Keep It Simple Foods » Pasta

Light Vodka sauce with pasta

Jessica — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:48:53 +0000

One of my favorite indulgent pasta dishes is Penne a la Vodka. If you never have tried this, you must! It’s a creamy tomato sauce with sweet shallots and a touch of vodka, its the best! However, it is way too caloric of a meal for me so I have tried to lighten it up while trying to maintain the flavor.

Here, I reduced the amount of cream used by using just a few tablespoons of half n half. I also only used 1/3 cup of vodka. Give it a try!

Light vodka sauce
1 28 oz can of tomato puree
1 16 oz can of tomato sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, diced finely
3 tablespoons of half n half
1/3 cup of vodka (I prefer Stolinaya)
small handful of fresh chopped basil
EVOO
freshly grated parmesan cheese

Set shallots over a tablespoon of EVOO and saute until translucent. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add vodka and bring to a boil and back to a simmer. Simmer down to about half. Add tomato sauce, tomato puree, and half n half. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for about 10 minutes. Then add fresh chopped basil and stir through right before serving.

Serve with your favorite pasta and freshly grated cheese on top!

Simple Sustenance-Whole Wheat Baked Spaghetti

Jennifer — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:59:41 +0000

Baked spaghetti is a perfect comfort meal on cold, rainy days like we’ve been having here in D.C. It’s also really cheap and easy to make. You can make as much or as little as you like and baked spaghetti is easy for left overs.

I use whole wheat pasta noodles and part skim mozzerella to “healthify” this dish.

Ingredients: (Serves up to 6 persons)
1 small package of whole wheat capellini dried noodles (these cook up quicker than other noodles)= $1.70
1 jar organic marinara/spaghetti sauce= $3.50
1 bag of part-skim shredded mozzerella= $2.50
italian seasonings and red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and pepper
Total: $7.70/6= $1.28 per serving

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil the entire package of capellini pasta in a large pot of salted water until cooked.

Drain the cooked pasta and put it in a large baking dish (glass or metal is fine). Note*I like to season the noodles before placing into the pan. While in the strainer, toss noodles with olive oil, salt and pepper for extra flavor. Cover the pasta with sauce and cheese and bake in the oven. Bake for about 10 min at 400 degrees and then broil until the cheese is melted and browned slightly.

Cut into squares and serve with a fresh green side salad or a toasted baguette.
Sometimes the simplest dishes are the best.

Feel free to use a homemade spaghetti sauce or to add fresh veggies to this dish for extra flavor and health benefits.

Grape Tomato Pasta

Jessica — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:10:29 +0000

Although tomatoes have not been having the best season, I have still found very sweet grape tomatoes that are the perfect topping for several dishes. They are great over green, leafy salads, used as a dipping device, and I love when they are hot, juicy and burst in your mouth. Although I am a lover of super simple pasta with grated parmesan, EVOO, and red pepper flakes, I also like having bulked up pasta with fresh summer vegetables.

When you need to make a healthy meal quickly, the below is a perfect way to do so. All you need are a few key items to flavor the dish and you are done!

Grape Tomato Pasta

large handful of grape tomatoes
1 zuchini, sliced lengthwise, then chopped
few tablespoons of parmesan cheese
sprinkling of thyme
tablespoon or so of good balsamic vinegar
tablespoon of sliced, blanched almonds
EVOO
1 cup of pasta (I have been liking ronzoni smart taste)

Cook pasta according to directions, drain and set aside.

Set 2 teaspoons of EVOO over med. high heat and saute zuchini until tender. Add balsamic and cook until slightly reduced. Add tomatoes and cook for a few minutes. Remove and serve over pasta with drizzled EVOO and a sprinkling of thyme, almonds, and parm. cheese.

Rainbow chard rigatoni

Jessica — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:58:17 +0000

One of my favorite foods of summer are fresh greens. You can definitely taste the difference of fresh greens versus greens sold at a supermarket AND there are a ton of varieties available. Just the other week at the farmers market I got to try a green that was meant to taste like wasabi and was truly spicy! But, my favorite green to buy at the farmers market is swiss chard. I love the delicious buttery taste and because its a nutritional powerhouse! Chard has impressive amounts of Vitamin K, Vitamin C, magnesium, Vitamin E, and potassium! Swiss chard is definitely a great alternative to spinach and adds a more complex taste.

