Recipe: Penne with Roasted Asparagus, Bacon, and Shredded Gouda

I had asparagus still wrapped in its green plastic grocery bag sitting sadly on the top shelf in the fridge. In the cheese drawer, a package of bacon and a variety of cheeses intermingled, alongside a misplaced candy bar or two (my mother insists on stashing a few in the drawer—something about liking cold chocolate). As usual, I had no recipe planned out for dinner last night, but that asparagus was on its way out, so I decided to roast it and toss it with pasta, alongside crispy bacon and aged Gouda. The resulting dish was a little smoky, a little salty, and a little nutty—absolutely delicious, especially on a cool winter evening. Roasting the asparagus really brought out its flavor and helped crisp it up and it paired perfectly with the cheese and bacon.

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

Ingredients

• 1 bunch asparagus, washed, ends clipped; cut each of the stalks into 2 inch pieces (each stalk can be cut into approx. 4 pieces)
• 4-6 strips bacon; reserve 2 tbsp. bacon fat
• 8 oz. penne pasta, or other small pasta (rotini, ziti, etc.)
• Approx. 3/4 - 1 cup finely shredded Gouda (I used a hard, 5 year-aged Gouda from Whole Foods that was excellent)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 tbsp. butter
• 1-3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus some for roasting the asparagus
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450*F. Bring a medium-to-large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. While heating the water for the pasta, heat up a medium pan over medium high heat and add the bacon, cooking until crispy. Set the bacon strips aside on a paper towel-covered plate and save approx. 2 tbsp. of the bacon fat in a small bowl or cup. Evenly spread the asparagus pieces in a shallow, oven-safe dish and add a splash of extra virgin olive oil and some salt and pepper—toss to combine. Place the asparagus in the oven and roast for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through but still crispy. While the asparagus is cooking, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until done (about 12-14 minutes). Drain the pasta and return it to the pot, along with some or all of the reserved bacon fat (depends on how "bacon-y" you want it), butter, olive oil, and minced garlic, then toss to combine. Crumble the bacon strips and toss the pieces in with the pasta. When the asparagus is finished, remove it from the oven and toss it in with the pasta. Sprinkle the shredded Gouda into the pot and stir to combine—reserve some for the table so everyone eating can add more, if desired. Serve and enjoy.

This dish is packed with strong flavors that blend beautifully, creating an amazing aroma and delicious taste. The Gouda, especially if you get a good quality, aged cheese, is nutty, while the bacon is smoky, and both add salty flavor to the dish. Adding in fresh garlic gives it a pop of flavor and it smells wonderful. Adding butter, bacon fat, and olive oil creates a light, but flavorful sauce that easy coats the pasta and asparagus. 

Recipe: Pasta and Chicken with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Artichoke Hearts

A long day working in the basement, organizing ungodly amounts of Christmas ornaments and assorted knickknacks, left me looking for something lovely and light for dinner last night—something that could be enjoyed on the back porch with a glass of wine and a few hungry cats. Enter lemony artichoke hearts, tangy sun-dried tomatoes, and tender chicken, tossed with pasta and a light butter and olive oil sauce. 

Serves: 4

Prep. time: 10-15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• Olive oil, enough to lightly coat the bottom of medium pan
• 2-3 tbsp. butter
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch cubes
• 1, 7 oz. jar of sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil (I used Alessi brand), drained (reserve the oil in the jar or in a small bowl) and diced
• 1, 14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (cut each into four pieces)
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-3 tbsp. dried Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper, to taste (I used a rainbow peppercorn blend, which packs some great flavor!)
• 8 oz. spaghetti, angel hair, or linguine (for a different style, use a small/short pasta, like farfalle or penne)
• Italian cheese, as desired

Directions

Season the chicken with salt and pepper (garlic powder is also a good addition). Heat a little regular olive oil, olive oil from the sun-dried tomato jar, and butter in a medium pan over medium-high heat, then add the chicken. Cook until the chicken is a little more than halfway cooked through. Add the artichoke hearts and cook for another 1-2 minutes, then add the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and a little more sun-dried tomato olive oil from the jar. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring the mixture occasionally. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. While the mixture is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the packaging (about 4-5 minutes for long, thin pastas). Drain the pasta, then add a little butter and a splash of sun-dried tomato olive oil to it—toss to combine. Add the chicken, artichoke, and sun-dried tomato mixture to the pasta and toss to combine. Serve topped with Italian seasoning and/or Italian cheese, as desired.

This dish offers light, bright flavors that make it perfect as a summertime dinner. Artichoke hearts have a slightly lemony taste that blends well with the tangy, sweet flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes. A "sauce" of butter and olive oil is all you need to pull the dish together, and a sprinkling of Italian cheese is a perfect way to top it off.

Recipe: Italian Burgers (Sun-dried Tomato Burgers with Basil Pesto, Mozzarella, and Basil)

I've been on this sun-dried tomato kick since this weekend—I whipped up some of my sun-dried tomato pesto on Saturday night and since then, I've put it in pasta, spread it on bread, and even stolen a few spoonfuls straight from the pot. When I finished that up, I went on a search for recipes with sun-dried tomatoes and came across this gem, switched a few things up, and went for it. So, tonight's dinner: Italian-style burgers made with ground beef, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic served on ciabatta bread with freshly made basil pesto, creamy mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil leaves. This is a delicious Italian twist on a traditional burger—perfect for dinner out on the back porch on a warm summer evening. 

