Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Fusili with Sausage and Artichokes


adapted from Giada

I made this for dinner last night. It's an old standby that I haven't used in about a year or so and Dave claimed this was in his top 5 favorites.

So here you go...

Ingredients
16 oz. fusili
3/4 C sun dried tomatoes, diced
1 can artichokes (not marinated ones, just in water)
1 tbsp sun dried tomato oil
1 lb. hot italian sausage (I used hot breakfast sausage - jimmy dean)
2 C. chicken stock
2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 C. fresh parsley - chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 C parmesan
1/2 C. mozzarella
some pasta cooking water if needed

combine oil, sausage, and garlic to pan and brown the sausage while breaking up. when cooked, drain any fat you want gone (mine didn't have a lot), and add the sun dried tomatoes, chicken stock, dried basil, and artichokes. Simmer covered for 10 minutes.

meanwhile, cook pasta in salted water until your desired doneness.

when pasta is cooked, add to sausage mixture and also add cheeses and parsley. mix around. if it seems a little dry, add some pasta water.

salt and pepper to taste (I added only about 1/4 tsp. salt)

serve with salad and rolls and you have yourself a great olive garden dinner (but better)(well, their bread is pretty good)

There you go, one of Dave's top 5.






Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Shrimp Lemon Linguini


If I swore, then I would have started swearing when I tasted this pure lemony, garlicky goodness wrapped up in pasta.

Who knew that so few ingredients could be so KABLAM in your mouth??

My new favorite.

If you don't dig on shrimp, top with grilled chicken.

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

8 oz. linguini (I used fresh pasta)
1 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp butter
1 pound shrimp (I used precooked, frozen)
1 tsp. dried basil
1 1/2 C. chicken stock
2 lemons, zested and juiced (don't use that bottled stuff)
6 cloves garlic, diced.
1/2 heaping tsp. pepper
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 C. grated parmesan.

boil water and salt heavily. Add pasta and cook until done. (since mine was fresh, it took about 2 minutes)
In a large, high sided skillet like this one:





heat olive oil and saute garlic for about 1 minute. Add stock, zest, lemon juice, basil and pepper. simmer until reduced by 1/2. swirl in butter until melted. add cooked noodles and thawed shrimp, stir to combine and warm shrimp. top with parsley and parmesan. Try to hoard it from your kids by giving them mac and cheese. I served it with rolls and steamed asparagus.






Monday, March 8, 2010

Citrus Semifriddo


adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

If you are looking for the perfect make ahead dessert that will be sweet and light after a filling dinner - this is it!!! Do not walk - RUN to the store to pick up what you need and serve it tomorrow!! (since it needs to chill overnight) Seriously...

go.
make.
this.
now.

Ingredients:
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C sugar
8 egg yolks
pinch of salt
5 TBSP lemon juice
3 TBSP lime juice
2 zested lemons
1 C heavy whipping cream

What to do:
spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and layer with saran wrap with edges laying over.

In a large double boiler, whisk egg yolks, 1/2 C sugar, lemon and lime juices and salt until thick and creamy - about 160 degrees. set bowl in ice to cool completely. stir in zest.

in a separate bowl, whisk cream until thick and add 1/4 C sugar. mix until stiff peaks form.

Fold whipped cream into lemony custard. spoon mixture into saran wrapped loaf pan. Fold the excess wrap over the top and stick into the freezer. Freeze for at least 8 hours.

to serve:
unwrap and invert on serving platter. slice and top with crumbled almond cookies.

try to stop eating.