Fresh Linguine with White Sauce

Here's another recipe for a romantic date at home, served with a slice of Italian Bread.

I love noodles. Since I got the pasta attachment for my KitchenAid, I can't get enough of fresh pasta. Bill usually doesn't like linguine, but he loved this meal. Homemade makes all the difference!

It actually takes less than an hour to cook this whole meal. Since the pasta is fresh, it takes less than five minutes to cook. As long as the chicken was prepared ahead of time, the sauce is pretty fast to cook as well. We had some leftover Chicken Under a Brick from a weekend dinner party and it was full of flavor, perfect for this meal.

Fresh Linguine
2 servings

2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg

White Sauce with Chicken
3 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup milk
1/2 tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp dried basil
2 tbsp flour
1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
1 cup cooked chicken, cubed
2 oz fresh spinach

Make the pasta dough with the flour, egg and salt. Carefully mix the egg with a fork on top of the flour. Gradually incorporate the flour and make a soft dough. Once most of the flour is incorporated, knead with your hand until it's smooth.

Divide the dough into three to roll out with a pasta roller. For this recipe, I stopped at level 6. Cut the pasta. Dust with flour to prevent it from sticking together. Before sauce is completed, cook the pasta in boiling water for 4 minutes.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Cook the onion for 3 minutes. Add the milk, and stir in tomato, garlic, salt, black pepper and basil. Cook for 5 minutes. Whisk in the flour, one tablespoon at a time. Cook for 3 minutes or until thickened. Stir in Romano cheese, chicken, and spinach. Cook until spinach is wilted and the chicken is heated. Add the drained pasta to the pan and toss in the sauce. Serve with a slice of bread. Enjoy with a glass of wine!

Saturday Morning Crepes

Sour cream filling with strawberries and blueberries.

Sweet Potato Ravioli

Got my pasta roller for Christmas...it's time to make some sweet (potato) ravioli! It's another one of Bill's favorites. I can't remember how many times we go to a new restaurant, and I would ask him, "You're getting the ravioli, aren't you?" And the answer is nearly always "Yep!" This dish has very few ingredients, yet it's so delicious! Another great dish for date night at home.

Sweet Potato Ravioli
Makes two servings

1 cup sweet potato, cubed
1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 tsp rubbed sage
Ground black pepper
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
Salt
Olive oil and Romano cheese to serve

Cook sweet potato in salted boiling water for 15 minutes. Mash it and add Romano cheese, sage, and pepper.

Make pasta dough and roll out into sheets. I use a pastry cutter. It's less uniform than a ravioli cutter, but it works. Fill pasta with sweet potato filling and seal with a second square. Press the middle lightly.

Uneven ravioli adds character, no?

Cook for 7-9 minutes.

Serve with olive oil and more cheese!

Cheez-It Macaroni and Cheese

What food would you prepare for a zombie apocalypse? I'm pretty sure my husband would stash a closet full of Cheez-Its. After a week of Chinese buns and melon-y desserts, I decided it's time to make some of Bill's favorites. This recipe fills four ramekins. We each ate two :)

Cheez-It Macaroni and Cheese
Makes 4 servings

2 cups cooked macaroni
1 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp paprika
Salt & pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup shredded cheddar, divided
1/4 cup Cheezit crumbs

Cook macaroni for 9 minutes in salted water. Drain.

Melt butter in a skillet under medium heat. Add onion and parsley and cook for 3 minutes or until tender.

Stir in the flour. Mix in the milk, nutmeg, paprika, salt and pepper to taste, and cook for ten minutes. Stir in Parmesan, half of the cheddar and cooked macaroni. Pour in a baking dish or four ramekins.

Smash some Cheez-Its, stir in the remaining cheddar, and top it on the mac 'n' cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Serve with hot sauce. Good for stay at home date nights!

Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops

Have you ever been bored by pork chops? Try stuffing it with blue cheese! It's so delicious and it takes less than half an hour to make.This stuffing also contains apples and cabbage to bring out the sweetness. Any apple will do. As a shortcut, I used coleslaw mix instead of shredded cabbage.

Good with some apple juice!

Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops

Makes 2 servings

2 pork chops

2 oz blue cheese

1/4 cup diced apple

1/4 cup diced onion

1 scallion, chopped

1/4 cup coleslaw mix

Salt & pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

Turn on the broiler. Trim the fat around the pork chops. Cut a slit in each pork chop. Mix the blue cheese, apple, onion, scallion, scallion, and cabbage. Stuff each pork chop with the mixture. Salt and pepper the pork chops generously. Drizzle a heavy pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Place the pork chops in the pan, then drizzle with the rest of the olive oil. Broil in oven for 5 minutes on each side.

Position the pork chops toward each other to prevent the stuffing from falling out

Serve with these biscuits and coleslaw, or potatoes and green beans. This meal is filling and delicious!

Chickpea and Mushroom Soup

Chickpea and Mushroom Soup

Makes 2 servings

1 tbsp olive oil

6 oz Portobello mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 slice of bacon

1 can (16 oz) chickpeas, drained

2 tbsp parsley, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

2 cups chicken broth

1 tbsp brandy

Salt & pepper

2 slices of Swiss cheese

Cut up Portobello mushrooms.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan on medium high. Saute mushrooms with garlic cloves for five minutes. In another pan, fry a slice of bacon until crispy. Add to food processor with chickpeas, parsley, shallots, garlic and mushrooms.

Process until smooth.

Add the mixture to a medium pot with chicken broth. Bring to a boil on medium heat, stir occasionally. Stir in the brandy. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowls, then add Swiss cheese while soup is still hot. Wait 5 minutes before serving.

This soup is full of flavor! Cut the bacon if you want a healthier version.

Pumpkin Pancakes

I've been wanting to try this recipe for the longest time. I hope it's not too late to write about a pumpkin recipe! She's not kidding when she said you've got to try them. They are delicious! 

I don't have pumpkin spice, but it's easy to make. Just follow these instructions. I love that there's cornmeal in these pancakes, but I think I'll lower the salt next time. Top  them with some cinnamon pecan butter and maple syrup. Mmm mmm.

To make the cinnamon pecan butter, whip 4 tablespoons of butter in a food processor with 1 tablespoon of chopped pecans and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon. The nuttiness is delightful. These yummy pancakes started the day off right.

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup

In an effort to make up for the amount of food I ate over Thanksgiving, I'm going to post some healthier meals. Also, because I haven't been in the kitchen for a week--thanks to the delicious leftovers from the holiday meal--this is from a couple weeks ago.

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup

Makes 4 servings

1/2 head cauliflower

1 tbsp chopped rosemary

2 cups sweet potato cubed

1 tbsp rubbed sage

5 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

Salt & pepper

1/4 grated Parmesan

Wash and chop cauliflower. 

Season with rosemary, salt, and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Same with the sweet potatoes, only now season with sage.

Puree roasted vegetables in a blender or food processor with chicken broth. You may have to do it in two batches. Add the Greek yogurt. Then return the soup to the stove or cheat like me and use the microwave. Season with salt and pepper, and top of Parmesan.

Serve it with a side salad. This is an Arugula and Romaine salad with Strawberry dressing. Topped with Anadama bread croutons. My husband gave it an A+!

Rice Milk Pancakes with Sweetened Pears

We ran out of milk the day before grocery day. I thought it was good timing. Since there's no milk for cereal in the morning, I'll just make pancakes. Oops, I forgot you need milk to make pancakes too! Fortunately, we had a carton of rice milk, so I adapted this great recipe from allrecipes.com (Eating cereal with rice milk would be out of the question for some members of the family). It's the fluffiest pancake I've ever made. I'm sure the original tastes just as good. :)

Rice Milk Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp rice milk, original or vanilla flavored
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 egg
2 tbsp butter, melted

Sweetened Pears
1 pear cored and sliced
1 tbsp sugar

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix rice milk and Greek yogurt in a large bowl until smooth. Add the egg and the butter to the milk mixture and whisk. Add the dry ingredients to the milk mixture. Mix until just incorporated. Cook pancakes on a skillet or a griddle.

Prepare the pears. Sprinkle the sugar on the sliced pears in a small sauce pan. Cook on medium low heat for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Top pancakes with confection's sugar and/or maple syrup. Serve with the pears on the side.

Does anyone else like pictures of half eaten food, or is it just me?