Spaghetti with Broccoli and Cappicola

One of my favorite go-to meals is a quick pasta with broccoli and either cappicola or prosciutto. Cappicola is a hot italian ham, not too terribly spicy but certainly with kick that flavors the whole dish. Available from the deli counter, it's usually less expensive than prosciutto and easy to keep a quarter-pound in the freezer. I prefer to buy it thick-sliced.

You could make this without the pasta and double the vegetables for a wonderful side dish, omit the ham for a vegetarian option, or substitute the broccoli for another veggie that you prefer. Escarole and spinach are both delicious prepared this way.

Added bonus: this can be made using one pot!

Pasta with Broccoli and Cappicola

serves 4

1/2 pound thin spaghetti or pasta of choice

olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, sliced vertically

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 pound (half bag) frozen broccoli florets

grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

squirt of fresh lemon juice, about 1/4 teaspoon (optional)

1/4 pound thick-sliced cappicola ham, coarsely chopped

In a large pot, cook pasta according to package directions. Before draining pasta, reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Drain pasta into a colander and return pot to stove over medium flame.

Pour some olive oil to pot and swirl to coat the bottom; add onions and saute until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broccoli and reserved 1 cup pasta cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer, stirring often, until broccoli is warmed through.

Stir in drained spaghetti and turn to coat. Sprinkle generously with grated parmesan cheese. Taste to see how salty it is, then season to taste with salt and pepper. (Depending on whether or not you salted your pasta cooking water you may not want to add salt at all. I found that with the salted water, parmesan cheese, then adding the ham, it was just right without added salt.)

Finish with a squirt of fresh lemon juice (I think this adds a brightness to the pasta), add chopped cappicola ham; give it all one last toss and plate with an additional sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

One Pound of Ground Beef, Two Meals for Four

To continue the theme of budget-friendly meals, I made two meals that each use 1/2 pound of ground beef, as well as some pre-frozen ingredients I had on-hand.

On Sunday, I cooked a whole pound of ground beef seasoned simply with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, and refrigerated the cooked meat in two equal portions. This was to facilitate quick-fix meals for Monday and Tuesday.

Obviously you need not make these meals two days in a row--you could freeze your pre-cooked ground beef, or simply portion your uncooked meat in half-pound packages. But however you do this, a little planning goes a long way toward making your grocery budget stretch.

Each paired with a side salad, these are complete, budget-friendly meals. Mr.W was happy with both, which is good news for anyone with a picky eater at home!

Meal One: Dinner Nachos

serves 4

About 10 small corn tortillas, cut into wedges and baked at 350*F or deep-fried to crisp, or about two handfuls corn chips

1/2 pound cooked ground beef

1/2 pound colby jack cheese, shredded

toppings as desired (I used salsa, guacamole and sour cream; in hindsight, I should have added some rinsed and drained canned black beans.)

Spread corn chips on a large rimmed cookie sheet that is lightly oiled. Sprinkle with ground beef and shredded cheese. Bake in a preheated 350*F oven until cheese is melted--about 8 minutes. Top as desired.

Meal Two: Penne Bolognese

serves 4

olive oil

about 10 baby-cut carrots, finely chopped

about 1/3 cup chopped onion (I often buy a jumbo-sized onion, chop and store in the freezer)

1 2-inch piece celery, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, or as desired (optional)

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup frozen baby spinach leaves (optional)

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 pound cooked ground beef

2 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce

2 cups warm water

1/2 pound penne pasta, cooked to al dente according to package directions

about 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

about 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute carrots, onion and celery in olive oil until onion is transparent and carrot is soft. Stir in red pepper; add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add spinach, vinegar and ground beef. Stir and pour in spaghetti sauce and water. Bring to a simmer.

Add cooked pasta and remove from heat; toss to coat with sauce. Top with cheeses and serve.

Baked Gemelli

(Edited to include photo--I don't know how I missed that when originally posted!)

Lasagne is one of those dinners that makes me sigh.

Not just in delight--oh, but that's part of it, no doubt--but also because the thought of making it sends me into a daze of reasons not to go to all the trouble.

I suppose it's not that bad, really, once you get into the groove. But on days when I'd like to have lasagne and don't have the time, baked pasta comes to the rescue.

