Not Quite Pasta Carbonara

Perhaps more accurately called "Pasta Not Quite Carbonara." This was actually an attempt to use up stuff in the fridge / pantry before we go out of town (and eventually move), but it was the perfect thing after a hard day of painting. OH GOD THE PAINT FUMES.

Ingredients

• 4oz bacon, cubed
• garlic. Like, a lot. Maybe 2tbsp.
• Olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2c of that sandy parmesan stuff
• black pepper
• 14oz canned diced tomatoes
• 1lb pasta

Make the pasta. While that's cooking, cook the bacon and garlic in a pan of olive oil. When the bacon is cooked, add the tomatoes and simmer for a while until it thickens a bit. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix the egg, parmesan, and pepper and whisk thoroughly.

When the pasta is done, mix it with the tomato / bacon mixture until thoroughly coated. Do this over a low flame so that it's REALLY hot. Take the pasta off the heat completely, stir a couple more times, then pour in the egg and cheese mixture and stir constantly. The heat from the pasta cooks the eggs without curdling them (ideally - worked for us, but we've curdled them in the past). Then serve.

Thoughts: This was really good. The tomato really added, actually, although I know we're heathens for doing it this way. It could be the paint fumes talking, but I would definitely do it this way in the future.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Noodle Kugel

I don't know when the last time I had kugel was, but it was a LONG time ago.  This is a little... interesting?
Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1½c cottage cheese
• 1c sour cream
• ¾c sugar
• 2¼c whole milk
• ¾c raisins
• 6tbsp butter, melted
• 1tsp lemon zest
• ½tsp orange extract
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1tbsp salt
• 18oz egg noodles
• 1c coarsely crushed corn flakes
• 2tbsp butter, melted
• 2tbsp cinnamon

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, sugar, milk, raisins, butter, zest, extracts, and salt.  Set a pot of water to boil, and cook the egg noodles until quite al dente - about 7 minutes.  Drain the noodles thoroughly, then add them to the custard mixture.  Cover and let sit for at least an hour, checking on them and stirring after about a half hour.  Preheat the oven to 350.  When the oven is hot, pour the mixture into a 9x13" casserole dish.  In a separate bowl, combine the corn flakes, butter, and cinnamon.  Sprinkle liberally over the kugel.  Bake about 40 minutes.  Then take it out, let cool about 5 to 10 minutes, and serve.

Thoughts: We weren't really sure what to expect.  Kugel is a little unusual as dishes go, since it's like a sweet pasta casserole.  We liked it, though I'm not sure we added enough salt (I think we did 1tsp instead of 1 tbsp).  I'm not sure I'd make it again in this quantity.  Still, this tasted quite authentic, and I went back for seconds.  I call this a win.

Disaster Index: 2/10

Arugula Spinach Ravioli

Probably pretty good for you.
Ingredients

• Pasta Dough
• 2c white flour
• ~1-2tbsp olive oil
• pinch of salt
• 3 eggs
• Filling
• ~6oz arugula
• 10oz frozen spinach
• 1/2c ricotta cheese
• 1/2c mozzarella cheese
• 2tbsp butter
• 4 cloves garlic
• lemon juice or white wine - something acidic
• 3/4tsp salt
• 3/4tsp black pepper

In a bowl, combine the dough ingredients. and stir to combine.  Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and, using a little extra flour as you go, knead out the dough until it's fully mixed and has a smooth texture - about 8 minutes.  Wrap the dough in plastic and set it aside for an hour to rest.

Now start a big pot of water boiling.  While that heats, (in a separate pot) combine the butter and garlic in a pot and cook until fragrant - about a minute.  Add the greens (thawed completely in the microwave) and the acidic liquid (white wine / lemon juice) and cover to wilt everything down.  After it's all hot, put everything in a fine mesh strainer and press out any excess liquid - there will be quite a lot.  Then put the greens on a cutting board and chop finely.  Mix with the rest of the filling ingredients in a big bowl.
Now, roll out the dough to an appropriate thinness.  We used a pasta roller we inherited and put the past through on successively smaller gauge pasta sizes.  Eventually, we put the pasta sheet on a (lightly oiled) ravioli press.  We then added the filling, topped with another sheet of pasta, and pressed out the ravioli.  Now, if you don't have all this fancy equipment, you can theoretically do it by hand... you can figure it out.  This pasta dough is actually fairly forgiving.

