Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is one of those ingredients that I like to use (because ya'll know how we love pasta in this house!). It gives us a little more veggies and just switches things up on occasion. I've tried this squash with plenty of sauces, but my absolute favorite is this recipe.

Baked Spaghetti Squash with Vodka Sauce

Ingredients:
1 small spaghetti squash
1 recipe Vodka Sauce (recipe below)
1 lemon, cut into wedges (optional)
1/2 lb Italian turkey sausage, cooked into crumbles (optional)
Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

To bake the squash, you'll need to cut it in half lengthwise. Please only attempt to do this with a sharp knife as the squash is rather hard to cut and I don't want you all to get maimed.

Once cut, scrape out the seeds and the stringy portions from the center of the squash. You can reserve the seeds and bake them as you would pumpkin seeds (or toss them, your choice). Rub some oil onto a baking sheet and place the squash cut side down onto the baking sheet. Bake in a 350 F oven for about 45 minutes, or until the squash is tender and can be punctured easily with a fork or butter knife.

Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool slightly before handling. When it is cool enough to touch (you can also use an oven mitt or oven-safe glove like I do because I am not quite so patient at this point), scrape the insides of the squash with a fork and remove the pasta-like strands. Place the strands of squash in a large bowl or smaller serving-size bowls and top with the vodka sauce. I like to serve with a bit of grated pecorino romano, chiffonade basil and a wedge of lemon which I find breaks up all the sweet flavors of the sauce and squash. Another option is to top with sausage crumbles; the heat from the sausage also compliments the sweetness of the vodka sauce & squash.

Vodka Sauce
adapted slightly from this Food Network recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, chopped fine
1 carrot, chopped fine
2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 c. vodka

3/4 c. heavy cream, at room temperature

3/4 c. grated Pecorino Romano 

In a large dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and continue to cook until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cans of tomatoes and bay leaves and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Remove the bay leaf and adjust seasonings.

Stir in the vodka and reduce by a quarter, stirring often. Once reduced, stir in the cream and then the cheese. Stir to combine. Once heated through, you can serve or allow to cool to room temperature before freezing. The sauce can be frozen for up to 6 months.

Saccameno's Linguine with White Clam Sauce

I first had this dish several years ago at a friend's house. Noel (who's mom gave us this recipe) is a great host and cook. I remember saying at the time that I thought the pasta dish was delicious and wouldn't ya know? She ended up giving the recipe to me at my bridal shower. Yay for me - and for you, because now I'm sharing it.

It's a simple recipe, perfect for a weeknight meal when you want to feed your family something delicious but really feel like calling in for delivery*. It's light, flavorful and served with a salad and bread, makes a complete meal that's filling and healthy. It would also be lovely as a side dish.

We ended up making some semolina linguine that night, since it was a special night - our 5 month anniversary.
We don't need much to celebrate, and I really like homemade pasta. We also toasted with a bit of champagne. Like I said, it doesn't take much. :)

Saccameno's Linguine with White Clam Sauce

Ingredients:
1 lb linguine
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 c. onion
4 cloves garlic
4 cans chopped clams (juice and clams separated)
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. parsley
1/2 c. finely grated Pecorino Romano
salt and pepper, to taste

 

In a large skillet or saute pan, melt the butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and garlic and cook until transparent (about 5 minutes). Add in the clam juice, lemon juice, basil and pasley and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Next, add in the clams and cover. Continue to cook over low heat for another 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, uncover and add the cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Once you are satisfied with the flavor, toss in the cooked pasta** and serve, topping with more cheese and parsley if desired.

The prep work is minimal, so it literally comes together in 30 minutes. It definitely will get added to our regular meal rotation.

*Is it weird that I honestly never think of this? Sometimes I do ponder making boxed pasta with canned sauce and calling it a night. But it never, ever occurs to me that I could call someone to deliver dinner.

**I used homemade pasta. To save time, you could use boxed pasta or pre-made homemade pasta. The results of either would still be delicious.

Warm Caprese Salad

I threw together this quick and easy side one night when we were running a little late with the rest of dinner. I needed a side dish to curb our hunger while we got the rest of dinner ready. Nick loves caprese salad (I mean, who doesn't?), but we had cherry tomatoes that were starting to go so I wanted something that could use them up.

To start, heat up some olive oil in a pan on medium low heat. While the pan is heating, mince one clove of garlic and finely dice a shallot. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and shallot and saute until the shallot is cooked through and turns clear. Then, add one pint of halved tomatoes and cook until they are warmed through.

While the tomatoes are cooking, slice off two pieces of chevre (mozzarella would work also) about 1/3" thick and place on plates. Top with the cooked tomato mixture. Sprinkle with basil leaves (we used purple basil just because it needed a trim) that have been chiffonade cut. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and serve.

This recipe was adapted from this recipe.

Basil & Goat Cheese Ravioli

I'm sure you are totally sick of me posting about goat cheese ravioli. Really, how many different variations can one have on the matter? Apparently, to date, three.

1. Goat Cheese & Spinach Ravioli
2. Goat Cheese & Beet Green Ravioli

My first two recipes were delicious, but I didn't have any greens on hand, but had a free afternoon and a pound of goat cheese and really wanted to make some ravioli for a quick and easy weeknight dinner later. What to do? Head outside to the patio and trim a few basil stems from a plant that had been growing out of control.

I used the same base recipe as the previous versions and the pasta recipe I used here.

The filling:

1/2 lb chevre (I needed a bit more than the last versions since there weren't a ton of greens to bulk it up)
1/4 c pecorino romano, grated
salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg
handful of fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

Mix all the filling ingredients together, letting the cheese come to room temperature to make it easier to control the amount in each ravioli. The filled ravioli can be frozen and tossed into boiling water straight from the freezer for a very quick and painless dinner on those nights when you just can't be bothered.

Unlike the other goat cheese raviolis, we served this version with a red (marinara) sauce. I'm looking forward to the cooler weather (and therefore cold weather squash varieties) so I can try my hand at pumpkin ravioli.

Grilled Chicken Pita Sandwich with Basil Spread

This was a leftover meal - you know, a meal made from all the extra bits lying around the fridge and freezer. We had some bean & basil spread leftover, and a half a roasted red pepper from our artichoke dip, so we pulled some pita that Nick had made a while back from the freezer and grabbed a chicken breast from there, too. It all came together in this Grilled Chicken Pita Sandwich with Basil Spread. It was a pretty tasty meal and I was happy to use up some of the odds and ends. 

We simply grilled the chicken and reheated the pitas in our toaster oven. Spread some of the bean spread and shove a slice or two of red pepper in the top. We served alongside some extra bean spread.

Cannelli Bean & Basil Dip

We had a great dip at a restaurant back in Pittsburgh, Lidia's, and thought it was a great twist on the typical, but also tasty pesto dipping sauce. It was a basil dip, made with cannellini beans, so we attempted to recreate it at home, and I think we've come close.

Ingredients:
1/2 c of cannellini beans, dried
3 tbsp pesto sauce
1/4 c olive oil
salt and pepper

First, soak the cannellini beans in a bowl of water for a day. Then boil until soft, about 1 hour.

Once the beans are tender, drain and then place into a blender or food processor. Add the pesto sauce and enough olive oil to make it creamy. It works pretty well if you add a little of the oil at a time so you can gauge the creaminess as you go. Salt and pepper to taste and serve alongside warm, tasty bread for a great appetizer.