Recipe: Fettuccine and Sweet Italian Sausage in a Parmesan-Leek Sauce

I saw a recipe for Winter Pasta with Chorizo while browsing through recipes on Tastespotting. Intrigued by the use of leeks and cabbage in a sort of pesto-cream sauce hybrid, I saved it to my "Recipes to Try" Pinterest board and decided yesterday, a drizzly, chilly Valentine's Day, would be the ideal day for this warm, wintry pasta dish. I made homemade fettuccine (with help from my pasta maker) and tweaked the ingredients just a bit to make it just right, and the result was a delicious, light but flavorful pasta dish, permeated with the delicate, onion-y taste of the leeks and the nutty, slightly tangy flavor of Parmesan cheese. Sweet Italian sausage is packed with flavor and just a touch of heat, and it paired well with the creamy sauce and medium-width pasta noodles.

Yields: 4 servings
Prep. time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Food processor

Ingredients

• 2 leeks, washed/soaked with the tops cut off, cut into big pieces (peel apart the layers of the leek and soak them in a large bowl—leeks are incredibly dirty, so they need to soak to get clean)
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 cabbage leaves, removed from stalk and washed or two small handfuls of pre-shredded cabbage (I found a bag of shredded cabbage for coleslaw, with no other veggies included)
• 3 tbsp. oregano leaves
• 1/2 tsp. dried grated lemon peel
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1-4 tbsp. heavy cream
• 2-3 links (casings removed) or approx. 1/2 lb. sweet Italian sausage, pulled into small pieces 
• Olive oil and butter, for cooking the sausage
• 8-12 oz. fettuccine
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• White pepper, to taste

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add the leeks and garlic and cook them for 3-4 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes—everything will be tender when done. Use a slotted spoon to quickly remove the leeks, cabbage, and garlic when they're done cooking, and put them in a food processor. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon peel, Parmesan, oregano leaves, and heavy cream to the food processor and pulse to blend. Add salt, pepper, and white pepper, to taste. Once blended (the mixture won't be completely smoothe—it'll have a little texture to it), transfer it to a medium saucepan and heat over low heat. While the sauce is cooking, heat a little olive oil and about a tbsp. of butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat, then add the sausage and cook until browned and cooked through. While the sausage is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the fettuccine according to package instructions, then drain and return to the pot. Add the sauce to the pasta and toss to combine, then add the cooked sausage and toss to combine. Serve with a little Parmesan cheese and fresh oregano.

The sauce is the star of this dish—that soft onion-y flavor of the leeks, the fresh oregano, nutty Parmesan, and earthy cabbage create a unique flavor and texture that's sort of like a creamy, light pesto, or a textured cream sauce. Sweet Italian sausage adds texture and more flavor to the dish and fettuccine is the prefect pasta for this meal. The sauce can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge up to a few hours before use, and the meal reheats wonderfully.

Recipe: Seared Chicken and Angel Hair Pasta in a Lemon-Pistachio Cream Sauce

My mom and I spent most of the morning and early afternoon in our pantry, sifting through piles of candies and granola bars, rearranging and fitting new appliances (like my pasta maker and her rice steamer) onto shelves, and organizing just about everything else. Being surrounded by food of course got me thinking about what to make for dinner...we have tons of cans of tomatoes, some nice marinades, and an assortment of pastas, but I was at a loss when it came to deciding what to make. My mom kept pushing lemon-flavored dishes at me—"How about chicken in a nice lemon sauce?...didn't you make something with lemon once? Some sort of sauce? Maybe we could have something like chicken piccata." I sat down at the counter, idly flipping through a Betty Crocker best chicken recipes cookbook while she searched for a dinner recipe she could make for an event she's hosting this Sunday, and I came across a recipe for chicken with pistachios and lemon wedges. I loved the idea of combining salty pistachios (we have two huge bags of them in the pantry) with tart lemon, and I knew I could create my own unique dish to utilize these ingredients. I blended together toasted pistachios, parsley, garlic, and some seasonings to create the flavoring for my cream sauce and used leftover half-and-half to create the sauce base, then tossed the finished sauce with angel hair pasta. Chicken seasoned with dried lemon peel, salt, and pepper, cooked in butter, olive oil, and lemon juice completed the dish. This dish is very easy to make and the ingredients work so well together.

