Lasagna and Brownies

Tonight we took the opportunity to remember a special friend of ours by eating his favorite meal in his honor. Nothing about this meal is super creative, but it is meaningful to me, and delicious! I had every intention of making my own pasta for the lasagna, but time did not permit, so I used flat sheets of dry pasta.

What are some of your sentimental recipes?

Fresh Pasta Carbonara

 

In the spirit of destroying a perfectly clean kitchen, I decided to get out my pasta maker tonight to practice my technique a little. I found a recipe online for pasta carbonara, and modified it to make it suit my tastes. The pasta was much better than my maiden voyage!

 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices slab bacon, diced
2 cloves diced garlic
2 tablespoons white wine
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup chicken stock 
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound fresh linguini
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano
2 eggs, separated
1 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into cutlets

Directions

1.  Put salted water in a large pasta pot and bring it to a boil over medium heat.
2. Add the oil and bacon to a large saute pan over low heat. Cook the bacon until crisp, being careful not to burn it, about 5 minutes.Remove bacon temporarily on onto a paper towel to drain.
3. Season the chicken breast cutlets with salt and pepper, then cook for 5-6 minutes, or until cooked through. (Will depend on thickness of cutlets.) Remove from pan, to rest.
4. Add the garlic and stir for 5 seconds. Add the drained bacon, wine, milk, stock and black pepper. Cook until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
5. Drop the fresh linguini into water and stir to separate strands. When pasta is just undercooked remove it from the water and add it to the pan with the sauce. Gently stir for 1 minute.
6. Remove the pan from the heat, add 1/2 the cheese and the egg white and stir, being careful not to break the noodles. Add the egg yolk and lightly toss. Slice chicken thinly and toss in with pasta. Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl or platter and garnish with the remaining cheese.

Enjoy!

Curry Chicken Pasta

After our second viewing of A Christmas Story this evening, we decided we wanted a snack, so I raided the fridge and pantry in search of leftovers that could be made into something more. The key ingredient here is the chicken tenders that were left over from asian chicken salads earlier this week. This actually turned out to taste pretty good! And I got to use some of the other items I had in the pantry already.

Ingredients:

• 1 c chicken broth, give or take
• 1 cup leftover chicken, chopped or shredded
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
• 1/3 c almond butter (or peanut butter, but I just happened to have almond)
• 1/2 a box of pasta - I happened to have ziti, but you could use whatever
• 1/2 c frozen peas.

Instructions:

1. Prepare a pot of salted water, and cook pasta - drain.
2. In a pan, sautee the garlic in the sesame oil on medium low, for 2-3 minutes. Add almond butter, and stir until it is melted into the pan. Add chicken broth little by little, and stir until sauce loosens to the point of being able to coat the back of a spoon. Add soy sauce, peas, red pepper, and curry powder. Stir to combine. Keep on low heat.
3. Shred left over chicken and add to pasta pot. Add pasta on top of chicken. Add sauce over top of pasta and chicken and combine until all is coated. Enjoy!

This made enough for about 4 servings, but we enjoyed it as a late night snack.

Fresh Pasta & Meatballs

Tonight, I really wanted an excuse to use the pasta maker I bought today. I took a risk and invited 6 other friends over to enjoy the first attempt, and luckily the pasta wasn't terrible. I did decide pasta and meatballs was a good crowd pleasing meal. And the flourless chocolate cake that came afterwards wasn't bad either! I'm on a winning streak tonight.

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef (or ground veal)

1 lb. italian sausage
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley or 2 tsp. dried
1/2 c. fine dry bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 sm. clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. dried oregano

Instructions:

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Form 1 1/2 inch meatballs with the mixture. Place them around a baking sheet, and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Let cool, remove excess fat, and add meatballs to a pot of your favorite sauce. Simmer until time to serve.

 

If you have the time to make fresh pasta, I highly recommend it for this meal.

Spicy Parmesan Chicken Pasta

Whew! It's been a few weeks since I've had the chance to stop and cook dinner, which you must know stresses me out. However, after this rainy, droopy day, I was in the mood for comfort food! I just threw this together out of items I had laying around and it turned out well. Use caution if you don't like spicy food.

Ingredients

• 3/4 box of ziti pasta (reserve 1 cup cooking liquid)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
• 1/4 Cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces.
• While pasta cooks, heat a large nonstick skillet coated with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add crushed red pepper; sauté 1 minute. Add chicken pieces, and sautee until browned.
• Add reserved pasta cooking liquid to pan; bring to a boil. Stir in salt, black pepper, chicken, and balsamic vinegar; bring to a boil. Stir in pasta, and cook 1 for minute or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with cheese.

Note: Sauce will thicken if you let it cool for a few minutes - delicious!