Category Archives: Pasta

Penne with Smoked Apple Chardonnay Chicken Sausages in a Creamy Jalapeńo Sauce

20 Tuesday Jun 2017

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This past Friday, our daughter, Kylie, graduated from high school. It seems like just yesterday that she was entering kindergarten. Everyone told me this time would go by very quickly … it did indeed. Torrey Pines was a fabulous high school and she really enjoyed the four years she was a student there.

My sister, Cherie, came in for the festivities on Wednesday. We were busy from the get go. Thursday was the reunion with Kylie’s elementary school.

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The kids that graduated Del Mar Heights Elementary School came back together and announced their name and their future plans to the students that are there now. You see, each and every year, Del Mar Heights has what is called Dancefest. Oh how my friends and I loved the Dancefest. You get to school early when dropping the little ones off and set up your blankets and lawn chairs to mark your spot … the place you’ll be picnicking with your child and yours and their friends. Everyone, of course, wants to sit in the front row … all the better for videoing and taking pictures of this fun event! Each grade at the Heights does a particular dance for all the parents to watch. For instance, kindergarteners do the chicken dance (so cute!) and 6th graders do the waltz to “Moon River”. I remember my friends and I saying to each other “I can’t believe it’s already time to do the waltz, these elementary school years flew by.” The seniors that come back for the reunion stand together before the Waltz is to be performed and talk about their future plans. It was wonderful to see the kids at this age, all grown up and ready to venture out into the world.

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When it was Kylie’s turn to talk, she took the microphone and proudly announced “I’m Kylie Braunreiter and I’ll be attending Cal State University San Marcos.” and proceeded to talk about what she wants to do with her future. All these kids have wonderful futures waiting for them. One of the young men that Kylie went to elementary school with is heading to UCLA to play football! The kids that came back to Del Mar Heights have gone to one of a few high schools in the area (Torrey Pines High School, Canyon Crest Academy, Cathedral Catholic High School, San Dieguito Academy, and the Grauer School). Del Mar Heights was only one of several elementary schools in our area that feeds into the high schools. There were over 700 graduates just from Torrey Pines.

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All of the schools in our area are fabulous. Everything we did at Del Mar Heights was a memorable experience and we were all truly blessed by our kids having attended there and making the friends they did. A lot of the parents stuck together and are still friends. To me, this is what life is all about. Making friends and enjoying their friendship for life.

I wish each and every one of the graduates of 2017 all the best, I can’t wait to see where your individual journeys take you.

On Friday, two of Dennis’ brothers, arrived. David and his wife, Donna, flew in from Texas Friday morning and Doug and Kelly drove in from Tucson with two of their children, Angela and Andrew. Dave and Donna arrived early in the day and Donna headed to the school with me to set up our blankets at the football stadium to save our seats for the big event. It was a bit like Dancefest … get there early, get set up and head home to get ready for the big event. Doug and Kelly met up with Dave and Donna at the hotel and met us at the ceremony. Dennis, Cherie and I headed over to the school and Donna was able to lead the rest of the gang and tell them where to go since she had come with me in the morning to set up. It was such a wonderful day having our siblings with us to celebrate and join in on the fun day and weekend. I could never have accomplished this party without the help of my sister and sisters-in-law, my brothers-in-law and my niece and nephew. They were amazing! We love them all so very much and are so glad they were here for our celebration.

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Dennis and I waiting for the ceremony to begin. I still can’t believe the day is behind us!

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Kylie on her big day!

After the ceremony, Kylie headed to a graduation dinner party with friends. Dave, Donna, Doug, Kelly, Angela, Andrew, Cherie, Dennis and I headed out for a pizza and back to the house to do some last minute set up for the party Saturday.

Kylie’s graduation party was held on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. We had a wonderful time with my aunt and uncle, my cousins and their kids and our many friends and neighbors that were able to join us in our celebration. I actually had her party catered, but did have appetizers and snacks out. One of the appetizers I served at Kylie’s graduation party was Smoked Apple Chardonnay  Chicken Sausages. I baked these and cut each sausage into sixths and served it on a platter with dijon mustard. My friend, Elizabeth, is a fabulous cook! She is in my dinner club … her and I are the co-founders of Del Mar Dinner Club. This is an appetizer that Elizabeth puts out and is always a hit. Elizabeth made an artichoke dip for Kylie’s party that everyone absolutely raved about. It is so good!