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Grill

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup white onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 oz. (approx. 1/3 cup) sun-dried tomatoes, drained and diced (I use Alessi brand)
• 1/4 cup grated Pecorino-Romano cheese
• 1 lb. 90% or 93% lean ground beef
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 4-6 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
• 4-6 ciabatta rolls/buns (I ended up buying small ciabatta bread loaves and cutting them in half), sliced in half
• 4-6 basil leaves
• Approx 3 tbsp. basil pesto (see recipe here)

Directions

Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. In a medium bowl, combine the onion, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, Pecorino-Romano cheese, salt, and pepper (to get a finer mix, put all of these ingredients in a food processor and pulse to blend, then add to the bowl). Add the beef and gently mix everything until combined (do not overwork the meat though!). Form into 4-6 (we ended up with 5) hamburger patties and make a small indentation (use your thumb) in the center of each one (this help prevents the burger from becoming domed in the center while it cooks). Cook on the grill until cooked to desired doneness (about 3-4 minutes per side to get medium doneness). During the last minute of cooking, place the ciabatta slices, inside down, on the grill and lightly toast them (this prevents the bread from soaking up burger juices—do this, and you'll never have mushy, wet burger bottoms again!). Remove the burgers and buns from the grill. Spread a little basil pesto on the bottoms of each bun, then place the beef patties on, topped with a slice of mozzarella, a basil leave, and the top of the bun. Serve will fries, chips, a salad, or whatever floats your boat, and enjoy!

Burgers, sizzling away on the grill. Gotta love those bright red chunks of sun-dried tomatoes!

These burgers are bursting with flavor—they are definitely near the top of my list of best meals I've made and  this recipe is most certainly going in my "Keep" pile. Sun-dried tomatoes are sweet, tangy, and rich, and they add a pop of flavor to the meat. The pesto is garlicky, spicy, and fresh and, like the sun-dried tomatoes in the patty, it packs a punch that really heightens the overall flavor of the burger. Soft, creamy mozzarella and fresh basil leaves add lightness and freshness to the burger. All of that on a slightly chewy, slightly crunchy ciabatta roll and you've got yourself one hell of a burger, Italian-style.

Recipe: Chicken and Broccoli Pasta in a Brown Butter Cream Sauce

So, despite the lack of recipe posts lately, I have, in fact, been cooking—I've just been making a lot of repeat meals (stir fry, pasta dishes, etc.) that have already shown up on the blog. The other night, we decided that the lovely warm weather warranted dining out on the back porch and I wanted to make something new; something that would be light yet flavorful, and work well with the nice weather. This creamy pasta dish does it all, combining seasoned chicken, fresh broccoli, tender pasta, and a delicious brown butter sauce swirled with heavy cream. The sauce is rich and creamy, but incredibly light and it blends perfectly with the other ingredients in the dish.

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 8 oz. penne pasta, or other small pasta (ziti, farfalle, gemelli, etc.)
• 1 whole head/bunch broccoli (approx. 2-4 cups), cut into florets
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch cubes
• Salt, pepper, and paprika to season the chicken (about 1 tsp. of each)
• Olive oil, enough to lightly coat the bottom of a large pan
• 1-2 small onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 7 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp. heavy cream
• Basil, chiffonade, if desired
• Italian cheese (Parmesan or Romano), if desired

Directions
Heat a little olive oil in a large pan over medium heat, then add the seasoned chicken pieces and cook until no longer pink in the middle, then remove the chicken and set it aside on a plate or in a dish (be sure to cover it to keep the heat in). Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add the pasta and cook according to package instructions (about 10-13 minutes). When you have 4-5 minutes left, add the broccoli to the pot and cook it along with the pasta. While the pasta and broccoli are cooking, heat a little olive oil over medium heat in the same pan used for the chicken, then add the onion and cook until slightly soft and lightly browned (about 5-10 minutes). Add the garlic and 1 tbsp. unsalted butter and cook for a minute or two, until fragrant. Add the white wine and the cooked chicken to the pan and cook until the wine has reduced a little bit (about 5 minutes). When the pasta and broccoli are done, drain and return to the pot, then add the chicken mixture in and cover the pot. In a small pot, heat the remaining 6 tbsp. unsalted butter over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until it's melted and starts to brown lightly (there will be some specks of brown in the bottom—this is normal) and smells fragrant and nutty. Immediately remove from heat (if you cook it too long, it will burn and taste terrible). Slowly whisk the heavy cream into the melted butter until completely incorporated. Pour the brown butter cream sauce over the pasta mixture and toss to combine.. Serve with grated Italian cheese and basil.

This dish is light, creamy, and buttery—perfect for a warm summer night. Fresh broccoli adds color and freshness to this dish and lightly seasoned chicken pairs perfectly with the sauce and pasta. The brown butter cream sauce has a nutty, buttery flavor that's absolutely delicious—you may just want to start putting it on everything you eat. 

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: Chunky Marinara Sauce

I had a few errands to run today, along with a test to study for, and some other little projects to work on, so I wanted to make something simple for dinner; preferably, something that was made entirely with ingredients already in my pantry, fridge, and freezer. A package of frozen veal and beef, leftover from my spaghetti and mozzarella-stuffed meatballs recipe, along with a bag of fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley and plenty of cans of tomatoes helped me decide to make spaghetti and meatballs with a chunky marinara sauce. Now, the meatball recipe I've already shared (though, for tonight's dinner, I chose not to stuff them with mozzarella), but the marinara was just something quick and easy that I threw together in about 20 minutes. A lot of the ingredient amounts are really just approximations—the basic ingredients you need are onion, tomato, garlic, and herbs (particularly oregano), but the herbs should be measured to taste.

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1-2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, or enough to lightly coat the bottom of a pan
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1, 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1, 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• Approx. 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Approx. 1 tsp. dried oregano
• Dried Italian seasoning and basil, to taste
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until fragrant and slightly tender, but not burnt (about 5 minutes). Add in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, dried herbs and spices, and salt and pepper. Stir to combine, and let cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Stir occasionally to keep the sauce from burning or sticking to the sides. Once cooked through and flavorful, serve. 

*If you like a smooth marinara, put the warm sauce in a food processor or use a stick/immersion blender to blend to a smooth consistency. 

The crushed red pepper flakes in this sauce kick it up a notch, and the flavors of the onion and garlic add a little tang and bite to the sauce. Despite being from a can, the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce have a fresh taste that's brought out by the addition of herbs, salt, and pepper. This sauce is great over just about any kind of pasta, but it could also be used for a meatball sub or used as a dipping sauce for fried mozzarella or fried eggplant.

