Desperation Dinners

Desperation Dinner: You know this kind of dinner.. your pantry has some ingredients but not enough to make something you have in mind.. so you substitute.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not work.  This is one that worked and boy did it ever work!  My family loves Lasagna, but I had neither ground beef or sausage to add to the filling and we didn’t want just plain or just spinach lasagne – no, that is too close to being healthy!  We like to live on the side of not good for you!  Well, actually, we are in process of changing that… but last year we lived!!!

My brother was in town for Thanksgiving – he lives in Harrisburg, PA and we do not see him very often.  Since he is single, he comes to see us about every other year.  He had a craving for lasagna, but I did not have the meat as I mentioned before… but I did have this: Pepperoni!  I made the lasagna as usual, except used pepperoni instead of the sausage.  Baked it as usual and the result was wonderful!  It is now my families favorite lasagna.

Pepperoni Lasagna

by goodcookbecky

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 2 (28 oz) cans spaghetti sauce (I like Hunts Traditional in the can- sometimes on sale for a dollar)
• 1 (9 oz) box Barilla No Boil Lasagna (or other pasta will work- even the ones you should pre cook but you don’t have to trust me)
• 1 (15 oz) container Ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 2 eggs
• 1 (4 oz) package Hormel sliced pepperoni
• 1 (16 oz) bag Mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, optional

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

I like to use my large pampered chef stoneware casserole. The sides are over 2 inches and the lasagna so far has never bubbled over like it has in a pyrex dish- but you still can use it, just place a cookie sheet under it if that is all you have.  The beauty of the stoneware is that you do not have to spray it with non stick spray.

To make the lasagna, ladle half a can of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of your baking dish.  Place the (uncooked) lasagna noodles on top of the sauce, slightly overlapping.  Combine the ricotta cheese, egg, oregano, basil and half the Mozzarella cheese in a bowl and spread half of the cheese mixture over the lasagna noodles.  Top with half of the pepperoni slices.  Ladle the remaining sauce from the first can of spaghetti sauce.  Top with noodles.  Repeat layers.  End with lasagna noodles, pasta sauce, and remaining Mozzarella Cheese.  If you would like an extra crunch add about 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil.  Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes.  Uncover and cook until the cheese is melted for another 5 to 10 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Cover with foil again and let sit for about 10-15 minutes.

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Italian Sausage over Pasta

Quite a few years ago, we had dinner with some friends and they made a wonderful sausage dish that can easily adapted to what you have in your fridge.  It works really well with peppers, onions, zucchini, but also could go with mushrooms or eggplant.  Feel free to change it to suit your own family’s tastes.  It looks lovely over tri-color Rotini Pasta.

Italian Sausage over Pasta

Serves 6

• 1 (12 oz) box tri-color Rotini Pasta, or other pasta
• cooking oil
• 6 mild Italian Sausage links
• 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 bell pepper (yellow, or orange or red) sliced thinly
• 3 medium zucchini, sliced into coins
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
• Parmesan cheese, for topping

Instructions:

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Cook the pasta according to package directions.

Heat a large non stick skillet, over medium high heat.  Add 1 Tbsp of cooking oil to the skillet and brown the Italian sausages, turning from time to time to brown until cooked through.  Remove the sausages and set aside.

Add a little more oil to the skillet if needed.  Saute the onion, bell pepper, and zucchini until the onions are translucent and the vegetables are cooked to your liking.  Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.  Heat through.

To serve: Top the pasta with cooked sausage and ladle the vegetable tomato sauce over the sausage and pasta.  Top with shredded Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Homemade Pasta

I have wanted to make this for a few years now, and even attempted it a few times (before I got a Kitchen Aid Pasta attachment for my mixer), but never successful enough to blog it… today I did it!!  I was so excited and nervous about trying this.   But hey, I can make pasta! Who knew?  Well, some of you are saying oh sure you can!  But I had my doubts~ I learned what not to do next time too!  I used the recipe that came with the Kitchen Aid booklet.  You could substitute semolina for a portion (or all) of the flour if you wanted.  I even made Ravioli with the pasta, but that is another blog post!

