Tag Archives: pasta

Baked Orzo with Vegetables

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Last weekend my son and daughter-in-law prepared a delicious meal of grilled chicken and vegetable kabobs with sides of fresh fruit and a rice and vegetable dish. They used a rice recipe that I’ve been making for years. It’s a baked dish that takes all the guess-work out of how long to cook the rice. You don’t want it to turn to mush and crunchy rice is surely not appealing. Baked in broth and a bit of butter, the rice turns out perfectly every time. Last weekend, my son and daughter-in-law used fragrant jasmine rice and it was wonderful.

After spending a couple of weeks working on perfecting an orzo salad for my column, my mind started turning with thoughts of trying to use the small, flat, rice-shaped pasta as a replacement for rice in the baked side-dish that’s been a family favorite over the years.

Silly me — I thought for sure this weekend that brings us the month of May would definitely bring warm sunshine that would demand a meal from the grilling. I was so wrong.

The Grill Master in my house was a good sport as he went out in the rain to light the grill. During a short break in the rain, chicken kabobs cooked to perfection over the hot coals. With an outside temperature of 45 degrees, a little heat coming from the oven as the orzo baked was appreciated.

I used a little less broth for the orzo dish than I do when I make the dish with rice. It took less time to bake, too. The orzo absorbed the broth as it baked. It’s texture was creamy. It was the perfect go-along for chicken kabobs.

Since the vegetables are added raw and bake with the orzo for only 10 minutes, it’s important to mince them. The carrots will have an al dente texture.

When I’ve made this dish early in the day to serve with supper, I bake it for the required time, then take it out of the oven and stir in the vegetables. The vegetables will cook a bit as they sit in the hot pot with the orzo. At serving time, just transfer the baked orzo with vegetables to a microwave-safe bowl and heat it up for a few minutes in the microwave oven.

I’m optimistic that warm weather will soon arrive and stay for a while. Baked Orzo with Vegetables will stay on my list of sides to serve with anything grilled all through the sunny spring and summer season.

Baked Orzo with Vegetables

  • 1 cup uncooked orzo
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 2 1/2 cups boiling chicken broth
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 6 tablespoons minced Italian flat-leaf parsley
  • 6 tablespoons minced carrots
  • 6 tablespoons minced celery
  • 6 tablespoons minced green onions
  • 6 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange slivered almonds in a single layer on a small baking sheet. Place in oven as it preheats. Watch the almonds closely and remove from oven when they begin to turn light brown.

Melt butter in a 2-quart oven-safe pot over medium heat. Add uncooked orzo. Stir the orzo as it toasts in the butter for about 5 minutes. Carefully pour in the boiling chicken broth. Stir. Place top on pot. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 35 minutes.

Remove pot from oven. Stir orzo. Add vegetables. Place top on pot and return to oven. Bake for another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven. Add toasted slivered almonds and parsley. Serve hot. Makes 4 servings.

 

Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce

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Pasta seems to be my go-to when I’m short on meal-preparation time. Not only does it cook in just minutes, but it pairs nicely with a variety of vegetables and sauces. Last week I made a sauce of penne, pumpkin and Parmesan.

When I came upon a recipe for pasta with a creamy pumpkin sauce in “the ski house cookbook,” by Tina Anderson and Sarah Pinneo, I was reminded of the delicately flavored butternut squash-filled ravioli with a sage-brown butter sauce that I had several years ago at I Nonni, an Italian restaurant in the Twin Cities.

That recipe in “the ski house cookbook” inspired Penne with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce with flavors reminiscent of the butternut-squash-filled ravioli I swooned over years ago. I’m not a huge fan of sage, but when the flavor is infused into the dish as whole fresh leaves of the herb saute with some onion and then simmer in white wine, it becomes a whisper that is just loud enough to detect, but not overbearing. For me, the slight essence of sage in the sauce is just right.

This pasta dish is a great example of how the versatile pumpkin feels very comfortable in both sweet and savory foods.

Penne with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce is seasonal, savory and simply delicious.