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: Reginette Pasta tossed with Sweet Italian Sausage and Ricotta Cheese

While searching through my Pinterest "Recipes to Try" board and the latest uploads to Tastespotting, I came across this recipe for pasta "rags" with fresh ricotta and basil oil and I was instantly inspired. It offered the chance to use my beloved pasta maker and I loved the components that went into it—homemade flavored oil and fresh ricotta cheese. I opted to buy ricotta from the grocery store rather than make it from scratch, and add sweet Italian sausage to add protein and texture to the dish. Making the basil oil was so easy (and it inspired this week's upcoming "Technique Tuesday" post), but extra virgin olive oil would work just as well in this dish. Opting to cut noodles into the reginette shape (one of the "fun" cutters available on my pasta maker) rather than rough-cut "rags" made the dish a little more elegant. Reginette, a wavy-edged ribbon noodle also called mafaldine, can be tricky to find in your average grocery store, but any similarly long and wide noodle (pappardelle, fettuccine) would work. A variety of other pastas, including medium pasta shells (conchiglie) and rigatoni, could potentially work in this dish, but avoid long, thin noodles (spaghetti, angel hair, linguine).

 
Ingredients

• 8-12 oz. reginette pasta, or other long, wide noodle of your choice
• Approx. 1/2 - 3/4 cup ricotta cheese (enough to coat pasta), seasoned with a little salt and pepper
• Approx. 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, crumbled (really, you'll be pulling it apart into bite-sized pieces)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper, to taste 
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• Dried herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, and Italian seasoning are the best choices), to taste
• Olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a pan)
• 5-8 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade cut
• Butter (just a little to toss with the pasta)
• Basil oil (mentioned here) or extra virgin olive oil (to coat the pasta)

Directions
Bring a medium-to-large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package instructions, until al dente. Drain it, return it to the pot, then toss it with a little butter to keep the noodles from sticking. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the sausage with a little salt, pepper, dried herbs, and crushed red pepper (just a dash of each is fine). In a large pan, heat a little olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add in the crumbled sausage and cook for about 4-5 minutes, then add in the minced garlic, and cook until the sausage is cooked through and lightly golden-brown. When the sausage is done cooking, toss it and a little basil oil or olive oil with the noodles, then spoon the ricotta into the pasta, and gently toss the mixture to combine. The ricotta is soft and easily coats the pasta, forming a sort deconstructed sauce. Toss in the fresh basil and serve.

This dish is simple, quick to make, and quite tasty. The creamy ricotta clings beautifully to the pasta noodles, and the sausage, with just a hint of heat, brighten up the softer flavors in the dish and add a little texture. Fresh basil adds color and a crisp flavor to the creaminess in the dish and make the dish complete.

Recipe: Chicken and Fettuccine in a Garlicky White Wine Sauce

In my last post, I shared my recipe for basic pasta dough and some basic instructions for using a pasta maker, and this post features the recipe I chose to highlight that delicious fresh pasta. Homemade fettuccine pasta form the base for salt-and-pepper-seasoned chicken breasts, sauteed and then cooked in a sauce of white wine, garlic, tomatoes, and olive oil, with just a splash of cream. The sauce is creamy, yet light, and so rich and flavorful, and it clings beautifully to the pasta and chicken. More than likely, you already have all of the ingredients you need at home, and this is a really easy dish to pull together (of course, I made homemade pasta, which made it take a little longer, but regular boxed pasta obviously works just fine).

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: About 20-30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to about 1/2-inch thickness and cut in half (creating 4 servings)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus a little more for cooking the chicken
• Butter or margarine, as needed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 medium onion (about 3/4 cup), finely chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup dry white wine (cooking wine is fine)
• 1, 14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes, drained
• Approx. 1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy cream or half&half, or as needed (I didn't really measure this—I just added a few splashes of half&half to create a thicker, creamier sauce)
• Corn starch, as needed (this must be mixed with a liquid first, then added)
• Approx. 8-12 oz. fettuccine or other long, flat noodle

Directions
In a large skillet, heat a little olive oil (enough to lightly coat the bottom of the pan) over medium heat. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and add to the pan (I also sprinkled a little garlic powder on them for added flavor). Cook until they are almost completely cooked through (about 10-15 minutes), then remove from the pan, place on a plate, and cover with foil to keep them warm.

Cooked through and golden brown

Add the dried herbs (including the bay leaf), onion, garlic, water, and 1/2 cup of olive oil, plus a little butter (just a pat or two) to the pan and cook over medium heat, until the mixture is fragrant and the onions are slightly soft. Add the tomatoes and white wine and stir to combine. Add a splash or two of half&half or heavy cream to the sauce and whisk it into the sauce to help it blend. Because the sauce has so much olive oil, it does not necessarily blend completely, so you may notice that it looks a little "unmixed"—this is alright; just whisk it a bit every so often to help keep it blended. Add in cornstarch (mixed first with a little water or cream) if desired (this helps thicken the sauce a bit). Let the completed sauce cook for a minute, then add the chicken back into to the pan, stir to coat, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cover the pan. Before serving, remove the bay leaf from the sauce (these should not be eaten). In the meantime, bring a medium-to-large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, then ladle large spoonfuls of the completed sauce into the pot and toss to combine. Plate the chicken on top of the sauced pasta and serve with an extra spoonful of sauce and a sprinkling of Italian cheese (Pecorino-Romano is perfect!).

The sauce is what makes this dish so good—it's rich, lightly creamy, and so smooth, and it coats the pasta and chicken perfectly. The dried herbs, onion, and wine blend beautifully with the tangy bite of the tomatoes and the garlic, and the olive oil and cream create an amazing texture to the sauce. This was the perfect dish to make with my fresh fettuccine!

