Ina Garten's Roasted Shrimp and Orzo Pasta Salad

I was alerted to this recipe from the Barefoot Contessa via the "20 Paws 4 Feet" blog. I had some orzo in my cupboard that I didn't know what to do with (it was leftover from a recipe I tried that I wasn't too keen about) so I decided to give this one a try.  It says it serves 6-- that would be 6 very hungry people!  This makes a ton.  You could easily half this recipe and still have plenty. I took this to a party and it was well received.

Ingredients

Kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
3/4 pound orzo pasta (rice-shaped pasta)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
Freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds (16 to 18 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used a one pound bag and it was plenty)
1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts
1 cup chopped fresh dill (seemed like too much to me)
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I used dried; couldn't find fresh at the store)
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced
1/2 cup small-diced red onion
3/4 pound good feta cheese, large diced

Directions

1.) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2.) Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and a splash of oil, and bring the water to a boil. Add the orzo and simmer for 9 to 11 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it's cooked al dente. Drain and pour into a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Pour over the hot pasta and stir well.

3.) Meanwhile, place the shrimp on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread out in a single layer. Roast for 5 to 6 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through. Don't overcook!

4.) Add the shrimp to the orzo and then add the scallions, dill, parsley, cucumber, onion, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Toss well. Add the feta and stir carefully. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend, or refrigerate overnight. If refrigerated, taste again for seasonings and bring back to room temperature before serving.

Giada De Laurentiis's Pasta with Eggplant, Butternut Squash, and Shrimp

I had planned to make a different eggplant dish this week, but I had some squash left over from making butternut squash risotto.  So, I googled my ingredients and came up with this recipe from Giada. I reposted her original recipe below, but I basically used the amounts that I had leftover in my fridge, which is to say I used the recipe as a basic outline and kind of winged it from there.  In general I used a good deal less than is called for in the recipe-- it serves 6, so it's quite a bit if you follow the recipe exactly). The only substitutions I made was dried thyme instead of fresh, regular eggplant instead of Japanese, and whole wheat farfalle instead of the orange (??) spaghetti.

Looking at the comments section of the recipe, it seemed like people either loved or hated this dish.  Personally, I thought it was good, but it didn't knock my socks off or anything.  I would make it again.  Some red pepper flakes or something with a little more kick would probably be a good addition to this dish.  Overall, a nice healthy meal that was pretty easy to make.

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 5 cups) (You can get precut squash in the grocery store-- makes this step a lot easier!)
2 Japanese eggplants, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 1/4 cups dry white wine
2 cups fish broth, fresh or frozen, or canned vegetable broth (I used vegetable broth)
2 pounds uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt and pepper
17.5 ounces orange-colored fresh spaghetti or linguine
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

Directions

1) Heat the oil in a heavy large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for just a minute.

2) Add the squash, eggplant, rosemary and thyme and saute for 8 to 10 minutes.

3) Add the wine and broth and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer until the squash is tender and the liquid is reduced by about half, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. (At this step, I used enough liquid to just cover the vegetables. I found that I needed about 20 minutes to let this simmer.  I also covered it for part of the time so the veggies would get soft.)

4) Add the shrimp and simmer gently until almost cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

5) Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta. (Alternatively, you can use dried pasta, which will take 8 to 10 minutes to cook.)

6) Toss the pasta, squash mixture, and butter in a large bowl until the liquid thickens slightly and coats the pasta. Transfer the pasta mixture to a wide shallow bowl and serve.  I garnished the pasta with some parmesan cheese.

Butter and Sage Sauce

I have sage growing like gangbusters in my front yard, so tonight I made this simple pasta sauce recipe from Mario Batali. I paired it with pumpkin ravioli, and it was delicious! Very quick and simple, and the lemon juice gave it a bright, fresh flavor.

Ingredients

Pasta, of choice (I used pumpkin ravioli)
4 tablespoons butter
8 sage leaves
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

While your pasta cooks, melt butter in a 12 to 14-inch saute pan and continue cooking until golden brown color ("noisette") appears in the thinnest liquid of the butter. Add sage leaves and remove from heat. Add lemon juice and set aside. Drain the pasta, but leaving some cooking water, and gently pour into saute pan and return to heat. Add the cheese, toss to coat and serve immediately.

Lower Fat Fettuccine Alfredo

Remember a few years back when some watchdog group dubbed fettuccine alfredo "heart attack on a plate"? That was a sad, sad day. I love alfredo sauce, but calorie- wise it's a killer. So when I saw this video on the Cooking Light site, I was all over it. This version of fettuccine alfredo has half the fat and calories than the typical recipe, which doesn't exactly make it diet food, but is definitely a healthier option than the original.

