Giada's Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

When this came out of the oven this afternoon, I thought "I wish I could take a picture of the way it smells." Che Buono!

Ingredients

• 2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips
• 2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 cremini mushrooms, halved
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix or herbs de Provence
• 1 pound penne pasta
• 3 cups marinara sauce (store bought or homemade, I used Giada's basic marinara recipe)
• 1 cup grated fontina cheese
• 1/2 cup grated smoked mozzarella
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup for topping
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a baking sheet, toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and onions with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and dried herbs. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, cheeses, peas, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.

Pour the pasta into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan. Top with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and butter pieces. Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

I have made 7 of Giada's recipes in the last two weeks. 5 of them were DELISH. I think she deserves a spot on the sidebar. You're movin' on up Giada!

Giada's Yummy Spinach

This is fresh, light and a great way to use up the rest of your large bag of spinach. My fam doesn't go for cooked spinach, so when I made this, I made it for one, but I ate a half a bag of spinach. Go Leafy Green Requirement!

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large red onions, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 (10 ounce) bags of prewashed spinach ( about 10 cups)
• 1 lemons, zest of

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and the garlic and cook until almost tender, about 6 minutes. Add the broth, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
3. Add one third of the spinach and cook it until it just begins to wilt. Continue adding the spinach one large handful at a time, sautéing just until it begins to wilt before adding more.
4. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, sprinkle with lemon zest and serve.

Giada's Basic Marinara

No, I don't have a personal relationship with Giada De Laurentiis from the Food Network. But I got two of her books at the library this week, I've tried two recipes, and been happy two times.

I've been frustrated with the lack of consistent success with my marinara sauce. (BTW Jim and Lisa, I really want both of your marinara recipes.) The main differences I see between her sauce and mine is that she uses a lot more olive oil, more onion, and bay leaves. I liked the sauce. The fam liked it, and it's freezable, easy to double, and doctor up into a ton of other sauces.

I don't know where our camera is right now, so no pictures.

Directions

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 small onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes

2 dried bay leaves

In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)

I copied and pasted that from her website, so that's why there are all the links. I hope that's not a copyright infringement. It's all about GIADA people. It's not MINE.

Mason Redd's Tomato and Basil Pizza

I first had this pizza when I was 12. I was in Utah for my brother's wedding and his future wife's father made it in a homemade brick oven. It converted me to tomatoes.

A pizza margarita is far more common now than it was then. But just in case YOU don't know about it. I thought I'd share, and preserve a happy family memory.



Using your favorite pizza crust as a base (no recipe suggestion here. I just use my kitchen aid recipe. so quick. so easy. but so not useful if you don't have a kitchen aid) do the following:

1. Drizzle olive oil on the dough. Spread evenly with your hand.
2. Sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese.
3. Layer sliced tomatoes (use A LOT, I wish I had used more on the above). I usually use Roma's, but I had a few beefsteak and marglobes left over from my garden. You don't want a super watery tomato, so that's why the Roma's are nice.
4. Sprinkle salt (not too much) and parmesan cheese over the top.
5. Cut fresh basil in a chiffonade and spread generously over pizza. (again, wish I had used more)
6. Bake pizza at the temperature and time recommended by your crust recipe. We like a thin crust, so I usually bake at 400 for 20 minutes. But that's just my quirky oven. Don't count on it.



Mmm. The happy result. I serve this with Spring Mix tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar (which I recently learned how to reduce thanks Audrey which makes it thicker, sweeter, and syrup-ier.) and salt.

Audrey's Sausage, Peppers and Potatoes

Are you catching a theme here? I did a dinner swap with Audrey last year and the relationship was SO not reciprocal. I'm sure she'll be blessed for her kindness.

Anyway, we had this tonight with a greek salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions marinated in white vinegar with coarse salt and garlic pepper and served over baby spinach and iceberg lettuce with feta cheese and pine nuts and a red wine vinaigrette. I wanted more.)

Ingredients

6 potatoes (if you use Yukon Golds, you don't have to peel them before cutting, but I only had Russets)
2 Bell Peppers julienned
1 yellow onion small dice
4 Italian Sausage Links (I buy Costco's Premio Italian Sausage, cheaper and bigger than Johnsonville, and just as delicious)
Olive Oil
Coarse Salt and Pepper
Minced Garlic
Dried Basil
Red Pepper Flakes



Instructions

1. Peel (if necessary) and dice your potatoes, keeping them the same size. Add julienned peppers and diced onion and 1 tsp. minced garlic. Toss with Olive Oil. Salt and Pepper to taste and add a pinch each of basil and red pepper flakes.