Recipe: Orecchiette with Spicy Sausage and Baby Broccoli Florets

This is one of the first Giada De Laurentiis recipes that I tried (from her Everyday Italian cookbook; I've made a few changes to it) and my boyfriend, John, and I quickly put it on our favorites list, frequently making it on weeknights when we were in college. John would peel the casings off of the sausage while I minced garlic and brought water to a boil for the pasta and broccoli, then he and I would work to pull the sausages apart into bite size pieces and toss them into a saute pan of hot olive oil. The whole meal pulls together in about 20 or 30 minutes and it reheats really well, which was always good for John and I, because that meant we always had lunch the next day. :)

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1, 36 oz. (or close to that amount) bag frozen baby broccoli florets, slightly thawed
• 1 lb. orecchiette ("little hats") pasta, or medium conchiglie/shells
• A few tbsp. olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a saute pan and then a little more to drizzle over the finished pasta)
• 1 package (about 5 links) hot Italian sausage, casings removed, with the meat pulled into bite-sized pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• A few tbsp. butter or margarine (to mix in with the finished pasta)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Italian cheese, to taste

Directions
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions (about 12 minutes). When the timer for the pasta gets down to 4 or 5 minutes, add in the broccoli and cook it with the pasta. When done, drain the pasta and broccoli mixture, then return it to the pot. Add butter and olive oil to taste—enough to coat everything and create a very light "sauce."

In the meantime, heat olive oil in a large saute pan, then add the pieces of sausage and cook, stirring them around occasionally to make sure they cook evenly on all sides. Add the garlic in after a few minutes, and season the mixture with salt and pepper. Cook the sausage until it is all cooked through and slightly browned (about 10-15 minutes). Toss the sausage and all of the juices from the pan in with the pasta and broccoli mixture and stir to combine. Serve topped with Italian cheese.


This meal is so easy to make and it's packed with flavor. The hot Italian sausage adds spiciness and texture to the dish, and the broccoli adds color and a fresh flavor. Shell-shaped pasta like orecchiette or conchiglie are the perfect shape pasta for this dish—they're about the same size as the sausage pieces and broccoli, so you can easily get all three in a single mouthful. As I said in the intro, this dish reheats wonderfully, so it's great to make on a busy weeknight and even better to take to work or school the next day for lunch.

Recipe: Spaghetti and Mozzarella-Stuffed Meatballs

I'm slowly but surely working my way through the recipes in my newest Giada De Laurentiis cookbook, and a recipe for spaghetti and meatballs—with a bit of a twist—was up for dinner on Wednesday night. It seems like every family has their own version of this classic dish—some people use spaghetti, others use a different type of pasta; some use marinara while others make a meat sauce; and everyone has their own opinion on what makes the best meatball (Fresh or dry breadcrumbs? Use a mix of meat or stick to one kind?). My grandmother's recipe included spaghetti with a marinara sauce and these small, tender meatballs that my cousin, Katie, and I have always wanted the recipe for but still haven't gotten. My dad's father's family was Italian and used to make up huge bowls of bucatini (a spaghetti-like pasta with a hole through the middle) with tender meatballs made with a mix of veal, pork, and beef. My mom makes her dish with a tomato sauce with meat, all-beef meatballs, and angel hair pasta. The recipe here, altered slightly, includes a simple tomato sauce with pancetta and a little dried red pepper flakes for a kick, and meatballs made with both veal and beef, stuffed with a tiny cube of mozzarella—it's absolutely delicious. The meatballs are incredibly tender and flavorful, and I absolutely loved cutting into them and seeing the warm, creamy mozzarella ooze out onto my fork. The sauce is simple and it's a nice change from a typical marinara or meat sauce. A sprinkle of Parmesan or Pecorino Romano brings the whole dish together, and it's wonderful paired with a dry red wine.

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 8-16 oz. angel hair, spaghetti, or other long pasta
  

For the sauce:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 6 oz. pancetta, diced (prosciutto can work in a pinch, but pancetta really should be used)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1, 14 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

For the meatballs:

• 1 small onion, grated (I used a cheese grater, and it worked quite well)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used shredded and simply cut it up finer with a knife)
• 1/3 cup Italian-style seasoned dry breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp. ketchup
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• About 1 tsp. each salt and pepper
• 8 oz. ground beef
• 8 oz. ground veal
• 2 oz. mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (if you can find smoked mozzarella, use that instead)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400*F and place one of the oven racks in the lower third of the oven. In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the meatballs except the meat, then lightly mix. Add the beef and veal and, using your hands, gently "knead" and mix the ingredients together until well-blended. Shape the meat into 1&1/2 inch round balls and place on a baking sheet covered with a piece of parchment paper (or, if you don't have parchment paper, spray the cooking sheet with cooking spray)—you should be able to make at least 16 meatballs (I ended up with 21). Make a small depression in each meatball and place a cube of mozzarella inside, then re-roll the meatball so that the mozzarella is completely encased inside. Bake the meatballs for about 15 minutes (put them on that lower oven rack), until cooked through and fork-tender (meaning they can be cut easily with a fork). Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until slightly golden brown (about 5-7 minutes), then, using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta from the pan and set aside. Add the onion to the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper, and pancetta and simmer over medium-low heat, uncovered, for about 15 minutes. While the sauce is cooking, bring a medium-to-large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions (about 4-5 minutes). Drain the pasta, return to the pot, and toss with a little olive oil to keep the strands from sticking together.
Serve the pasta with a spoonful or more of sauce on top (or mix the sauce in with all of the pasta in the pot and serve), and place a few meatballs on top. Garnish with Italian cheese, like Parmesan or Pecorino-Romano, if desired.

This is a great version of "spaghetti-and-meatballs" that's well-worth trying. It's incredibly easy to make, packed with flavor, and, like any good pasta dish, both the sauce and meatballs can be frozen and thawed out later for an easy weeknight meal. I know many people take issue with eating veal, and though it is the major reason these meatballs are so tender, if you're totally against using it in the meatballs, try using a mix of beef and pork. Using more than one meat in the meatball adds flavor and enhances the texture of the meatballs.

