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Pasta Bar

December 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I always say that fresh is best, but sometimes I just don’t have the time, or the inclination… especially around the holidays.  So when I was contacted about sampling some of the products in the Giada De Laurentis for Target line, I was really intrigued. I may not always want to make things from scratch, but I never want to skimp on ingredients and I was thrilled by the very short list of ingredients on each of the bottles I received.  I had a couple of ideas as to what to do with the product, but in the end I decided that a pasta bar would be a neat idea.

Now, you could, if you wanted to, transfer your sauces to other containers if you wanted people to think this was home made and after sampling them all, I believe you could get away with that.  I wanted my “guests” to know what they were trying, so I left them in the jars.

pasta bar 1 Pasta Bar

Pictured are:

  • Black Olive Tapenade
  • Marinated Sun Dried Tomatoes
  • Marinated Roasted Red Peppers
  • Marinated Mushrooms
  • Genovese Basil Pesto
  • Eggplant & Pepper Pesto

I put them all out on the table, with a spoon for each one, boiled some pasta (linguine) and included fresh Locatelli on the table for grating.  I also reserved about two cups of pasta water in case the sauces needed thinning.

pasta bar 4 Pasta Bar

I gave everyone a bowl of pasta and let them build their own masterpieces

Here’s mine:

pasta bar 3 Pasta Bar

I just couldn’t decided, so I had tomato eggplant, basil pesto, black olive tapenade, mushrooms, sun dried tomato and roasted peppers. I mixed it all together and added some Locatelli

pasta bar 5 Pasta Bar

It was really good!

I have to admit, I was surprised by how tasty and fresh testing the products were. The tomato eggplant was my favorite, but everything was really good and I would absolutely buy them. The prices are really quite affordable and again, there are no chemicals or HFCS in sight.

If you’re planning a holiday meal and are stressed about it, there are alternatives. This is a great idea for a no stress, budget conscious, fun, tasty, party dinner.

I also received some kitchen tools and all in all I’m pretty impressed.  The mixing bowls are nice and sturdy and a good weight, with pour spouts(!), the tools are sturdy and thoughtfully designed and the stoneware is also quite nice.

pasta bar 2 Pasta Bar


I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Giada De Laurentis for Target and received product samples to facilitate my review



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Filed Under: All, Easy Dinner, Party Food, Pasta, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , ,

Linguine with Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower in a Goat Cheese Garlic Sauce

October 19, 2011 By 2 Comments

 

I have a very well stocked pantry.  I don’t worry much about what’s in it, because I’m always buying supplies when they’re on sale.  I always have what I need in the pantry… except when I don’t.

That’s what happened here. I was going to make a goat cheese sauce and use vegetable stock for the bulk of the liquid, reducing it at the end, making a rich, creamy sauce. So, when I – 3/4 of the way into the recipe went to go get the stock, imagine my shock when there wasn’t any.  No vegetable, no chicken, no beef even! Shocking. I used some pasta water instead, but I had only reserved a cup of it. I would have liked this a little wetter, but my son thought it was perfect. It was still quite tasty, but I’ll be a bit more careful about my stock and broth reserves.

  • 1 head of broccoli, florets only cut into larger pieces
  • 1 head cauliflower cut into smaller pieces (they’re hardier and if you cut them the same size as the broccoli, the broccoli will burn before the cauliflower is done
  • 5 cloves garlic chopped
  • 16 oz. goat cheese
  • olive oil
  • 2 lbs. whole grain linguine

Preheat oven to 350. On a lined baking sheet toss the broccoli, cauliflower and some olive oil, making sure to coat each piece.  Roast for 20-30 minutes until done to your liking.  When it’s done, leave it on the hot sheet and continue with the recipe.

cauliflower broccoli linguine 1 300x234 Linguine with Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower in a Goat Cheese Garlic Sauce

Put up a pot of water for the pasta.  Salt liberally. Add a glub of oil to the water to keep the pasta from sticking.  We’re only going to use one pot for this, so the drained pasta is going to sit for a couple of minutes.  Oil will help it from sticking, or you can toss a little oil into it after draining. Cook the pasta according to package directions, draining about a minute before the package calls for – the pasta will cook a bit more in the sauce.  Reserve a couple of cups of pasta water at least 2, you might not use it all, but better safe than sorry.

