Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘grape tomatoes’

Classic Spaghetti Puttanesca – The Macaroni Marathon

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , on February 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Classic Spaghetti Puttanesca

Classic Spaghetti Puttanesca

Growing up in an Italian Catholic family, Fridays were meatless in our house, and I don’t just mean during Lent!  However, since it is Lent and today is Friday, I thought I’d post a typical Italian Friday pasta dish.  Of course I wouldn’t eat it because I don’t like anchovies, at least not in my pasta or on my pizza. It’s been only in the last two years that I’ve actually used anchovies in a dish and that’s because if you put one or two in a skillet with some heated olive oil, the anchovy will melt leave a subtle flavor behind.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup EV olive oil

1 1/2 cups of grape tomatoes, quartered lengthwise

2 TBS capers, rinsed, drained and coarsely chopped

3 anchovy fillets, minced

1/3 cup pitted Kalamata or other brined black olives, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups tomato purée (from 15oz can)

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 lb spaghetti

DIRECTIONS:

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high.  Add grape tomatoes, capers, anchovies, olives, and garlic and cook until fragrant and tomatoes soften, about 5 minutes  Add tomato purée and season with salt and pepper; cook 2 minutes (sauce with be separated).

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente.  Reserve 1 cup pasta water;  drain pasta and add to sauce, tossing to combine and adding enough pasta water to create a thin sauce that coats pasta.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food

Read Full Post »

Pasta with Roasted Vegetables and Arugula-THE MACARONI MARATHON

Posted in Everyday Food, Marthaspeak, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Pasta with Roasted Vegetables and Arugula

Pasta with Roasted Vegetables and Arugula

What could be more appropriate for this season than a pasta dish that uses ingredients that are fresh and readily available?  This is another quick dish to serve on a busy weekday evening.  And the ingredients are simple enough to find, I might even send the hubby to the store while I’m at work today and whip this up later!

INGREDIENTS:

2 pints grape tomatoes

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled

3 shallots, cut into eighths

2 TBS fresh thyme leaves

2 TBS EV olive oil

coarse salt and ground pepper

8 oz rigatoni pasta

1/3 cup pitted olives such as Niçoise, coarsely chopped

3 cups baby arugula or spinach

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 450º.  Place tomatoes, garlic, shallots and thyme on rimmed baking sheet.  Toss with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast until tomatoes burst, shallots are browned and garlic is soft, 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile cook pasta in boiling salted water till al dente.  Reserve 1/4-1/2 cup pasta water.  Drain pasta and return to pot.

Peel roasted garlic and mash flat with knife.  Add to pasta pot along with vegetables, olives and pasta water.  Cook over medium-high until sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.  Let cool slightly, then toss in arugula

Recipe from Martha Stewart EveryDay Food

Read Full Post »

Whole Wheat Pasta with Vegetables and Lemon The Macaroni Marathon Continues

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Martha Stewart Living 2005

Martha Stewart Living 2005

This is a versatile dish that is seasonless;  It is as good cold as a pasta salad as it is warm for a weeknight supper.  This is a great vegetarian pasta with some added health benefit from the whole wheat pasta.  I have to admit, I just can’t rave about whole wheat pasta, I don’t like it.  Maybe I have to force myself to eat it consistently and perhaps then I will appreciate its flavor.  Flavor? Hah, I don’t think it has much but then again I am a big fan of Barilla pasta.  So either follow the recipe to the letter or do I as often do, which is mix the whole wheat shells with regular shells – hey it only makes the dish more interesting!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup frozen shelled edamame

10 oz asparagus trimmed and cut into 2 1/2″ pieces

1 lb. whole wheat shell-shaped pasta

2 TBS plus 2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil

1 shallot finely chopped

1/3 cup white wine

Finely grated  zest of 1 lemon, plus 3TBS fresh lemon juice (1 lemon total)

2 1/2 tsp coarse salt

2 cups baby arugula (about 1 oz)

2 oz yellow grape tomatoes or other cherry-type tomatoes, halved (1 cup)

2 TBS freshly grated ricotta salata

2 TBS chopped fresh chives

Freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Cook edamame and asparagus in boiling water until just tender, 3-4 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

Bring large pot of water to boil, add pasta, cook until al dente.  Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta water.

Heat 2 tsp oil in large skillet or braising pan over med heat.  Add shallots, cook stirring occasionally until translucent, about 4 minutes..  Add wine, bring mixture to a boil.  Cook until liquid is reduced by half.  Add lemon juice, edamame, asparagus, pasta and 1 cup reserved liquid.  Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt.  Toss well.  Add arugula and tomatoes, toss.  Top with ricotta salata and chives.  Drizzle with remaining 2 TBS olive oil, sprinkle with lemon zest and 1 1/2 tsp salt.  Season with pepper.

Recipe from Martha Stewart Living 2005

Read Full Post »

Linguine with Tapenade, Tomatoes & Arugula – The Macaroni Marathon

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Today’s entry in the Macaroni Marathon is a tasty pasta dish just perfect for the winter.  With fresh local vegetables out of reach and certainly we’re not buying any of those pink tennis balls that are being passed off as tomatoes, right?  Well of course not;  First of all you can make the best tomato sauce from canned tomatoes.  There are lots of sauces that can be made using the seasonal vegetables of winter and we’ll get to them too, but today I’m using those sweet cherry or grape tomatoes – I never eat any other kind in the winter because well really, they’re not really tomatoes.