Penne with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce

  • 1 pound uncooked penne
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 medium shallot, minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 6 fresh whole sage leaves
  • 1/4 cup white wine or apple cider
  • 1 cup pure pumpkin puree (no added seasonings), either from a can or some of your own cooked pumpkin
  • 1 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • Nutmeg to taste
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • Toasted walnuts, broken

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Use plenty of water. My Italian friend, Carmie, says to use lots of water for best results when cooking pasta. Once the water has come to a boil, add 1 tablespoon salt. Stir in the penne and cook for about 10 minutes or until al dente.

While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and saute for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and whole sage leaves and saute for another minute. Add wine and cook until liquid has almost disappeared. Add chicken broth and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove sage leaves and discard. Stir in pumpkin a spoonful at a time and blend well between each addition. Stir in heavy cream and half of the Parmesan.

Drain cooked pasta. Combine with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and some toasted walnuts. Use as many nuts as you like. Serve immediately. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Tip from the cook

Toast walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 6 minutes, until fragrant. Dump the walnuts onto a large clean towel. Roll and rub the walnuts in the towel. Transfer the nuts to a fine mesh strainer and shake them to remove as much of the thin, papery skin as possible. I think the walnuts taste better when some of the skin has been removed.

Eating Green: Nettles in the pasta bowl

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The menu read: Buckwheat cavatelli, nettles, walnuts and cream. Hmmm. I love pasta. Nettles? Must be some exotic green. I wasn’t sure. I ordered the pasta dish as my entree at Clyde Common restaurant in Portland, Oregon. The dish was absolutely wonderful with their house-made buckwheat pasta tossed up with toasted chunks of walnuts and chopped bits of nettles, all adorned with a light cream sauce.

When I came home and started talking about the dish with my neighbors and friends, the reactions I got were all very similar. First, disbelief. "Not stinging nettles. You weren’t eating stinging nettles, were you?" I wasnt sure.

Some people said they do everything they can to get rid of the weed that grows on their property. Because, as my neighbor explains, "When I was growing up, we called stinging nettle fire weed. If it brushed against your skin, you would feel a burning sensation for a long time. We stayed away from it." She could not believe people would actually eat the green weed. She walked me out to a small patch of nettle growing not far from her compost pile.

It was then I realized I had been eating the leaves of a weed at the Portland restaurant that quckly became one of my favorite dining spots when I was in that city last month for a conference.

I asked Molly Miron, the editor of the Bemidji Pioneer, about stinging nettle. I was pretty sure she had it growing on her farm. She was adamant when she said she does everything she can to get rid of the stuff. She hadn’t sprayed it yet with weed killer, so she very reluctantly said she’d bring me some stinging nettle. She just wasn’t sure I should be eating it, though.

I called Clyde Common last week to see if the chef would tell me how to make the pasta with nettles in my own kitchen. I learned it’s a dish you can make with just a few ingredients. I was instructed to infuse some cream with garlic and thyme. Blanch some nettle leaves. Mix cooked pasta with the garlic-infused cream, chopped nettles and toasted walnuts.

So that’s what I did with the nettles Molly brought for me. I must say, the dish was exquisite. I took some over to my next-door neighbor who avoided stinging nettle as a child. She and her husband were a bit leery, but they ate it. And they loved it. They’ve decided to keep the patch of nettle growing near their compost pile. They are ready to start experimenting in the kitchen with stinging nettle.

I’ve been doing some research on nettle. It seems this wildflower/weed is super nutritious. Stinging nettle is chock full of vitamins A & C, and rich in calcium and iron. Some find that steeping nettle leaves in hot water makes a cleansing tea that also seems to relieve allergy symptoms, particularly hay fever. Stinging nettle seems to be a smart choice to work into your seasonal meals.

There are some things to keep in mind when you are picking and preparing your nettle harvest.

