Rigatoni with Roasted Sausage and Broccoli

So I tease you with telling you how good this dinner was on Sunday night, then I completely forget to post the recipe - or take a picture for that matter. I pretty much suck, don't I?

I can't blame the mini vaca, or the bit of sunshine streaming through my windows. I've just been lazy when it comes to the computer. You see I'm on a computer much of my work day, and the last thing I want to do is look at a screen when I get home (unless that screen is showing "Top Chef Masters" or "Yard Crashers," then I'm totally hooked).

But, I really do want you to have this recipe because it was tasty, and quick, and I made it vegetarian...oh, and the huz loved it. If it passes the huz test you know it's a winner (he is a very finicky eater).

I followed this recipe to the letter EXCEPT I did use my tried and true Tofurky Italian Sausage. Oh, yeah, and I added a half cup of chopped walnuts too. The walnuts gave a great crunch and texture that was a little unexpected - plus walnuts are so good for you.

Recipes like this prove that there is no excuse not to have a good, hot, homecooked meal any night of the week.

Rigatoni with Roasted Sausage and Broccoli
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound rigatoni (1⁄2 box)
• 1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 small red onion, sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 pound Italian sausage links, casings removed and meat broken into 1-inch pieces 
• (Note: I used Tofurky Italian Sausage. I slice the sausages on the diagonal, and saute them in a pan, separate from the broccoli. I've never "roasted" vegetarian sausage before, but it could work)

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (in reading this recipe I realize I didn't use the butter - I didn't miss it)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce)

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve ¾ cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, on a rimmed baking sheet, toss the broccoli and onion with the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Nestle the sausage among the vegetables.
3. Roast, tossing once, until the broccoli is tender and the sausage is cooked through, 18 to 20 minutes.
4. Toss the pasta with the broccoli and sausage mixture, butter, and ½ cup of the reserved cooking water (add more if the pasta seems dry).
5. Sprinkle the pasta with Parmesan before serving.

Source: Real Simple Magazine

Tortellini Soup

Last week I made tortellini soup and completely forgot to write about it, let alone share the recipe. I have had this recipe for many years. To be honest I'm not sure where it came from, BUT it is one of those rarities that both the huz and I love. Sometimes he even requests it, and he's not even a big soup fan. Or pasta fan. Or tomato fan. So that says a lot for this recipe.

I have to tell you it is super easy and super fast. The key is to have all of your ingredients prepped before you even start cooking because it goes together that quickly.

On a completely separate note - HAPPY EASTER!  As I type I am patiently waiting for my in-laws arrival (we are hosting Easter dinner - woo hoo), so this is really helping me take the edge off. Because I have been focused on Easter that past two days I haven't given my weekly menu a ton of thought. I can tell you it will have a Mexican/Spanish theme though, and I'm fairly confident I have the menu planned out.  I can tell you with 75% certainty that tomorrow night we will be having Vegetarian Tortilla Soup and Quesadillas. I'm pretty sure.

Now back to Tortellini Soup. Enjoy!

Makes 4 - 6 servings

1 tablespoon butter
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 - 14 1/2 ounce can vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
1 - 9 ounce package cheese tortellini
1/4 cup grated Parmesan + additional for garnish
Salt and Pepper
1 - 14 1/2 ounce can petite dice tomatoes
1/2 bunch or package of spinach, stemmed and julienne sliced
1 teaspoon dried basil

1. Melt butter in heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute 2 minutes.
2. Stir in broth and tortellini. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until tortellini are just tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir tomatoes, spinach, and basil into soup. Simmer 2 minutes.
4. Serve, topping with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Bowl of Yum!

Orzo Salad

Saturday I was at our local grocery store, picking up some pastrami for the huz, and drooling over the deli case full of delectable salads and gourmet cheeses.  One salad in particular caught my eye - Orzo with Artichoke hearts and Olives. Now olives and artichoke hearts are two ingredients the huz would totally pass on, but not me. I love anything pickled – beets, artichoke hearts, olives, and of course pickles, sweet and dill. Seeing this pasta salad got my wheels turning, and the saliva glands flowing.  I had to make an orzo salad this week!

One of my favorite combinations is basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella. These ingredients make up the classic Caprese salad, or what you would find on a truly Italian Margherita pizza. I decided to do a play on this concept.  One problem: the huz hates fresh tomatoes. I know. You’re scratching your head right now thinking, “what the h-e-double hockey sticks is she doing with this guy?”  Oh, despite his aversion to most of the foods I love he’s pretty awesome. He’s just a little quirky about certain foods and I have become very adept at working around his likes and dislikes. Personally, I’d probably eat a shoe if it was fried (or pickled J).

Case in point – sundried tomatoes. The huz loves them. Sundried tomatoes pack a powerful punch in a very small bite. They are super flavorful and add a lot of depth and dimension to any recipe. 

