Fettuccine with Creamy Roasted Red Pepper-Feta Sauce

Ellie Krieger is my new hero. I love this dish. It was easy and creamy and good. Not like healthy-good but truly, really, "Oh,-wow-this-is-good," good.

•2 tablespoons olive oil
•1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
•2 to 3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
•1 (16-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
•1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable stock
•1 cup crumbled feta cheese or a 6-ounce block
•1 pound whole-wheat fettuccine
•Salt
•Freshly ground black pepper
•2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft, about 10 minutes. Add roasted peppers and saute until heated through. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Place mixture in the bowl of a food processor with stock and all but 2 tablespoons of the feta. Process until combined and smooth, about 30 seconds.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water. Toss pasta with sauce, adding pasta water by the tablespoon, if needed. Sauce should cling nicely to pasta. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Divide among pasta bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and remaining feta cheese.

Serves six.

Recipe by Ellie Krieger, from her wonderful cookbook, The Food You Crave.




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Macaroni and Pimiento Cheese

This is a marvel - a rich, creamy cheese sauce that is made from low-fat milk. No butter, no cream, and it is so very good.

1/2 (16-oz.) package penne pasta
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 (4-oz.) jar diced pimiento, drained
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Pinch of paprika

Preparation:

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.

2. Whisk together flour and 1/4 cup milk. Add flour mixture to remaining milk, whisking until smooth.

3. Bring milk mixture to a boil in a large skillet over medium heat; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, whisking constantly, 3 to 5 minutes or until smooth. Stir in cheese and next 4 ingredients until smooth. Stir in pasta, and cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Serve immediately.

Easy Skillet Green Chile Mac 'n' Cheese: Substitute 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese for Cheddar cheese and 1 (4-oz.) can chopped green chiles, undrained, for diced pimiento. Proceed with recipe as directed.

Per serving: Calories 251; Fat 7.3g (sat 4.6g, mono 0.2g, poly 0.1g); Protein 11.6g; Carb 34.1g; Fiber 1.5g; Chol 22mg; Iron 1.7mg; Sodium 491mg; Calc 229mg

Easy Skillet Whole Grain Mac 'n' Cheese: Substitute 1/2 (13.5-oz.) package whole grain penne pasta for regular. Proceed with recipe as directed.

Per serving: Calories 215; Fat 7.9g (sat 4.4g, mono 0.2g, poly 0.9g); Protein 11.1g; Carb 29.8g; Fiber 3.8g; Chol 22.4mg; Iron 1.5mg; Sodium 444mg; Calc 222mg

Recipe from Southern Living

Loaded Alfredo

Also from Cook This, Not That*. We had this last for dinner and it was a hit! We used homemade pasta, which helped, but it would be good with the suggested whole wheat pasta, too.

It wouldn't have bothered me if the sauce had had a bit more body to it. Next time, I may use 1 cup of whole milk, and probably add a bit of Asiago cheese to it.

While we were eating dinner, we thought of lots of versions of this - smoked sausage and crawfish tails. Shrimp and asparagus instead of chicken and broccoli would be another. It would be a great dish to use up bits and pieces from the fridge. We often have grilled chicken, grilled asparagus, roasted green beans left over from various meals.

Our son loved it, too. We'll be making it again.

2 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 Tbsp flour
3 cups 2% milk
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups bite-size broccoli florets
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
8 oz cooked chicken breast, thinly sliced (store-bought rotisserie chicken works well) - We used two grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
12 oz whole-wheat fettuccine (we like Ronzoni Healthy Harvest)

How to Make It:
To make the bechamel, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour. Cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk to prevent any lumps from forming. Add the garlic and simmer, whisking often, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until nicely thickened. Stir in the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Heat the oil in a large skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables have lightly caramelized. Stir in the chicken. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot, add the sauce and the chicken mixture, and toss to coat. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the pasta water to thin it. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings / Cost per serving: $3.63

In comparison, consider the same dish at The Olive Garden:
1,220 calories
75 g fat (47 g saturated)
1,350 mg sodium

*Love this book.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

This may be the second-best thing I've made all summer. It, too, is a tomato dish.

Roasted Tomato Sauce
Based on a recipe from Pasta & Co. By Request

3 pounds of tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
8 medium to large garlic cloves, peeled
1 cup fresh basil leaves or 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
2 medium onions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Core the tomatoes, and slice in half horizontally. Place the tomatoes, cut side up, in a casserole dish.

Put the basil or rosemary, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor equipped with a steel blade. Process until the garlic is finely chopped.



Pour the mixture over the tomatoes


and bake for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours or until the tomatoes collapse and begin to caramelize. Your house and kitchen will smell amazing the entire time. Stir the tomatoes ever so often.

In the meantime, roughly chop up two onions and saute over medium heat in a bit of olive oil.


When they onions have some color to them, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Reduce heat as low as it will go, cover the onions, and let them be.

When the tomatoes are cooked down, remove from the pan from the oven.


Puree the sauce, plus the caramelized onions, through the food processor.

We had some the next day on pizzas and it was lovely. I froze the rest.


I plan to hit the farmer's market tomorrow for more tomatoes. This time, I'll double the recipe. I'm going to make as much of this as I can while the fresh tomatoes are still good. Just think: lasagne, all kinds of pasta, pizza, so much you can do with this sauce.

The original recipe says it yields 4 1/2 cups. I got right at 3 1/2 cups of sauce. Maybe I should triple it, now that I think about it. I want lots of sauce in the freezer to enjoy this winter.

