Penne with Zucchini and Tomato

This is one of those, "How can I use these veggies before they go bad?" type of dishes, which generally, in my experience, can have mixed results. This, however, turned out pretty darn good for a quick lunch. Make sure to top it with plenty of parmesan cheese. Recipe is for one.

1/3 lb pasta
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 zucchini, quartered then sliced
1 large Roma tomato, chopped and lightly salted
Sprinkle dried basil
Salt to taste
Parmesan cheese for serving

Cook your pasta. Meanwhile, drizzle olive oil in a saute pan, add garlic, and cook over medium-high heat until garlic is sizzling (don't let it brown/burn). Add the tomatoes and the zucchini, and mix in. Sprinkle with a little dried basil. Turn the heat down to low-medium and cover or partially cover. Cook until the zucchini has softened.

Drain your pasta and add it to the sauce, cooking and stirring over low until the pasta is covered. Serve with parmesan.

Not Chili

Well, I call it chili. But the husband insists that if it has rice in it, it can't be chili, no matter how good it is (and it is good!). This is how my ma always made chili at home - served over rice - and it's still my favorite (and it might soon become the husband's, too).

1 1/2 cups white rice
2-3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
Olive oil
A little salt
A little ground pepper
1 lb ground beef, thawed
1 tbsp chili powder, plus more
1/2 tsp ground cumin, plus more
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 can red kidney beans (you know, whatever the size is between 8 oz and 28 oz - the regular size), drained and rinsed

Cook your rice.

Meanwhile: drizzle a healthy amount of olive oil into the bottom of the pot, then add your garlic and heat over medium, adding a little salt and ground pepper. Just let that get hot and aromatic, then mix in the ground beef, red chili powder, and cumin. Let the beef brown.

Once the beef is browned, add your tomatoes and tomato sauce. Break up the whole tomatoes well with a wooden spoon. Bring the sauce to a boil, then turn to low and partially cover, simmering for about 1/2 to a 1 full hour. You can sprinkle more chili powder and cumin in at this point, according to your taste.

15 minutes before the sauce is done, add the kidney beans and cook another 15 minutes.

Serve over/mix into rice - yes, RICE! - and enjoy!

Broccoli Rabe with Garlic

For the second half-post of the day, we have a side dish: broccoli rabe (or maybe it's broccoli di rabe, or rapini, or what have you), sauteed with garlic, olive oil, and red pepper flakes. Broccoli di rabe, as previously discussed, is not for everyone - it's bitter, biting, unusual. I think Joef summed it up best: "It's so angry!" And that's why we like it. Plus, when you're not feeling well, as I'm not this weekend, eating something "angry" makes you feel like you're really giving your cold what-for.

Here ya go:
1/2 large bunch broccoli rabe, bottom stems removed, washed
2-3 tbsp or so olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, a couple sliced and a couple minced
Red chili flakes to taste
Salt to taste
3/4 - 1 cup water

Prep your rabe, then add olive oil and garlic with some chili flakes and salt to a pan over medium heat. Let those warm up and let the flavors combine, then add all your rabe to the pan. Let it start to wilt, stirring it around. Add more salt and chili flakes, if you want. Then add the water. Continue to cook and rotate until the rabe wilts and most of the water has boiled off. Serve as a side dish.

Pesto with Chicken

Two posts today, since one is a side dish and the other is really just a variation on a prior recipe. First, the prior recipe, pesto - this time, with grilled chicken added. (You know, just like they do at Noodles and Company, hehe!) This turned out really good and was a nice way to make pesto a little heartier.

It's essentially the same recipe, only I used 3/4 lbs of pasta, and I grilled up two chicken breasts and added them in. Nevertheless, here it is again, updated:

2 oz fresh basil leaves
Garlic (2-3 cloves) (note that this makes a VERY garlicky sauce)
Olive oil (1/2 cup)
Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup grated)
2 chicken breasts, sliced into cutlets
Pasta - something with ripples or ridges to hold the sauce (3/4 pound)

Sprinkle your chicken cutlets with a little salt and pepper, then grill each cutlet until fully cooked. Slice into strips or cubes.

Cook the pasta (I used shells).

Put the garlic in the food processor first. Chop it up and scrape it off the sides as needed. Next, add the basil and do the same. Add the olive oil a 1/4 cup at a time - grind it up until it starts to make a paste, scraping off the sides as needed.

Put the paste into a large bowl and mix it with the parmesan. Add the pasta into the bowl and mix it until all the pasta is coated, then add chicken and do the same. Serve with more parmesan cheese as needed.

ALT: Noodles and Company style, with cavatappi and tomatoes!

