Italian Side Dish with a Pumpkin Twist

Italian Side Dish with a Pumpkin Twist

This recipe comes via Jyll Everman and Food and Wine. Jyll did this demonstration on Fine Cooking promoting BelGioioso cheese. I made put some of the stuffed shells in a dish with marinara sauce and some in a dish with a savory pumpkin sauce from Food and Wine. This is a great dish anytime but was really nice just before Thanksgiving.

Stir together the following ingredients

* ricotta cheese

* frozen spinach, squeeze out excess water and chop

* pine nuts

* 1 egg

* parmesan cheese

* fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh

* flat leaf parsley

* S&P

Boil pasta shells al dente.

Stuff the shells

Spread either marainar or pumpkin sauce in the bottom of a pan.

place the stuffed shells on top.

Dollop sauce on top of the shells.

Cover with foil and bake. 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Broil for a few minutes.

Top with flat leaf parsley.

Savory Pumpkin Sauce

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium red onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons minced fresh sage

One 15 ounce can pumpkin puree

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 

plus more for serving

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onion, garlic and sage and cook over moderately low heat until the onion is softened, about 7 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor. Add the pumpkin puree and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Scrape the pumpkin puree into the pot and cook over moderately low heat until hot. Mix in the mascarpone and the 1/4 cup of grated cheese.

Ravioli Filling Options

Gorgonzola Butternut Squash

• 3# butternut squash
• 1 T. Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/2 T butter
• 1 egg
• 8 oz. Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded and packed
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded and packed

Sauce:

• 1 stick butter
• 8 sage leaves, chopped
• 1/2 t. Nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel the squash and cut and place them on a baking sheet. Coat them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the squash at 400 degrees for 45 minutes until tender. Allow to cool for 15 minutes or so. Transfer squash to a food processor add the egg, Gorgonzola cheese, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Purée until smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

For the sauce, melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add sage leaves and nutmeg. Cook on medium-low for 2-3 minutes, just until the butter starts to brown. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Four-Cheese Filling

• 7 oz. sheep's milk ricotta or well drained fresh whole cow's milk ricotta (3/4 cup)
• 3 oz. Fontina cheese, shredded (2/3 cup)
• 3 oz. fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4 inch dice (1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Served with marinara sauce

Pasta Recipes

Fresh Egg Pasta (Basic Recipe)
NOTE: So far this recipe worked the best for me.
Makes 1/34 pounds (whatever that means???)

Pour onto a clean counter, shape into a mound and make a well in the center of 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, preferable stone ground organic.

Add to the well in the flour:

• 5 large eggs or 7 large egg whites
• 1 t salt (optional). I added
• 1 t extra virgin olive oil (optional). I added

Beat the eggs lightly with a fork, drawing in some flour as you go, until the eggs are mixed and slightly thickened.  Using the fingertips of one hand, gradually incorporate the flour into the eggs and blend everything until smooth, not too stiff dough. If the dough feels too dry and crumbly, add some water as needed. (Alternatively, process the ingredients in a food processor just until blended, 15 to 20 seconds, being careful not to overheat the dough. )

NOTE: doing this on the counter is so much more fun.

Knead the dough until satiny and very elastic, about 10 minutes. NOTE: this is a workout.  It is so cool to see the dough transform through the kneading process. 

Divide the dough into 4 pieces and wrap the dough loosely in plastic or cover with an inverted bowl. If you have time, let the dough rest for 30 minutes before rolling out.

NOTE: I used a pasta machine to roll and cut the pasta.  Thanks Penny for letting me borrow yours. Now to decide if I want my own.

Fresh pasta should rest for at least an hour after cutting and before cooking.

NOTE: I'd like to try some of the alternatives suggested:

SPINACH PASTA

Cook 10 ounces of fresh spinach or thaw 6 ounces of frozen spinach, Squeeze the spinach dry and mince it very fine. Prepare the fresh pasta above, decreasing the eggs to 2.  Add the spinach to the flour with the eggs.

HERB PASTA
Prepare the fresh pasta, adding 1/2 cup minced string herbs (sage, roesmary, thyme, oregano, or marjoram) or 1 1/2 cups minced mild herbs ( basil, chives, parsley, or scallions) to the flour with the eggs.

