Pasta History & Tips – Quick Pasta

It is believed that the Chinese were eating noodles as early as 5000 B.C.? The exact origin of pasta is unknown, although Italians have been given much credit in developing the recipes we most enjoy today.? American history is much clearer regarding the introduction to pasta.? On a trip to Naples, Italy in the late 1700s, Thomas Jefferson was introduced to pasta and was the first to bring it back to the states. Cooking directions for boxed or dry pasta is the same for all varieties of pasta (vermicelli, spaghetti, fettuccine, etc.).? What varies is the cooking time.? Pasta should always be cooked “al-dente” which means “to the tooth” or firm.? Don’t overcook your pasta.? To cook 1 pound of dry pasta, bring 5 quarts of water with 2 Tbl. salt to a rolling boil.? Just before adding the pasta, add 2 Tbl. olive oil to the water.? Add pasta, stir immediately to separate each strand of pasta, return water to a boil.? Reduce heat to a light boil and cook according to package directions.? Thin pasta such as Angle Hair and Thin Spaghetti will require from 3-7 minutes.? Regular spaghetti from 6-8 minutes.? Thicker, heavier pastas like fettuccine about 9-11 minutes of cooking.??? Don’t “throw your pasta against the wall” to check for doneness. ?Only overcooked pasta will stick to the wall.? Check done by sampling.? As soon as your pasta has reached the desired doneness, drain it thoroughly in a colander.? If you plan to use right away, rinse your pasta in hot water.? If you are

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Pasta History & Tips – Quick Pasta

Never Burn Paulie Sauce Pan – Chefs Catalog

The Pauli Cookware Story Pauli Cookware began with a simple premise: with all of today’s advances in science and technology, there had to be a better way to prevent overcooking and burning when cooking sauces and chowders. With that idea in mind, The Perfect Sauce and Chowder Pot was born. Utilizing advanced kitchen science, and more than two years of research, development and testing, its high-end design begins with its thick, 1.2 mm outer layer of stainless steel. From there, alternating layers of steel and aluminum encase what may be the biggest advance in home cooking since the microwave – a hidden layer of silicon oil that ensures an even cooking temperature, every time. Hermetically sealed for 100% safety, this hidden layer distributes heat evenly, cooking the contents of the pot at a steady pace. The result? A sauce

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Never Burn Paulie Sauce Pan – Chefs Catalog

Taco Pasta Salad

Last weekend I met 2 ladies who would be new neighbors in my condo building.? They moved in this weekend and even though I bought my condo 6 years ago, I still remember how hard and tiring moving can be.? So I decided to make dinner for them and hopefully add them to my “food tester” group and invite them to my Sunday morning coffee group.? This dish took about 30 minutes to make, I added a salad and a pitcher of tea and ended up with a really great meal.? To view this recipe go to Martha’s Kitchen Korner .

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Taco Pasta Salad

Yields & Equivalents (Part 4)

Olives, pimiento stuffed – 1 up sliced = 24 large or 36 small Olives, pitted – 1 cup sliced = 32 med. Oranges – 1 Tbl. grated peel = 1 med. Oranges – 1/3 to 1/2 cup juice = 1 med. Pasta, Macaroni – 4 cups cooked = 2 cups uncooked (6-7 oz.) Pasta, Noodles, egg – 4 cups cooked = 4 to 5 cups uncooked (7 oz.) Pasta, Spaghetti – 4 cups cooked = 7 to 8 oz. uncooked Peppers, Bell – 1/2 cup chopped = 1 small Peppers, Bell – 1 cup chopped = 1 med. Peppers, Bell – 1 1/2 cups chopped = 1 large

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Yields & Equivalents (Part 4)

Zesty Spinach Soup

My sister turned me onto this cookbook. Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Cookbook: Delicious Recipes That Will Burn Fat and Re-Shape Your Body! Heard of it? Pretty incredible recipes. My sister has tried a whole bunch of them but me being the slacker that I am lately have only tried one. But it was good. Really, really good. To the point of being so good that when I told the girls that we were having it again for dinner tonight (slacker and eating up leftovers) they were pretty happy about it again!!! Perfect soup for the cold weather and totally healthy too… Of course I had to make some changes based on what I had available but I stayed true to the real recipe. It was fast and came together perfectly. I made it in the afternoon but left out the pasta and the spinach. When we got home later on I had the girls shower and get ready for bed while I finished it up. This was a perfect make ahead soup for me…I also figured out that it was 5 Weight Watcher points based on a 1 1/2 cup serving. Zesty Spinach Soup Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Cookbook: Delicious Recipes That Will Burn Fat and Re-Shape Your Body! Ingredients: 2 Tbsp best quality extra virgin olive oil 1 purple onion, peeled and coarsely chopped 1 thick carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped 1 cup chopped celery, including leaves 3 cloves garlic, passed through a garlic press 1 tsp sea salt Pinch of fresh ground black pepper 6 cups of low sodium chicken or vegetable stock (I used 4 cups of stock and 2 cups of water) 2 vegetable or chicken vegetable bouillon cubes (I used 2 tsp of Better Than Bouillon Organic Chicken) 2 cups chopped tomatoes (I used one can of diced and drained some of the juice out, tomato hater in the family) 1/2 cup of well rinsed quinoa (I used 1 cup of uncooked orzo pasta because I couldn’t find quinoa!) 2 cups of white kidney beans, well rinsed and drained 1 tsp curry powder pinch of ground nutmeg 3 cups of baby spinach leaves Directions: Heat oil over medium heat in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Add onion and sauté over medium-low heat until translucent. Add carrots, celery, garlic and salt. Sauté until vegetables are golden, about 5 minutes. Add stock or water. Add bouillon cubes and add to liquid. Add tomatoes, quinoa, beans and spices. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender. Add the spinach and cover. Cook briefly, just until leaves are wilted. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot with crusty bread.

