Veggie Spaghetti

After a looooonnnngggg day at work I wasn't in the mood to cook anything too complex, so I settled for spaghetti with lots of veggies and fresh shaved parmesan cheese. Thankfully I chopped veggies yesterday, so I didn't have to do any chopping tonight. YAY for easy!

I served my homemade sauce over the Barilla Plus Thin Spaghetti; the stuff is really yummy and good for you.

I love Muir Glen's Organic Crushed Tomatoes with Basil for the base of my sauce. In my opinion, Muir Glen's tomatoes have the best flavor of all canned tomatoes.


Spaghetti Sauce with Veggies
1 can crushed tomatoes
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
A few good glugs olive oil
1/4 cup chicken broth or water
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Fresh thyme
Your choice of veggies ( I used zuchini, red bell peppers, and green bell peppers)

- Saute garlic in olive oil until light browned. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, cayenne pepper, thyme, and veggies to the pot. Simmer for 20 minutes to 1 hour.



I CANNOT wait for tomorrow night's dinner!

Puttanesca

Before making this I had only had puttanesca from a jar. I always loved it out of a jar but figured making my own would taste even better--which is true! And, OH MY GOD, it makes your house smell amazing.

I used a puttanesca recipe from Rachel Ray. You can find the recipe here. For some reason I was thinking puttanesca would be really hard to make. Boy, I was wrong. SUPER EASY AND SUPER QUICK! That's just the way I like it.

2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan) extra-virgin olive oil
4 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tin flat anchovy fillets, drained
1 /2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
20 oil-cured black olives, cracked away from pit and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons capers
1 (32-ounce) can chunky style crushed tomatoes
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
A few grinds black pepper
1/4 cup (a couple of handfuls) flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 pound spaghetti, cooked to al dente

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add oil, garlic, anchovies, and crushed pepper. Saute mixture until anchovies melt into oil and completely dissolve and garlic is tender, about 3 minutes: your kitchen never smelled so good! Add olives, capers, tomatoes, black pepper, and parsley. Bring sauce to a bubble, reduce heat, and simmer 8 to 10 minutes.

Spinach Stuffed Shells

On Sunday my mom's family held a belated wedding shower for Jake and I. Each guest was asked to write down their favorite recipe on a recipe card and provide a gift that could be used in or with the recipe. We received some really great recipes (lots of classics) and some really great gifts. I finally got the microplane zester/grater I've wanted!

I will post pics of the gathering as soon as my mom send them.

Our goal is to prepare all of the recipes that were given to us within the next month. We started last night with My Aunt Connie and Uncle Mike's recipe for Spinach Stuffed Shells. The preparation time on these suckers is pretty much nothing. And, the nutmeg (yay for my new microplane zester/grater) adds the perfect amount of kick and surprise to them

Spinach Stuffed Shells:

1 box shells

2 cups spinach

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 jar spaghetti sauce

Cook shells according to package. Combine spinach, mozarella, cottage cheese, eggs, and nutmeg. Stuff shells with the above mixture. Place in 9 x 13 pan; pour spaghetti sauce over shells. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Remove foil, sprinklw with freshly grated parmesan cheese, bake for a few minutes more. Remove from oven, let stand for 5-10 minutes. Serve.

Creamy Parmesan Orzo with Cremini Mushrooms

More carbs for my man! Tonight I tried a recipe I got from fellow June 08 Knottie, Cnstarz. She got the recipe from Cooking Light.

Not only was the recipe easy, it tasted really damn good. Jake sauteed up some asparagus (I'm so proud of the cooking skills he's developing!) and added some olive oil and basalmic vinegar to them.

The recipe called for pine nuts. I didn't have any, so I omitted them and put in some cremini mushrooms to add an earthy flavor.

This is a recipe I will use a lot more. It made a great main dish but would be good as a side dish as well.

Creamy Parmesan Orzo:

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup orzo

1 1/4 cups chicken broth

1 1/4 cups water

1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese (I used more than a 1/4 cup--I love cheese)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (also added more)

salt and pepper to taste

toasted pine nuts

Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add orzo, and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stire in broth and water;bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until liquid is absorbed and orzo is done, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat;stir in cheese, basil, salt and pepper (and any other add-ins). Sprinkle with pine nuts. Serve immediately.

My Favorite Quick and Yummy Meal: Lemon Spaghetti

I have a busy life. My husband has a busy life. We both love to eat. Unfortunately, we don't always have time to cook a big gourment meal. Luckily, I have a recipe that taste gourment but doesn't require gourment preparation or cooking skills.

I got the recipe from Giada's cookbook, Everyday Italian. I like to add shrimp to mine. Yummy!

Lemon Spaghetti:

1 pound spaghetti
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil.