This summer and fall, though I was on an accidental-on-purpose hiatus from posting, I was not on hiatus from cooking. I was, however, dialing back my habit of dramatically over-estimating how many evenings a week I could cook, how long exotic ingredients would keep their freshness or my interest, or how committed I would be to cooking after working a 12-hour day. I started using a lot of ingredients on repeat, mixing and matching them in different variations depending on how whacked out my schedule ended up looking like on any given day. A few of the ingredients I came to rely heavily on were mushrooms, zucchini and yellow squash that were exploding out of my garden at a tremendous clip, chicken breast, and of course, pasta.

If I published every variation of vegetable-y pastas with light cream sauces that I played with last fall, I’m pretty sure you’d think that’s all I ate. (At some point I’ll share some more of them with you, when I actually have more vegetables growing in their prime.) This is one of my favorites that came out of those months, my quick-I-need-dinner-and-what-do-I-have-in-the-fridge-to-piece-it-together season.

What I like most about this meal is the noticeable lack of sauce. There are no swimming noodles here. Really, the liquids that are tossed onto the mushrooms and simmered for a bit are mostly just a vehicle for carrying the earthy, punchy flavor of the mushrooms onto the noodles.

You can also totally make this without chicken if you don’t want it or don’t have any thawed – I consider it a huge success if I’ve actually thawed something in advance. If you need even more time savers or are short on ingredients, you can easily swap the garlic cloves for garlic powder, or the fresh thyme for dried. That’s what dried herbs are there for!

This dish is easy enough that it can be tossed together and modified based on what you have on hand, but it’s also fancy-tasting enough to make for a dinner party. Win-win.

Pasta with Chicken and Mushroom Sauce
Serves 3-4 as a main course

8 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 T olive oil
salt & pepper
8 oz cavatappi pasta (or other twirly shape)
1 T unsalted butter
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
1 tsp course salt
a few cranks of freshly ground pepper
1/2 c dry white wine
1/2 c heavy cream
1 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese
pasta water as needed

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once you’ve started cooking the mushrooms, add pasta to the boiling water and cook to al dente. Reserve at last half a cup of pasta water before draining and set pasta aside, covered, while other ingredients finish cooking.

While the water is heating, heat olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Salt & pepper chicken breast and sear on each side until cooked through. Once the chicken is done, remove it to a cutting board and slice into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

While the chicken is cooking, heat butter in a medium frying pan. Add mushrooms, garlic, thyme, course salt, and freshly ground pepper to the melted butter and toss. Mushrooms should release their juices and cook down quite a bit. Once mushrooms have darkened and look soft, increase heat to medium high to sear the mushrooms a bit, tossing frequently. Reduce heat back to medium and add white wine. Cook for 3-4 minutes until reduced by half, then add the cream. Stirring frequently, allow cream to thicken slightly. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese.

Combine pasta, chicken, and mushroom cream sauce in a large pot. Add a bit of the pasta water if it seems too dry. Serve immediately and often!

Hi there.

Do you need some comfort food Something that invites your soul to snuggle up against some memories of simpler times, of peaceful days when the world made sense Something that fills your belly with a perfect medley of carbs, fat, protein, and flavor?

Me too.

This fall has been crazy. In mid-August I dove headfirst into some projects at work that required every ounce of creativity, planning, and time that I possessed. I took on a leadership role in my choir. I volunteered for an election that, well, let’s just say it didn’t go the way I’d hoped, and since then have still had trouble finding my bearings in this strange, post-election world. Sharing new recipes with you just hasn’t been at the top of the list.

But now it is! As the flood recedes, I’m finally finding myself looking through cookbooks again, browsing the wild and wonderful internet for tasty new things to cook. Which is how I found this one.

In truth, I’ve been making this for months. The fella in my house has always been a die-hard fan of Hamburger Helper, but in my continuing efforts to remove mysterious ingredients from our diet, I wanted to try a homemade version. There had to be one, right?

RIGHT.

The key is a big ol’ bowl of spices. Chili powder, paprika, cayenne, and garlic transform this otherwise bland mac-and-cheese-with-beef into a spicy, flavorful meal.

This meal is as easy as it is delicious. One pan. 30 minutes MAX. Fairly common ingredients. You don’t even need to cook your pasta separately, it cooks right with the ground beef, milk, and water.