Anyway, when you've pressed out the ravioli, you drop them in the boiling water (keeping the pot covered after you get them in).  Cook for about 3-6 minutes, depending on the thickness of the ravioli in question.  Then toss with whatever sauce you made (I made a kind of white wine / sage sauce that was OK) and serve.

Thoughts: The pasta dough we used here was nigh perfect.  We've had trouble with pasta doughs being too dry in the past, or too brittle, too glutenous, etc.  but this one was very malleable, incredibly stretchy, and very VERY forgiving.  If I were interested in making pasta in the future, this is the recipe I would use.  As far as the ravioli goes, I think it would have been better with goat cheese filling (the original recipe MAY have called for goat cheese).  Next time, Claire and I have decided, we will put the filling in a food processor rather than using a cutting board (weird).  And a higher cheese to other stuff ratio would also be good.  Also it took us a while to get the pasta thickness right.  But I'm going to go ahead and give this recipe a 1 because it was our first ever time making ravioli with this press we registered for AND it went so well once we figured out what we were doing.  Very rewarding.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Pasta with Butternut Squash

Few recipes that are this easy taste this good.



Ingredients

• 1/2lb cooked spaghetti
  
• 1lb butternut squash (a small butternut squash), peeled and cubed, (seeds removed)
  
• 1 medium yellow onions, peeled and bisected orthogonally. Or whatever.
  
• ~4oz ripe tomatoes, washed
  
• 3 stalks celery, washed
  
• olive oil
  
• water
  
• salt
  
• 1.5tsp dry rubbed sage
  
• black pepper
  
• parmesan cheese
  
• 5 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped (or else pancetta)
  

Place the squash, onion, tomatoes (whole, if you please), and celery in a casserole dish. Toss with olive oil, and place in a 350-400 degree oven until the squash is just tender, about 45 minutes at 350 or 30 minutes at 400 (maybe - check with a fork). While they're going, start water boiling for the pasta. When the vegetables are done, puree them in a food processor and taste, adding salt as needed. This recipe takes a lot of salt. Add the sage and about 1/2c water and continue to puree until mostly smooth. Meanwhile, make sure that the pasta is cooking. Pour the squash sauce into a pan and add some water until it's just a little liquidy. Set to high heat and cover, letting cook for 5 minutes or so while you drain the pasta. Then take the sauce off the heat (provided it's thick enough - otherwise just uncover and cook until it's done) and pour the pasta in, tossing to coat. Grate a lot of black pepper into it and sprinkle with parmesan (maybe as much as 1/2c?) and bacon / pancetta. Serve. Thoughts: WHY have we never done this before? This will probably become a go-to recipe. It's fairly healthy (lots of vegetables, not too much fat - I used "center cut" low fat bacon) and it's really good. Disaster Index: 1/10

Pasta with Brussels Sprouts and Kale

I made this recipe up.

Ingredients

• 1 pint of brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved. That is how I would describe the quantity. I would guess I had 20 sprouts, but it may depend on the size.
  
• small bunch of kale - 6-8 leaves, stems removed, torn to bite-size
  
• 2 cloves garlic
  
• 1 small onion, chopped
  
• olive oil
  
• balsamic vinegar
  
• 2tsp brown sugar
  
• 1/2c chicken stock (or veg)
  
• parmesan, salt and pepper to taste
  
• 1lb pasta of your choice - I used rotini.
  

Set some water boiling for pasta. In a pot, add the onion and sprouts, and give a generous amount of olive oil. Saute on low for 5 minutes or so, until the onions are soft, and then add the chicken stock, the garlic, and the kale and cover. Simmer on medium heat, adding extra water as necessary, until the brussels sprouts are tender. Took mine about 10 minutes. When this is complete, add the brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. I added probably 2 tbsp balsamic, but possibly as much as 4 tbsp. You have to add it, stir the veg, and taste it. When the pasta is done, spoon the pasta in with the vegetables and add the parmesan. I actually also added just a LITTLE cream cheese, though a small amount of actual cream would also be good here (neither is necessary, though). Over very low heat, stir the pasta and veg together to combine and melt the cheese somewhat in the process, then adjust the balsamic / salt to taste.