I had lots of sausages left over and wanted to use them, so decided to use them in a pasta dish. I bought Smoked Apple Chardonnay Chicken Sausages from Trader Joe’s. Feel free to use any chicken sausage that you like. I felt that the chardonnay chicken sausages would taste great with a creamy sauce that had a bit of a kick to it. Kylie’s friend, Kendra (also a graduate of Torrey Pines! Kendra sang the National Anthem at the Graduation Ceremony … she has a beautiful voice) was here for dinner last night. I decided to make enough pasta for us and then to double my recipe so she could take some home for her lovely parents, Neil and Marcina, for their dinner tonight.

I started by chopping two jalapeńos and putting them into my mini food processor. I then added three cloves of garlic, chopped and a half of a sweet yellow onion, kosher salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. I processed this mixture together until it was smooth.

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Next, I made a white sauce. This consisted of butter, flour (to make a rue). After melting the butter and adding the flour, and whisking together, I added one cup of fat free milk, kosher salt and pepper. I always have fat free milk at home, but you can use whichever milk you prefer and have on hand. Once the white sauce was done, I added it to my cut up chicken sausages that I was reheating on a skillet on the stovetop. I then made my pasta, drained it and added it to the sauce and sausages. I did not add cheese, but garnished this pasta with chives.

Ingredients

  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 3/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon dried sage

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place chicken in a large glass dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a glass measuring cup, add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, garlic, and dried sage. Whisk together and pour over the chicken. Let sit 30 minutes on the counter or up to 3 hours in the refrigerator. (If you place it in the fridge to marinate, make sure to bring the dish to room temperature before baking). Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Cover with foil and let chicken sit for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris

 

 

Heirloom Tomato, Lemon, and Arugula Capellini

06 Tuesday Jun 2017

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Tonight for dinner, I prepared an heirloom tomato, lemon, and arugula pasta.  When I have an arugula salad, I dress it with nothing more than olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon, along with a bit of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Because I was adding arugula to my pasta tonight, I decided to add freshly squeezed lemon juice (and zest).

I started by mincing five cloves of garlic, mincing two shallots and zesting two lemons.

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In a large sauté pan, I added two-thirds cup of olive oil and heated it. To the olive oil, I added the garlic, shallot and lemon zest.

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I cooked that together for about a minute before adding two 16-ounce containers of mini heirloom tomatoes, along with a teaspoon of kosher salt and a half teaspoon of pepper. I also included a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Once the tomatoes were starting to soften and burst a bit, I added the juice of my two lemons and added a package of arugula and let it cook together for about ten minutes.

While the tomatoes and arugula were sautéing, I cooked my capellini pasta. Once that was done, I added it directly to the sauté pan, adding freshly grated parmesan cheese (and a pinch of red pepper flakes) to the noodles before mixing it together with the tomato mixture.

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This dish was so very colorful! I love to have a lot of color in my meals and this one definitely hit the mark.

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This is definitely a light and refreshing pasta for the summer months. I’m thinking about making this one for my bookclub when I host in a couple weeks. I sure hope they like it!

Ingredients

  • 1 pound capellini noodles
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • zest and juice of 2 lemons
  • 2/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus an additional pinch
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 bag arugula
  • 2 16-ounce containers mini heirloom tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

Directions

Heat olive oil in large sauté pan. Add garlic, shallots and lemon zest. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and cook until tomatoes soften and some start to burst. Add lemon juice and arugula and a pinch of kosher salt. Let cook together until arugula cooks down.

Add cooked pasta and parmigian. Blend together and serve with a tad more grated cheese. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris

 

24 Hour Marinated Garlic Spaghetti

21 Tuesday Mar 2017

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Tonight’s recipe came to me via a comedy of errors. Last night, my lovely daughter, Kylie wanted to cook dinner for Dennis and me. She made a wonderful meal!

Kylie asked me if I could show her how to mince garlic. I came over to the cutting board to take over where she had started with the garlic and show her how to do it. She had a lot of garlic in a measuring glass with olive oil. I asked her how much garlic she needed for her recipe and she told me “just one clove”. I looked at her, perhaps a bit perplexed because what was in that measuring glass was a lot more than one clove. I said “wow, that is a very big clove”. She replied with “isn’t that whole big piece one clove?” I told her that is actually called a head and the cloves are the individual pieces that you pull off. I informed her that this was totally ok, I could always use garlic. Using a slotted spoon, I started to remove the garlic from the oil and place it in a plastic ziplock bag. Kylie was concerned that I was taking some of the three tablespoons of olive oil along with the garlic. I told her this was not a problem, I could use the oil too. I poured her olive oil into my ziplock bag, adding 1/3 cup. When Dennis and I were first married close to 30 years ago, I made dinner for friends and also thought the head of garlic was one clove. It brought back a fun memory or me to share with my daughter. Kylie only got through half the clove, so that’s all we used for this pasta recipe … a half a head of garlic.