Recipe: Angel Hair Pasta with Steak, Basil, and Almonds

My cousin, Jess, got me a Barnes & Noble gift card for my birthday and gave me the great idea to get a new cookbook with it, and that's just what I did. As many of you could probably guess, I got a recently published Giada De Laurentiis cookbook, Giada at Home (I promise I looked at cookbooks by other chefs, but there were just too many good recipes in this one that I couldn't pass up). I've already marked a handful of recipes I want to try, and tonight was my first try at one of them, a pasta dish with a fresh salsa-style sauce, crunchy almonds, and perfectly-seasoned steak. Just a word of caution...be sure you get beef tenderloin steaks and not some other cut. I accidentally picked up the wrong cut, seeing "tenderloin" written on the package, but not noticing the "chuck" also written on it, a.k.a. I got a much less tender and much cheaper piece of meat that was not nearly as tender as the real deal would have been. The dish was still good, but to get it right, you really need the proper beef tenderloin steaks.

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Food processor

Ingredients

• 1 lb. beef tender loin steaks
• Salt and pepper, for seasoning
• 2 tsp. herbes de Provence
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling on the steaks
• 8-16 oz. angel hair, spaghetti, or other long, thin pasta
• 1, 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes and their juice
• Approx. 2 cups (I used two, 2 oz. packs of prepackaged) basil
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup smoked almonds (if you're like me and you can't find smoked almonds in your local grocery store, buy regular sliced or slivered almonds and toast them in the oven for just a few minutes at 350*F)
• Italian cheese, like Parmiggiano-Reggiano or Pecorino-Romano, to taste

Directions
Move an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 450*F. Place the steaks on a rimmed baking sheet and season both sides with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence, then drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 10-12 minutes to get steaks to medium doneness (less time for medium rare, more for medium well). Remove the steaks from the oven and let them rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes. In the meantime, bring a medium to large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta to the water and cook according to package instructions (about 4-5 minutes). Drain and return to pot, drizzle with a little olive oil to keep it from sticking, then place the lid on the pot to keep the pasta warm. In a food processor, combine the dice tomatoes and their juice, garlic, lemon zest and juice, basil, and 1/4 cup olive oil. Blend until coarsely chopped. Pour the sauce over the warm pasta and toss to combine. Add the almonds (be sure they are either sliced, slivered, or crunched up into pieces) and toss to combine. Either serve the steaks whole, alongside the pasta, or slice the steaks into 1/4-inch pieces and toss with the pasta, then serve. Serve topped with Italian cheese if desired.

This dish is the sort of dish that can easily transition from a summer meal to a winter meal. The fresh, uncooked sauce (warmed through by the hot pasta), packed with crisp basil and bright tomatoes, adds a summery feel to the dish, but the smoked or toasted almonds add a warmth and nuttiness that makes it perfect for colder weather. The steak is the perfect compliment to this pasta, but chicken breasts, seasoned the same way, would work just as well in the dish.

Recipe: Hot Sausage and Plum Tomato Pasta

I've had a rare few days off—no classes, no work, and just a few errands to run—which has left me three full evenings to cook to my heart's content. Sunday night's chicken and spaghetti squash meal was fun and different—the kind of meal that called for some solid recipes to build off of—but this past night's meal was one of those that sort of came from a recipe, but mostly just consisted of me tossing random things in a pan and seasoning them willy-nilly with a variety of dried herbs to achieve what tasted like a well-thought out and recipe-driven meal (i.e. it was a delicious success): a pasta dish with hot Italian sausage, canned plum tomatoes and their juice, and splashes of dry red wine and half-and-half for a little depth of flavor. My dad is a fan of hearty tomato sauce-based pastas and he loves a little heat in his dinner dishes—my mother, not so much, but she's game to try anything I make, as long as I forewarn her about the spice level or the presence of bell peppers (she absolutely hates them). Because you cook the sausage in the pan before adding tomatoes and seasonings to that same pan, the spicy juices from the cooked sausage blend with the tomato juice, creating a subtle heat that coats your entire mouth from the very first bite. A generous sprinkling of dried basil, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper add a deeper flavor to the dish, while a half cup of half-and-half adds a very light creaminess to the sauce formed from the cooked tomatoes and sausage. It's an incredibly simple, easy dish—in fact, some of my past recipes featured on the blog are vaguely reminiscent of this recipe (the meat+sauce+pasta combo. is definitely a winner)—and it's the kind of warm, hearty dish that really fills you up on a cold day.

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 8-10 oz. (a little over half a box) medium pasta shells
• 1 pkg. (about 5 links) hot Italian sausage, casings removed, meat pulled/crumbled into bite-sized pieces
• 1-2 tbsp. butter or margarine
• 2 tbsp. olive oil (or enough to evenly coat the bottom of a pan)
• 1 & 1/2, 28 oz. cans whole, peeled plum tomatoes, with their juice; coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup dry red wine (I use cooking wine), or to taste
• Dried basil, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper, to taste
• Italian cheese, if desired

Directions
In a large pot, bring lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions until done (about 11-13 minutes). Drain, return to the pot, and put the lid on to keep it warm. In the meantime, heat the butter and olive oil in a large pan (I used a deep pan, similar to a wok, but a large skillet/pan would work or even a large, low pot). Add the crumbled sausage pieces to the pan and cook until they are browned and cooked through. Add the garlic, tomatoes, and red wine, cooking until the mixture is heated through and a thin sauce forms. Add the half-and-half and stir to blend, then continue to cook. Add desired dried herbs and seasonings and cook until the mixture is fragrant and well-mixed (total cooking time is about 15-20 minutes). Toss the tomato and sausage mixture with the pasta and serve, topped with Italian cheese and herbs if desired. For those with mouths sensitive to heat, I recommend serving a few slices of good Italian bread on the side to help soak up that heat. We sliced up some fresh ciabatta bread and served it with an herb pesto spread.

This dish is incredibly quick and easy to pull together and it's so delicious! The spice from the sausage blends with the tomatoes and their juice to add a kick of heat to the whole mixture, but the half-and-half smooths out the heat and adds a delicate and very subtle creaminess to the sauce. A mixture of dried herbs and Italian cheese add a punch of flavor to the dish and the pasta shells are the perfect medium to hold it all together.