Thoughts: this was really good, even though it might sound a little strange. I think this recipe would be great with pine nuts, following in the vein of Claire's suggestion. I would definitely make this again. I don't have too much more to say about it. The brussels sprouts are just the right size for bite-sized pasta like rotini, and the balsamic and chicken stock really gives it a bright and savory flavor.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Pasta al Cavolfiore

This is a favorite from Claire's childhood. She felt that this was almost as good as what her father makes. This was our take on someone else's take of a Moosewood Cookbook recipe. Anyway.

Ingredients

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets
  
• olive oil
  
• 1tsp dry basil
  
• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed (we got chopped from a jar)
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• red pepper flakes
  
• optional ~3 hot italian sausages
  
• 1c cheddar plus 1c parmesan cheese
  
• 1 28oz can tomato sauce/puree
  
• vermouth or dry cooking wine
  
• 1lb pasta (we used rotini)
  

If you're using them, chop the sausage and cook in a pan over medium heat until caramelized and cooked through, then set aside. In the same pot, add the cauliflower, olive oil, basil, garlic, bay leaf (or leaves), and red pepper flakes. Add some dry cooking wine and a little water and cover to cook until tender. When it's tender, add the tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes (while you cook the pasta). After about 10 minutes, re-add the sausages. When it's done, drain the pasta. When the sauce is finished, take it off the heat and stir in the cheese and the pasta.

Thoughts: This is almost absurdly good. The sausage was a good addition, but unnecessary, but no, good... The cauliflower was perfectly tender. Red pepper flakes are good in just about anything, so it worked well here.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Fettuccine with Fava Beans and Basil

Deceptively complex.

Ingredients

• 3c dry fava beans, soaked, or 3c fresh, shelled*
  
• 1lb fettuccine
  
• 2c basil, chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic
  
• salt
  
• pepper
  
• parmesan
  
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
  

After you soak the dry beans, cook them until they're tender. We did this with the shells on. Afterward, fish out the beans and run under some cold water. Then shell them all. Ugh. Take 2/3 of the beans and pulse in a kitchenaid with 1c basil, some salt, the garlic, and enough olive oil to make it work. Don't puree the stuff, just chop until it's pretty small. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the same water that you used to cook the fava beans. When that's done, reserve a cup of water and drain the pasta. Now you assemble. In the pot, combine the whole favas, the blended favas, and some of the pasta/fava cooking water. Add the lemon juice and parmesan and stir together. Then add the pasta and toss together.

Thoughts: VERY filling. One problem is that after we shelled and blended the beans, we discovered that they were still just too toothsome, so we had to return them to a pot and add water and cook until the favas were done. Meh. Otherwise, this is really delicious. Next time... we'll probably cook the beans for longer initially. Or maybe use fresh beans if we have them. I don't know. Quite good, though.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Spinach Avgolemono

A twist on the classic.
Ingredients

• 1 large white onion, chopped
  
• 4 cloves garlic
  
• 1tsp red pepper flakes
  
• 1 package frozen spinach, at least mostly thawed
  
• 1.5c orzo (dry)
  
• 8c chicken broth (or veg)
  
• 4 eggs
  
• The juice of 1.5 lemons
  
• basil, dill, parsley to taste
  

Heat the onion in some olive oil until it begins to look translucent. Then add the garlic, red pepper flakes, spinach, and orzo. Cook for a minute, tossing everything around, and then add the broth. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. In the mean time, in a large bowl, crack the four eggs and add the juice of ~1.5 large lemons. Whisk thoroughly until the egg mixture is frothy and yellow and completely mixed. When the orzo is just al dente, take the soup off the heat. Let it sit for a few minutes, then, taking a ladle of broth at a time (and blowing on the soup to make sure it isn't TOO hot), pour the soup into the eggs while whisking furiously. Basically, you're trying to temper the eggs. Do this with about 4 ladles-full of soup. When they're whisked into the eggs, dump the egg mixture back into the rest of the soup, stirring constantly. When everything is mixed in, serve!