One key to making pasta is allowing the time to let it rest before you roll it out.  The Kitchen Aid Pasta Attachment is a good investment if you plan on making your own pasta in the future.  I do like being able to control what goes into my pasta (especially filled ones) – not only from a taste standpoint, but from a health standpoint – using ingredients I can pronounce… well most of them!  The mixer does all the hard work and you are free to use both hands to feed the pasta through rather than having to crank with one hand on a manual pasta maker and only having one hand free to feed and catch- unless you have the assistance of an eager child.

link to Kitchen Aid (click on Pasta Roller and Cutter for recipe)

Here it is:

Kitchen Aid’s Recipe for Basic Egg Pasta

4 large eggs

1 Tbsp water

3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

In the bowl of your Kitchen Aid Mixer, place the eggs, water, flour, and salt.  Use the flat beater to beat the combination for about 1/2 a minute (level 2 power).  Change the flat beater to the dough hook and continue to beat (level 2 on mixer) for about 2 minutes.  Remove the dough from the bowl and knead by hand for a few more minutes.  The dough will look pretty ragged still.  Cut the dough into fourths and place a clean damp kitchen towel over the dough to prevent it from drying out.  Rest the dough covered for at least 20 minutes.  In this time you can make the filling if you are making Ravioli.

Clear a large counter so you have room to work (I used the length of my island as I am lucky enough to have one).  Make the pasta according to instructions on the machine.  Start with the width of the pasta roller at 1 and feed one portion of the pasta through the roller.  Fold the pasta into thirds, and feed through the machine again.  Repeat about 3 times.  After that it should be about the right shape for you.  Increase the number on the pasta roller to 2 then three and so on feeding the pasta sheet through the machine after each adjustment.  I stopped at number 7 for my ravioli, but could have gone 2 more notches for even thinner pasta.  Use the pasta cutter attachments to make linguine or spaghetti. 

I used a ravioli stamp I had purchased to make ravioli.  Since it was my first time I learned a lot.  First of all, do NOT stack the ravioli on each other as you make them… they would be best if you put them on a floured board and let them dry a little.  If you do what I did, and stacked them all on top of each other you will end up cooking the whole mass together and then cut it into two or three portions… some of the pasta will be al dente and others will break open if you try to separate them (don’t ask me how I know this- it is … well, just don’t!)

Homemade Ravioli

I looked at several recipes online to see what went into the filling of Ravioli and made up my own recipe from that.  Using some good ideas and adding seasoning that I like… The filling I came up with is pretty good though.  Feel free to exchange cheese and make it yours.  Fontina melts nicely and has a good flavor, but Mozzarella will also do the job nicely.  I happened to have Prosciutto ham in my fridge, but it is not cheap, cooked sausage or seasoned ground beef will do the job. I did not add salt to the filling as the prosciutto has a nice salty flavor, but if I used a milder meat I would season with salt as well.

Becky’s Ravioli Filling

• 1 (15 oz) container Ricotta Cheese
• 1 large egg, beaten with a folk
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup grated Fontina cheese (this one melts nicely and I used the small grate on my box grater)
• 1 cup deli sliced Prosciutto ham, diced

Combine all the ingredients and stir to combine them.  Refrigerate until you are ready to fill the pasta.

To make the ravioli, I used one sheet of pasta, dotted the lower half with the filling and folded the pasta lengthwise over the filling and sealed with water.  Stamped the ravioli out with my ravioli stamp (or you could use a knife and cut them that way)  I had a lot of wasted pasta between the ravioli, and next time I think I may lay a second pasta sheet on two rows of ravioli instead of folding one sheet in half over the pasta, but it turned out great. Just check that they have sealed properly and pinch the sides where they are not sealed.

Lesson I learned:  DO NOT stack the ravioli on each other as you make them… they will stick together.  For best results lay each ravioli on a dry floured pastry board.  Flash freeze them for later use (What is flash freeze? Place them on a sheet pan and freeze them in your freezer.  Once they are solid you can package them into bags for later use – this way they won’t freeze to each other.)  To cook bring salted water up to a boil.  Add the ravioli to the boiling water, reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes.  Serve with Parmesan cheese or your favorite sauce.

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Skillet Italian Chicken with Orzo

I love orzo pasta. It seems that any time I make something that contains orzo it instantly is transformed into a comfort dish that will be a repeat. My son was convinced that I was making pizza as dinner approached – and he didn’t believe me when I told him I was making chicken. It did smell like pizza. The scent of oregano, and tomatoes wafted through the air.

I found this recipe in Cook’s Country Magazine April/May 2010 issue (30 Minute Supper card). I increased the amounts to accommodate my family of 5. In the end I had a large amount left over because the chicken breasts that I used were twice the size of the usual. It was yummy with just a little kick of spice. The orzo is dry roasted until slightly browned. Then the chicken breasts are browned and then finished in a simmer with the Orzo and tomatoes. You do not need to heat up your oven – if you skillet with fit everything. My skillet only had room for 3 of the giant chicken breasts, so I transferred them to a baking dish and did cook them in the oven, but only because the chicken pieces were so large. I should have split them and used just three. So if you are cooking this for a larger group you can bake them in the oven covered with foil (I had the temperature at 350 and baked them for 25-30 minutes).

Skillet Italian Chicken with Orzo
adapted from Cook’s Country Magazine April/May 2010 (Recipe card)
Serves 6
Ingredients:
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (try to get small ones)
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1 /2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp (each) salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups orzo (I like Barilla brand)
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 3/4 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
shredded Parmesan cheese for serving

Instructions:
Dry the chicken breast halves with paper towels.
Combine the oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper in a small bowl and sprinkle each chicken breast half with the mixture on both sides. (Use less red pepper flakes if you don’t like it with much kick).
Toast the orzo pasta in a large non stick skillet about 3-5 minutes shaking the pan from time to time until the orzo is golden brown. Remove the orzo and set aside for later use.
Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in the pan and heat over high heat until the oil is shimmering. Cook the chicken breast halves for 3 minutes on each side. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
Pour remaining oil in the skillet and add the garlic, stirring for about 30 seconds until the garlic is fragrant. Add the diced tomatoes (with their juices), chicken broth, and toasted orzo pasta and bring the mixture to a boil. Top the pasta with the chicken breasts and any juices from the plate. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook over medium-low for about 10 to 15 minutes until the pasta is tender and the chicken is cooked through. Top each serving with basil and shredded Parmesan cheese.

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Spaghetti Pie

Here is another allrecipes hit!  A dear friend of mine made it and posted the recipe on Facebook.   Of course we made changes to the original.  Here is the adapted version.

We were on our way to church yesterday, when one of my kids decided it was time to get sick – so home I went with sick kid and then had to figure out what to make for dinner – I had ground beef, onions, roasted peppers, ricotta cheese, and spaghetti- so I could make this dish.  I even had enough filling to make another one for a neighbor that just moved into the house next door.  She was appreciative.

Some changes that could me made are using Italian sausage instead of the ground beef, adding more spaghetti sauce to keep it moist.  It had good flavor and we will make it again.  Enjoy!

Spaghetti Pie

adapted from allrecipes

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 8 oz Spaghetti, cooked (I used Angel Hair)
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 lb ground beef (or Italian Sausage, Turkey sausage)
• 1/4 cup chopped pepper (or roasted peppers from a jar)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 – 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (next time)
• 1 cup ricotta cheese (originally cottage cheese)
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Cook the pasta according to package directions.  Drain and place in the bottom of a 10″ pie dish. While the pasta is still hot stir in the 2 Tbsp butter, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese and 2 eggs and combine.  I would also stir in 1 cup of spaghetti sauce into the pasta after you combine the egg, Parmesan and butter with the spaghetti.

Cook the ground beef or Italian Sausage in a large skillet with the chopped peppers, onions and cook until the meat is browned.  Drain the fat.  Add minced garlic, salt, pepper, dried oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes;  cook mixture for another two minutes.  Add can of diced tomatoes and tomato paste as well as remaining 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce.  Heat the mixture through.

Dollop the spaghetti in the pie pan with ricotta (or cottage cheese) and spread out over the pasta.  Top with meat mixture.  Sprinkle the top with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Bake in a preheated oven, at 350F for 20-30 minutes.  Enjoy with a green salad and garlic rolls.

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Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs

“That’s a spicy meat-a-ball” is a great line from the movie “Mask”.  Well, okay it isn’t all that spicy – but it is a delicious recipe that I once again found on my favorite recipe site allrecipes.  I followed the recipe almost exactly.  I added more garlic than it called for, doubled the recipe and reduced the salt by half.  Here is my doubled, adapted recipe.  Enjoy.