Parmesan-Panko-Crusted Chicken Breast with Herbed Spaghetti Squash

While I spent my Saturday morning in a warm kitchen with Hungry Jack pancakes and cartoons, and my afternoon and evening at work, my parents braved the very out-of-character October snow storm and drove up to State College for the PennState v. Illinois game. Every time any of us is out that way, we always make a stop at Wegmen's, one of my all-time favorite grocery stores. We pick up flaky pastries, fancy cheeses, interesting international foods, and fresh veggies. This trip was no different—when my parents walked into the kitchen after they got back, my dad excitedly showed off a large, creamy yellow spaghetti squash, something that looks like a round squash-pumpkin hybrid that, when cooked, can be scraped with a fork into long spaghetti-like strands. I was immediately intrigued, having just recently seen a recipe online that included the squash, so I was really excited to pull together a meal tonight and work with this type of squash for the first time. I found a simple, delicious recipe from Emeril Lagasse and decided to pair the veggie-spaghetti with a crispy panko-breaded chicken breast, and the result was a fresh, flavorful dish that was easy to feel good about eating, because, really, it's pretty damn healthy. I definitely didn't miss having a starchy side—a couple big spoonfuls of squash, plus the chicken, turned out to be incredibly filling. This dish takes a little time to pull together, but it's definitely worth it!

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: About 1 hour for the spaghetti squash, and 10-15 minutes for the chicken
Difficulty: Easy-to-moderate

Ingredients

For the spaghetti squash:

• 1 small spaghetti squash (about 2 lb., maybe a little larger), cut in half lengthwise
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2-4 tbsp. finely chopped fresh herbs (a mix of chervil, sage, basil, flat leaf parsley, and chives is perfect, so I highly recommend that for the best results)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

For the chicken:

• 2-4 chicken breasts, pounded to about 1/4 inch thickness (I serve each person a 1/2 chicken breast, and that's plenty for one person) 
• 2-4 tbsp. olive oil, or enough to evenly coat the bottom of a large pan
• Approx. 1/2 to 1 cup panko bread crumbs/flakes, or enough to bread the chicken breasts
• 1/2 to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, or enough to flavor the panko
• 2 tbsp. dried basil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 egg, beaten
• Approx. 1/2 to 1 cup flour (enough to lightly flour both sides of each chicken breast)

Fresh herbs for the squash. Top, left to right: Basil, sage, Italian flat-leaf parsley. Bottom, left to right: Chives and chervil.

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375*F. Place the spaghetti squash halves cut side down in one or two (depending on whether or not you can fit both in the same dish—I couldn't) oven-safe baking dish. Add enough water to come about 1/2 up the sides of the dish(s) and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes, until the squash is easily pierced with a small, sharp knife. Turn the squash over, cover with foil again, and return to the oven to cook for another 15 minutes, or until tender (a fork should easily slip into the flesh of the squash and you should be able to run a fork along the flesh and scrape off strands of it). During that 15 minutes of cooking, prepare your ingredients for the chicken. Place the flour, seasoned with a little salt and pepper, in a shallow bowl. Put the beaten egg in another shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl or on a plate, toss together the panko, Parmesan, and basil.  Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Dredge the chicken breasts, one at a time, in the flour, lightly coating both sides, then dip both sides in the egg, then coat with the panko mixture, before adding it to the pan to cook. Cook the chicken breast until both sides are crispy and golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. Place the chicken in an oven-safe dish and place in the oven to keep warm. When the squash is done cooking, turn off the oven, leaving the chicken in it to stay warm, and remove the squash, allowing it to cool for a minute or two. Scrape out the seeds and the stringy bits around them with a large spoon, then take a fork and gently scrape the flesh of the squash away from the peel and place the spaghetti strands in a small pot (keep a lid on the pot when you're working on this so you can keep the squash warm). Once both halves of the squash have been scraped clean, add the butter and herbs to the squash strands and gently toss to mix. Serve the chicken alongside or on top of the squash and sprinkle with Italian cheese if desired (its saltiness perfectly compliments the subtle sweetness of the squash).

This is a delicately flavored, filling dish with great texture and nice coloring. The creamy yellow-orange squash is slightly sweet and has an al dente crispness when cooked properly. The mix of fresh herbs adds color as well as delicate, complex flavor to the squash that is enhanced by a little Italian cheese. The chicken is crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and the perfect accompaniment to the squash. It's the sort of dish that, due to its lightness, would be great during the summer months, but the buttery, warm squash makes it perfect for the fall too. Spaghetti squash can be served simply prepared as in this recipe, or served just like the pasta dish, with a variety of sauces and seasonings—try it out! It's really fun to work with.

Recipe: Penne and Spicy Chorizo with Tomato Sauce

I spent my morning learning how to fillet round fish (much more difficult and time-consuming than filleting flat fish) and prepping ingredients for the "a la carte" classes (they run a small restaurant on campus), so I was pretty exhausted when I got home and had no intention of going out for groceries. I wanted to make something quick, simple, and delicious, which in my life usually means cooking up pasta and some mixture of ingredients in a saute pan. I had leftover chorizo (spicy Spanish-style sausage) in the freezer, waiting to be used up, and some good-looking tomatoes and onions, so I decided to toss penne pasta with a mixture of cooked chorizo, tomato, onion, and garlic in a lightly seasoned tomato sauce. The sauce is unthickened, which makes the dish feel a little lighter, and the spicy sausage and a splash of red wine in the sauce make the dish flavorful, with some subtle heat to wake up your tastebuds after a tiring day.

