Pumpkin Mac and Cheese with Sage Breadcrumbs

Last week my Pumpkin Mac and Cheese with Sage Breadcrumbs was featured on Boston.com and because I was really happy with the results, I wanted to share the recipe here as well. While you can certainly make this recipe utilizing canned pumpkin puree, I suggest making your own pumpkin puree from scratch. It does take a little extra elbow grease with the seeding and roasting of the pumpkin but I assure you the extra effort is well worth it. Homemade pumpkin puree has this velvety texture that the canned stuff just can't compete with.

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese with Sage Breadcrumbs

1 – 2 1/2-3 lb. Sugar Pumpkin, scrubbed clean

6-7 whole cloves

3 pieces of whole wheat bread

1 lb. dried pasta

½ Vidalia onion, diced

6 TBS + 2 TBS butter unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 TBS flour

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1 cup shredded smoked Gouda

1 + ½ cups sharp cheddar cheese

1- 8 oz. log of goat cheese

1 TBS whole grain mustard

1 TBS + 1 tsp fresh sage, finely chopped

A generous pinch nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

Olive Oil for drizzling

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Carefully cut the pumpkin into six equal parts and scoop out the seeds. Pierce the insides of the pumpkin pieces with the cloves, salt generously and then lay onto a cookie sheet, flesh side down. Roast pumpkin until it is very soft, about 35-45 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then peel off the skin of the pumpkin and place the flesh into a blender or processor. Blend the pumpkin until smooth and velvety, and set the pumpkin puree aside.

On a baking sheet, toast the three pieces of bread until they start to brown a bit. Set them aside to cool, then use a processor to pulse the bread crumbs. Mix in 1 tsp fresh sage and a pinch of nutmeg. Using your hands, combine 2 TBS of softened butter to the crumbs until they are evenly distributed. Season with salt and set aside.

Heat a medium-sized sauce pot and add enough olive oil to lightly coat the pan. Add the diced onions and a generous pinch of salt and cook on medium heat until they start to lightly brown (about 15 minutes). Add the butter to the pot and once it has completely melted, gradually add the flour, stirring constantly. Let the butter-flour mixture heat for a minute or two and then remove the pan from the heat and gradually add in the milk, stirring constantly. Return the pan to medium heat and add two cups of the pumpkin puree, stir, then add the mustard, goat cheese, smoked Gouda and 1 cup of cheddar cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. Add the 1 TBS sage and cinnamon and season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large pot, bring water to a boil and add a generous amount of salt. Cook the pasta until very al dente (about 5 minutes). Strain pasta and add to the cheese sauce, and pour into an oven-safe casserole dish. Top with remaining ½ cup of cheddar cheese and Sage Breadcrumbs. Bake, uncovered at 400 degrees until the breadcrumbs brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

What do you do with leftover Pierogi dough?

Yesterday I left a little bit of a cliffhanger at the end of my post (oh how dramatic of me) and promised that I'd show you a little trick for what you can do with leftover pierogi dough.  Because Polish food is simple peasant food and based around making do with what you have and letting nothing (and I mean nothing) go to waste, my Babcia used to take leftover pierogi dough, roll it out super thin and cut it up into little rags to make fresh pasta.  When making my pierogies, I often happen to find myself in the same predicament (or maybe I plan it that way? I'll never tell...) so that's exactly what I do; make a quick and delicious fresh pasta.

It's a simple process and the best part is that it yields such terrificly delicious results.  I mean, is there anything better than fresh pasta? To make the pasta, you first start out by rolling the dough super thin.  You'll want to make sure it's consistently thin so that your pasta cooks evenly.

Once you've got it all rolled out, that a pizza cutter and by applying a little pressure, cut the dough into thin strips.  Don't worry too much about it being exactly the same size, a little inconsistency is good as it gives you a rustic and homemade look.  Just keep it approximately the same size.

Next, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil.  Toss the pasta in and remember, because it's fresh pasta, it only has to cook for a minute or two (you'll know it's done when it starts to float).  You can then scoop out the pasta and do whatever you'd like to do with it.  I enjoyed mine simply, with just a splash of some good olive oil, Parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper and some flakes of sea salt.

