Fettuccine Alfredo with Oven Roasted Broccoli

Fettuccine Alfredo is one of the main staples in Nicholas' family.  Having almost no Italian blood in my body, I'm honestly not sure if I really had it while growing-up.

This is one dish I can always get Nicholas involved in.  Since I find this is one dish Nicholas is so attached to, he is so rooted in the dish's tradition.  As always, I had to add my OWN little twist... so if you know Mama T's recipe, you'll probably note the small change I made.  Nothing drastic, but this recipe should be attributed to my in-laws.  :)   It is, after all, theirs!

The oven roasted broccoli in this meal is a wonderful contrast in flavor and richness to the fettuccine.  I saw a similar broccoli recipe in America's Test Kitchen a few months back and had, in all my "creativity," forgotten that it had been so long since I had roasted my veggies, other than those root veggies you tend to find yourself tossing into a pan, seasoning, and "forgetting about" while everything else is prepared.  What a lovely thing!

I accompanied this recipe with balsamic glazed red onions.  Choose whatever sounds delicious to round out this meal!  It really is theirs! 

Fettuccine Alfredo
1 box fettuccine noodles
1/2 cup butter
1/2 - 1 cup heavy cream
5 - 6 cloves garlic (finely minced)
Romano and Parmesan cheese (grated)
salt for seasoning (especially if using unsalted butter)
chopped Italian parsley
chicken (if desired - recipe below)

Boil water for noodles (salt water if desired) and cook as instructed.

In a small skillet or saucepan, melt butter on low heat and add the minced garlic.  Allow garlic to saute on low heat for about 20 minutes so the garlic can infuse with the butter, seasoning with salt if necessary.

Once the noodles have cooked, drain and put back into the pot or into a deep skillet.  Turn burner on to simmer (or very low) and add butter, stirring.  Stir in about 1/2 cup heavy cream, slowly adding the grated cheese until the desire creaminess and taste (adding extra cream if necessary or desired). 

Toss in chopped parsley and serve!  Top with chicken if desired.

Sauteed Chicken

1 lb chicken cut into 1" cubes
2 - 3 cloves garlic (minced)
salt & pepper
olive oil

In a skillet, heat a few tbs olive oil on medium-high heat.  Once heated, toss chicken into skillet, season with salt and pepper and add garlic.  Stir to coat chicken and to allow all sides to cook.  Cook through (about 7-8 minutes).  An easy way to check to see if the chicken is done?  Simply cut the piece in half with the spatula or spoon you're using!  :)  Add to the fettuccine and dive right in!

Oven Roasted Broccoli

3 small or medium head broccoli (washed and cut into bit-sized pieces)
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
3 - 4 cloves garlic (minced)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400.

Toss broccoli, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper together, allowing the broccoli to be completely covered and evenly coated with everything.  Place on an oven sheet (best with sides so the broccoli doesn't fall off when putting in or taking out of the oven!).  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Lemon Chicken with Creamy Pesto Pasta

Have you ever purchased anything in "bulk" when you only need a little?  You know - when you decide that really, it's just more economical to do it that way, because you're getting a better deal.  Right?  Well... that was certainly me late last week! - from that Margarita pizza on Friday night...  I grabbed a huge container full of basil instead of a little bundle.  It just seemed like it made more sense.  :)  At the time, at least...

I knew that I wanted to make pesto.  That wasn't a difficult decision.  Thankfully, it's not a difficult food to make.  Honestly, though, it has been about four years or so since I have made pesto, and after thinking about it for... oh... let's say... two seconds, I knew I was going to use walnuts and not pine nuts.  Let's just say, first of all, we have some and they should be used, and secondly, unless you own a palace... well, you just don't buy pine nuts that often.

I spent about 36 hours racking my brain for the "most creative ways" to use this pesto.  Let's just say... I guess I haven't quite succeed at being super creative and unique... but I don't think it was a disappointment in the end.  Alas, however!  There is enough pesto for a second recipe.  Don't worry!!!  My goal?  To not let you down!  :)

So... here's take one of the pesto adventure.