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Ceci

(adapted from Loukie Werle's "Italian Country Cooking")

UPDATED 2/5/11
Alright. I just made this again, and I made it slightly differently, and it was both easier to make and more delicious. So, give this a shot:

2 thick slices pancetta, diced
Olive oil
1/2 can ceci beans, drained
Habanero flakes, to taste
1/2 bunch broccoli rabe, chopped large
2 cloves garlic, smashed flat
1 cup chicken broth
3/4 lb pasta

Drizzle olive oil in a large pan and turn heat to medium-high, then add the pancetta. Cook for a couple of minutes, turning down if necessary. Add the ceci (and habanero flakes, if you choose) and let them cook together for a few more minutes as the pancetta renders its fat. Remove the ceci and pancetta and set aside. Add the rabe and garlic into the same pan, adding a little olive oil if you need it. Add more habanero flakes, if using. Turn back up to medium-high and add the chicken broth. Cook until wilted and your pasta is ready, then add the chicken and ceci back into the rabe and cook for a minute or two, then add the cooked pasta and mix. Finish with a final drizzle of olive oil, and serve. Not half bad with grated parmesan.

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ORIGINAL POST
I can't get enough of this cookbook. This woman is brilliant. The recipes are simple, using just a few common ingredients, and the outcomes are delicious and different. This particular recipe gave me an excuse to buy pancetta again, and also the chance to cook broccoli rabe for the first time. Broccoli rabe is like the arugula of the broccoli world - bitter; probably an acquired taste (at least it was for me, growing up). It's much leafier than typical broccoli; cook it up with plenty of garlic and it's great.

I decided to add red pepper flakes to this - optional, but I think a good variation. And I didn't have dried chick peas/ceci/garbanzos, so I had to improvise a little bit there.

So:
1 cup canned ceci beans, drained
2 large cloves garlic, flattened/crushed with the flat side of a knife
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp olive oil, plus 3 tbsp
5 oz pancetta (I got 3 thin slices, more wouldn't have hurt), thinly sliced
1 large bunch broccoli rabe, tough stems removed, cut across into 1/2 inch strips
Red pepper flakes to taste
Salt and pepper
3/4 lbs short pasta

Put the ceci in a small pot with the crushed garlic, a little salt, and 2 tsps olive oil. Add water to cover. Place them over low heat on the stove. (You may be able to skip this step - I was trying to get as close as possible to her directions for dried beans.)

Combine 3 tbsp of olive oil and the pancetta in a large saute pan over medium heat until the pancetta turns crispy and golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside on a paper towel.

Add the 4 chopped garlic cloves to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes, then add the broccoli rabe. Saute until it all wilts.

Drain the ceci in a colander set over a bowl to retain the liquid. Add the ceci to the rabe, then add a cup of the reserved liquid and stir it in to the rabe and ceci. Add crushed red pepper flakes Cook another 10-15 minutes, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

In the meantime, cook your pasta in salted water, reserving a cup or so of the pasta water. Add the cooked pasta right to the rabe in the pan and toss around for about a minute, adding the pancetta. Add pasta water if it seems dry. Serve!

Goat Cheese, Tomato, and Caramelized Onion Omelette

Here we go, another "recipe" whose name pretty much sums things up. But I've never actually successfully made an omelette, so this was an accomplishment for me. Plus, say you have leftover goat cheese from a certain salad, and leftover tomatoes from a certain fish dish...well, there you go.

3 eggs, beaten
Butter
1/4 cup (ish) cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup (ish) white onion, sliced or chopped
A few sprigs arugula
As much goat cheese, crumbled, as you want

First, caramelize the onions: take a frying pan and grease the bottom with butter, then add the onions and cook them on medium until they begin to soften and brown. Put them aside.

Second, do the same with the tomatoes (will take less time).

Butter the pan again and pour in the egg (turn up the heat a tad). Lift the pan and shift the eggs until the bottom of the pan is covered; you can lift up the sides a bit and let the egg run under itself a little, too. Cook until the top is nearly not runny, then add the onion, tomatoes, arugula, and cheese to one side. Fold the other side over the filling, then flip. Repeat the flip until the cheese is melty and all the egg is cooked. You could even serve it with a little arugula salad on the side.

Mixed Green Salad with Goat Cheese, Green Apple, and Walnuts

OK, so posting a "recipe" for a salad is cheating a little. I mean, the title of the post is basically the recipe. Done. But hey - it doesn't hurt to share the idea, right? Particularly if it's a three-minute idea that tasted pretty dang good.

1 container/bag mixed greens, plus a handful of arugula, if you please
Crumbled goat cheese to taste
Small bag of chopped walnuts
1 green apple, chopped
3 large spoonfuls/tbsp olive oil
1.5 large spoonfuls/tbsp balsamic

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large salad bowl, then add the olive oil and balsamic, and toss!