Philly Cheesesteak Macaroni and Cheese

Philly Cheesesteak Mac and Cheese

Last week I did a demo at the Coolidge Corner Meat House featuring my Philly Cheesesteak Dip. Once I had made the dip and had set it out for people to sample, I got to staring at it and sort of zoned out, totally mesmerized by the way the cheese was perfectly coating the paper thin slices of steak and the diced mushrooms.  I then started to, as I do with most things I find to be particularly delicious, think of other ways I could use them to create a new dish.  With little effort, I started to see noodles swirling in the cheesy, beefy mixture and then I imagines a crispy crust made from fresh homemade breadcrumbs and within minutes, I was on my way to creating a killer mac and cheese recipe - Philly Cheesesteak Mac and Cheese.

Cheese, sweet cheese!

This recipe is certainly a simple one but it does require a couple of important key steps.  First off, it's important to use cheese with exceptional melting qualities (i.e. don't even think about using low-fat anything in here!).  There certainly is some room for creativity when selecting your cheeses but for this particular mac and cheese, I used three cheeses - a mild cheddar, sharp cheddar and American cheese.  I like to include American cheese because it's so great at melting down into a fine and naturally thick sauce without giving off an overpowering flavor.

Next, to ensure a saucy and very cheesy mac and cheese, it's important to bake the pasta in way more sauce than you think you need.  The noodles will absorb the sauce while baking and the biggest fail of a homemade mac and cheese is having it be dry.  Additionally, to get a nice crisp crust, I like to make my own breadcrumbs using a couple pieces of day old bread and toasting it up to get all the moisture out.  Not only is it easy but it adds such a great flavor and added crispy texture.  I also like to finish my mac and cheese with a pinch of salt and a hit of fresh chopped parsley right before serving to help wake everything up.

Mmm, is there anything better than a piping hot bowl of cheesy mac and cheese on a dark and stormy Boston day?

Check out the recipe after the jump!

Baked Pasta in a White Wine Herbed Mushroom Sauce

Baked Pasta in White Wine Herbed Mushroom Sauce 

I do love me a good baked pasta.  It's just so comforting on a chilly gray Boston day but I tend to find myself in a rut when it comes to a good baked pasta.  Most I find are tomato based, which is all fine and good but sometimes it's nice to shake things up a bit and create something a little different.

YUM

I was really happy with the way this turned out and it was exactly what I was looking for.  Sweet bits of Italian turkey sausage swimming in a bubbly sea of penne pasta and a simply rich mushroom white wine herb sauce.  The entire dish was then topped off with a positively delightful blend of gruyere and swiss cheeses.  The entire dish was then popped into the oven and then dusted with fresh chopped parsley.

Aren't new baked pasta recipes the best?

The best part?  This easy baked pasta took little time to put together but yielded some pretty tasty results that totally broke me out of a tomato based pasta bake rut.  Additionally, you could used some shredded chicken or turkey instead of the sausage or you could make this a vegetarian option by omitting the meat all together and using veggie stock instead of chicken stock.  In hindsight, a bit of fresh spinach would have also gone nicely in here.  Next time..

Sweet Fire Roasted Summer Tomatoes

Vine-ripened baby roma tomatoes

Have you ever slow roasted a tomato before?  If you haven't, I suggest you drop whatever you're doing, whip out some fresh tomatoes (while they're still in season!), slice them in half, shake some extra virgin olive along with a couple twist of fresh ground pepper, turn your oven dial to low (about 300 degrees should do it), toss those 'maters in the oven and then forget about them.  That's right, forget about them.  Go on with your life; pay some bills, read a magazine, tidy up your place, whatever you're up for.

Tomatoes showered in olive oil and fresh black pepper

At about 20 minutes in to doing whatever it is you've decided to do to kick back and relax, it will happen.  It will be subtle at first.  Your nose will start to twitch a little.  "What's that smell?" you'll say to yourself.  Convinced it's just your imagination, you'll go back to whatever it is you were doing.  Ever so slightly, this sweet, earthy and slightly smoky aroma will amplify as it wafts the the apartment, slinking from corner to corner, weaving its way through the room until you just can't take it anymore (when this happens, by the way, that's when you know the tomatoes are done).  You'll fling open the oven and there, right in front of you, will be perfectly roasted tomatoes.  A rich crimson, punctuated by deep brick-red highlights and twinged by fire-kissed edges, these tomatoes can be enjoyed several ways.  For one, you can just pop them into your mouth, one by one, letting your taste buds soak up the rich concentrated tomato flavor.  These are also fantastic served on top of a healthy smear of goat cheese and a slice of a crusty baguette.  But for me, my favorite way to enjoy them is simply tossed in with some fresh pasta (I used a fresh herb pasta here, but really any pasta will do), thin ribbons of just-picked basil and tiny cubes of fresh mozzarella cheese, topped off by just a simple drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt and fresh ground pepper.  Mmm.  Dinner is served.