Homemade Pesto
4 cloves garlic
3/4 cup walnuts (you can also use pine nuts)
2 1/2 - 3 cups fresh basil, packed (or about 4 oz)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
olive oil
salt & pepper

In a food processor (or a blender if you don't have one), combine garlic, walnuts, basil, and Parmesan cheese and blend.  Once the mixture has begun to form a paste, add about a 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp salt.  Begin to blend again and slowly begin to pour the olive oil into the mixture.  Add olive oil until you reach your desired consistency.  Taste to see if it needs any more salt or pepper and add as necessary.

Creamy Pesto Pasta
1/2 of the pesto recipe
about 3 cups fresh spinach
1/3 or so olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 - 1 cup heavy cream
1 box pasta (I used shells, cause they're fun!)
salt

Prepare pasta as directed.

In food processor or blender, combine pesto, spinach, extra garlic, and olive oil.  Blend until creamy and combined.

Drain pasta and put back into the boiling pot.  On medium-low heat, add enough heavy cream to lightly coat the pasta.  Add in spinach pesto and mix.  Season with extra salt if needed.

Serve!

Lemon Chicken

4 chicken breasts (cubed or sliced into 1/4" pieces)
2 large lemons (sliced very thinly) with juice their juice
1/4 cup olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic (crushed)
salt & pepper

Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.  On medium heat, warm skillet and olive oil.  Once heated, add in chicken and cook the first side for about 3-4 minutes.  Turn chicken, re-season if necessary, add garlic, and place lemon slices on top of chicken (as well as any excess juice from slicing).  Allow chicken to fully cook, about another 3-4 minutes, stirring lemons and chicken as needed.

Once chicken is fully cooked, remove from heat and serve with pasta.  (Serve with lemon slices if desired, or just the chicken).

Spicy Cajun Pasta

As about 99.99% of the world's population cannot live without pasta, it's only appropriate that a recipe every now and then is dedicated to this staple carbohydrate.  I must be honest.  I know, I know... I'm married to an Italian... but I actually could live in that 0.001% of the population, so every once in a while, I need to dedicate a meal to my Stallion.  :)

This dish is inspired by a pasta dish Nicholas ordered at Whole Foods a while back.  Every time we go with the intention of eating, we always split this dish.  The way they make it has shrimp and sausage.  Now, since I'm not a seafood fan, I always hand mine over, so if you're a shrimp lover, then you might want to add some to your dish!

In the few times that I have made this, I have used both link and ground sausage.  The two of us differ in our preference for ground verses link sausage, so go with whatever you desire!  There are certainly a number of different ways to make this dish your own.  Have fun!  Experiment!

Spicy Cajun Pasta

1 lb pasta
4 link sausages or about 1 lb ground sausage (we like hot, but use medium or mild if you prefer!)
1 large red onion
1 red pepper
2 medium tomatos
1 1/2 - 2 cups heavy cream
3/4 - 1 cup white wine
3 - 4 cloves garlic (minced), more if you desire
1 - 2 tbs cajun spice blend (see below)
2 - 3 tbs olive oil
salt
pepper
1/2 - 1 cup grated Parmesan

Begin by slicing the onions and peppers into thin strips about 1 1/2" long.  Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat.  Heat olive oil.  Once oil has heated, toss in onions and peppers with the minced garlic, season with salt and pepper.  Cook down until tender (about 8-10 minutes).  Remove from heat.

If using link sausage, cut into bit-sized pieces (about 1/2" thick).  Toss meat (either link or ground sausage) into the same skillet.  If necessary, season to taste.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes, then turn heat to high. Toss in about 1/2 cup of wine and allow the alcohol to burn off as the sausage continues to cook.  Once fully cooked, add sauteed vegetables back in.  Add heavy cream, remaining white wine, and spice blend.  Turn heat down to simmer and allow flavors to blend.