I ended up adding a quarter cup of olive oil to the bag of garlic and placing it in the refrigerator until I would need it. I figured I’d come up with something. As I was at the dentist this afternoon, I knew I’d need to eat something soft for dinner, so decided to make spaghetti with the marinated garlic. Marinating the garlic for this long almost gave it a sweetness to savor in this recipe. It smelled amazing, as well.

The other item I added to my spaghetti was parsley. This also came to us in error. Kylie and I stopped at Trader Joe’s yesterday afternoon to do some grocery shopping and to pick up the items she’d need for the dinner she was making us. On her list was cilantro. She wanted to be in charge of grabbing the items she needed, so as she did that, I picked up what I needed for groceries. As we were checking out, I noticed that she had parsley and not cilantro. I asked her if she really wanted parsley, or if we should grab the cilantro before finishing checking out. It was indeed the cilantro she needed, so the nice girl that was ringing up our groceries, sent someone to grab the cilantro. Well, they were out of cilantro. By this time we were done checking out and were going to just swap the parsley for the cilantro. She asked if I’d like to be reimbursed the 99 cents for my parsley. I said “no worries, I can always use parsley.” And, that is how I came to have the parsley for tonight’s recipe as well.

Our dinner was very easy to make, I didn’t even use any seasonings except the salt I added to my pasta water. I boiled my spaghetti per the package instructions and when it was just a couple minutes from being done, I heated my oil and garlic in a large skillet. I kept the garlic in large chunks for marinating and kept them that way for cooking in this recipe.

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As you can see, there was a lot of garlic in our pasta. It was really good and tasted nice and light. I added the cooked noodles directly into the skillet with the oil and garlic and I also added about 1 cup of the pasta water. I included 1/8 cup of grated parmesan to the pasta and mixed everything together before topping with the chopped parsley. Once I plated my pasta, I added a bit of shredded parmesan.

If you are looking to enjoy a super easy, light dinner … give my 24-hour marinated garlic spaghetti a try.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound spaghetti
  • 1/2 head of garlic, cloves cut in large chunks
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1-2 cups reserved pasta water
  • 1/8 cup grated parmesan
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

Directions

Chop garlic (about 10 cloves) in large chunks. Place in a ziplock bag with 1/3 cup olive oil and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Cook pasta according to package directions, adding 1 teaspoon salt to the water before boiling.

Once pasta is about 2 minutes from being done, put your marinated garlic and oil into a large skillet and cook  just until the garlic becomes fragrant. Add the spaghetti directly to the skillet with the oil and garlic, along with your reserved pasta water. Start with a cup and if you feel you need more, add more. Add grated parmesan, stir together and top with minced parsley. Finish with shredded, fresh parmesan. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris

Truffle Salt and Black Pepper Linguini

18 Saturday Feb 2017

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This had to be one of the fastest meals I’ve ever prepared. Not only was it fast, but it was elegant enough to serve to my friends.

I love truffle salt, and I love truffle butter. I’ve bought truffle butter to slather under the skin on my Thanksgiving turkey many times and this never disappoints. I bought truffle salt recently to use on popcorn … which is really good. Really, really good. Popcorn is my favorite snack of all time and I’ve been known to make just that for dinner when my husband is away on business.

Thursday night I needed to make a quick dinner and I have to say, I think this was done in under 20 minutes. It was that fast.

I boiled my linguini noodles and while that was happening in the background, I started to heat my sauce for the pasta. For my sauce, I used low sodium vegetable broth, white wine (Pinot Grigio), butter, crushed garlic and grated pecorino/romano cheese.

Once the pasta was done and I had moved it into the sauce pan to coat with all the saucy goodness, I sprinkled it with a few pinches of truffle salt and some fresh ground pepper. For the truffle salt, a little goes a long way. I’d start with a pinch or two and go from there. You may like a lot, but you probably don’t want too much.