Thoughts: Claire and I are a little divided on this: I felt like this was the best avgolemono we've ever made, but she liked the old avgolemono better. Even so, I would say that this was just fantastic. I don't think I'd do anything differently next time. You can add more red pepper flakes if you like - I think we eventually did. It gives the soup an interesting kick.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Pasta with Artichokes and Zucchini

CLAIRE IS IN MINNESOTA. COOK NEW RECIPES.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb farfalle
  
• 1 zucchini
  
• 1/2 a jar's worth of artichoke hearts (I hear that jars of artichokes are of higher quality than cans. Confirm/deny?)
  
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  
• generous pinch of salt
  
• 2tsp garlic
  
• olive oil
  
• a few tbsp pesto
  

Set the pasta to cook. Meanwhile, prep the vegetables. Cut the zucchini as you see fit (I cut it into 1.5" wedges - each about 1/8 of a cylinder, if you can imagine what I'm failing to describe). Saute over medium high heat with some olive oil. Add the garlic and toss around until the garlic is fragrant - 30 seconds? Then add the artichoke hearts. Mine were jarred with some vegetable oil, vinegar, and various spices. I pulled the artichokes out individually with a fork, leaving whatever juice was on them. Anyway, toss those in and continue to saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add lemon juice and pesto and turn the heat off. When the pasta is done, toss it in with the vegetables and toss them around.

Thoughts: This was pretty delicious. The serving is really designed for two people, but I ate most of it. In the future, I would consider adding sliced olives to this. Otherwise, pretty fantastic.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Pasta with MGC pesto

What does MGC stand for? WAIT AND SEE.

Ingredients

• 1 lb pasta (we used ziti)
• 1/2 lb collards (the C), stems removed, leaves chiffonaded and then washed
• 1/2 lb mustard greens (the MG), stems removed, leaves torn and then washed
• the juice and zest of 1/2 of a small lemon
• 3 tbsp parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves garlic
  
• 1 tbsp dried basil flakes
  
• 2 Laughing Cow triangles (alternatively, 2 oz. of creamy cheese)
• salt
• pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• water, until the texture is right
• 1 small tomato, chopped
  

In a large saucepan, add the collards and a few tablespoons of water. Cover the pot and put over medium/high heat. Cook until the collards have wilted, about 5 minutes.
Once the collards have wilted, add the mustard greens. Add more water, if necessary. Cover again and cook until the MG have cooked down. This shouldn't take long - keep an eye on it.
Once they've cooked down, add the garlic, salt, basil flakes, and pepper. Mix until incorporated.
Heat a pot of water for the pasta. When it's boiling, cook the pasta.
Remove the MG&C from the stove and put in a blender. To the blender, add olive oil and lemon juice/zest. Blend until thoroughly blended. Add more oil and/or water if the mixture gets too thick. Add the cheeses. Blend some more.
The pasta should be cooked by now. Drain it and return the pasta to the pot.
Add the MG&C pesto to the pasta. Stir until the pasta is thoroughly coated.
Add chopped tomatoes on top.
Devour.

Thoughts: OH MY GOD. SHUT UP. THIS IS AWESOME. But seriously, I was expecting the pesto to taste like any other pesto (we've made pesto with things like kale and swiss chard etc...), but it does not. It has this really interesting, savory flavor. We really lucked out. The greens paired really well with both the chopped tomato and the lemon. And this was hella easy. To be honest, I like this version of pesto better than traditional pesto. I would eat this all day. Sweet fancy Moses.

Disaster Index: Can I give a -1? 1/10 I guess

Sausage and Swiss Chard Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian sausage (casings removed), chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced or chopped or whatever
• 1 can tomatoes (14.5 oz) - we used "fire roasted," which worked really well
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 10-12 lasagna noodles
• 1 16-oz package of shredded mozzarella cheese
  
• 1 container ricotta cheese (1.75 cups)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp dried parsley
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 ozs chevre cheese (we used herb & garlic chevre)
• 1/4 fresh basil, shredded
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 (large) bunch swiss chard, bottom inch of stalks removed
  
