Spicy Spaghetti with grated Zucchini

Who doesn't love pasta? I've never heard anyone say they dislike pasta, or Italian food for that matter. I don't know a whole lot about Italian cuisine but I do know that I love it. I consider pasta one of my comfort foods and a basic meal that we always have ingredients for. It can be prepare in no time and one meal that is pretty hard to mess up. Well, just don't over cook the pasta noodles and you'll be off to a great start. I didn't grow up eating pasta, or Italian food, so the only times that I got to eat it was out in restaurants. Of course pasta became a favorite and what I ordered when we went out for Italian. As good as the Italian food was in the states it's nothing compared to eating in Italy. I'll never forget sitting on a quiet sidewalk cafe in Florence taking that first bite of ravioli. Simply Wow! Then that trip to Rimini with the simple yet heavenly pasta with clams. Oh yeah both cities are also ancient magical places, I didn't just eat pasta....Okay maybe I did.

When it comes to pasta I like it simple. In my personal preference I rate simple pastas tossed with just olive oil first, then tomato sauce pastas, and last preference are cream based pastas. Now that spring is here and with summer on the way, simple and light pastas are what I crave over the others. You can toss in some fresh seasonal vegetables, a bruschetta on the side, serve a light wine and you've got yourself a fabulous meal that is ready in about 30-45 minutes. I came up with this recipe a couple of weeks ago when I was feeling both lazy and uninspired. My husband and I loved the pasta so much that I've made it several times already. I hope you guys enjoy the recipe and remember it can be altered to your personal taste.

* I'd also like to thank Saverio from Ariosto (http://www.ariosto.it/ ) spices for sending me the fantastic selection of spices to add to my cooking. They smell wonderful and taste fantastic. Plus I love that they don't have MSG. Grazie Ariosto! *

Spicy Spaghetti with grated Zucchini
Ingredients:

1 large zucchini, grated
4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced or minced
1/2 tsp salt, adjust to taste
1 tsp. Ariosto Garlic Chile spice ( Aglio e peperoncino)
1 pack of spaghetti (or other pasta if you like)
1 tbsp. (evoo) olive oil, good quality
ground black pepper, to taste
cherry tomatoes, halved
arugula or rocket dandelion greens, to taste
extra olive oil to coat pasta

1. Heat the water for the pasta. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and coat with olive oil, sprinkle some salt and ground black pepper for extra flavor.

2. While the pasta is cooking : Heat oil and over low heat saute garlic for 2 minute, do not allow to burn or turn golden. Then add the shredded zucchini, sprinkle salt, pepper and Ariosto spice. Stir often to prevent burning, allow to saute for 5 more minutes. Add the zucchini to the pasta and toss until the zucchini is well distributed. Please notice the zucchini will tend to clump together so you'll have to keep separating it to better distribute it through the pasta. You could also just grate and add the zucchini without cooking but I prefer to cook it first. Add the tomato halves, taste and adjust salt if necessary. Serve with fresh arugula or rocket greens on top or it can also be tossed in with the tomatoes.

Carnivore version:
If you would like some meat in your pasta I suggest chicken. Simply cook chicken breast in a little olive oil with garlic, salt, pepper, and a dried oregano or basil. Slice into to strips and toss or serve on top of the pasta.

I'd also like to tell you that my friends at The Ardent Epicure now have a phone App so please stop by and get all the details. http://www.theardentepicure.com/2011/04/announcement-weve-gone-mobile.html How exciting and congrats to the 3 of you!

My friend Gina's (formerly from What's For Dinner Across State Lines) new site SPCookieQueen has a new Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001993222785) please make sure you update that and the new url, http://www.spcookiequeen.com/ .

If you are looking for great authentic Italian recipes visit Frank, Memorie di Angelina.

That's all and I hope your week is starting off well!

P.S. In case you are curious about the wine, it is a Syrah - Grenache wine. The recipe for the bread in the background is coming next. Potato Bread Bruschetta with Tomatoes and Arugula and can be found here, Potato Bread Bruschetta with Tomatoes and Arugula.

