Bucatini with Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce

Spaghetti with Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce

Christmas seems to bring out the nasty in people. I try to keep my wits and attitude in check myself, but I oftentimes find myself sliding into a bit of the nasties as well. I think it's a combination of stress, stress, and more stress. As women and mothers we tend to put everyone else's needs above our own. The presents have to be perfectly picked out, the Christmas dinner fabulous. We stay up late making sure that our holiday cards are addressed, signed and out on time. Don't forgot the letters to Santa, outfits for dinner, photos, tree decorating, the list goes on and on. The more television, social media and general holiday overload works its way into our lives the more crazy we drive ourselves. I think all of us needs to just sit back and take a breath. If you are the woman that snapped at me because I was in front of you at the milk case, you might need another coffee or possibly a nap. My holiday wish for all of us is that we can all sleep in until noon, let somehow else take care of the kids and bask in our own awesomeness (even if most of us forgot to leave milk and cookies for Santa). Since we all know that won't happen I hope that each and every one of us can take a moment to look at our family and realize, it's okay if the turkey is still frozen at Christmas dinner, the presents can go into a bag, and most of all it's okay to have that 4th cup of coffee. The Christmas season is only another week and a half of chaos. We all will somehow make it through, hopefully without going crazy at people in the mall parking lot (myself included-why are there never enough spots!!).

I have been short on recipe posts in the last week thanks to offline responsibilities. However, I have still been baking and cooking new dishes so my readers will have posts to enjoy in the next couple of weeks. A couple of weeks back I tried a great new recipe for Bucatini with Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce from the November 2013 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine.

Snow in Huntington, WV

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 1 hour of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First I substituted spaghetti for the bucatini. My kids prefer spaghetti and I wanted to minimize dinner time food battles. I used 3 anchovies since the fillets that I had were small. Finally, I allowed the sauce and pasta to cook approximately 6 minutes in order for all the liquid to absorb.

Snow in Huntington, WV

This was a very popular recipe in my house. My husband and two boys were big fans of the sauce. I ate my sauce over fried polenta, which was also delicious. The nice thing about the sauce portion of the recipe is that it could be used with another pasta, over polenta or even over rice or chicken. It has a variety of uses, making it a nice recipe to have in your recipe collection.

For the recipe go to Bucatini with Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce.

http://www.foodieinwv.com/2013/12/bucatini-with-butter-roasted-tomato.html

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A simple recipe for pasta with a butter roasted tomato sauce. The sauce would also be delicious over polenta or with chicken. A versatile recipe!

Preparation Time: 0h, 20m

Total Time: 1h, 0m

Yield: Serves 4

Caramelized Fennel, Celery, and Sardine Pasta

Caramelized Fennel, Celery, and Sardine Pasta

Growing up I never wanted kids. I wasn't one of those girls that loved baby dolls and wanted to be a mommy. I wasn't even planning on getting married. I told anyone that would listen that I was going to  get a degree and live by myself in a great apartment. Everyone always laughed at how planned out I had everything. A lot of it had to do with my mother being the oldest of 12 kids. My grandmother had passed away before I was born and my mother had taken over the role of a second mother for my aunts and uncles. Growing up I was surrounded by cousins and since I was an older than most of them I had to watch a lot of my younger cousins. I loved my cousins, but they could get into a lot of trouble and me along with them. Plus my mother was always on the phone, visiting or generally interacting with family members. It was hard not to be a little jealous that I wasn't the center of attention, especially since I was an only child.

I met my husband in grad school. I had moved 2500 miles away from home and knew no one. He was one of the first people to be nice to me in my very first evening class. Gradually we became friends, he drove me home from work study, we ate dinner together in the school cafeteria in-between classes. We moved in with each other a month after officially dating and were married 5 months later. The girl that was never going to get married walked down the aisle before most of her friends. On our second anniversary I found out I was pregnant with our first child. I had my second 2 1/2 years later. I still went to graduate school, worked a great job in bio-tech for 7 years, I just achieved everything much younger than I thought I would. I have two smart, beautiful and talented boys. I never thought that I wanted to be a mother, but now that I am I can't imagine my life anything other way. They complete the love that my husband and I formed so quickly more than 10 years ago.

While my family will eat gluten free pasta, they prefer the real thing if given the choice. Every couple of weeks I make a pasta meal for them to enjoy using regular wheat pasta. A while back I tried a new recipe for Caramelized Fennel, Celery, and Sardine Pasta from Martha Stewart Living magazine.

