Spaghetti with Easy Cherry Tomatoes Sauce

My cherry tomato plants gave me some bumper crop last season. Carlos is not a fan of cherry tomatoes so I am the only one eating it. I like eating them raw and sometimes I just cut them up and put it in my pasta. This is a very fast and easy meal to prepare. While you are boiling the pasta you can prepare the sauce and when pasta is ready all you have to do is mixing it into the sauce. The juicy sweet cherry tomatoes burst open in warm olive oil, creating a luxuriously silky sauce and voila the meal comes together in less than 20 minutes.

Baked Pasta in Creamy Pumpkin Sauce

Is fall season and there were all kinds of pumpkins around and they were really cheap too. There are only two kinds of pumpkins that I like. One of it is Kabocha and the other one is butternut squash. I don’t buy them too often as Carlos is not a fan of it so if I cook it I will be the only one eating it. Pumpkin is not only good for pies or dessert but they can be used for savory dishes too.

 I am a bit under the weather because of the intense heat here in Northern CA and I am craving for some creamy and comforting food like pasta but not too keen of adding too much cream or tons of fat in it. So pumpkin comes to the rescue. Pumpkin puree make great base for pasta sauce as it’s naturally creamy so it gives you an alfredo like texture without any heavy cream in it. I like penne pasta so I used it in this dish but you can use any type of pasta of your choice. As for the pumpkin try to use fresh pumpkin instead of the one from the can as I think fresh one taste so much better.

Spaghetti and Meatball Sauce

I made this a couple of month ago. I don’t prepare dish like this often but if I do I will usually make a large batch of it and freeze some of it up. This way I can just warm it up and have it with spaghetti or make it into meatball sub. Instead of just ground beef I added some ground turkey to it too. It turns out really nice. Mmmm feeling like having this today. Maybe I should thaw out some and have it for dinner tonight.

Beef and Spinach Lasagna

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas celebration with family and friends and in a few days it will be the end of 2013. I hope year 2014 will be a better year for us. We won’t be doing much for the New Year as Diana won’t be home. I miss that girl. I wish she live nearer to us :( It will be a low key affair for us except I am looking forward to indulge myself with some Caviar that I ordered online.

I will be flying back to Malaysia in January and looking forward to spend some time with my family and I too hope to meet up with my blogging friends when I am home. Enough of my ranting and let’s get on to this awesome pasta.

I made this with Diana when she was home. I am not a big fan of lasagnas that are loaded with too much meat or cheese so I decided to add some spinach to it. It has a good balance of cheese, meat and veggie in it. I cheated a bit and used a good quality store bought marinara sauce as a base. You can always use homemade one if you have it.

 

Pasta Fagioli

I don’t cook a lot of soup but it is always nice to have a bowl or two during winter. This soup was one of the many Italian dishes that I learned from a friend many years ago but I never thought of making it again until my good friend Shereen tasted it at Olive Garden. I told her I know how to make this soup but it might not be exactly the same as the one she tasted but I will try to replica it. So this here is the recipe and hope it is what she is looking for.

Braised Beef Ragu with Rigatoni

This was the very first dish that I learned from my ex a long time ago. He was an Italian Chef and he can cook some mean Italian dishes. I like cooking this dish as it freeze really well. We love this slow braising beef in rich tomato sauce and it so tender that it falls apart when you break it with fork. It is simple, rustic and delicious. I usually use some of the sauce and freeze the rest for another time. The sauce tends to thickens when you reheat it so remember to add some water or pasta water to it until your get the consistency that you like.

Spaghetti Aglio Olio with Mushroom

I remember the first time I had Aglio Olio I don’t have a very good experience. The pasta dish was swimming in oil and I have to return it back to the kitchen. I never order this pasta dish from the restaurants again. I prefer to cook it myself as I can control the amount of oil I put in there.

Aglio Olio means stir-fry with “Garlic and Oil” in Italian, and one of the simplest pasta dishes that you can whip up with very few ingredients like good quality olive oil, garlic and lots of black pepper. My sister Elizabeth is not a fan of pasta with loads of cream or sauce so this is her favorite. I cooked this for our lunch and added some mushroom to it.

Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce

Carlos and I like this dish a lot. Sometimes we just have it with some sauté vegetables or serve it over pasta. It is so versatile that you can even eat it with rice or make sandwich out of it. Instead of frying the meatballs, I used the oven baking method to cook and brown the meatballs. If you have a large crowd to feed this will be a great dish to serve.The ground beef is cheap and so is the pasta. This recipe serves 4-5 so you need to double or triple the ingredients if you need to feed a large crowd.