• 1 yellow summer squash
• 6 oz frozen spinach

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Brown the sausage over medium-low heat until it's pretty cooked through. Add the garlic, tomatoes, dried basil, dried oregano, and 1.5 tsp salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. You can add some water to it if it gets too thick. Remove from heat.
Boil some pasta water in a large pot and cook the lasagna noodles in batches.
In the meantime, saute the onions over medium-high heat until almost translucent.
While you're sauteing the onions, prepare the Swiss chard. This is how you do it:
remove the stalks from the leaves and chop the stalks into smallish pieces. Chiffonade the leaves.
When the onions are almost translucent, add the stalks of the Swiss chard. Cover and cook for around 8 minutes, or until the stalks are tender, stirring occasionally. When tender, remove the onion/chard mix from the heat and set aside.
Take the chard leaves and add them to a smallish pot with the 6 oz. of frozen spinach (which you need to thaw ahead of time. Do it now if you haven't yet.). Cook the chard leaves and spinach, covered, over low heat. Add a few tablespoons of water to facilitate wilting. Cook for 5 minutes, or until wilted. Remove from heat and mix with the onion/chard mixture.
In a large bowl, mix ricotta, mozzarella, eggs, fresh basil, dried parsley, Parmesan, and some salt. Mix thoroughly. When the onion/chard/spinach mixture has cooled a little, add it into the cheese mixture and mix thoroughly.
Wash the summer squash and chop off the ends. Slice length-wise into sheets and grill until softened.
Now assemble the lasagna:
Coat the bottom of a glass lasagna with olive oil.
Put as many noodles as you'd like on the bottom. Put a layer of tomato/sausage mix on the noodles. Then add a layer of yellow squash. Then add a layer of the cheese/vegetable mixture. Then more noodles, then more tomato sauce, then more squash, then more cheese/vegetables, and then a final layer of noodles. On top of that we drizzled some olive oil and then the chevre.
Put in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes.

Thoughts: Delicious. We based this loosely on a recipe we found online, and then added all sorts of stuff (swiss chard, spinach, yellow squash, chevre, onions, fresh basil). The flavor was fantastic. Maybe it was the sausage, maybe it was the swiss chard, maybe it was the yellow squash, but either way, it was fantastic. We didn't have as much tomato sauce as I would have liked, so we didn't get to put a layer of tomato sauce on top of the whole concoction. So next time I would have added another can of tomatos or something. I don't know. Fantastic.

Disaster Index:1/10

Dan Dan Mian - Sesame Noodles

Two variations in as many nights.
Ingredients

• 2tbsp dark soy sauce
  
• 2tbsp peanut oil
  
• 3tbsp chopped garlic
  
• 2tbsp chopped ginger
  
• 4tbsp chopped scallions
  
• 2tbsp peanut butter or sesame paste (tahini)
  
• 1tbsp sesame oil
  
• 8oz chicken stock (or veg)
  
• 3/4lb soba noodles
  
• salt and brown sugar or honey to taste
  
• VARIATION: 1tbsp black vinegar
  
• 2tsp sambal olek / chili paste
  

set some water to boil. In a separate pot, add the peanut oil and cook the garlic, ginger, and scallions until aromatic, about a minute. Add all the other ingredients (except for the soba, of course) and let simmer for 5-7 minutes. In the mean time, cook the soba (doesn't take long). Drain the soba and toss together with the sauce. Done!

Thoughts: I did this recipe a day later, but used sesame paste instead of peanut butter. I left out the chicken stock (opting instead for just some water to loosen the sauce) and added some black vinegar. In both instances, we had to sweeten the recipe with a little honey or brown sugar. The original recipe called for caramelizing some pork that you mix in later. This would probably contribute the necessary sweetness just as well, actually, but we're saving the pork for another recipe. All in all, I think that we have the basics of a good recipe here. We just need to tweak it a little to get the flavors right. It shouldn't be TOO sweet, but it needs a LITTLE sweetness. Can't be TOO salty either. I'm not QUITE sure what this recipe needs, but it's pretty good already.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Pasta with Broccoli-Herb cream sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound pasta (we used radiatore)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half (or quarters, if you want to be fancy)
  
• 1 cup chopped broccoli, steamed
  
• 1 oz chevre
• 3 tbsp chopped chives
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 3 tbsp dried parsley
• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
  
• salt and pepper, to taste

Boil water and cook the pasta. Set aside.
Steam the broccoli in a pot until it is tender. Add the chevre and the milk, and cook on low-ish heat until the chevre has melted.
Add the chives, parsley, and fresh basil. Stir until well-incorporated.
Simmer. When the milk has thickened a little, remove the sauce from heat and transfer it to a blender. Blend until smooth.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix with pasta and top with cherry tomatoes. Eat.