Ravioli Stuffed with Grilled Chicken, Roasted Red Peppers, Caramelized Onion, and Goat Cheese

That is a really long recipe title. Maybe I shouldn't try to get every ingredient in the dish name.


We haven't made homemade pasta in a while. Since before we moved.

No wonder it felt like we hadn't had homemade pasta in a while; it had been a while!

I shredded chicken Jeffrey had grilled while an onion caramlized on the stove.



We mixed the chicken and oinion with goat cheese and roasted red pepper.

Then it was time to mix up the pasta.



(The pasta recipe bears a startling resemblance to the one for the tortellini.)

3 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the eggs and oil to combine.

In a small bowl, stir together flour and salt. Add the flour and process until the mixture forms a ball.

If the dough feels too sticky, add a bit more flour. The dough should be smooth, elastic, supple - not dry.

Remove the dough from the food processor and cover with plastic wrap; let rest for 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature.

Divide dough into fourths. Wrap three pieces in plastic wrap to prevent dough from drying out. Set aside at room temperature. Flatten the remaining piece in a rectangle about the samd width as the pasta machine rollers. Flour the rollers of the pasta machine!

Roll the dough through one time. Fold the rectangle into thirds and feed it through 6 to 8 more times, folding it into a rectangle each time.

Tighten the rollers of the pasta machine one notch and feed through without folding. Repeat, tightening the rollers one notch each time. Repeat the process for the remaining three pieces of dough. Along in there, you may need to dust the rollers with flour to keep the dough moving smoothly through the rollers.

Lay the dough out on the ravioli plaque and fill. Top with a sheet of pasta dough and use a rolling pin to press the pasta onto the plaque.



It makes lots of pasta.

We froze what we didn't cook so we can enjoy it another night.

Fresh pasta doesn't take long to cook - just a few minutes in a large pot of salted, boiling water.

We enjoyed ours with a jar of roasted garlic sauce, salad, and red wine.

Tortellini Filled With Smoked Chicken and Goat Cheese

For Valentine's Day, Jeffrey and I gave each other a shiny fire-engine-red pasta maker.

Our Valentine's night dinner was homemade tortellini.

To make pasta:

3 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the eggs and oil to combine.


In a small bowl, stir together flour and salt. Add the flour and process until the mixture forms a ball.

If the dough feels too sticky, add a bit more flour. The dough should be smooth, elastic, supple - not dry.

Remove the dough from the food processor and cover with plastic wrap; let rest for 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature.


In the meantime make the filling:

1 cup finely chopped smoked chicken
scant 1/4 cup onion and chive cream cheese spread
1 to 2 ounces goat cheese
sprinkle of Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

Stir together and set aside.

Divide dough into fourths.


Wrap three pieces in plastic wrap to prevent dough from drying out. Set aside at room temperature. Flatten the remaining piece in a rectangle about the samd width as the pasta machine rollers. Flour the rollers of the pasta machine!

Roll the dough through one time. Fold the rectangle into thirds and feed it through 6 to 8 more times, folding it into a rectangle each time.

Tighten the rollers of the pasta machine one notch and feed through without folding. Repeat, tightening the rollers one notch each time. Repeat the process for the remaining three pieces of dough. Along in there, you may need to dust the rollers with flour to keep the dough moving smoothly through the rollers.

To make tortellini:

Cut circles with a 2-inch round cutter.


Use a pastry brush to lightly moisten the outer edges of the circles with water. Spoon a bit - like not much - of filling in the center of each circle. Fold over and press edges together to seal.


Bring the two pointed ends together and seal. Place on a flour-dusted baking sheet and let dry for 5 to 10 minutes before cooking.


Bring 4 to 6 quarts of water to boil, salt liberally, and add the tortellini. They need to cook only 2 or 3 minutes.

We served ours with a purchased marinara sauce topped with grated Parmesan.



We rounded out the meal with a salad of spring greens, garlic bread, and red wine.

Mac and Cheese and Roast Chicken Sausage Meatballs Redux

We tried this recipe once before and it wasn't pretty.

We tinkered with the recipe and had a re-do. The results were much more palatable. The Child liked it, too - we'll make it again.

Salt
about 12 ounces pasta, such as penne
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
Black pepper
2 to 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano, divided
1 egg
3/4 cup bread crumbs, plus more, if needed*
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 10-ounce package chopped frozen spinach
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg, eyeball it

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Place a large pot of water on to boil for pasta. When it comes to a boil, salt it and add the pasta to cook to al dente. Strain pasta reserving 1 cup cooking liquid.

While the water is coming to a boil, in a large mixing bowl combine the chicken, salt and pepper, rosemary, fennel seeds, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano - a rounded handful, egg and bread crumbs. *If the mixture seems too wet, add a handful of bread crumbs and mix together.

Form a bunch of smallish balls, or eight largish ones.

(I haven't tried it yet but I suspect at this point, the meatballs could be frozen. You could mix up a big batch, then pull out a few for dinner with pasta.)

Coat balls in a couple of tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and lightly grease a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Arrange balls on the baking sheet and roast 17 to 18 minutes until juices run clear.

Defrost spinach in microwave.

While the meatballs roast, in a medium sauce pot over medium heat, melt butter, whisk in flour, cook 1 minute then whisk in stock and milk, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and thicken 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 cup grated Parmigiano and reduce heat on lowest setting.

Wring spinach completely dry in clean kitchen towel then separate as you add it to the sauce. Also add the reserved 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.

Toss pasta with the spinach-white sauce and adjust seasonings.

Serve pasta with meatballs.