Category Archives: Pasta

Shredded, Roasted Brussels with Tiny Pasta and Cheeses

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I hate to say it, but I think I’m over winter vegetables. Don’t get me wrong, I love meals with simple roasted root vegetables with olive oil and garlic, but, I seriously crave fresh Summer tomatoes and grilled corn…and sugar snap peas… I do enjoy all seasons, but I’m ready to end this Winter chapter and move on. I am so looking forward to seeing the trees bud and daffodils and lillies…Ok, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Tonight’s dinner. I had some Brussels sprouts in my fridge that needed to be used. I was going to make a raw, slivered salad with a light honey dijon, white balsamic vinegar dressing, but decided against it and made something up instead. I had some shallots, tiny pasta shells, breadcrumbs, pecorino and Bulgarian feta. So, I mixed it all together in a 9×13 baking dish and roasted it for about 45 min, or until the Brussels were crispy. I added the chopped almonds last minute (read: after I put the dish in the oven for 5 minutes) and I’m glad I did because they gave the dish a nice crunch. I have to say, it was pretty freaking delicious and super simple. Mind you, I didn’t really measure anything, so, just eyeball the ingredients until you’re satisfied with how it comes together.

  • 1 bag/container of Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
  • 1- 1 1/2c. tiny pasta shells cooked, al dente
  • 1 medium shallot, sliced
  • olive oil
  • 1/3c. bread crumbs
  • 1/3C shredded Pecorino cheese
  • Handful of crumbled Bulgarian feta
  • Handful of chopped almonds (or, hazelnuts if you have them)
  • Crushed red pepper
  • Salt/pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook pasta until al dente, drain. Wash, trim and thinly slice the Brussels sprouts, add both to the 9×13 baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil. (You can also spray the baking dish with cooking spray). Add bread crumbs (I used the Progresso Italian ones rather than the Panko breadcrumbs I also had on hand), shallots, almonds, shredded pecorino and feta. You can stir it up at this point if you choose. Bake at 400 for about 35-45 minutes, or until the Brussels sprouts are browned. I prefer them a bit crispy. I had the meal with a nice, crisp white wine (Grüner). Hey, it was a long work day. Oof. I’m sure there are typos above.

Broccoli Pesto

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Want to try a different kind of pesto? Cool, so did I. What follows is my adaptation of a conglomeration of recipes I found online. I don’t use cheese in my pesto, but would rather add to my pasta when I eat it. But, as always, you can adapt this to your taste and add some grated Pecorino Romano if you wish. I had my pesto with mini rigatoni pasta, and long fusilli. This recipe also works well as a dip with pita chips (or so I’m told by a ginger from Nebraska [he seems trustworthy enough ;)]). Enjoy!

  • Trimmed, washed broccoli florets from one head of broccoli
  • 1-2 cloves garlic
  • 1/3 – 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup roasted almonds (optional)
  • Handful of rinsed basil leaves
  • Crushed red pepper to taste
  • Salt, pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup of Pecorino Romano cheese (if using)

Trim and wash broccoli florets. You can either steam them in the microwave or in a steamer on the stove. I chose the lazy route (hello, less dishes to wash) and steamed them in a bowl in a bit of water in the microwave. Steam until they’re bright green (not mushy!). Add florets, basil leaves, almonds (if using), olive oil, crushed red pepper, garlic to the bowl of the food processor. Pulse until ground and just combined. You may find that you’ll need to add more olive oil at this point. Season to your liking. Consume!

Orzo Chickpea Salad with Artichoke Hearts, Arugula, Lemon and Thyme

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It’s gloomy, windy and raining (is it October? really?)…so, I decided to have something a little “spring-y” for dinner. What’s more spring-like than lemon and thyme? Well, maybe many things…but, it tastes like spring and summer to me. Besides, I’m not in full-fledged roasted root vegetable mode yet. (I did, however make some roasted butternut squash risotto last week and it was super delicious).

This recipe just came together pretty quickly in my head. If you don’t have orzo I think it’d work well with farro too. If you want it more spring-like add some raw asparagus.

  • 1c orzo, cooked
  • 1 can chickpeas, rinsed, drained
  • 1/2 can of artichoke hearts, chopped (and 1/4 cup reserved liquid from artichoke hearts)
  • 3-4 handfulls of arugula, chopped
  • 1/4c oil-cured Moroccan olives, chopped
  • 3-4 sprigs of thyme leaves
  • zest and juice of 1 medium-sized lemon
  • 2-3 TB olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Cook orzo according to directions (until al dente). No need to cool orzo. In a medium-sized bowl, add to chickpeas and remainder of ingredients. You may want to add less oil and a little more of the reserved liquid from the quartered artichoke hearts, it’s up to you. Like I said, this recipe is pretty adaptable.

(Somewhat lazy) Lactino Kale Pesto and Lumachine

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I was going to make some butternut squash risotto for dinner later, then I realized that I only had one carton of vegetable stock. Well, that wouldn’t do because I need 6-8 cups of stock. I didn’t feel like going outside and interrupting my work flow, so, the risotto will have to wait another day. And here I was all jazzed about risotto. Oh well. I searched in my fridge (which makes it sound like I have a bottomless vegetable crisper) and decided to use the lactino kale and make some pesto. So, I made it, tasted and adjusted and I’m still not sure about it. I added toasted walnuts, a clove of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper…BUT, it was still too bitter. Hm. So I added dash of white balsamic vinegar, some lemon zest and half a lemons worth of juice. Still not too sure. I will try it later. If it’s a fail, well, that’s okay. We should embrace our failures as much as our successes. I froze more than half the huge portion and will eat the remainder this week. After all, it’s just me here. No one to impress, really..

I wanted to use tiny shell pasta or even orzo for this. Of course you can use penne, rigatoni, or a tube pasta. Or, you can use a grain like couscous, farro, or barley too.

Kale Pesto

  • One bunch of lactino kale, washed trimmed
  • 1/3 -1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil
  • Handful of toasted walnuts
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon (optional)
  • Dash of white balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar (optional)
  • Salt, pepper to taste
  • Dash of red pepper flakes

Concerning the kale, I cut off the very end of the stalks but used most of the stems in addition to the leaves. (Hm, maybe that’s where some of the bitterness comes from?). Put all ingredients in a food processor until well combined. You may only need 1/3 cup of oil. If you have walnut oil, you could use that instead too. If you don’t have walnuts, use almonds. Those are good too. I don’t like pine nuts, hence they’re not in the recipe. Serve with warm pasta. Also, don’t drain out all the pasta water. While adding the pesto to the pasta in the bowl, add a few ladles (1/2 cup) of the pasta water. The starchy water makes the sauce creamier/thicker and helps with the consistency.