Perhaps this greatest part though This is one of those magical meals that makes even better leftovers than first-night servings. Find the biggest pan your can and double this up if you want a week of packed lunches that will make your colleagues jealous. No need for comfort food to stay at home, right?

Homemade Hamburger Helper
Adapted from Farm Girl Gourmet

1 lb ground beef
1 T corn starch
1 T chili powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
8 oz elbow macaroni or cavatappi (any twirly noodle will do)
2 c hot water
2 c milk
10 oz sharp cheddar cheese

Heat a large sauté pan (or skillet with a lid) over medium heat. Add ground beef to the pan and brown. Tip: add a few tablespoons of water to help break up the beef. 

While the beef cooks, measure corn starch, sugar, salt, and spices into a small dish and set aside. Grate cheese and measure out milk, water, and pasta.

Once the beef has browned, increase the heat to medium-high and add the water, milk, pasta, and spices to the pan and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until pasta is al dente.

Add cheese and mix well. Continue cooking over low for another 3-4 minutes if needed to thicken the sauce.

This meal is really, really good fresh. But it makes simply transcendent leftovers. Plan accordingly.

Do you like Italian food Do you like food that is kind of like lasagne but not exactly like lasagne?

Do you like making a multi-step meal that involves scratch-made sauce and hand-filled pasta?

Do you like leftovers that last for days and only get better with time Do you like perfectly delightful combinations of pasta, cheese, spinach, and meat sauce  Do you like noodle tubes filled with magic and topped with awesome?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then this is a recipe for you!

I started making manicotti a couple years ago when I was home for Christmas. My mom, a long-time lasagne maker, decided to mix it up and buy manicotti shells instead for a family dinner. I volunteered to help, and though it was a lengthy process, I genuinely enjoyed stuffing a cheesy, spinach-y goo into the shells. Since then I’ve tinkered with different recipes, and I finally landed on the right balance. Like, a year ago. But it takes a long time to make already, so I hadn’t yet talked myself into taking the time to photograph the process. Not to mention, I keep making it in the winter when I have little evening light for shooting photos, soooooo.

Sorry for the delay!

A warning: if you’re looking for a quick week-night dinner, this is not the right choice. It could be if you decide to use frozen spinach instead of fresh or pre-made pasta sauce. But where’s the fun in that?

We start with a full pound of fresh spinach and trim all the stems off. Honestly, when I’m being lazy, I don’t trim the stems, but can I urge you to do so The texture is just so much better without them.

Once trimmed, the spinach needs to be cooked down. Lots of people recommend boiling the spinach, but I actually prefer to sauté it. Since the spinach needs to be squeezed of moisture later, why introduce a pot of water to the equation?

So the spinach is washed, trimmed, sautéed, drained, squeezed, and chopped. Alternately, use a 10 oz package of frozen spinach. Your call.

Next up Saucy saucy. I love using my Favorite Quick Spaghetti Sauce for this with the addition of ground beef. If you’re not a carnivore, or even if you are but don’t feel like having meat today, you can also totally make this without and be perfectly happy. I like options!

NEXT! While the sauce is simmering along, mixing up the filling doesn’t take much time at all. A blend of ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan is added to the spinach, along with an egg to keep the mixture nice and fluffy in the oven.

Also, cook your noodles. You’ll need those.

Sauce Check. Noodles Check. Filling Check.

Now it’s time for the fun, messy part!

Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to fill your noodles with a spoon. You’ll just end up with cheese everywhere around you with not nearly enough in the noodles.

I use a large pastry bag with an opening about 3/4″ in diameter. If you won’t have one of those, no sweat, just trim the end off of a plastic baggie.

Fill each noodle until it feels firm and the cheese is barely oozing out the ends.

Fast-forward 10 minutes and voila! You’re done! Now just a coat of meat sauce and a generous sprinkle of parmesan before it’s time for the oven.

I won’t lie: this is a lot of work. But the final product is so worth it! Next time you have a Sunday afternoon free and wanna make a splash at dinner, make this! You’ll be glad you did.

Manicotti
Adapted from Food Network Kitchen

For the Filled Manicotti Shells
1 lb fresh spinach (or a 10 oz package of frozen spinach)
1 1/2 lb (3 c) ricotta
6 oz (about 2 c) mozzarella cheese, freshly grated
2 oz (about 1 c) parmesan cheese, freshly grated
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp course salt
a few cranks freshly ground black pepper
1 lb manicotti shells

For the Sauce
2 tsp olive oil
1 c diced yellow onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 pints basic tomato sauce
2 T sugar
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb ground beef

If using fresh spinach, remove stems and wash thoroughly. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add spinach in batches, cooking until spinach is soft, fairly dense, and dark green. Remove to a colander and repeat with remaining spinach. Squeeze as much liquid from the spinach as possible and chop finely. If using frozen spinach, thaw completely, squeeze the liquid out, and chop finely. Set spinach aside.

