Pasta Cooked in Red Wine

Inspired by Rachael Ray on Iron Chef last night (Battle Cranberry,) and with a request to make my famous meatballs, I tried something new tonight: spaghetti boiled in red wine instead of water.

The resulting pasta was pretty tasty even without any sauce, but definitely had a "different" taste. James ate this purple pasta with normal tomato sauce, meatballs, and Parmesan cheese, and it was fantastic.

Not wanting wine to go to waste, I used the residual boiled red wine to make a garlic butter sauce. The sauce didn't mix well with the meatballs (very different flavors), but went well with the pasta alone.

Ingredients:

1 bottle red wine (I used a cheap-ish Cabernet)

2 cups water

16 oz uncooked spaghetti (1/2 box)

*Use less water if you are not cooking the whole box.

Sauce:

1/2 stick butter

2-3 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 cup reserved boiled red wine from cooking pasta

Salt to taste

Bring wine and water to boil in a large saucepan, salting lightly as you normally would for pasta sauce. Cook pasta according to directions on box, stirring frequently. The sugar in the red wine makes the pasta stickier and easily gets stuck to the bottom of the pan if you space out and forget to stir (as, of course, I did). When you drain the pasta, reserve at least a half a cup of wine for the sauce.

While the pasta is cooking, peel and dice the garlic. Melt 1/2 stick of butter in a large saucepan. Add garlic and cook on low heat, stirring almost constantly or the garlic will burn. The butter will be boiling and foaming. Add a little olive oil if you need more liquid. Cook until mixture just begins to brown - no more, or it will burn.

Add 1/2 cup of wine and mix well. The sauce will thicken quickly, as the wine now has starch from the cooked pasta. Add pasta, mixing until covered. Continue cooking on low until sauce is thickened to your liking. Remove from heat.

Serve to your most adventurous friends - this recipe is fun, but I wouldn't recommend it for picky eaters!

Pulled Pork Pasta

This tasty dish was inspired by chef Michael Symon, whose serves a similar dish at his restaurant Lolita here in Cleveland. The original dish is made with a different type of pasta and with diced pancetta, but in my home we decided it is just as tasty and healthier to leave out the bacon.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. pork roast
1/2 lb. thick spaghetti
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic
1 T olive oil
3 egg yolks
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 cup grated Romano cheese
1 cup grated Fontina cheese

Combine pork roast and vegetable broth in slow cooker and cook for at least four hours. Drain most of the broth to a separate bowl. Shred pork using two forks, leaving in slow cooker with a small amount of broth on low heat to stay warm.

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain pasta and set aside. Dice garlic and sauté with one tablespoon olive oil for a few minutes in pan used to cook pasta. Add broth and heat until boiling. Separate eggs and stir yolks just enough to break. Add yolks to boiling broth, stirring constantly until mixed. If you care what your food looks like, you can strain the broth at this point to remove the bits of cooked egg white that always sneak through. By this point, I'm usually too hungry to care about straining the broth.

Reduce heat to medium. Add grated cheese slowly, stirring often until all cheese has melted. Add salt and pepper. Add shredded pork and remaining broth, stirring until pork is well covered in sauce. Add pasta last, stirring until mixed well with sauce and pork.

Makes 5 to 6 servings. The sauce is thin, so you may need a ladle to ensure the first few servings get the sauce that may be hiding at the bottom of the pan. This recipe tastes even better after the pasta and pork has had a chance to soak up the flavors in the refrigerator overnight.

References:
http://lolitarestaurant.com/

Zucchini Pasta

I have made a version of this recipe at least once a week for the last 5 weeks (ever since zucchini became abundantly available). My brother and sister-in-law were the inspiration for this recipe; I first ate this at their house. Their garden was producing so much zucchini that they were running out of ideas to cook it. This is a light, tasty way to use up zucchini, leaving room for creativity so that the recipe can be a little different every time.

Ingredients:

1 pound rotini or orzo pasta
1-2 medium-sized zucchini, grated (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups once grated)
4 cloves garlic
4 T olive oil
2 cups fresh basil
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 1/2 cups grated strong white cheese*
2 cups fresh basil (2 cups of leaves, less than one cup after diced in food processor)
Optional: 2 cups fresh baby spinach

*My favorite cheeses for this recipes have been Romano, Fontina, and Feta. I am usually using a combination of at least two of these, and tried a sharp white cheddar once that also worked.

Cook pasta according to directions, drain, and set aside. While pasta is cooking, grate zucchini, dice/press garlic, and chop basil in food processor so all ingredients are ready by the time the pasta is done.

In the same pot you used to cook the pasta, heat two tablespoons olive oil and sauté garlic for 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid from zucchini is mostly evaporated. If desired, chop spinach loosely and add at this time, cooking only until wilted. Turn heat to medium, add pasta, salt, and pepper. Stir well. Add cheese and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add basil and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil last, stirring to mix well.

This recipe serves 6-8 people and can also be served cold as a pasta salad.

Pesto Pasta

This is something I eat at least once a week, but I usually cheat and buy the dried pesto packets at the grocery store and just add cheese and olive oil. For the first time in years I am growing basil at home this summer, and today it was finally ready to eat.

