Archive for the 'pasta' Category
9 out of 10 firemen can’t be wrong.
So Friday morning, you may have heard, I did a cooking segment on BT at the new Le Creuset store in Chinook (yes, I’m working on free stuff here! there are channels to go through!) WITH the firemen from the 2011 Hot Stuff calendar. Yes, my job does not suck at all some days. Although it must be said that Jill had a little more firefigher attention than I did. Possibly a lot.
We cooked with beef – ground sirloin, which comes from a single cut (sirloin) rather than a bunch (which you typically get with ground beef), which I like the idea of, plus you get the taste of a steak in ground form. Bonus: ground sirloin has about the same amount of fat as the extra-lean ground beef you’ll get at the grocery store, but with far better flavour and texture. Our theme was cooking with beef and beefcakes, surrounded by Le Creuset. Forget whiskers on kittens – these are a few of my favourite things. The coffee at Phil & Sebastian right next door completed me.
We made shepherd’s pies, a beefy Moroccan dish with olives and couscous, and these stuffed shells.
(Or rather they made them, under my -loose- direction.) They had it covered. They did a little improv. When the second wave of firemen arrived to eat, the consensus was the stuffed shells were their favourite. They’re like little two-bite lasagnas, filled with beef, spinach and ricotta and topped with melty cheese. How could you not adore them? I must admit I’ve always wondered who buys giant pasta shells to stuff – but despite their slipperiness and the fact that several tore or broke and were nibbled on by W or fed to the dog, I’ll be making them again. It was quick – I cooked up the beef, onion and garlic while boiling the shells, added it to some ricotta and spinach (the second time I added a spoonful of pesto, too), spooned the mixture into the shells (kids love getting in on this part, and it wasn’t at all finicky), poured sauce over, sprinkled with cheese and baked until bubbly. Easy. They freeze well (before baking), so you can make a big batch, divide it between two baking dishes, eat one right away and freeze the other for another night. Bake it straight from frozen.
Here’s the recipe – it’s very adaptable though – we didn’t measure particularly closely.
Florentine Beef & Cheese-Stuffed Shells
The best part about this gussied-up twist on lasagna is that it makes two pans – that means you can stash one away for a no-effort dinner another night. If you have kids around, small hands are particularly adept at stuffing pasta shells. Recipe courtesy of beefinfo.org.
1 box (340 g) jumbo pasta shells (approx. 44 shells)
1 lb (500 g) lean or extra lean ground beef sirloin
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2-3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. (5 mL) Italian seasoning
1 pkg. (454 g) light ricotta cheese
1 pkg. (300 g) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp (2 mL) pepper
4 cups (1 L) pasta sauce
1/4 cup (50 mL) grated Parmesan cheese
Cook pasta shells according to package directions. Drain and set aside. (Don’t worry if some shells tear – you won’t need them all.)
Meanwhile, cook the beef, onion, garlic and Italian seasoning in large, deep skillet set over medium heat until the beef is thoroughly cooked and any liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat. Stir in the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup of the mozzarella and pepper. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the filling into each of about 32 shells.
Spread about a cup of the pasta sauce into each of 9×13-inch baking dish and a 9-inch glass pie plate (or similar sized baking dishes). Place 20 filled shells in the larger baking dish, and 10 to 12 in the pie plate. Drizzle the remaining pasta sauce over the shells, sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan. (At this point the dish can be covered and refrigerated overnight or frozen for up to 4 months). Cover loosely with foil and bake in 350°F oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 minutes, until bubbly around the edges and golden on top.
Makes 10 servings.
February 16 2011 | beef and freezable and pasta | 16 Comments »
I’ve been a bit preoccupied with the thought of gnocchi lately. Maybe because they remind me of teeny little pillows. Maybe because they’re perfect little chubby carbohydrate dumplings I want to curl up on the couch and hibernate with. Maybe because they are so closely associated with browned butter. Probably all of the above.
I’ve made gnocchi, and ordered it at restaurants, but never bought it at the grocery store – this was a total impulse buy. It was fine – like plain pasta that needed some dressing up. In this case I resurrected some mushrooms, sauteing them with butter and garlic after doing the same to a diced sweet potato. I had seen this, but mine was far, far more streamlined.
It would be a waste to write out a recipe, not that I’d remember it anyway. Heavy cast iron skillet, canola oil and butter, diced sweet potato, then mushrooms and garlic. Boiled gnocchi tossed with all of the above, plus a glob of butter left to melt, then turn golden and nutty in the pan with the browned bits in the bottom. Easy to stab at with a fork at my desk on nights when it’s already dark by 4 o’clock.
