Easy Pesto & Fettuccini - August Secret Recipe Club

Welcome to August... I could do without the recent 109 degree day, it almost made me forget I am currently living in OR and no longer in Asia. But, August does bring some of my favorite flavors, vine ripened tomatoes, ripe watermelon and lush and fragrant basil.

In fact, I am excited to share that my garden is finally complete and everything is taking off nicely. Yes, even my basil has finally started to fill out. I like to plant it between my tomato cages. There is nothing better than the smell of hot basil and tomatoes in the afternoon.

The biggest chore with fresh basil is to keep using it! See the tops below? My plants were trying to flower. That was the signal that I needed to give them all a good trim... and I had to come up with a good recipe to use all that amazing basil.

Today, not only am I finally getting to harvest the basil from my garden, but I am sliding in under the wire to share my August Secret Recipe Club recipe. This month I was given bcmom's kitchen.

Anna confesses that her blog is a way to keep track of all the recipes she really enjoys. I am sure she is never at a loss on what to make for dinner, her blog is full of great recipes. I have to admit that I wish I had been assigned Anna's blog in the Winter. I have bookmarked several of her soups to make later this year. Her Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup is calling to me! But, days hitting over 100 degrees, soup is just not going to be on this week's menu!  She really enjoys cooking and modifying recipes, which is evident in her posts.

I finally decided on making her Easy Pesto & Fettuccini recipe because it was so fitting for my current predicament.

And it turned out perfectly! Almonds are one of my favorite pesto choices because they are much less expensive than pine nuts. I keep my pesto green with a thin layer of olive oil on top to prevent oxidation. But, I will be making this stuff by the truckload next weekend to stock the freezer for winter. At that time I will fill ice cube containers and top with olive oil. So worth the extra effort!

Easy Pesto
from bcmom's kitchen

You Will Need:

• 1/4 c. almonds
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 c. fresh basil leaves, washed and patted dry
• 2 Tbsp. Parmesan (or more to taste)
• 1 pinch ground nutmg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 c, olive oil, or more to achieve desired consistency and cover for storage

Toast the almonds on a baking sheet at 450 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Turn half-way through and remove when they are fragrant and lightly toasted.

In a food processor or blender, combine the almonds, garlic, basil, cheese, nutmeg and 1/2 c. olive oil. Pulse till smooth. I usually leave small chunks in mine, Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately by tossing with fresh cooked pasta and adding reserved pasta water till the pesto coats all the pasta. 

To store the pesto, place in an airtight container. Smooth the top and pour a small amount of oil on tip to cover. If freezing, place prepared pesto in an ice cube tray and cover each well with a little oil. Cover with wrap and freeze. Once frozen, the pesto cubes can be popped out and stored in a zip topped container. 

Now, the original recipe was for pre-made fettuccini but, since it was Sunday, I broke out the food processor and my new Kitchen-Aid pasta rollers for good old fashioned homemade fettuccini. Don't worry, I don't always have time to make fresh pasta... but, it is always a treat. If you haven't tried your hand at it, I urge you to try it. Check out my Shrimp Scampi post for info on making your own pasta noodles.

There is something just so satisfying about seeing all that beautiful pasta out to dry. Well, maybe not as satisfying as that first bite of homemade fettuccini noodles with fresh pesto.

Yum!

Of course, Anna's pesto recipe could be used in so many other great ways... I also love pesto with tortellini, on chicken and even with tomatoes. To me, pesto is such a great and fresh gift from summer on the farm.

Enjoy...

An InLinkz Link-up

Creamy Tomato Pasta - April Secret Recipe Club #Recipe

So, I have a thing for pasta... Simple, fast and delicious, dress it up with Alfredo or dress it down and throw in a bunch of fresh ingredients and toss. Really, it is a busy Mom's dream dinner because no one complains when I serve up pasta.

The hardest part is always deciding how to make it. I have a simple fresh spaghetti sauce that my kids really get excited for, while my husband is a fan of a creamy white sauce. So when I saw Kate's blog, Kitchen Trial and Error and found her recipe for Creamy Tomato Pasta, well, I was sold.

Um, let me back up a minute. Kate's blog just happens to be The Secret Recipe Club April assignment. I drooled over page after page of delicious food photos and recipes. With a hearty number of pasta options, too. Really, I am going to have to go back and make a few more because my schedule has been insane around here.

