rotini with salsa di limone

i saw giada make this on her show a few months ago and it looked so good. i eat way too much pasta, but i knew i'd be trying it eventually. i wasn't sure if i'd actually like it though because i have never had ricotta salata and i'm not too keen on lemon juice in foods usually. i gave it a shot today though and thought it was pretty tasty. it was pretty simple and fast too. the only part that got tedious was seeding and chopping up the tomatoes. i learned that the best method was to cut each tomato in half and use a teaspoon to scoop out the seeds and innards. then just dice what's left.

Rotini with Salsa di Limone Recipe by Giada de Laurentiis

1 pound rotini pasta 1 1/4 pound Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 large lemon, zested and juiced 1 cup crumbled ricotta salata cheese or feta cheese 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. Place the hot pasta in a large bowl. Add the tomatoes, olive oil, lemon zest and juice, ricotta salata cheese, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Toss to combine, adding the remaining pasta water, if desired. Serve.

whoaaa, extreme pasta closeup!

anyway, i made this pasta so i could give some to my brother (like i mentioned before, he doesn't cook often) but he hasn't come by to try it yet. hopefully he will approve. i used feta cheese instead of ricotta salata and i don't remember if he likes it. we usually like to make a pasta salad with penne, mozzarella, tomatoes, and a dressing of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. this is similar with the tomatoes and cheese, but tastes a bit lighter due to the lemon. i haven't decided which i like better because they taste different.

garlic spinach pasta

i have half a bag of spinach sitting in my refrigerator and need to use it up before it goes bad.

i also had some cream cheese, pasta, and garlic (always garlic!).

this is what i came up with. it's very garlicky so if you're not down with garlic as much as i am, put in half a clove or even less.


garlic spinach pasta
serves one

1 cup rotini
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 handful baby spinach, stems cut off leaves
3-4 tablespoons cream cheese
1 tablespoon half and half
pinch of salt and pepper
parmesan cheese

cook the pasta in a pot of salted water. drain and reserve 1/4 cup pasta water.

take half of the spinach and chop finely. place in bowl with garlic, cream cheese, salt and pepper. and half and half. beat with electric mixer until well combined. (if you have a food processor you could use that instead.) add pasta water and stir well.

put the remaining spinach on the bottom of serving dish or bowl, top with pasta, and pour sauce on top. toss to coat. whole spinach leaves should wilt slightly.

sprinkle with parmesan cheese, season with more salt and pepper to taste.


i didn't have any parmesan cheese. :( i think it would also be good to add a few tablespoonfuls to the spinach-cheese mixture for more flavor. when i made it, the garlic was overpowering but i didn't have a big problem with that since i love garlic. if i make this again i would definitely need something else. maybe part of a vegetable bullion cube.

fresh veggie overload!

these past few days i've been subsisting off of quesadillas. all of the dairy's been making me feel kind of gross so i thought today i should have something more healthy.

i've had my eye on the pioneer woman's favorite salad for a while so i was pretty psyched to make it today. lots of chopping. i realized when i was making the dressing that i didn't have sesame oil. disappointment! so i harassed my brother over text messages to try to get him to bring me the sesame oil in his apartment. after bribing him with freshly baked cookies (i started to make chocolate chip cookies when i was waiting), he called me and told me he was on his way.

now my brother is a meat-and-potatoes type of person. he rarely eats vegatables but admits to popping a frozen pizza in the oven a few days a week. when he came over with the coveted sesame oil i offered him some salad and he really liked it. sweet success! little brother does like some vegetables!

Asian Noodle Salad
adapted from Jamie Oliver by the Pioneer Woman

SALAD INGREDIENTS:

1 package linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled

1/2 to 1 head sliced Napa cabbage
1/2 to 1 head sliced purple cabbage
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin
1 small bag bean sprouts
3 sliced scallions
3 peeled, sliced cucumbers
LOTS of chopped cilantro—up to one bunch

DRESSING:

Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 hot peppers or jalapenos, chopped
More chopped cilantro—LOTS

Mix together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on platter.
*Dressing keeps up to three days before serving, WITHOUT cilantro.


this made a LOT of salad. pretty yummy though! i'll be eating off of this for the rest of the week. i think it would be tasty with some fried tofu (my brother suggested chicken, haha).

also ugh, i hate the way the lighting in my kitchen is yellow and how i fail at fixing pictures on the computer. oh well. hopefully i'll get better at that.

mushroom bolognese

yeah i'll admit i didn't know what bolognese sauce was until after i made it and after i wikipedia'd it.

wikipedia says:

Bolognese sauce (ragù alla bolognese in Italian, also known by its French name sauce bolognaise) is a meat based sauce for pasta originating in Bologna, Italy. Bolognese sauce is sometimes taken to be a tomato sauce but authentic recipes have only a very small amount of tomato, perhaps a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste.

oh i see.

the recipe i used came from a cookbook i received for christmas maybe 10 years ago when i first decided to become vegetarian. it's called the best-ever vegetarian cookbook and can be found here or at any barnes and noble stores i guess. i don't know if it is the BEST EVER cookbook, but it was a great starting point for someone who wasn't familiar with cooking sans animals. every recipe is pictured which is amazing. a lot of them were too sophisticated for my 11 year old tastes, but i did like that it didn't base recipes around mock meats which are kind of gross and rather expensive. instead of providing a list of things to substitute for meat, each recipe was unique and didn't make a big deal out of the fact that it was vegetarian. each dish i tried was easy to prepare -- by that time i had been cooking meals for my family for maybe a little over a year so i had some experience in the kitchen, but nothing too fancy. the only thing that failed me was the homemade ravioli recipe. *shrug* i'm sure if i tried it again i could get it though. i do wish, however, that it featured more recipes with tofu because it took me years to figure out how to prepare it. still, this book is what i turn to when i'm not feeling creative but still want to eat something healthy and tasty.

mushroom bolognese
(from the best-ever vegetarian cookbook)

1 pound of mushrooms
1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 T tomato paste
14 oz can chopped tomatoes
3 T fresh oregano
1 pound fresh pasta
salt and fresh cracked pepper
parmesan cheese, to serve (vegans, leave this out)

serves 4.

1. trim the mushroom stems neatly at the top, then cut each mushroom into quarters.
2. heat the oil in a large pan. add the chopped onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes.
3. add the mushrooms to the pan and cook over high heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. there will be quite a lot of liquid produced.
4. stir in the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, and 1 tablespoon of the oregano. lower the heat and cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
5. meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. cook the pasta for 2-3 minutes, or according to package directions, until just tender.
6. season the bolognese sauce with salt and pepper. drain the pasta, pour it into the bowl, and add the mushroom mixture. toss to mix well. serve in individual bowls, topped with shavings of fresh parmesan and the remaining chopped oregano.

*if you prefer to use dried pasta, make this the first thing you cook. use 12 oz dried pasta. it will take 10-12 minutes, during which time you can make the mushroom mixture.*

my comments: i used dried pasta. no pasta machine = no homemade pasta. i think it would be lovely to make everything homemade, but whatever. i also halved the recipe since i cook for myself and no one else. although it did not specify, i would recommend draining the tomatoes before adding them, perhaps reserving a small amount of liquid in case the sauce is too dry.

i also found this to be a little bland. i left out the cheese and only had dried oregano on hand, but i think even with those it would've been a little blah for my tastes. serve this to people like my great-aunt who order food "as mild as possible" when you go to restaurants.

once again, sorry for lack of photo. i am lazy.