In the frying pan you used to cook the spinach, heat over medium and add ground beef. Season with salt and pepper and add a couple tablespoons of water to help break down the beef into small bits. Cook until browned through and set aside.

While the beef is browning, dice onion and mince garlic for the sauce. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan and saute onion and garlic until they have a bit of color. Add tomato sauce and all seasonings and stir well. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes or until sauce has begun to thicken. Once the sauce has reached desired consistency, blend with an immersion blender, blender, or food processor. Add the sauce to the ground beef and set aside.

While sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add manicotti noodles and cook for 10 minutes or until noodles are al dente. Drain in a colander.

While the noodles are cooking and the sauce is simmering, grate mozzarella and parmesan cheese. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Combine spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, half of the parmesan, salt, pepper, and the eggs. Mix well.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread a thin layer of the meat sauce into the bottom of a 13″x 9″ baking dish. Scoop filling into a large pastry bag, or, trim the end off a plastic storage bag. The opening of either should be about 3/4″ in diameter. Fill each manicotti shell by placing one end against the pad of your hand (to prevent filling from squeezing out) and filling to the top. Make sure each shell doesn’t have any empty sections. Place filled shells in the baking dish. You’ll have to press them fairly close together so they will all fit.

Spread the remaining meat sauce across the top of the manicotti. Sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese over the top of the sauce and bake for 30 minutes.

I eat rather a lot of pasta. When I started writing this post, I had to go back to see what stories I’ve already told you about my lifelong noodle-y obsession, just to make sure I wasn’t repeating something.

I’ve already mentioned that as a kid, I loved spaghetti with butter and parmesan cheese above all other things, and in fact I rarely tolerated the annoying hindrance of spaghetti sauce. It was sloppy, acidic, and mostly just not my thing. I still remember the first time I actually enjoyed a smear of red sauce atop a mound of pasta. Bizarrely, it was on a camping trip. In our open-air kitchen of two camp stoves and a picnic table, Dad carefully cooked a pot of pasta in one pot and in another, he combined a can of basic tomato sauce with a seasoning mix.  I don’t know why I opted to try the sauce that time, but I suddenly realized this red sauce thing wasn’t necessarily so bad after all. To this day, however, I’m still pretty picky about my red sauces and rarely order them at a restaurant as a result.

There are a few brands and varieties I’ve discovered at the grocery over the years that I like rather well, but once I began canning my own basic tomato sauce, I felt it was time to finally find the homemade version I was seeking.

Since there are approximately one gazillion recipes for spaghetti sauce out there, each one claiming to be better than the last, it was a bit intimidating to know where to begin. Some swore by the addition of carrots and peppers, others piled on the sugar, and still others demanded the tomatoes be practically raw to achieve pure spaghetti sauce bliss. Fresh herbs, dried herbs, lots of spice, none at all – there really are so many ways to do this. How was I to know what I liked the most?

So I began experimenting. And after quite a few acceptable batches, I finally found the combination of herbs, seasoning, garlic, and onions that makes my soul sing.

For those of you who are fresh-herb-purists out there, you’ll probably decry my little piles of dried leaves and insist that their flavor is lacking. And perhaps you’re right. But I’ve loved the way this sauce turns out every time, and I like that it’s always something I can throw together without a trip to the grocery for delicate green leaves. If you do want to try fresh herbs, you’ll probably need more than the quantities listed below to achieve the same density of flavor.

And for you fresh-tomato-purists out there: do you know how many months of the year I can buy high-quality, delicious tomatoes in Colorado About four. One third of the year. Great spaghetti sauce does not need to start from fresh tomatoes the night it is served, in my opinion. In fact that would take FOREVER to cook. Since I can my own tomatoes, I am lucky that I know where they came from and what’s in the sauce. I love that I can pull a bottle of that summer sunshine from the pantry and have a deep, vibrant spaghetti sauce ready in half an hour. There’s no way I’m starting from fresh tomatoes, especially at this time of year when the only tomatoes I can buy are, erm, horrible.

