Trapenese Pasta

Trapenese Pasta

3/4 c whole, skin-on almonds, toasted at 350 for 6 mins
1 lb grape tomatoes
1 c fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
1 small garlic clove, grated
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
16 oz pappardelle (2 pkgs Trader Joe's)
Burrata cheese (Trader Joe's)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 oz grated asiago cheese (½ cup), plus more to serve

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a food processor, pulse the almonds until coarsely chopped. Transfer the nuts to a bowl. 

To the processor, add the tomatoes, basil, garlic and pepper flakes, then pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the oil and pulse until incorporated, about 5 pulses. Transfer to a large bowl.

Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the cooking water. Toss the pasta and ¾ teaspoon each salt and pepper with the tomato mixture. If the sauce is too thick, add a bit of the reserved cooking water. Stir in the reserved nuts and the cheese. Taste, then season with salt and pepper. Top with burrata pieces.

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Lasagna Soup

What a perfect day for some "nice" soup! It's cold outside and some snow flakes have started to fall. I tried this recipe last year and it has become one of my favorite soup recipes! So, I came across it the other day and decided it was time to make it again. Alex helped me with the preparation and it turned out better than I remember! We both had seconds.

LASAGNA SOUP

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 pound hot italian sausage

1 large onion, diced

2 large cloves garlic, minced

2 medium zucchini, halved and sliced

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

One 14.5 oz. can diced fire roasted or italian seasoned tomatoes

One 15 oz. can tomato sauce

32 oz. chicken broth

kosher salt & freshly ground pepper

1 package frozen spinach

1 c. mini Farfalle pasta - optional

ricotta cheese - optional

fresh basil chopped - optional

In a saucepan or stockpot heat the olice oil over medium heat. Add the sausage, onions, and garlic. Cook until sausage is browned and onions are softened. Add zucchini, spices, tomatoes and sauce, and chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Add spinach and pasta, if using, and continue to cook until pasta is done, about 7 minutes.

Mix ricotta cheese and basil together and use for garnish if desired.

FREE Online Cooking Course

Last week, Dave and I decided to try out a free sample cooking lesson online. It was a lot of fun and we certainly learned some new facts and techniques. I found out about it through America's Test Kitchen's website when they started to tout their new Test Kitchen School that was launched last month. By the end of the lesson, you use many of the things you learned to make a large pan of cheese manicotti with a quick tomato sauce. Simple, yet delicious.

There was also an exercise in which you tasted six different kinds of canned tomatoes to train your palette in detecting certain flavors. In hindsight, I wish we would of done this activity, but in the interest of not buying a ton of tomatoes we would have likely just thrown away, we skipped over that part.

The free lesson was nice but I don't know if I would fork out that much cash and dedication to go through an entire series. (An eight week course on the Principal of Cooking costs $500!) We will definitely be trying out their free knife skills lesson when we get around to it.