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Food processor

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to approx. 1/2 inch thickness, cut in half
• 8-12 oz. angel hair pasta, or other long, thin pasta
• Approx. 1 pint half-and-half or heavy cream (I only had about a 1/2 pint of half-and-half, which was not quite enough)
• Cornstarch-and-water mixture, as needed (to thicken the sauce, if necessary)
• 1/3 cup shelled pistachios, toasted*
• 1 garlic clove
• 2-4 tbsp. Italian flat-leaf parsley (I had about 1/4 of a bunch of parsley left and just threw in all the leaves from that)
• Approx. 1 tbsp. fresh lemon zest
• Approx. 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Dried lemon peel, to taste
• Butter, as needed
• Olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a pan)

*To toast the pistachios, preheat the oven to 350*F. Make sure the shells are removed, then place them on a small baking sheet and heat in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until lightly fragrant and lightly golden-brown.

Directions

In a medium pot, bring lightly salted water to a boil, then add the pasta and cook according to package instructions (about 4-7 minutes). Once done, drain the pasta and return it to the pot, then add a little butter to it to keep it from sticking. In the meantime, heat 1 tbsp. butter, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, and a little olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Add the chicken, seasoned with salt, pepper, and dried lemon peel (and lemon pepper if you happen to have it), to the pan, and cook until it's no longer pink in the middle (about 10-15 minutes). Once you get the chicken in the pan, combine the pistachios, garlic, parsley, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in the food processor and pulse to blend, doing so until the pistachios are broken into small pieces (don't pulverize them though!). In a large pan, add 1-2 tbsp. butter and melt over medium heat. Add the pistachio mixture to the pan and cook for a few minutes until lightly fragrant. Slowly pour in the half-and-half, stirring constantly as you add it to the pan. Stir around the mixture and add a little more butter if desired, allowing the ingredients to blend. Continue to cook over medium heat, reducing the heat when the chicken gets close to being done. If the sauce seems thin, add a little cornstarch-and-water mix to the sauce (to be honest, I added a little too much, which made the sauce a little too thick, so only add a little at a time and allow it a few minutes to work before you add more if needed). Toss the cooked pasta with the finished sauce and top with chicken and some coarsely chopped pistachios.

The salty, nutty pistachios blend perfectly with the lemon flavors from both zest and juice, and they add a beautiful pop of green to the dish. Simple seasoning, with a splash of lemon, boosts the flavor of the chicken and completes the dish. 

Recipe: Chicken Piccata

I haven't really had time to grocery shop this week, and no, I don't really have a legitimate reason why. It's just been one of those lazy weeks (oh, and it's been around or below 58 degrees for a few days, which means I've been snuggling up in blankets and dreaming of my college days in sunny South Carolina instead of being productive). So, that being said, I wanted an easy, delicious recipe for last night's dinner, and a classic chicken piccata from Giada De Laurentiis fit the bill. Bright, lemony chicken served with warm pasta, drizzled with a light sauce straight from the chicken-sauteing pan makes for a light, delicate meal.

My measurement conversions were a little off, so the recipe didn't yield as much sauce as it normally would, but what sauce I did get was delicious and if you follow the measurements I list below, it'll work out just right

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 lb. (1 box) spaghetti or angel hair pasta
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (pound them out a bit so they cook more evenly)
• A dash of salt and pepper
• Dried lemon peel
• All-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 2 lemons; I used bottled juice)
• 1/4 cup drained capers, rinsed
• Dry white wine, if desired
• Dried parsley, to garnish

Directions
Mix the salt, pepper, and dried lemon peel into the flour. Dredge the chicken in the flour to coat it lightly. In a large saute pan/skillet, melt 2 tbsp. butter with 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, lightly browning both sides and cooking through slightly, then use tongs to remove them and set them aside on a plate.
In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box. Drain and return to pot, drizzle with a little olive oil, and cover with lid to keep warm while the chicken continues to be cooked.
Add the broth, lemon juice, capers, and a splash of dry white wine (about 1-2 tbsp.) to the pan that you used to cook the chicken. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan (they add extra flavor). Return the chicken to the pan and simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Using tongs, place the chicken on a clean plate. Whisk 2 tbsp. butter into the sauce left in the saute pan. Serve the chicken atop the pasta, and ladle the sauce over them. Garnish with parsley. Italian cheese may be added if desired.

This dish is quick and easy, but packed with flavor. The lemon juice and dry white wine add bright acidity to the dish, while the butter and chicken stock add a soft, smooth flavor. Dredging the chicken in seasoned flour creates a delicate coating on the chicken that browns beautifully in the pan. This dish is bright, lemony, and perfect for a cool summer night.