So here you have it: a delicious, flavorful spaghetti sauce that you can make year-round, without the need for anything that is out of season. I love this sauce on every pasta I’ve thrown it over – spaghetti, spaghetti with meatballs, manicotti, lasagne… the list goes on. When doubled, it takes a pound of ground beef perfectly for the creation of manicotti and lasagne.

Give it a shot!

Favorite Quick Spaghetti Sauce

1-2 tsp olive oil
1/2 c diced yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pint basic tomato sauce
1 T sugar
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
pinch black pepper

Heat olive oil in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent and garlic has just a bit of color. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook until sauce has reached desired consistency.

Use an immersion blender, blender, or food processor to puree the sauce until smooth.

Serve over literally any pasta, or use as the sauce in manicotti or lasagne.

I’ve found, in my eleven years living outside of Colorado, that many people don’t imagine Colorado as a place where much food can grow. People always sound surprised when I tell them that the hardiness zone for growing fruits and vegetables in Denver is approximately the same as that of Columbus, Ohio. And while it may be impossible to grow prolific gardens in the high mountain towns, there are many areas of the state known specifically for their produce.

In fact, many of the most anticipated foods of the summer are identified by the town in which they are grown. I’ve already mentioned Palisade peaches, and that area is also a significant producer of apples, plums, and cherries. Rocky Ford melons are some of the sweetest I’ve ever tasted. Olathe sweet corn is grown so prolifically that it appears in heaping mounds at even the most basic grocery stores, not just at boutique food shops and farmers markets. And, though it’s a town in New Mexico, we always look forward to the arrival each fall of Hatch green chiles.

Green chile is a bit of a sport in the Southwest. Most natives will argue that there is NOTHING that can’t be improved by these versatile foods, whether you like your chiles mild (like me) or screamin’ hot. The smell of roasting chiles tumbling around in giant metal barrels outside every grocery store still elicits strong memories of back-to-school evening errands with my parents and anticipation for the imminent changing leaves. Interestingly, I did not like green chiles at all as a kid. It’s only now, as an adult and returning Colorado resident, that I finally appreciate the obsession.

And so, I’m on a quest to learn how to cook with green chile beyond simply sprinkling it on my eggs, my pizza, my fajitas… though those are all excellent decisions. And this quest starts with something I’m supremely comfortable with: mac and cheese! For a Colorado-autumn twist on my go-to recipe, I paired my green chile with sweet corn, another fall favorite of mine.

I adapted this recipe from my go-to Classic Stovetop Mac & Cheese. It’s quick, not too fussy, and delightfully creamy. For this version, the cheeses are white cheddar and monterey jack as opposed to sharp orange cheddar. I also have become a major fan of orecchiette pasta (it means little ears!) for my mac.

As I said above, I’m a little cautious with my green chile (even a medium can leave my lips tingling if I eat too much) so I used mild, but if you like your spice, feel free to kick it up with a medium chile or two. The mild cheeses keep the chile in check, and the sweet corn compliments it nicely.

Let’s hear it for green chile!

Green Chile & Sweet Corn Mac

Serves 3-4

3-4 roasted green chiles (choose your temp!)
2 ears sweet corn, cut from the cobs
2 T unsalted butter
1/2 small white onion, about 1 cup diced
2 T all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 c milk
2 1/2 oz white cheddar cheese, grated
2 1/2 oz monterey jack cheese, grated
8 oz pasta

Remove skins and seeds from green chiles. Chop the chiles and the onion and set aside. Heat a large frying pan over fairly high heat. Also, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.

Once the frying pan is hot, add the corn and toss quickly for 3-4 minutes until the corn is lightly charred. Remove corn from the pan and set aside. If your water is boiling, add the pasta and cook to al denté.

Melt butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Once melted, add onions and sauté 4-5 minutes. Add flour and salt to the onions and mix well, allowing the roux to cook for about 3 minutes. Slowly drizzle in the milk, stirring the entire time, and continue stirring until mixture has thickened to a gravy-like consistency. Turn off heat and add cheeses and mix until cheese is smoothly melted.

Drain pasta and return to pot. Stir in cheese mixture, all but 1/2 c of corn, and green chiles. Once pasta is on plates, sprinkle remaining corn on top as a garnish.

