imafoodblog.com

Pasta is the love of my foodie life. If I am looking for comfort, I always go with pasta. It is probably the thing I crave most, and we eat pasta for dinner at least once a week.

So I was happy to make this week’s Craving Ellie pick, chosen by Farah of Confessions of a Novice Baker, Linguini with Shrimp & Vegetables.

I have actually made this recipe before as written and with variations. I usually like to melt a few anchovies into the olive oil, add some fresh thyme, and I cook the tomatoes longer than Ellie calls for. This time though, I added some chanterelle mushrooms because we got them for a steal at Costco over the weekend, and I added some fresh capers that our friend Dianna brought us back from Italy. We are generally not caper people, but these were so briney and delicious. I think Dianna described them as a very capery caper. Thanks Dianna!

Yay for Chanterelle mushrooms!

Yum!

Here is my recipe as I made it this time. It was great! You end up with a really light but flavorful sauce bulked up with lots of yummy veggies and shrimp. And of course something like this is forever adaptable to what you like and what you have on hand.

Pasta with Shrimp & Vegetables
Adapted by Sara at imafoodblog.com from Ellie Krieger
The Food You Crave, page 160-161
Serves 4

• 1 pound spaghetti or linguini
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 8 ounces Chanterelle or any other mushroom
• 1 bunch asparagus stalks, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 container cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup capers
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 cup freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Freshly grated Parmigianno-Reggiano cheese

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the box. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute.
3. Add the mushrooms and saute until all the water has cooked out and evaporated.
4. Add the asparagus and cherry tomatoes and saute until the tomatoes begin to break down.
5. Add the capers, lemon juice, white wine, and the reserved cup pasta water (as needed) to the skillet. Let simmer until the liquid is reduced by about half.
6. Add the shrimp and cook for 3-4 minutes, until they turn pink. Stir in the parsley and then add the pasta to the pan and mix. Salt and pepper to taste.
7. Add a healthy dousing of Parm. cheese to each plate.

Hello!

Welcome to my second Presto Pasta Nights roundup.

I am so happy to be hosting again and seeing all the creative and inspiring pasta dishes from all over the world.

Isn’t the internet great?

Well without any further ado and ramblings on my part, here is PPN #132

Nancy from gaga in the kitchen sent in a quick and easy Soba Noodles, which she whipped up on her lunch break at home. I love the combination of the sweet and salty flavors she used in her sauce.

Foodfreak Petra, all the way from Hamburg Germany, is sharing her decadent Mac and Peas Carbonara. Petra found a random box of macaroni in her pantry, and since her husband is not too fond of cheese (what?) she decided to make some mac and peas instead.

The lovely Graziana of Erbe in Cucina (Cooking with Herbs) is sharing her Cheese and Basil Pasta. Each shell is bursting with cheesy deliciousness. I don’t even have to taste this one to know it is an instant winner in my book.

Next up is Cincinnati Chili from Shelby aka HoneyB of The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honey bunch. Shelby tried out an interesting chili recipe from Cooking Light, the secret ingredients are cinnamon and chocolate! Served over spaghetti, this certainly is far from a conventional chili, however the verdict was 2 thumbs up from Honey and Grumpy.

Ann of Pig Pig’s Corner has a lovely pasta dish that features her new favorite ingredient, Fig Balsamic Vinegar. Check out Ann’s blog to find out how to make her Figgy Angel Hair Pasta with Tomberries, Artichokes, Courgettes, Shrimps & Pine Nuts.

Let’s move on to Marye of Baking Delights, who with a fridge so bare it was echoing, whipped up this fabulously creative fall inspired Pumpkin Gnocchi with Spicy Chipotle Sauce. Healthy, quick, and flavorful, this pasta hits all the right marks in my book.

The next dish was sent to us by our dear blog friend Sophie of Sophie’s Foodie Files. As usual Sophie has something creative and delicious to share, this week it is Mixed Pasta with Courgettes, Garlic, Ricotta, and Mint. This has so many of my favorite ingredients all together on one plate, I just love how creamy it looks!

Nuria of Spanish Recipes has made Rossejat de Fideus, which loosely translated mean toasted noodles. Nuria tells us that this is a typical Catalan dish and is made by toasting noodles in some oil and then cooking them in fish stock. She served this with an alliolo. One look at that picture and I knew that I was going to have to try this out.

This dish from Eating Pleasure features one of my favorite types of noodles, the udon. After suffering an accidentally burnt chicken, Little Inbox recovered by still preparing her spicy gravy and smothering it on some udon noodles instead of chicken. What a hearty and delicious looking impromptu meal!

