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?

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Spinach Mushroom Gouda Crêpes

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brunch, cheese sauce, chicken, crêpes, food, foodie, gouda, mushrooms, postaday2011, recipe, sauce, spinach, vegetarian

Saturday morning Pumpkin mentioned that he read an article grape in school, he then began telling me how much he likes my thin pancakes… wait a minute, did he mean crêpes? It seems he inherited Hubster’s crêpe/grape confusion. So saturday afternoon I prepped a batch of my savory crêpe batter and a batch of the sweet crêpe batter.

Hubster and I aren’t a fan of mushrooms, it’s a taste and texture thing. Pumpkin loves them, raw, on pizza, marinated, anyway you can get them… I indulged Pumpkin by making him his own special crêpe… and he loved them! Hubster and I had similar crêpes, swapping in chicken for the mushrooms.

Spinach Mushroom Gouda Crêpes

Ingredients:
savory crêpes, gouda, milk, flour, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, button mushrooms, shallot, baby spinach, butter, sparkling wine, paprika

Directions:
Grate gouda and set aside. Slice mushrooms and mince shallot. In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter and brown shallots. Add mushrooms and sparkling wine, allow to simmer for a few minutes. Mix flour into milk and add to pan. Stir in salt, pepper and paprika and allow sauce to thicken. Add spinach and stir until wilted. Add gouda and stir until melted. Pour filling into warm crêpes, fold over and drizzle with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with paprika and serve hot.

What vegetable do you detest?

Strawberry & Spinach Salad with Pecan Encrusted Chicken

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balsamic, cannellini beans, chicken, dinner, dinner salad, entree salad, gorgonzola, honey balsamic, light fare, lighter fare, lunch, postaday2011, salad, side dishes, spinach, strawberries, vinaigrette, white kidney beans

Extra strawberries? Perfect for one of my favorite salads. When I waited tables in grad school, the restaurant had an entrée salad similar to this recipe. Of course, I always was adding and omitting things to make it my own.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Pecan Encrusted Chicken

Ingredients:
pecan encrusted chicken, baby spinach, strawberries, gorgonzola cheese, cannellini beans, honey balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:
Arrange spinach on place and added sliced strawberries and cannellini beans. Sprinkle with gorgonzola. Slice chicken breast and place on top of salad. Drizzle with vinaigrette.

This time I didn’t have enough time to marinate my chicken breasts overnight. So I rubbed them with maple syrup and allowed them to sit 15 minutes (okay, I was starving, so that is pushing it) and dipped them straight into the flour, skipping the milk…

Vegetarian Version:
Skipped the chicken and opt for  plain or candied pecans… mmm…

Strawberry Spinach Salad

What is your favorite entrée salad?

Cannellini & Spinach Soup

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beans, cannellini, cannellini beans, carrots, food, foodie, postaday2011, recipe, soup, spinach, vegan, vegetarian, white kidney beans

Normally this time of year, my grill gets used daily and soup is an after thought of winter. This year, the sunny warm days of April have been sparse… the beginning of May is looking the same. Tonight is my night to grab a bowl of hot soup and curl up on the couch with a blanket, book and Rory (my kitty).

Cannellini & Spinach Soup

Ingredients:
3 c. cooked cannellini beans, 1 minced shallot, 1 bag of fresh baby spinach, 1 c. of shredded carrots, extra virgin olive oil, homemade vegetable stock, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Warm EVOO in bottom of stock pot, brown shallots. Add spinach until wilted, then toss in carrots and beans. Pour enough vegetable stock to cover vegetables and bring to a boil. Salt & pepper to taste.

Hubster’s Variations:
I serve Hubster’s over orzo with very little broth. I add turkey sausage and turkey bacon (crumbled) to Hubster’s. And garnish with freshly grated pecorino romano.

Do you eat soup through the spring? What about summer?

