Lasagna and Good Friends

It's hard to beat cooking in, drinking wine and catching up with friends on a Friday night after a really long week at work. Last week it was Lasagna night and thankfully, with a lovely group of girlfriends to catch up with! I know that lasagna has a stigma that it takes forever to make, but it doesn't have to. There are a lot of lasagna shortcuts - buying the lasagna noodles that don't have to be boiled first, buying sauce or using sauce you already have in the freezer, and having friends help you!

Before leaving for work that Friday morning I took a couple containers of homemade tomato sauce out of the freezer to use, so I didn't have to bother to make a whole new batch of sauce. I sauteed up some ground chicken and added that and some diced mushrooms and chopped onion to the sauce, to give it a little more flavor and substance. In an attempt to be healthy by opting for whole wheat lasagna noodles, I couldn't find whole wheat ones that were also no-bake, so I did have to boil lots of water to cook the noodles before I was ready to start layering.

Traditional Lasagna: tomato sauce, diced onion, ground chicken, sliced white mushrooms, 1 zucchini, shredded mozzarella and parmesan, ricotta mixture - 1 small container of ricotta, 1 egg, nutmeg, basil, parsley and some of the shredded cheese
Layers: Spoon some sauce on the bottom of the pan first, then layer with lasagna noodles, then spread some of the ricotta mixture on top, with sliced zucchini and then more tomato sauce; repeat again with more noodles, more ricotta mixture, more zucchini, sauce and noodles again. You can usually fit about 3 layers, but you want to make sure you end on top with sauce and the shredded cheese.


Because everything is cooked already, the baking process is really more to heat everything up and melt the cheese. You should be able to bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until you notice the edges bubbling! I usually serve with mixed greens or a vegetable since the lasagna is pretty filling and heavy.

Farmers Market = Tuesday Ravioli Night!

After visiting the Harvard Farmer's Market on its first Tuesday this summer, my coworker and I decided we should institute Tuesday Ravioli Night into our schedule. Unfortunately our schedules didn't really allow us to maintain this sort of weekly dinner ritual - but rather we managed to have just one 'Ravioli Night.' We tried a package of Swiss Chard and Currant Ravioli from Nella Pasta, based in Jamaica Plain.

The raviolis were very good, we agreed, but we also agreed that the price was a bit high for the 2 serving package ($11). Compared to going out to an Italian restaurant, yes, less expensive for sure. The woman working at the Nella Pasta stand at the farmers market suggested simply tossing the ravioli with a little bit of olive oil, but that clearly wasn't going to cut it for me!

The ravioli were a good size, and the easiest thing to mess up is overcooking them. Because it's fresh pasta they cook much quicker than you expect - just 3 minutes or so. We tossed with more than the olive oil - diced fresh tomatoes, zucchini, some fresh parmesan, trying to keep in mind that with such a unique flavor filling inside we didn't want to over do it.

The end product was delicious - and filling. I would definitely get these ravioli again - a lot of the times when you buy fresh ravioli at the grocery store all of the flavors taste the same, but you could definitely taste the swiss charge currant filling in these. They also try to keep their ravioli varieties according to season, which is such a great idea - for a list of other kinds, check them out here! Amongst the spring and summer varieties - I can't decide which I'd try next, they all sound delicious!

Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese

After eating a bit too much of the Mediterranean White Bean Dip the main dish was just about ready and it came out of the oven looking beautifully cheesy and golden. Perfect little dish for a group of 4-6 people (we had 4 and I was more than happy to have some leftovers!). An extra plus was getting to use my new red baking dish, with these pretty swirly edges.

Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes

Pasta (a little less than 1/2 a box)*
1/2 Head of Cauliflower
1/2 cup chicken stock**
2 TB butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves roasted garlic
1 1/2 TB flour
1 1/4 cups milk
Freshly ground black pepper
Dash of nutmeg
Fresh sage leaves (3 sprigs/leaves)
1/2 TB dijon mustard
3/4 cup white cheddar cheese
3/4 cup gruyere cheese
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese

Playing catch up from the past week

Even though I've only had a couple entries this past week, don't you worry - I've been busy, both inside the kitchen and out. I just wanted to share a few things from this past week. If you remember, last Sunday I made a homemade tomato sauce, some of which I've put in the freezer for later and some of which I kept in the fridge for immediate use.

