Turkey Zucchini Pasta

One night after work feeling tired but still in the mood to cook. The first thing that came to mind was pasta as I had most of the ingredients at home already. All I needed to pick up was some ground turkey and fresh basil. 

Turkey Zucchini Pasta

• pasta
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 med. onion - diced
• 2 cloves garlic - minced
• 1 can of crush tomatoes
• 1 zucchini - diced
• dried oregano 
• balsamic vinegar
• brown sugar
• chili flakes
• grated cheese 
• fresh basil

1. Bring pot of water to boil for pasta 
2. Heat a pan with oil, add the diced onion, ground turkey, brown then add minced garlic-sautee for a minute. Add crushed tomatoes with juice. Bring to a gentle simmer
3. Add the oregano, chili flakes, sugar, a quick drizzle of balsamic vinegar and zucchini, stir.
4. Done when zucchini are cooked

Another delicious simple pasta dish!

Isn't it always nice

 to come home to 

 a well stocked kitchen *

                                                                                                                                               

pass the cheese please.....

Whole Wheat Fusilli .....zzzzz

Looks pretty right!? but not so tasty ....

boring food means boring post  , how disappointed I am with this ..... and I made it!

So we all know I'm trying to eat healthy and lose weight at the same time.

 Since I' m happy switching from white rice to brown rice I thought about my other carb love.. pasta! Woke up this morning excited about the new box of whole wheat fusilli sitting in the kitchen cabinet. I had tried whole wheat thin spaghetti and enjoyed it and thought i would with other pasta types...nope..it was grainy.. maybe it was the brand ? Had just few bites of the WW fusilli and finish all the veggies.

Now what to do with that box of WW Fusilli?? ....would it be better in soup ? maybe earrings or a new rattling toy for Molly,she'll probably get bored at it as well...

Here is a very simple and quick recipe i always enjoyed .
-pasta
-summer squash
-cherry tomato
-chinese broccoli
-Annie's Sesame Shitaki Dressing
-butter
-garlic chili sauce
-salt n white pepper

Put all ingredients (except pasta) in a sauce pan and let it simmer for a few minutes...then add the cooked pasta and toss....done!

Pasta tossed with Marmite & Butter and Chinese Greens

A good friend shared one of his favorite marmite recipes, pasta with butter and marmite! Nice and simple. Sounds good to me! Here is a quick simple healthy lunch I whipped up one day. It was very good, the flavors were great together with the freshness from the greens, the deep flavors from the sausage, marmite sauce and a nice kick from the white pepper.

Why don't you give it try..

Ingredients:

• pasta of choice ( here i used macaroni)
• butter
• marmite
• snow peas
• baby bok choi
• chinese sausage ( lop churn)
• salt and white pepper

Start with the pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, steam the greens and sausage together until done ( sausage a little longer then the greens)
In sauce pan , heat the butter and marmite together
When pasta is done, drain, return to pot and toss with desire amount of marmite & butter mixture.
Add the cooked greens and sausage.
Season with salt and pepper.
All Done .....Molly would say...
and a thank you to D.Corio for the birth of marmite and pasta for me.
Such a versatile dish ....what to do next...hmmmm.....

Spaghetti Limone' with Roasted Tomato & Duck Liver Sausage

Spaghetti al limone! Spaghetti al limone!

You won't be able to put down your fork, chopsticks or hands until it is all consumed!

Spaghetti Limone has been on my mind with thoughts on how to spice it up. Went to check out what I had in the fridge that will go well with this dish....

butter, cheese, chinese sausage( duck liver - can be found in most Asian markets)

sweet peas, cherry tomatoes, garlic , lemon

cherry tomatoes cut in half and roasted with salt, pepper and oregano

In a pan heat some butter and olive oil, add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add sausage, peas and the roasted tomatoes, stir for a few minutes ( I added a dash of chicken stock ). Oil will be released from the sausages when heated so be gentle with the olive oil & butter.

When pasta is done, drain and add directly to the pan of sauce, toss with cheese and add the lemon zest and juice, finally top it off with more cheese!

Here we have a nice bowl of spaghetti limone with many lovely flavors. There's the tangy sweetness from the roasted tomatoes/peas/lemon, and a mild saltiness with a hint of wine from the chinese duck liver sausage... .mmmmmmmm slurp!

Pasta Lovers ...you know this is one of your favorites!

Spaghetti with Italian Sausage Spinach Meatballs

In the mood for meatballs and thought of a recipe I came across the other day

 " Chicken and Spinach Meatballs" from Girl Gone Gourmet.  Pay her a visit , very nice blog.

For more flavor I used Italian sausage instead of chicken and boy i'm glad i did. This was my first time on making meatballs so there were a few bumps here and there.

