Dino's Bianca

Simple recipe from old college friend Dina D'Inocenzo, my favorite Italian!!

1 can tuna

oil, garlic, parsley, spaghetti, oregano

Put about 3 T olive oil in pan on medium heat.  Add tuna and garlic.  Simmer 5 minutes then add parsley.  Add 1 cup water and 1/4 cup oil.  Let simmer 15 minutes on low heat.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add oregano.  **Add 1 can minced clams along with tuna for more taste.  Cook pasta and combine!

Fresh and Light Pasta Carbonara

From the Courant column The Basics by Linda Giuca and Chris Prosperi

A classic Carbonara is one of life's simple culinary pleasures. But this classic recipe usually calls for bacon, heavy cream and egg yolks, a problem if you are keeping an eye on calories, fat content or your summer wardrobe.

When Chris had a craving for this rich dish last week, he decided to keep the flavor but lighten the Carbonara with careful substitutions. Removing the egg yolks and replacing the cream with stock and milk made this a light and fresh version full of flavors that will even please lovers of this timeless classic.

FRESH AND LIGHT PASTA CARBONARA

* 1 tablespoon oil

* 1 cup small diced onion

* 1 cup small diced ham

* 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

* 1/4 cup cream sherry

* 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

* 1 cup 2% milk

* 3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons cold water

* 1 pound frozen peas

* 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

* 1 (24-ounce) bag frozen ricotta cavatelle, cooked, drained, and reserved

* 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

* 2-3 dashes Tabasco

Heat the oil in a large pot, then add the diced onion. Cook for 2 minutes on medium heat. Place the ham in the pot and cook for 2 more minutes. Stir in the curry powder and cook until fragrant for about 1 minute. Add the sherry and cook until dry, about 5 to 7 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth and milk and bring to a simmer. While simmering, stir in the well-mixed cornstarch and water slurry to thicken. Toss in the frozen peas and return to a simmer. Add the cheese and cooked cavatelle, and cook until the pasta is warmed through. Finish by mixing in the sherry vinegar and Tabasco. Serve with a tossed salad and crusty bread. Makes 6 to 8 servings.mixing in the sherry vinegar and Tabasco. Serve with a tossed salad and crusty bread. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Spaghetti with Chicken Sauce

This recipe is from a cooking for a crowd book.  Quantities should be adjusted accordingly.
Yields: 50 portions

7 oz butter
1 lib 8 oz celery, chopped
1 lb 8 oz onions, chopped
2 oz green peppers, chopped
2 oz pimentos

Saute above in butter until tender. Stir in 10 oz flour. Add  4 3/4 qts chicken stock to vegetable mixture, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.  Fold in 7 lbs cooked, cubed chicken.  Cook 5 lbs spaghetti. Serve sauce over pasta.

Mac and Cheese

Barefoot Contessa Family Style

• Kosher salt
• Vegetable oil
• 1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi
• 1 quart milk
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
• 8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.
Slice the tomatoes and arrange on top. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

Pierogi

courtesy of Carol Aylward

see Pinterest (Christmas board) for my preferred potato and cabbage fillings.  Also KA flour site comments had some good ones. KA dough recipe is similar - 2 C flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 whole egg, 1/2 c sour cream, 4T butter.  Old school Polish cooks swear they never heard of using sour cream or butter. I had better luck with Carol's recipe than those without sour cream so i might consider using a whole egg instead of 2 yolks - end up with lots of whites otherwise!  The one i tried last year had a cup of hot water with butter melted in it - not good!

2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
1 cup sour cream

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Mix above ingredients together in a large bowl. With dough hook, knead till soft.  Roll out thin.  Using a glass or can, cut circles (2 - 3") or cut into cubes with ravioli cutter.  Add 1 tsp filling to each cube. Fold and seal.  Place in boiling water and cook for 8 minutes (ready when they float to top.) Remove from water, drain, saute in butter.
Note: if freezing, place on parchment covered tray (do not boil) and flash freeze; store in ziploc.

Cabbage filling:
1 large can sauerkraut, drained
1 onion, diced
salt pork or bacon
Fry salt pork/bacon and onion until crisp.  Cook sauerkraut for about 5 minutes. Combine.

Potato filling:
8 medium potatoes, cooked, drained, mashed
salt and pepper
cheese (shredded cheddar or farmers cheese)
Combine; season. Use 1 tsp in each pillow

Penne Primavera by Joe Bastianich

Primavera means spring, but Bastianich says you can make this dish year-round using whatever vegetables are in season.