Caramelized Fennel, Celery, and Sardine Pasta

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First, my family doesn't like whole wheat pasta. I have tried every brand, half whole wheat etc. and they hate them all. So instead I used regular pasta, it wasn't worth the battle. Make sure to salt the pasta water, if you don't the pasta will need a lot more salt after cooking. The only other change that I made was to add more pasta cooking water than the recipe suggested. I found it necessary to make sure that the pasta was well coated and the flavors combined.

Lake Vesuvius 

My husband really enjoyed this recipe. He is a huge fennel fan and this was a nice way to use it in a  pasta recipe. My two kids were skeptical when they say the sardines, they were hesitant to eat the bones. After trying the dish though they loved the fennel and sardines. The recipe is definitely geared towards adults, but if you have adventurous kids like mine it would also make a nice family meal. Plus since it takes less than 30 minutes it would be great for a busy weeknight.

For the recipe go to Caramelized Fennel, Celery, and Sardine Pasta.

Martha Stewart's Baked Ravioli Recipe

Baked Ravioli - Martha Stewart Website Recipe

I loved pasta growing up. I would come home from school, run for the fridge and eat anything I could find. One of my favorite foods was pasta and in particular ravioli. My mother would cook it for me at least once a week. She was always worried that I wasn't eating enough since I was rail thin growing up. My mother took me to the doctor multiple times thinking that I was sick or malnourished. I wasn't, I just didn't put on a lot of weight. Pasta was a food that she felt was hearty and I loved, so it was a great food match. I have carried on my pasta addiction with my two boys. They will take cold spaghetti out of the fridge and eat it straight from the container. No sauce, no butter, just the olive oil it was initially tossed with. Since my family loves pasta and I hadn't made any ravioli dishes in a very long time, I decided to give a new recipe a try. I tried the recipe for Baked Ravioli from the Martha Stewart website. It is as follows:

Everyday Food, September 2003  

http://www.marthastewart.com/331829/baked-ravioli

• Prep Time 25 minutes
• Total Time 50 minutes
• Serves 6

Ingredients

• • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme, or oregano
  • 1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes
  • 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
  • 2 pounds store-bought frozen ravioli
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, breaking up tomatoes with spoon, until sauce is thickened and reduced to about 5 1/2 cups, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water just until they float to the top (pasta will continue to cook in oven). Drain pasta; return to pot.
3. Toss sauce with pasta. Pour pasta into a large gratin dish or 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and sprinkle with cheeses. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

Here are my modifications and review: 

First I used frozen beef ravioli. My husband isn't a fan of having cheese as the main protein of a dish, so I either add beans, tofu or meat to any dinner dish I prepare. I used dried oregano from my garden. Homemade dried herbs have a much better flavor and are fresher than store bought. Plus it's very easy to do just wash the fresh herbs, tie the ends with twine, hang upside down in a brown paper bag with air holes cut out and let dry for a week or two. Very easy. I found that I had to bake the ravioli a little longer than the recipe suggested. I ended up adding 2/3 cup of Parmesan on the top of the pasta the last 15 minutes. This added about 10 minutes to my cooking time in order for the sauce to fully thicken.

My kids absolutely loved this recipe. I did add a little bit of salt at the table, but my family is big on salt. Even my husband was won over by this dish. It was definitely a recipe that everyone in my house could agree upon. Obviously since I eat gluten free I couldn't taste the pasta, but it smelled so good! I did sample the sauce before the pasta was added and it had a nice sweet flavor.

For the recipe go to Baked Ravioli.

Recipe published with permission from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Baked Ravioli

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

Martha Stewart's Baked Ravioli Recipe. Plus a tip on how to dry your garden herbs.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 1h, 50m

Yield: Serves 6

Leftover Herb Pesto

Leftover Herb Pesto

It seems to be bug season in my back yard. I made the mistake of going out to trim my tomatoes this evening. Very bad idea. I literally came in and had to take a benadryl since I had so many bites. Cicadas are the other fun visitor my yard now has. They arrived a couple of weeks back. In previous years they have arrived earlier, but this year they didn't arrive until August. Growing up in Seattle I had no idea what a cicada was when I moved here. The first night I tried to fall asleep in my new apartment I was driven crazy by a deafening noise. I had a giant tree outside my window and between the train that went through at 2 am and the cicadas I decided I would never sleep again. Over the years I have gotten used to their deafening noise, but they still aren't my favorite summer sound. Apparently we aren't even supposed to have cicadas this year, wrong. They are in my front yard and they are huge. Plus I don't trust any insect that is part of a horde. It just sounds wrong. So I am avoiding my yard for a couple of days until the bugs leave me alone. Yesterday I had to venture into my yard to cut back my herb garden. It has gone crazy in the last week and I am swimming in basil, so time to make pesto. I tried a new recipe for Leftover-Herb Pesto from Martha Stewart Living.