This was the gist of my Orzo Salad creation:

Ingredients:

½ pound orzo pasta, cooked according to package directions, drained, and rinsed under cool water

½ package fresh spinach, cut into julienned strips (if it was summer I would totally use fresh basil)

¼ cup sundried tomatoes, diced

¼ cup Havarti cheese, diced (I had Havarti, otherwise I probably would have used fresh mozzarella)

¼ cup balsamic vinaigrette (I make my own with vinegar, olive oil, dried basil, salt/pepper)

Directions: 

Toss everything together in a bowl. Eat.

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful love affair

That’s it.

Seriously. 

I can’t even begin to tell you how great this salad was. Between the creamy Havarti, salty/sweet tomatoes, and fresh spinach, I was in heaven. 

See what happens when you “play” in the kitchen? You never know when inspiration will strike, and sometimes it’s a home run!!!

I’m two for two this week.

Baked Rigatoni

Last night I made Baked Rigatoni with Ricotta and Collard Greens - aka "a very grown up version of macaroni and cheese." For the most part the recipe went very well, but I feel it is my responsibility to prevent you from making the same mistakes I made.

Now mind you "mistake" may be a strong word, it was more like minor "culinary challenges." Case in point, the original recipe had more red pepper flakes than this revised version - so your palette will thank me for that (if you like the heat though, feel free to double up on the red pepper flake). Also, with this recipe you basically are making a cream sauce, between the flour and milk. Because I had sauteed my onions on heat that was a little too high, my sauce turned out more brown than white (because of the extra "carmelization"). This did not affect the flavor in anyway - just the color.

On a side note, this is probably the second time I have cooked collard greens (dark leafy greens which are exceptionally good for you, are in season right now). The key to cooking greens is a nice slow simmer. I think I could like collard greens as much as I like kale. They are so good.

All in all this was a wonderful dinner with huz. What more can you ask for?

Baked Rigatoni with Ricotta and Collard Greens

Inspired by a recipe from Cottage Living magazine (which no longer exists)

Makes 4 generous servings

1/2 lb. rigatoni

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1/2 bunch collard greens, washed, drained, and chopped
2 tablespoons flour

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup shredded mozarella

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1.  Cook pasta according to package directions - drain and set aside.

2.  Preheat oven to 350, and lightly grease a 2 qt. baking dish.

3.  Heat butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. Saute onion 5 minutes or

     until lightly browned.  Add garlic and cook an additional minute. 

Reduce heat to medium-low, and add greens. Cover and cook 15 minutes until the greens are tender, stirring occassionally. (Note: my heat was a little too high, which resulted in more browning than I had expected. If you cook this at medium-low your sauce should stay fairly light in color.

flour & milk making magic

4.  Sprinkle the greens with flour. Cook

     uncovered, stirring constantly, 1 minute. 

     Gradually add milk, stirring well. Cook 5

     minutes, stirring often until thickened and

     smooth. 

5.  Remove from heat and stir in pasta,

     mozarella, ricotta, sugar, salt, pepper, and

     red pepper flakes. Place in

     prepared dish, and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan.

6.  Bake 15 - 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Chili Pasta Bake

Tuesday night I needed a simple dinner because I knew ahead of time it was going to be a long day for me. Typically on a day like this I have been trying to use my slow cooker. Well, on Sunday I got a wild hair, and started cleaning out my pantry (I think I have a bit of a Spring cleaning bug right now), and I came across a recipe on the back of a can of diced tomatoes. Considering I already had everything on the ingredients list (with some tweaking), I figured it was a no brainer.

To save myself some time, I actually made this dish Monday night and refrigerated it. Then on Tuesday, when I got home, I whipped together a simple green salad, and toasted up some Italian bread we had left over from Sunday.  I can't quite rave about this dish. I'm not sure why. It was fine. It definitely cooked up really well. I split it into two containers (one went into my freezer), which is nice and knowing I have a home cooked meal in the freezer is always a plus.

I have to say I enjoyed the leftovers more than I did the original dish. It's probably because I topped the leftovers with sliced avocado (what doesn't taste better with avocado?) and sour cream (I can bathe in this stuff). I think because the dish is warm, and is really made from pantry staples, the hit of something fresh, like avocado and sour cream, really helps, and takes this recipe to the next level.  As is, I'd give the recipe a B. With the avocado and sour cream a B+.

Chili Pasta Bake
Yields 6 servings
Original recipe c/o S&W with some adjustments by me

10 oz. penne pasta (I used whole wheat)
1 lb. ground beef (I used Morningstar Farms Crumbles)
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chili powder (I only used 1 tablespoon)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup salsa
1 can (7 oz.) diced green chiles, drained
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese (I used white cheddar)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

2. Cook "meat" and onion in a large skillet; if using ground beef, drain.

Melty cheesy perfection

3. Add chili powder, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa, and chiles.  Cook 5 minutes.

4. Toss pasta and sauce. Spoon into 13 x 9 baking dish***.  Top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. 

***Note: I split this dish between two 2-qt casserole dishes (baked one and froze the other).

Optional: Top with sour cream, diced green onions, avocado - really anything that you like on chili I think you could throw on top of this, to make it your own. Seriously, sour cream. It's the best.

Dinner is served