Baked Lemon Pasta | The Pioneer Woman Cooks I love simple dishes like this. They remind me of my single vegetarian days in L.A. when I’d often come home from work and find a total of three grocery items in my kitchen. This is in contrast to the 9.446 grocery items in my kitchen now—everything from bacon grease to a freezer full of beef, but we won’t go there today. Lemon is an unlikely flavoring for pasta, but oh…is it ever refreshing and good, especially in the spring and summer. There’s something about this baked version, though, that I just love. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. This recipe may be doubled, tripled, or octupled—it’s totally easy. The Cast of Characters: Spaghetti, lemons, garlic, butter, sour cream, olive oil, salt, Parmesan cheese, and parsley. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Start by grating the zest from one lemon. If you don’t have a microplane zester, please remedy that situation immediately. In a skillet, melt the butter over low heat. Add an equal amount of olive oil. And mince it very finely. Oh, yum.
Spicy Whiskey BBQ Sliders Are you having a New Year’s Eve get together at your house? If so, I must urge you to strongly consider making these decadent, drippy, diminutive, dreamy, and divine sliders. I made them just before Christmas and when I took my first bite, I actually heard angels singing. They’re positively out of this world. Here. The Cast of Characters: ground meat, salt & pepper, butter, onion, whiskey (not pictured because I didn’t think to add it until I was in the middle of cooking the sauce), jarred jalapenos, and small buns/rolls. You can use ground beef, ground turkey, or…guess what this is? Or my cattle ranching family. A girl’s gotta experiment from time to time, man. Form the meat into small patties (about 12) then sprinkle them generously with salt and pepper. Fry them in two batches in a skillet of melted butter over medium to medium-high heat. Mmmm. After all the patties are cooked, remove them to a plate. Now you’ve got a skillet of butter and grease and flavor, which is wonderful… Garshk.
Pithy and Cleaver » Alone in the Kitchen with a Zucchini Alone in the Kitchen with a Zucchini My fiancé is a pretty flexible eater. He often picks the weirdest thing on a restaurant menu to order. He’s ok with cobbled-together meals of steamed greens and turkey meatballs (the sort of thing my father Would Not Enjoy.) There a just a few things Matt doesn’t like: olives (though we’re working on that), shrimp (they remind him of bugs, I think), mayo (which I don’t eat either), and sour cream (ditto. Our love is like, totally meant to be, right?) And zucchini. I’d never really given zucchini much thought, but now I’m oddly drawn to the forbidden squash. Was the zucchini the best I’d ever had, or has it just been too long since my last taste? For half an hour, I hardly missed him. Pasta with Lots of Zucchini and Beaten Egg Adapted from Blake Royer/Marcella Hazanserves 2 Put pasta water on to boil. Crack egg into a bowl and beat lightly. Meawhile, cook pasta according to package directions until just al dente. In italian, pasta, vegetables, zucchini
Porcini and Rosemary Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Port Wine Sauce recipe on Food52.com Author Notes: This roast is worth celebrating. Dried porcini mushrooms are blitzed to a powder with fresh rosemary sprigs, creating an umami-rich crust for beef. It's stand alone good, but when served with a port wine reduction infused with rosemary and porcini, it becomes an elegant dinner worthy of any holiday celebration. If you have the time, salt the meat well in advance. Food52 Review: TasteFood's roast is definitely a show-stopper. Serves 6-8 For the Beef Tenderloin: 1 center-cut beef tenderloin, 3 pounds Salt 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped 1 teaspoon black peppercorns Olive oil Season the tenderloin all over with salt. For the Port Wine Sauce: Your Best Holiday Roast Contest Winner! Popular on Food52 and Provisions
Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato (BLT) Pasta People think that because I write a food blog that I must cook constantly. Well, it is true that I do enjoy getting in the kitchen and making great food for my family. However, if I’m being totally honest, there are days when by dinner time I’m just completely wiped out. Does that ever happen to you? I bet it does! You start this recipe by putting on a large pot of water to cook 12 ounces of penne pasta. While the pasta is going, cook 8 slices of bacon until they’re nice and crisp. In the same pan that you used for the bacon, add a chopped red onion, the garlic, red pepper flakes and salt. Then add the tomatoes and cook for about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain the pasta and add it to the pan along with the arugula, bacon and basil. Top individual servings with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy! All the elements of a BLT combine with penne pasta and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Ingredients Instructions Cook the penne according to the package directions. –Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine
Prosciutto, Nectarine and Fontina Panini on Rosemary Focaccia recipe on Food52.com Author Notes: I came up with this sandwich because I love prosciutto and fruit together. They truly complement each other beautifully, as evidenced by the prosciutto e melone primi piatti on so many Italian restaurants' summer menus. I chose to add fontina to this recipe simply because I can't imagine a 'ham' sandwich without cheese, and it melts SO beautifully. And the infusion of rosemary in the bread just brings it all together; the herbal woodiness is divine with stone fruit. Food52 Review: Before making it, we were pretty sure we'd like this sandwich, but we weren't positive we'd want more than a couple of bites. Serves 1 1 large nectarine, pitted and peeled, cut in 1/4 inch slices 2 slices of rosemary focaccia, 1/2 inch thick 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened 2 slices fontina cheese 3 to 4 slices good-quality prosciutto Freshly ground black pepper Small handful fresh arugula Preheat an electric panini maker to high. Your Best Pork Sandwich Contest Finalist!