Sweet Cherry Tomatoes

Sweet Cherry Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS:    

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 lb linguine

1 TBS olive oil plus more for serving

3/4 lb cherry tomatoes halved                                         

1/4 cup plus 2TBS tapenade

2 cups baby arugula

2 TBS chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 oz feta cheese, crumbled (1/4 cup)

DIRECTIONS:

Cook linguine according to package instructions.  Drain pasta.  In pot, heat oil over medium.  Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.

Return pasta to pot, stir in tapenade and cook until heated through.  Add arugula and toss to combine.  Season with salt and pepper.

Divide among four bowls, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with parsley and feta.

Serves 4

Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food

Recipe from Everyday Food

Read Full Post »

Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomatoes

Posted in Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , on July 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Looks Good Enough To Eat

Looks Good Enough To Eat

It’s Tasty Tidbits Tuesday and I’ve got a great summer pasta dish for you!  I’m planning on making it the next time we are at the cottage.  If you are a regular reader you probably know that I am enamored with the fresh produce from the Garden State AND I happen to be growing some mint in my backyard!  A while ago I posted a pasta dish that had mint in it and I have to tell you it was with some trepidation that I made that dish.  I’m Italian and have been eating Italian food for a very, very long time and I had never come across any pasta dish with mint in it.   Sorry it took me so long because I’ve made that dish at least twice more since posting it.  That recipe can be found in a previous blog; https://pbenjay.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/wednesday-is-prince-spaghetti-day/

So now along comes another pasta recipe with mint as one of the main ingredients and I think it’s going to great.  I normally don’t feature recipes that I haven’t made, however, this one comes from the New York Times and I know it wouldn’t have been printed if it hadn’t been tested.

Sea salt and ground pepper

1 # fusilli pasta

1 TBS olive oil plus drizzling

6 oz. pancetta, diced

6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

pinch of red pepper flakes

1 quart of cherry tomatoes halved

3 TBS butter

Fresh ricotta

3 cups of whole mint leaves, torn

4 scallions thinly sliced

Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil.  Cook pasta to 1 minute shy of al dente.  Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 to 1 cup of pasta water. 

Meanwhile heat a large skillet or braising pan over med-high heat for 15 seconds, then add oil and heat till it thins out, coats the pan when swirled.  Add pancetta, cook till fat renders – 2 minutes.  Add garlic and red pepper flakes and a large pinch of salt and some pepper. Cook 2 minutes till fragrant.   Add tomatoes cook til they burst, have golden edges  and begin to shrivel – about 5 – 8  minutes.

Add the pasta to the skillet and toss with the tomato-pancetta mixture; if the mixture looks dry, add a little pasta water a few tablespoons at a time.  Cook over high heat while pasta finishes cooking.  Add butter and toss until it melts and coats everything.

Divide pasta into warmed bowls, garnish with dollops of ricotta and top with a generous mound of mint and scallions.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and more pepper before serving.

NOTES: You can use grape, pear or other diminutive tomatoes and mixing red, yellow and orange tomatoes will make your dish pretty.  Do not add the ricotta to the sauce, you want to keep it distinct so you can revel in the contrast of cool and creamy against hot, spicy and salty.  If you can find red scallions, use them.

 

Read Full Post »

Hot Italian Sausage and Tomato Pasta – Just Light Enough For Summer

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , on June 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

hot-italian-sausage_300

I truly think pasta, well of course I meant to say macaroni is my favorite food.  The ways to prepare it are endless and seasonal too.  I know because I make it in all the seasons.  My sister-in-law, Stacey, brought this recipe with her when she and Matt visited us in Ocean Grove.  When she told me to buy just 1# of Gemelli, I thought to myself that we would never have enough food BUT I was wrong.  I was also concerned about the heat because our air-conditioners are not in yet and I was afraid this was going to be a heavy meal BUT I was wrong!

Hands on time – 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb of Gemelli pasta (recipe calls for fettucine)

3 TBS olive oil

1 medium red onion, sliced

2-3 garlic cloves, smashed

4 hot Italian sausages, casings removed – we used hot turkey sausage and used the whole package of 6

1 pint of red or yellow cherry or grape tomatoes

2 TBS red wine vinegar

3/4 tsp Kosher salt – I don’t measure

1/4 tsp black pepper – I don’t measure

1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves – we used close to a cup

1 cup of arugula, torn

1/2 cup grated cheese (Peccorino, Parmesan, Romano)

Directions:

Heat oil over medium-high  heat in braising pan or deep skillet.   Add onion and garlic and cook till onion softens 2-3 minutes. Add sausage, using wooden spoon to crumble sausage, cook about 5 minutes.  

Once the water is boiling, add the pasta.

Add tomatoes and cook until the skins burst, about 8 minutes.  Stir in the vinegar, salt and pepper.

Once pasta is cooked, drain it and add to the sausage mixture.  Add in the basil and the arugula.  Toss gently to combine and sprinkle with the cheese.

We used the braising pan as our serving dish (which is why I LOVE my braising pan)

Original recipe from Martha Stewart

 

 

Read Full Post »