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Somen (Nyumen) Miso Soup, Ready in 10 Minutes

So far 2011 has started just like 2010 came to an end, busy. But I'm not complaining, who wouldn't rather be busy with too much to do then bored with nothing to do. I do have a question for those of you that have children, go to a 9-5 job, cook, clean, and blog- how do you find all that time to do all of the aforementioned plus have time to photograph, write, visit all of your favorite blogs, and still have time to enjoy life? Even those of you that are stay at home parents, how do you guys do it all? Do you guys have clones? And where can I get one?

Lately I have been trying to challenge myself on how to prepare good and healthy meals with limited time. Today I have one of those "challenge" meals. It is a warming, delicious and pretty healthy soup. It's called Somen Miso Soup and it will take you about 10 minutes (or less) to prepare. Somen are pale, really thin Japanese wheat noodles. They are typically eaten or served cold and when prepared or served warm the name changes to Nyumen. (There is a fun way of serving the cold Somen called nagashi somen, they flow down a long bamboo tube and running cold water, the people stand over the tube and try to catch the flowing noodles with their chopsticks. Check out Youtube for the fun demonstrations.) Since the somen is very thin it takes a very small amount of time to cook. I cheated when it came to the miso, I used Kikkoman Instant AKA (Red) Miso Soup packages. Even though I always keep a package of fresh miso paste I love to have those Kikoman packs to grab a quick snack because they are delish! The bad thing is that the package has MSG and for the most part I try to avoid it but oh well. If you don't have the red miso packs you could also use the Shiro miso or white miso packages.

Ingredients for 1 serving:
1 packet instant miso soup,Kikkoman Instant AKA (Red) Miso Soup
1/2 serving Somen noodle, they come bound together per serving just use half
hot water, according to package or adjust to taste

optional toppings:
wakame
scallions
tofu

1. Boil enough water for the noodles and the instant soup mix. *Tip* I have an electric kettle that boils the water in no time, this will really make the process go faster. Fill the electric kettle and boil. Cook the noodles according to package instructions, which will typically say boil the noodles for about 4-5 minutes. Drain the noodles, run under cold water and set aside. Running the noodles under cold water stops them from cooking further.
2. Add the miso pack or packets to a large bowl. Stir in water until fully dissolved. Place the noodles in the bowl(s) and stir. If you would like to add any additional toppings do so before serving.

That's it, super simple! This isn't much of a recipe since it's a total no-brainer. But trust me the soup will be really good and when pressed for time this is a great meal option. I've served it both for lunch and double the recipe, per person, for a light dinner. So what about you guys, do you have a go to meal that is both a no-brainer and ready in no time but still healthy? Leave me the links to them in the comments, I'd love to see your dishes!

*Little reminder in case you missed it, You can now sign up for the January edition of YBR here*

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What do The Godfather and A Scruffy Terrier Have In Common?

What does The Godfather and a Scruffy Terrier have in common? More than you may think. The Scruffy Scrappy Terrier will also make you that offer you can't refuse. It is very frightening, don't let that innocent look fool you. I've been woken up in the middle of the night by that chilling feeling, you know when you feel something isn't right. It's the Scruffy Terrier sitting up on the bed, just starring at me with a cold blank stare. What is he thinking, contemplating, or is it scheming?, gives me chills just to think about it. And then there are those "offers" he makes us, pet me now or I'll keep jumping around you annoying you until your nerves are wrecked and you can't resist my "offer" any longer. It can also be their shared love for Spaghetti. The Scruffy Terrier's demands go like this, get in the kitchen and make me some Shpaghetti or I'm going to tell everyone that you are a bad Mommy and starve me. (Shpaghetti is not misspelled, it's just how Czechs pronounce it and our dog prefers that pronunciation over Spaghetti, it's something about the ch and sh sounds that get his attention.) Shpaghetti is one of his favorite meals, and nothing better come between him and his Shpaghetti.

Well OK, the Scruffy Scrappy Terrier is actually nothing but a furry ball of love. He loves everyone and wants to share the love with both people and his fellow species. He doesn't care if you want or don't want some love and attention, you're getting it! Panchito is one of the sweetest dogs in the world, and has been my little shadow for the past 12+ years. He loves people food, and somehow he just knows what's for dinner and when not to fill up on his dog food and save room to fit his people dinner. Now I know many of you are bothered by the fact that we feed him Spaghetti or more specifically pasta sauce, don't be. Our dog has been eating pasta sauce, pepperoni pizza and many other weird things for 12 years. We have been lucky that his stomach is like a rock and hasn't had problems eating these foods. But that's my dog and may not be the case with many dogs out there, so be careful what you feed your dog.