2. Using scissors, cut sausage links into bite sized nuggets over the potato/vegetable mixture in a 9x13 glass pan.


3. Bake at 350 for 60-90 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender and sausage is fully cooked and a little crispy.

Audrey's Ratatouille

This food is the combination of everything perfect. Tons of vegetables, chicken that's tender on the inside, crispy on the outside, served over couscous. I haven't yet learned to make it so it is consistently FABULOUS, but it is consistently pretty yummy. Audrey's is consistently fabulous. And I'm not bitter. Today.





Ingredients

4-5 Chicken Thighs (one per person), skin removed by hand (if you buy the skinless, it has almost no fat on it and you need the fat to make it mo' tasty and delicious) I buy mine at Costco.
1 zucchini sliced in half lengthwise, cut into small half circles. Make them the same width.
3 carrots peeled and sliced on the diagonal.
1 onion diced small.
2 bell peppers diced large.
1 ripe eggplant (the ripeness is important, if you cut it open and it is green close to the skin, cut of the green parts. They taste like cucumber and will ruin the flavor of the dish)
Olive OilBalsamic VinegarCoarse Salt and Pepper
Garlic Pepper
Minced Garlic
32 oz can whole tomatoes
Regular or whole wheat couscous prepared according to package directions, except I like to make mine in chicken broth instead of water.


Instructions

1. After removing the skin from the chicken thighs, grind salt and garlic pepper, flavoring both sides of the chicken.


2. Warm 1 T Olive oil in a pan on medium high heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add chicken. Allow chicken to brown about 5 minutes on each side. It does not need to cook through, just get a nice crisp on both sides.


3. After chopping all your vegetables, toss them with olive oil, coarse salt and pepper, balsamic vinegar and about 1 T of minced garlic. I do not have measurements on the oil, salt and pepper and vinegar because I totally eyeball it. Maybe this explains my lack of consistent deliciousness . . .



4. Place the vegetables in a glass 9x13 pan and lay the chicken on top.


5. Drain your canned tomatoes and pour them on top of the chicken. Add some salt to the tomatoes.



6. Bake for 2 hours at 300 degrees, checking vegetables for tenderness. If, like me, you prepare your dish in the morning and refrigerate it during the day, you will need to add additional cooking time for the pan and the food to warm up. About a half hour.

7. Prepare couscous.

8. Enjoy your health conscious triumph!

Mushroom and Sweet Potato Risotto

I'm trying to cut back on our grocery bill so I've been inventing with whatever I have in the fridge. Last night I looked in and found onions, carrots, sweet potatoes and mushrooms and a cup of arborio rice in the pantry. This turned out fantastic. It is low fat, yet oh so creamy.


Ingredients

1 tsp. Canola Oil
1 small onion, diced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, peeled and cut into same size chunks as sweet potato
6 white button mushrooms, sliced
Coarse salt
Freshly ground garlic pepper
Pinch of dried rosemary
1 C arborio rice
5 C chicken broth
Freshly grated parmesan

Instructions

Heat chicken broth in a pan and maintain a low simmer. Heat oil in large stockpot on medium heat. Add onion, sweet potato, carrots and mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste . Cook on medium heat until onions are translucent, stirring often and taking care not to burn the onions.

Add dry rice to vegetables and let brown, stirring often for 2 minutes. Add rosemary and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 C of chicken broth to the stockpot and deglaze the pan, breaking up the frond (browned bits) from the bottom of the pot.

When the vegetables and rice have absorbed all the broth, add another cup of broth. Repeat this process, adding one cup of broth at a time, until all of the broth is gone and the rice and vegetables are soft. Stir often. You can leave the pot unattended for a minute or so, but much longer than that and you get scorching on the bottom. I usually set up shop in the kitchen with some task (usually loading the dishwasher and cleaning) while I'm stirring.

When rice is al dente, ladle into serving bowl. Sprinkle freshly grated parmesan cheese (I use the Pampered Chef rotary cheese grater) on top. Serve immediately.