As much as I enjoy the pride that comes from highly crafty cooking projects, from hand-making pasta and pie crust and pizza dough, it’s just too dang much work most days. It’s not that I’m ready to abandon my stove and commit to microwave dinners. But I am constantly on the lookout for meals that can be thrown together in just a few minutes with minimal chopping, mincing, grating, or cooking time.

Sometimes, those recipes are as close as the back of a package of pasta I bought on a whim. And this one quickly became a household favorite.

You’ll notice that ravioli is at the end of the title of this recipe. Why Because with mushrooms, garlic, and parmesan, this sauce would be delightful over any pasta. We’re particularly fond of cheese ravioli, but you can try any kind of pasta you like.

Butter and salt bring out the liquids and the flavor of the mushrooms, while garlic and pepper simmer along for the ride. Then, instead of using all cream as the recipe originally suggested, I split the quantity and used milk for half of the liquid. I didn’t miss a thing.

Parmesan finishes the sauce before it is tossed over your pasta of choice.

Before you know it, this meal is DONE. Not the most fashionable recipe you’ll ever see (mushroom cream sauce slopped over pasta can only go so far in the aesthetic department), but the flavor is outstanding.

Perhaps I’ll get around to making my own cheese ravioli soon, so that I can marvel once again at my own insane will to make things from scratch. But until then, I’ll continue to enjoy this just as it is, pre-made ravioli and all.

Mushroom Cream Sauce with Ravioli
Adapted from the back of a Giovanni Rana ravioli package

12 oz cheese ravioli
8 oz mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T unsalted butter
1/4 c heavy cream
1/4 c whole milk
salt & pepper
3/4 c parmesan plus additional for serving

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Wash mushrooms and pat dry, then slice. Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and garlic, then sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Cook mushrooms, stirring frequently, until the liquids begin to release. Increase the heat slightly to allow mushrooms to brown slightly.

Add heavy cream and milk to the pan and stir constantly to prevent burning. When liquid has thickened slightly to a creamy texture, reduce heat to low and add parmesan cheese. Continue to simmer on low until desired texture is reached.

When water is boiling, cook ravioli to al denté. Drain ravioli and add it to the pan with the mushroom sauce. Coat all noodles with sauce.

Serve with a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Magic Pasta.

Having stumbled across this delightful combination of ingredients by pure accident, I accidentally discovered a meal that Brad and I both find so perfect, so delicious, that I have to work really really hard to make anything else for dinner. Originally hatched as a way to use up the previous year’s supply of home-canned marinara sauce, this dish now holds permanent quarters at the top of our favorites list. I know that “Magic Pasta” doesn’t really indicate the components of the meal particularly well, but it’s all we call it. If you prefer, you can call it Pasta with Amazing Tomato Cream Sauce and Italian Sausage.

But don’t worry, you don’t have to go back in time to can your own pasta sauce to make this dish at home. A store-bought marinara would work just fine, or you can make your own version fairly quickly by spicing up a pint of plain tomato sauce. The sweet Italian sausage, on the other hand, is non-negotiable. We’ve tried it with chicken and with ground beef, and while both are good, neither one achieves the magic of the sausage.

With a little cream, sugar, salt, and pepper, the sauce is simple and cooks quickly while the pasta boils nearby. It takes almost no time at all.

I urge you, nay, I beg you to make this pasta. I’m looking out for you, and I’m telling you, you NEED this in your life this week. I know it’s summer and everyone’s all into salads and smoothies and juice, but please lay those ideas aside and make yourself a big pot of tomato-y, sausage-y pasta.

Then invite me over so I can eat some, too.

Magic Pasta

Serves 3-4

10 oz rigatoni or penne
2 links sweet Italian sausage
1 pint marinara sauce (see note below)
1/2 c heavy cream
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 T granulated sugar

Note: If you don’t already have a marinara sauce you like, combine 1 pint of plain tomato sauce with 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp dried basil as a substitute.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat while you prepare the sauce below. Cook pasta to al denté.

Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Slice the end of each sausage and squeeze the sausage out of the casing and into the frying pan. (If you prefer, you can slice the sausage into coins, instead.) Cook sausage until it is cooked through and starting to brown.

Without draining the pan, pour the marinara sauce into a large frying pan with the sausage. Add heavy cream, salt, pepper, and sugar and stir well until sauce is a uniform color. Allow sauce to bubble, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, to allow the sauce to thicken. Stir frequently.

Drain pasta and return to the pot. Add sauce to the pasta and mix thoroughly.