As you can tell, Jennifer and I LOVE pasta. Quite often during hectic weekday nights, I will turn to my leftover vegetables from the farmers market and freezer items to create a new tasty dish. Lately, I’ve been leaning toward simpler foods with clean flavors and trying to keep the foods light and healthy (in particular for this coming year so I can be in tip top shape for my wedding!). This dish requires very little oil, but gets a sharp flavor from a sprinkling of parmesan-reggiano and the crisp toasted pine nuts. I loved it!

Summer Swiss Chard Pasta (for one)
4 cups of swiss chard, rinsed and blanched for a few minutes
few teaspoons of lemon
few tablespoons of toasted pine nuts (over low heat for several minutes)
1/2 chopped red bell pepper
small handful of freshly grated parmesan-reggiano cheese
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup of rigatoni (I used durum wheat)
EVOO

Set pot of water to boil. Once boiling, add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain pasta and set aside.

Set 1/2 tablespoon of EVOO over medium heat. Saute red bell pepper until tender. Add minced garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add swiss chard and cook for a few minutes and then stir through lemon juice. Spoon over the rigatoni and sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts and cheese. Drizzle a tiny bit of EVOO over dish. Serve immediately.

Keep it Simple Tip: Keep a number of variety of nuts in your freezer so that you can quickly add them to any dish. I keep nuts in the freezer because if left in the pantry, they can get rancid quickly especially if you don’t use them quickly. My top nuts to keep in the freezer are: sliced blanched almonds, cashews, pecans, and pine nuts. They thaw in just a few minutes and are perfect toppings to oatmeal, yogurt, salads, and savory dishes.

Simple Sustenance- Broccoli Pasta

Jennifer — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:48:36 +0000

I would like to introduce the first recipe in our Simple Sustenance series featuring recipes using 5 ingredients or less and cost $5 or less to make. This dish is just about as basic as it gets. It requires only 2 main ingredients, but gives you the option to “fancify” or dress up the dish in a variety of different ways. Pasta is the ultimate comfort food and this pasta dish can be served dressed up or dressed down, for dinner or a dinner party.

5 Ingredients: (serves 1 to 2 persons)
1. 1 bunch broccoli rinsed and chopped (or broccolini)=$2.00
2. 1 box whole wheat pasta (you only need 1/2 a box)=$1.75
3. juice of 1/2 lemon (optional)
4. red pepper flakes (optional)
5. grated parmesean (optional)
TOTAL=$3.75 (without optional ingredients)

Directions: I love this dish because it’s easy to make and only takes about 20 min. All you need to do is boil your pasta until al dente (cooked but firm), remove it from the pasta water (do not drain the water!), and add it to a sauce pan with a little evoo, salt and pepper. Saute the pasta with the broccoli and spoon in a few spoonfuls of the pasta water to cook the broccoli. Once the broccoli is slightly cooked and bright green in color, it’s ready to eat! Serve up the pasta in bowls and eat plain or top with a dash of lemon juice, red pepper, evoo, and/or parmesean cheese.

*For a dinner party, serve the pasta plain and let guests top it with whichever toppings they like.

Asparagus and White Bean Pasta

Jessica — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:08:46 +0000

Since asparagus is my summer veggie of choice, I was inspired by Jennifer’s recent post with lemony asparagus and tortellini enough to try my own version.

Lemon and asparagus just plain work well together! The acidity and tartness of the lemon matches perfectly with the complex flavor of the asparagus. Love it! Here, I just did a simple lemon vinaigrette with EVOO and lemon juice- I used a few tablespoons of lemon juice and olive oil. I had a good amount leftover and saved the rest in a resealable container to use for the next day. If you don’t trust yourself to get the proportions right, you can use your fave lemon vinaigrette- this is my favorite.

I also used great northern white beans in this dish. I really love the plump, soft texture of these beans. They work so well in italian pasta dishes and they are really great in any minestrone soup (can’t wait till it cools off again so that I’m in the mood for soup!)