After a day like today I needed comfort and this fit the ticket.  My van was repaired to a tune of $628 dollars (and excluded the expense of 600 dollars for a new window motor and 160 for something with the throttle..– maybe next time) Then, I have been battling the evil and vengeful garage door which now has completely given up the ghost.  My husband just booked 3 weeks of travel for the month of September and I am having a bit of a pity party.. and oh yeah, I forgot: yesterday my bread machine broke too… now going back to the kitchen for more comfort food!  (This is not a good diet week)

Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs – adapted from allrecipes

Serves 10

Meatballs:

• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 2 cups bread crumbs (about 4 slices of white bread, processed)
• 2 Tbsp dried parsley
• 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 2 eggs, beaten

Sauce:

• 1 1/2 cups onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 12 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 6 (14.5 oz) cans whole tomatoes, peeled
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced seasoned tomatoes (with oregano or basil is nice)
• 2 tsp salt (originally double that – you can always add if you wish, but it’s hard to take out)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions:

For the Meatballs: Combine the breadcrumbs, parsley, cheese, pepper, garlic powder and stir to combine.  Add in the ground beef and eggs and combine (with clean hands works best).  Form them into 24-36 meatballs depending on the size you want.  After you formed them cover and refrigerate them until later.

For the Sauce: Heat a large sauce pan and add the olive oil.  Add the chopped onions and saute them until they are softened.  Add the chopped garlic and cook for 2 more minutes until the garlic is fragrant.  Add in the tomatoes, salt, and sugar and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for at least 90 minutes.  Use an immersion blender to blend the tomatoes if you don’t like it very chunky – ( An immersion blender it is a really good investment if you don’t have one – I use mine more than a blender plus I don’t have to remove the sauce from the pot and then pour it back.  You can find them in most stores for around 30 dollars and up).

After you blended it add the bay leaves, tomato paste, dried basil and pepper and stir to combine.  Making sure the tomato paste dissolves into the sauce.  Add in the meatballs and cook for 30 minutes longer.  Take a meatball out and cut into it to see if it is still pink on the inside.  If it is cook the sauce a little longer.

Serve over your favorite pasta and sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.

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Guest Post: Chicken Meatball Lasagnettes

Recently I have made a new friend on Twitter, who recently posted a recipe for the best things he had ever eaten.  That says a lot in my world and I was very impressed with this foodie’s posts and interest in food.   I’ve asked him if I could re-post his most recent recipe here and he gave me his blessing.  When you have a moment browse his site for recipe ideas and fantastic pictures!  I someday would like to attain to that level of photography.  Here is a link to his site: http://www.thepeche.com/

The Recipe: Chicken Meatball Lasagnettes with Creme Fraiche Bechamel and Chicken Jus

Original Source: Barbara Lynch’s book Stir (link)

Here is my friend’s post on this recipe and his wife’s picture – Directly imported from their site (http://www.thepeche.com/)  A big thank you for allowing me to re-post this the peche!  I hope to make this soon myself!  Dear Reader: Lasagnettes are really just mini lasagnas.

Let’s get this out of the way. This is the best meal we’ve ever made.
You know when you make something to eat, and you know it’s going to be good? But then you taste it, and it blows your mind and taste buds. And your soul?

This recipe is that something. It earned our eternal devotion to Barbara Lynch, the amazing chef and restaurant owner in Boston who is also the author of Stir. It’s light, creamy, salty, savory.

You must make this. And even if you don’t make this (which you can count as the greatest mistake in your life), read the recipe, because you can see the way Chef Lynch thinks. This recipe is all about building deep, concentrated flavor. For the jus alone, you’re going to cook down 16 cups of chicken stock into 2 cups of dark liquid gold.

I’ve included our changes/shortcuts/modifications. You should buy her cookbook so you can see exactly her approach for yourself. It’s a fantastic collection of great food (see her seared scallops with celery root gratinee).

