like consistency.  Remove from heat; season with salt.  Let cool completely.  (To store, refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 2 weeks)

INGREDIENTS:

Coarse salt and ground pepper

9 oz pappardelle or wide egg noodles

2 TBS EV olive oil

1 cup Caramelized Onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

1/2 cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS:

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente.  While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet (braising pan) over medium-high.  Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is fragrant, 1 minute.

Remove 1 1/2 cups pasta water from pot and to skillet.  Drain pasta and add to skillet.  Cook, tossing occasionally, until liquid reduces to create a sauce that coats pasta, 3 minutes.  Add lemon juice and toss.  Serve pasta topped with parsley.

Recipe from Martha Stewart EveryDay Food

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Spaghetti Carbonara – Old World Cooking-The Macaroni Marathon

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , on March 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Photo from eatwell101

Photo from eatwell101

It seems like all of the recipes coming from Ada Boni’s The Talisman Italian Cookbook either use spaghetti or rigatoni.  Personally as a kid growing up, my favorite was shells because I could scoop up sauce inside each one.  This dish was/is a standard in most Italian restaurants in America.  There are slight variations to this classic and I wonder how today’s great chefs like Batali and Colicchio make their Carbonara dishes.  This one is very simple as are most recipes in this cookbook.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb spaghetti (#8)

1/4 b lean bacon diced

3/4 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese

3 eggs lightly beaten

1/4 cup white wine

1 tsp pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Cook spaghetti in rapidly boiling salted water until tender.  While spaghetti is cooking, fry bacon over low flame until bacon is crisp.  Add cheese (and wine) to beaten eggs.  Drain spaghetti and return to the pot.  Pour egg mixture over the hot spaghetti;  add pepper and two TBS of very hot bacon fat.  Stir.  The heat of the spaghetti should cook the egg mixture.  Transfer to hot platter; garnish with bacon.  Serve.

Call the cardiologist!

Recipe from The Talisman Italian Cook Book

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Rigatoni with Broccoli, Beans & Basil-Back To The Future

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , on March 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

The Macaroni Marathon has left old world Italian cooking (just for a while) and moved forward with yet another contemporary version of vegetarian pasta with beans for protein.  I’m telling you the combinations are seemingly endless!

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz rigatoni

2 cups broccoli florets

1 19 oz cannellini beans, rinsed, drained

2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup snipped basil leaves

2 slices of bread cut into small cubes

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Snipped basil for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

In Dutch oven cook pasta, adding broccoli during last 5 minutes of cooking.  Reserve 3/4 – 1 cup pasta water.  Drain pasta and broccoli and return to pot.

In large bowl combine beans, garlic and 3TBS oil.  Mash about 1/2 cup of the bean mixture.  Stir in basil, pasta water and 1/2 tsp salt.  Stir into the pasta and broccoli – Cover and keep warm.

Heat remaining oil over medium heat in frying pan.  Add bread cubes and red pepper.  Cook, stir 1-2 minutes until crisp.  Top pasta with croutons and basil.

Recipe from Better Homes & Garden

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Roasted Red Onion and Butternut Squash Pasta-Last Night’s Dinner

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , on March 9, 2015| 2 Comments »

Yesterday was the first glorious day we’ve had here in NYC in a long time;  Not only was the sun out but it was also the first day of Daylight Savings Time and that makes everyone’s day that much brighter.  So even though I spent 5 hours at the office, I walked home and it was still so light out I felt like it was 3:00 in the afternoon instead of 5pm.  I stopped at Fairway to pick up some ingredients for dinner.  I had it in my mind to make a pasta dish and as I was walking I had a running debate going on in my head about exactly what would this dish be.  The roasted red onions and squash won out.   I knew it would be simple to throw together and that along with a salad and a warm baguette from Fairway, there would be plenty left over for Tuesday night’s supper.  That’s the night we are going to the movies on the West Side and won’t get home till around 8:30 pm so it’s nice to know there’s food ready to be heated up.

Roasted Red Onion and Squash Pasta

2 medium red onions, cut into 6 wedges, layers separated

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, cut into 3/4″ pieces (I buy already prepped)

1 TBS coarsely chopped fresh sage leaves ( I used 2-3)

1TBS olive oil

coarse salt and pepper

1/2 # short ribbed pasta such as rigatoni (I used 1 lb)

1/4 cup grated Fontina cheese (2 oz) (I used about 1/2 cup)

1 cup of reserved pasta water

Preheat oven 450 degrees

On rimmed baking sheet, toss onions, squash, sage leaves with oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Arrange in single layer and roast until tender, about 25 minutes, rotating sheet and tossing  vegetables, halfway through.

Meanwhile, in large pot, cook pasta till tender to preference.  Reserve 1 cup of pasta water;  drain pasta and return to pot.  Add vegetables and cheese and toss to combine, adding enough pasta water to create a thin sauce that coats pasta.