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I bought my truffle salt at a local Farmer’s Market. There are so many flavored salts I’ve seen at the Farmer’s Market. They definitely make cooking a fun adventure. If you don’t feel like heading to a Farmer’s Market for your salt, you could buy it at Amazon.com.

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces linguini
  • 3/4 cup low sodium vegetable broth
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1/2 cup grated pecorino/romano cheese
  • 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • truffle salt (a few pinches)
  • fresh ground pepper (1-2 teaspoons)
  • 1/2-3/4 cup reserved pasta water

Directions

Cook linguini according to package directions. In sauce pan, heat broth, wine, butter, and crushed garlic. Add cooked noodles to pan. Add cheese to pasta and toss together in sauce. Add reserved pasta water, starting with 1/2 cup. If you need more, add it a little at a time.

Once you put your pasta in the serving dish, sprinkle with the truffle salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris

 

Fusilli Pizza Pasta

12 Sunday Feb 2017

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Everyone in my family loves pizza, but not everyone loves pasta … my daughter, Kylie, has never been a lover of pasta. Dennis and I love it, however, and could eat it a couple times per week.

I decided for dinner tonight I would combine pizza and pasta and make this all in the skillet on top of the stove. My hope was that if I prepared a pasta that tasted a little like pizza, I may find a pasta dish that Kylie would enjoy with us.

Fusilli was my noodle of choice and the meats I used for my pizza pasta were Italian sausage and pepperoni. (I baked the sausage links in the oven first and then sliced them.) Who doesn’t love a sausage and pepperoni pizza?

I added onion and green pepper as well as a few seasonings – kosher salt, oregano, basil and crushed red pepper flakes. I also added grated parmesan cheese as well as mozzarella cheese. I chose to use low fat mozzarella cheese, but you can use whole milk mozzarella if you desire. I will choose to use lower fat dairy 95% of the time. My one exception is when I am having guests for dinner. But, for everyday meals, I choose to eat lower fat … and definitely lower sodium.

I added my sausage and pepperoni after the sauce had simmered for just a couple minutes.

Once the noodles were done, I added them to my sauce. Before stirring everything together, I added the mozzarella cheese. I wanted the cheese to stick to the noodles a bit before stirring everything together.

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces fusilli pasta
  • 3 Italian sausage links
  • pepperoni
  • 16 ounce jar pizza sauce
  • 18 ounce jar marinara sauce
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/3 cup grated parmesan
  • 1/2 cup low-fat shredded mozzarella

Directions

Cook sausage links in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Slice the links and set aside.

Cook noodles according to package instructions. Sauté onion and green pepper until they start to soften (4-6 minutes). Pour marinara and pizza sauce into skillet with onion and pepper.  Add oregano, basil, salt, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. Let simmer together for 5 minutes. Add grated parmesan cheese and sliced sausages, as well as pepperoni. Turn to medium-low and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add drained, cooked noodles to the sauce and stir. Add mozzarella cheese and serve. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris

 

Food for the Super Bowl … And Beyond

06 Monday Feb 2017

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As everyone knows, yesterday was the Super Bowl. I, personally, loved the half-time show and thought Lady Gaga did a fabulous job. It brought me back to when I saw her in concert six years ago. She was quite the entertainer and still is.

Yesterday’s menu consisted of many things … chicken sausages cooked in white wine, brats cooked in beer, guacamole, pan fried onion dip, veggies, the list goes on and on.

I did make a slow cooker spinach artichoke dip that was a great appetizer for Super Bowl, and then played a visit in tonight’s dinner when I used it as a pasta sauce. I will talk about how I made the dip and then I will talk about what I did with it for the pasta for tonight.

It was so simple to make the spinach artichoke dip in the slow cooker. I put everything together, set the timer to high for two hours and I forgot about it. I started with 2 cans of artichoke hearts that I had cut into quarters. I then added two 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, 2-1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese and 1-1/4 cups of grated parmesan. To that, I added four cloves of minced garlic, a bag of chopped spinach – that I had thawed and drained, 1/2 cup of non-fat milk, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. I stirred everything together, placed the lid on and let it cook.

I served this with a French baguette, cut into thin slices.

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It was so good that I saved the leftovers and decided to make it the sauce for pasta for tonight’s dinner.