This is a dish of components. This may look overwhelming, but break each element down. It’s not a big deal. Make this over a couple of days. Everything keeps perfectly for a day or two or three. You’ll have eaten every bite of it by day three.

chicken jus

• 1 chicken, 7-8# (or whatever you can find)
• 1 onion, chopped roughly
• 1 carrot, chopped roughly
• 1 celery stalk, chopped roughly
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped. Roughly if you feel like it.
• 2 c dry white wine
• 16 cups low-sodium chicken stock (do not use regular chicken stock. You’re condensing this down to 2 cups, so you want to control the salt)
• 1 T coriander seeds
• 1 T black pepper corns
• 2 bay leaves
• a few fresh thyme sprigs
• Kosher salt
• Black Pepper

Preheat your oven to 350F. Get a roasting pan ready or use a cookie sheet covered with foil (easy cleanup).

Cut off all the meat you can from the chicken. I didn’t strip ours clean (wing meat, really?). I focused on the breast, thigh, and leg meat. Set the meat in the refrigerator.

Remove all the skin from the chicken. Chop up the bones a bit (you want to expose some marrow), so that you have 8-10 pieces. I chopped off the wing tips because they seemed like they’d burn in the oven.

Throw the chicken on the pan, and get it in the oven. Roast until you get golden pieces (40 minutes was good. Go longer if you want. Or shorter.) See, you’re not wasting the meat you didn’t pick off — you’re roasting it into deep flavor for the jus.

Throw the bones in a pot. Heat over medium-high. Add in the onions, crrot, celery, and garlic.
Keep stirring them for about 10 minutes.

Add the wine. Reduce it by half.

Add the broth, stock, coriander, and bay leaves.

Reduce it over a good simmer until reduced to four cups. This may take a couple of hours. You could drink during this time.

Strain the jus through a fine strainer. Mash the broth out of the vegetables. Don’t leave any of the flavor behind.

Add the broth to a smaller saucepan. Reduce to 2 cups.

Add the thyme for 2 minutes right before serving.

Season to taste with salt and pepper

chicken meatballs

• chicken meat
• 1T vegetable oil
• 2 shallots, finely chopped. Then chop it more finely.
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped.
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 1 c panko
• 8 T grated Parm
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 T chopped thyme
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper

Heat a pan over medium-low heat. Add the oil. Then the shallot and garlic for 8 minutes. You want them really tender but not browned. Take the pan off the heat.

In a small bowl, add the panko and cream together. Stir. Leave it alone to think about what comes next.

Grind the meat in a food processor until chopped finely. Dump it in a bowl. Add everything left on the list, along with 1 tablespoon of salt and 3/4 teaspoon of pepper. Mix together. Gently add the panko mixture.

Chef Lynch suggests frying a small bit of the meat as a patty in a skillet. Taste for seasoning (we needed more salt).

Heat the oven to 350 F.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Form 3/4 inch meatballs and place on the sheet. Don’t let them touch each other. Bake for 8 minutes or so. Ours needed to go for another 90 seconds.

creme fraiche bechamel

• 4T unslated butter
• 1/4 c flour
• 3/4 c whole milk
• 1/3 c heavy cream
• Kosher salt
• 1/3 c creme fraiche
• white pepper (yes, you could use black, but it’s not the same)

Melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk for 5-8 minutes. It’s going to smell nutty, but don’t let it get very dark.

Add the milk, cream, and 1 teaspoon of salt. You could cook this for 7 minutes, but ours set up like glue in 2 minutes, and we thinned it out with a bit of milk and cooked it for the rest of the time.

Take it off the heat. Stir in the creme fraiche. Taste it. Season with salt and pepper as needed.

Push the salt a tiny bit, especially if you’re afraid of salt.

pasta

• Flat fresh pasta sheets; make your own (you’re so fancy, aren’t you?) or buy it like we did (could you use lasagna noodles here? Probably so. Don’t let the lack of fresh pasta stop you from making this. But try to find fresh. Try really hard.)

Heat a pot of water to boiling. Salt it.

Cut 4-inch rounds out of the raw pasta. Keep the scraps for another pasta dish.

Cook for 3 minutes. Plunge into an ice bath. Dry each piece.

to assemble the awesome

Heat the oven to 300.

On a baking sheet, place down parchment or a Silpat and spray a tiny bit of vegetable oil on top. This stuff will stick like a mother, and you don’t want it to fall apart at the very end.