Mushroom Tomato Pasta
With some mushrooms that needed to be used and a bottle of red already opened I thought this would be an easy way to make something a little more interesting than just pasta with sauce. There isn't necessarily a recipe here - but saute some sliced mushrooms in a little olive oil and garlic, and then add red wine to add some extra flavor to the tomato sauce. Mushrooms cook pretty quickly, so I wouldn't even start this part until your water is already boiling and you've added your pasta to the pot. Once the mushrooms have cooked in the red wine for a couple minutes you can add some of the tomato sauce you made earlier in the week.

Thai Peanut Noodle Salad

Because I took care of my St. Patty's Day green recipe quota last week with my Green Chocolate Chip Cookies, I'm all set for this week and allowed to make this thai recipe instead! I was supposed to have friends over for dinner last Friday but due to a second cold over a two week span, I had to cancel sadly. Rescheduled for last night, I was so excited to try out this recipe. A big thank you to Our Best Bites for the inspiration for this recipe, and to my friends for helping me chop all of the vegetables and for bringing some lovely wine!

Some things to note: This is a big recipe - there were just 3 of us and we easily had 2 or 3 portions left. We all agreed that this would be a good picnic recipe because the combination of cabbages would hold up to the sauce and not wilt over a period of time. There's a lot of ingredients here so don't be daunted - it just takes a bit of time to get everything chopped up. If you're pressed for time you can definitely make the dressing ahead of time so you don't have to worry about that part later.

Thai Peanut Noodle Salad
8 oz. linguini fini (a bit thinner than regular linguine) - we used about half of the box
3 cups shredded napa chinese cabbage
1 cup chopped romaine lettuce
2 cups thinly sliced purple cabbage
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup baby carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber, halved and then sliced
1/3 cup red onion, very thinly sliced
1 chicken breast (marinated in a bit of OJ, soy  
                                                                                       sauce and garlic), grilled and sliced
                                                                                       1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts, chopped a bit

Homemade Tomato Sauce Sunday

I'll admit that in the occasional last minute situation I'll resort to a bottle of pre-made tomato sauce (usually from Trader Joe's), but it's definitely rare and I'll tell you why. Because making homemade tomato sauce is actually very easy! I've been using this same recipe for at least 6 years (basically since I started cooking for myself) - and my mom's been using it as long as she can remember. I think if I look back it comes from the Leone family (on my dad's side by marriage) - but either way, it's a keeper! As you can see from the title of this entry - it's a great Sunday afternoon cooking activity, and it's exactly what I did this past Sunday! Making up one big batch is perfect for me - I can keep some in the fridge and then freeze the rest in smaller portions so I don't have to make fresh sauce every time I want to cook with it (as you can see with all of my containers to the left). It's not just pasta and sauce that you can use it for either - you can use this homemade tomato sauce for an endless list of recipes: stuffed shells, lasagna, homemade pizza, soup, spaghetti and homemade meatballs, stuffed peppers, chicken/eggplant parmigiana - I could keep on going but I think you probably just want the recipe by now!

Homemade Family Tomato Sauce
Pastene Ground Peeled Kitchen Ready Tomatoes - 28 oz. can
1 can tomato paste
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
1/2 TB olive oil
1 TB minced garlic
half of an onion, chopped well
Dried parsley, oregano and basil - 1/2 tsp of each
Salt and Pepper

You don't need a Boiled Dinner this St. Patrick's Day!

Because I found the perfect green dinner dish to make instead, and it's both easier and healthier! Whenever I see recipes I like online I send them to myself and store them in a "recipes" folder in my email account - that way if I'm in the mood to try something new I can go right to this folder and find a recipe that at one point, sounded good to me already! I invited my coworker over for dinner last night and went straight to this folder to try and find something kind of quick and light for us to make. I would also like to point out that this is the coworker that found my apartment for me - so it was fun to say thanks and show her the new place!

