Category: Pasta

Do-ahead · Holiday Food · Pasta · Vegetarian pasta

Paula Deen’s Creamy Mac and Cheese in the Slow cooker

Belinda

This is a real hit with the kids, and even the adults keep picking at it. Very moreish. The Campbell’s cheddar cheese soup sounds weird, but really makes it! We have this every year as an extra and it’s

always gone!

Serves 10

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (an 8 oz box isn’t quite 2 cups)
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 cups (about 10 oz) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cans  (10 3/4 oz) condensed Cheddar cheese soup (I used Campbells)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp dry mustard (I use Colmans)
1/2 tsp black pepper, ground

Boil the macaroni in a 2 qt saucepan in plenty of salted water until not quite tender, about 5 minutes.
Drain. In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. Okay, so here, having used the pre-packaged grated American cheddar cheese, it didn’t seem to melt and stayed all lumpy. Next time I will grate my own “real” mature cheddar cheese, but the lumps do go away once it goes into the slow cooker.
In the slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well.
It might still be weird and lumpy at this stage but don’t worry as it all changes when it’s cooking so slowly.
The add the drained macaroni and stir well again. Set the slow cooker on low setting and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Fish · Pasta

Shrimp, lemon pepper linguini

Belinda

This is so comforting, light and tangy with the lemony wine /shrimp mixture.

Serves 4

1 8oz package linguini
1 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp lemon zest
salt to taste
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1lb fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup butter
3 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the linguini, and cook for 9 to 13 minutes or until al dente; drain

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and saute garlic about 1 minute. Mix in the chicken broth, wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid is reduced by 1/2.

Mix the shrimp, butter, parsley and basil into the saucepan.
Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the shrimp is opaque. Stir in the cooked linguini, and continue cooking 2 minutes, until well coated.

 

Fish · Pasta

Spaghetti with grilled shrimp, zucchini and salsa verde

Belinda

Serves 4. Really worth doing.

2/3 cup lightly packed parsley leaves
3 tbsp drained capers
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp anchovy paste
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp olive oil
2 zucchini, cut lengthways into 1/4 inch slices
1 1/4 lbs large shrimp, shelled and deveined
3/4 lb spaghetti

Put the parsley, capers, garlic, lemon juice, anchovy paste, mustard, 1/2 tsp of the salt and the pepper into a food processor or bender. Pulse  just to chop, 6 to 8 times. With the machine running, add the 1/2 cup olive oil in a thin stream to make a coarse puree.
Leave this salsa verde in the food processor, if necessary, pulse to re-emulsify juts before adding to the pasta.

Light the grill or heat the broiler. (I do them on a cast iron ridged heavy rectangular flat pan over two burners). Brush the zucchini with 1 tbsp of the oil and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp of the salt.
Grill or broil the zucchini, turning until just done, about 10 minutes in all.
When the slices are cool enough to handle, cut them crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces and put them in a large bowl.

Thread the shrimp onto skewers. Brush the shrimp with the remaining 1 tbsp oil and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 tsp salt. Grill or broil, turning, until just done, about 4 minutes in all.
Remove the shrimp from the skewers, slice them in half horizontally, and add them to the zucchini.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the spaghetti until just done, about 12 minutes.
Drain. Add the pasta to the grilled zucchini and shrimp and toss with the salsa verde.
ENJOY!!

Do-ahead · Nuts · Pasta · Sauces · Vegetarian pasta

Pesto a la Arriabiata sauce

Belinda

We are going out for dinner tonight to some vegetarian friends and I didn’t just want to take wine, so was wondering what I could make with whatever I had in the house that only took 30 minutes.
Looking outside on the table, I noticed the three full basil plants we bought at Trader Joes.
“Ahh, pesto sauce”, I thought, “but how could I make it different”?

My husband came into the kitchen while I was throwing stuff into the processor and after I made it, pronounced it “lovely” so that was the seal I needed.

1 whole (full-leaved) Trader Joes basil plant stripped completely and the leaves washed and spun in the salad spinner.
5 cloves garlic
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmegiano Reggiano cheese
1/4 tsp dried red chilli flakes
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp drained capers
1/2 heaped cup pitted kalamata olives
6 sun dried tomatoes (in oil)
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 lemon, juice only

(cream added can make it more luxurious!)

Start by putting all the basil into a food processor and turn it on. Through the tube in the top, put the garlic, chilli flakes, olive oil, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, capers,sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, lemon juice, olives and anything else you may have forgotten.
Puree for a few minutes, then taste and add more seasoning if it needs it.
Pour into a lovely glass jar with a lid and you have a great pasta sauce, or a base for crunchy, toasted bruschetta, or a base for many seafood dishes. It’s lovely as a dip for grilled shrimp, a coating on a piece of white fish, or even added to a soup as a dollop in the middle of the bowl just as you serve it, as in “pistou”.

There are endless ways to use it and it lasts a long time, including freezes well.
The Trader Joes basil plants are the most economical way to make pesto based sauces if you don’t grow basil. Unforunately we are having a battle with the garden snails and they claimed this year’s basil!

Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Meat · Pasta · Sauces

My special bolognese sauce

Belinda

Serves about 6

Olive oil and butter
1lb Sweet Italian Sausage, crumbled finely
1lb Ground pork
1lb Ground lamb
4oz small cubed pancetta
1 and 1/2 large onions diced finely
3 carrots diced finely
3 sticks celery diced finely
Garlic 3 cloves crushed,
Tomato paste (1/2 a small can)
1 x large jar of (San Marzano) marinara sauce
Whole milk  (1 cup at least)
1 cup Chianti (at least)
1 tbsp fennel seeds, ground in mortar
fresh rosemary, chopped fine
salt and pepper

Chop fine all the vegetables and garlic and sauté in large pan of olive oil and butter.
Add the pancetta and ground fennel seeds and stir over moderate heat.
Add the sausage meat from the sausages, removing the casings and crumbling as fine as possible. Stir into vegetables and brown.
Add the pork and lamb and stir over a high heat to brown. Keep it all from sticking together.
Add red wine, milk and tomato paste and stir in Marinara Sauce. Stir well and lower heat and simmer for 1 and ½ hours.
Season and add parmesan cheese and cream if necessary before serving.
Stir the cooked pasta into the sauce and add more on top when serving in the bowls.
The milk is great and acts like cream and tenderizes the meat.

Asian flavors · Do-ahead · Pasta · Salad

A wonderfully tasty, easy Asian Noodle Salad to dress up or down

Belinda

 My son Oliver loves making this dish and has added whatever is in the fridge to it, eg cold shredded chicken, cooked prawns, sugar snap peas, lots of sliced scallions, peas, sliced red pepper, chopped cilantro, sliced carrot…


(You can double, treble or quadruple this recipe very easily)



Easy Asian Noodle salad     (serves 4)


1lb of noodles or spaghetti 

Sauce
4  Tablespoons soy sauce
4 garlic cloves
2 Teaspoons roasted sesame oil
1 good teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more, depending how spicy you like it)
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Cook the noodles in boiling salted water, and when al dente, drain and set aside.
Put all sauce ingredients in a food processor and add to drained warm noodles.
Toss a few times. Add whatever you like to it in the way of cooked meat, fish or raw vegetables sliced and it’s just as good adding nothing!   Serve warm or at room temp.
 It’s also a great marinade.