Put the pot back on a med/high heat and put oil in the pan, enough to cover the bottom.  The pan should still be hot, so it will heat immediately.  Add the garlic, and saute for a minute or so.  Lower the heat a little and add the goat cheese, stir it around to help it melt.

cauliflower broccoli linguine 2 300x225 Linguine with Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower in a Goat Cheese Garlic Sauce

Add the broccoli, cauliflower and pour the oil left on the pan into the goat cheese mixture.

cauliflower broccoli linguine 3 300x221 Linguine with Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower in a Goat Cheese Garlic Sauce

Toss gently to mix. Add the linguine, and using tongs, toss gently.  This takes a lot of patience, but it’s worth it.  If you try to rush it, you’ll break the pasta.  If it’s too dry, add pasta water a little at a time.

Plate and serve with a little salt, pepper and some grated cheese (I love Locatelli)

cauliflower broccoli linguine 4 300x213 Linguine with Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower in a Goat Cheese Garlic Sauce



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Filed Under: Easy Dinner, Pasta, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Grilled Potato Salad

October 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

The other night we made roasted potatoes and onions.  I only used about half the bag, so I knew I had to come up with something for the rest. I thought a dinner of tuna salad, cole slaw and potato salad would be nice as we just love salad for dinner.  This dinner feels like a picnic in the dining room and we add pickles and tomato, pickled peppers and all kinds of picnic-y food.  I wanted to make the potato salad a little bit different so that it didn’t just blend in with the other mayo based salads, but complimented them and stood out. Here’s what I did.

  • About 9 red potatoes
  • half a red onion sliced very thin
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
  • about 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
  • about 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • a couple of big pinched dried parsley

Put the potatoes in a big pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 8 minutes or until a fork easily pierces the biggest potato

grilled potato salad 1 300x225 Grilled Potato Salad

Drain the potatoes and allow too cool until you can handle them. Slice the potatoes into 1/2 in. thick slices

grilled potato salad 2 300x196 Grilled Potato Salad

Heat a grill pan on med/high heat and when it’s hot, put your first batch of potatoes in.  You don’t want to crowd these as we want nice grill marks on them, so do it in batches.

grilled potato salad 3 300x187 Grilled Potato Salad

Combine the oil, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire and parsley in a bowl and whisk till combined.  Get a large bowl ready to put the grilled potatoes into.

Flip the potatoes so that you’ve got nice grill marks on each side.  When the first batch is done, put it in the big bowl and pour the dressing over it. You don’t want these to dry out and you want the dressing to start to flavor the potatoes while they’re still hot.

grilled potato salad 4 300x225 Grilled Potato Salad

Toss to combine.

Continue to grill your potato slices and adding them to the bowl.  Toss each time so that all of them get coated.

Transfer the whole salad to a container with a lid. If you’re going to eat it that day, don’t put it in the refrigerator.  This is best at room temperature or slightly warm.  If you have any left over, store in the fridge in the sealed container, but when you have the left overs, heat them up a little in the microwave, or let them come up to room temperature on the counter.

grilled potato salad 5 300x198 Grilled Potato Salad

 

I like to add salt and pepper at table because my family likes different levels of salt and they like to choose their own pepper.  My husband likes white pepper on most salads, I like mixed peppercorns. Your choice.  I served this with tuna salad and coleslaw



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Filed Under: All, Easy Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , ,

Penne with Capers and Basil in Tomato Sauce

October 4, 2011 By 2 Comments

 

The other night my husband called and asked me to meet him for dinner.  I jumped at the chance to go out, but I still had to make sure my children were fed, so I made them a very quick and tasty pasta dish.  Of course I cooked enough to feed an army, but this heats up beautifully for lunch the next day.

  • 2 packages whole wheat penne
  • 2 containers chopped tomatoes (I use Pomi)
  • 2 medium onions peeled and chopped (I like the chop slightly bigger in this dish, it’s more rustic)
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped
  • a big pinch each of dried, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes
  • 1 jar capers drained
  • 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
  • a handful of basil leaves cut into a chiffonade
  • olive oil
  • shredded Locatelli cheese (or any hard Italian cheese)

Make this a one pot meal – put up a pot of water to boil and in the meantime, set up all of your other ingredients. Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside (I just leave it in the colindar in the sink)

Put the pot back on the heat and add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.  When it’s hot, add the onions and the garlic and saute until softened and onions are translucent.  Add your dried herbs and saute and stir for a minute to release their oils.