Dice tomatoes into about 1/2" pieces.  Remove seeds if desired.  Add tomatoes and Parmesan.  Stir to allow cheese to melt.

Taste.  You may decide that you'd like more salt, Cajun spice, cream, wine, or Parmesan.  If it's too spicy, try adding a little sugar (about 1 tsp) to cool down the heat.

There are two serving options.  Either serve sauce over cooked pasta, or add cooked pasta to sauce and keep on simmer for a few minutes, allowing the sauce to coat the pasta.  Serve!

Cajun Spice Blend
1 tbs cayenne
1 tbs paprika
1 tbs chili powder
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp thyme

Blend all the spices together!

There are a number of variations on this recipe.  This is a blend that I adapted from personal preference.  If you like some of the following spices, then try them out!  Some other recipes call for; sweet basil flakes, onion powder, bay leaf, oregano, ground mustard, ground cloves, nutmeg, cumin, sage, parsley.... The list could go on and on!

Vegan Made Easy

So tonight, in honor of our dear vegan friends, we have given this evening to you!  That's right.  You heard us correctly.  Here are two, count them, TWO recipes for you guys.  Pasta and cupcakes!

This pasta dish is light and filling, but packed full of a lot of flavor!  And guess what "non-vegan-ers," these are SO easy to make "non-vegan" if you choose with a few adjustments.  If you're not interested in this being a vegan recipe, saute-up some chicken with garlic and olive oil or toss some parmesan or feta on top, or even serve this as a side dish!

As for the cupcakes?  Well.... have we not seen a trend lately?  And really, who's going to pass-up a cupcake?  Just pretend these are healthy since they're banana based, minus the frosting.  :)



Sun-Dried Tomato, Red Pepper, and Spinach Farfalle Pasta
1 large onion
1 large red pepper
3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
6 oz fresh spinach
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
olive oil
salt
pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes
tricolore farfalle pasta (8 - 16 oz, depending on pasta/sauce ratio preference)
truffle oil (for drizzling at the end)

Begin to boil water and prepare pasta as directed.  If you'd like, you could substitute another pasta.

Dice onion, red pepper,  and sun-dried tomatoes.  In a large, pre-heated skillet, add about 2 tbs olive oil, garlic, onion, and red pepper, and cook down.  Once vegetables have begun to brown, add in the sun-dried tomatoes and continue to saute (adding the oils from the jar).  If needed, add more olive oil so the vegetables do not become dry or stick to the bottom of the pan.  Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  You may decide that you want the dish more or less spicy and add or omit some of the red pepper, however, it adds a nice, subtle zing to the dish.  :)

Once the vegetables have browned evenly, add the fresh spinach in and mix until lightly wilted (about two minutes).

Remove from heat and dish over pasta.  Drizzle with truffle oil, if desired, or more olive oil.


Banana Nut Cupcakes

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup oil
4 ripe, ripe bananas (mashed)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (toasted if you'd like)

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and set aside.

Mash bananas well and add to mixing bowl.  Brown bananas are great for baking, since they have such a high sugar content.  Make sure the bananas you use are nice and brown like the ones above!

Add oil, maple syrup, and vanilla to banana mash and mix until well incorporated.  Slowly add the dry ingredients in halves and blend into the wet mix.  Add walnuts last (if desired) and mix.  You may decide to toast the walnuts for a few minutes like we did (since the oven has already been preheated for the cupcakes themselves, but toss the chopped walnuts onto a cookie sheet and toast until lightly browned or desired darkness).  If you don't like nuts, omit them all together.

Bake for 17-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  (Look!  Everything in here is vegan!)

Frosting
4 oz cream cheese (substitute)
4 tbs butter (margarine or other substitute)
1 - 2 tsp vanilla
powdered sugar

In a stand mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Add the vanilla and powdered sugar until you reach desired sweetness and/or texture.  If you're not a vegan, then, by all means, use the regular ingredients, but here's a recipe that's easily made with substitutions!

Without the frosting, these are really just muffins... shhhh don't tell anyone!