Pomodoro sauce
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, cut into
1/2-inch slices, or diced
1 yellow pepper, sliced into
1/4-inch strips
1 cup sliced mushrooms
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 cup peas
1 pound whole-wheat penne

Put a large pot of heavily salted water on high heat to boil, and simmer pomodoro in a saucepan on low. Place the onion, zucchini, yellow pepper, and mushrooms on a 9x13 baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then drizzle with the oil and toss lightly. Broil at 400° F until almost tender (about 10 minutes, turning vegetables halfway through). Add cherry tomatoes and peas to the pan, and broil for two more minutes. Set vegetables aside. Add pasta to boiling water. Two minutes before pasta is cooked, remove it from water and add to the pomodoro sauce, along with a little pasta water if needed to keep sauce liquid. Stir and simmer over low heat until pasta is tender. Add the vegetables and gently stir. Season with salt and pepper. Serves six.

CALORIES PER SERVING: 489
CARBS: 75 G
PROTEIN: 14 G
FAT: 14 G

Pasta Pomodoro

Basic sauce from Joe Bastianich, as seen in Runners World. He refused to give up pasta in a quest to get fit, lose weight, run.  It's suggested you can use this base sauce for pasta fagioli. Will definitely try it.

Pomodoro Sauce
Pomodoro (or tomato) sauce is the base for all of Chef Joe Bastianich's pasta dishes featured in these pages. Use a full batch of pomodoro for each recipe.

1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 16-ounce cans of peeled, whole Italian plum tomatoes, such as San Marzano
1 teaspoon Sicilian oregano (optional)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste) Today's food marathon begins with what
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium. Add garlic and saute until golden brown, about three minutes. While garlic browns, pour tomatoes into a bowl. Squeeze with your hands to break them up. Add tomatoes and their juice to the saucepan. Add oregano (if using), salt, and pepper. Simmer on low for 45 minutes. Add a little water if needed to keep sauce from becoming too thick (it should be bright red; if it turns brick red, it's too thick). To make oreganata, simmer sauce with sprigs of fresh oregano. Make arrabiata by adding red pepper flakes to taste. Makes six one-cup servings.

CALORIES PER SERVING: 139
CARBS: 9 G
PROTEIN: 2 G
FAT: 9 G


Pasta Pomodoro

Simmer pomodoro on low. Add one pound of pasta to a pot of boiling, salted water. Two minutes before it's cooked, remove pasta from water and add to sauce. Cook until tender, allowing pasta to absorb sauce. Add a little pasta water if needed to keep sauce liquid. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with Italian cheese, such as Grana Padano. Garnish with basil. Serves six.

CALORIES PER SERVING: 470
CARBS: 66 G
PROTEIN: 13 G
FAT: 16 G

Pasta e Fagioli

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup ditalini or elbow macaroni
• 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) stewed tomatoes
• 1 can (19 ounces) cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup spinach leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) grated romano or parmesan cheese

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Directions

1.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

2.

Add the broth and water and bring to a boil. Stir in the macaroni and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 8 minutes, or just until the macaroni is tender.

3.

Stir in the tomatoes (with juice) and beans and return to a simmer. Add the spinach and basil and cook for 2 minutes or until the spinach is wilted. Serve with the cheese.

Nutritional Facts per serving

CALORIES

328.2 CAL

FAT

11.3 G

SATURATED FAT

3.5 G

CHOLESTEROL

14.7 MG

SODIUM

1781.4 MG

CARBOHYDRATES

40.6 G

TOTAL SUGARS

4.6 G

DIETARY FIBER

6.9 G

PROTEIN

16.4 G

Penne and Vegetable Salad

Almost any spring vegetable can be used--for a change, try peas or diced zucchini

Yield: 4–6 servings

• 1lb (450g) penne
• 3 cups broccoli florets
• 2 cups asparagus tips
• 1 cup snow peas, trimmed
• 2 large carrots, cut into julienne
• 2 tbsp chopped basil or oregano

for the vinaigrette

• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove, minced
  
  
  

  Directions

  1. Cook the penne in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, according to the package instructions, until al dente.
  2. Meanwhile, steam the broccoli and asparagus for 4 minutes. Add the snow peas and carrots and steam about 3 minutes more, until the vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove from the heat.
  3. Whisk the vinegar, mustard, and garlic in a large bowl, then gradually whisk in the oil. Drain the pasta well and add to the bowl. Toss in the vegetables and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.
  Variation
  Creamy Pasta Primavera
  In place of the vinaigrette, add 2/3 cup créme fraîche and 1 tsp whole-grain mustard to the vegetables and pasta. Thin with a little of the pasta cooking water if necessary.

  Notes

  Good with hot crusty garlic rolls.
  
  
  

Linguine with Hot Garlic and Shrimp and Sugar Snap Peas

I cut this out of a magazine, must have been an advertisement for Contadina.