Serve immediately. Good luck keeping leftovers for more than two hours.

And from our recent weekend getaway to the Grand Strand beaches of South Carolina, I brought back a few pounds of fresh-caught shrimp.

Having grown up in a rather land-locked state, I never had many opportunities to enjoy fresh seafood. Shrimp was always something I liked to eat, but I mostly knew it only in its breaded, popcorn form, or cold and pink around the shores of a cocktail sauce reservoir. With this rare opportunity to buy it right from the waters of the Atlantic, I wanted to try a dish I’ve been thinking about ever since I was served something similar at a friend’s after their own return from their beach house in the Outer Banks: a pasta dish studded with shrimp and lightly coated with a buttery, flavorful sauce.

The longest part of making this dish is, BY FAR, preparing all the ingredients. There aren’t many, but between peeling and chopping the garlic and shallot, finely chopping the parsley, grating lemon peel and parmesan, and peeling and deveining the shrimp, you’ll want to allow yourself at least 30-40 minutes to prep. However, you can knock the time down significantly if you buy shrimp that is already peeled and deveined. Your call!

With all the ingredients prepared and the pasta water boiling, it will now be less than ten minutes until you’re eating dinner. While the pasta cooks, you’ll put together the sauce and cook the shrimp very quickly. But no stress! Super easy.

Once the shrimp are cooked just until they are opaque (not much longer or they’ll get super rubbery) and the pasta is al denté, just toss them together for a match made in heaven. The shrimp is tender and flavorful, accented by a bit of lemon and parsley. And the linguine is an excellent base for the buttery, garlic-y sauce with just a little kick from the red pepper flakes.

Topped with a bit of parmesan cheese, it makes me wish I could buy fresh shrimp all the time. You can definitely make this with frozen shrimp (and I most certainly will be) but wouldn’t it be more fun to just move to the beach where you can buy it fresh daily?

Anyone with me I can be packed in five!

Shrimp Scampi Linguine
Adapted from Ina Garten

Serves 2

1/2 pound linguine
3 T unsalted butter
2 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice (a big squeeze or two from half a lemon)
3 T finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 c freshly grated parmesan cheese, loosely packed

Mince garlic and shallot, grate lemon zest and cheese, and chop parsley before you begin cooking. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. While the water comes to a boil, peel and devein the shrimp and set aside.

Place a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. Melt butter and olive oil and allow to bubble slightly. At this time, your water should be boiling: add the pasta and cook to al denté. Once the butter and olive oil have begun to bubble, add the garlic, shallots, and red pepper flakes and sauté for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently so the garlic does not burn. Add the shrimp, salt, and pepper to the frying pan and sauté for 3-4 minutes until shrimp is pink and opaque on both sides. Remove the frying pan from the heat and add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and parsley. Toss well and adjust seasoning to taste.

Drain the linguine in a colander and add it to the shrimp mixture. Toss to coat all pasta.

Scoop pasta and shrimp onto dinner plates and top generously with parmesan cheese.

Have you noticed that onion and mushroom pizzas are all the rage these days It seems that every pizza parlour around now features a caramelized onion pizza topped with mushrooms and pungent gorgonzola cheese. And who can blame them The rich, sultry flavors of these three ingredients make for an surprising and exciting change from red- or white-sauced pizzas.

But we’re not here to talk about pizza. In fact, it was the glut of all these pizzas popping up on menus that made me wonder how the same flavors would work when painted on a different canvas… say, perhaps, a knot of whole wheat pasta?

Caramelized onions are, in my book, one of life’s greatest pleasures. From topping crostinis to starring in homemade onion dip, they enrich almost everything they encounter. I’ve been known to eat them plain, with no cares about the odorific consequences that might ensue. As I expected, they make an excellent base for this pasta sauce.

The only challenge to making them It’s really easy to burn the crap out of them, and you could find yourself scraping blackened onions from your frying pan if you don’t keep your patience. The key to making a great batch of caramelized onions is, quite simply, patience. Over low heat for at least 30 minutes, your onions will convert from crunchy white spears to a textured slurry of reddish-brown caramelized goodness.

Mushrooms, on the other hand, need to cook for only a couple of minutes, so I added those to the pan after the onions were completely cooked. Shiitake mushrooms are in season in Ohio, so I used a precious batch of those. You could easily sub in creminis or button mushrooms.

A bit of cream, some balsamic vinegar, and black pepper are finally added to transform this sauté into a sauce.