Virginia Point Park, Kenova, WV

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 5 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 3/4 cup of pesto. For the pesto I used basil and tarragon from my garden, pine nuts for the nuts and an extra clove of garlic. I prefer my pesto to have a pretty strong garlic taste. I also added part of the cheese to the food processor and then added the other half to the finished pesto. I prefer the texture with this method. Plus the flavor of the cheese come through better.

View From Virginia Point Park, Kenova, WV

I love making quick and easy recipes. Pesto is a great way to use herbs that you have leftover in your fridge or garden and the taste can be easily adapted based on what ingredients you have on hand. In addition to serving with pasta, this recipe would be great with chicken or fish. I love using pesto with grilled salmon, it's wonderful.

For the recipe go to (video form) Leftover Herb Pesto.

Leftover Herb Pesto

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A very simple 7 ingredient pesto recipe. Can be made with any leftover green vegetable in your fridge and a variety of nuts.

Preparation Time: 0h, 5m

Total Time: 0h, 5m

Yield: 3/4 cup

Tuscan Chicken and Beans

Tuscan Chicken and Rice

West Virginia has taught me to slow down. Growing up in Seattle everything was always busy. I woke-up early, I worked long hours and I was always stressed. When I moved to West Virginia I stuck out. I didn't understand why it took a week for my paper work to be processed for my apartment or that when I went in to my work study assignment that the office had taken Friday off. After 10 years I have learned to love taking things a little slower. This afternoon my husband and I took my two boys and our dog around taking photos. In typical summer fashion there was a large summer downpour. Everyone at the park ran to their cars and waited. No one pulled away, we just all watched the storm and took a moment. It was perfect. There are many things that can be frustrating about life, but learning to sit on your porch and enjoy the summer warmth, say hello to your neighbor and just relax is something that we could all do with a little more of. So thank you West Virginia for teaching me that sometimes it's okay to just sit and wait, most things can sit at least a few minutes. With slowing down in mind, I made a slow cooker recipe today. I tried a new recipe for Tuscan Chicken and Beans from the September 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

Camden Park Wayne County, WV

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 8 hours and 15 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. The major change I made to the original recipe was to make my own Greek seasoning. I try to cut costs as much as I can and making seasoning blends is much cheaper. I already had all the ingredients so it was easy to put together. Instead of using an additional 1/2 teaspoon of thyme I increased the amount of seasoning to 2 teaspoons. The Greek seasoning that I prepared already had thyme so I found it unnecessary to add more. At dinner time I was unmotivated to go down to my garden to pick fresh oregano, so I left it out. The taste was delicious without it.

Camden Park Sign Wayne County, WV

My kids who have been horrible about eating dinner recently, loved this recipe. They ate their entire plates, which for them is a big thing. My husband was also very impressed, especially since he has been burned out on chicken thighs, but was very pleased with them in this recipe. The flavors work very well together and the chicken is fall off the bone tender. The recipe would also work well with lamb instead of the chicken.

For the recipe go to Tuscan Chicken and Beans. (registration required)

Tuscan Chicken and Beans

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A slow cooker chicken thigh recipe for Tuscan Chicken and Beans. Great flavor and easy to prep.

Preparation Time: 0h, 15m

Total Time: 8h, 15m

Yield: Serves 6

Wanting to Escape the Heat and Think of Cooler Weather: Try Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce

Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce

Fall is my favorite time of the year. The weather is cooler, without being cold and the leaves turn beautiful colors. Best of all are the fall foods. I love anything involving apples or pumpkin. Since we are in the middle of the heat of summer it can be a little hard to want to cook. The humidity has been very high and the temps were in the 90's today. Needless to say it doesn't make me want to cook. It leaves me thinking of all the great things to come in the fall. So I decided to try some fall like foods for dinner tonight. I tried a new recipe for Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce from the new All Recipes magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I followed the recipe mostly as written. I make my own chicken broth since it allows me to control the amount of salt (and it tastes better). While the original recipe uses butter I substituted extra virgin olive oil. I prefer cooking with olive oil since it is healthier for the heart. Since Vidalia onions are in season that is the type I used in this recipe. They really are delicious. I allowed my onions to caramelize before adding the pumpkin. I hate half cooked onions in recipes, it turns me off.

