Classic Italian Pasta Salad & Toppings Bar

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food, foodie, pasta, pasta salad, potluck, recipe, salad, side dish, vegan, vegetarian

Hubster and I never agreed on what ingredients to put in a classic pasta salad. That is, until I began serving it with a toppings bar. It’s a fantastic way to make sure everyone at your picnic enjoys this classic side dish!

Young Wifey’s Classic Italian Pasta Salad w/Toppings Bar

Classic Italian Pasta Ingredients:
1 lb. tri-color rotini pasta (cooked al dente, drained, and cooled), 1 chopped red bell pepper, 1 c. broccoli florets, 1 c. cherry tomatoes (halved), 1 c. grated carrots, 1/2 c. chopped yellow onion, 4 Tbsp. chopped parsley, 1 Tbsp. minced garlic, 1 Tbsp. chopped oregano, 1 tsp.  rosemary, 1/3 c. red wine vinegar, 1/4 c. olive oil, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepperClassic Italian Pasta Salad Directions:
To make dressing, mix together oil, vinegar, herbs, and seasoning. Pour over pasta and toss to coat. Toss in vegetables. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Topping Bar Suggestions:
sliced black olives, Spanish olives, fresh grated cheese, bacon crumbles, mini pepperoni, small pieces of prosciutto, anchovies, capers, cheddar crumbles

What toppings do you like on your pasta salad? 

XOXO,
Young Wifey

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Smokey Walnut Spinach Pesto

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dinner, easy meal, food, foodie, garlic, gouda, pasta, pesto, postaday2011, quick & easy, quick meal, recipe, side dish, spinach, walnut

Exhausted tonight, I needed something that was quick to make for dinner. The fridge and pantry were sparse and I had some fresh spinach that needed to be used. Pesto it is! After all, pesto doesn’t have to be pine nuts and basil.

Smokey Walnut Spinach Pesto

Ingredients:
1 lb. linguini, 1/2 c. olive oil, 1/2 c. walnuts (toasted), 1/2 c. smoked gouda, 2 c. fresh baby spinach, 1 clove of garlic, lemon zest, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
In food processor blend together ingredients. Cook pasta according to package directions. Pour sauce over fresh hot pasta and toss to coat. Sprinkle with fresh grated cheese and serve.

I’m hoping to bake again tomorrow… What are your Friday plans?

Homemade Cannelloni

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cannelloni, dinner, homemade, pasta, postaday2011

Any homemade pasta recipe can be used to make cannelloni. Many ingredients can be added to the dough to change the color and/or flavor. Think: Spinach, beet juice, squid ink, butternut squash…

Pictures to come tomorrow…

Ingredients for Basic Recipe:
3 c. flour 4 eggs, fresh ground sea salt

Directions:
Dump the flour in a pile on marble slab. Make a large well in the four and crack the eggs into the center. Sprinkle with salt. Use a fork and break the yolks of the eggs, slowly stir the eggs, picking up a little amount of flour at a time until ingredients are combined and dough is formed. Knead dough about 30 times, adding more flour if necessary. Place dough in a glass bowl, cover, refrigerate and let rest for 30 minutes. Flour the opening of your pasta machine and place it on the widest setting. Cut dough into four pieces and roll through machine. I roll mine through each setting twice and then move the setting two sizes smaller. Sprinkle with flour as necessary. Cut pasta into rectangles, these will form your cannelloni tubes later. You can either lay pasta flat on a cooling rack to dry and use later, or you can parboil them, allow to cool and them fill them to bake.

What are your homemade pasta tips?

Pasta Fagioli

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autumn, beans, dinner, food, foodie, lunch, pasta, pasta e fagioli, postaday2011, recipe, soup, vegetarian

When the stars make you drool, just-a like pasta fagioli, that’s amore…

Maybe I’m just an overly sensitive person, but with the shock of the flooding and the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, it has been an emotionally draining week. With the damp cold clinging to the autumn air and the soggy ground seeping through my shoes, it is soup time in my kitchen. So until the sun decides to finally show its face, the soup will warm my body, mind & soul.

This is not the Olive Garden copy cat recipe, so turn away now if that’s what you’re after. I’m trying for a bit more authentic. I’m pretty sure that this is a traditional peasant dish and therefore wouldn’t have meat in it… After all, the two namesake ingredients, pasta and beans, are the most inexpensive ingredients one could use. Modern recipes do add meat, but today I do not… (maybe when I need to make it a little heartier in the cold winter).

Pasta Fagioli

Ingredients:
3 c. cannellini beans, 3 c. red kidney beans, 1/2 lb. cooked radiatori, 1 c. diced tomatoes, olive oil, minced onions, garlic, 2 bay leaves, 1 grated carrot, 2 stalks of celery, 1″ chunk of pecorino romano, vegetable broth, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, fresh cracked black pepper.

Directions:
Warm olive oil in bottom of soup pot. Chop celery into small pieces and add to pot with onions. Saute until tender.  Add broth and cheese and bring to a boil. Add remaining ingredients, reduce heat to low and simmer. Let stand for 10 minutes and discard bay leaves before serving.

Serve hot with a crisp salad and yeasty bread. Top with fresh grated cheese if desired.

What is warming you up today? 

Summer Veggie Pasta

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dinner, food, foodie, light fare, lunch, pasta, postaday2011, recipe, side dishes, sugar snap peas, tomatoes, vegan, vegetarian, White Cat wine, zucchini

Everyone has their own favorite summer veggie pasta dish, the perfect light balance for a hot summer evening. Mine always varies depending on which fresh vegetables I harvest from my garden or purchase at the farmer’s market.

I prepared the linguini al dente according to package directions. Then, I sautéed a small minced shallot in White Cat wine (I also love cooking with Red Cat wine) and added fresh sugar snap peas, wedges tomatoes and sliced zucchini. I sprinkled in some dried basil (from a plant I harvested earlier this summer). Finally, I tossed the pasta into sautéed veggies and served with fresh grated pecorino romano.

White Cat Summer Veggie Pasta

This would be really excellent with shrimp… mmm… Too bad Hubster needs to eat too…

What fresh vegetables are in your summer veggie pasta dish this week?

Baked Sausage & Pepper Penne with Red Cat Cream Sauce

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bell peppers, comfort food, dinner, entree, food, foodie, lunch, orange bell peppers, orange peppers, pasta, penne, pepper, postaday2011, recipe, sausage, turkey sausage

I made a similar sausage penne dish a few months ago. This time I wanted to make it a cream sauce to go with it. And Red Cat… okay, so I was drinking some Red Cat and impulsively poured some in the pan, but I love cooking with Red Cat. I also wanted to use red bell peppers, but the orange bell pepper were on sale, and looked much more fresh. I took the picture with really harsh lighting late last night, so my photo isn’t the best.

Baked Sausage & Pepper Penne

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey sausage, 1 lb. penne, 1 shallot (minced), 2 diced yellow bell peppers, 1 c. Red Cat wine,  1 pint heavy cream, 1/3 c. flour, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven 350°F. Cook penne according to package. Drop sausage by the spoonful into pan of shallow water and simmer until meat is done (water should be gone, if not drain water). Remove sausage from pan then add wine and deglaze pan.  Toss in shallots, salt and Red Cat and simmer. Add heavy cream and flour and whisk together. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Toss together sausage, penne and pepper and pour into baking dish. Sprinkle with pepper. Top penne with cream sauce and bake for about 25 minutes. Serve hot with garlic bread and fresh grated pecorino romano.

This is a great meal to make ahead and freeze, simply defrost and bake.

What’s for dinner tonight?

Baked Tortellini

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baked pasta, dinner, entree, food, foodie, lunch, mozzarella, parmesan, pasta, postaday2011, recipe, side dishes, spinach, tomatoes, tortellini, vegetarian

I love tortellini, I love them in pasta salad, soup and even baked. I prefer them filled with cheese or spinach or both. Hubster prefers meat in his tortellini.
This time I made it my way…  (I needed to… in order to get through the last week of school).

Baked Tortellini

Ingredients: 
1 batch of homemade tortellini (or one package), 1 package spinach, 1 small shallot (diced), 2 Tbsp. butter, 1/2 pint heavy cream, 2 large tomatoes, 2 1/2 c. of grated parmesan cheese, 2 c. shredded mozzarella

Directions:
Preheat oven 350°F. Cook tortellini according to package directions. Chop tomatoes and set aside. Chop spinach and wilt. Mix spinach and tomatoes in with tortellini and 1 c. parmesan. Spread evenly into casserole dish. Brown shallot in butter. Add heavy cream and 1 1/2 c. parmesan cheese, stir until thickened. Pour cream sauce over pasta and sprinkle on mozzarella cheese. Bake for 35 minutes. Serve hot with garlic bread or garlic knots.

Do you have a favorite tortellini recipe?