Ingredients:

    

Meatballs

• italian sausage 
• spianch
• mozzarella - shredded
• egg
• panko ( did not have any that night )

 Sauce  

• onion - diced
• garlic - diced
• canned whole tomato (crush with hands)
• balsamic vinegar
• milk
• brown sugar + white pepper

take casing off and quickly blanch the spinach mix with meat and mozzarella and cup into shape with hands

the shape did not stay, started to flatten

here is where i had trouble -no panko! no sticking ! and water from the blanching did not help!!grrrrrr

 

so i had to quickly fry and brown them to hold the shape then transfer on to foil and baked for 20 minutes.

start putting the sauce together by heating the onion and garlic add sauce / sugar....simmer

add the meatballs and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

 

while simmer meatball sauce , time to cook the pasta.

when done , serve on plate and top it off with some parmigiano reggiano!!!!!

                                     

Even though i was missing panko and basil .......this dish was still very enjoyable!

anyone know any meatball tips?

Veggie recipe

So I just finished reading some comments and I've been requested to post some vegetarian recipes. Well since I was just blogging about my baked ziti, here it is!"

1 box of ziti (with ridges)

1 28oz can of whole peeled tomatoes - roughly chopped

1 140z can of crushed tomoatoes

*Try to use san marzano for the tomatoes

Garlic-roughly chopped (about 3 cloves)

Basil

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

nutmeg

1 bag of shredded mozzarella

1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese            

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook pasta; slightly undercooked.

In saucepan, sautee garlic in some olive oil, then add both cans of tomatoes; simmer 10 mins then add basil

In another saucepan, melt the butter then whisk in the flour for about 1 min or 2. Add Milk slowly and grate some of the nutmeg in. Keep whisking until it thickens; about 4 min

When pasta is done, drain and put into a 13x9 pan

Pour tomato sauce over pasta, and mix well

Pour bechamel sauce over top and then top off with both cheeses

Bake for about 20 min

Yum!

Turkey lasagna

I was pleasantly surprised with my first lasagna effort. It was always one of those dishes that seemed too involved to make at home. Also, I tend to shy away from anything that calls for bechamel sauce. But for some reason I was inspired to make lasagna and a moderately healthy one with turkey and no bechamel. Sorry, all you purists. Well, it was a hit with both my husband and brother-in-law having thirds! They're both Italian American and are opinionated about anything Italian. As I'm typing this John is telling me how much he likes it :) Even Molly who already had dinner, asked for some! The recipe is an adaptation of one by the Barefoot Contessa. I'm really surprised that the consistency and proportions came out perfectly. Sorry I don't have a shot of the cross section. I was too hungry!

1 box no boil lasagna noodles

olive oil

2 cloves garlic minced

1 small onion chopped

1 1/2 lb ground turkey

1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes in puree

2 tablespoon tomato paste

fresh oregano, thyme, basil

salt, pepper to taste

1 tub ricotta (15 oz i think)

1 cup parmigiano reggiano and some for sprinkling on top

1 egg

shredded mozzarella (1 bag) or use fresh if you have

-brown turkey then break into small pieces

-once meat is sizzling again, add garlic and onion, cook until o&g is soft

-add crushed tomatoes bring to a medium simmer for 10 mins

-add tomato paste and herbs, simmer another 10 mins

-add salt and pepper to taste and simmer until sauce is thickened

-soak noodles in hottest tap water for 20 mins and drain (add noodles one at a time and move them around once in a while so they don't stick together)

-mix ricotta, parmigiano, egg, pinch salt and pepper

-layer in following order, just eye the amounts

• sauce
• noodle 1 ply
• ricotta mix
• mozzarella
• sauce
• noodle 1 ply
• ricotta mix
• mozzarella
• noodle 1 ply
• sauce
• parmigiano

I used a 8 X 6 X 2 le creuset pan and it came out nice and crusty!!

Frittata for Molly

This is one of the few moments when Molly is actually happy eating a vegetable! I did however thought of a clever way to hide some healthy veggies and also include protein, dairy and carbs! I made a "frittata" of sorts with eggs, cheese, spinach, mini elbow pasta, spaghetti squash and it was yummy! I don't really have any measurements since I winged it when I made this. I started with sauteing the squash in butter and olive oil. Then I added the spinach. In a bowl I whisked 8 eggs and added about a cup of shredded cheese. Then I mixed in the sautee mixture and a cup of cooked pasta, seasoned, put it in a baking dish and baked at 375 for about 20 mins. This isn't gourmet food exactly but great for kids obviously. I was surprised at how yummy it was. John liked it too!