Oh Glorious Pasta!

Who doesn't love a plate of flavorful pasta on a cold day? How about homemade pasta? This week was my first attempt, and it was amazing! I decided to go all out and I got a ravioli press to go with the pasta attachments on my Kitchen Aid mixer. I scoured the internet for recipes, found an interesting filling recipe and a basic Italian pasta recipe with semolina flour, and got started. What fun!

It took me a little time to get the consistency and thickness right on the dough so that it would feed through the pasta attachment. For those inexperienced with pasta dough, it is quite dry, and with semolina flour it's a bit harder to roll out. And you do have to roll it out some before feeding it through the attachment because it won't go through otherwise. The good news is that the dough doesn't have to be very thin - just enough to feed through. Once you get the hang of it, it's a snap!

The recipe for the filling was the easiest part. Wilt some spinach in olive oil, squeeze out the water after it cools, throw it in the food processor with the feta cheese and pine nuts, and you're done! The one thing I will say is that I used about half the amount of spinach called for in the recipe. For my palette, it was perfectly spinachy that way without going over the top. Here's the filling recipe.

The ravioli press was a blast! You take one layer of pasta dough, squish it down with the filling press so that it makes nice holes for the filling, spoon in the filling, and cover with another layer of dough. Then you roll over the press and cut the sides with a little ravioli cutter that looks like a mini pizza cutter with crimped edges. This is what you get:

Aren't they cute? Better still, they were amazingly delicious!!

I also made homemade sauce, which is easier than you'd think, thanks to the family recipe of my college friend Kathy Farretta. I can't divulge that one without permission (sorry) but here's a simple one that is close: marinara sauce. Hint: changes to make include leaving out the carrot, adding green pepper, and not using sugar.

Here's the final result. Scrumptious!

Southwestern Black Beans and Quinoa Casserole

This one is definitely a scrumption! It even pleased my meat-eating husband who thinks every recipe I make needs chicken.

This one drew my attention because of the list of ingredients: black beans, quinoa, southwestern spices, peppers, and cheese (vegan or dairy). What a lovely recipe! It's a bit of work because it calls for sauteing the onion, garlic, and jalapenos (don't worry, it's not overly spicy) while cooking the quinoa. It also calls for already having the black beans cooked. But once the sauteing is done, it's a bit of simmering of beans, vegee broth, and sauteed delights while toasting the cooked quinoa in the spices and then stovetop roasting the peppers.

I love one skillet meals, and when this one came out of the oven it was just perfect! I served it with multi-colored chips and sour cream (vegan or dairy - both optional) and it was scrumptious.

In fact, it was so good that when my husband got home from band practice tonight, he asked me, "Is there any of that southwestern stuff left?" I smell it from the kitchen now. It's a nice added benefit that it reheats so nicely!

If you're interested in trying it yourself, Here's a link to the recipe on the Pinch of Yum website.

Super Blueberry Toasted Coconut Island Parfaits with Pistachios - Oh my!

Seriously, I've been trying soooo many great recipes that I haven't had a chance to write about any of them. Every day is a new experiment!

This experiment was a recipe that my sister-in-law posted on facebook. I had never worked with chia seeds (unless you count that chia pet dog I had in the 70's) and I certainly had never eaten any. But the list of other ingredients was intriguing. Toasted coconut, fresh blueberries, pistachios. Yummmm. So I made up a batch and stuck in the fridge, just as directed. When the required 6 hours had passed, I doled some into a little dessert dish (see above) and sprinkled blueberries and toasted coconut on top. The results were good, but not stellar. I was disappointed. It was not a scrumption.

Well, I have my best ideas right before I wake up in the morning. As it happened, I woke up with the realization that I had forgotten the pistachios! The next time I doled some of this super chia pudding into a dessert dish, I topped it with toasted coconut, fresh blueberries, and pistachios. Suddenly an 'eh' pudding became irresistible! After I finished the little dessert dish, I moved onto the main dish and ate another cup full. It has the stamp of approval of my 17-year-old son, too. Yummm. After that batch was entirely consumed, I made another. And another.

A scrumption was found!

If you're as intrigued with this little beauty as I was, click here for the recipe.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins - They're Magically Delicious!

I couldn't believe this recipe when I saw it! No flour of any sort (note the disbelief in my words). Wow. How is that possible? The pictures looked like normal muffins, but all that was in them was nut butter, zucchini, vanilla, eggs (or vegan egg replacer), and a little baking soda and apple cider vinegar.

I had to try it. My son Lliam and I did this together. It was so fun to see the baking soda and apple cider vinegar fizz! Cool! The batter was thin, but we faithfully poured it into the muffin cups and baked them according to instructions. The results...it worked! And oh, was it delicious. Moist, chocolaty. It didn't hurt that I put in a liberal amount of dark chocolate chips.

Definitely a Scrumption!!!

Here's a link to the recipe. Mmm, mmm, good!

Chickpeas, Sweet Potatoes, and Coconut Milk

After I got on my health kick, thanks to the "Green Stuff" (see my blog entry Today's Beginnings for January 18, 2014 for more on that), I realized that I needed to revamp our family menu. Somehow, I came upon a recipe for braised chickpeas that really sounded good. Somehow, I was inspired to get all of the ingredients, even though it involved eating sweet potatoes which I typically loathe. I made the dish one night when we were all feeling adventurous. I didn't have enough spinach but I made due. I used coconut oil and vanilla coconut milk for the oil and coconut milk.

That may not look like much, but can I just tell you, it was AMAZING! Unbelievable! Even the sweet potatoes were awesome for this non-sweet potato person.

Thank you, Faith Durand and the kitchn.com. This definitely earns the title of Scrumption!

Super Easy Chicken/Vegan Piccata

Super Easy Chicken/Vegan Piccata

This amazing recipe comes from my cousin, Gene Rowland. Gene is hands-down one of the best chefs I've ever known, and he hails from my family's small hometown of Dexter, Missouri. Who says that class and gourmet can't come out of a barbecue town?

2 sticks of butter (OR vegan butter)
2 lemons
1 5 inch bottle of capers, rinsed
1 lb. chicken breast, boneless and skinless OR extra firm tofu
pasta, cooked (eggless pasta for vegan)
parmesan

Cook pasta al dente while making the sauce.

Sauce: Melt the two sticks of butter, add the zest and juice of two lemons. Add the bottle of capers. Slice chicken breasts/tofu into 1/4 inch slices. Add to sauce and poach with lid on for ten minutes (approx. 2 minutes per side for tofu - you can also saute the tofu slices in a little bit of flour and butter prior to making the sauce. Then reduce time in sauce to one minute per side). Turn chicken halfway at the five minute mark. Toss in pasta and let the juices set for five or ten more minutes. Serve with parmesan grated on top.

Can you get over how easy that is? Gourmet in 20 minutes or less.

Just don't forget the capers. They are usually next to the olives in the grocery store.