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Zesty Spinach Soup

Harissa Steak Sandwich

I really don’t cook much. (This is Larry, Aggie’s husband, by the way.) And when I say I don’t cook much, I should probably say I never really ever cook. Sure, I can bust out some fried egg and cheese sandwiches with the best of them, and “Daddy’s Pasta” made with only the finest butter, salt, and pepper is one of our kids’ favorite meals (or at least top 5). But when it comes down to it, I sadly have to admit that Aggie does pretty much 99% of the cooking in our house. So when Aggie asked me if I ever wanted to be a guest blogger on aggieskitchen.com, I said “Oh yeah definitely”. Pretty much the same “Oh yeah definitely” response she …

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Harissa Steak Sandwich

Cream Cheese Sauce

Cream Cheese Sauce I have a pizza place near me that makes the best spinach pizza around. After eating there one evening I bragged on the sauce to one of the waiters and begged for the the recipe. He talked to the chef who kindly wrote out the ingredients and sent it to me. He did have one stipulation before giving me the napkin and that was that I not mention the restaurant’s name. So I won’t. I worked with these ingredients twice before getting it just right so here it is: 1/2 stick butter, softened 1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened 2/3 cup boiling water 2 tsp. chives 1/8 tsp. white pepper 3/4 cup shredded Romano cheese Cream together butter, cream cheese, chives and pepper. Stir in boiling water and blend until smooth. Fold in Romano until creamy. This can be used as a white pizza sauce or over pasta. The sauce should come out to the thickness of gravy. If you want a thicker sauce, cut the water down. If you want a thinner sauce, add a little more. I like to pouring this sauce over garlic noodles. Garlic noodles are simple to make. Boil noodles until tender. Drain. Melt 1/4 cup of butter in a small frying pan. Sauté 2 tsp. minced garlic. Pour over noodles and toss to coat. Top with cream cheese sauce and sprinkle with more Romano if you want. This is so good.

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Cream Cheese Sauce

Shrimp Alfredo

Anything that includes shrimp is a favorite of mine. This simple dish is so easy to make and I don’t believe there is anyway it can be messed up. I’ve also included ingredient changes such as imitation shrimp. View the full recipe by clicking on Martha’s Kitchen Korner in the right sidebar.

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Shrimp Alfredo

Angel Hair Breakfast Patties

Do you ever get tired of the same old thing for breakfast? I do. My traditional breakfast consists of 2 eggs over medium, bacon, biscuits and hashbrowns. Angel Hair Breakfast Patties will take the place of all of this except the biscuits. View the full recipe by clicking on Martha’s Kitchen Korner in the right sidebar. Enjoy the, I do!

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Angel Hair Breakfast Patties

Asparagus and Goat Cheese Pasta

It’s funny where we get our recipes from now isn’t it.? When my Mom used to want to try something different for dinner she would ask her friends or go through her collection of cookbooks.? Now we ask on Twitter , gather from Facebook , or one of the many online recipe sites.? Every once in a while you will get a recipe from a source that is unexpected.? This recipe came from just that way.? My sister and I were talking and she mentioned that she had tried a great recipe and that we should really try it.? When she told me the ingredients I knew I had to.? You see last month I was contacted by the wonderful people at Iles de France the cheese company and was invited to be a part of their cheese of the month club.? How could I refuse that???? The only catch was that they would send me and about 20 other food bloggers a specific type of cheese each month and we would need to use it in something and do a blog post about it.? I happen to love Ile de France cheese anyway so this was a no brainer for me.? Unfortunately the first month’s cheese went to waste in my broken refrigerator (when we went to PA for Spring Break our fridge shut down and we lost everything in it…including the cheese).? This month was much better for me and they sent me a 10.5 ounce log of goat cheese.? And from this recipe I knew just what I was going to do with it!!! This was a quick and delicious meal for a busy week night.? It took only about 20 minutes to pull together.? You can use less goat cheese.? We used the amount we did because we had it! Asparagus and Goat Cheese Pasta – (Adapted from the LCBO Food & Drink Magazine ) 1/2 cup unsalted butter 3 cloves of garlic, minced 1lb trimmed thick green asparagus 1/2 tsp garlic powder sea salt and freshly ground pepper 1 lb fresh pasta, tagliatelle or fettuccine (we used penne, obviously not fresh, it’s what we had) 1/4 cup grated firm young, tangy goat’s cheese such as crottin (we used a 10.5 ounce log of chevre chopped up ) 1) Peel the asparagus and then cut the stalks into 3/4 inch pieces keeping the tips whole 2) Melt the butter in a large frying pan over med. heat, add the garlic and asparagus and season with garlic powder and salt and pepper.? Lower the heat slightly and gently cook the asparagus, turning occasionally until tender. 3) Cook the pasta until al dente 4) When the pasta is cooked, skim 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid from the pot and set aside.? Drain the pasta and then add it with the reserved cooking water to the cooked asparagus in the pan.? Stir together over low heat until well mixed and the pasta is coated with the sauce. 5) Place the pasta in warmed serving bowls and top with the cheese.? We also added a little grated Parmesan? on the top

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Asparagus and Goat Cheese Pasta

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