Kate is all the way on the other side of the US, in NY, and she shares a love of kitchen adventuring. I have to love a fellow blogger who gets excited to create things from scratch that she could just as easily buy at the store. Yes, I still think that added love makes all the difference.

Now usually I don't throw tomato recipes up on the blog out of season, but really folks, I just couldn't wait. My husband has started the crazy long farming hours to get things planted, but tomatoes haven't been on the list yet. This year I opted to skip the greenhouse planting and will be getting all my tomato plants (yes, full plants) delivered in May. Our home garden will be full and overflowing with various colors and sizes of tomatoes.

So, this recipe, the best marriage between a glorious fresh tomato sauce and a creamy Alfredo, WILL be coming back out when the tomatoes are ready. It will probably be coming out again and again.

I grabbed some rather sad roma tomatoes at the grocery store, but the recipe still turned out delicious. Start off the party by slashing the bottom of each tomato, simmering it for a minute or two and then shocking it in a nice ice bath.

The tough outer peel will come away easily after that.

Then I sauteed up some onion and garlic. The chopped tomato joined the party and I simmered it all till it was softened. Since my basil is not in season, I had some frozen cubes in the freezer that I added to the sauce. You can also grab these in the freezer section of your local grocery store.

Then you can grab an imersion blender, but I grabbed my Blendtec and pureed the tomato mixture till smooth.

Then I completely switched gears and created a creamy Alfredo sauce.

lll

Creamy Tomato Sauce
adapted recipe from Kitchen Trial and Error

You Will Need:

• 1 1/2 lbs. fresh tomatoes (I used Roma)
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 c. basil, frozen or fresh
• olive oil
• 1/4 c. chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp. butter, unsalted
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 lb. farfalle pasta

Put a large stock pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta. 

In another medium sized pot, bring water up to a simmer. Cut an "X" onto the bottom of each tomato and let them blanch for about a minute, or until the peel starts to pull away. Drop tomatoes into a ice water bath to finish the cooking process. Finish pealing them, slice in half, remove the seeds and then dice. Set aside.

in a small pan, saute the onion and garlic in a little oil till softened. Then add in the tomato and stock,  continue to cook for another 15 minutes or until the tomatoes start to break down. Then transfer the mixture to a blender and and chop or puree as desired. Return to the pot and continue to simmer gently and thicken.

Cook your pasta as directed on the package.

For the Alfredo sauce by,  melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and let cook until fragrant. Then whisk in the heavy cream and garlic. Continue whisking until it thickens. Remove the garlic cloves, season with salt and pepper and whisk in the Parmesan Cheese.

Combine the tomato sauce and alfredo in one pan. Use reserved pasta water to thin out the sauce, if needed. Toss with Farfalle and garnish with a little more freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.

Enjoy!

An InLinkz Link-up

A Romantic Meal for Two with Buitoni Sauces and Nestle Baking Kit

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community. I paired Buitoni sauces with homemade ravioli and a Nestle's Tres Leches baking kit to create a romantic meal.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #Valentines4All

A few year's ago my husband and I had a Valentine's Night tradition, reservations at our favorite local Italian restaurant. A little house salad, pasta, a glass of wine and a shared dessert. It was the perfect romantic meal for two. Everything was so good and made from scratch.

Then our beloved little Valentine's ritual ended when the restaurant closed. Yeah, I was a little heartbroken.

Valentine's day is quickly approaching and though I don't have the time to create an entire romantic meal from scratch myself, I was able to create a delicious homemade meal for two with the help of Buitoni pasta sauces and Nestle's Tres Leches baking kit. Want to see how I pulled it off in a chaotic house of 5?

First I had to do a little shopping. Okay, with the three kids most of my shopping happens at Walmart. It is too hard to drag two young children and a baby in and out of the car for multiple stops. This dinner is supposed to be low-stress, right? So I found everything I needed for my little date night in at one store. 

I wanted to have fresh homemade sauce flavor without all the simmering, so I grabbed a few containers of Buitoni Sauce. The Marinara has big chunks of tomatoes and the Alfredo is cheesy and delicious. Then I just needed Phyllo Dough for my Parmesan Twists, and something for dessert...

Have you seen the Nestle kits? They are brand new and a great way to whip up dessert quick. I love having all the necessities in one box because I tend to forget one crucial ingredient while shopping. It usually happens when my kids start fighting in the store or whining, "Are you done, Mom?"

 I have made Tres Leches cake before from scratch, but this was much faster. 

