Sausage and Pea Pasta in Tomato Cream

Feeding large groups is always an endeavor. To usher in the new year, Perry and I decided to go big - we would host two back to back parties. Different groups of friends. December 31 and January 1. And like the overachiever I am, dinner would be homemade, balanced, and hearty.

December 31 was our old church friends, a ladies "cookie party", which was really an excuse for me to bake like it was going out of style (new year's resolutions, anyone?). The number of diners was flexible, so I needed a dish that could be made quickly to accommodate more or less people. Pasta is always a great option here - add more or less pasta to accommodate the group, it cooks quickly, and can be eaten with a gazillion sauces and toppings. This version relies on Italian sausage for the flavor punch. It's flavorful, but you don't need a lot, tastes rich, and mediates me having to salt my own dish. I served the pasta with a side of blanched broccoli and everyone ate until satisfied! (But keep in mind that we also had four different types of cookies around, which will be separate posts!)

Sausage and Pea Pasta in Tomato Cream
Serves 8

6 italian sausage links, squeezed out of casing
2 medium onions, diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon oregano
1/2 pound of elbow macaroni
12 oz of frozen peas
1 cup diced mushrooms
1 pint heavy cream
cornstarch for thickening

1. Heat a nonstick tall pan or a pot. If you are using a pot that may stick, add olive oil.
2. Brown the sausage, breaking apart the meat into small bite sized pieces. Cook until there is no more pink, then drain any excess oil.
3. Simultaneously, heat a pot of salted water and prepare the macaroni as directed, until al dente. Reserve 2 cups of the pasta water. Drain pasta and set aside.
4. Reduce the pot to medium high. Add the onions to the pan, scraping the bottom of the pot to remove the suc.
5. When the onions are browned, lower the heat to medium and add the garlic, tomato paste, bay leaf, and oregano, frying together for a few minutes.
6. Add the peas and stir to incorporate. If the pan is getting too dry, add a half cup of the hot pasta water to the pan.
7. Add the mushrooms and cook through.
8. A few minutes before serving, add the heavy cream. Taste the sauce and adjust salt and pepper if necessary.
9. Make a cornstarch slurry with two tablespoons cornstarch and four tablespoons pasta water. stir until thick yet runny. Pour two teaspoons into the pan at a time, vigorously stirring in the cornstarch before it cooks. Repeat in different parts of the pan until the sauce has desired thickness.
10. Add the cooked pasta to the pan, stirring to incorporate flavors and allowing the sauce to stick to the pasta.
11. Serve! Actually tastes better the day after if you have leftovers.

Roasted Cauliflowe​r Soup

I am constantly craving soup as the temperatures drop and my grumpy-o-meter goes through the roof. Soup has this way of making you warm from the inside out. Any ingredient you have can be made into a tasty soup to warm your soup (and make me a bit less grumpy!)

 

Last night I had a few guests over and had to spontaneously menu plan. I spied some cauliflower on sale in the market - and cauliflower has been surprisingly expensive this year - so I snapped it up to make a creamy vegetable based soup. Roasting the cauliflower imparts a much warmer and round flavor while the roasted garlic adds a layer of pungent but gentle aroma. You can make the soup without the chicken broth or milk and it will still be hearty, smooth, and flavorful, and vegan friendly. Or you can be a bit decadent and add some heavy cream and bacon to the top for an added flavor boost and richness.

 

 

Pureed Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Serves 6-8

 



1 large head of cauliflower
Olive oil
Half head garlic
2 stalks celery
1 large onion
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
2 cups chicken stock
5 cups boiling water
1 cup whole milk (or half cup heavy cream)
Tablespoon salt
Teaspoon pepper
 