December 13 2010 | pasta and vegetarian | 9 Comments »
I think I may have found my new favourite end-of-a-long-day-don’t-feel-like-cooking-but-very-much-feel-like-eating comfort food sort of dinner. It’s easier to make than reheating a jar of spaghetti sauce. And probably costs in the vicinity of a buck. Which means more for the coffee fund.
And we have peas. Lots of them. Mike and W shelled them on the living room floor, with Lou catching the strays. I wanted to use them as more than green filler for our dinner plates – to show them off a little more – and I remembered a Jamie Oliver recipe for cheesy peas.
Just the sort of recipe I tend to look at, mentally nod and move on, because I know the gist of it already. Peas, butter, lemon and cheese. I could do that, easy. But do I ever? No.
It seemed like a good pairing for pasta, and I’m a fan of tossing peas into pasta water for the last cooking minutes and draining – it’s like dinner multitasking. So I morphed the two, taking his advice to scoop out some of the starchy water before draining it, then tossed the noodles (linguine, but it could be anything) with a splash of it, butter, juice of a lemon and grated Parm. Lots of pepper. Divine. I wish I had another bowl of it in bed.
Pasta with Jamie’s Cheesy Peas
Really, don’t even worry about the measurements. Make as much pasta and peas as you like, and dress them up with butter, lemon and cheese, adding enough pasta water to make a sauce.
enough pasta for 3-4
4 big handfuls of fresh or frozen peas
a knob of butter
lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
a squeeze of lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
Bring a big pot of water to a boil and add the pasta; cook until al dente, adding the peas for the last 4 minutes of cooking time. Before you drain it, scoop out some of the water with a measuring cup.
Drain the pasta and peas and put it back in the pan – add a knob of butter, a squeeze of lemon and lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and enough of the pasta water to make a saucy consistency. Serves 3-4.
September 23 2010 | pasta and vegetarian | 14 Comments »
Swerve is out! That means I can officially share the recipe everyone was drooling over last week. And in fact I did make it again tonight, having come home to not much in the fridge but cheese left over from this recipe, and milk that I threw in the freezer to use in baking and stuff like this. I used frozen spinach, and it did the trick. I also made it with brown rice pasta this time, in a tentative move away from consuming so much wheat. I know, baby steps.
Also: I have news!
No, it’s not a bun in the oven. But – it’s a boy! I get to host – yes, me – one ANTHONY BOURDAIN when he comes to Calgary in January. Maybe you’ve heard of him? My stomach is already doing flip-flops over not only getting to meet him, but INTRODUCE him. Do you think that counts as an ab workout? Maybe I’ll have abs of steel by January?
Here are the specifics: he’ll be giving a Kitchen Confidential lecture on Tuesday, January 12th at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in the Epcore Centre for Performing Arts. Doors open at 7; the talk will start at 8. Afterward I believe there will be a reception (to which you can buy tickets, I think?) with Janice Beaton Fine Cheese and wine from Willow Park Wines & Spirits. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more about it myself.
And yes, tickets are on sale now – $35 to $100 – you can buy them at the Epcor Centre Box Office, online or by calling (403) 294-9494.
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November 13 2009 | pasta | 50 Comments »
Standing in line at the Co-op deli this morning I zeroed in on a new little sign stuck into a leopard-print wheel of cheese in the display window. It read: Sticky Toffee Cheese. Well, OK.
SINCE YOU PUT IT THAT WAY.
I bought a chunk and took it home for my very own. Rich, salty-sweet and dense, almost like a soft cows’ milk cheddar, studded with a soft brown sugary toffee of sorts, it was not long for this world.
I was there in the queue to buy cheese for research purposes, on assignment for next Friday’s issue of Swerve (the Calgary Herald magazine). (I love it when cheese becomes a business expense.) I chose to make a mac & cheese. My capacity for the stuff is near limitless; especially when it’s made with bacon, onions, roasted garlic, kale, and old Gouda and manchego cheese, then baked with a crusty halo of olive-oily bread crumbs. I picked at the crispy edges and finished the last dozen or so spoonfuls cold, standing up at the stove.
(Since this is technically for Swerve I’m going to hold out on you – I’ll post the recipe when it comes out next Friday. You’ll just have to come on back. Sorry.)
One Year Ago: Roast Pork Loin stuffed with Onions, Apples and Apricots, Roasted Squash, Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potato Pie
November 04 2009 | pasta | 22 Comments »
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