When growing basil at home, there are a few rules. It is important to not let the plants flower, because this changes the flavor of the basil. If flower buds do appear, cut them off before they bloom and cut the plants back so they do not bloom again. This is a great time to make pesto. Never cut off more than half of a basil plant, or you risk killing the plant.

My basil grew like crazy these last few weeks, and all of sudden the plants were threatening to bloom. Today, I pruned all the basil plants back to about 50 to 60% and made pesto pasta with the abundance of fresh basil I had cut.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups fresh basil, packed down
1 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (I prefer Romano)
4 T olive oil
1/2 t pepper
3-4 cloves garlic

1/2 lb pasta (usually half a box)

Combine all ingredients (except pasta) in food processor and puree until smooth,. Use a spatula to scrape sides, making sure all ingredients get pureed. This makes about 3/4 cup of pesto.

Cook pasta according to directions on box. Mix pesto with hot pasta. Serve garnished with more grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Cajun Chicken Alfredo

Alfredo sauce is another weakness of mine. Absolutely delicious and chock full of calories, it's something in which I rarely allow myself to indulge. Heavy cream is what makes this food so amazing and yet so bad for you, so I set out to find a recipe that still tastes great but doesn't cause me to gain five pounds overnight. This recipe uses 2% milk instead of cream. It's still not quite healthy, but it tastes like the real thing with a little less guilt.


This recipe is very versatile. I had a craving for Cajun tonight, but if you replace the Cajun spices with salt, pepper, and garlic powder you will have a more traditional alfredo sauce. I also love using shrimp instead of chicken, but unfortunately that is a much more expensive recipe.

It's not very pretty, but it tastes incredible!

Makes 3-4 servings.


Ingredients:


8 oz. fettuccine pasta
Cajun spice mix
3 chicken breasts
2 T butter
2 T coconut oil
1 t minced garlic
3 T flour
2 cups 2% milk
1 cup grated Romano cheese


Required equipment:


Wire whisk
Large cast-iron or stainless steel frying pan - do not use a Teflon or other coated pan for this recipe or you may end up with bits of the non-stick coating in your food from the wire whisk scraping the pan.


Cook pasta according to directions, drain, and set aside.


In a shallow bowl, coat chicken breasts with Cajun spice mix until they are completely covered. Yes, I use a mix - it's so easy, and I am new at cooking Cajun food and have no clue what makes it taste so amazing.

This is the spice mix I use, found at my local grocery store.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon coconut oil in frying pan on medium heat. If you don't own coconut oil, just replace it with the same amount of butter. Add minced garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Add meat to pan, turning every few minutes until chicken breasts are cooked all the way through. When you flip the meat, scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula so spices and drippings do not stick and burn.

When chicken is cooked all the way through, remove meat to a clean plate, quickly slice into smaller pieces, and return to pan. Mix these smaller chicken pieces with the juices and spices in the pan until coated and cook for a few more minutes. Remove chicken back to plate and cover to keep warm.

Reduce heat to low-medium. Melt 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon coconut oil in pan, mixing with the spices and juices that are left in the pan after cooking the chicken. Add flour in small amounts, stirring constantly with wire whisk until all flour is mixed in. Add milk slowly, still stirring constantly with wire whisk to prevent lumps. You may have to stir fairly vigorously to get rid of the lumps.


When all lumps are gone, continue to stir frequently until mixture is hot but not boiling (a few minutes). When hot, add grated cheese slowly, stirring with whisk until cheese is melted and mixed in. Once all cheese has been added and melted, add at least another tablespoon of Cajun spice mix and stir. Taste the sauce and add more Cajun spices to your liking.


Remove from heat and mix sauce with pasta and chicken. You may need to do this in another container if your frying pan is not big enough.

Ready to eat!

References:
http://www.food.com/recipe/reduced-fat-alfredo-sauce-12365

Easy Cheesy Spinach and Pasta

This was a very easy Friday-night dinner that I was able to throw together quickly after a week of working overtime. This is definitely going to become a staple in my diet.

Ingredients:

1 T butter

1 T olive oil

2 t minced garlic

1/2 white onion, diced

1/2 cup fresh parsley, diced

1/2 lb frozen spinach

1 14-oz box mini shell pasta ("conchigle")

1/2 cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt

1/4-lb Italian grated cheese mix

1/2 t sea salt

1/2 t black pepper

1 packet Knorr pesto mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill large, deep saucepan halfway with water. Add a few dashes of salt and bring to boil. Add entire box of pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente - just a little chewy. Drain pasta and remove to separate bowl.

In same saucepan (now empty), melt butter with olive oil over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook for a minute or two, stirring often. Add onions and parsley and continue cooking until onions are soft and beginning to look clear.

Pretty!

Mix in frozen spinach, cover, and cook, stirring often, until spinach is thawed and and mixing easily with onions and parsley. Be careful not to overcook the spinach, as it is chock full of vitamins that break down the longer you cook it. When spinach is thawed, mix in salt, pepper, and pesto packet. Turn off heat and mix in sour cream (or yogurt)m pasta, and half of the grated cheese. Mix well until pasta is uniformly covered in veggies and sauce.

Grease a 13x9 pan with a small amount of olive oil. Pour cheesy pasta mixture into pan, spreading with a spatula to fill the pan. Crumble remaining cheese on top of pasta, trying to create an even layer of cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes in pan before serving.