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tsp lemon juice
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups small sugar snap peas (I use a bag of frozen)
   Or 1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces
3 T olive oil, divided
9 oz pkg linguine, cooked and kept warm
1-10 oz container refrigerated light Alfredo sauce (I've used the jar that has low fat, can't remember the brand)

• Toss  shrimp, lemon juice, garlic, and red pepper in a small bowl; cover and let stand 15 minutes.

• Saute peas in 2 T olive oil in a large heavy skillet over med-high heat until tender; Transfer to a bowl and keep warm.

• Heat remaining 1 T olive oil in skillet; add shrimp mixture. Saute 4 minutes or until shrimp turn opaque.

• Stir in sauce. Cook 2 minutes or until hot, stirring constantly. Toss with linguine and peas.

Yield: 4 servings.

Fettuccine with Creamy Pesto Chicken

Give credit to the back of the box! San Giorgio, thank you! My copy dates to December of 2002.

1 pkg. (12 oz.) Fettuccine, uncooked
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips, seasoned with salt and ground black pepper
1 jar (7 oz.) roasted red pepper, drained and chopped
1-1/4 cups light cream
1/3 cup (about one-half 7 oz. container) prepared pesto
1/2 teaspoon salt
Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, in large skillet over medium heat, heat oil; add chicken. Cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 5 minutes. Add roasted red pepper; cook 1 minute. Add cream and simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pesto and salt. Toss hot pasta and sauce; sprinkle with cheese, if desired. 8 servings (1 cup each).

Chicken Cacciatore with Mostaccioli

As seen on a box of San Giorgio Mostaccioli years ago.  VG ~ didn't you just hate when teachers gave you a VG?

2 T olive or veg. oil
2 cups thinly sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup thinly sliced green pepper strips
1 medium onion, sliced lengthwise and cut into strips
2 cloves minced garlic
3 1/2 cups (28oz can) whole tomatoes (I use diced), undrained, chopped
1 cup (8 oz) tomato sauce
2 tsp dried basil leaves
3 cups (8 oz) San Giorgio Mostaccioli Rigati, uncooked
1/2 lb chopped cooked chicken (I usually cut a raw chicken breast into bite sized pieces and brown, before sauteing the veggies)
Salt and pepper

In large saucepan over med. heat, heat oil; add mushrooms, green pepper, onion and garlic.  Cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or until tender. Add tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and basil.  heat to boiling.  Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes, uncovered, or until sauce thickens.  Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package direcitons; drain. Add chicken to sauce, heat through.  Toss hot pasta and sauce. Makes 7 1-cup servings.

Lasagna

Carol Murray first made this for a Gourmet Group dinner. I vary the ingredients, use sauce from a jar, leave out the meat, but I always layer my lasagna this way.

1 1/2 lb ground beef
7 eggs (I never use this many!)
2 lbs ricotta
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 lb mozarella
2 cloves garlic
2 large cans of whole tomatoes
4 small cans tomato paste
9 lasagna noodles
oregano, parsley, basil
1 1/2 cups red wine

Brown and drain meat. Crush and simmer tomatoes until soft; add paste, wine, garlic, and oregano/basil. Simmer 1 hour.  Add meat and simmer 1 more hour.  Combine ricotta, eggs, parm, parsley.
Assemble: Layer sauce, noodles,  ricotta, noodles, sauce, mozarella, ricotta, noodles, sauce, mozarella, grated parmesan. Bake 350 for 35 - 45 mintues .Cool 10 minutes before cutting.
Note to me for portioning: 3 layers sauce, 3 layers noodles, 2 layers ricotta.

Pasta Primavera

Another Weight Watchers favorite.

Saute 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 cup sliced zucchini, 1/2 cup thawed frozen green beans, 1/2 cup broccoli florets, and 1 cup diced plum tomatoes in 2 tsp olive oil.  Add 1 cup cooked pasta, 3 T shredded mozzarella cheese, and 1/4 cup cooked red kidney beans; cover and cook 10 minutes.

Pasta al Forno

I was a bit concerned about adding cinnamon to pasta but it really gave it a nice kick. Might add more tomatoes. Another Giada favorite.

• 1 pound ziti rigate
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) can, crushed or diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 pinches ground cinnamon
• Salt and pepper
• 3 ounces prosciutto, 1 thick slice from deli, chopped
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Softened butter to coat a medium casserole or baking dish
  
  
  
  Bring large pot of water to boil, then salt and cook pasta to al dente on the chewy side, 7 minutes. Once your pasta water comes to a boil to cook ziti, preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
  To medium skillet over medium heat add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Cook onions and garlic in oil 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and bring to a bubble. Add cream and season sauce with cinnamon, salt and pepper. Add chopped prosciutto to sauce and stir with cooked pasta to combine. Coat a medium casserole with the butter. Adjust seasonings and transfer pasta to casserole. Cover pasta with Parmigiano-Reggiano and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve hot from oven.