I used gemelli this time, but any shape you fancy will suffice. I mixed cooked (very al dente) pasta with the ricotta combo, put it in a greased pan and topped with a meaty ragu and cheese. After only 20 minutes in a preheated 350*F oven, out came piping-hot, ooey-gooey cheesy baked pasta. The satisfaction of lasagne without the time investment--especially since I had pre-cooked ground beef (that I cooked up myself--no, I don't buy the pre-cooked ground beef at the grocery!) in the freezer ready to be thawed and used!


Baked Gemelli
serves 6-8

1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese (or romano, or pecorino, or a combination)
2 eggs
1-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, divided
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound gemelli (or any other pasta shape you like), cooked 3-5 minutes less than directions on the box for very al dente
1 pound ground beef, pan-fried
2-1/2 cups your favorite spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Combine ricotta, parmesan, 1/2 cup shredded mozarella, eggs, garlic powder and black pepper in a very large bowl. Top with cooked, drained pasta and stir to combine. Transfer to a greased 9x13x2-inch baking pan.

In a separate bowl, combine ground beef and spaghetti sauce. Pour over pasta-cheese mixture. Top with remaining 1 cup mozarella and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until bubbly and browned.


This is a perfect family dinner. Mr.W enjoyed his with a hunk of italian bread (a very rare thing in our house) and a green salad.

This freezes and reheats well, though you might want to add a little extra sauce.

Spaghettini with Garlic Oil

Or, Spaghettini Aglio e Olio.

A few days ago I visited The New Cook and read about Andy's Aglio e Olio Pasta. Dressing pasta with olive oil cooked with garlic (and other bits you may have around your kitchen) is one of those comfort foods anyone from an Italian neighborhood knows. It really brought back some memories.

When I was in my teens and cooking for our family, I used to add a can of tuna to this recipe. You'd be surprised how delicious that is! Other additions and combinations include cherry tomatoes, shallots, various herbs, fresh green beans, even a good squeeze of lemon... you're only limited by your imagination here!

I had to make some.

I stayed pretty close to the original, adding only onion, basil, oregano and red pepper flake for some spice, finishing with a little butter, and tossing it all with spaghettini and topping with a generous dusting of pecorino romano cheese.



Pasta with Garlic Oil
serves 2

- 1/2 pound spaghettini, or pasta of choice, cooked in boiling salted water according to package directions, drained, reserving 1/4 cup of cooking liquid
- olive oil - several good turns around the pan... maybe 1/4 cup (sorry, I didn't measure--it was about 1/4 inch depth in my 8-inch saute pan)
- 1 small onion, peeled and diced
- 3 to 5 cloves garlic (I used three very large cloves), minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flake
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese

Saute onion in olive oil over medium-low heat until transparent; add garlic, basil, red pepper flake and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant and beginning to brown (this only takes about 2 to 3 minutes). Immediately remove from heat. Add butter and let melt. Toss with cooked pasta and reserved pasta cooking liquid; dust generously with grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese.

Although this is probably the simplest of Italian recipes, I'm bringing it to the Festa Italiana, a foodblogging event celebrating Italian Food, co-hosted by Finding La Dolce Vida and Proud Italian Cook.

See the roundup Part 1 and Part 2 for lots and lots of delicious-looking Italian dishes from around the blogosphere!

Chicken Broccoli Pasta Alfredo with Prosciutto

Chicken and Broccoli Penne Alfredo with Prosciutto
serves 6


olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, rinsed and patted dry
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium onion, chopped (about 3/4 to 1 cup)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup water
1 quart heavy cream, divided
1 teaspoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1 cup grated parmesan-romano cheese blend
2-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 pound cooked penne pasta, drained
1/2 pound bag frozen broccoli, cooked according to package directions
1/4 pound prosciutto, thinly sliced and chopped


Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil--about 3 tablespoons--and chicken breast halves. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, turning occasionally, until just cooked through. Remove from skillet and set aside.


Add more oil to the pan if needed. Add onion and saute, stirring often, until transparent (about 3-5 minutes). While onion is cooking, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add garlic to the onion and saute until fragrant (30 seconds to 1 minute).


Return chicken to pan and add water. With a wooden spoon, scrape up any browned bits that have accumulated in the pan.