Thoughts: You'll probably need to add a reasonable amount of salt to the sauce, but other than that, delicious. Just fantastic. And you get your vegetables too. I hate eating whole vegetables with my pasta because it ruins the pasta. But if you chop everything up and put it in a sauce, it's like you aren't eating vegetables at all, and that's something we can all get behind.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Pasta with Sausage and Mushrooms in Cheese Sauce

Ingredients

• ~1lb smallish pasta, like rigatoni or radiatori
  
• 2 hot Italian sausage links, chopped into 1/2" slices
  
• 2-3c cremini mushrooms, quartered
  
• olive oil, cooking wine, salt, pepper
  
• about 1c half-and-half
  
• 2oz chevre cheese
  
• 10-20 kale leaves, steamed, or a roasted red pepper, seeded and chopped
  

Set the pasta cooking. In a separate pot, cook the sausage in some olive oil until it gets some caramelization. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook, stirring occasionally. Once they are fairly well cooked, add a splash of cooking wine and scrape the bottom of the pot to get the well-caramelized bits of sausage up. Set aside.

In the mean time, blend together the cooked kale or pepper, the half-and-half, and the chevre. Don't add all the half-and-half at once - slowly add it until the thickness looks right (and it blends). In the case of the kale, we had to return the mixture to the stove, cook for a while, and then return to the blender. Kale can be kind of tough.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it (thought not necessarily all the way - the starchy pasta water helps the sauce stick). Combine all the parts of the recipe together and stir to coat. Season as needed.

Thoughts: This was great, both times we did it. It would be really easy to modify the recipe by using frozen spinach, which is easier to come by, or you could just use tomato. It was really easy to make (especially with both of us working on it). I would continue to talk about the virtues and flexibility of this recipe, but I can't think of anything else, and I'm watching the Oscars right now. It's kinda tough to concentrate.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Avgolemono

aka Egg Lemon Soup.
Ingredients

• 4c chickens stock (or veg)
  
• 1/3c rice or 1c pasta
  
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
  
• ~2tbsp lemon juice
  
• 2tbsp chopped parsley (dried works)
  
• pepper, to taste
  

Cook the pasta in the chicken stock, adding extra water as it boils off. Aim to have a little less than 4c when the pasta/rice is done. Add the lemon to the egg yolks and whisk. When the pasta is done, take it off the heat. Temper the eggs by adding a ladle-full of soup stock to the eggs, whisking constantly. Then add the eggs to the soup, again whisking constantly. Stir in the parsley and pepper and serve.

Thoughts: This is a really easy soup with a lemony, creamy taste. It's really great. The tricky part is adding the egg - it's supposed to thicken the soup without cooking all the way. So don't put it back on the heat after you add the egg. We use really little pasta - orzo is probably best. Though you could make it just as well with extra long grain white rice. It occurred to me while this was boiling away that the amount of salt in the stock probably lowered the boiling point of the water, so the pasta took a long time to cook. If you're working with bullion (as we were), you might consider cooking the pasta FIRST and then adding the bullion. Next time I think we'll do it that way.

This recipe is kind of a go-to for us; I don't know why we didn't blog it before.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Chicken & pasta with mango cream sauce

Ingredients

• 16 oz. pasta (rigatoni works well, but whatever)
• olive oil
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 1 onion, sliced and separated into rings
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 mango - peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 cup whole milk
• salt and pepper
• parmesan cheese, to top

Cook pasta until al dente. Set aside.
Cook chicken with olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, or until juices run clear. What the hell does this mean? Who knows?
Cook onion and pepper in olive oil until tender. Mix in garlic, ginger, and mango, and continue to cook for 5 minutes, or until mango is soft. Pour in milk and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes.
Add pasta and chicken, and cook everything for a little bit longer (2-4 minutes), until chicken is all the way done and pasta is not al dente anymore (unless you like that sort of thing).
Eat.