The sauce was rich and creamy, and was just as good as the original in my opinion. The only drawback is that the sauce gets thick/lumpy quickly, so you should be sure to serve it very hot. Also, you need to constantly stir the sauce or it will quickly get lumpy. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups 1% low-fat milk (I used skim milk)
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
2 tablespoons neufchatel cheese (or lowfat cream cheese)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups hot cooked fettuccine (8 ounces uncooked pasta)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Cracked black pepper

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions. When you drain the pasta, reserve about 1/2 cup pasta water; you may need it later.

While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in flour.

Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook 6 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, neufchatel cheese, and salt, stirring constantly with a whisk until cheeses melt. If sauce gets too thick, thin it out with some of the reserved pasta water.

Toss sauce with hot pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and chopped parsley. Garnish with black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.

Use-Up-Your-Leftovers Pasta Sauce

This week I went to one of my old college standby recipes-- pasta sauce that uses up all the fridge leftovers. I always have a can of diced tomatoes on hand for just this purpose. Quick, easy, and healthy.

Ingredients
1 14 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
1 package of refrigerated cheese tortellini (or whatever pasta you have on hand)
1 cup of wine (I used some leftover red zin)
2 TB olive oil
And whatever veggies you want to use up. I used:
2 cups bagged spinach
1/2 green pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 medium yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 medium summer squash
Handful of basil
Dried Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Chop all vegetables into bite size pieces. Cook tortellini according to package directions.

While the pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; saute about 2 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies (excluding spinach and basil) and saute until they start to get soft, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and allow mixture to simmer for several minutes until it starts to reduce. Add the can of tomatoes; simmer and stir occasionally until water evaporates, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in basil and spinach; cook until spinach wilts. Finally, add Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and then stir in the cooked tortellini. Serve hot with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Healthy Shrimp Scampi-esque Pasta

When I saw this recipe on the Love Deliciousness blog, I knew I had to try it. I used Butter Buds all the time in college, but I sort of forgot about them until I saw this recipe. I found "Molly McButter" at the local Safeway (in the spice aisle), which I assume is pretty much the same thing, so I gave the recipe a whirl. I call it shrimp scampi-esque because I threw in some extra stuff that was in the fridge and I wanted to use up. This was so delicious, and easy! I definitely will make this again. My version is below. Note-- Molly McButter has a lot of salt in it, so you won't need to add extra salt.

Ingredients

8 oz uncooked whole wheat rotini pasta
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium shallot, minced
Approx 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
10 oz. precooked frozen shrimp, tails off, thawed
3 Tbsp Butter Buds (or Molly McButter), divided
4 Tbsp white wine (I used Riesling)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese & parsley for topping

Directions

Prepare pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.

Saute the garlic and shallot in the olive oil until is starts softening; about one minute. Add a few dashes of black pepper to taste. Add the halved cherry tomatoes. Let the tomatoes cook, stirring frequently, until they release their juices; about two minutes.

Add shrimp to the skillet and cook until heated through; 1-2 minutes.

Add 1 Tbsp of Butter Buds & and the white wine to the shrimp. Simmer about 2-3 more minutes, until the sauce thickens and is reduced by about half.

Drain pasta. Stir in pepper and remaining Butter Buds. Add the shrimp mixture to the pasta and toss gently.

Top generously with grated parmesan and parsley. Serves 2 with leftovers.

One-Pot-Wonder Baked Ziti

My friend Jodi sent me this recipe. She called it a "one pot wonder" veg ziti. It's a twist on a baked ziti recipe that is absolutely delicious! It's quick and easy, and I think a little lighter than a regular baked ziti because it doesn't use ricotta or a premade spaghetti sauce. We will definitely be making this again and again. The red pepper and garlic give this a nice little zing. It's also a nice flexible dish to use up leftovers... I tossed in some mushrooms, green onion, pecorino cheese, and parsley.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt & fresh ground pepper
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
3 cups water
12 ounces ziti pasta (3 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup fresh basil leaf, minced
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

1) Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 475.

2) Combine oil, garlic, pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in 12-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet and saute over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. (If your skillet is not ovensafe, transfer the pasta mixture into a shallow 2-quart casserole dish before sprinkling with the cheese and baking). I then sauteed some mushrooms and green onions here, about 2 minutes.

3) Add crushed tomatoes, water, ziti and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

4) Cover and cook, stirring often and adjusting heat as needed to maintain vigorous simmer, until ziti is almost tender, 15-18 minutes.

5) Stir in cream, Parmesan, and basil. I also added chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6) Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over ziti. I also added some shredded Pecorino cheese here. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until cheese has melted and browned, about 10 minutes. Serve.