Recipe from Martha Stewart EveryDay Food January-February 2011

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Spaghetti with Chicken Livers – Six Ingredient Pasta-The Macaroni Marathon

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , on March 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

So I’m still perusing The Talisman Italian Cookbook by Ada Boni and searching for pasta dishes I feel I can post.  These dishes have definite roots in Southern Italy and Sicily, the emphasis is on very few ingredients that are readily available and relatively inexpensive.  Many of these meals are what I would call peasant food. This is not a derogatory term by any means because so many of the meals we ate in my home were of this ilk. If I weren’t in the throes of my Macaroni Marathon, I could tell you about Giambotta which is supposed to Vegetable Stew but in my house was a combination of peppers, eggs and onions, maybe some tomatoes – NOT my favorite! Or a lunch of chicken hearts, liver and kidneys – You see, the meals followed the rule of Waste Not-Want Not! 

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb spaghetti

1 lb chicken livers

2 TBS olive oil

1 onion, chopped fine

2 cups tomato paste

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 lb mushrooms, trimmed

1/2 lb butter

DIRECTIONS:

Cook spaghetti in rapidly boiling salted water until tender and drain.

Meanwhile heat olive oil in large frying pan, add onion and brown until golden in color.  Add tomato purée, salt and pepper. Add spaghetti and keep over low flame, stirring constantly until thoroughly heated.  Sauté mushrooms and chicken livers in butter.  Place spaghetti mixture on serving dish, pour over it the mushroom and chicken livers and serve with sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Recipe from The Talisman Italian Cook Book

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Spaghetti Syracuse Style-The Macaroni Marathon Goes Back to the “Old Country”

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Peggy Lampan

Photo by Peggy Lampan

I’ve been posting pretty much what I would call modern pasta recipes – not necessarily Italian.  Of course I’ve thrown in the classics like a Sunday Sauce or a Marzano tomato sauce but I haven’t put much up in the way of what I call old country recipes.  These recipes are simple family fare, not restaurant cooking, and a lot of fresh ingredients.  Often the ingredients themselves need prepping so I’m pretty sure the woman preparing them did not have a job outside the home.  I have a few cookbooks that celebrate the foods of the ordinary folk of another era.  And when I read some of these recipes I am always reminded of my Grandfather Louie who told me how poor they were in Italy and how you were lucky if there was meat in the macaroni gravy on Sunday. This recipe is in the Syracuse style – I don’t know if it’s from the island of Syracuse or if it is a Sicilian recipe born in Syracusa. It is, however, definitely similar to a Puttanesca Sauce. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb spaghetti

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced

6 large ripe fresh tomatoes cut into pieces ( I think you could use canned plum tomatoes)

1 small eggplant diced

2 roasted green peppers sliced * (perhaps you could use bought roasted red)

10 Sicilian olives, pitted (these are large bright green olives)

1 TBS capers

1 TBS minced fresh basil

3 anchovy filets cut into small pieces

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

4 qts boiling water

3 tsp salt

* Roast bell pepper on rack of a gas burner over moderately high heat, turning with tongs, until skin is blackened, about 5 minutes. (Or broil pepper on a broiler pan about 5 inches from heat, turning occasionally, about 15 minutes.) 

DIRECTIONS:

Place oil in large frying pan, add garlic and brown  Remove garlic from oil.  Add tomatoes and eggplant to oil and cook 30 minutes or until eggplant is done.  Add peppers, olives, capers, basil anchovies, salt and pepper.  Cover pan and cook 10 minutes longer, add a little water if needed.

In large pot of boiling water, add 3 tsp salt and spaghetti and cook per package directions.  Drain pasta, put on large platter and ladle sauce over it.

Recipe from The Talisman Italian Cook Book by Ada Boni*

* The cookbook was sponsored by the Ronzoni Macaroni Company – Remember their slogan, “Ronzoni sono buoni”

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Spaghetti Aglio e Olio – It Must Be Friday!! The Macaroni Marathon Gets Religious

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , on March 6, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Aglio e Olio - Photo by Shutterstock.com

Aglio e Olio – Photo by Shutterstock.com

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned that on Fridays when I was growing up, we had one of three standard dinners;  Pasta Fagiole, Spaghetti Marinara or Spaghetti Aglio e Olio – that’s the way it was in an Italian Catholic household.   We had meatless meals every Friday until the mid-1960’s when the no-meat-on-Friday ban was lifted.  Of course Lenten Fridays still require this abstinence.  So it’s fitting that on this Friday during Lent, that I share this tried and trued and extremely simple recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb spaghetti

5 TBS olive oil

10 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano

1 1/2 cup pasta water

DIRECTIONS:

Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water till al dente according to package directions.

Meanwhile heat 3 TBS of oil in a large skillet or braising pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and cook, shaking the skillet and stirring, until pale golden, about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and add 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes.

Ladle about 1 1/2 cups of pasta water into the sauce.  Add the parsley, the remaining 2 TBS of olive oil and salt to taste.

Using a pasta spoon,* scoop out the spaghetti and add it to the braising pan.  Toss to coat pasta and cook for about one minute.  Add the grated cheese and season with salt and pepper and add more red pepper flakes if desired.

Recipe adapted from Lydia’s Italy

*

Spaghetti spoon - Available at Bed, Bath & Beyond $6.99

spaghetti spoon – Available at Bed, Bath & Beyond $6.99

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