Roasted Butternut Squash with Penne
March 10, 2008 by Andrea 
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Filed under Pasta, Vegetables
Winter root vegetables are still available in this area, though the quality is starting to suffer as we near the end of the winter stores. I’ve passed them by for weeks now, waiting to find one that still looked good and felt firm, but perhaps I was a little too choosy with a few that I looked at. I finally found one last week that looked like a winner, and I excitedly brought it home with a plan to surprise Michael with a different spin on baked pasta and hopefully create something that my picky little eaters would enjoy. Michael really liked it and took some to work for lunch for several days. My toddler devoured it and asked for more and created some great photo opportunities with the orange sauce all over his face, hands, hair, and clothes! (I’ll save him future embarrassment by not posting those photos here.)
The sauce reminded me of the soup I made last fall, another squash dish we really enjoy. We like the sage and thyme paired with squash, though I’m not so fond of the “woolly” kind of sage I find in this area. I need to find a plant or some seeds for a type that has a smoother texture for my tastes. The thyme came from our kitchen garden.
Roasting the squash before making the sauce gives it a slightly nutty flavor that we really like, though if you can’t find a good one at this time of year you can use an equal amount of frozen winter squash instead. To make this a vegan dish, use vegetable stock and soy milk and sprinkle the top with fresh bread crumbs. Read more
Orzo with Parmesan and Basil
February 18, 2008 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Pasta
Orzo is a rice-shaped pasta traditionally used in Italian soups, but it’s very versatile and can be used as a main ingredient for side dishes or in cold salads. We love it because it’s easy to fix for a fast weeknight meal and it dresses up nicely with simple ingredients. This time we had it as a hot side with our chicken with sun-dried tomatoes, shallots, and thyme, another simple dish.
In this version, I browned the orzo lightly in unsalted butter, then added low-sodium chicken broth and water and brought to a boil. After simmering, I stirred in the Parmesan, basil, pine nuts, and seasonings. I recommend preparing the dish right before serving because it tastes better fresh rather than warmed over, though I have been known to enjoy the leftovers for breakfast the next morning. Read more
Spinach and Basil Lasagna
January 10, 2008 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Italian foods, Pasta
I can’t help but love lasagna with all its gooey richness. The flavor of the sauce melds with the pasta and mingles with the cheeses and fillings, the cheese stretches from the pan to the plate as you serve it, and the sides start to collapse slightly from the weight of the hot fillings. It’s a feast for the eyes and a comfort food, through and through.
If I were asked to come up with a top ten list of healthy meals, lasagna wouldn’t make the list, but there are some simple ways to make it healthier. Omit fatty meat, use part-skim cheeses, plenty of vegetables and fresh herbs, and whole wheat lasagna, and you can turn this into a relatively healthy meal to enjoy as an occasional treat. Using spinach and basil is our favorite way to make lasagna, and for this one I snipped a cup of basil leaves off the plants growing in the AeroGarden I’ve been testing and reviewing. This time we put Marseille, Genovese, and Napolitano basils into the layers, scattering it around with the spinach. The sauce recipe is from Michael’s mom, and it’s our favorite all-purpose pasta sauce because it tastes great and is easy to make. You can even make it a couple days ahead for faster prep on lasagna day. Read more
No-Cook Tomato Sauce (Grow Your Own)
August 17, 2007 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Grow Your Own, Pasta, Sauces & Marinades
In my view, fresh, ripe tomatoes are meant to be enjoyed in their natural state, and nothing beats the taste of a tomato straight off the vine. When I start gathering the tomatoes from my garden, I’ll often stand near the plants and just enjoy inhaling the wonderful smell. I follow my family’s tradition and eat lightly salted slices or I just bite into one and add a pinch of salt with each bite. Little grape or sungold tomatoes adorn our salads and the boys eat them by the handful. Read more
Macaroni and Cheese with Gruyere and Tomatoes
April 11, 2007 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Pasta
I’m experimenting with mac and cheese again. This was our Good Friday dinner, a meatless meal that we enjoyed with a simple salad. I wasn’t too sure about the tomatoes at first, afraid that the juice would render the cheese sauce watery, but I was pleasantly surprised. I really shouldn’t have been, because I’ve yet to taste a recipe from Ina Garten’s cookbooks that I didn’t like.
The recipe calls for 12 ounces of gruyere, which is a bit more costly than the average cheddar or whatever else you can find in grocery stores. Still, I was not prepared for the $14.99 a pound price tag at my local grocery store. When I looked at the label I said, “Whoa!” out loud and got a few stares in return.
Now let me explain. Read more
Bay Scallops with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Pesto
February 2, 2007 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Pasta, Seafood
Moving day is looming. We have an offer on our house and we’re heading up to the DC area this weekend to hopefully put in an offer on our new home, so it’s imperative that the freezer reach empty status soon. Today I wanted to use up some bay scallops we had, and I kept thinking that they would go well with sun-dried tomatoes, so I sautéed them with garlic and sun-dried tomatoes, then added some white wine and reduced the sauce a bit before turning off the heat and tossing it all with some prepared pesto. It tasted great with capellini.
Using frozen bay scallops is so easy because you just thaw them out, rinse and pat dry, then cook. Bay scallops are smaller than sea scallops and they cook in no time; in fact, you should keep a close eye on them so that they don’t overcook. Read more