Shrimp Carbonara

Since Carlos is not around I hardly cook anything elaborate. My lunch and dinner is just something quick and simple that I can whip up in no time. I like to have pasta in light creamy sauce rather than the red sauce. This carbonara sauce comes together easily and you can play around with the ingredients you have in hand. You can check out one of the version here and for this pasta dish I added some fresh shrimps and some lemon zest to it. The pasta turns out light and tasty and the succulent shrimps with a hint of fresh lemon works really well in the carbonara sauce.

Edamame Orzo Salad with Grilled Shrimps

After indulging in all the rich food from our short vacation recently, it is time to have something fresh, healthy, light spring foods. I made this salad using the leftover orzo from my previous Cheesy Orzo Frittata. Orzo is pasta that is similar to rice in shape, but a little thicker and larger. I like making pasta salads and soup with it. This salad is simple and fresh. I loved the crunchy edamame and tender sweet grape tomatoes. I added some fresh parsley from my garden to it too.

Ingredients:

1 cup orzo
1 cup frozen shelled edamame
1/2 pound medium size shrimps – shelled and deveined
1 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes - halved
1 small bunch fresh parsley - chopped

Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups

I realized I’ve been cooking quite a bit of Asian food recently. So it is time to make some Western comfort food for a change. What can be more comforting than Lasagna? With just the two of us, we can’t have all of it. I gave some to my neighbor and freeze some for Diana too.

Ingredients:

12 sheets dried lasagna noodles
2 ½ cups pasta sauce

Filling:

3 links turkey sausage
1 large onion – finely diced
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 packet 10 oz frozen chopped spinach – thawed and squeeze out all the water
1 tub 15 oz skim ricotta cheese
3 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 egg
½ tsp red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

There are so many varieties of carbonara that it is hard to sort them out. Typically carbonara is made with pancetta (Italian bacon), egg yolks, and parmesan cheese mixed in spaghetti. In the US, sometimes cream is used in this pasta recipe, but this is not typical in Italy. I like to make this pasta dish when I ran out of idea of what to prepare for dinner. All you need is just a few ingredients to pull off this rich, cheesy and satisfying meal.

Ingredients:

½ packet of Spaghetti or pasta of your choice
4 slices of pancetta (you can substitute it with bacon) – cute into cubes
2 cloves garlic – smashed
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 egg yolks
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat a bit of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat; cook the pancetta along with the garlic until the pancetta is brown and crispy. Discard the garlic and add in the black pepper and stirring occasionally until fragrant.
2. Transfer the pancetta mixture into a big bowl and let it cool down a bit. Stir in the cheese and egg yolks. Mix until well combined and set it aside.
3. Meanwhile bring a pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta until al-dente. Reserve about ½ cup of pasta water.
4. Drain the pasta and toss it right into the eggs mixture. Toss till combined adding the pasta water a bit at a time to create a creamy sauce. Taste for seasonings.
5. Serve immediately.

Note: I didn’t add any salt to this dish as with the pancetta and parmesan cheese the pasta is salty enough. Since I have some roasted tomatoes I garnished the pasta with it.

Baked Pasta Casserole

I was cleaning up my pantry the other day and notice that there are so many different types of leftover pasta (a handful of each) and the boxes are taking too much space in my pantry. I have to find ways to use it all up. Since I am into one dish meal nowadays I decided to make this pasta casserole with whatever I have in my pantry and fridge. Baked pasta is a great dish for any buffet party or a lunch and dinner at home. It is always good to serve it with a fresh salad.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of small dry pasta – I used ziti, penne and small shell pasta
1 can of tuna – packed in water
2 tomatoes – cut into 1/2” cubes
8 oz artichoke hearts – drain water and halve
1 onion – cut small
3 cloves garlic – chopped
1 1/2 cup of grated cheese – any type
1 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 eggs – beaten
Some chili flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; set aside.
2. In a large skillet, add in 2 tbsp of olive oil, sauté the onions and garlic until fragrant and lightly brown. Add in the flour. Stir well for 30 second and add in the milk. Continue to stir until the milk thickens and comes up to a boil.
3. Add in one cup of the grated cheese, chili flakes, salt and pepper. Once the cheese melted turn off the heat. Add in the tomato, artichoke hearts, tuna, cooked pasta and eggs. Stir gently to combine.
4. Spoon the mixture into a casserole dish, sprinkle the balance grated cheese on top and bake in a pre-heated 375 degree F oven for 30 minutes or until the casserole is bubbly and the top brown. Serve warm.

Note: If you can’t find artichoke hearts you can always replace it with green peas, blanched vegetables like asparagus or broccoli.