I wanted to add low-fat protein to my pasta, so I roasted a few boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I put together a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, course ground dijon mustard, zest and juice of one lemon, kosher salt, pepper and minced garlic. I brushed this over both sides of my chicken and roasted it in a preheated 425 degree oven for 35 minutes.

I used Pappardelle pasta in tonight’s dish. They are thick, long egg noodles.

I put about two cups of the leftover spinach artichoke dip into a large pan and added a few tablespoons of olive oil to loosen it up. I squeezed the juice of a lemon into the sauce as well. Once the noodles were done, I added them to the sauce and added about a cup and a half of reserved pasta water. I coated the noodles with the sauce and added the chicken breasts, which I had cut into cubes.

I did add a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes to my pasta. Dennis really enjoyed this dish. I hope you will too!

If anyone is interested in my guacamole recipe, let me know and I will blog that as well. I didn’t want to overwhelm everyone with too many recipes in one blog post, so I’ve only included the recipe for the dip and then the recipe for the chicken/pasta.

Ingredients for Slow Cooker Artichoke Spinach Dip

  • 2 14-ounce cans artichoke hearts, drained and cut into quarters
  • 1 16-18 ounce bag chopped spinach, thawed and drained
  • 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature, cut into cubes
  • 2-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1-1/4 cups grated parmesan
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions

In slow cooker, place artichoke hearts, spinach, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, minced garlic, milk, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Mix together, put lid on slow cooker. Set to high and cook for two hours. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Chicken

  • 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon course ground dijon mustard
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 lemon, zest and juice
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix together oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, zest and juice of lemon, salt and pepper in a glass measuring cup. Place chicken on baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Brush chicken with oil and vinegar mixture you’ve prepared and bake for 35 minutes. Set aside to use with pasta.

Chicken Pappardelle Spinach Artichoke Pasta Ingredients

  • 1 bag Pappardelle pasta
  • 2 cups of artichoke spinach dip
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 lemon, juice

 

  • 1-1/2 cups reserved pasta water
  • chicken

Directions

Cook according to package directions, reserving 1 to 1-1/2 cups pasta water. Place 2 cups of spinach artichoke dip into large pan. Add olive oil and juice of lemon, stir. Add cooked noodles to heated sauce, along with desired amount of pasta water. Mix together. Add chicken and toss again. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bucatini in a Mushroom Parmesan Cream Sauce

12 Thursday Jan 2017

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I made a dinner tonight that I am so proud of – I really love the way this dish came out. My daughter, Kylie, is not a big fan of pasta and is definitely not a fan of mushrooms. She had to work tonight, so thought it would be the perfect time to experiment in making a mushroom cream sauce and serve it over bucatini. Dennis loves pasta as much as I do, so making it on a night that Kylie is out is always a good idea.

I love the bucatini noodles. They are a bit thicker than spaghetti noodles and they are hollow in the center. In case you haven’t tried them, below is a picture of what they look like in their dry form.

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It has been really rainy and chilly in San Diego and I wanted to make a rustic dish that would satisfy after a day of bad weather.

This dinner actually cooked rather quickly. I’d say it was done in under 30 minutes for sure, maybe even under 25 minutes. It would be great after a long day when you didn’t want to spend a great deal of time in the kitchen cooking but wanted a dinner that would satisfy and even impress. I would even serve this to my Dinner Club (The Del Mar Dinner Club).

As soon as I set my pot of water on the stove to boil, I started working on my sauce. I began by melting a few tablespoons of butter in a large skillet. One the butter was melted, I added two 16-ounce packages of mushrooms. I chose one package of cremini mushrooms and one package of white mushrooms … I bought them already sliced which saved on the time. I added a teaspoon of kosher salt and a teaspoon of pepper to the mushrooms and let them sauté for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, I added a large shallot (that I minced) and four cloves of garlic (that I minced) and sautéd them along with the mushrooms for another minute. After that, I added 3/4 cup of heavy cream, 1/2 cup Pinot Grigio, and 2 teaspoons of flour. Once I stirred that together, I added 1/2 cup of grated parmesan and turned the heat to low to let it simmer.

I put my noodles into the pot of boiling water for 11 minutes and immediately took them out of the water and placed them directly into the sauté pan with the mushroom sauce.

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As soon as I added the noodles to the pan with the mushrooms, and before mixing the noodles into the mushroom mixture, I added 1/4 cup of grated parmesan – which I tossed with the hot noodles. I then tossed the noodles, coated in parmesan, into the mushroom cream sauce and garnished the pasta with fresh minced parsley.

