The Pasta Diaries

Minestrone

Sauces aren’t the only ones getting pasta love—pasta noodles love soup, too! This hearty minestrone is a perfect meal for a chilly autumn or winter day, and this recipe is courtesy of The Toneman. The thing that’s great about this soup is that it makes A LOT, so you can make not only your tummy happy, but your friends’ tummies as well. What’s that? You live alone in a log cabin in the woods, away from civilization, and you don’t want to eat the whole pot of soup in one sitting? Don’t worry. You can freeze portions of this soup and reheat it for another day. No freezer in the log cabin? Freeze it outside in the snow. Just watch out for bears. Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

Pasta Shells (Small)
1 can Diced Tomatoes
1 can of beans (kidney, romano, mixed etc.), rinsed
1 can of lentils, drained
1 head of broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
2 carrots, sliced into circles
1/2 an onion, minced
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 sweet potato, diced
Olive oil 
Salt & Pepper 
Bouillon cube (optional)  

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and diced tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add lentils, beans and garlic, simmering for about 5 more minutes. Then, add about 1 cup of water for every serving (that’s what I usually do, you can eyeball it). Feel free to add a bouillon cube to the water (follow directions on package). Add the rest of the ingredients, cover the soup and let it simmer (but not boil), stirring occasionally. Add pepper to taste (and salt, if you didn’t use bouillon). Soup should be ready in about 30 minutes or so.

While the soup is cooking, boil a pot of water for the pasta shells (or other bite size, soup-worthy pasta). Cool pasta according to package, and drain when ready. Once minestrone is ready (vegetables should be tender), add the noodles to the large saucepan. Stir it all together, serve and enjoy! 

*Tip: Pasta doesn’t always freeze very well, so if you plan on freezing portions of this soup, don’t mix pasta and soup in the large saucepan. Instead, mix it in each bowl that you serve, or, if you have enough saucepans, mix soup and noodles in one pot, and leave the remaining soup (without noodles) in another. Let it cool, then transfer to freezable containers.

Vodka Pasta

Need I say more? Didn’t think so. You won’t get drunk from eating this dish (unless, of course, you drink the vodka while you cook), but your tastebuds will definitely be intoxicated with delicious flavour. You might want to lick the bowl clean, and that, my friend, is completely acceptable. Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 bag of Rigatoni (the “corduroy” variety is best, in my opinion)
1 large can of crushed tomatoes (or 1 large mason jar)
1/2 can of tomato paste (optional)
4 cloves of garlic (at least!), halved
4-5 links of sausage (can be omitted if you are vegetarian)
1/2 cup of heavy cream/whipping cream
1/2-3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Chili flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste 
VODKA (just a splash) 

Before you start boiling water, start making the sauce. Heat up some olive oil over low/medium heat and toss in the garlic. Let it simmer for a minute or two. Add the can of crushed tomatoes (be careful, it will splatter). Stir in the tomato paste if you think the consistency of the sauce is too thin. Add chili flakes, salt and pepper, give the sauce a stir, reduce heat and cover, stirring occasionally.

In a frying pan, fry the sausage until cooked. Set aside and let cool for about 5-10 minutes. Once cooled, slice and add to the tomato sauce.

Now we can put a pot of water on the stove to boil. You know the drill.

Once the pasta is just about ready, increase the heat on the sauce. Add in a splash of vodka (and if you’re feeling zesty, take a shot for yourself). Stir for a minute or two and then add the whipping cream. 

Strain pasta once ready, and return to saucepan. The sauce should be ready by now (taste it and see how you feel about it). Add generous amounts of sauce and cheese to the pasta. The routine I found that worked best was add sauce-sprinkle cheese-stir-repeat. I did have some sauce left over (fridge! freezer!), so don’t feel that you have to use it all. You want the pasta to have a nice even coat of sauce with just a little extra, in case there is some bread on the table that needs some saucy love.

Once all ingredients are having a party in the saucepan, transfer the pasta to a bowl and move the party to your mouth where it belongs. Add extra chili flakes and cheese if your heart desires. Enjoy!

Gnocchi with Pesto, Chicken & Mushrooms

Hello carb lovers, it’s been a while. To make up for lost time, I’m bringing you a double whammy of carbs tonight: Gnocchi. “Double whammy?” you say? Yes. Why? Because potato plus pasta equals twice as much carbs as regular pasta* and twice as much happiness in your tummy. Hungrump be gone! Makes 2 servings

*Not sure if this is a fact, but it seems logical, so you should just believe me.

Ingredients:

Pesto
1 cup of basil leaves
1/4 cup of olive oil
3-4 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted

Gnocchi
I will make them home made one day, and when that happens, the 5 people following this blog will be the first to know. For tonight, I used gnocchi from a package. Obviously not as good. Shoot me.