1 can of white beans, rinsed
1 large red bell pepper, diced
14 stalks of asparagus, cut in 1 inch pieces
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
dash of salt
dash of red pepper flakes
as many servings of pasta as you want
lemon vinaigrette

Set a few teaspoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Then add red bell pepper and asparagus and saute for several minutes until asparagus are perfectly cooked. Turn heat to low and mix in the beans, thyme, and red pepper flakes until beans are warm. Set mixture aside and keep warm.

Then cook whole grain pasta until al dente.

Set pasta on a plate with about 1/2 cup of asparagus & bean mixture. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of the lemon vinaigrette and add sliced parmesan reggiano cheese on top. Perfect!

Also, don’t forget to enter our giveaway- you have until Thursday at midnight!

Lemony Asparagus with Tortellini

Jennifer — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:33:42 +0000

Keeping with summer themed foods, I was inspired to make something light, green, full of veggies…something like Heidi’s asparagus salad! I followed the recipe almost exactly, although I added regular broccoli in with the asparagus and broccolini. I also passed on the radishes because I’m not a huge fan. I served the salad with cheese filled, tri colored tortellini. It was excellent. The lemony, zesty dressing gave a burst of flavor to the veggies. It was light, yet satisfying. You must try this recipe!

Baked Pasta with Pesto & Ricotta

Jessica — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:48:53 +0000

I’ve mentioned how much I love Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone book. I wanted to find a recipe in the book and I could not find it in my apartment. I never took it out of the place and now I can’t find it, crazy!

I remembered a recipe in the book that I wanted to use- I knew that it involved beans, pasta, ricotta, and pesto. So I made my own version! This turned out amazing. The flavors work really well together and I love the freshness of this dish.

1 bag of orecchiette pasta or shells (approx 1 pd)
1 can of fire-roasted tomatoes or 5 tomatoes, diced
1 and 1/2 cups of navy beans, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/4 cup of whole wheat panko crumbs
small handful of part skim mozzerella cheese
1 cup of part-skim ricotta mixed with about 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest, 2 teaspoons of olive oil, salt, and fresh cracked pepper
Pesto (use your favorite recipe- I experimented and used 2 large handfuls of basil leaves, 1 garlic clove, extra virgin olive oil, salt, cracked pepper, parmesan cheese)

Cook the pasta until al dente then drain. Mix the pasta with the beans, tomatoes, thyme and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

Layer the pasta, bean, and tomato mixture in a oil sprayed casserole dish. Then drizzle pesto over the top of the dish. It doesn’t have to be completely covered, just drizzle as much as you want. Then layer the ricotta lemon mixture over the pesto and then sprinkle the mozzerella cheese in the empty spots. Then sprinkle the panko crumbs over the dish.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes or until cheese is good and melty.

Love it, now I’m off to watch the Office & 30 Rock, yay! Can’t wait for my day off tomorrow!

Keep It Simple Pasta Dinner

Jennifer — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:20:51 +0000

This is the EASIEST pasta dish to make EVER! I love it! It’s great when you have zero time but are super hungry. It’s both quick and healthy. Just cook whole wheat pasta (al dente), drain, and drizzle with olive oil and then season heavily with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper (as much as you like!). Top it off with a few parmesean sprinkles if you’d like. Serve with a side salad of spinach leaves drizzled with evoo, salt, pepper and a touch of balsamic vineger. So good! Takes no time at all.

Buitoni Wild Mushroom Agnolotti

Jessica — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:07:36 +0000

I was very excited that Foodbuzz gave me the opportunity to try Buitoni’s new Riserva line of all-natural pastas. This one, Wild Mushroom Agnolotti, came in the mail during the weekend and I was a little cautious. Although you have seen me cook with mushrooms, I’m not the biggest fan of mushrooms. For me, less mushrooms is better!

However, I decided to give these a whirl. I tried 4 of these raviolis while feeding the rest to my mushroom-loving boyfriend. I was pleasantly suprised. Not only were the ravioli easy to cook, but the flavor was on target- all I did was add a simple drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (since I really wanted to taste the filling) and that’s all that was necessary. The filling was cheesy, but not too mushroomy tasting, with a big garlic punch! Although it could have been a little less salty, we both thought they were very good and would definitely consider buying them at the grocery store.

Check for Buitoni’s other all-natural pastas in the Riserva line including Chicken Four Cheese Ravioli, Quattro Formaggi, and Spicy Beef and Sausage Ravioli.