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I placed the pasta in serving bowls with a little more fresh parsley and shards of fresh parmesan.

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I served the pasta with crusty rustic bread and olive oil for dipping the bread into.

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I can honestly say that this pasta dish will go into my cookbook when I write it. I was that impressed with it. You’d have to try it yourself to let me know if you think it’s that good as well. Enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. dry bucatini pasta
  • 2 16-ounce packages of mushrooms (cremini and white)
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 very large shallot (or 2 small), minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup Pinot Grigio
  • 2 teaspoons flour
  • 1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup grated parmesan
  • 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
  • shards of parmesan

Directions

Boil water for pasta. While water is boiling and noodles are cooking, sauté mushrooms in 3 tablespoons butter for 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat. Add shallot and garlic and sauté another minute. Add heavy cream, wine and flour. Mix together. Add 1/2 cup grated parmesan and stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer while noodles cook.

Once noodles are cooked, scoop them out of the pasta pot directly into the mushroom cream sauce. Before mixing noodles into sauce add 1/4 cup grated parmesan. Coat noodles with parmesan before tossing together with cream sauce. Garnish with minced fresh parsley and shards of fresh parmesan.

If you are not a big fan of pasta, I think this sauce would be wonderful served over chicken as well. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris

Christmastime Mac & Cheese

16 Friday Dec 2016

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The reason I decided to name this homemade Mac and Cheese “Christmastime Mac and Cheese” is because once I added a couple of jars of sun-dried tomatoes and fresh thyme, the red and green from the tomatoes and thyme really showed through and it looked pretty enough to serve for a get together near the Christmas Holiday.

Last night I hosted a party that I look forward to hosting each and every year. I bring together my friends from both my bookclubs and we have a book and ornament exchange. I ask everyone to bring a new book and an ornament for our gift exchange. I am in two bookclubs, one is my neighborhood book club, called “Neighborhood Book Club” that my lovely neighbor and good friend, Laura, started with me. Several years ago, we walked around the neighborhood with flyers inviting people to join in our new bookclub. We’ve been enjoying getting together every month to discuss books from all different genres … mostly fiction – historical fiction seems to be popular with our group. We also enjoy non-fiction, a biography once in a while, and sometimes humor. Our discussions are always really good and we love to read mostly anything. We can always rely on our sweet friend, Lauren, to bring questions that she’s researched and printed out. She is fabulous for doing that! Lauren’s birthday is actually today. Happy, Happy Birthday Lauren! I hope you are having the most lovely of birthdays, you deserve a day as wonderful as you. Lauren is so very stylish and pretty. I love her sense of style and her personality is truly the best.  I really look forward to getting together with my friends in neighborhood book club every month. It is my favorite night. Next month, we are meeting at Naomi’s. She has chosen “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood. I remember a hairdresser I had years ago telling me that was one of her favorite books. I’m looking forward to the read and I better get started.

My other book club is now named “The Book Club, Non-Book Club, Yak, Chat, Social Club” and was formed by myself and my very good friend, Azita. This group includes Moms from the elementary school our kids had gone to together since kindergarten. They are all graduating high school in June, so we have been friends for a very long time. We don’t always discuss the book, since we have so much to talk about in general and that is why we are now known as “The Book Club, Non-Book Club, Yak, Chat, Social Club”. We do still pick a book and those of us that want to read it will, those that don’t, don’t. No biggie, we’re not strict. We just like to be together to just laugh, chat and hang out.

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Standing: Me, Azita, Marie, Jen, Lauren, Deanna, Naomi, Julie, JoAnne, Sandy
Sitting: Laura, Nancy, Kelly, Jen, Pam, Ethel

Most of us are here, but we are missing a few of our friends that couldn’t make it. We definitely missed those that couldn’t be here last night.

I usually make some type of pasta for dinner and serve it with a salad and bread. Of course there are appetizers, dessert, and plenty of wine to complete the festive evening as we all gather together to ring in the season with friends, old and new.

I made homemade Mac and cheese using cavatappi noodles – I think they are a bit fancier than elbow macaroni and I like the evening to be a little elegant. For the cheeses, I chose a swiss/gruyere blend, sharp cheddar and blue cheese crumbles.