The prep I had to do the night before. I baked the cakes in small heart pans. With a big BBQ skewer I relieved a little stress from my day by poking the living daylights out the my cakes. Then I whisked up the "3 Milk" mixture to drench the cake with. It needs to sit and soak overnight in the fridge to achieve it's proper consistency. Don't worry. It is worth it.

Dinner day I started off by making my ravioli filling. I had this great vision of perfect little heart-shaped pasta. I even ordered a special ravioli press for just that. Of course the weather and shipping had other other plans and I had to improvise. 

Luckily a biscuit cutter or cookie cutter and a rotary cutter worked just fine. Don't be afraid to use what you already have in your kitchen.

I made a kale, pancetta and cheese filling for my little pastas. I wanted every bite to be a savory little burst of garden goodness wrapped in cheesy indulgence.

I nailed it.

Then I rolled out my pasta dough. Don't be intimidated by fresh pasta. The recipe is simple, just 2 cups flour (semolina, durum or all-purpose), 2 eggs and enough water to just bring the dough together. I like to make mine in a food processor. That way I can see the pasta dough ball form.

After resting for a half an hour I rolled out my dough. Little golf ball sized lumps of dough go through the pasta press. A wheel on the side lets me make the gauge thinner with each pass of the dough until it is thin enough for my pasta. I go for a slightly thicker dough for filled pastas.

Then I stamped and cut around each little heart shape. Viola! Heart-shaped kale and pancetta ravioli. 

Kale and Pancetta Ravioli Filling
You Will Need:

• 1 bag of frozen kale, thawed, chopped and thick stems discarded
• 2 oz Pancetta, cubed
• 8 oz. Ricotta cheese
• 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. garlic salt

Drain the kale well, squeezing out an excess moisture. Set aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, heat the Pancetta till golden brown and crispy. Strain out the Pancetta and set aside to cool. Reserve the oil to warm the kale through. Let both cool completely.

In a medium bowl, combine the cool filling ingredients. Add a heaping teaspoon of filling to sheets of fresh pasta depending on the size you want to make.

Some ravioli tips: Make sure your filling is dry. If there is too much moisture in your kale, the ravioli will break open while cooking. Lay finished pasta out on a floured surface and use immediately or cover and refrigerate to use within a day. Also remember fresh pasta cooks quickly. Don't overcrowd the pan and wait till your little raviolis float up to the top of the pan when done.

Enjoy!

Now pasta needs a good sauce to go with it. I chose the Buitoni sauces to save me some time. I still put together a great homemade meal, but the All Natural sauces are close to what I would need a whole day to create. This left me time to work on my tablescape.

I rarely decorate the table beyond our daily placements, so when I started putting my burlap, red and white table together my kids were 'oo-ing' and 'ahh-ing' at it. I kept it simple, but used our dessert for a center piece and surrounded it with snapshots of my husband and I over the past 13 years. I had a long burlap table runner and since it was longer than I needed, I cut smaller pieces off for our place settings. You will have to wait for the end of the post to see the finished table.

When my husband was almost home I boiled up our ravioli. I can't stress enough how fast fresh pasta cooks. Again, since I rolled my pasta dough a little thicker, it took about 5 minutes to boil. then I drizzled the Alfredo sauce over the top and garnished with a pinch of parsley.

Instead of the usual heavier bread sticks, I made these Phyllo Dough Parmesan Straws. They were so easy! With one or two sheets of phyllo I brushed it with butter and then sprinkled it with a Parmesan cheese and herb blend of my liking (garlic and basil!), folded, sliced, twisted and then I baked them at 350 for about 8 minutes till golden brown.

I put a big scoop of Marinara sauce in a small ramekin for easy dipping. Yum! They were so crunchy and light.

With a little salad on the place for contrast, here is our dinner plate. Doesn't that look yummy?

I know the hustle and bustle of a noisy and crowded restaurant has nothing on this meal. I was even able to bribe my kiddos to play upstairs, and the baby slept while we enjoyed our meal for two.

And dessert?

Here are my finished Tres Leches cakes. The cakes are so moist and sweet, they don't need much other than a topping of whipped cream and possibly fruit. I used some edible red and heart glitter to adorn ours.

And my finished table, right before we sat down to eat. It was simple, romantic and easy enough to whip up for Valentine's Day or any other night we might want to celebrate. The food was delicious, the company was perfect and the photos I laid out gave us something to reminisce about. It might not have all been made from scratch, but it was all homemade with love.

So, what are your Valentine's plans? Going out? Or staying in this year?