So here is where the Godfather movie comes in, I actually learned how to make decent spaghetti sauce from the movie. It was from this scene in the first The Godfather movie,
"Heh, come over here, kid, learn something. You never know, you might have to cook for 20 guys someday. You see, you start out with a little bit of oil. Then you fry some garlic. Then you throw in some tomatoes, tomato paste, you fry it; ya make sure it doesn't stick. You get it to a boil; you shove in all your sausage and your meatballs; heh…? And a little bit o' wine. An' a little bit o' sugar, and that's my trick." I tried it and was so happy to not have to buy the disgusting jars of pasta sauce that are available here. While it started out exactly as in the scene my sauce has evolved and it depends on what I have in the house to make it. Here is my general recipe.

Ingredients: ( 4 servings for 1 lb. or 500 grams spaghetti)
1 15 oz (400 grams) can stewed tomatoes
6 oz (200 grams) tomato puree
8 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
finely sliced/diced olives, optional
1 tsp. dried Thyme
2 tsp. dried Oregano
2 tsp. dried Basil
1 large bay leaf
large pinch of granulated sugar

1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/4 cup (100 ml) red wine, *
Optional:
minced meat or sausage

*I will leave out or add it after I separate some sauce for the puppy, because alcohol is bad for dog.*

1. Heat the oil, add the minced garlic and cook for 3 minutes, then add all of the spices and stir around for 1 minutes. Add the wine then the stewed tomatoes and tomato puree, if the tomatoes are whole use the spoon to break up. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until ready to serve.

If using sausage or minced meat fry until cooked through then add the remaining ingredients. You can use this basic tomato sauce for spaghetti or any other type of pasta you like. I like to use it on just about any pasta, even to make lasagna. It also freezes well.

You remember that movie Lady and The Tramp, the scene where they are having a romantic dinner slurping the spaghetti? Panchito kinda looks like him, now if we could only find him a girlfriend.... but he'd skip the long romantic walk and go for seconds then right into ....mmmmm.. let's just call it dessert to keep it G rated.

I have chosen this recipe for the October YBR event

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Creamy Kuri Squash Pasta Sauce

Hello my name is Nancy and I am an addict...... OK not that kind of addict. I am a kuri squash addict, well at least until they are in season. These magical orange winter squash(or is it squashes for plural?) taste so good that they have turned me into an addict. Well at least I am able to admit my addiction, which is the first step in recovery right? hmm.

I can't tell you how glad I am that they are being sold in virtually all of the food stores and produce shops around my neighborhood. I like to be adventurous and try different foods, even if the adventures don't always turn out great (please see previous post.) The kuri squash left me happily surprised, both the look and taste. The taste was just so indescribably good to me, so delicate and lightly nutty at the same time, even just out of the oven on it's own I couldn't stop eating it. I also roasted the seeds as I typically do when I prepare pumpkin. But the seeds I'm not such a fan of, the shells were about twice as thick as normal pumpkin seeds. The taste was good they were just too hard on the teeth and jaw, so we ended up just throwing them out. Has anyone else had the same experience with the seeds, or is it just the ones I bought?

Over the past couple of weeks I have been making several dishes and baked goodies with this squash. But I bought 4 and there are only 2 of us so you can imagine that is just too much squash, well not for me. I roasted and froze the extra to use as I wanted in meals, and I think to my husband's delight there is only a small amount left. Every time he mentions having something for dinner I'm saying oh yeah that would go great with the squash, pobresito ( In Spanish it means you poor thing, ito is male and ita is female). So one of the ideas that popped in my head was making a pasta sauce, I know many people use butternut squash to make sauce with, so why not kuri squash pasta sauce. ( Speaking of sauce please see my note at the end of this post.) I couldn't decide which type of pasta to serve it with so I made two, tricolor Fusilli and Spaghetti. It tasted good with both, but I think we both agreed the spaghetti was the better tasting of the two. I would also recommend it with Ravioli or Tortellini pastas, maybe even better suited than the ones I had at hand.