  • Be sure to wear garden gloves to avoid the stinging hairs on the underside of the leaves.
  • Nettles must be harvested in the spring before they flower. Once flowers form, harmful crystals develop within the leaves that can irritate the urinary tract.
  • Never forage for nettles from roadsides where they have been exposed to exhaust from traffic, or from public trails or private land where they may have been sprayed with chemicals.
  • Cooking or drying nettles removes their sting. Once cooked, nettles can be used just as any other cooked green such as spinach, kale and chard. I’ve only used the blanching method to prepare nettles for my pasta dish. Bring a pot of water to a boil, drop in the nettle leaves and blanch for 1 minute. Remove with a strainer, drain and squeeze dry in a clean kitchen towel or paper towels. They’re ready to go.

Spring has always been about rhubarb for me. Now I’ve added nettle to my list of "These are a few of my favorite spring things." You may live in an area where nettles can be found at the farmers market. My local farmers market doesn’t even get started until June sometime and I’ve never seen anyone selling nettle. But just think of how much fun it would be to forage for your own tender nettles to turn into soup or stir into pasta.

That’s what I did today. A friend and I met this afternoon to treat ourselves to pedicures. She’d been talking to her husband about my nettle obsession. He knew just where we could find some. My dear friend had come to our pedi date prepared to take me to "the spot" to forage for stinging nettle. She had packed garden gloves, a plastic bag to hold the tender nettles and of course, the map her husband had drawn for us. And so, with our pretty little toes, we tiptoed through the tall grass and came out with some nettle. And not one burning toe.

 

 

 Now, it’s time to get cooking and start eating green with nettles in the pasta bowl.

Whole Wheat Penne with Nettles, Walnuts and Cream

Pour 1 1/2 cups of half-and-half into a heavy saucepan. Add a sprig or two of fresh thyme and some garlic. I had some roasted garlic in my refrigerator, so I squeezed a few cloves of the roasted bulb into the cream. Simmer the cream while blanching the nettle leaves in a large pot of boiling water. Use a fine sieve to remove nettles from the boiling pot of water. Cook 1 1/3 cups whole wheat penne in the same water. When pasta is al dente, drain and dump into a pasta bowl. Squeeze nettle dry with a towel. Chop the nettle.

In a pasta bowl, toss the cooked and drained pasta with chopped blanched nettle leaves. Pull the thyme sprigs out of the cream and pour the cream into the pasta bowl. Mix it all up. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts. Grate some parmesan cheese over the pasta, if desired. And a couple of twists of the pepper mill. Makes 2 servings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orzo: a good pasta pick

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Orzo, the pasta, sounds a lot like ouzo, an anise-flavored liqueur that is often called the National drink of Greece. So, when I think orzo, I think Greek. Usually.

Orzo, a flat pasta that looks similar to very large grains of rice, is an Italian word that means "barley." And, oftentimes, it is used just like barley in soups, stews and side dishes.

It is commonly used in Greek and Mediterranean dishes, often tossed with feta, spinach, pine nuts and tomatoes.

I like orzo for its quick-cooking characteristic, and it’s broad adaptability to many ingredients and dishes.

In the Orzo Pilaf I concocted to go along with Zippy Garlic Shrimp, the orzo pasta offered something a little more interesting and unique than a pasta bowl filled with long thin threads of angel hair.

I love packing Orzo Pilaf into custard cups and unmolding them onto plates. Or, as you see it in these photos, I placed a round cookie cutter onto the plate, packed the Orzo Pilaf snugly into the cookie cutter, then gently lifted the cookie cutter up from the pilaf. It holds its shape beautifully.

Try this recipe and you’ll soon be developing your own special blend of ingredients to create Orzo Pilaf.

Orzo Pilaf

  • 1 1/3 cups uncooked orzo
  • 2 quarts water
  • 1 teaspoon salt (optional)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 chubby cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/3 cup minced sundried tomatoes in oil
  • 5 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves, rinsed, drained
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Stir in orzo. Add 1 teaspoon salt, if desired. Cook orzo for 8 to 10 minutes, until pasta is tender and a bit chewy, or al dente. Drain. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add garlic and sundried tomato. Cook 1 minute. Add spinach and cooked orzo. Stir constantly until spinach is wilted and orzo is heated through. Stir in cheese, wine, pepper and salt. Cook until cheese is melted. Stir in pine nuts and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

 

 

 

Whisk It Wednesday: Picnic Pasta Salad

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On this Whisk-It Wednesday, I whisk a recipe out of my email inbox.