penne with tomato basil caper6 300x225 Penne with Capers and Basil in Tomato Sauce

Lower the heat to medium and add the tomatoes. Stir until they’re completely heated

penne with tomato basil caper5 300x225 Penne with Capers and Basil in Tomato Sauce

Add the vinegar and capers and stir to combine.

penne with tomato basil caper3 300x225 Penne with Capers and Basil in Tomato Sauce

Add the pasta back to the sauce and gently toss to coat the pasta. Add the basil right before serving and toss once more.

penne with tomato basil caper2 300x213 Penne with Capers and Basil in Tomato Sauce

Plate and serve. Grate some cheese on top, salt and pepper to taste.

penne with tomato basil caper1 300x235 Penne with Capers and Basil in Tomato Sauce

I had to have a tiny taste just to make sure it was perfect.

It was.

It took about 20 minutes, No fuss, no muss, the kids were fed, lunch for the kids, hubby and myself was ready for the next day and I got to enjoy a lovely night on the town.

 

 

 



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Filed Under: All, Condiments, Easy Dinner, Pasta, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , ,

Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

September 30, 2011 By 4 Comments

 

Still cutting down on our carb intake, we decided that we wanted portabella pizza.  I haven’t made this in years, but I also had eggplant and asparagus that needed to be used, so I decided to combine the whole thing.

  • 4 large portabella mushroom caps
  • 1/2 an eggplant (I roasted the whole thing – and I’ll use the other half in hummus)
  • 1 whole head of garlic
  • 2 bunches of asparagus (this is the time to use the really thick stalks)
  • Tomato sauce (I used half a box of the Pomi chopped tomatoes)
  • shredded mozzarella cheese
  • olive oil
  • olive oil flavored non-stick spray
  • kosher or sea salt

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Slit the eggplant in half, cut the bottom off the garlic, oil them up and wrap garlic in foil. (Full instructions here if you need them).  Put in the oven and cook for 40 minutes.

Prep your asparagus, but snapping the tough parts off, if they’re really thick you might want to peel them a bit, I didn’t.  Cut into 2 or 3 pieces per stalk and toss with olive oil and salt on a lined, lipped baking sheet. 15 minutes into your eggplant/garlic cooking time, put the asparagus into the oven as well.  The asparagus is going to cook about 25 minutes – if yours are not as thick, adjust your cooking times.

Pull them both out of the oven when they look like this and set aside.  (in my photograph, I’ve already unwrapped the garlic, so they’ve been sitting a while)

portabella pizza 1 300x225 Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

portabella pizza 2 300x225 Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

 

Turn the oven down to 350.

Prep your mushroom caps by wiping the tops with a damp towel to remove any dirt.

portabella pizza 3 300x225 Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

Pop the stems out – just grab what you can of the stem and bend to the side, it will pop right out.

I like to take the gills out, I just don’t like the texture, but some people love it.  Do what you prefer.  I just take a spoon and gently scrape them out.  Get a fresh piece of foil and use the same tray that you did for the veggies.

portabella pizza 4 300x225 Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

Cook for 5-10 minutes, remove from oven and spray on both sides with non-stick spray.

portabella pizza 5 300x225 Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

Scrape the eggplant from it’s skin and squeeze the garlic out of its paper.  Put a bit of each on each mushroom cap.  Roasted garlic is very mellow, so don’t be afraid of using too much. It’s sweet and delicious.

portabella pizza 6 300x225 Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

Spoon some chopped tomatoes on top of that.

portabella pizza 7 300x225 Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

 

Pat down with your spoon so that the tomato sauce covers the surface

portabella pizza 8 300x225 Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

Put some asparagus on top of the tomato

portabella pizza 9 300x225 Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

and sprinkle some cheese over that

portabella pizza 10 300x225 Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

Put back into the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted.  You could put this back in under the broiler if you like your cheese a little brown, but my whole family was standing in the kitchen at this point and it smelled so good that they were not about to wait another minute.  I plated each with some of the left over asparagus.

portabella pizza 12 300x225 Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

Then, I had the brilliant idea to rip some fresh basil leaves over the top.

portabella pizza 13 300x225 Portabella Pizza with Roasted Eggplant, Garlic and Asparagus

Yeah. Like that.

I thought these were going to be light, so I served it with a tossed salad, but they were surprisingly satisfying!  Delicious.



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Filed Under: All, Easy Dinner, Healthy, Lowcarb, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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