In my wonderful folder of "recipes" I scrolled down to the oldest emails I had sent myself and found this Rachel Ray recipe that I've been wanting to make since July of 2009 apparently - "Spring Baby Artichoke and Spinach Pesto Pasta." I'm not sure if I saw her make it on one of her shows or just stumbled upon it online, but wherever I found it, I'm glad I did! As usual, I changed the recipe up a bit - so here is the link to the original in case you trust Rachel Ray more than me!

Why go out for Asian, when you can cook it in?!

My cousin and I had been planning to go out for sushi, but in the end thought it might be more fun to cook Asian in! My dad had been asking me to make sushi again and I wanted to take a stab at Pad Thai again. So I took a look through my little Chinese cookbook, looked through my sushi notes to refresh my memory on making that, searched around online to find an improved Pad Thai recipe to try out and sent my dad to the grocery store in search of rice noodles, a lime, pea pods and a few other key ingredients. I even tried making up a batch of scorpion bowls so we could have the appropriate fun drinks with our dinner!

Sunday Asian Night: Salad with a Carrot Ginger Dressing, Shrimp Parcels with a Peanut Hoisin Sauce, Lobster and Shrimp Sushi Rolls, and Vegetable Pad Thai


Carrot Ginger Dressing

1 large carrot (I used 8 baby carrots) - peeled and roughly chopped
2 TB red onion, minced
1 heaping TB of chopped fresh ginger
2 TB miso paste
2 TB rice vinegar
2 TB sesame oil
1/4 cup oil (not sesame oil, more basic/plain)
2 TB hot water

This salad dressing is very similar to the dressing on the salad you get at a Japanese restaurant with your sushi, which I love! It's also very simple - all you have to do is put all of the ingredients (except the 1/4 cup of oil) in a food processor and blend together well. Then at the end, add the 1/4 cup oil through the hole on the top of the food processor and add gradually while the processor is running. The salad part consisted of romaine lettuce, thinly sliced red onion, mushrooms, cucumber and diced tomato!

Kubota Squash, Kumquats and Shrimp!

It's been a much busier couple of days than I expected on the apartment search front (kitchen pictures to come!), so I wasn't able to get this post up until now! But it will be worth the wait, I promise! This meal was definitely one of the ones that I said would make its way on my restaurant menu if I ever opened one.

I came at this food challenge thinking about similar types of foods to those ingredients given to me. For example, I thought about other recipes I've made with squash - butternut squash soup, roasted squash; or with citrus, because kumquats are in the citrus family. This helped me to come up with the dishes I made on Friday night!

Friday Night "Chopped" Challenge: Roasted Squash and Citrus Spinach Salad; Kubota Squash Ravioli with a Citrus Butter Sauce, Seared Shrimp and Asparagus; Citrus Shortbread Cookies with Candied Kumquat!

I will admit that this meal was a lot of work. It definitely wouldn't be a good meal for a simple weeknight dinner, but it would be great if you're looking for a special occasion or entertaining menu. I started cooking around 3pm and we were eating by about 7pm, though I had made the cookie batter earlier in the day and didn't get to baking the cookies until after dinner.

You'll like this dish even if you don't like Onions!

Growing up there was a Christmas parade near my Nana's house every December - all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, we all went to it and had a big family dinner afterwards. That dinner was always "Onion Sauce." I know, it sounds horrible, but I promise it's not. I didn't like onions until I was much older, but I always looked forward to this meal. It's great if you're hosting a big group of people because it easily makes a lot and once you get it on the stove in the morning, you don't have to worry about it until it's time to serve! This is also worked well for today's big snow storm - it's a great winter dish that we all enjoyed tonight!

Onion Sauce
Angus Beef Boneless Chuck Roast (mine was 3.33 lbs)
Lipton Onion Soup and Dip Mix (Two 2-oz. envelopes)
8 medium onions, peeled and quartered
Water
Salt and Pepper
Rigatoni Pasta (the ziti with the lines on it, it works best!)
Grated Parmigiana Cheese