If you are making this for more than two people you really need to double the amount of sauce. As written it was barely enough for three small sized portions. My husband likes lots of sauce and this needed more to fully coat the pasta. I liked that the chipotle peppers gave it a nice kick, if you like spicy foods you can increase the amount or seed the peppers to reduce the spiciness.

For the recipe go to Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce.

Simple Comfort Food: Easy Baked Spaghetti

Baked Spaghetti

I had a case of blog burnout last week. Approximately twice a year I have to take a break from blogging. I love blogging for so many reasons, but I also have kids and a household to run and sometimes they don't blend well together. So a couple of times a year I have to take a step back. It didn't help that the herb garden that I had spent the last two months perfecting was stolen off my porch over the weekend. Sometimes I really do not understand people or what they are thinking. I was more than a little upset. Luckily the farmer's market had all their herb starters on clearance, so I started a new pot. It will take a while though before it resembles the one that was stolen. I am trying to keep my meals simple this week to keep my sanity. Tonight I tried a new recipe for Baked Spaghetti from Taste of Home.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 1 hour 25 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 10 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First I used frozen spaghetti that I thawed. I seem to always have leftover pasta, so I freeze it for later use. For the seasoning salt I used Tony's for a bit of spice. Finally, my total cooking time was slightly longer than the original recipe. I allowed the spaghetti to bake for 35 minutes with the foil off in order that it fully browned.

Since I can't eat gluten the rest of my family sampled this dish. My kids were huge fans of this recipe. I liked that it was very easy to put together and made enough servings for multiple meals. Plus the servings are very big, so if you cut the pieces smaller you could make it stretch even further.

For the recipe go to Baked Spaghetti.

Need A Use For Leftover Pasta? Try Baked Ziti

Baked Rigatoni

I think I might be becoming semi-obsessive with my tomato plants and their well being. This all started with my oldest insistent that we plant heirlooms this year. I agreed, it would be fun. Fun, hmmm. It has been fun, it also can drive a person crazy. See I tend to lean towards slightly overboard with most projects. I like things to be perfect and right. My son was at my in-laws for the last two weeks so I was excited that his tomatoes would be almost ripe by the time he got back. Then we had a nasty streak of hot and humid weather. I watered the tomatoes like I always do, but one of the plants just wasn't happy. After reading information online, a call to an extension agent and many conversations with friends that grow tomatoes I'm happy to say that his tomatoes are beautiful once again. As for me I think the tomatoes are becoming like another pet, a lot of work with an occasional reward. I hope it will be worth it the end, tomatoes and summer just seem to go hand in hand. This week to welcome my oldest back home I made comfort food. I tried a new recipe for Baked Ziti from the Food Network.

This recipe has 7 ingredients in the ziti and 9 ingredients in the sauce. It takes 50 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 6 to 8 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First I used leftover frozen rigatoni pasta that I had made previously. I allowed it to defrost and then followed the rest of the recipe. Instead of Italian sausage I used ground roast chuck that I ground myself. I substituted the exact same amounts as in the original recipe. Since ground beef can be more watery than Italian sausage I allowed the sauce to cook down longer until it was nice and thick. After I put the baked ziti together in a casserole dish I allowed it to sit in the fridge for 4 hours to allow the flavors to soak into the pasta.

I served this recipe when my in-laws were over for dinner. Since I couldn't try the recipe myself I relied on everyone else to voice their opinions. My youngest son fell in love with this dish and told me it was his favorite pasta dish. The opinions expressed by my in-laws were similar. Overall, it was a nice way to use leftover pasta and a recipe I would make again. 

For the recipe go to Baked Ziti.

Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce Recipe

Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce

My oldest has two weeks of school left. To say that he is ready to be done would be understatement. Getting him to be motivated to actually go to the bus in the morning has not been easy. He has also been very food picky. It might have a lot to do with the fact that he lost his first tooth this week and the new tooth coming in his been causing him discomfort. Due to all the activity in our household I have been trying to make quick and easy meals. Earlier this week I tried a new recipe for Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce from the May 2013 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

Gluten Free Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. Since I eat gluten free, but the rest of my family does not, I made two versions of this recipe. For the tomato mixture I used kalamata olives, unrinsed capers (we prefer the taste of the salt) and roma tomatoes. I divided the mixture between the regular spaghetti for my family and gluten free spiral pasta for me. Make sure to serve the dish soon after you add the mozzarella, if you wait it will melt and turn into a big cheese clump.

