Creamy Cauliflower Pasta

It keeps raining here! We haven't gotten any additional staining done. There are still several days worth of work left to do but we can't get it done because it won't stop raining. I thought V could stain this weekend but they just started saying it is going to rain on Saturday AND Sunday. Boo. I'm ready to be done with this mess. Hopefully we can finish it by the end of May so we can relax by the pool for the rest of the summer. If I angle my chair so I can't see the unfinished part of the deck the backyard looks pretty awesome.

For dinner tonight I made another internet recipe and I forgot to save the site. But, I made a few changes to it and it was really tasty. Nice and garlicy. My only complaint is that the sauce didn't stick to the pasta very well. I think next time I would thin it out with more pasta water.

Creamy Cauliflower Pasta

3 cups cubed italian bread

1/3 cup olive oil

6 cloves garlic

3/4-1 pound tube pasta

1 cup ricotta (I used skim)

2 cups cauliflower (I just used about a bag of frozen and then steamed it)

1/3 cup parmesan

fresh basil or parsley

Toast the bread crumbs. Dice the garlic. Cook in the olive oil until it smells like garlic. Chop bread in a food processor to make into crumbs (I also put the garlic olive oil in the processor to get the garlic extra small. ) Mix together oil and crumbs. Set aside.

Cook pasta. Reserve about a cup of the starchy water.

Puree cooked cauliflower and ricotta in a food processor. Stir in herbs, parm, salt, and pepper. Stir into the cooked pasta. Add as much water as is needed to thin out the sauce and help it stick to the pasta. Either mix in the bread crumbs or sprinkle over the top. Enjoy!

Goat Cheese Pasta

Tonight's dinner was super easy and super tasty. It's from Martha's new cookbook Fresh Flavor Fast. I think it's a good spring/summer dinner that's fast enough to make after work and after sweeping the back deck. Roasting asparagus smells a little funny but ignore it, it's worth it.

Goat Cheese Pasta

1 pound twisty pasta

5 tablespoons butter (approximately)

5-6 ounces goat cheese (depending on the size of package you find)

2 bunches asparagus

chives (if you want, I didn't want to spend the extra money)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450. Start boiling water in a big pan.

Break off the thick ends of the asparagus. Break the remainder into big-bite-sized pieces. Dot with 2 tablespoons of butter and toss in salt and pepper. Roast for 10-15 minutes.

Cook the pasta. Save 1-1.5 cups of starchy water. Drain.

Mix the butter, goat cheese, and 1/2 cup of the water. (I did this in the pasta pot to keep the number of dishes to a minimum.) Melt together. I added extra salt and pepper at this point. Stir in pasta and asparagus. Add in extra water until a sauce forms. I ended up using a little over 1 cup of starchy water. Enjoy!

Chicken Pasta Casserole

Tonight for dinner I made a casserole I found on The Pioneer Woman's website. I wasn't the biggest casserole fan growing up but they've come a long way, baby! V loves casseroles and is always begging me to make them so I'm on the lookout for tasty-looking recipes. Tonight's was pretty good, V said it was a keeper anyway. I didn't quite follow the recipe because I don't get home from work until 5:30 or so so I took some short cuts. But it was still good.

Preheat the oven to 350

Cook a bunch of chicken strips (she says 2 cups) I think I had about 3/4 pounds

Break a pound of spaghetti into pieces

Cook the spaghetti in chicken stock - when you drain it save 2 cups of the stock (I forgot to do this)

Mix together the chicken, spaghetti, 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, 2 cups shredded cheddar, 1 diced onion, 1 small green pepper, 4 ounces pimentos, seasoning salt, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper all to taste. Then, add in the saved chicken stock (I used extra beef stock since I forgot to save it) - until the mixture is moist but not soupy.

Put into a casserole dish. Top with another cup of cheddar. Bake for about 30-40 minutes until bubbly.

It's pretty tasty. Next time I think I would cook the peppers and onions in advance because I don't like crunchy onions. But it was still pretty good nontheless.

Spinach Pockets

Tonight's dinner was another freezer special. It's spinach pockets from the Real Simple website but I messed around with it a little bit. It's basically like spanakopita and it's heavenly. Salty and flaky and I can pretend like it's healthy since it has spinach in it. This is our new favorite recipe. It's easy to make after work and it's also easy to make extra to freeze. If you want to freeze it put the pockets together and then put in individual baggies and freeze. Then defrost in the fridge overnight and bake as usual.

Putting them in individual baggies makes it easier to bake as many as you want. Which is nice since half the time V doesn't eat much dinner more than cheese and crackers. He's one of those weird people who only eats one meal a day. It's kind of nice because it means we don't have to make dinner every night because I like having cereal for dinner sometimes! But it can be frustrating too when I plan on a meal and then he's not hungry. So tonight when he wasn't hungry I just pulled out on spinach pocket and had it for dinner with no more mess than a bowl of Cheerios. Yummy in my tummy.

Spinach Pockets

• 20 ounces spinach (Real Simple calls for 3 pounds but I find that to be too much, I just buy two containers and that's plenty)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced (I just use my kitchen shears and cut them as small as possible)
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 1-pound package phyllo dough, defrosted
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 cloves garlic diced (RS says to thinly slice it but I think it's easier to just dice)

1. In a skillet, combine lemon juice, water, garlic cloves, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Bring to a simmer and cook spinach in batches until just wilted. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat oven to 400° F. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, Parmesan, ricotta, scallions, egg, salt, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
3. Fold 1 sheet of phyllo in half crosswise and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the top with some of the butter. Top with another folded sheet and brush with more butter. Repeat one more time. Leaving a 2-inch border around the edges, place 1/4 of the spinach mixture at one end of the pastry. Roll up the pastry, tucking in the sides. Brush with more butter. Repeat to make 3 more individual pockets.
4. Bake in the oven until puffed and golden, about 30 minutes

Baked Pasta with Prosciutto and Peas

Tonight I made dinner from Williams-Sonoma's cookbook One Pot. I highly recommend this cookbook and any of the cookbooks from the WS line - they are all easy and full of good recipes. This is one of my favorite go-to recipes. I can make a whole batch and freeze half in an 8x8 pan. And it's easy enough to make after getting home from work. I use pancetta instead of prosciutto half the time depending on what I can find. V loves it and doesn't seem to mind all the extra peas I add.

1 lb short tube pasta

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

4 cups flour

1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

2 cups parmesan cheese

1 cup frozen peas - or more to your heart's content

1/4 lb prosciutto or pancetta or just regular ham

Cook the pasta (you should know how to do this.) Melt the butter in a pan, add in the flour, and whisk for 30 seconds. Slowly add the milk while whisking. Cook until sauce is thick, 5-10 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Add pasta combine.

At that point you could go two ways. If you are eating it right away then go ahead. If you are making it in advance put it in a pan, let cool then put in the fridge/freezer. When you are ready to eat it, put it in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Williams-Sonoma says to sprinkle over 1/2 cup of bread crumbs before putting it in the oven. But I don't like bread crumbs on my pasta as a general rule so I don't add them. Try this recipe and check out the cookbook - it's worth the time!