Vegetable & Chickpea Ragout

This recipe is adapted from one at Self.com (the original is embedded in this story which involves prepping parts of 5 meals all at once, so the version below makes it stand-alone). This is a tasty dinner that will leave you feeling both satiated and healthy, because it's meat-free! (for an extra kick of self-satisfaction, toss the ragout with whole-wheat pasta, as I did)

Ingredients
olive oil
1 med onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 head broccoli, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup chickpeas
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp dried oregano

~ 1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts, drained & rinsed
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup sliced black olives

penne, cooked (whole-wheat for added smugness)
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

To make
1. Heat a pan over medium heat, add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add onion, red pepper, broccoli, and garlic. Cook until veggies soften a bit.
2. Simmer tomatoes, chickpeas, cooked vegetables, salt, pepper, oregano, and 1/2 cup water in a medium pot until liquid is reduced by half, ~20 minutes.
3. Add artichokes, peas, and olives to pot. Cook 10 minutes more.
4. Toss ragout with cooked penne and chopped basil.

Simple Carbonara

I know I promised to put my Sicilian anchovy pasta recipe up, but I just made some carbonara so I'll do that instead. There are so many carbonara recipes out there, but I'll put the version of mine that I like, which uses single instead of double cream since I don't like things too rich. I enjoy using flat pastas like tagliatelle for creamy sauces, since you get a larger surface area coated with sauce. You can also use pasta all'uovo which includes eggs for a richer texture. Feel free to add more cream or use more eggs if you want a richer sauce. Sometimes I use mushrooms or peas or whatever veg I have. You will need:

Simple Carbonara (serves 2; takes 15-20 minutes)
15-20g of butter
extra virgin olive oil
50g (or 4 rashers) of unsmoked bacon (or pancetta if you feel posh)
150-200g pasta
2 large egg yolks
10 tablespoons of single cream
25g fresh parmigiano-reggiano, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon fresh, coarse black pepper
2-3 springs of flat leaf parsley
pinch of salt

Optional:
4-5 large button mushrooms
1/3 cup of peas

To be most efficient:
1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta. Heat extra virgin olive oil in a deep frying pan on medium heat.
2. Chop up bacon, flat-leaf parsley and veggies.
3. Add butter and bacon to pan, give it a stir. Turn up heat.
4. Prepare your cream sauce: mix cream, egg yolks and cheese in a bowl.
5. When bacon is nice and crispy, add veggies. Pasta should be ready soon.
6. Add pinch of salt to bacon and flat-leaf parsley.
7. Drain pasta, add to pan. Mix well.
8. Take pan off heat, add cream sauce. Toss well, the heat of the pasta and bacon will cook the sauce. Serve immediately to prevent curdling.

salmon tossed with penne and arugula

Another easy one, though it does require multiple pots and pans.

Ingredients:

~ 1/2 lb salmon fillet (skin removed)
~ 2 cups dry penne (I used mezze, maybe use more if you're using bigger penne)
~ 3 fistfuls of arugula
1 tsp lemon juice
a bay leaf
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
~ 3 tbsp chives

To make:

Prepare the pasta. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add penne and cook according to package directions. After it's done to your liking, drain.

Meanwhile

Prepare the salmon. Place fillet in a pot and add water till salmon is covered, then toss in a bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until salmon is cooked through. Remove salmon from water and flake it up with a fork.

When those two parts are done

Mix up all the hot stuff. Put 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan and heat over medium heat. Add the drained pasta and salmon, and toss it in the oil with a spatula. Add a splash of lemon juice and a few shakes of salt. Mix it all up for a minute or two over the heat.

Then to finish

Mix up the green stuff with the hot stuff. Put the salmon/penne mix into a large serving bowl. Add chives and arugula, toss.

Eat!

1/2 Butternut Squash burning a hole in my pocket

I finally decided to do something about the half a butternut squash I've been pushing around the fridge. The only requirement was not going outside in the frigid weather. A Food magazine consultation with mom uncovered a baked shell recipe with squash and onions. Tasty.

2 large onions, halved, and thinly sliced
3 T olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
winter squash puree
1 tp. rosemary
1 lb small pasta
1 1/2 c pasta water
1 c parmesan
3 slices crusty bread, cubed
1 T olive oil
1 tp. rosemary

Heat oil over low heat, add onions, s&p, cover and cook for 15 min. Uncover, raise heat to medium, and cook another 25 min till nice and caramelized.

Meanwhile bake your buttered, seasoned squash in a 400-deg oven for 30 min. Skin and mash when thoroughly gushy. Add to the onions with a teaspoon rosemary.

My shells looked more like fusilli. Yum. Cook 2 min less than directions. SAVE 1 1/2 cups pasta water. [I always forget to do that, I get all caught up in the steamy facial aspect of pasta cooking...water worked alright, but I had to simmer longer.]

Add pasta water to onion/squash mixture and simmer a bit.

Place pasta, onion / squash mixture and parmesan in a 9x13 pan. Top with cubed crusty bread covered in 1 T olive oil and 1 t rosemary. Bake at 375 for 15-20 min.

Drink a Dark & Stormy on the side.

Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese with Tomato Basil Soup

Sometimes when I'm working at the department I head to Karen's on Astor for lunch, and get a small half mac&cheese/half tomato-basil soup with a roll for lunch. It's cheesy and creamy and hot and delicious. Today I decided to recreate it at home.

For the mac and cheese component, I adapted a recipe I found at Culinary Cory. The main substitution was Muenster cheese for Velveeta (eeeew, Velveeta...), but I also used slightly less salt than originally called for. Here's the tweaked version I made:

Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese
3 cups Cavatappi pasta (dry)
3 Tbl. unsalted butter
8 oz. Muenster cheese, cubed
1 ¼ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 cup milk
½ cup heavy cream
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water for 5 minutes or until it is just under al dente. Drain and place in the slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients to the pasta and stir until well combined. Cook on high for 2 – 3 hours stirring about every 30 minutes.

For the rest:

While the mac & cheese in its final burbly minutes of cooking, heat up some Imagine Organic Creamy Tomato Basil soup in one pan, and boil some shelled edamame in water in another.
Put a big ladleful of mac & cheese in a bowl.
Pour the hot tomato basil soup over it.
Drain the edamame, put in a separate bowl to serve on the side. Lightly salt the edamame, if you're into salt.

The result is creamy, filling comfort food perfect for a cold rainy night. And it looks pretty, too (orange-yellow next to bright green)