The flavors in this recipe are great. My two boys loved the olives and capers and dividing the tomato mixture worked out well. Not rinsing the capers gave the pasta a nice salty flavor, which I really liked. The sauce would work with variety of pasta types in case you aren't a fan of spaghetti or bucatini.

For the recipe go to Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce.

Gluten Free Artichoke and Tomato Pasta Recipe

Gluten Free Artichoke and Tomato Pasta

Today was flea market day. I have been looking for a new dresser for our bedroom and I refuse to buy anything new unless I have to. Growing up my mother loved garage sales, but there were few (if any) flea markets. When I moved to West Virginia I discovered quickly there is a whole culture of flea marketing. I felt like a fish our of water at the first few that I went, but now that I have lived here almost 11 years I have grown to love them. The same people often go every weekend; there is food, great treasures and they are the best place to find anything you need for your house. After some bargaining I was able to find two great dressers which I am going to restore and they will look great in our house. I love projects and they help to keep my sanity while staying home with my two boys. Since I have been busy with various house projects I made sure that the meals that I prepared last week were quick and easy. One of the recipes that I tried was for Artichoke and Tomato Pasta from the May 2013 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First since I eat gluten free I used gluten free ziti. Second it is finally vidalia onion season so I used one for my sweet onion. I purchased a 14 ounce can of artichokes so I used the whole can instead of the 6 ounces suggested by the recipe. Finally after I added the tomato mixture to the pasta I allowed it to cook for an additional 5 minutes.

My family normally is not big fans of gluten free pasta. However, they all loved this recipe. It worked very well to being made gluten free and the use of additional artichokes worked deliciously. I found that I didn't have to add much salt to the tomato mixture since there was already salt in the artichokes.

For the recipe go to Artichoke and Tomato Pasta Recipe.

Watercress Pesto Recipe

Watercress Pesto

I make a lot of pesto in my household. Especially in the spring there is something very comforting about a big plate of pasta with a pesto made from greens. Even my two picky boys can agree that pasta is delicious and will eat it happily. Since basil pesto can get boring I love switching up the pesto that I make with various spring greens. Last month I even tried a delicious asparagus pesto, which turned out perfectly. My husband is a big fan of greens that have more of a bite, while my kids would be happy eating basil pesto frequently. This week I tried a new recipe for Watercress Pesto from Martha Stewart Living.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First I made two versions, one gluten free and one with regular pasta. I did not use whole wheat spaghetti for the regular pasta, my family will not eat it (and I have tried I promise - every brand and they still hate it). To toast the pine nuts I used a skillet on the stove, very easy just make sure to watch them and they should only take a couple of minutes. Make sure to adequately salt the pesto, it will need a fair amount.

My husband and I thought this pesto was good. I would suggest adding more garlic, I like my pesto pretty garlicky tasting. I also would add a fair amount of crushed red pepper. It can be a little bland without it. The addition of cheese would also be nice, Romano would work nicely with the flavors.

For the recipe go to Watercress Pesto.

Easy 30 MInute Orecchiette with Scallions and Pistachio Pesto

Gluten Free Orecchiette with Scallions and Pistachio Pesto

Spring has definitely arrived in my kitchen. While the weather in my area is stuck in winter I have been making an effort to start using spring vegetables in my recipes. There is something about making spring foods that always puts me in a better mood and makes me think ahead to the warmer months. My mother-in-law brought me down 2 pounds of ramps which I will be cleaning and posting about in the next couple of days. Spring onions are always a sure sign that the weather will be turning warmer soon. Pesto is a food that I make a lot of in the spring. There are so many flavor combinations that can be created and it is great on pasta, chicken or beef. Since my two boys are both in stages where they love pasta (and little else some days) I have been making most of my pesto to serve with pasta. Last week I tried  new recipe for Orecchiette with Scallions and Pistachio Pesto from Food and Wine magazine.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 6 servings. Since I eat gluten free I used gluten free orecchiette for this recipe. The recipe was very straight forward and I didn't make many changes. I did find that I had to add a significant amount of salt to the pesto in order for the flavors to come through. This was in addition to adding salted pistachios. Pesto can seem bland when not salted properly. I am a bit salt phobic, except when it comes to pesto. It really does need the taste of the salt in order for the other flavors to shine.

I had never tried gluten free orecchiette before. I sort of wish that I hadn't. There are a number of great gluten free pastas. I love brown rice ziti and spaghetti, however the orecchiette pretty much fell apart. With regular pasta this recipe would be delicious though and a great way to add a vegetarian menu option to your weekly meal plan. The pesto part of the recipe would also be delicious with chicken or fish if you are looking for a meat option.

For the recipe go to Orecchiette with Scallions and Pistachio Pesto.

Gluten Free Asparagus Pesto

Gluten Free Asparagus Pesto

Pork is king in my household. As I've discussed before the males in my house are huge pork fans. Especially bacon, lots and lots of bacon. Growing-up I was a little different. I was a vegetarian beginning freshman year of high-school. Luckily my parents were very supportive and I lived in the Pacific NW so there were numerous places to purchase great vegetarian food. I stayed a vegetarian until I moved to West Virginia. Between graduate school and anemia I decided that adding meat back in would be a  good idea. Then I met my husband who thought vegetables were a garnish for meat. Over the years I have slowly reformed him into eating meat as an ingredient and we eat one to two vegetarian dinners a week. This week we tried a new recipe for Asparagus Pesto from the April 2013 issue of Food and Wine magazine.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 20 minutes, all of which is active and makes enough for a pound of pasta. I did make a few changes. Since I eat gluten free I substituted gluten free ziti for spaghetti. I found that the pesto need a significant amount of salt for the flavor not to be bland, don't be afraid to add salt.

The basil flavor in this recipe comes through more than the asparagus. This recipe would be great for someone that wasn't a fan of asparagus, but still wanted the health benefits. Crumbled bacon would be a great addition to this dish as a topping. Overall, a great way to add spring flavor and even my youngest son loved it.

For the recipe go to Asparagus Pesto.

30 Minute Roasted Tomato and Pancetta Pasta

Gluten Free Tomato, Red Onion, and Pancetta Pasta Topped with Goat Cheese

My oldest is in another food phase. Currently he has decided that he isn't eating cheese. It's somewhat amusing since cheese used to be one of his favorite foods, but now he will pick it out. My guess is that he has learned some of these habits from my husband and I . While we both love food we also have definite opinions on what we do and don't like. For example my husband eats a vegetable and beans at every meal as part of his diet. I am horrible about vegetables. I eat more than enough fruit, but I only eat vegetables at dinner (this will be one of my food habits that I will be working on in the next year). My husband is the opposite, he can eat more spinach than anyone I know, but hates any fruit. So I try to find foods that everyone in my family can compromise upon. Tomatoes and pasta are two foods that my family absolutely loves. Tonight I tried a new recipe for Roasted Tomato and Pancetta Pasta from the Everyday Food insert of the March 2013 issue of Martha Stewart Living.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First since I eat gluten free I used gluten free pasta. Second my store doesn't carry cherry tomatoes during the winter so I substituted grape tomatoes. I also increased the cooking time by ten minutes, used canola oil instead of olive oil and pressed down on the tomatoes after they were roasted to ensure that they were fully burst. Finally, I topped the servings with goat cheese.

My oldest son loved this recipe. He ate his whole serving, which is the most he has eaten for dinner in weeks. My husband liked the flavors, but thought that the total amount of pancetta should be doubled or swapped for uncured chopped bacon. Then again the males in my family think that everything needs more bacon. I did not add the extra pasta water at the end, but instead poured the juices from the roasted tomatoes into the pasta, which created a nice flavor.

For the recipe go to Roasted Tomato and Pancetta Pasta.

Mediterranean Rigatoni

My two boys have decided that they are chefs lately. They enjoy taking things from around the house and my fridge and making a dish. Most of the time they claim that they are experimenting. I think they might watch too many cooking shows with me since they are always creating something with food that they find. They have made some things that I have to admit were pretty good. Yogurt seems to be their specialty lately, they have discovered some combination that have actually turned out pretty well. I love that they like to cook and they don't see it as a pursuit that only girls should do, which I think is great. I try to reinforce with my two boys that they should learn how to do everything around the house since it's always a good idea to be self sufficient. Teaching my kids to cook is something that is very important to me and my oldest helps me with dinner at least three times a week. Tonight for dinner my son helped me make Mediterranean Rigatoni from the March 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 26 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. Since I eat gluten free I used gluten free ziti. I have never seen cubed feta in my area so I bought whole feta and crumbled it instead. After the pasta was done I added it to the sauce and allowed it to cook with the tomatoes until they started to break up. My husband isn't a fan of firm fresh tomatoes so I always allow them to cook slightly longer than recipes call for.

