Fresh Tomato Sauce and Pasta

Found yet another one on Pinterest.  Love that site. Find the recipe here.

Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce

The only thing I would do differently is that I would have not refrigerated the tomatoes. I know, I know. You are not supposed to refrigerate the tomatoes. I did anyway, because I bought them at the farmer's market on Saturday, so I could make this dish, but I wasn't sure when I would get to it.  So I put them in the fridge.

Refrigerating tomatoes really does impede their flavor.  Don't do it.  This is a fantastic recipe and mine would have tasted wonderful if my cold tomatoes didn't have a metallic taste to them that comes with sitting in the fridge.

Totally easy to prepare. I even went the extra mile to scrape out the seeds before processing them. I made the sauce in advance and then squeezed much of the liquid out of the bowl before mixing with the pasta.

Bam! dinner was done. I'd say it took me less than 15 minutes.

Makes plenty of leftovers.

Butternut Squash 3 Ways

I wrote that I made the butternut squash pizza a week or two ago and it was really good. I'm totally planning on making it again.  But I bought a huge squash and I only needed a little of it for the pizza. I sure wasn't going to waste the leftovers.

So I visited my old friend Annabelle Karmel.  She wrote a book called First Meals and I used to use it quite a bit, but its been a while since she called me to open her pages and read her words of wisdom.  Plus I feared my kids were getting bored with PB&J, carrot sticks and grapes.

Low and behold were two recipes that I had all the ingredients for already. I was prepared. I went to work.

2) BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO

This was absolutely delicious.  DH and I really liked it. The kids wrinkled up their noses at first, but they ate it when I told them they couldn't have dessert if their plates still had food on them.  They had it again a second time around so given that they ate it with a small amount of intervention on my part, I think this one was a success.

Risottos are a little bit of a pain.  Constant stirring for 30 mins or more make them high maintainence and therefore off my list of menu items to prepare regularly.  However, DH was home and could watch children so I could tackle this.

Risottos use a special rice called Arborio. Its a short-grain, high-starch rice. The starch content allows it to stick together.  I guess the desired texture for risottos is soft on the outside of the grain and firm on the inside. I didn't think my kids would go for that, so I cooked it a litttle longer to make it soft. I thought it was good. Maybe thats why I'm not a professional chef or food critic.

It was good as a leftover as well. I didn't try to freeze it and I'm not so sure that it would really freeze the greatest, but if anyone wants to try, let me know your results.

Here's her recipe:

2/3 C Butternut squash, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 1/2 T EVOO
1 onion
1 garlic clove
1 C arborio rice
2 1/2 C hot veggie stock
8 sage leaves, torn into small pieces

Steam the squash for 5 minutes. Heat EVOO in heavy bottomed pot and saute onion and garlic over low until soft. Add the rice and stir until well coated. Cook over medium for 25 minutes adding the stock on ladleful at atime stirring constantly allowing the rice to absorb each ladleful of liquid before adding the next.

About 10 mins before the end of cooking time, add the squash and sage. Continue to add stock until its all used up.

*note the original called for 3 T parmesan to be added at the end, but I omitted it to keep it vegan.

3) BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND ALPHABET PASTA

I had a bunch of puree already made up. I thought it was cute to use the alphabet pasta as well.
This recipe could easily transform into a soup by thinning the puree with vegetable stock.  My baby really liked it.

3 C butternut squah peeled and cubed.
2-3 T alphabet soup pasta
2 T EVOO
1/2 T chopped fresh sage

Steam the squash and puree until smooth. Cook the pasta until tender. Cook sage in EVOO for 1 minute until fragrant. Combine sage, squash and pasta. 

This item freezes well. I froze it in ice cube trays so I can pull out exactly what I need each time and there is no waste.

Bow Tie Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Capers, and Basil

This is ridiculously easy and a perfect weeknight dinner. Literally, you can be eating in 15 minutes. We have this in our house probably once a week.

Its from Cooking Light.

YIELD: 4 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

4 cups hot cooked bow tie pasta
4 cups halved cherry tomatoes (about 2 pints)
1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped pitted niçoise olives
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
Red wine vinegar (optional)


Combine first 10 ingredients in a large bowl, and toss well. Sprinkle vinegar over each serving, if desired.

Marinara Sauce

I never used to make good spaghetti sauce. That is until I found this recipe. Its super simple, goes together quickly and there are some successful variations that follow. And chances are good you already have all the ingredients in your pantry. Next time I try this I'm going to use the fresh tomatoes I got in my CSA box.

Its from Veganomicon, one of my favorite cookbooks.

Marinara Sauce
Makes about 5 cups

2 t olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried oregano
1/2 t salt
several pinches freshly ground black pepper

Preheat a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the oil and garlic, and saute for about a minute, until fragrant. Do not let it burn. Add the remaining ingredients, cover, and raise the heat a bit to bring it to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 mins, stirring occasionally.

Variations:
Roasted Red Pepper:
Add a chopped roasted redpepper along with the tomaotes. Blend the sauce when done cooking if you like.

Mushroom:
Increase the oil to 1 tablespoon and saute 1 cup of thinly sliced mushroom before ading the garlic.

Roasted Garlic:
Decrease the minced garlic to 2 teaspoons. Add a whole bulb of peeled roasted garlic to the sauce halfway through the cooking process. Blend the sauce when done cooking.

Olive:
Add 1/2 cup of chopped black olives to the sauce about hlafway through the cooking process.

Carmelized onion:
Increase the oil to 1 tablespoon. Sweat 1 cup of finely chopped white or yellow onions for about 15 minutes. To sweat, keep the heat low and cover, stirring every few minutes, the onions should not brown. Uncover and cook for 15 more minutes at higher heat until browned and carmelized. Proceed with the recipe.

Bow Tie Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes

I found this super simple dinner by accident. Literally, its very easy and fast. I don't really care for capers, we leave them out, but I've also added steamed broccoli or asparagus to the mix. Adjust the crushed red pepper to your taste. I thought it was little too spicy as its written.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000222291

I hope you all like it as much as we do!

Amy