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I added two jars of sun-dried tomatoes and fresh thyme. I drained the sun-dried tomatoes before adding them, but I allowed a little bit of the oil to make it’s way into my pasta. This turned out to be a great idea because the herbs that were in the oil coated my pasta a bit, giving it even more of that festive, Christmas look I was hoping for in my pasta.

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I sprinkled panko bread crumbs dotted with small pieces of butter and more fresh thyme before baking my dish. I actually prepared the macaroni and cheese the day before my party so I could focus on the smaller things on party day. (Like taking a walk with my dear, sweet friend, Ethel. We walked Remington to make sure he was a bit tired on party night. Thank you so much, Ethel, for always being there for our walks at the park. I look forward to them every week – this week two times, lucky us!)

I made two dishes of macaroni and cheese for our group.

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Macaroni and Cheeses after preparing and before placing in the refrigerator for the night.

Once I pulled them out of the oven they were perfectly browned.

I also made a ciabatta garlic bread. I brushed melted butter on both halves of the bread before sprinkling several cloves of fresh minced garlic, fresh chopped rosemary, and a pinch of kosher salt (I always use unsalted butter).

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I prepared this the day before the party as well. I made two loaves of the bread.

This is how the bread looked after baking for 25 minutes in a preheated 375 degree oven.

I found this fabulous platter at Home Goods a few days before my party and thought it would be perfect to serve my bread on.

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For a salad, I used romaine lettuce and topped it with nothing more than the fabulous parmesan cheese that I blogged about last week. It’s a wonderful parmesan that our friends, Kent and Jen, order in from Italy. If you saw that post, it was about the wonderful party Kent and Jen host every November. It is the best parmesan cheese you’ll ever have, it’s so good! I couldn’t resist having a salad last night with just that cheese and some dried cranberries. As for the dressing, I used Trader Joe’s caesar dressing.

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I put out a cheese platter as an appetizer and my friends brought either an appetizer or dessert.

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And as a dessert, I made two batches of brownies. I added candy canes that I had crushed (with my handy dandy metal mallet) to the top.

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I knew my husband, Dennis and my daughter, Kylie would appreciate any leftovers on the brownies.

It was such a fun night! I am already looking forward to hosting next year’s book club Holiday party. I wonder what I should make?

This is the fun ornament I received at our ornament/book exchange.

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The funny thing is, I drive a white Beetle Convertible. My sweet friend, Pam, bought this ornament. The best part of it is, we pick names for who will receive the book and ornament we bring. Pam pulled my name, so it was absolutely perfect. Pam is the most fun and lovely young woman, I absolutely adore Pam and I love her sense of style as well. Pam always looks fab! She is turning the big 5-0 on Christmas Day. She’s our Christmas birthday friend. I am really looking forward to celebrating with her and all our friends at her fun party. I best start figuring out what I’m going to wear! It’s a taco truck, 80’s dance party! I can’t wait – woo hoo!! Happy Birthday in advance, sweet Pam! XOXO

Ingredients

  • 1 box Cavatappi noodles
  • 4 cups shredded swiss/gruyere blend
  • 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
  • 1 cup blue cheese crumbles
  • 2 jars sun-dried tomatoes, mostly drained
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (6 for the flour mixture and 2 for topping the panko)
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 4 cups milk (I use fat free)
  • 3 teaspoons fresh minced thyme
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Boil noodles. Heat milk, but don’t boil. Melt butter in large sauce pan and add flour. Whisk for about two minutes. Slowly add hot milk and whisk for another minute. Stir until thickened, a few minutes. Turn off the heat and add the shredded cheeses. Stir until cheese has melted.

Pour noodles into a 9×13 baking dish and add sun-dried tomatoes and 2 teaspoons thyme, mixing in with the noodles. Add cheese sauce to noodles. Top with panko and cut up pieces of butter. Add third teaspoon of thyme.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until bubbly and hot. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris

 

Parmesan, Rosemary, and Garlic Vermicelli

07 Wednesday Dec 2016

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Friends of ours, Kent and Jen – the “Jents” host a fabulous party every November. It is the most fun time! They are absolutely wonderful hosts. You should have seen their wedding, it goes down as my favorite wedding ever. Jen did a wonderful job planning her big day and it showed. We all had such a blast. Everything was absolutely beautiful, the bride … stunning. Their wedding was just a couple months before their first cheese party.