Cheddar, Chicken & Spinach Puff Pastry

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cheddar, chicken, dinner, food, foodie, lunch, postaday2011, puff pastry, recipe, snack, spinach

This is a terrific simple snack or even meal. I had a little puff pastry left over from yesterday’s tart, so I whipped up this tasty bite. This was so simple, I’ll have to make sure I always make a larger batch of puff pastry. Perfect for a Monday.

Cheddar, Chicken & Spinach Puff Pastry

Ingredients:
puff pastry, 2 grilled chicken breasts (cubed), fresh spinach, cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Place puff pastry on greased baking tray. Arrange chicken on bottom, cover with spinach and top with cheddar. Pull sides of  puff pastry up an inch or so over the filling. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and pastry is golden brown.

*Serve with warm tomato sauce.

Potato & Spinach Curry

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curry dish, dinner, food, foodie, lunch, meal, postaday2011, potato, potato curry, potatoes, recipe, side dish, side dishes, spinach, supper, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe

There are tons of herbs and spices you can use in any curry. I like to play around with different tastes, so even if the main ingredients are the same, the flavor can be completely different. Hubster loves potatoes, but not spinach; mixed together as a curry though and he loves it. I would eat this dish as a main dish, Hubster prefers it as a side.

Potato & Spinach Curry

Ingredients:
3 large potatoes, 1 bag of fresh baby spinach, olive oil, 3 bay leaves, 1 Tbsp. tomato paste, 1/4 tsp. red chili powder, 1/4 tsp. turmeric, 1/8 tsp. ground ginger, 1/4 tsp. cumin, 1/8 tsp. coriander, 1/8 tsp. ground fennel,  pinch of cardamom, pinch of cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Bring water and 2 bay leaves to boil in a medium sauce pan. Peel and cube potatoes, lightly boil in water for about 4 minutes In a frying pan add all herbs and spices (except salt) and dry roast over low heat. Add potato cubes, olive oil and tomato paste and cook until potatoes are Remove from heat and make sure potatoes are well coated. Allow dish rest for a few hours (you can skip this step if you don’t want to wait). Reheat potatoes and toss in spinach leaves until wilted. Serve hot over basmati rice.

What is on your menu tonight?

Lemon Spinach Fettucine with Cream Sauce

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egg noodles, fettucine, food, foodie, homemade pasta, pasta, postaday2011, recipe, side dishes, spinach, spinach noodle

Our Valentine’s Day Feast Fifth Course was lemon spinach fettucine with…

Lemon Spinach Fettucine

Lemon Spinach Fettucine Ingredients:
8 oz. fresh baby spinach, 2 1/2 c. flour, 4 eggs, 2 tsp. lemon zest, fresh ground sea salt

Lemon Spinach Fettucine Directions:
Bring water to boil, add fresh spinach until leaves wilt. Cool spinach leaves in an ice bath, drain. In food processor, purée spinach, eggs, lemon zest and salt together. Change the blade in the food processor to the dough blade. Add flour and combine dough. Kneed dough on a well floured surface. Form dough in a ball and cover with a warm moist towel. Allow dough to rest. Cut dough into pieces and run through pasta press. Add salt to water and bring to boil. Boil pasta for about 5 minutes and drain, reserved 1/2 c. of the liquid.

Lemon Cream Sauce Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter, 1 Tbsp. minced onions, 2 tsp. lemon zest, 4 pieces of chopped bacon, 1/4 c. champagne, 1/4 c. reserved water from pasta, 1 c. heavy cream, 1 Tbsp. crushed red pepper, locatelli romano

Lemon Cream Sauce Directions:
Melt butter in pan and brown onions and bacon. Add starch water, champagne and lemon zest to pan and bring to a boil. Add cream and simmer over medium heat. Toss pasta in sauce and turn until well coated. Serve hot with fresh grated pecorino romano and crushed red peppers sprinkled over top.

Small individual courses are so fun….

What is your favorite type of pasta?