Lay down a round of pasta. Cover with 1 tablespoon of bechamel. Cover with 3-4 meatballs. Lay down another bit of pasta. Meatballs. Bechamel. Pasta. Meatballs. Bechamel. Pasta. Stack it as high or as low as you want. You could cut the meatballs in half, but don’t.

Place a tablespoon of water on the baking pan. It’ll steam a bit. Bake for 15 minutes. Maybe a little less.

Use two spatulas to pick up the lasagnettes. Place them in a shallow bowl.

Spoon jus over the top. Spoon some around the base.

Top with some shaved Parm.

Sit down somewhere quiet. Use a big spoon. Get every component in that first bite. Savor. Pay attention to everything that’s happening in your mouth.

When all the lasagnette is gone, go ahead and tip the bowl into your mouth. Don’t let a bit of the jus go to waste.

Isn’t it brilliant?

Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair Pasta

On the theme of what is in my pantry/fridge/freezer that I can make this weekend? I made Shrimp Scampi.  I used Ina Garten’s recipe in her Family Style cookbook.  I like eating Angel Hair pasta rather than linguine and made a few changes to accommodate what I did have or did not have.

Here is my adapted recipe:

Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair Pasta

Serves 6

• Vegetable oil
• Kosher salt
• 1 lb angel hair (Ina’s recipe called for 1 1/2 lbs of linguine)
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 5 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp minced garlic (9 cloves) I only had the garlic in a jar and used 3 heaping tsp.
• 2 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (I used the dry and only 1 Tbsp because I didn’t have fresh on hand)
• zest of one lemon
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used some from the bottle because I did not have 4 lemons)
• 1/2 lemon sliced in half rounds
• 1/4 tsp dry pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add a little vegetable oil.  Then add pasta and cook according to package directions.  Drain and toss with olive oil so the pasta does not start to stick.
2. While the water is coming to a boil, heat a heavy bottomed skillet (I used my cast iron skillet that is 14 inches), melt the butter and 5 Tbsp of oil over medium-high heat.  Add the chopped garlic and cook for about a minute, being careful not to burn it.  Add the shrimp and stir and flip them as they cook until they are no longer pink, but do not overcook them or they will become rubbery.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and add parsley, lemon zest and juice, and red pepper flakes.  Toss to combine.
3. Serve over pasta with a side salad or fresh green beans.

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Grown Up Macaroni and Cheese

Sorry blue box, move over it is time for some grown up Macaroni and Cheese to get the spotlight.  Here is a version the adults in my family like.   This recipe has a kick of cayenne pepper that makes the mature palate smile.  I found it in a Martha Stewart Cookbook (Macaroni and Cheese 101 recipe), but hers serves 12.  Only Martha Stewart would serve Macaroni and Cheese to 12!  When I have 12 over it isn’t Mac and Cheese, so come to my house!   Nevertheless, this is a great recipe that I have adapted to serve 6.

Martha’s Macaroni and Cheese

Serves 6

Topping:

• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 6 slices bread, crusts removed and processed into crumbs

Cheese Sauce:

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 3/4 cup warm milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground white pepper (or black is fine if you don’t have white)
• 1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
• 1 (10 oz) block Cracker Barrel Cheddar cheese, grated, divided use
• 3/4 cup Romano cheese, divided use
• 8 oz Macaroni, cooked

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Melt the butter and toss with processed breadcrumbs and set aside.
3. Melt remaining 3 Tbsp. butter in a heavy skillet over medium high heat.  Once the butter bubbles up add flour and whisk until it thickens about 1 minute.  Add the warm milk a little at a time, whisking to make a smooth sauce.  Continue adding the milk and cooking it until it is thickened.  Turn off the heat.  Add in the seasonings and 1 1/2 cups of the cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup Romano cheese. Stir into the sauce until melted.
4. Drain the cooked pasta and add to the cheese sauce.  Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray and pour the macaroni into the prepared dish.  Top with remaining 3/4 cups of cheddar and 1/4 cup Romano cheeses.  Sprinkle with the buttered breadcrumbs. (I usually don’t put all on the topping)
5. Bake at 375 F for about 30 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes before serving.  Yummy!

In case you are interested in Martha’s original recipe here is a link.

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