Pour 1/2 cup heavy cream into a liquid measuring cup and set aside. Add remaining cream to the pan with the chicken, onion and garlic. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to low.


While whisking or stirring with a fork, sprinkle arrowroot powder into reserved 1/2 cup heavy cream. Mixture should be smooth.


When chicken mixture in pan comes to a simmer, stir in cream-arrowroot powder mixture. Return to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thickened (about 2 minutes). Add parmesan-romano cheese blend and 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese; stir to combine and remove from heat.


Place cooked penne pasta in a greased 13x9x2-inch pan. Top with cream sauce and cooked broccoli. Gently stir to combine. Top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and prosciutto. Bake in preheated 350*F oven for 15 minutes.



Notes

• Reheating is a bit fiddly, so this should be made fresh for dinner.
• If you wish to reheat leftovers, you'll find that your cream sauce has mostly soaked into your pasta. Gently reheat in a saucepan over a low flame with added milk or cream, stirring gently and occasionally.
• A delicious variation would be peas instead of broccoli, and cappicola (hot) ham instead of prosciutto!

Man Food: Baked Rigatoni with Sausage and Meatballs

A giant pan of baked pasta is a crowd-pleaser at any gathering--dress it up or dress it down, serve it with bread and a salad, or all by itself to a hungry crowd and you'll hear them all sighing before too long.


I made baked rigatoni for our recent Man-Sunday, when Mr.W's friends all come over to game in the basement. It's a man-only zone, except for when I venture down to deliver whatever food I've prepared that day.


Most of you have probably heard of the standard "Baked Ziti," which is the same basic meal; I like to use rigatoni because it has ridges that cling to the sauce just so. See how the sauce just sticks?


Baked Rigatoni with Sausage and Meatballs
serves 20 regular people, or 10 large man-size servings

- 3 1-pound boxes dry pasta (I like Rigatoni)
- One entire recipe Overnight Spaghetti Sauce, or your own favorite spaghetti sauce (about 5 jars of sauce, plus cooked meat of your choice; I separate my cooked meat from my cooked sauce so I can place the meat on top, or portion it out as needed.)
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Grease a large oven-proof pan.


Note: Because my largest pan only cooks one pound of pasta at a time, I had to assemble this in stages, and that's how I've written these instructions; if you have a larger pot that can accommodate three pounds, by all means, do so. You should have two quarts of water (plus one teaspoon salt in the water, optional) per pound of pasta you want to cook.

Bring salted water to a boil.



Pour in dry pasta.


Stir immediately to prevent from sticking.



5. Return to a boil, then start timer according to directions on the pasta box. My boxes said 12-14 minutes, and because we like pasta a little firmer AND it was going into the oven, I set my timer for 10 minutes. Be sure to stir that pasta occasionally while it's boiling. If it's bubbling away and starts to look like this, stir or that stuff is going to cook into one giant mass! You can't wreck the pasta by stirring it.

3. When the timer goes off, carefully drain pasta using a large colander placed in a clean sink. Do not rinse pasta. Pour that first cooked box into your prepared pan. Top with 2/3 of the sauce (or three jars) and stir.

Top with parmesan cheese and start your water for the next box of pasta.

When second box of pasta is cooked and drained, spoon it over the parmesan cheese and stir entire mixture. Top with 1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella.

Start your water for the last box of pasta and preheat oven to 350*F. When pasta is cooked and drained, spoon that on top and top with remaining sauce, any meat you are including, and mozzarella. Pop it all into your preheated oven and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Here it is after 30 minutes in the oven, all hot and gooey. Mmm.

Serve, along with any desired condiments (hot sauce, hot pepper flakes, additional parmesan cheese, cherry peppers, etc.) to your hungry crowd.

Here's what happened. I delivered the food downstairs and immediately returned upstairs to let them have their fun. It got real quiet. I heard the pan lid banging around a little bit, but otherwise nothing--oh, probably for a good fifteen minutes.

They ate it all.

Overnight Spaghetti Sauce

In this Italian-American town, the holidays include the usual fare: ham and turkey, sweet potatoes, pies... but they also include sauce. Lots and lots of sauce.