This year, we were unable to attend this fun event, and I was so disappointed. We were out of town the weekend they had their third “Cut The Cheese” Party. A few years ago, Kent and Jen took a fabulous vacation to Italy and they bought a wheel of parmesan to have delivered for their first “Cut The Cheese” Party. We all had so much fun … we could order cheese by the pound to take home and enjoy for weeks to come. It was fun to watch Kent cut this big wheel of parmesan and I think he had a great time doing it. This parmesan cheese is the best I’ve ever had. I love parmesan cheese, it is one of my favorites. Most afternoons, I will cut a few thin shards of parmesan and eat it with a pear or an apple in the late afternoon. I love the nutty flavor of parmesan … yum!

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Dennis and I ordered five pounds of parmesan from Kent and Jen this year.

I actually think I should have ordered more. I’m using the parmesan in my recipe for dinner tonight. I was originally going to make chicken parmesan, but I want the cheese to stand out on it’s own, so I decided to make pasta with the main ingredient being the parmesan, and about a tablespoon and a half of fresh rosemary, served with vermicelli in a sauce of nothing more than olive oil, butter, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes.

This is the longest vermicelli I’ve ever seen! It’s as tall as my boots.

I found this pasta at The Temecula Olive Oil Company in Solana Beach. They have a few locations around San Diego. I highly recommend this store for their olive oils, balsamic vinegars, different salts and even soaps and candles.

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The finished pasta dish was light in taste, which was just what I wanted. It will make for a fabulous lunch tomorrow as well. Dennis even packed his serving up to take along to work with him.

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I can’t wait until next year when, hopefully, Jen and Kent will be having this party again.

Today actually happens to be Jen’s birthday. I’d like to wish her a very Happy Birthday with all the love, laughter, and blessings such a wonderful young woman deserves. You’d be so lucky if you could meet my friend, Jen, she is truly a fabulous gal. For those of you reading my blog that know Jen, know just what I’m talking about. She really is wonderful.

Ingredients

  • 16 ounce vermicelli
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt (for pasta water)
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

Boil water. Place vermicelli into boiling water and cook until done (make sure to save a cup of pasta water in case you want to add it to your sauce). Meanwhile, melt butter into olive oil in a sauté pan. Once the butter is melted, add the garlic, rosemary, and crushed red pepper flakes and cook together for just a minute or so. Add vermicelli directly into sauté pan and toss. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris

 

 

 

Slow Roasted Roma Tomato Rigatoni

09 Wednesday Nov 2016

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Slow roasting tomatoes really brings out the flavor of the tomato. I was home yesterday afternoon and wasn’t heading anywhere, so thought I’d take the time to slowly roast roma tomatoes to serve over rigatoni. I roasted them for 2 hours at a temperature of 275 degrees. I cut 9 roma tomatoes in 8 sections … first in half lengthwise, then again, then I cup them through the middle. I placed them on a sheet pan, drizzled them with olive oil, four cloves of garlic that I’d minced, kosher salt, pepper and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Oh my goodness, the house smelled great! I actually wish I’d cut up all 13 tomatoes that I bought because they do shrink down quite a bit.

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This is a picture of the tomatoes before roasting

As my rigatoni was coming to a boil, I started on my sauce. It was quite simple, actually. I made the sauce out of olive oil, white wine, grated parmesan and the juice of one lemon. Once the tomatoes were done roasting, I added them to the sauce and continued to cook together.

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I served the pasta with fresh basil and shredded parmesan. It was fabulous. Dennis took the leftovers for lunch today and loved the dish as much the second day.

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Ingredients

  • 9-13 roma tomatoes
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • rigatoni, 16 ounce package
  • 1/2 cup olive oil for sauce, plus a drizzle for the tomatoes
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • juice of one lemon
  • balsamic vinegar, drizzle
  • kosher salt, a couple teaspoons for the pasta water and a pinch sprinkled on the tomatoes
  • pepper, a pinch sprinkled on the tomatoes
  • basil, for serving
  • shaved parmesan for serving

Directions

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Cut tomatoes into 8 pieces each and place on a sheet pan. Drizzle olive oil, balsamic vinegar, kosher salt and pepper over tomatoes. Place in oven to roast for 2 hours.

While pasta boils, add olive oil and wine to a sauté pan. Add grated parmesan and juice of one lemon. Simmer on medium-low until cheese melts into sauce. Add roasted tomatoes and keep on low until pasta is done. Add noodles directly into the sauce, along with fresh shaved parmesan. Serve with ribbons of basil. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris