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I am a Food Network fanatic. You're not surpised? Huh. Well, I know all of the stars on a first name basis. We're all very tight. Rachael Ray and I especially go a long way back. Years ago, when I was living in Los Angeles, her show was on during the time that I would make dinner, so Rach and I cooked together. We'd chop, stir, and saute together. It was a wonderful friendship. Although, to be honest, I have not even ONCE managed to make one of her dishes in 30 minutes. Go figure.
One of my all-time favorite pasta dishes is her Pasta with Sausage and Wild Mushroom, from her book 365: No Repeats. (It's a follow-the-recipe-to-the-letter kind of good.) I usually make it sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, sort of as a splurge dish. It's rich, creamy, and amazing. So when I saw that my one of my favorite bloggers, Roni Noone, recently posted a lightened up version of the dish on her website, I heard the heavens open up and the angels sing! OK, maybe not. But I knew I would be trying it.
Of course, being true to myself, I fiddled with Roni's recipe, making it a little bit more aligned with Rachael's recipe. And I added a few things to suit my own taste. First, I used fresh sage, rather than the ground sage Roni suggested, because the knew how much of a flavor punch it adds. It's woodsy and earthy and delicious. However, if you want to make this dish tonight, go right ahead and use dried sage. No harm done. Secondly, I added celery. I wanted to bulk up the veggie content of the dish, and searched my fridge for something mild and unassuming. Celery jumped right out at me. It's adds a mild herbal-ness, that almost turns sweet when it's cooked. It was the perfect addition.
ABOUT THE GREEK YOGURT: Instead of the heavy cream that Rachael uses, Roni substituted non-fat greek yogurt. But alas, I had only plain non-fat yogurt, not greek style, in my fridge. My version turned out well enough. However, greek yogurt is thicker than regular yogurt. I have a hunch that if you use greek yogurt, you might end up with a more velvety, creamy sauce. It's just a hunch though.
Confession #1: I have a culinary crush. Her name is Nigella Lawson. I discovered her cooking shows on the Style network almost a decade ago and I was hooked. What I love about her is how she unapologetically enjoys food--all aspects of food: the cooking AND the eating. In fact, she was one of the people who helped me get over my fear of failing in the kitchen...[Insert scratching record noise here.]
Confession #2: That's right. I said it. I haven't always liked cooking. In fact, for a long, long time I preferred watching cooking shows instead of actually cooking. The reason for the disconnect was that I was able to enjoy the cooking process when watching someone else cook, but once I got into the kitchen, I felt paralyzed by the fear that I would mess things up.
Nigella to the rescue! Through her cooking shows and cookbooks, I discovered the secret: JUST RELAX. If I relax in the kitchen and focus on enjoying the food, rather than impending doom and failure, I can be a happy and contented cook. I learned to focus on what I love about cooking: the textures, the sounds, and the aromas. Now I allow myself to enjoy every step of the process. Nigella helped me to figure that out.
Ten years later, I own every single one of her cookbooks, and read them like bedtime stories. There's something about the way she writes about food that brings it alive on the page. I also watch every new cooking show she comes out with. Thanks, Nigella, for helping me to RELAX AND ENJOY THE FOOD!
In honor of her, I'm posting a recipe from her latest book, Kitchen: Recipes From the Heart of the Home, all 487 pages of it. I got it a couple weeks ago and have already read it cover to cover. One chapter, entitled "Off The Cuff," is dedicated to recipes that can be made with kitchen staples (or Nigella's kitchen staples.) Since she's British, some of her staples aren't as easily available in the U.S, but I was excited when I saw a recipe for Curly Pasta with Feta, Spinach, and Pine Nuts. Except for the pine nuts, this recipe was full of things I regularly keep on hand. I did fiddle with the recipe a bit, but not too much. This is still a very Nigella recipe.
About the feta: Feta cheese is a greek cheese that is wonderfully sharp and salty. A little bit goes a long way, and it keeps forever in your refrigerator. Seriously. I've never seen feta go bad yet. I'm sure it does at some point, but in my fridge it keeps fresh for months. I buy a LARGE tub of it at Costco because it's MUCH more economical to buy it in bulk. I highly recommend it. The beauty of feta is that it adds the perfect punch of taste for just a point or two. I love it. I add a bit to a salad, in a frittata, on top of pasta. Anywhere and everywhere.
Enough chat. On with the recipe!
I'm back. Sort of...
You may have noticed my absence from the blogosphere lately. Well, there's a reason. I've been on a self-imposed blog exile (a blogxile, if you will) while preparing for a teaching certification test I will take mid-June. I've been studying like crazy, and not doing much cooking. All my free time has gone to study. In order to stay focused, I have restricted my blogging so that I don't get caught up in the fun of posting recipes when I should really be studying. But in a few weeks, I'll be done with the test and I'll be back!
In the meantime, here's a recipe that I've been holding on to, but can't wait any longer to share...
I recently got a new cookbook by Robin Miller, who hosts Quick Fix Meals on the Food Network. In her section about pasta, she talks about how one of her children gets up at the crack of dawn, so that's when you will find her boiling up pasta to use for the week. "Eureka!" thought I. The reason why I don't make more pasta throughout the week: the big pot that I don't want to have to clean up mid-week. But if I were to do it when I had a little bit of extra time, and keep the pasta in the fridge for a few days until I'm ready to use it...well, that's just brilliant. So that's exactly what I did. The pasta was made during lunch one day, ahead of time, and waited in the fridge until I was ready to make the dish.
Robin also employs a strategy that says cook it once, use it twice. For example, if she's making chicken breasts for dinner one day, she will make a double batch and set the extra ones aside to use later on in the week in another recipe. "Genius!" said I. So the chicken breasts were extra that I made from a dinner earlier in the week. I love it when I'm ahead of the game.
When it came down to making the actual dish, the main components were ready and waiting for me. All I had to do was heat up a few things and assemble it all. Easy!
About this dish:
- It is delicious hot or cold. It would make a great pasta salad to take to a picnic (perhaps minus the chicken).
- Artichokes would also be an excellent addition to this. Just chop up a can of drained artichoke hearts (not marinated) and toss them in the pan before the pasta goes in.
- Finally, feta cheese was a great addition to the dish when I ate it cold. It really brightened up all the flavors.
- Oh and by the way...don't skip the salt in this recipe. I tasted the final dish and thought, "Eh. Not bad." Then I salted the dish, tasted again, and thought, "Yowsa! That's a great dish!" OK, perhaps I didn't say yowsa. But maybe I did think it. A little. Don't laugh!
I know, I know. I already posted a chili recipe. But trust me: getting a few chili recipes under your belt is essential to fight off the winter chill. It's even more of a bonus if said recipe doesn't expand your waistline while it's warming you up! And besides, Punxsutawney Phill said there will be six more weeks of winter this year. So trust me--you want to make this chili. You need to make this chili. 'Nuff said.
I usually don't follow a chili recipe, unless I'm trying something new. I usually just make it up as I go. However, this one caught my attention because it includes the "mac" part, for only 4 points. And between you and me, it's quite a large portion for only 4 points! Another good thing about this recipe is that it comes mostly from cans, so you can keep the ingredients on hand for an impromptu chili night. I usually double or triple the recipe and freeze leftovers. Note: If you don't want the "mac" part, just omit it, but then I would estimate that the points value would still be 4 points, but per 1 cup of chili (without mac).
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