Optional: Bacon bits

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Wash cauliflower and break into florets, around 2-3 inches large. Precision isn't key because you are going to puree the soup later.
3. Line a tray with foil and add the cauliflower in a single layer. Drizzle with several tablespoons of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Mix to coat the cauliflower in oil.
4. Take the half head of garlic and slice the top few millimeters from the top, exposing a cross section of the cloves. Drizzle olive oil into the cloves, wrap in foil and place seam side up in the cauliflower tray to roast.
5. Optional: take a small broiling rack and position on top of the cauliflower. Lay three or four strips of bacon to cook and let the fat render over the cauliflower. Bacon can be diced later for bacon bits!
6. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, then stir to distribute heat and surface. Bake another 20 minutes or until golden on the edges.
7. While roasting, dice the onion and celery.
8. In a large stockpot, add the stock, water, bay leaf, celery, and onion to simmer. (I used my new crockpot! Hooray!)
9. When cauliflower and garlic are fully roasted, add to stock pot and allow soup to simmer for a few hours.
10. Before serving, fish out the bay leaf. Puree the soup mixture until smooth. Then add the milk or heavy cream. Salt and pepper to taste.
11. Serve in bowls and top with a spoonful of bacon bits. I imagine sliced scallions, parsley, or fried garlic slices would also make excellent toppers!
     

Ricotta Zucchini Squash Pasta

Ricotta is a perfect summer sauce. Its cool and light compared to cream sauces and a little goes a long way to make a dish sing.

I julienned fresh early summer squash and red pepper with some fettucini. The vegetables lend well to the pasta and the fettucine held the sauce better than I expected. The leftovers tended to be a little mushy, but still tasty.

Ricotta Zucchini Pasta
Serves 6

1 pack fettucini
5 small zucchini squash
1 red pepper
1 tablespoon roasted garlic
1 pinch chili flakes
2 cups ricotta cheese
Fresh basil or cilantro (optional)

1. Prepare pasta according to package. Cook al dente, as we'll be finishing it with the sauce. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
2. Wash and slice the vegetables into julienne. Basically 2 to 3 inch long match stick sized. (Match the shape of your veggies to the type/size off your pasta. Elbow pasta would be matched with diced veggies for example)
3. Heat a large pot with a tablespoon of olive oil. Turn the heat to low and add the garlic and chili flakes. Cook until fragrant.
4. Add the vegetables and cook until wilted. Add the ricotta and mix to incorporate. Add salt to taste.
5. Add the pasta and toss to coat.
6. Serve and garnish with herbs of choice! Leftovers are good at room temperature or hot.

Gnocchi Alfredo with Peas and Shrimp

As frozen spinach and ricotta both went on sale last week, I knew I had to revive an older recipe: Spinach-Ricotta-Gnocchi. The tasty soft morsels of pasta are a labor of love, but incredibly delicious. In addition, they can be frozen uncooked for later meals. This time, I made the gnocchi with some pancetta, green peas, roasted garlic, and frozen shrimp for an amazing meal.

Gnocchi Alfredo with Peas and Shrimp
Serves 3-4, 20 minutes

2 cups frozen spinach gnocchi
1 bag frozen green peas (16 oz)
1 tablespoon diced pancetta (optional or substitute bacon)
1 tablespoon roasted garlic (or fresh)
 10 frozen shrimp
1/3 cup heavy cream

1. Boil a large pot of salted water. Cook the frozen gnocchi until they float, then use slotted spoon to remove from hot water. Run cold water over them and drain. 
2. Cook the frozen peas in the remaining boiled water, then drain.
3. Concurrently to boiling the water, heat a large saute pan on high. Add the pancetta and fray (note that you don't need to add oil here). After a minute or two, reduce heat to medium low, add the garlic and a pinch of chili flakes. Allow to saute and combine flavors until very fragrant. 
4. Add the peas and frozen shrimp and cook off any excess water. 
5. When the water is evaporated, add the gnocchi. Saute on medium heat to remove excess water, then add the heavy cream.
6. Allow the heavy cream to reduce on medium heat until thickened.
7. Spoon into bowls. Allow to cool for a few minutes prior to serving.

Spinach and Mushroom Cream Pasta

Some days, I just want something decadent. And while this goes against the grain of my usual eating habits, some days a girl has got to have her carb fix! And like a true Chic-Pea recipe, this one is good enough that you'll be begging for leftovers.