Fettuccine with Saffron Shrimp

This is a really fabulous meal that not only fast to prepare but delicious. By the time you are done boiling the pasta the sauce is done. Doesn’t that sound like a plan for a tasty and sophisticated meal?

Ingredients:

½ box of fettuccine pasta
½ pound of shrimp – shelled and devein
2 shallots – sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic – finely chopped
1 cup white wine or chicken stock
1 cup of milk
1 tbsp flour
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp snipped fresh chives
A few threads of Saffron – soak in 1/4 cup of hot water
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the fettuccine pasta till al dente.
2. In a sauté pan, heat 3 tbsp of olive oil. Sauté shallots and garlic over medium heat until fragrant and lightly brown. Add in the shrimps. Stir until the shrimp changes to light pink color.
3. Sprinkle in the flour, stir and cook for a minute. Add in the white wine or chicken stock. Stir well and bring it up to a boil and sauce thicken. Add in the milk and saffron liquid.
4. Once the sauce is boiling, add in parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste.
5. Drain the pasta and toss into the sauce, stir well. Dish out, garnish with some chives and serve warm.

Baked Mac and Cheese

Do you love Mac and cheese? For me macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. With the weather getting much cooler I just want to eat something warm and comforting like this cheesy, creamy goodness baked pasta.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp of flour
1/2 cup roughly chopped bacon
1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 cup diced fresh tomato
½ box of pasta ( penne, elbow or ziti) – cook to al-dente
2 cups of milk ( I used 1% fat)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
½ tsp of pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste


1. In a pan over the medium heat, render the bacon fat until brown and crispy. Remove and drain the bacon on paper towel. Remove all the bacon fat. In the same pan, add in the olive oil. Stir in the chopped onion, cook until it’s lightly brown.
2. Add in the flour. Stir and cook until the flour turn lightly brown. Add in the milk, stir well and bring it up to boil. Once the sauce thickens, add in the cheese.
3. Once the cheese melted, turn off the heat. Add in pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the pasta, chopped tomato and the bacon. Reserved some of the bacon for garnish.
4. Transfer the pasta into a baking dish and bake it in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven for 35-45 minutes or until the top of the pasta lightly brown. Garnish with bacon bits and serve warm.

Tuna Pasta in Tomato Sauce

This is a quick meal in my home. When I don’t have fresh ingredients in my fridge or I want something nutritious and tasty on the table fast, this is the meal I cook with things I can find in my pantry.

Ingredients :

1 can tuna - 5 oz, drained
1 small can chopped tomato with juice
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic - chopped
Some chopped basil
1 tomato – cut small for garnish
½ tsp of red pepper flakes
½ pound of your favorite pasta – cooked to al dente ( I like using whole-wheat penne)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan and add the garlic and onion; sauté until translucent about 2-3 minutes, then add in can tomato with juice, season to taste with salt, pepper and red-pepper flakes and boil over medium heat for 10-12 minutes
2. When sauce reduced and thicken, add in tuna. Stir and mix well. Add in chopped basil and cooked paste. Turn off the heat.
3. Mix well, dish out and garnish with some chopped tomato and basil

Note: If you don't want your sauce to be as 'chunky', you can puree the tomatoes before using.

Shell Pasta with Sausage and Asparagus

With asparagus selling for less than $2.00 per pound, they're hard to resist. I’ve been cooking a lot of dishes with it. I steam, grill, stir-fry and make soup out it. I even cook pasta with it too. This is a perfect dish for spring with the great flavor combination of asparagus and Italian sausage. This recipe is simple, both in taste and method and you can also change the sausage to other protein and the asparagus to other vegetables.

Ingredients :

1/2 box of small shell pasta
3 links of fresh Italian sausage (I used turkey sausage)
1 pound of asparagus – cut into 1” length
3 fresh tomatoes - cut into 1/2" cubes
3 cloves of garlic - chopped
1 tsp of chili flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add in some salt. Cook pasta according to the instruction on the box.
2. While the pasta is cooking, in a large sauté pan over high heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Remove sausage from the casing and sauté and cook until golden brown. Remove meat from pan and set aside.
3. In the same pan, sauté the garlic until lightly brown. If there is not enough oil add in an extra 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add in the asparagus and cook for a minute. Season with salt, pepper and chili flakes
4. Add in chopped tomatoes, stir for a few second and return the sausage back to the pan. Mix well and add in the cook pasta. Mix until everything combined. Check sesoning.
5. If the pasta is a bit dry you can add in a bit of the pasta water. Turn off the heat and add in the grated cheese. Stir well and serve warm.