Serves: 4-6 
Prep. time: 10 minutes 
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes 
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 8 oz. (1/2 lb.) penne pasta (rigatoni or some other medium-to-large tubular pasta would work just as well)
• 3 links chorizo sausage, casings removed, crumbled/pulled apart into small pieces (most brands usually have 5-6 links per package; hot Italian sausage is a good substitute if you can't find chorizo)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 tomatoes, diced
• 1-2 onions, diced
• 2 tbsp. olive oil (or enough to lightly coat the bottom of a saute pan)
• 7.5-8 oz. tomato sauce (canned is fine—I used a plain, canned Hunt's tomato sauce; don't get a seasoned sauce)
• 3-5 tbsp. dry red wine, or to taste
• 4-6 tbsp. fresh basil, chiffonade (there's a good tutorial for this type of cut here)
• 4-6 tbsp. fresh flat leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
• Salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• Italian cheese, if desired

Directions
Bring salted water to a boil in a medium pot. Add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions (usually 9-12 minutes). In the meantime, heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the crumbled chorizo and cook until just cooked through (about 5-8 minutes). Add the tomato, onion, and garlic and cook until the onion pieces are slightly soft (about 5-7 minutes). Add the tomato sauce and red wine, along with a little salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and reduce to medium-low heat so that the mixture is slightly bubbling. Drain the cooked pasta and toss the chorizo and tomato sauce mixture with it. Toss in the freshly cut basil and parsley and stir to mix. Serve topped with Italian cheese and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes, if desired.

This dish is quick and easy—perfect for weeknights! The chorizo is spicy, but not overwhelmingly hot, and the tomato sauce flavored lightly with dry red wine helps balance the heat. I highly recommend that you use fresh herbs rather than dry, because they are absolutely delicious in this dish—not only do they add color, but they add their natural bright and clean flavor, which helps lighten the dish and make the dish taste fresher. As I said in comments in the ingredient list, you can easily use hot Italian sausage instead of chorizo and try out different kinds of tubular pastas. You could even put this pasta mixture in an oven-safe dish, layer fresh mozzarella on top, and bake it to create a hearty, cheesy pasta dish that would be perfect with a side salad or a slice of crusty Italian bread.

Recipe: Baked Spinach, Tomato, and Chicken Pasta

I'm notoriously bad about taking multiple grocery store trips during the week instead of getting all my shopping done in one trip. I'm also terrible about wasting certain ingredients, like heavy cream, extra veggies, and random ingredients that I don't use often (like ricotta cheese or plain yogurt). My other bad habit is not doing the math before I make a recipe: cooking for three people means I usually follow recipes that serve four people, but sometimes I buy too much of each ingredient or I accidentally make too much when I cook a meal. That all being said, I was determined to at least get one of these things right this week, so I tackled bad habit number one: I picked out four recipes and did all of my shopping on Sunday. Unfortunately, my parents failed to mention that there would only be one night this week that we'd all be home for dinner. Even more unfortunate, they decided they wanted to go out to eat that night. So, I've got all of these wonderful recipes to make and fresh ingredients slowly going bad in my refrigerator and I'm pretty bummed out. Luckily, I got a chance to cook for my dad and myself tonight while my mother was out at an event with friends, and I decided to try one of the recipes I'd picked out for this week: baked spinach and chicken pasta (adapted from this recipe). Wilted spinach, fresh tomatoes, and melted mozzarella pair perfectly with warm pasta shells and diced, sauteed chicken. (On an unrelated note, my birthday is this time, next week, and I'm sincerely hoping that I get a new camera and a spotlight, because I assure you, it will improve my pictures exponentially; for now, bear with me).

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. (8 oz.) medium pasta shells
• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
• Olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3-4 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 8 oz. mozzarella cheese (I used a ball, and diced it into cubes, but you can use shredded cheese, slices, or whatever preparation you prefer)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350*F. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil, then cook the pasta according to the package instructions (about 11 minutes). Drain and set aside, covered.
Heat a little olive oil (enough to just cover the bottom the pan) in a large pan. Add the chicken and cook it until it is lightly browned and mostly cooked through (about 10 minutes). Add the minced garlic and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach, white wine, and salt and cook until the spinach begins to wilt. Add the tomatoes for just a minute to heat them up a bit. Add the pasta to the pan with the chicken and spinach mixture and toss to mix. Place the mixture in a casserole dish, top with mozzarella cheese, and bake for 25 minutes. Serve topped with Italian cheese and seasonings of your choice.

Topped with dried Italian seasoning, dried basil, and some Italian cheese

The flavors in this dish are delicate, so you might like to add a little extra seasoning once you've served the meal. This is the kind of dish that you can easily experiment with—I've already re-imagined this dish with sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes, to give it a little kick, and fresh basil mixed in with the spinach to add some fresh, crisp flavor. You can play around with different melting cheeses, substitute shrimp for chicken, add fresh herbs to the spinach mixture, or even try a different type of pasta—that's the beauty of this dish: you can make it any way you want it. The version I've shared is light and delicious though, and really easy to throw together on a busy weeknight.

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.

Pasta Shells with Mixed Greens and Italian Cheese

After eating hotdogs and french fries at the PennState game on Saturday, and spending Sunday evening lounging at a restaurant in the mountains, eating lightly fried goat cheese, filet migon with tomato beurre blanc, and decadent triple chocolate mousse, I wanted a light meal for dinner tonight. Now, while some might not consider any pasta dish a light meal, I think a pasta dish with little or no sauce, lots of veggies, and just a sprinkling of cheese is filling, without making you feel heavy and lethargic later. This is a variation on a Giada De Laurentiis recipe, and it's quite possibly the quickest, easiest meal you'll ever make—it's so light and delicious too!

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: 11-14 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. (8 oz.) medium pasta shells
• Approx. 4 oz. mixed baby greens, washed and left whole (I used 2-3 big handfuls)
• 8-10 basil leaves, washed and left whole
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (packed in olive oil), chopped
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese (I used a mix of Pecorino-Romano and Parmigiano-Reggiano)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Garlic powder, to taste
• Approx. 1/4 cup olive oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes (it's infused with the flavor of the tomatoes and it adds a delicious flavor to the dish)

Directions
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions (approx. 13 minutes). Drain the pasta, but reserve about 1/3 cup of the pasta water. Place the salad greens on the bottom of the pot that you used to cook the pasta in, then put the drained pasta back on top. Toss to combine, pour the reserved cooking liquid over the mixture, then place the lid on the pot and let the heat from the pasta help wilt the greens. After a minute or two, toss in the sun-dried tomatoes and cheese, and add some salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Drizzle the sun-dried tomato olive oil over the mixture and toss to completely combine. Serve topped with more cheese if desired.

