Penne with Tomato Sauce and Baked Ricotta

1 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta, drained
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pound whole wheat penne
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
fresh basil, torn
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place ricotta in 9″ cake pan and press down to a 1-inch thick disk. Rub with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes and then set aside to cool.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions.
3. Meanwhile, heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent, about 3 – 5 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes to onion and garlic and let simmer for 15 minutes. . Season with salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar.
5. Top cooked pasta with sauce, ricotta, basil and Parmesan cheese.

adapted from Cate’s World Kitchen

Tortellini with Basil and Tomatoes

18 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
2 ears of corn, cooked and kernels removed
1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup basil, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Cook tortellini according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, combine olive oil, Parmesan, lemon juice, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce in a food processor and blend until smooth.
3. Toss cooked tortellini with sauce and remaining ingredients.
4. Serve immediately.

Today, I realized just how many of these dishes go un-posted and now I’m making an effort to be more diligent. Mike helped me identify this particular dish from 3 months ago.

This particular dish was super easy to make. I opted to make it “lighter” by using less butter and swapping out the heavy cream for half and half. The spices in this make it easy to cut fat without sacrificing flavor. Yum

Cajun Chicken Pasta
adapted from allrecipes.com – serves 4

8 ounces linguine
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
6 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
3 tablespoons butter
2 green bell peppers, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
8 ounces white button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
3 cups half and half
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1.  Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, sprinkle Cajun seasoning evenly over chicken on all sides.
3. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and saute until chicken is cooked, about 5 – 7 minutes. Add green and red bell peppers, mushrooms, and green onions. Cook until peppers are tender-crisp, about 2 – 3 minutes.
4. Whisk together half and half and corn starch until well combined.
5. Reduce heat to low and add in half and half. Stir in basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne. Heat through.

Shrimp Scampi
serves 6

1 stick butter, melted
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 lemon, juiced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds medium raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 pound spaghetti, cooked
Grated Parmesan cheese for garnish, optional

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Whisk butter, mustard, lemon juice and garlic in a bowl.
3. Arrange shrimp in a baking dish and pour butter mixture over the shrimp.
4. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until shrimp are pink and opaque.
5. Serve over spaghetti and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Garlic Bread
serves 12

1 loaf of French or Italian bread (not a baguette)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Cut bread into 1 inch thick slices.
3. In a small bowl, mix butter, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Spread mixture onto bread slices.
4. Arrange slices on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until bread is lightly browned and crispy.  Remove from oven.
5. Turn on broiler.
6. Top slices of bread with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Broil for 2 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediately.

Making these is a ton of fun; I’ll have to keep making them so I can practice on my pretzel twisting…

Soft Pretzels
adapted from allrecipes.com
serves 12

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water
4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted

1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
2 tablespoons butter, melted

toppings of your choice* (for the photo above, I used cinnamon sugar)

1. Dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in a small bowl of warm water. Let stand for 10 minutes, or until creamy.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar and salt. Make a well in the center. Pour melted butter and yeast mixture into well and stir to combine. Slowly incorporate remaining 2 cups flour to form dough. Knead dough until smooth, about 7 – 10 minutes.
3. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place dough into bowl, turning to coat in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise until double in size, about 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 415°F. In a large bowl, mix baking soda and hot water.
5. When dough has doubled in size, divide into 12 even pieces. Roll pieces into ropes and twist into a pretzel shape.
6. Dip pretzels into the baking soda water before placing on baking sheet.
7. Brush pretzels with 2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle with topping of your choice.
8. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until lightly browned.

*For toppings, try the following:

• kosher salt, served with melted cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon mixed with 1/4 cup sugar
• garlic salt, served with melted cheese
• Parmesan cheese, served with marinara sauce

The recipe I used for the eggplant Parmesan is from Food Network – I cut the recipe in half and left out the capers. Even after I cut the recipe in half, it still made a lot of food! It’s supposedly four servings (after it was halved), but in my opinion it was more like eight. If you make the full recipe, you will need a pan much larger than your normal 9 x 13 Pyrex. I used that for my halved recipe and it was packed full to the top.

Eggplant Parmesan
adapted from Food Network

1/6 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup black olives, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 (28 oz.) can tomatoes, crushed by hand
4 basil leaves, hand torn
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
3 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds medium eggplant, trimmed and cut lengthwise into 1/2 – inch thick slices
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 pound shredded fresh mozzarella

1. First make the sauce: Put a large saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the olives, red pepper flakes, and capers, and let that cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. Toss in the tomatoes with their juices and bring to a low simmer. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Combine the bread crumbs, garlic powder, and oregano in a shallow bowl; season generously with salt and pepper and mix well. Crack 3 of the eggs into another shallow bowl; season with salt and pepper and beat with a fork to mix. Put the flour in another shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the eggplant, flour, beaten eggs, and bread crumbs on a work surface near the stove.
3. Heat about 1/4-inch olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, dredge several eggplant slices first in the flour, then dip them in the egg, and finally coat them in the bread crumbs. Put as many eggplant in the skillet as will fit comfortably in a single layer and cook until tender and well browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Cook all of the eggplant slices this way, adding more olive oil to the pan as needed.
4. Stir together the ricotta and 1/2 cup of the Parmigiano cheese. Stir in the basil and remaining 2 eggs, and season with salt and pepper.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. To assemble the dish, first get yourself set up with a large, buttered baking dish. Have ready the eggplant, the ricotta mixture, the tomato sauce, the shredded mozzarella cheese and the remaining 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano. To start, spoon some of the tomato sauce over the bottom of the baking dish. Now add a layer of eggplant. Spread with half of the ricotta mixture. Spoon another layer of tomato sauce over and sprinkle with about one-third of the mozzarella. Repeat with a layer of eggplant, the rest of the ricotta, tomato sauce, and another third of the mozzarella. Finish with the rest of the eggplant, the rest of the tomato sauce, and the rest of the mozzarella. Sprinkle with the 3/4 cup Parmigiano.
7. Put the dish in the oven and bake for about 1 hour, until golden and bubbling. Let stand for about 20 minutes before cutting.