4 out of 5 members of my family liked this dish. And the only naysayer didn't even try it!

ps I think I can use chicken broth in a vegetarian meal. But I just read that fancy chefs get annoyed when people call a meal vegetarian that has chicken broth in it. So Fancy Chef, I give you permission to substitute vegetable based broth.

Grandpa's Pizza Sauce

We love going out for pizza at Grandpa's. His sauce goes together so quick and tastes wonderful. We recently had it on a green tomato and sausage pizza (another invention of his). You slice the green tomatoes very thin and use both mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. I meant to get a picture of the finished product before we cut into it, but it were just too excited to wait.



Pizza Sauce Ingredients

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp Oregano
1 1/2 tsp ground or whole fennel (I prefer whole, but my significant other prefers ground)
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried basil

Stir ingredients together and spread on pizza. No cooking required!

Cathy's Artisan Bread

I made this last night and it was SO delicious.

Ingredients

3 C warm water
1 1/2 T yeast
1 1/2 T coarse salt
6 1/2 C flour (I used half white, half freshly ground white wheat)
Cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a mixer bowl. Add half of your flour and salt (to protect your yeast from direct contact with the salt) and mix. (I used my kitchen aid with a dough hook.) Add remaining flour. The dough will be VERY sticky.

Grease a large plastic bowl and transfer dough. Cover bowl with a lid or tight Saran wrap that's been sprayed with cooking spray. Let sit for 2 hours at room temperature.

Flour your hands and the counter top with a half cup of flour. Grab a grapefruit size hunk of dough from the bowl. Drop it on the counter and nonchalantly form it into a loaf. (Whatever you do, don't knead it. Because this is supposed to be a no-knead recipe. The consequences might be disastrous.) Cover the loaf with Saran wrap. Cover remaining dough and put in the fridge to be used at a later date. (Keep in the fridge for up to a week, Cath says after that the sourdough flavor is too strong.)

Preheat oven and a baking stone to 400 degrees. Allow oven to heat for a full 20 minutes while dough is doing it's final rise on a pizza slip sprinkled with cornmeal. Slip dough off pizza slip onto baking stone. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Spread slices of bread with butter and have your neighbors over for a slice . . . or two.

To make loaves from remaining dough, just double your rise time. Take your grapefruit sized hunk, let it return to room temperature and give it two rises, with the final rise on the pizza slip. Don't forget to get the oven and baking stone good and hot!

Rigatoni Rustici

We had this dish at Macaroni Grill a few years back and I think this comes pretty close.


Ingredients

32 oz can Hunt's Tomato Sauce
Olive Oil
Salt
1/2 C Crumbled Feta Cheese
14 Fresh Basil, chiffonad-ed!
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 small white onion, cut into small strips
2 Italian Sausage Links

Put 1 T olive oil in a sauce pan. Heat through and add tomatoes and salt to taste. Check sauce for acidity, adding sugar if necessary. Add feta and basil.

Stir fry bell pepper and onion in a separate pan until al dente.

Cook sausage (with casing) in a sauce pan with a few inches of water until the water boils off and the sausage is browned.

Slice sausage into bites. Add sausage and vegetables to sauce. Serve over al dente Rigatoni.

Zucchini boats with mushrooms and bacon

I got the idea for the zucchini boats from one of my favorite food blogs, For The Love of Cooking. But I had to use the ingredients I had on hand, so this is what I came up with. They were fantastic. My dear spouse doesn't like zucchini or mushrooms, and he had seconds!


Ingredients

1 zucchini
1/4 C Panko Bread Crumbs
Parmesan Cheese
Diced Mushrooms
Cooked and Crumbled Bacon
1 egg
Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper
Italian Seasoning

Combine Bread Crumbs, Parmesan, Mushrooms, and Bacon. Beat egg and toss with dry mixture to coat.


Cut Zucchini in half and scoop out the middle with a spoon. Lightly brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Spoon mixture into zucchini.


Bake for 20 minute at 375 degrees.

Greek Couscous

Kathryn and the boys were up here last weekend and we stopped in at Sweet Tomatoes. They had the most delicious cold couscous salad and last night I tried to replicate it. It was good, but even tastier today after a night in the fridge.