Every once in a while I find a recipe in my inbox, sent to me from someone who reads my weekly newspaper column. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I know that the recipe is a favorite of the person who sent it to me.

Before the 4th of July, a reader who lives in Arizona sent me a recipe for pasta salad. She explained it was her favorite dish to serve at a 4th of July picnic.

As soon as I read through the recipe, I knew I would try it soon. Pasta tossed together with lots of good, crunchy vegetables, some meat and a dressing that has no mayonnaise, making the salad a perfect summer traveler.

My eight-year-old granddaughter was here for a sleepover right before the 4th of July. She asked me to make some fettuccine alfredo, her favorite dish when she goes to Olive Garden or Johnny Carino’s Italian Restaurant. I cooked a whole box of penne. Some went into a couple of bowls and was topped with rich homemade alfredo sauce that we made together. The rest of the cooked pasta got scooped into a zip-top plastic bag and into the refrigerator it went.

A couple of days later, I remembered the pasta salad recipe that was in my office. it would be just the right way to use that refrigerated penne.

I went out to my little garden and snipped enough basil and Italian parsley for the dressing. That alone was exciting for me. You know what kind of gardener I am — anything I can get to grow makes me happy.

The dressing can be prepared in a food processor or blender up to a few days before actually making the salad. Store it in a large jar in the refrigerator.

The recipe calls for rotini. I’m sure the little spirals would catch all the lovely dressing with its speckles of basil and parsley. I used the leftovoer penne, all the little ridged tubes stuck tight together in the bag. It wasn’t exactly the makings of a picturesque salad, but it worked.

The one red pepper I had in the refrigerator displayed a moldy middle when I cut it open. I used some bits of yellow pepper that I had, instead. And, I just couldn’t stop myself from tripling the amount of garlic. I used 3 cloves instead of just one.

And all the delicious ingredients worked together to create a magnificent pasta salad. It’s a keeper, for sure. I’ll be making it often.

And now you can, too. How nice it is that people are willing to share recipes.

Pasta Salad

Dressing:

  • 1 cup fresh basil leaves
  • 3/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
  • 3 chubby cloves garlic
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2/3 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pulse basil leaves, parsley and garlic in food processor until chopped. Add mustard and vinegar and process. With processor running, add olive in a slow, steady stream. Process until dressing is well blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Store in refrigerator until ready to make salad.

Salad:

  • 10 ounces rotini pasta, cooked al dente
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 1/2 cup red onion, diced
  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 1 small jicama, peeled, diced
  • 2 cups cooked, chopped chicken (from 2 good-sized bone-in chicken breasts)
  • 2 cups diced salami (It takes about 1/2 pound)
  • 1 cup pine nuts, toasted
  • 2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Toss warm pasta with some of the dressing and set aside. Prepare remaining ingredients and toss everything together, except pine nuts and cheese. Add those ingredients just before serving.

 

My notes:

  • Be careful when toasting the pine nuts. They are expensive. It is terrible when they burn. I stir them in a skillet on the stove, never leaving them, until they are golden. Immediately transfer them to a glass plate to cool.

This is how I prepare chicken for salads:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Measure 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs of choice onto cutting board. Add 2 chubby cloves of garlic and mince all together.

Loosen skin on 2 bone-in chicken breasts. Spread garlic mixture under the skin, using all of the seasoning mixture.

Tuck 2 slices of fresh lemon under skin of each breast. Place breasts on foil-lined rimmed baking pan or dish. Generously drizzle each breast with olive oil. Season with black pepper. Roast for about 1/2 hour, or until chicken is done. Remove from oven and allow to rest. (I take it out of the oven when my instant read thermometer reads 155 degrees when stuck into the thickest part without hitting a bone. It will continue to cook as it rests.)

 

Back to the ’60′s hotdish: Is that really you, Hot John?