Ingredients:
yields 4 servings

2 cups (500 grams) cooked mashed red kuri squash
1 cup (8oz or 200 ml) 12% fat cream
3/4 cups water
1 small yellow onion,finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tbsp. butter


1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan then add the finely chopped onion and saute until translucent. Next add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes while stirring to prevent burning. Add the salt, white pepper, thyme, oregano and basil to the saucepan and stir well, then add the mashed squash and stir until all ingredients are well incorporated. Slowly pour the water into the saucepan while stirring. Stir until the ingredients have completely combined well, then slowly pour the cream into the saucepan. Again stir until all ingredients are well incorporated.
2. Turn heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until ready to serve. Right before serving add the grated Parmesan to the sauce pan and stir well. While the sauce is simmering boil and drain the pasta of your choice. You can either pour sauce over the cooked pasta and stir to combine or just scoop some sauce over the pasta of your choice.

Serve with baguette or Italian bread, butter and Parmesan cheese.

Tricolore Fusilli Pasta with Creamy Kuri Squash Sauce or

Spaghetti Pasta with Creamy Kuri Squash Sauce

Just looking at these is making me want more, good thing there were leftovers.

I would also like to thank Food Pr. Specialists Sauce Communications for sponsoring this post. If I could please ask you to help me thank them by visiting their site, http://www.saucecommunications.com/sauce-pr/

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Green Curry Noodle Soup

I love experimenting with food ! This was the result of one such experiment, an amazing tasting soup! I had no plans to make soup for dinner it just went that way. It all came together when I was cleaning the refrigerator and came across a very small amount of leftover Thai green curry paste I made to use in a fish curry. I grew up in a home where my Mother put all the leftovers , no matter how small, in the refrigerator. Her logic is that some one will get hungry and need a little snack. Her logic was correct someone always ate the leftovers. Growing up like this thought me to not be wasteful and now in my own home I too put all the leftovers in the fridge - no matter how small. So being that the leftover curry paste was not enough to cook another curry or any other big meal I came up with the idea of adding it to or making a soup with it.

I don't know about you but I've never come across green curry soup. I quickly started picturing in my head how to use it as an additional flavor to a light soup to serve as an appetizer. I don't have exact measurements for you since it was just throwing in a little bit of this and a little bit of that, so I'll be giving you rough estimates. You can experiment with the ingredients to adjust it to your own taste, maybe less spicy or even spicier. I also had 4 small button mushrooms in the refrigerator so I added those too.


Your Ingredients:
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 TBS. soy sauce
1 TBS. fish sauce
Juice from 1 lime
1 tsp ground lemon grass
1 TBS. green curry paste
4 ginger slices
2-3 garlic cloves minced
4 fresh button mushrooms, sliced
Rice noodles, quick cooking
4 cups ( 1 liter) water

Garnish:
fresh cilantro
chopped scallions
lime wedges
sliced red chilies ,optional

1. Fry the garlic, onion and ginger first - once garlic is cooked add curry paste and fry another 3 minutes. Next add ginger and lemon grass powder, mix and cook another 3 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook another 5 minutes.
2. Add water , bouillon cube , soy sauce and fish sauce. Stir to combine/ mix ingredients well. Cook until the mushrooms are completely soft and cooked through about 15 minutes,Or longer to allow flavors to combine better.
3. Right before you are ready to serve the soup add the quick cooking noodles to the soup and boil until the noodles have cooked through 5-8 minutes. You could also cook the noodles separately and add them to the broth right before serving.

Serve with fresh chopped cilantro, lime slices , sliced chilies (optional) and chopped scallions.


The soup was tasted so so good it was both spicy and a bit tangy. But it also had a very fresh taste from the fresh cilantro, which I think also helped it feel lighter for warm spring weather. My recipe may sound a bit strange at first but trust me the soup was so good that the main course was ignored until all the soup was gone. I can't wait to make it again soon and I think it will be the main course instead of just an appetizer.