Thoughts: The taste on this dish was pretty fantastic, but we used WAY too much pasta in relation to everything else. I would halve the amount of pasta down to 8 oz next time. Also, it would have been much more awesome if we had blended the cooked onion, pepper, mango, garlic, ginger, and milk together to make a smooth cream sauce. This was just way too deconstructed and uneven, if you know what I mean. If it were a cohesive sauce, there would be some mango flavor on all the pasta. The way we did it, there were huge sections of plain white pasta and some clumps of vegetables and mango. Not great. Not great.

Disaster Index: 3/10. Taste was good, presentation = not so much.

Shrimp and Orzo pilaf

Well, I don't know if this is exactly a pilaf, but it looks a lot like one. And it makes this recipe sound fancier.

Ingredients

• 1 lb frozen shrimp (ok, you're SUPPOSED to use fresh shrimp, but seriously, we're college students)
• salt and black pepper
• 1 medium red onion, minced
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp of crushed/minced garlic
• 1 lb pastina (we used orzo and something that looked like spaghetti-o's)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup water
• 1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 4 oz chevre, crumbled (if you CAN)
• 4 tbsp of chopped chives

Preheat oven to 400.
Combine olive oil, minced onion, and some of the salt in a stockpot of Dutch oven. Cover and cook on medium-low heat until the onions have softened, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the pastina and cook, stirring frequently, until the orzo is coated with oil and lightly browned, about 4 minutes.
Stir in the broth and water and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is MOSTLY tender but still firm in the middle (this is sort of tricky to do), about 12 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes and oregano.
Pour into a 9x13 glass baking dish and put the chevre on top, in whatever form you think is best. Bake for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, thaw the shrimp until they are cool but soft.
When the pilaf is done, take it out and put the shrimp in it and stir it all around. This will warm the shrimp sufficiently to eat them without getting them all rubbery.

Thoughts: Pretty delicious, actually. I was sort of skeptical of the dish, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The original recipe calls for 1 large red bell pepper as well, but we didn't have one. But I would definitely put one in next time. The original recipe also calls for saffron, but seriously. Come on. The pasta was pretty difficult to get to the right consistency. I think you're aiming for al dente on this one, which is what the recipe is going for when it says cook "until the grains of orzo are mostly tender yet still slightly firm at the center". Why don't they just SAY al dente? Whatever. I think we may also have felt a little ambivalent about chevre. I mean, it doesn't really melt, so it just sort of sits on top of the pasta. I don't know. I doubt feta would be much better, since it doesn't melt either. Mozzarella? Maybe. Look into.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Asparagus Lasagna

Most of the directions are in the "ingredients". I've given them in the order they were prepared. I've made this twice so far, and this was the most successful version. I do all of the ingredients in one pot, incidentally. This works out to be about a half-batch, but I make it in a deep bread 9x5" bread pan.

Ingredients

• 1/2 of a largish vidalia onion or 1 medium onion, sauteed with olive oil until translucent
  
• 3c asparagus, (I'm guessing - bunched up they were about 2-2.5 inches diameter) steamed about 5 minutes until just tender
  
• 1 small zucchini or 1/2 of a large, sliced thin and sauteed in olive oil until tender
  
• 4 whole wheat lasagna noodles (yeah, only 4) cooked until al dente
  
• 14oz tomatoes, cooked with a spoonful of garlic and pesto (to taste). Cook down until reduced about 10-20% and a little thicker.
  