Deb over at Kahakai Kitchen shared one of her favorite comfort foods and an Italian classic, Capellini Con Cacio E Pepe, which is basically just pasta with cheese and pepper. I don’t know about you, but I am with Deb, when I am tired and hungry I also crave carbs in a major way, usually in the form of pasta. So keep this recipe around for the nights when you want quick, comforting, and delicious. I think it will hit the spot.

Continuing with our Italian classics, Abby from eat the right stuff has made a hearty chicken amatriciana using some leftover roast chicken. Abby explains that the trick is to make a really intensely tomato flavored sauce so that eat bite packs the maximum punch.

Macaroni and cheese seems to know no bounds, since Daphne of More than Words enjoyed some this week down under in Australia. The possibilities for mac and cheese truly are endless, and Daphne’s version, Cheesy Baked Broccoli Macaroni, also includes squid and prawns. Yum, yum, and yum.

Friend and fellow Craving Ellie in My Belly girl Chaya of Chaya’s Comfy Cook Blog is sharing with us her gluten free version of mac and cheese, Mickey’s Macaroni and Cheese. Mickey Mouse that is, and what better thing to serve Mickey than something with cheese! He is a mouse after all. If this sounds crazy, then check out Chaya’s post and it will all make sense.

Next in the roundup is Katerina from Culinary Flavors who is sharing her E.T. Pasta au Gratin. She named this E.T. since it is easy and tasty, and it sure does look great. What is more mouth watering than a crispy yet creamy cheesy crust like that?

Presto Pasta Nights creator Ruth of Once Upon A Feast sent in her divine looking Pasta with Shrimp and Lemon Sauce. She had to keep dinner simple since she was preparing to head out to Prince Edward Island to cover their Fall Flavours Festival for foodtv.ca’s blog. How exciting! Enjoy some good food for all of us Ruth!

This week Katie from Thyme for Cooking, the Blog featured her creation of Pasta with Forest Mushrooms and Zucchini. Katie is also looking for some advice on buying a new camera, so if you have any for her, go on over to her blog and help a girl out.

And another seafood pasta creation, this time from our friend Margaret from the lovely blog Tea and Scones. With her own fabulous looking homemade pasta, she made Pasta with Shrimp and Basil, in a light white wine tomato sauce.

Feeling reminiscent of her time in Jakarta, Lidia of Bianca’s and Jordan’s Mom recreated one of her favorite dishes she associates with that time. Mie Kangkung or Water Spinach, Chicken, and Mushroom topped noodles. I will admit that I have never heard of Kangjung or water spinach, but I trust Lidia that this is delicious. It certainly looks like something I would like to try.

And last but not least, Joanne over at Eats Well With Others shared her Coco-Peanut Butter Noodle Salad. She was inspired by a recent Mark Bittman column touting the virtues of peanut butter and it’s infinite uses. Like Joanne, I could also eat PB all day every day. So this PB noodle salad looks delicious to me.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their dishes this week, you all came together to make a delicious looking round up.

Buon Appetito!

We are hosting this week’s Presto Pasta Nights, so be sure to send your yummy pasta dishes our way by this Thursday night. All you need to do is post about pasta, then email me the link and a picture at sara at imafoodblog dot com. Check back for what I am sure will be a mouth watering round up on Friday.

This is a solid pasta dinner that I have made a handful of times. I like it because the sauce is quick and easy but still flavorful. Perfect for the times when I don’t have any marinara in the freezer.

It is based on a recipe I found in the June 2008 issue of Bon Appetit for Rigatoni with Spicy Sausage - Tomato Sauce, Arugula and Parmesan…and breath. Really, who is naming their recipes these days? (Wow, I just learned that it’s arugUla not arugAla. That explains my difficulty finding this recipe link.)

So, the basis of this dish is a quick tomato sauce that cooks for about 30 minutes with onion, garlic, red wine, spicy sausage, tomatoes, arugula, basil, oregano, and parmigiano cheese.

The changes I make to this are that I use only crushed tomatoes instead of crushed and diced (texture thing), spicy chicken sausage instead of pork, and spinach instead of arugula. Sometimes I break the sausage up into the sauce like recipe states, and other times I poach the sausage, slice it and then add it to the sauce. Sometimes I use all hot sausage and other times a mix of hot and sweet. You could also easily used a pre-cooked andouille or chorizo in here as well. It is very adaptable to what you feel like doing at the time.

This is a nice hearty meal that is super easy to put together, which is a must have for me during the week. I really look forward to coming home every night and having a nice hot meal with Nick. After a day of really watching what I eat, I love to be able to fill my tummy with some comforting yet healthy (or at least somewhat healthy meal). It is a way to reward myself and unwind from the day. I sound like that stupid “family table” commercial, but I think it is true. My family almost always ate a dinner together every night when I was growing up and I think it is important to continue that even if it is only Nick and I.