If you have a family that likes a lot of protein in their food I would suggest adding more chicken to this dish. Since their is only a pound of meat for six servings, there isn't a lot of chicken per bite. I would double the chicken and the amount of tomatoes. The flavors are nice and I liked the taste of the olives and fresh oregano. A balsamic vinegar reduction would also be delicious with this dish and the flavors would make the dish even better.

Currently this recipe isn't available online (Family Circle's decision not mine :). Here is the link to the photo on their site or you can find the recipe in the March 2013 issue of the magazine. 

35 Minute Rigatoni in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Growing-up we ate pasta at least twice a week. Pasta was inexpensive and my mother could stretch it to make enough for multiple meals. In college my cooking skills became a little lazy and I was guilty of eating a large amount of jarred pasta and spaghetti. This was partly due to the fact that I had to work at least 20 hours a week and take full time classes in order to continue to have my company pay my tuition. I had little time left after school, working and commuting to cook. Pasta was a quick way to fill me up and save money. After getting married I began to try to cook marinara and other pasta sauces from scratch. Now I make pasta at least once a week and pasta is one of my family's favorite meals. This weekend I tried a new recipe for Rigatoni in Creamy Tomato Sauce from the September 2011 issue of All You magazine.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 35 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 6 servings. I only made a few modifications to this recipe. First since I eat gluten free I used gluten free ziti. Secondly, instead of butter I used olive oil and agave instead of granulated sugar. Finally, I let the pasta cook until al dente and then cooked it the rest of the way in the sauce and then added the basil. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The pepperoni in this recipe is surprising. It creates a great taste that even my two picky children loved. I like that the taste was good for both adults and kids. Dinner time can oftentimes be a struggle, but this was a recipe that my whole family could agree upon. This is definitely a recipe I would make again.

For the recipe go to Rigatoni in Creamy Tomato Sauce.

Flavorful Quick 40 Minute Pasta Bolognese

I have been in the mood for comfort food this week. There is something about fall and winter that make me want to bake and cook foods that feel warm and like home. Since I can't eat gluten I have had to re-learn a lot of my favorite comfort foods that my mother made growing up. The dish that I struggled with the most making gluten free was macaroni and cheese. Every time I tried making it the flavor and texture was off. After approximately 10 tries I finally discovered a baked macaroni and cheese that even my husband enjoyed. The trick with a lot of gluten pasta recipes is to bake them in the oven or add a lot of spices. Now that I have baked a number of gluten free pasta dishes I love them and make pasta once a week. Last week I tried a new recipe for Quick Pasta Bolognese from the February 2013 issue of Eating Well magazine.

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few modifications to the recipe. First I used gluten free pasta instead of whole-wheat. My husband and two boys love meat so I used a whole pound of lean ground beef. After the pasta was done cooking I added it to the sauce, tossed and continued cooking until the pasta was fully done. I cook my pasta until al dente and then finish cooking in the sauce. I prefer this method for pasta, it ensures that the pasta doesn't over cook and that the sauce is fully incorporated. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Increasing the meat in this recipe worked well. I would suggest using whole tomatoes instead of diced and crushing the tomatoes by hand. To crush my tomatoes by hand I place them in a Ziploc, seal it and then crush it between my fingers. The diced tomatoes had a texture that my husband and I weren't big fans of, but could be easily remedied by using whole tomatoes instead. Make sure to add salt before serving, this dish needs to be salted adequately for flavor.

For the recipe go to Quick Pasta Bolognese.