• 8oz ricotta cheese
  
• .25lb mozzarella (total ballpark), cut into thin slices
  
• salt and pepper to taste in just about every step of this
  
• Optional basil leaves
  

Preheat the oven to 350. Stir together the onions and the ricotta until well mixed. Put a layer of sauce at the bottom of the 9x5" bread pan. Thin layer. Add a layer of noodles (because of the size of the noodles, it does not take 2 full noodles to cover, so cut accordingly). Add a layer of ricotta/onions (about half the mixture). Add the asparagus, then another layer of sauce. Add another layer of noodles on top, then layer the zucchini across that. Top with the remaining ricotta, and any sauce that you might have left (once I didn't have any left, once I did - doesn't make much difference). If you are using basil leaves, place them evenly across the top at this point, and then cover the whole thing with slices of mozzarella. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Thoughts: This is a delicious lasagna. It's also like my 3rd time ever making lasagna. I have to say, one of the most important things about this recipe is that you cook down the tomato sauce a bit. Otherwise it will be too liquidy and not as good to eat. Otherwise, this is super good. You could PROBABLY expand the recipe for use in a normal 9x11 sized pan (or however big) but the number of layers really necessitates steep sides, and if you make it in a bread pan then it's just enough for up to 3 people, or for 1 person with a few days' leftovers.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Stuffed Pasta Shells

This is a slight variation on the shells my dad makes.

Ingredients

• 1 lb frozen spinach
• 1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, grated/shredded
• 1/2 lb ricotta cheese
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp dried basil
• salt and pepper
• one egg, lightly beaten
• 20 large pasta shells
• olive oil
• 3 cups of tomato sauce
  
• grated parmesan cheese, to sprinkle on top (about 1/2 cup?)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Set a pot of water to boil.
Place frozen spinach in a large sauté pan over high heat. Cover with lid and let steam until spinach is un-frozen. You may have to add olive oil if the spinach dries out too much.
When done, remove from heat and let cool.
In the meantime, combine the cheeses, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil. Mix well. Add the egg.
If the spinach is cool enough to not cook the egg, add it in. Mix well again. Set aside.
If the water is boiling by this time, add the shells. BE SURE TO STIR THEM CONSTANTLY. Otherwise they WILL stick to the bottom of the pan and you will have pieces of shells rather than whole shells. Trust me. It gets ugly. Just make sure to stir all the time.
When the shells are slightly underdone, remove them from the water and drain. Set aside.
Distribute 3 cups of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking pan (with steep sides, if you can manage). Stuff the shells with the spinach/cheese mixture and lay them in the pan (filled side up, obv.). Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Eat.

Thoughts: This was reasonably easy to make and very delicious. Dan recommends seasoning the filling a little more. More pepper, perhaps. He would also suggest using a smooth pasta sauce, whereas the one we used was rougher.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Dan's Leftover Sweet Potato Gnocchi Ravioli with Spinach-Ricotta Filling

We need a new name.

Ingredients

• 1/2 batch leftover sweet potato gnocchi dough
  
• 5oz chopped frozen spinach
  
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  
• 1/2 container Ricotta cheese (7/8 cups, technically)
  
• salt, pepper, garlic to taste
  
• the juice of 1/4 lemon
  

So this recipe has a lot of fractions because I didn't want to make too much filling for these ravioli. And it turned out to be almost exactly right.
Set out the dough to thaw. Mine was pretty cold. In the mean time, sautee the onion until translucent. Thaw the spinach in the microwave while the onion is cooking. When the onion is done, throw in the spinach and the salt, pepper, and garlic. Let it cook for another 5 minutes over medium-low heat. Take it off the heat and add the ricotta and the lemon juice. Stir to combine. Taste it! Add seasonings to fix whatever it needs.

Now the fun (difficult) part. On a well floured counter and with a well floured rolling pin, roll out (half) the dough to about 1/8" thick. Take a wide-rimmed glass (thinner rim the better) or a cookie cutter and start making dumpling wrappers. Pull away the scrap dough and set it aside (you roll this out again when you're done with this batch). Add filling to the center of each wrapper, and fold over to create a little dumpling. Press the seams closed with the tines of a fork. Roll out more dough. Repeat until you've used all the dough. Drop the ravioli into a pot of boiling water. 30 seconds after they start floating on the surface, scoop them out and toss with olive oil (quickly, before they start sticking together).

I served these with herb cream sauce (recipe to follow soon).

Thoughts: The filling was great for these "ravioli", but this was an IMMENSE amount of work. Including prep time, this project took like an hour and a half. If I do this again, I might consider buying a ravioli press.

Otherwise, delicious. Absolutely great. Not a disaster at all, even though I made up the recipe completely!

Disaster Index: 1/10