Chicken
There was leftover chicken in the fridge, so I cut it up into bite size pieces to use in this recipe. Feel free to use those chicken wings you brought home from the bar last night. The barbecue sauce will just add to the flavour. Vegetarian? Use tofu. (Don’t).

Other
Cream
Mushrooms, sliced
Salt & Pepper
Butter 

Boil salted water for the gnocchi. They only take about 3-5 minutes to cook, so time the rest of your cooking and preparing accordingly.

A magic bullet blender will come in handy if you have one to make the pesto. If you’ve seen the commercial, I’m pretty sure even they say it makes making pesto a breeze. They weren’t lying. Toss all of those pesto ingredients into the MB and bullet the crap out of them until you have a nice creamy sauce/paste. Set aside.

In a medium skillet, heat a tablespoon or so of butter over medium heat. Add chicken (leftover/previously cooked), mushrooms, a tablespoon or so of pesto, and a splash of cream. Stir all ingredients together until coated. Add more pesto and cream, as well as pepper, until desired taste is achieved. 

When gnocchi is finished (they rise to the top of the water when they are cooked), strain, and then add to the skillet. Toss all ingredients together. Top with parmesan cheese and serve immediately. 

Note: If you have leftover pesto, don’t throw it out! Use an old (or current) ice cube tray, divide the rest of your pesto into the tray and freeze. Once frozen, remove the cubes from tray, place in a freezer bag and store in your freezer. Next time you need a quick sauce for your pasta, voila! Just remove a couple of cubes and toss them in a skillet or pot with your cooked pasta.

Mia madre fatto uno buono pranzo stasera!

That’s Italian for my mother can make a better lasagne than your mother. Okay, not really, but it does mean that she made a great dinner this evening, which consisted of the above lasagne. I have to say, I’ve made some pretty good lasagnes in my time (pfft, my time, whatever that means), but nothing will ever compare to my mother’s. They say you learn from the best, but I definitely still have some learning to do.

Spaghetti with Rapini, Chunky Tomatoes & Goat’s Cheese

Rapini (aka broccoli rabe): it’s kind of like swiss chard and broccoli combined into one super vegetable. Actually, I don’t really know if this is a super vegetable, or what a vegetable must do to gain ‘super’ status for that matter. Whatever. Go boil some salted water, k? Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 490g package of spaghetti
1 bunch of rapini, washed, ends cut off, stringy bits peeled off
1 398mL can of chunky tomatoes, or 4-5 medium tomatoes peeled and diced
Olive oil
1-2 cloves of Garlic
Goat’s cheese
Salt

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti, rapini, and a bit more salt since we are cooking the pasta and rapini together. Pour a glug of olive oil in a large skillet/frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and tomatoes (and a dash of salt if there is no salt added to the canned tomatoes) and simmer over low/medium heat. Once pasta and rapini are ready, strain and transfer to the frying pan and toss with tomato sauce. Transfer to a plate and top with goat’s cheese. Serve immediately and enjoy!

The Whistler Dream Pasta

For those of you living the dream out West, get your hands on some frozen pasta for $2.79 at the grocery store. With shoulder season approaching, there is no time like now to start saving for activities like Euro Après and Crystal Hut Belgian Waffles! And with weather like this happening already, you better start saving fast, because it looks like shoulder season might be a short one this year! I’d totally eat this pasta to live the dream again. Remember that week in February? Yeah, me too. Photo courtesy of Sam Bancroft.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

I’m not on hiatus! I swear! I have just been in transition over the past couple weeks. I no longer live in British Columbia—I am back in Ontario. Sure, there are no mountains, but there is a fridge full of CHEESE. So much cheese. All kinds of cheese. Mountains of cheese if you will. Well, cheese formed into triangle chunks. Triangles are like mountains.

I made this recipe while I was still in the lovely little town of Whistler. I was staying with some friends for the week and told them I would make them dinner every night in exchange for letting me crash at their place. Since I had never made carbonara before, I had to look this recipe up. I used my recipe go-to site, Epicurious, to find out how to make this dish. Due to laziness and the fact that the website probably explains the directions better that I could, the recipe below is copied from here (and slightly modified). We added mushrooms for extra pizazz. Yes, I just used that word. Deal with it, you know why? Because it turned out to be delicious. Boom. Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

8-10 thin slices of pancetta or prosciuto, cut into small pieces
1 medium onion, finely chopped
5-6 mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup dry white wine (or a little more…)
1 lb spaghetti
3 large eggs
1 1/2 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (3/4 cup)
3/4 oz Pecorino Romano, finely grated (1/3 cup)
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cut pancetta into 1/3-inch dice, then cook in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until fat begins to render, 1 to 2 minutes. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, about 10 minutes. Add wine and boil until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes.

