Tag Archives: whole wheat pasta

Pasta Romesco

29 Dec

 The other day I was overzealous making a party dip made from red bell peppers, Muhamara, and I ended up with so much that I used one part for the party I was making it originally and another part I used it to make this pasta dish.

I decided to call it Pasta Romesco instead of Pasta Muhamara, in honor of the dip, because I noticed the ingredients in the dip were almost the same as a romesco sauce I had learned a few years back from a recipe book for IBS patients.  Red bell peppers, bread, walnuts, balsamic vinegar, etc.  I have seen other romesco sauces that use tomatoes as a base, but the one I learned first used red bell peppers, so we’re sticking to that version.

This pasta is evidence this dip is very versatile as it is delicious.

 romesco-pasta

PASTA ROMESCO

½ packet of whole-wheat pasta
¾ cup of the Muhamara dip
¼ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

 

  1. Boil the pasta according to the package directions.  Remember to salt the water well.
  2. When the pasta is done, drain the pasta saving about 1 cup of the pasta water.
  3. Return the pasta to the pot where you boiled it and add the Muhamara dip.  If you feel the sauce is too thick, add some of the pasta water to thin it out.  Add the grated cheese and mix well to combine.
  4. Add more grated cheese on top to serve.

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Roasted Garlic and Tomato Pasta

20 Nov

When November comes around, it’s birthday time!!!!  My aunt’s, my dad’s and mine… so I decided to host a lunch to celebrate all our birthdays.  And to top it all, my sister came in from Miami to visit too, so the family was complete.

Everyone invited was not vegetarian, but because the lunch was hosted at my house, vegetarian fare was a MUST.  I had planned to make pasta – it’s the safe and easy choice; Non-threatening to the skeptical.  I was originally planning on making a pasta with gorgonzola – a dish inspired by a dinner I had in Old San Juan a couple of weeks ago.  Then, I saw 30-Minute Meals and was totally inspired by a dish Rachael Ray made…   I do not recall how she called it, but my version is called Roasted Garlic and Tomato Pasta…

 roasted-garlic-and-tomato-pasta

ROASTED GARLIC AND TOMATO PASTA

1 pound of short whole-wheat tubular pasta, penne rigate or rigatoni works well
3 handfuls of grape tomatoes, about 2 pints
1 whole head of garlic, roasted
2 handfuls of a shredded 4 cheese blend – Fontina, Parmesan, Asiago and Pecorino
1/2 cup basil leaves
3 generous handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves
¼ cup of grated Pecorino Romano
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
  1. I roasted the head of garlic the night before…  Just take the head of garlic, cut the top off and place inside a sheet of aluminum foil.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle a bit of water.  Close the aluminum foil to form a packet and roast in a toaster oven at 350F for 30-40 minutes.
  2. If you do not have time or just did not plan ahead… just open up the head of garlic into cloves, smash them all individually with the side of a knife.  Place them together with the grape tomatoes on a baking sheet to roast side-by-side.  Drizzle the tomatoes and smashed garlic cloves with olive oil, salt and pepper liberally.  Roast in a 350F oven for about 20-25 minutes.  The garlic smell will tell you when it’s done.
  3. When the tomatoes/garlic are about to be done, set a large pot filled with water to boil.  Salt the water as soon as it comes to a boil and drop the pasta.  Stir well to avoid the pasta sticks.  Because we’re using whole-wheat pasta, it’ll take a little longer to cook… about 12-15 minutes.
  4. In a large bowl, place all the roasted garlic cloves with the skins removed.  Smash them into a paste with a large fork. 
  5. As soon as pasta is about to be done, turn the stove off.  Take about 1 ½ cups of water and pour on top of the roasted garlic.  Mix the garlic and water and create like a “tea” of roasted garlic.  Add the roasted tomatoes and smash them together with the garlic tea. 
  6. Drain the pasta.  I always drain the pasta over a Pyrex glass bowl to reserve some of the pasta water, just in case I need some more.  Return the pasta to the pot and pour the tomato/garlic tea over it.  Mix together well so the pasta absorbs the roasted garlic liquid.  While the pot is still hot/warm, add the basil leaves and baby spinach leaves.  Mix together well so the heat of the pasta will wilt them nicely.  Add the shredded 4 cheese blend and mix well.  Cover pot for about 5 minutes to help the spinach wilt.
  7. After the 5 minutes have elapsed, serve in a beautiful pasta bowl and sprinkle with the grated Pecorino Romano.

We had a great time… everyone loved the food, specially my dad, who served himself 3 helpings.  And he’s one of the biggest skeptics of vegetarian food.  Hope you like it too… This is a very easy and delicious pasta that will feed a crowd.  It took almost no-time to make – Very care-free and perfect for entertaining.

Hope you try it and like it too…

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No Boil-Ahead Pasta – Spinach and Tomato Version

3 Jul

This idea started a few months ago, when going thru my daily fix of Serious Eats I found a Talk Thread about mac and cheese recipes where you didn’t need to boil the pasta ahead of time.  Based on that thread, that same day I made my Easiest Baked Pasta Ever!!!! Recipe post.

Inspired by the concept, I decided to give it a twist.  My friend Ana asked me to bring something to her daughter’s graduation family get-together a few weeks ago, because I would not be able to enjoy most of what she had ordered thru a caterer.  Wanting to show-off my skills with the audience, I created this recipe.  I am bold (sorry for all the modesty) because I had the guts to make a recipe for the first time for 12 people.