I will be submitting this to Rachel of The Crispy Cook for Presto Pasta Nights, a great weekly pasta roundup founded by Ruth of Once Upon A Feast.

The recipe with my changes is after the jump.

Read more »

This week’s Craving Ellie in My Belly was Aromatic Noodles with a Lime-Peanut Sauce, chosen by Beth of Supplicious. Great choice Beth! This was delicious.

This is another winner from Ellie Krieger. She starts with whole wheat noodles and bulks it up with a ton of yummy green vegetables, then mixes it all up with a tasty and satisfying peanut sauce.

The sauce consists of creamy peanut butter (I made my own - more on that in another post), soy sauce, water, vinegar, lime juice, scallion, ginger, brown sugar and red pepper flakes. I left out the scallion - didn’t have any, and the red pepper flakes - don’t like them. The sauce was very tasty. In my sauce, the main flavor (besides the PB ) was the soy sauce, which I loved. You would think that maybe it would be overly salty, but these two ingredients really complemented each other, and the lime and ginger helped to cut through the richness of it all. I don’t know if I added the correct amount of ginger, but I would have enjoyed a bit more in my sauce.

This was my first foray into making peanut sauce and I have only eaten it a handful of times. So, I didn’t really have any expectations of the sauce or anything to compare it to. I am not sure how others will feel about this sauce, I am interested to hear my fellow cooks opinions and see if they made any changes.

Instead of regular whole wheat pasta (which I don’t really like) I used a package of udon noodles that I have had in the pantry waiting for just the right thing. I ate this warm and cold. It was great both ways, but I liked it better on the warmer side. Though I did eat it right out of the fridge at work because i was hungry, so it may have been better if I had let it come down to room temperature for a bit before stuffing my ravenous face.

I will definitely be making this again, and am looking forward to eating the rest of it tonight for dinner. You can find the recipe here, and you can see what the other Craving Ellie ladies thought here.

I have no cute story or anecdote about linguine with clam sauce. This dish is really just a combination of some of my favorite ingredients - pasta, clams, garlic, and of course parmigianno cheese.

I make this every few months when I get a hankering for it. It is always so satisfying. I love the simple briny sauce with loads of garlic and a little bit of creaminess for some parmigianno or romano cheese.

I actually based this recipe on, gasp, a really old Rachael Ray recipe that I found in my recipe binder. You can find the original recipe on the Food Network website. This will be one of the only times that you will see anything Rachael Ray related on this blog, so savor this post RR fans.

Read more »

I am so happy to be hosting the 115th edition of Presto Pasta Nights! It’s been great fun and I have found some fabulous new blogs to read.

Everything looks delicious this week so let’s dig right in:

Joanne from Eats Well With Others made some Spinach and Ricotta Tortelloni with Roasted Eggplant to carb load herself the night before she ran a half marathon. Wow! Great job Joanne. If only I had a good excuse to do some carb loading.

TS from [eatingclub] vancouver sent in her Spaghetti with Grapes, Tomatoes, and Oyster Mushrooms. I have to say I have never eaten grapes with pasta before, but seeing her delectable picture is enough to make me want to try it out.

Graziana from Erbe in Cucina (that means Cooking with Herbs for all the unilingual people, myself included) sent in a fabulous take on pesto with her Fiery Pasta with Mushrooms.

Ashley over at eat me, delicious made a vegetarian Asparagus and Feta pasta. This healthy meal with whole wheat pasta is not just limited to it’s namesake ingredients, check out her blog to see the entire delicious recipe for yourself.

All the way from Perth, Daphne from More than Words sent us a yummy sounding Spicy Chicken Mince Tofu with Bean Paste Sauce on Mung Bean Vermicilli.

This next dish is also from Australia, this time Melbourne. Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe made her Resurrection Potato and Pasta Bake with some leftover potato gratin, mushrooms, spinach and brown lentils. I don’t think I have ever had potatoes in my pasta, but I can see how a cheesy creamy gratin would be delicious with some noodles.

Next up is more asparagus with Cacio e Pepe with Asparagus from Su-Lin at Tamarind and Thyme. Her whole dish has 6 ingredients, so simple and it looks absolutely delicious. I really like how she sautéed the asparagus instead of steaming or blanching them.

Abby over at eat the right stuff made a lovely Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes and Wild Garlic, which I assume is similar to the ramps that grow here in the US. Abby also used some of the flowers from this beautiful plant, which she says have an even stronger garlic flavor than the leaves!