Now there are hundreds of ways to make spaghetti sauce. And there are multiple varieties of ready-made sauces at the grocery--many of which are quite good. But when I know I'm going to need a lot of sauce, I like to make it myself, slow-cooked in either the crock pot or a 250*F oven overnight. Here's how:

Mrs.W's Overnight Sausage and Meatball Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients

- 1 6-pound can of tomato sauce (not spaghetti sauce--just tomato sauce, or tomato puree if you prefer)

- 4 basil ice cubes (or about 1/4 cup packed fresh chopped basil leaves)

- 3 pounds meatballs (combine ground beef or turkey with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp dried basil, 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese and lightly work together with a fork. Don't mash or squish. Gently form meatballs--about 1-1/2 ounces--and pan-fry in olive oil.)

- 1/2 cup leftover caponata (optional; I use this for added veg and flavor)

- 2 pounds medium-hot italian sausage, cut into 2-inch sections (I prefer the reduced-fat pork sausage. You need some pork to make this sauce taste just right.)

- 1 large onion, chopped fine

- 6 cloves garlic, minced

- splash spicy vinegar from my container of home-pickled sliced cherry peppers (optional; may substute a couple teaspoons of crushed cherry peppers from a jar, or a good sprinkle of dried chile flakes plus a splash of white vinegar or any leftover wine you might have; balsamic vinegar is good here)

Procedure

Fill a large oven-safe pot or crock pot up to two-thirds full with sauce. Add basil ice cubes, fried meatballs and caponata.

In a large saucepan set over medium heat, pan-fry sausage pieces in a little olive oil to brown on all sides and render out some of their grease. As they get browned on all sides, add to your pot of sauce.

If you use low-fat sausage like I do, you won't have a whole lot of that grease--and we'll use it later. If you use regular-fat pork sausage, keep only two or three tablespoons of the grease and discard the rest.

Fry onions in the sausage grease, adding a little olive oil if needed. When onions are transparent, add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Immediately ladle in some sauce from your pot to soak up all the goodness from the pan, scraping the bottom of the pan to release any browned bits.

Pour everything from saucepan into sauce. If there's any room left in your pot, add more sauce from the giant can. (I had only a few cups left, so I poured it into a freezer bag with the last basil ice cube for future use.) Cover and place in 250*F oven or set crock pot to low for eight hours.

The result: full-flavored sauce with tender meatballs and sausage chunks.

Why don't I add salt? Because that sausage is salty and flavors the whole pot of sauce after eight hours of cooking. Depending on what you use, you'll want to taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

This sauce can be distributed into meal-size portions in freezer bags and frozen. This is certainly a frugal alternative to those jars of ready-made sauce from the grocery store.

Tomorrow is another Man-Food Sunday, so I'll be using most of this entire batch... come back Monday for another installment of Man Food!

Pasta Presto Night: Easy Skillet Pasta

It's been one of those days... and I needed to throw something together for dinner, and fast! Mr.W skipped lunch and his tummy was grumbling.

My plan for just these kinds of days is to get a pot of water on the stove and start a package of frozen hamburger in a skillet... THEN figure out what's for dinner. This is how the most pleasing comfort food is created.

Thus emerged Easy Skillet Pasta, with a side of butter & sugar corn-on-the cob for Mr.W. (I try to avoid starchy veggies when I'm indulging in pasta.)

Easy Skillet Pasta

1.5 pounds ground beef
2 cups dried bowtie pasta
1 28-ounce jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
14 ounces warm water (1/2 jar after you've emptied the spaghetti sauce)
salt and pepper to taste
generous sprinkle hot pepper flakes (optional)

Brown ground beef in skillet set over medium-high heat; strain away the grease by dumping cooked meat into a wire mesh strainer set in your sink or a bowl. Discard grease. Return meat to skillet; reduce heat to medium. Add remaining ingredients; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until pasta is al dente.

Serve in bowls and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese, if desired.

Super simple and fresh from your own kitchen, this is a quick-fix weeknight meal that is sure to please. This makes enough for four helpings. Paired with a salad or a side veggie and some garlic bread it's plenty for a family of four. And you can adjust this to your taste, adding veggies from your fridge or freezer, onion & garlic, upping the herbs or adding more water for more of a goulash. A splash of red wine would be a nice addition, as well.

This is my entry for this week's Presto Pasta Night.

Bon appetit,
Mrs.W