ESPECIALLY STRONG PASTA
Use this recipe for moist fillings and light bodied ribbon noodles.
Prepare the basic pasta recipe, substituting 1/2 cup cool water or white wine for 3 of the eggs.

WHOLE WHEAT PASTA
Prepare fresh pasta substituting 1 to 1/12 cups whole wheat flour for the same amount of all  purpose flour.  This dough may need a little more liguid.



From Katie Dailey Kineally (2/2016)
Here's my favorite pasta recipe:

3/4 C semolina flour
3/4 C unbleached white flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 t sea salt
2 T olive oil

Combine all the flour and salt together.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix to make a stiff dough.  Knead 10 minutes or until dough is elastic.  Wrap dough in plastic bag and let rest for 20 minutes.

Roll dough out to desired thickness on a lightly floured surface and cut into strips.  Add to boiling, salted water and cook until tender- about 1-2 minutes.

If you want to make spinach pasta, thaw 10 ounces of frozen spinach.  Squeeze out excess water- then roll several times in paper towels to dry thoroughly.  Crumble into flour and mix the dough as outlined above - you may need to add a little extra flour to get the right consistency.

Once you have make your own fresh pasta, you won't want anything else!  I have the pasta making attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer, and highly recommend it.

NOTES: I tried Katie's recipe and it came out too stiff. The Fresh Egg Pasta recipe in the "Joy of Cooking" worked the best for me. (BD 3/6/2016)

The Frugal Gourmet by Jeff Smith @1984, pg. 128
he suggests buying a flour made primarily of durum or semolina wheat.
Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 eggs
2 T olive oil
Water

Directions
Place the flour in a large bowl, and make a well in the flour. Add the eggs and oil. Pinch, pinch, pinch until the flour is blended with the eggs and oil. You may have to add a couple of tablespoons water to get a very firm dough. Knead on a table until elastic and smooth. Let rest, covered, for 30 minutes. Roll out, and cut in desired shape,

Serves 4

Menu - Pasta Making

Equipment

• Pasta maker. Borrowing one from Penny. Ordered a pasta drying rack. It is so cool.  I definite must have when making pasta.  This one accommodates a lot of pasta.
  


"344/365:The pasta making machine" (CC BY 2.0) by  Magic Madzik 

Appetizers available during the pasta making process:

• Dianne brought a delicious puff pastry appetizer and some prosciutto wrapped moz 
• Jan brought brochette
• Maggie brought a way cool cheese spread on tiny crackers with a tiny slice of tomato
• variety of olives cheeses and meats. veggies.

NOTE: it was a good thing I had made the pasta dough ahead of time.  We had so much fun sipping wine and eating appetizers we would have skipped the pasta making. :)

Pasta recipes: will try a basic recipe and one with spinach. I plan to make the basic dough in the

morning so it will be ready to roll when my friend arrive.

Sauces to have on hand: 

• basil pesto, 
• bolognese (Note: I made this sauce the night before. The downside is that Mike discovered it and ate about half. Must be good. The smell was heavenly) 
• marinara sauce. I added olives and red peppers as per Giada.
• marinara sauce.  Dianne brought one that she had made.  Super good and very intense.

Possible dishes to make: NOTE: we never made these dishes. It was fun to sample the pasta with the various sauces and fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano.

• Fettuccine with butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Sage, 
• Spinach pasta with artichokes and mushrooms

Dessert: what do you serve after so much food. I am going with Strawberries and Chocolates.  I also served a  Sorbetto from Ciao Bella, Sicilian Limone. That was very refreshing.

The wine. It was so much fun finding a variety of Italian wines

• Paringa is a sparkling Shiraz from Australia. Love bubbles to start the event. Not Italian but looked fun. Delicious.  A touch of sweetness
• Casa Contini Brindisi Riserva 2011 is from the Puglia region, 100% Negroamaro
  This was one of the favorites.
• I had to find a sweet red for my sweet wine loving friends so here it is, Pemene Falls 2012 made in Escanaba, MI at Leigh's Garden with UP grapes: Sabrevois and St. Croix
• Lange Nebbiolo 2013. Claire recommended finding a wine with the Nebbiolo grape.  Very good

We did not get to these two wines:

• Tofanelli  2010 Napa Valley Charbono
• Brunelli Poggio Apricale 2013 is 100% Sangiovese from Tuscany

Baked Rigatoni with Broccoli, Green Olives and Pancetta

Recipe from a Food and Wine Twitter post 3/15/14

Instead of using tomato sauce, Hugh Acheson makes his version of baked ziti with intensely sweet roasted tomatoes.