Poornima of Tasty Treats surely did send us a real treat - Penne in a Creamy Pesto Sauce with Fresh Mozarella, Grape Tomatoes and Chicken. Really, what more could you ask for in a pasta?

This week Presto Pasta veteran Kitchenetta from Got No Milk has a pasta with fava beans, tomatoes and sausage for us to feast our eyes upon. She used pappardelle which is one of my favorite cuts of pasta.

The lovely Nancy over at The Dogs Eat the Crumbs made the ultimate comfort food, country lasagne filled with veggies, meat and cheese. Always the clever one, she had this stashed in her treasure trove of a freezer.

Tigerfish from teczcape - an escape to food sent in a very creative pasta black bean with chili tuna. She made this after a long day at work. So keep these ingredients handy, it sure is nice to be able to whip up something homemade and delicious after a day like that.

Glenna from A Fridge Full of Food made an Italian feast for her niece’s birthday, including this amazing ziti with pepperoni. Holy delicious!

Our fearless Pasta Presto Nights leader Ruth made herself some Springtime Penne Mezzani Rigate with Goat Cheese, Asparagus & Baby Spinach. (Can you tell it’s asparagus season people???) She was lucky enough to have some Garofalo pasta sent to her direct from Gragnano, Italy, so I am sure her penne was extra delicious.

On to the wonderful pasta stylings of Honey B over at The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch who made a Spicy Shrimp with Linguini. I really love simple seafood and pasta dishes like this, her photograph is truly mouthwatering.

Pei Lin from Mrs Ergul made Darling Pasta. She had some leftover pesto sun dried tomato chicken sauce from a party and turned it into a delicious looking spaghetti dinner.

All the way from India, Happy Cook from Kitchen Treasures made some Spaghetti con Salmone e Gamberi. Shrimp AND salmon, some white wine, tomatoes and cream. It’s perfection!

Priya from Priya’s Easy N Tasty Recipes brings us a flavorful and healthy dish with her chicken n bell pepper pasta salad, she adds a little twist with some soy sauce and sesame oil.

Katie over at Easy Gourmet Dinners made a pasta of good fats! I like the sound of that. Salmon, Smoked Salmon, Avocado, and Asparagus Pasta was at her dinner table this week. She made this to help her husband bulk up the healthy way.

Marye of Baking Delights sends us an ultimate adult macaroni and cheese, Pasta avec Trois Fromages. Her cheese selections create a creamy and tangy pasta to which she added some spinach and lavender buds. A great take on this classic dish.

And finally, my submission this week is Venetian Orecchiette with Sardines and Mushrooms. It was my first time ever cooking with sardines and it came out great. If you enjoy a nice briny seafood flavor every once in a while then this dish is for you.

Enjoy!
Have a great weekend.

I think I must have been hungry one day while trolling my Google reader. It had to be the hunger that possessed me to bookmark a recipe I saw on Serious Eats for Venetian Spaghetti, which is essentially pasta with a sardine cream sauce. I had never eaten sardines before, but I do love myself some pasta. The picture looked great and the SE writer said that it tasted a lot like clam chowder, which I also love.

So I figured I would give this one a try, with our pizza rule in mind. The original recipe can be found at Food & Wine.

Read more »

Yay!

Presto Pasta Nights is a weekly round up of delicious pasta dishes from bloggers all over the world. It was created by Ruth at Once Upon A Feast. We will be hosting this week’s tasty edition.

It couldn’t be easier to participate. All you have to do is post about a pasta dish on your blog this week and then send me the link to your post by 9PM EST this Thursday May 28th. It will then be included in the round up which I will post on Friday.

Even if you don’t send in anything, be sure to check back on Friday for the round up of amazingly creative and diverse recipes for one of my favorite foods!

This week’s Craving Ellie in My Belly was Garden Risotto and was chosen by Jessica of A Singleton in the Kitchen.

I love risotto, so I was psyched to make this. It turned out great and was a nice light dinner filled with lots of yummy vegetables, and also made for great lunch leftovers.

I did make some changes to the original recipe:

1. I added garlic, mushrooms, and 1 teaspoon of dried thyme. This was all sauteed, along with the onion.
2. I blanched the asparagus in the chicken broth before I started cooking the rice, instead of using the microwave.
3. I added additional cheese of course, about 1/2 cup parmigianno total.

I ended up using about 6 cups of my homemade chicken stock and just added it by the ladleful until the rice was al dente. It took about 20-25 minutes to cook.

Before:

After:

I wish I had more leftovers to eat! This was such a pretty dish this week with all those eye popping green vegetables.

Sorry this post is so short. I just spent a long overdue hour at the gym and I am tired and ready to sink into bed. I can’t wait to see what all my other CEiMB girls thought of this one.