For the pasta, I opted for a whole wheat spaghetti. Most of the time, I prefer to use regular pasta, but I do greatly love spaghetti with a little bit of extra depth. It’s an easy switch to make, and Brad and I have been eating our spaghetti whole wheat for several years. Penne, on the other hand, not so much, I find that the whole wheat varieties taste more similar to toilet paper tubes than pasta.

But I digress. Mixed together, the color from the onions and mushrooms darkens the pasta for an attractive dish that tastes incredible. For a little extra something, gorgonzola crumbles can be added to the top, though I urge you to tread lightly: it’s a very strong cheese, and a little goes a long way.

I can see why pizza joints are hustling to get onion and mushroom pizzas onto their menus, but after putting this together, I think pasta restaurants should follow their lead.

Spaghetti with Caramelized Onions & Mushrooms

Serves 4-6

3 T unsalted butter, divided
2 large yellow onions
1 tsp salt
4 oz mushrooms, any variety, chopped
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 c heavy cream
1 lb whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 c gorgonzola cheese crumble

Peel the onions, then chop them into quarters. Slice the onions so that the pieces form crescent-shaped strips about 3″ long. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Once butter has melted, add the onions and salt and toss well. Cook onions over medium for about 30 minutes, stirring often to caramelize all the onions.

When the onions have been cooking for about 10 minutes, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook to al dente.

As the spaghetti cooks and the onions are mostly caramelized, move the onions to one side of the frying pan and add the last tablespoon of butter to the cleared side of the pan. Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Mix the mushrooms into the onions and add pepper and balsamic vinegar. Add the cream and reduce heat to low, stirring well to incorporate all the cream.

Drain the pasta into a colander, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water. Return the pasta to the pot and pour the onion mixture into the pot on top of the pasta. Add about 1/2 a cup of the reserved pasta water and mix well until thoroughly combined, adding more pasta water if necessary. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Plate the spaghetti and add a few gorgonzola crumbles as a garnish.

There aren’t enough sauces, ingredients, shapes, cheeses, or styles in the world to burn out my love for pasta. If anything, it seems my taste for the stuff has only expanded since I started this blog; my childhood pasta preferences were limited exclusively to spaghetti with butter and parmesan cheese, and now I favor short, thick pasta dressed in zesty, flavorful sauces. There’s really nothing like writing a food blog to force me into trying new things. And as much as I want to make some of my favorites over and over again, then I’d have nothing new to tell you about! (However, if you haven’t already tried the Penne alla Vodka, you should really make it your top priority.)

Well, maybe your second priority. Because I’m pretty darn happy with this one, too.

Roasted red peppers are pretty easy to come by at the grocery store. Yes, I know that fresh red bell peppers are EVERYWHERE at this time of year (at least in North Carolina), but for a quick and filling weeknight dinner, I went with these. Plus I already had them in my pantry and it was time to use them up.

The red peppers pair up with garlic and onion to create the base for this sauce. After a quick sauté, I blended them with a bit of chicken stock and an immersion blender. My goal was to keep the sauce fluid, but to keep the texture as well. An immersion blender did just the trick.

The sauce finishes off with a generous swirl of cream, parmesan cheese, and chopped parsley before joining the rigatoni.

I love using rigatoni for this dish. The pepper sauce has a strong flavor, and it needs a hearty pasta to support it. Plus, the textured sauce loves hiding inside the tubes of this short pasta.

The result is a full pound of pasta dressed in a zippy, flavorful sauce. It’s great for a crowd but also works well if you’re really into leftovers, like me! A full week of delicious pasta lunches is my kind of week.

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

16 oz rigatoni (or your other favorite short pasta)
2 T butter
half of a large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
one 12-oz jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
1 c chicken stock
1/2 c cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 c freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus additional for serving
3 T chopped fresh parsley

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook to al denté.

Heat butter in a large frying pan. Add onions and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add chopped peppers and sauté for 2-3 minutes more.

Dump the pepper mixture into a small pot and add the chicken stock. Blend lightly with an immersion blender, just enough that the mixture is fluid but there is still some texture. Return the blended mixture to the frying pan and add the cream, salt, and pepper.

Drain the pasta in a colander and then return it to the pot it was cooked in. Add the parmesan cheese and parsley, then pour the pepper mixture over the pasta. Mix well to coat all the pasta.

Serve sprinkled with additional parmesan cheese.