Spinach and Mushroom Cream Pasta
Serves 4 to 6, takes about 45 minutes

1 pack of pasta (we used a sleeve of spaghetti in the photo, but comparable to a pack of shells)
1/3 lb bacon, diced (use a non-serrated knife and make sure its really sharp or it will take you forever)
1 lb frozen chopped spinach
1 lb mushrooms, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup half and half
1/2 pack of shredded mozzarella (or 3 string cheese sticks!)
tsp oregano
basil if you have it
pepper and salt to taste (you shouldn't need much salt.)

1. Set your pasta to boil in salt water. I like shells or ziti for this recipe because everything ends up being the same size, but the picture uses spaghetti so its versatile. Once the water boils, cook for 6-8 minutes until al dente (cooked right through but not squishy. it should still have some chew to it). Rinse under cold water and drain.
2. Heat a large skillet. When hot, cook bacon until it renders all its fat, is a dark pink, and a smidge crispy. 
3. Add the garlic and saute in the bacon oil. 
4. When the garlic is fragrant, add mushrooms. If the mushrooms aren't cooking well because the pan is too dry, add a quarter cup of the half and half and turn the heat down to low. Make sure you scrape the yummy brown bacon bits off the bottom of the pan - that is the real flavoring to your sauce!
5. When most of the mushrooms have cooked, add the spinach. The mushrooms and spinach will give off a lot of water. 
6. Add the remaining half and half. The contents of the sauce should be level with the amount of liquid. If you don't have enough, add milk or water.
7. Cook on low for another 5-10 minutes to incorporate the flavors. 
8. Just before serving, add two handfuls of the shredded mozzarella to the sauce and mix. This will thicken the sauce and give it an added boost of creaminess.
9. If you have ziti or shells, add to the sauce and mix thoroughly to incorporate the "chunky" bits of the sauce with the pasta. If you have long noodles, serve the sauce over the already plated noodles.
10. Enjoy!

Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

Okay, I know that this is my second post today, but there is a method to my madness! After making the delicious meatloaf the other day, I decided that it was lacking potatoes. But what kind of potatoes?

Roasted? Eh.
Fried? Bleh.
Mashed? Aha!

On my way home from work, I stopped at my local Indian grocery store (Thanks for the tip, Suanne!) and picked up some red potatoes. Then I headed home to create my luscious masterpiece! (Do I over-hype my food a bit? I'm beginning to think so ...)

Anyway, once the potatoes were finished, I crumbled some of my leftover meatloaf in the bottom of a mini-casserole dish, then covered it with a layer of mashed potatoes and baked my impromptu shepherd's pie in a 400-degree oven until it developed a light, golden-brown crust. Delicious!

**Shout-outs: This recipe is born out of a variety of tips I've picked up from tons of sources over a number of years. The ones I can remember are Wolfgang Puck, Alton Brown, and, of course, my awesome mom.

Rosemary Mashed Potatoes
- 1/2 pound of red potatoes, roughly chopped
- 3 tbs. butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Approx. 1/4 cup green onions, chopped (Keep the dark green and and the light green, separated. Discard the white parts.)
- Approx. 1/4 cup heavy cream (Guesstimate it!)
- 1 tbs. rosemary
- 1 tbs. basil
- Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a larger pot than you think is necessary, boil enough water to cover the potatoes. Add the potatoes and cover. While those cook ...
2. In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt the butter and sauté the garlic and light green onions until tender.
3. Add the heavy cream, rosemary, and basil. Bring to a low simmer.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
5. Meanwhile, your potatoes should be about ready. You want to get them out of the water just as they start to get mushy. They should still be a little firm, but should mash when you press a fork down on one. Don't wait until they're soggy - that's too long!
6. Drain the potatoes into a colander and shake to remove excess water. Then, immediately return them to the still-hot pot. This will help to evaporate any leftover moisture.
7. Add about half of the warm cream and either whip or mash the potato mixture. Slowly add more of the cream until the proper consistency is reached. (You may not use all of the cream.)
8. You may need to add more salt, to taste. Your call.
9. Top with a sprinkling of the dark green onions.

Mmmm!