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My husband watched as I placed a very hot casserole dish on the dinner table. As the aroma of melted cheese, pasta, ground meat and tomatoes drifted up to his nose, he said, "Smells just like a hotdish from the ’60′s." That’s a good thing — for him, anyway. In Minnesota and North Dakota, where we’ve spent most of our lives, a "hotdish" is an easy- and quick-to-prepare mixture of a protein, usually meat, a starch, most often noodles or potatoes and almost always some kind of canned soup that serves to hold the mixture together. More often than not, there is some kind of cheese involved, too. And seasonings? Nothing fancy. Just salt and pepper. It all gets scraped into a casserole dish and baked in the oven. Voila! It’s a meal. A meal that Dennis actually looks forward to eating. When we were young newlyweds on a tight budget, we ate lots of hotdish. Stretch a pound of ground beef with a pound of cooked noodles and that meal could be eaten for a couple of days, at least. All I had to do was bake a loaf of frozen bread dough to serve with the hotdish, and he was happy.

Because a hotdish can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until it’s time to bake, it becomes a convenient dish to bring to potluck dinners. Hotdish often shows up on buffet tables at funerals. When I was growing up, hotdish would occasionally show up on the dinner table. My dad wasn’t a hotdish fan, so my mom had to be a little careful about how often she placed one of these creations in front of him.

Hot John was a recipe my mom got from our next-door neighbor, Dot. I never did figure out how it got that name. Ground beef, spaghetti, onion, green pepper, a little bacon, a can of tomato soup and a handful of grated cheese. Hot John??

I recreated that old recipe, eliminating the tomato soup. I had to add some minced garlic. And, I must confess, I sprinkled the baked pasta dish with red pepper flakes at the table. One would never mix something hot or spicy into a hotdish! And one more little secret? I used ground bison rather than ground beef. Over all, I’d say this hotdish makeover produced a more healthful meal than the original recipe. It tasted pretty good, too. Just like the one from the 1960′s — family friendly, no stand-out flavors, lots of noodles.

I’d suggest using the recipe as a foundation for building your own hotdish. Add whatever vegetables you have in your refrigerator. I had pieces of green pepper, sweet red pepper and jalapeno (are you kidding me? Jalapeno in hotdish? No way!) in my refrigerator, so I chopped them all up along with grilled onion slices from another day. Bacon adds some nice flavor to the pretty bland concoction. I was tempted to add some pizza sauce that I had in the refrigerator, but I decided against it. It just wouldn’t have tasted like the Hot John of my childhood. I was already pushing it a bit by adding garlic! And noodles? The recipe calls for spaghetti. Dot and my mom would think I really stepped out of the hotdish box by using trumpet-shaped pasta, instead.

Give it a try. It can be a very economical meal. And if you remember the 1960′s, it will take you back there.

Yes, this really is Hot John — just spiffed up a little bit.

Hot John

  • 1 pound pasta (I used trumpets)
  • 4 slices bacon
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 green pepper, chopped (I used a combination of green, red and jalapeno)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 pound ground beef (I used Bison)
  • 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes (I whirled them in the blender for a few seconds)
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste (It’s handy to have a tube of tomato paste in the refrigerator, to use as needed. I find the Amore brand in my local grocery store.)
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (my own addition)
  • Salt and pepper to taste (and any other seasonings you dare to add)
  • Grated cheese for topping the hotdish (I used Mozzarella)

Cook pasta in a large pot, following direction on package. Cook al dente, so that the pasta is just a little bit chewy.

In a large skillet, fry bacon. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Saute onions and peppers in hot bacon grease until tender. Add garlic and saute for another mintue or two. Add ground meat. Cook and stir until brown and cooked through. Add tomato paste and tomatoes. (And if you’ve got some pizza sauce on hand, pour it in.) Mix. Add drained pasta to meat mixture. Stir to coat the pasta. Add grated Parmesan and gently mix so that the cheese melts.

Transfer pasta mixture to a lightly oiled casserole dish. Cover and bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove cover. Top with grated cheese of choice. Bake 15 to 30 minutes, until hot.

  • If you refrigerate the Hot John before baking, add 10 to 15 minutes to the baking time.