Ingredients

1 1/2 C Couscous (I used white, but next time I'm going to try a mix of white and wheat)
2 1/4 C Chicken Broth
1 can garbanzo beans
1/2 C Feta Cheese, crumbled
diced tomatoes
diced cucumber
diced red bell pepper
fresh basil, parsley and oregano, minced
Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper
Fresh Lemon juice
Greek Vinaigrette

Bring chicken broth to a boil and add couscous. Remove from heat. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff thoroughly with a fork and refrigerate. When couscous is cold, toss with drained and rinsed garbanzo beans, feta, vegetables, and herbs. Squeeze juice of half a lemon and salt and pepper to taste. Next time I'll try adding a little Greek Vinaigrette for a little more flavor. But it was delicious anyway!

Audrey's Pear and Blue Cheese salad with Candied Pecans

Check out my "salad hands". My sister-in-law first showed me these and I've been wanting them for years. I got them this week and they are as wonderful at tossing salad as I had hoped!

1 T Butter

1 C Pecans

1/2 C Granulated Sugar

1/8 tsp. Salt

1 bag spinach

2 ripe pears (or crisp apples -- pears are best)

1/2 C crumbled Blue Cheese

To make pecans: In a nonstick skillet using a wooden spoon (plastic will melt), over medium high heat, melt butter. Add pecans, sugar and salt. Move pecans in pan until sugar begins to dissolve. Once most of sugar is dissolved, let pecans cool on non-stick wax or parchment paper. It seems initially in this process that nothing is happening, and then the sugar dissolves all at once. At this point, it is very easy to burn the pecans, so be careful to stir constantly and remove from heat if pecans are getting too brown.

Place spinach in salad bowl. Top with pears (sliced thin), crumbled blue cheese, and pecans (slightly cooled and crumbled by hand) Dress salad lightly with vinaigrette recipe below.

Dijon Vinaigrette

6 T olive oil

3 T finely chopped onion or shallots

3 T white wine vinegar

6-10 T sugar (start with 6 and then taste. You want it to be tangy, yet sweet.)

1 T Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 t black pepper

In a blender combine

all ingredients. Blend until pureed. You probably won't need all of the dressing. Dress the salad first and then taste, adding if you need more.

Audrey's Shepherd's Pie

Okay, so first off, I have to say that these pictures do not do this Shepherd's Pie justice. I used (gulp!) INSTANT mashed potatoes and it lost a great deal of the delectableness, let me tell you! So, be forewarned. Homemade mashed potatoes make this dish out of this world!

Ingredients

1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground Italian sausage
1 onion, finely chopped
1-2 finely chopped carrots
1 can green beans, drained
1 large handful of frozen corn
1 jar marinara sauce

or
Homemade marinara sauce (1 can diced tomatoes, 2 cans tomato sauce, 1 can tomato paste, salt, basil,crushed pepper, garlic, sugar)

Sliced cheddar cheese (in spite of what the picture may suggest, I did NOT use processed cheese. Those are Tillamook Sharp Cheddar Slices from Costco)

6-8 servings mashed potatoes (we make our homemade with Yukon Golds, milk, butter, sour cream and salt. MMM BOY!)

In a sauce pan, brown meat, with onion, and carrots. Add green beans, corn, and marinara sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Even when I use jarred marinara I add a little more salt, basil and crushed pepper).

Place meat mixture in 9x13 pan. Place enough slices of cheese over the top. Finish with the mashed potatoes spread evenly over the cheese. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until bubbly and toasted on top.

Michele's Basic Sweet Bread Recipe

I love that this recipe can make a great banana, zucchini, apple or pumpkin bread depending on the spices you add. I'm normally not a huge fan of banana bread, but this is as yummy as a spice cake!

Basic Sweet Bread--recipe is for one loaf

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (I often halve this and use applesauce for the other half, works great)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg (you will need to add an additional egg beyond the ratio when doubling)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 tsp cloves
1/3 tsp ginger

1 cups mashed banana (cinnamon & cloves only) OR
1 cups chopped apple (all spices) OR
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (all spices) OR
1 cups pumpkin (all spices)

Cream sugar and margarine in large bowl. Add vanilla and eggs. Add dry ingredients. Mix. Add fruit. Mix well. Pour into greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 35-45 minutes. (Usually closer to 45 or even a bit more).