Other pasta dish : Cajun Chicken and Shrimp Pasta

Cajun Chicken and Shrimp Pasta

This is another quick and easy pasta dish with wonderful spicy cajun flavor. I used shrimp and chicken for this dish but you can use any kind of protein of your choice. I didn’t add any red or yellow peppers to it as I ran out of it but you can always add it to this pasta dish. As for the half and half you can replace with with heavy cream.

Ingredients :

1/2 box pasta of your choice (I used wholewheat penne)
2 pc of chicken breast
1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled/deveined
1 small onion, diced
2 tomatoes - diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp of flour
1 1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp of pepper flakes
some chopped parsley
2 tsp of cajun seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the pasta until al-dente and set it aside. Cut chicken into thin strip and season it with the cajun seasoning.
2. Heat a bit of olive oil over medium heat in a pan. Saute the chicken breast until lightly brown. Dish out and set it aside.
2. In the same skillet add a bit of olive oil, add the onions and garlic. Saute until lightly brown. Add the flour and stir it for a minute or two, to cook off rawness of the flour.
3. Add the half and half, cheese and stir until thick. Add the shrimp, chicken and tomatoes into the skillet to cook through.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper, pepper flakes (and more Cajun seasoning, if desired). Toss in the pasta.
5. Garnish with some chopped parsley.

Fried Macaroni

I have some left over whole wheat macaroni in the pantry from I don’t know when. I suspect it might be over 1 year old but it’s still good. I am not a Mac and cheese person so I just fry it similar to fried rice style. With some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and few other ingredients lunch is taken care of in no time.

Ingredients :

1 1/2 cup of macaroni - boil till al-dente
1 piece of chicken breast – cut small (I used leftover turkey)
10 shrimp – peel and clean
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 carrot - julienned
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp of chili paste – I used sirachi chili sauce
2 tbsp of sauce
1 tsp of dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp of sugar
salt to taste
2 spring onions – cut 1” length

1. Heat oil in wok. Add onion slices and garlic and stir-fry till fragrant and lightly brown.
2. Add meat, shrimp and carrot and stir-fry until meat is cooked.
3. Add a bit of water (about half a cup) and put in the pasta. Stir-fry for a few second and add in all the rest of the seasoning. Stir until everything is well combined.
4. Lastly add in the spring onions. Give it a quick stir and dish out. Serve warm.

Chicken Pasta In Creamy Pesto Sauce

Summer is the time of year where the gardens are full of pesto's essential ingredient like basil. I just love the smell of fresh basil where it has a wonderful pungent aroma and an incredible flavor that is a cross between licorice and cloves. I like using it to cook my tomato base dishes or simply make it into Pesto.

The traditional way of making pesto and still the best way is with mortar and pestle but I used blender to make this. Typically, pesto is made with fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper but you can experiment it with various herbs, nuts and cheeses to come up with your own special pesto.

Whenever I make a batch of pesto, I keep some in the refrigerator and freeze and I can use it whenever I need a quick pasta meal, topping for my grill chicken or fish or to flavor my soups. Here is one quick and simple dish using pesto. I will feature more dishes using pesto later.

Ingredients for fresh Pesto
3 cloves garlic
2 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
salt and pepper to taste

1. Add the garlic to the food processor and mince. Next, add the basil leaves, pine nuts, salt and pepper to the bowl. While the processor is running, slowly drizzle in olive oil through the feed tube until all the ingredients are pureed.
2.You may need to stop the processor at this point and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula to get every mixed together. Lastly add Parmesan cheese and mix it into the rest of the mixture. If the pesto is too thick, add a tablespoon of water.

Ingredients for the Pasta
1/2 box of pasta (any kind)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 piece of chicken breast (slice thinly)
1/4 cup of sun dried tomato (slice thinly)
1 cup of chicken stock
1/2 cup of low fat half and half
1/2 cup of pesto
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
some chopped tomato (for garnish)

1. Cook pasta according to the box instruction until al dente. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add in garlic and chicken meat. Stir fry until lightly brown. Add in chicken stock and sun dried tomato and simmer for a minute.
3. Add in half and half, pesto and Parmesan cheese. Bring to boil.
4. Lastly toss in the pasta and stir until well combined and sauce thicken. Check sesoning.
5. Serve warm and garnish with some fresh tomato.

Note : Cover and refrigerate the pesto until you are ready to use it. This should keep for 2 - 3 days in the fridge but freezes well if you want to keep it longer. I used wholewheat pasta for this. Make sure you check your seasoning as it might be under salt.