This dish is so simple and light, but the sweet, tangy sun-dried tomatoes and nutty, salty Italian cheeses add a ton of flavor to the dish without adding a ton of calories. The wilted greens add color and a fresh taste, while the sun-dried tomato oil lightly coats all of the tender pasta shells and creates a delicate sauce. We ate dinner out on the back porch, enjoying the cool evening air and some white wine from a favorite vineyard in North Carolina and it was perfect.

Crispy Chicken with Creamy Italian Sauce, Farfalle, and Asparagus

My latest obsession is the website Pinterest, a virtual collection of pinboards that you can personalize to suit your interests. I've got boards like "My Style," "Dream Kitchen," and "My Wishlist," but my favorite by far is my "Recipes to Try" board, where I can save pictures of amazing dishes that are linked back to the original website where they're featured. This is a fantastic way for me to save all of the delicious-looking recipes that I see online and get to appreciate the visual nature of the pinboard, filled with pictures of these scrumptious meals (way better than saving links in my Bookmarks). One of the recipes I saved to this pinboard (featured here) is the one featured in this post. I needed a recipe to go along with some leftover asparagus we had in the fridge, and this dish looked perfect. The chicken is crispy like fried chicken, but much lighter and less fattening, and the creamy sauce is super easy to make—perfect for a quick weeknight meal.

The creamy sauce was delicious on the pasta and I even mixed it in with my asparagus.

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, pounded flat (about 1/2-inch thick)
• 5 cups corn flakes
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 tbsp. olive oil (or enough to cover the bottom of a large skillet)
• 12 oz. farfalle (bowtie pasta)
• About 1/2 of a bunch of asparagus

For the creamy Italian sauce:

• 1, 10 oz. container Philadelphia Cooking Cream (Italian Cheese and Herb Flavor)
• 2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup milk
• Fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400*F. Bring water to a boil and add the farfalle, cooking according to the package instructions (about 11-14 minutes). In the meantime, put the corn flakes in a food processor and pulse to crush the cornflakes into chunky crumbs (don't pulverize them into dust—you want your chicken breading to have some texture and crunch). Get three small pans or low, wide bowls (loaf pans or pie tins work too; I used three small, deep bowls and it was kind of tricky trying to fit the chicken pieces in them). In the first pan, mix the flour and salt. In the second, pour 1/2 cup milk. In the third, pour in the corn flake crumbs. Dredge each of the chicken breasts first in the flour (coating them completely), then dip in the milk (coating both sides) and immediately coat in the corn flakes. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the chicken to the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and let it cook for about 5 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Flip the chicken over, reduce to medium heat, and cover the skillet, allowing the chicken to cook until the other side is golden brown and the chicken is cooked through, but still tender. Remove the chicken from the skillet, place it in a shallow dish, and cover the dish with aluminum foil to hold in the heat. Over medium-high heat and in the same skillet that the chicken was cooked in, add the chicken broth, Cream of Chicken soup, Philadelphia Cooking Cream, and milk and whisk together to blend. Let it heat up enough to bubble a bit and blend completely. In the meantime, place the asparagus in a shallow, oven-safe dish, drizzle it with olive oil, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Put the asparagus in the preheated oven and cook for 5-8 minutes, until bright green and slightly tender, but still crisp. Serve the pasta with sauce ladled on top, then top it with chicken and serve asparagus alongside.

This is a great meal for a busy weeknight, because the sauce is incredibly easy to make and the meal is both delicious and filling. The cornflakes are a great alternative to breadcrumbs or panko and they add a great crisp as they cook in the olive oil (and hey, any leftover corn flakes in the box can be eaten for breakfast!). The creamy sauce is like a variation on alfredo—cheesy, studded with herbs, and oh-so-creamy. Crispy green asparagus adds a pop of color and can be served with the sauce on top too. So tasty!

Recipe: BLT Pasta

As soon as I saw the bacon in the fridge, I knew I had to make something with it besides the stereotypical bacon-and-eggs breakfast. Fortunately for me, this month's Food Network magazine had a little recipe booklet nestled inside called "50 Things to Make with Bacon." Number 18 on the list was BLT Pasta—something that I'm sure the newest winner of The Next Food Network Star, Jeff Mauro, host of The Sandwich King, would appreciate—and I thought it sounded like the perfect use for that salty bacon staring back at me from the fridge. Juicy grape tomatoes, crisp red onion, wilted arugula, and of course bacon, all tossed with pasta makes for a summery, but filling dish. Oh, and did I mention the tomatoes and red onion are cooked in bacon fat? As some of my sorority sisters are fond of saying (quoting a famous Wife Swap moment), "Bacon is good for you!"—okay, so maybe it's not, but it's definitely delicious.

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 8 slices bacon, cooked then chopped
• 1 red onion,chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste (don't be heavy-handed, unless you want a spicy dish)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 5 cups grape tomatoes
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 12 oz. penne pasta (I used mostaccioli, which looks like penne without ridges)
• 4 cups arugula
• Basil leaves

Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add the penne. Follow the package for cooking times (about 11 minutes), then drain. In the meantime, cook the bacon slices in a large skillet. Remove once crispy and lay out on a paper towel to soak up some of the grease. Save 3 tbsp. of the bacon fat/drippings in the skillet. Add the red onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to the skillet and cook until slightly tender. Add the grape tomatoes and cook for 12 minutes. In the skillet with the tomatoes and onion, add the heavy cream and cook for 2 minutes. Toss the mixture with the penne, arugula, and basil. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.
(Side note: I used about 10 oz. pasta, 3 pints grape tomatoes, and 3-5 oz. arugula, since I'm only feeding three people, and it worked out just as well)

This dish is both light and rich—the plump grape tomatoes and bitter arugula add brightness while the bacon fat blended with cream creates a rich creaminess in the dish. The freshly cooked crispy bacon is so much better than any imitation salad bar bacon-in-a-jar could be and adds a nice crunch. To be completely honest, I don't even like BLT sandwiches, because I'm not a big fan of raw tomatoes, but this dish reinvents the sandwich and makes it worth the few pounds you'll gain eating the bacon fat.