Delicious Rigatoni with Calabrese Style Pork Ragu

 My family loves pasta. So much so that I prepare it approximately once a week for dinner. When I was growing up my mom always made a lot of pasta since it was inexpensive to make and could feed our entire family. She was great with inventing recipes from just spaghetti and the ingredients in our cupboards. I wish that I had inherited half of her recipe invention talents. While I don't invent recipes the same way that my mother did, I do like taking recipes and making them my own. Since I eat gluten free I am always taking regular pasta recipes and re-inventing them to my needs. This week I tried a new recipe for Rigatoni with Calabrese Style Pork Ragu from the February 2013 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 5 hours of total time, 60 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. Since I eat gluten free I used brown rice flour ziti. I have never seen rigatoni gluten free in my area, so I always use what I have access to. Since I was serving this recipe to my kids I used mild Italian sausage, instead of spicy sausage. I would have used spicy sausage if it was just for my husband and I. I rarely buy ground meat from the grocery store. For this recipe I had leftover pork shoulder which I ground up and used. When I went to make this recipe it turned out that I had forgotten to buy fresh parsley so I had to substitute dried parsley instead. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Even though this recipe states that it makes only 6 servings, I had a ton of leftovers. There was enough for two additional meals. I did let my sauce thicken longer than the recipe. I had to add a slight amount of water during the four hour cooking time. However, at the end of the cooking time it was still a little thinner than I liked so I turned up the heat a little and let it cook without a lid until it had fully thickened. I also did not add additional cooking water after adding the pasta since it wasn't necessary. My family really loved this recipe. I would suggest adding a larger amount of crushed red pepper if you use mild sausage and make sure to adequately salt, it will need it.

For the recipe go to Rigatoni with Spicy Calabrese Style Pork Ragu.

Easy Baked Ziti with Pumpkin, Spinach and Chicken Sausage

I absolutely love pumpkin. There is something so comforting and relaxing about baking and cooking with winter squash, especially pumpkin. While I make pumpkin dishes year round I make a large number of pumpkin recipes during the fall and winter. The cooler months seem to just cry out for pumpkin. Everyone always thinks of pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie, but I love savory dishes that utilize the squash. As I have stated before my family loves pasta. Growing up my mother made pasta multiple times a week and it has been an ingredient that I have loved ever since. My two boys are huge pasta eaters and will eat spaghetti tossed with olive oil as a snack. Combining pasta and pumpkin is something I love to do. A couple of weeks back I tried a new recipe for Baked Ziti with Pumpkin and Sausage from Libby's Pumpkin.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 12 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and I made no ingredient modifications. Since I eat gluten free I used gluten free penne and gluten free all-purpose flour. I am not a huge fan of reduced fat mozzarella and always buy fresh mozzarella so I used full fat fresh mozzarella instead of the shredded suggest by the recipe. I prefer fresh mozzarella, the taste is superior to shredded. I found that it was hard to have enough pasta to spread across the pan when layering. Don't worry though once it is baked it works fine. I actually added the mozzarella cheese at the beginning of the cooking time and then the Parmesan cheese the last five minutes. I preferred this method since it allowed the fresh mozzarella to fully melt.

If you like your pasta with a kick I would suggest adding more cayenne. I only added a pinch as suggested and I felt that it needed a little more flavor. I would add 1/8 of a teaspoon of cayenne or 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper if you like spicy foods. My husband was pleased that the recipe made the gluten free pasta not noticeable. He eats gluten free at dinner with me, but gluten free pasta he often finds lack luster. This dish was nice since it masked the taste of the gluten free pasta and the flavor from the pumpkin came out nicely.

For the recipe go to Baked Ziti with Pumpkin and Sausage.

Apple, Sausage and Walnut Pasta

My youngest son has had a major developmental spurt. It happened to coincide with a massive growth spurt so he has been more than a little frustrated in the last week. What has surprised me so much are the differences between my oldest and youngest son. My oldest was 18 months before he even tried to walk, he didn't start really talking until he was almost 4 and he has yet to lose any of his baby teeth (he's almost 7). As much as I try not to compare my two kids the differences between the two are noticeable. My youngest has a very large vocabulary. He is already writing words and can built things with Lego's almost as well as his older brother. I know a lot of it has to do with my oldest teaching my youngest how to do everything. Birth order definitely has an effect on how my two kids do and approach things. Since my youngest has been eating so much I have been making foods that I know he will love. This week I tried a new recipe for Apple, Sausage and Walnut Pasta from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. I takes 25 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 6 serving. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Since I eat gluten free I did make a few modifications. First I used gluten free penne. I bought chopped walnuts since they were on sale and cheaper than whole so I skipped the chopping step. My walnuts also toasted quicker, they only took approximately 3 minutes total. Since my local grocery store hasn't been great with having a large selection of meat, I used pre-cooked chicken sausage and diced it instead of chicken sausage in casings. I also added a whole package of sausage, 12 ounces instead of the 3 used in the recipe. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was happy that this recipe worked well when converted to being gluten free. The substitution of pre-cooked chicken sausage was great and was popular with my two boys. The prep and cook time is very short, which is nice for a weekday meal. I didn't notice the apple much, so if you are a fan of apples I would suggest increasing the amount used.

For the recipe go to Apple, Sausage and Walnut Pasta. (registration required)