Italian class, part II

To quote one my favorite comedians and current regional manager of Sabre (formerly Dunder Mifflin), "CARBOLOAD!".  Last night was a feast that required working out before, during and after the meal. In fact, I should have jogged home after school last night.  Last night was PASTA and CHEESE night in class.

Our team made linguini with white clam sauce and we also made home made spinach ricotta and chicken sausage ravioli.  Other teams made penne with alfredo sauce (cheese, egg yolks, butter, cream, you get the picture), elbows with a spicy Bolognese, CPK's spinach and artichoke dip, Butternut squash ravioli and polenta with roasted pork loin.

I also brought in my homemade foccacia and Chef brought in Tiramisu.  All in all a delicious meal and one that will require that I eat salads the rest of the week.

Making ravioli was less daunting than I thought it would be and a lot of fun.  The dough is pretty simply made in the food processor or by hand and it makes about 20-30 ravioli depending on size.


Spinach and sausage ravioli


Dough:
1 1/2 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 T olive oil
2 large eggs

Filling:

1/2 c ricotta cheese

1/4 c dry chopped spinach

1 tsp Italian herbs

1/2 c cooked chicken sausage

1.  Put all ingredients in a cuisinart and pulse a few times to blend.  Remove and knead on counter until smooth.
2.  Shape into a flat disc and wrap in plastic wrap 
3.  Refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.
4. Once refrigerated, take out and cut into 4 even pieces.  Using a pasta machine roll the dough through each size from large to small until the dough is thin and you can see the outline of your fingers through it.  Repeat once more so you have two long pieces of equal size. 

5. Put all filling ingredients into cuisinart and pulse until a smooth paste is formed for the filling.
6.  Lay one piece of dough out and using a teaspoon, measure out spoonfuls about 1 1/2 in apart in the center of the dough.  

7.  Lay  the other piece of dough over and tuck the dough around each "hill" formed by the filling.  

8.  Using a round or square cutter cut each ravioli out and fork around the ends to make sure they don't come apart in the water.

9. Cook in a large pot of salted water about 10 minutes or until al dente.

Some pictures from the evening!

Foccacia

Linguini with white clam sauce

  

Ravioli with a garlic butter sauce

What is your favorite pasta and sauce?  Mine is a toss up between Bolognese and Baked Ziti.....and Vodka sauce..... and marinara.  Ok, so I like Italian food.  But seriously, what is your favorite?  Feel free to share here!

Chow for now! :)

Easy, light, spring dinner!

I just wanted to post a couple of photos of what I made for dinner tonight.  I was feeling like I needed some greens in my diet (maybe because I ate nothing but carbs since breakfast) ... of course I ended up pairing the greens with pasta but it was Barilla Plus thin spaghetti which is multi grain and has 4 grams of fiber and 10 g of protein per serving.  It doesn't have that... whole grain taste and is the pasta I always buy.
I started by sauteing one halved clove of garlic and about 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil in a saute pan and after allowing a few minutes for the garlic to infuse, I added two large leaves of kale (chopped, tough stem removed).  I also added a handful of pignoli nuts and a little nutmeg (which I always add to dark leafy greens to complement the earthy flavor of the greens). 

Once the kale was wilted and bright green, I added 1 medium sized zucchini (shredded) and cooked it all down until it was sauce like.

After about 5 minutes of cooking I added 1/2 can of diced, low sodium tomatoes and one tablespoon of basil (I didn't have any fresh on hand so I used - and swear  by Dorot brand frozen basil cubes which can be found at Trader Joe's.).

That's it - Once the pasta was done boiling, I added a small amount of the pasta water to the sauce along with the drained pasta and topped it with a little grated Parmesan.  This is a healthy and filling dinner with good nutritional value for a warm spring night. 

I must share a pic of Murphy stealing a piece of runaway thin spaghetti....

Do you have any favorite "go to" spring recipes that you enjoy cooking?  Please leave me a comment!

Chow for now! :)

Food inspiration provided by Olivia Ciel

This past month has been a series of ups and downs... Downs included two (unplanned) surgeries for me, one for dad (he's doing great) and missing lots of class time.  Ups included (unplanned) visit from mom, delicious delivery of cupcakes from R, spending lots of quality time with my family and the arrival of my niece, Olivia!

With all of the downs, it's been hard to get motivated to cook or do much of anything other than "take care of myself" as I've been advised by my family.  Lucky for me, the arrival of Olivia means I get to take care of my sister and her family!  I am currently staying at their place and helping them while they catch up on sleep and take care of their new addition.  One of my self defined duties includes cooking for them - talk about motivation!

I do have some limitations as I need to provide nutritious, mostly vegetarian meals that don't have a ton of spice/onion/garlic.  Last night I made an easy and delicious roasted summer squash (four different kinds from the farmer's market) and carrots served with couscous.  Light, easy, healthy and delicious.

For lunch today I made a fresh pasta salad that included lots of green veggies (sugar snap peas, arugula, zucchini from the farmer's market), a light vinegar and oil dressing, freshly shaved parmesan and fusilli.  Again, another summery, easy, affordable meal that everyone enjoyed.  Picture below.

At two days old, Olivia did not get a chance to try this food, however, through feedings, she will gain the nutrients her mom received from this meal.  Olivia has truly inspired me to provide nutritious meals for her family and I look forward to creating more for them to enjoy.