Mediterranean Orzo Macaroni and Cheese Thanks so much for all your sweet, encouraging comments on teaching my first yoga class yesterday—it went awesome! Or at least, I think it went awesome. We’ll see who shows back up next week (I’m doing this community teaching for the next ten weeks as part of my training). I was talking to a friend later and she asked how it went and I said “well, I normally hate standing up and talking in front of crowd but I discovered that I love being the boss even more.” I so wish all of you could come over to my house for yoga and lunch, by the way! Next best thing? Orzo pasta is tossed in a creamy feta cheddar cheese sauce complete with diced tomatoes, olives and oregano for a Mediterranean flair. If you’re a feta freak like me, you’ll go crazy for this!! This was the perfect fix to the cold, rainy weather we’ve been having lately. Though I haven’t personally tried this with macaroni pasta, I’m sure it also work and be great. What? Mediterranean Orzo Mac & Cheese serves 4-6 Print this recipe! Time:
Creamy Potato Soup with Bacon Vinaigrette recipe on Food52 Author Notes: I wrote this recipe when I was having a down day. Simmering the stock all day lifted my spirits. - OB Cookie - OB Cookie Food52 Review: No wonder this recipe cheered OB Cookie up on a rough day. Serves 6 For the Soup 1 tablespoon butter 1 large onion diced 1 large carrot diced 1 rib celery diced 3 cloves garlic diced 1 sprig rosemary chopped 1 teaspoon salt 6 medium Russet potatoes (about 2 lbs.) peeled and diced into 1" cubes 7 cups chicken stock or water 1 cup low fat sour cream salt and pepper to taste For vinaigrette 4 pieces thick cut bacon 3 green onions finely sliced 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar 2 tablespoons olive oil pinch salt Add butter to large pot on medium high heat and melt Add carrot, onion, celery, garlic, rosemary and salt. This recipe is a Wildcard Contest Winner!
Stuffed Shells I haven't had stuffed shells in years. My mom used to make them every once in a great while when I was little. She also liked to make manicotti. That probably explains why I love stuffed pasta so much. I'll take any excuse to make a big pot of tomato sauce... add a creamy cheesy mixture and I'm beyond excited to make dinner. So when I randomly decided this week I was craving stuffed shells, I was looking forward to experimenting with my tomato sauce and a new ricotta cheese mixture. This time I decided to kick my sauce up a notch with some bacon and ground beef to provide a smoky flavor as well as a hearty main course element to an otherwise appropriate side dish. A few simple steps and you can recreate this delicious and weeknight dinner appropriate meal for your family! Recipe Tips Next time I'm going to try making the tomato sauce without ground beef. Until no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, roughly chop your bacon into small pieces: Then add your marinara sauce: And enjoy!
E-A-S-Y Shrimp Scampi Picture this: you're leaving work, dragging your feet. You had a long day and can't wait to get home. Traffic can't move fast enough. Oh shoot! You just remembered you forgot to take something out for dinner... a trip to the grocery store is the LAST thing you want to do. Sound familiar? Instead of loathing the predicament I described, I actually look forward to it now because I have an excuse to make one of my favorite meals! Start with putting your shrimp in a colander and running cold water over it until it's defrosted: If you bought whole shrimp like I accidentally did, here's how to devein a shrimp. Then with a sharp knife, cut along the back of the shrimp from the tip to the tail, making sure not to cut too deep. Once your shrimp has been thawed and deveined, season with salt and pepper: Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add your shrimp and cook until just pink. Add the shrimp back to your pan and swirl in your butter: Serve and enjoy!
Linguini Tossed in a Vodka Blush Sauce with Sundried Tomatoes and Asparagus I've never actually considered making a vodka sauce. It's my favorite dish that I'm constantly ordering at restaurants, but always thought would be complex to make and would require a hefty grocery bill with all of the unusual ingredients I'd need. My assumptions couldn't have been further from the truth. A) this is the easiest dish to make, I'm still in shock and B) the only unusual ingredient was the vodka that I bought on sale for $10 and was assured by the salesman it would be great for cooking. I was inspired to finally try this favorite dish of mine because I recently found it on a new favorite blog, The Pioneer Woman. The few ingredients this recipe requires was perfect for her allergies and is made without meat, while managing to still be a satisfying and filling meal. This recipe is a must try! Recipe Tips:DON'T simmer this recipe for hours like you do other homemade tomato sauce recipes. Wash the asparagus: Break your asparagus by finding the natural breaking point.
Bagged Lunch Ideas: Mediterranean Whole Wheat Pasta Salad with Basil Vinaigrette I served a version of this pasta salad at the very first dinner party I ever hosted. I was 16. I don't remember the exact occasion, but I'd invited a group of my nerdy high school friends over and we feasted on a Mediterranean inspired spread of homemade roasted garlic hummus, tzatziki, balsamic chicken flat-bread pizzas, bruschetta, crudite, and this salad. I remember that this salad was one of my favorites of all the dishes, and that I made so much of it that my family and I ate the leftovers for the rest of the week. This is a great salad for lunch; you can keep it as-is or add some grilled chicken or cooked shrimp to round it out. This also make a great salad for a picnic or outdoor barbecue since it's oil-based and will keep at room temperature for several hours. ****New to Always Order Dessert?