Cook spaghetti in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente.

While pasta is cooking, whisk together eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano , Pecorino Romano (1/3 cup), 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl.
 
Drain spaghetti in a colander and add to onion mixture, then toss with tongs over moderate heat until coated. Remove from heat and add egg mixture, tossing to combine. Serve immediately.

Sorry It’s Not Pasta…

Sometimes you just have to listen to your stomach and follow through with meal plans that seem like unachievable dreams. The above carnage started out as 4 racks of ribs, 6 cobs of corn, 3 sweet potatoes, 2 dozen chicken wings, 2 gallons (not really) of barbecue sauce, ranch dressing because obviously, balsamic reduction because the nostril burning during the initial creation is so worth it, constantly flowing liquid gold AKA beer, and a whole lot of awesomeness. Total demolition time: 1 hour 15 minutes. Final meal verdict: WINNING. Sorry it’s not pasta, but COME ON. How can I not blog about this? Ab. So. Lute. Ly. Savage. 

Everything Pasta

This is more of a ‘use-up-the-food-in-your-fridge-before-it-goes-bad’ pasta. I’m moving out next week and getting set to travel the west coast for the next month, so I am trying to get rid of (um, eat?) all of the food in my fridge and cupboards so that none of it goes to waste. This is the kind of recipe where you literally just throw everything you have into a pan, let it cook, throw it over your pasta noodles and hope for the best. Let your imagination run wild kids! I pictured this to be more of a veggie bolognese before I made it, but it ended up being more of a salsa, and it looks really similar to the pasta primavera I made a few days ago (it tastes different, I swear). Would have been perfection with garlic bread! The following recipe can be changed as you please—have some mushrooms in the fridge? Toss ‘em in. No black beans? No problem! Makes approx. 2-3 servings.

Ingredients:

Spaghetti (Orecchiette, or pasta of similar size, would work quite well with this sauce, too)
Small can of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp of butter
Asparagus, chopped into small pieces
Zucchini, chopped into small pieces
1/3 cup of black beans, rinsed
1/4 of a small red onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic
Salt & Pepper

In a medium frying pan, melt butter over medium heat. Toss in onion and garlic and let simmer for a few minutes. Add chopped vegetables to frying pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil and cook that pasta like you know how! (Hint: Al Dente). Add the can of diced tomatoes to the frying pan after you’ve let the vegetables cook, and let the sauce simmer until your pasta is finished, or until the vegetables in the sauce are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once pasta is finished, strain and add it to the sauce in the frying pan. Toss all ingredients together until coated. Serve immediately & enjoy.

Pasta Primavera

I hope you all went to your local market or grocer this weekend and picked up your favourite vegetables! When translated from Italian, Primavera means ‘Spring’, referring to the season. I know it’s summer, but with all the rain and not-so-scorching temperatures we’ve been having here, a lot of days end up feeling like Springtime—not such a bad thing. Pasta Primavera, made here with Farfalle (bow-tie pasta!), is a great dish because you can use pretty much any vegetables, and there isn’t really a sauce, just a classic olive oil/garlic/salt/pepper “soffritto”. Feel free to alter this recipe as you wish, there is lots of room for experimentation! For something a little more filling, add a grilled chicken breast sliced over top of the final dish. This also works great as a cold pasta salad for summertime barbecues, just chill overnight in the fridge! Makes approx. 2-3 servings.

Ingredients:

Farfalle Pasta (If you haven’t noticed by now, I suck at trying to guess measurements for things, so use your best judgement! If you make too much… leftovers!)
1 tomato, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, cut into bite size pieces
6-8 asparagus shoots, bottoms cut off, and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 a small zucchini, sliced into rounds and then halved
2-3 cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 of a large purple onion, thinly sliced
Olive Oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
Pinch of Italian Spice (or finely chopped fresh herbs from the garden! Basil, parsley…)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Chili Flakes (optional)

Cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Time may vary by brand, so check the package for the recommended time. While water is boiling, chop, slice and dice your veggies. In a large frying pan, heat a few ‘glugs’ of olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and let simmer. Add tomato, asparagus, and bell pepper. Let simmer for a few more minutes then toss in the rest of your vegetables and spices (to taste) including S&P. Toss the vegetables occasionally in the frying pan, lowering the heat to medium-low after about 5-7 minutes. Once pasta is ready, strain, and add to the vegetable mixture in the frying pan. Toss until everything is mixed and pasta is coated with the olive oil and juices from the veggies. If you have parmesan, grate it on top for an extra bite (I sadly did not have any parm. Sigh.) and serve immediately! Look at all the colours! Enjoy.