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Malaysian Hoi Sin Sauce with a twist

Malaysian Hoi Sin Sauce is a dark sweet sauce that is used for barbecued meats. In general I can say that I don't like eating or buying prepackaged meals, it's usually a mistake that I end up hating. But there are few exceptions like this one because the sauce mixture is good quality and taste. I will let the company describe it in their own words.

"Brahim's Malaysian Hoi Sin Sauce - A rich, dark sauce flavoured with sesame oil, chillies and garlic, ideal to stir through or to use as a marinade."

The package has clear instructions on how to use it but I like to prepare it a bit differently. I use about 1 lb. or 400 grams of pork sliced into thin strips, a little more than 1/2 lb. (300 grams) of cooked or steamed broccoli , some slices of hot red chili, a little garlic powder,the bag of Hoi sin sauce, and steamed white rice to serve with.

First I prepare my ingredients , and in a pan with a little oil I fry the pork , then add the garlic powder and chili pepper. Once the pork is cooked the sauce can be added. My husband loves the sauce just like this, but for me it's a bit sweet so I sometimes add a little water or use less of the sauce. This balances the sweetness a bit, and you also get the spiciness from the chili. Definitely worth trying.

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Pad Thai noodles, Chicken

If you are familiar with Thai food then you have at some point tried Pad Thai. This delicious and simple to make dish is probably the most popular Thai dish, after all it is one of Thailand's national dishes. I searched for a long time trying to find a recipe that was simple and that I would be happy with. What I ended up with was a combination of recipe ideas and my own experimenting that have given me very good results. If you're not a big fan of the taste of tofu you can mask the flavor by doing this, in a separate bowl combine half of the sauce(below) and the chopped tofu and let the tofu soak in all the flavors until you're ready to add it to the rest of the pan or wok. It's what I do for my husband since he's not a fan of tofu, but by doing this he doesn't push the tofu aside, instead he eats it right up.

Your ingredients :

200 grams Thai dried rice noodles (rice stick noodles)

2 eggs (in a small bowl crack and mix them, set aside)

300 grams Chicken (cut into bite size)

150 grams Tofu (cut into small pieces)

3-4 Garlic cloves

1 Small fresh red chili (finely sliced) or 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 handful chopped chives (or scallions/spring onions only green stems )

1 handful fresh cilantro ,chopped

4 Tablespoons Fish Sauce

1 1/2 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon Oyster sauce

3 Tablespoons fresh Lime Juice ( or 1 good size lime or 1 Lemon can be replaced)

1 Teaspoon sugar (I've used either brown or white, what ever you have)

3 Tablespoons peanut oil or canola or any vegetable oil

For garnish :

bean sprouts(optional) , some fresh cilantro leaves, fresh lime/lemon wedges ,crushed roasted peanuts

1. The first thing you want is to boil your water too cook your noodles. You can just read the instructions on the package as how long they need to soak- generally 8-10 minutes. After they are cooked run them under cold water and set aside.

2. Next you'll make the sauce, in a bowl mix the fish sauce,soy sauce,oyster sauce, lime/lemon juice, sugar,pepper flakes/red chili, half of your chopped chives and cilantro -reserve the remainder. Set aside and in the mean time

3. Chop the chicken and the tofu .

4. You'll need either a wok or large pan (that's what I use) add your oil over medium heat. Add the minced garlic cook for a minute then add your chicken until it's cooked all the way through.

5. Add half of your sauce (from step 2) to the wok/pan and mix thoroughly next add the Tofu and carefully combine. Push everything to one side and in the space add your eggs mix and cook until they are set. Then combine with the rest of the pan.

6. Next you'll need your cooked noodles, and add them to the wok/pan mixing thoroughly . Take your remaining half of the sauce and add it to the pan. Add the remanding chives and cilantro and cook for an additional 2 minutes, just to combine everything.

That's it ! now you can serve it. Put your noodles on your serving dish top with bean sprouts, cilantro, crushed peanuts and your lime/lemon wedges.

No wasn't that easy? I find the hardest part of the recipe to be the chopping :) You can also use Shrimp instead of the Chicken, or just use Tofu. If you don't want it spicy you can also leave out the red pepper and it won't affect the taste at all. If you have leftovers, it still taste yummy the next day!

*The Tofu I buy comes in a big package and this is what I do with the left over ~ I make yummy Tofu Burgers.

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