Thanks to all my prayers after the thought came to my mind of how scary it would be to screw this up… the recipe turned out great.  I actually learned a few cool tricks that I may incorporate into new recipe creations.   This pasta is super easy… just throw all the ingredients together in a casserole dish and voila!  The pasta is ready.  No need to even stir the pasta at all… what could be simpler???

 

 

NO BOIL-AHEAD PASTA – SPINACH AND TOMATO VERSION

2 cups whole wheat pasta – macaroni, penne or rigatoni would all work well
3 tbs melted butter or olive oil
2 cups white cheddar cheese, shredded – I used a whole bar Cabot’s Hunter’s Dangerously Sharp variety
4 oz Fontina cheese, shredded
4 oz cream cheese
3 ¾ to a 4 cups of milk
1 tsp mustard
1 cup spinach – you can use fresh or frozen
½ cup chopped tomatoes
Salt and Pepper to taste

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F.
  2. In a large casserole dish, about 9″ x 13″, toss the pasta and the melted butter or olive oil, whichever you’re using.  Spread the pasta as evenly as possible to allow for even cooking.
  3. Now, without stirring anything sprinkle the cheddar and Fontina cheeses on top of the pasta.  Add the spinach and the chopped tomatoes as evenly as possible over the cheese.  Add the cream cheese in small pieces on top of the spinach and tomatoes.
  4. Mix together the milk and mustard and pour carefully over the whole thing.  Try not to displace the pasta a lot.  The idea is that now the pasta is all enveloped in the milk and this makes the cheese kind of mix a bit with the pasta.
  5. Place in oven for about 45-55 minutes until golden brown on top.
  6. Allow the pasta to cool off a bit before serving it.

 

People loved the mini pieces of cream cheese… because we placed them kind of last, the cream cheese melts a bit, but does not disappear within the sauce.  Instead, they stay on to like soft pillows of cheesy goodness.  Everybody had something to say about the cream cheese bits… specially my mom and Ana.

I hope this inspires you to be brave and to try new dishes on people even if you’ve never done them before.  My advice… start small and this pasta is easy enough to be a sure hit.

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Some of you noticed the aluminum tray the pasta is in. So, just for clarity and transparency purposes…

I cooked the actual pasta in a glass Pyrex casserole 9″ x 13″ dish.  Because this pasta was to be consumed in the home of my friend Ana, whom I love dearly as if she were my own sister but who is undoubtedly a meat eater, and I didn’t want my Pyrex dish, that has never ever been touched by a non-vegetarian utensil to be forever ruined by someone, that even though, very well intentioned, might try to serve themselves with the same serving spoon as the other meat dishes there or wash it with the same rag as the other meat-including trays.  For that reason, I transferred the pasta when it was cooled off, into this disposable aluminum tray.  Aluminum is not my favorite, but is what’s most accessible at the grocery store and I am sure the majority of the people who consumed it didn’t even care.  I must say I was EXTREMELY LUCKY I was able to transfer it in one piece preserving the look and appetite appeal of the dish.   The photo was taken by friend Ana at her home, with her camera, as I forgot completely to take a picture while at home in the original glass dish.

I hope this clears out any confusion…

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The easiest Baked Penne… ever!!!!

15 Feb

This is one of the easiest recipes… ever!!

The funny thing, it has not been even 24 hours since I learned about it.  I was perusing one of my favorite food blogs – Serious Eats… and in one of the Talk threads there was a discussion about making mac & cheese without boiling the pasta first.  Then, one of the participants – his/her name is hanak– mentioned this recipe for Baked Ziti without even boiling the pasta.  I always get stumped at what to do for lunch… so when I read this today, my lunch dilemma was immediately solved.  I would do this while I finished some stuff at the computer.  God bless  hanak and the Baked Ziti recipe…

I modified the recipe a little – as you know… can’t bear to make a recipe “by the book” not even once.  Here is the recipe as it was given to me today and with notes on the modifications I made to it today at 1PM:

baked-penne-4.jpg

 THE EASIEST BAKED PENNE

8oz whole wheat pasta – I used penne, but ziti or any tubular pasta would work
28oz can of crushed tomatoes – I used a 26oz carton of Pomi crushed tomatoes
6 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp chopped garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Mozzarella –  optional
Grated Parmesan cheese – optional
  1. Soak the dry pasta in the olive oil for around 20 minutes.
  2. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. 
  3. Add the crushed tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Bake for about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

This is a picture of the pasta at this point.  It is DELICIOUS just like this!!!!  A bit oily to my taste, so maybe the next time I will try to see if I can cut the oil in half… but believe me, it’s been a while I tasted a pasta that I would eat as is, without any cheese.  This one is awesome.  I even bragged to my mom about it already…

 baked-penne-2.jpg

I decided to use up some leftover fresh mozzarella cheese… so I added a few pieces in the dish, sprinkled some grated parm/romano cheese and put it back in the oven with the residual heat after I turned it off.  It is really good, but as hanak said… it does not need it.

Thanks a lot to my fellow online foodies, but specially to hanak and this awesome Baked Pasta recipe…  they are all a source of inspiration and hunger-relief. 

GRACIAS!!!!

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