Slideshow: Baked Pasta Dishes

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
• 1 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 1/2 cup torn basil leaves, plus 1 basil sprig
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 pounds broccoli, cut into small florets and stems reserved for another use
  • One 4-ounce slice of pancetta, finely diced
  • 1 large onion, very finely chopped
  • 1 cup pitted green olives, such as Castelvetrano, halved
  • 1 pound rigatoni
  • 2 cups fresh ricotta cheese
  • 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

  DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 425° and butter a 9-by-13-inch ceramic or glass baking dish. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the tomatoes, garlic, thyme and basil sprigs with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes, until softened and browned in spots; let cool. Discard the thyme and basil sprigs and coarsely chop the tomatoes and garlic, reserving any juices.
  2. Meanwhile, on another rimmed baking sheet, toss the broccoli florets with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Leave the oven on.
  3. Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the pancetta and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and nearly crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the olives, tomatoes and garlic and the 2 tablespoons of butter; keep warm.
  4. In a pot of salted boiling water, cook the rigatoni until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 1/4 cups of the cooking water. Stir the pasta into the skillet along with the reserved cooking water, broccoli, ricotta, torn basil and 1/2 cup of the Parmigiano. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the pasta to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmigiano on top and bake for 15 minutes, until bubbling and browned on top. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
     Make Ahead

     The baked pasta can be refrigerated overnight.

Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Pasta

• Mel, selected from Eating Well magazine
• January 21, 2009

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/sweet-potato-and-red-pepper-pasta.html#ixzz2jUVNmUNI

Sweet potatoes and pasta may seem counter-intuitive, but here’s a recipe that uses sweet potatoes and red bell peppers in a bright “power vegetable” pasta dish that’s loaded with fresh herbs and very delicious. Any fresh herbs you have on hand, like basil, oregano, sorrel or chives, can be substituted for the tarragon.

INGREDIENTS
8 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups shredded, peeled sweet potato (about 1 medium)
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup diced plum tomatoes
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar or lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes or according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, place 1 tablespoon oil and garlic in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is sizzling and fragrant, 2 to 5 minutes. Add sweet potato, bell pepper, tomatoes and water and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bell pepper is tender-crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and keep warm.

3. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot. Add the vegetable mixture, the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, parsley, tarragon, vinegar (or lemon juice), salt and cheese; toss to combine. Add the reserved pasta water, 2 tablespoons at a time, to achieve the desired consistency.

Recipe Nutrition: 4 servings, about 1 3/4 cups each

Per serving: 402 calories; 12 g fat (3 g saturated fat, 6g mono unsaturated fat); 7 mg cholesterol; 62 g carbohydrates; 12 g protein; 9 g fiber; 546 mg sodium; 738 mg potassium

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (140% daily value), Vitamin A (120% dv), Potassium (21% dv), Iron (15% dv).

3 1/2 Carbohydrate Servings

Exchanges: 4 starch, 2 fat

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/sweet-potato-and-red-pepper-pasta.html#ixzz2jUVB4Vrj

Chicken Rotini Salad (aka Noodler Doodler)

 Recipe from: Addie Hoffman, Nicolet College cooking class

Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Start to Finish Time: 4 hours to 4 hours 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 pound rotini pasta, cooked, drained, cooled
3 medium carrots, shredded
6 scallions, thinly sliced, including some green
3 ribs of celery, thinly sliced
1 small green bell pepper, seeded, diced, or half a red pepper
3 cups cooked chicken or turkey, cubed
1 cup frozen peas, thawed and drained
1/4 cup chives
2/3/ cup cheddar cheese, cubed, 1/4 inch
1 can (12 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup dill flavored vinegar, or white vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
The chicken can be cooked in a variety of ways.  Consider marinating chicken breasts and then grilling, for added flavor.

In a small bowl, whisk together condensed milk, mayonnaise, vinegar, salt and pepper; taste and adjust vinegar and seasoning.

Cook the pasta al dente, add the sauce and then cool.

In a large bowl, combine cooked pasta, carrots, scallions, celery, bell pepper, chicken, peas, cheese and chives; toss to combine. Chill in refrigerator at least 4 hours, or overnight.

A family favorite since 1999!