Sweet, sweet 'maters

Add some fresh mozzarella cheese, basil and olive oil

Fire-roasted tomatoes with basil and mozzarella served over herbed pasta

Wine-ing About A New Pasta Sauce

Last night it rained in Boston.  It was kinda humid and weirdly chilly at the same time.  That meant a couple things to me: I wanted to stay in, take the night off to relax and curl up in some sweatpants with a glass of wine and some pasta.

I love, love, LOVE pasta.  I think I feel about pasta the same way some people feel about chocolate cake.  I crave pasta and could keep eating it and eating it and never get sick of it.  To me, pasta is the food equivalent of your favorite comfortable sweatpants.  It's cozy, it's comfortable and exactly what you need on an relaxing stay-at-home evening.  I love making pasta dishes on nights like this and I even bought a special little baking dish that serves one, so I won't have leftovers.  (Again I'll draw on the parallel to chocolate cake.  I just can't have leftover baked pasta sitting around!)

My favorite go-to pasta dish is a simple cheesy baked pasta that I made here.  But last night I was feeling like I wanted to get a little creative and change things up a bit and lately it seems my newest obsession is roasted red peppers.  I don't know what it is about them but I just cannot get enough of them!  They are just so sweet and when added to a sauce, they add this layer of rich natural sweetness that you just can't get from anywhere else.  So roasted red peppers were the main inspiration and focus of the sauce and then a last minute game time decision included me tossing in about 1/4 cup of Malbec (a nice red wine typically hailing from Argentina).  This little addition gave my sauce a deep brick-red color as well as complimenting and balancing out the sweetness of the roasted red peppers.  It provided another delicious layer of flavor.

For cheeses, I had some left over ricotta (from my Lemon Blueberry Ricotta muffins that I made the other day) so that went in as well as some torn up Ciliegine, which is just small balls of fresh mozzarella.  That all got melty and oh so yummy.  This dish totally makes the pasta recipe rotation.  I will definitely be making this for my next rainy-day-stay-in evening!  This would also be a great dish to serve for a dinner party because it is a little unique, can be made a day ahead and then just thrown in the oven.  This would be a total crowd pleaser served with a side salad and some garlic bread.

Quick and Easy Bolognese (No really, I swear!)

Earlier this year, when one of my very good friends, Sara and her husband Anil, gave birth one of the cutest little girls ever (I'm a very proud "Aunt"), I told her to pick a night and I'd come over, groceries in hand, and make a giant dinner with plenty of leftovers to freeze.  Last night was the night Sarah took me up on my offer and with my groceries in tow, I left my Small Boston Kitchen and headed the 2 miles down the road to their place where I whipped up my own version of a quick Spaghetti Bolognese.

I'll stop right there because I know what you're thinking because I'd be thinking the same thing too if I had read that last line, "a quick Bolognese".  Although I will agree that the flavor of a good Bolognese takes time, I've found that if you slow cook the sum of all parts, you'll still end up with great results.  I also cheated a little by purchasing some fresh spinach pasta from Whole Foods but  from start to delicious finish, this took me about an hour and a half to make.  And that includes about a half hour of just letting the Bolognese simmer on the stove.  To help explain how to create your own Bolognese, I'm going to take you through this process step by step:

Ingredients:
* One of the best parts of a Bolognese is the fact that you can change it up and add different ingredients based on your liking and what you have leftover.  With this version, I would have loved to put in some chopped up mushrooms but Sara isn't a fan of the 'shrooms.  For a more traditional approach to this sauce, you could add in bits of carrots and add a touch of cream or even some Mascarpone cheese to give it a creamier texture.  Really, sky's the limit here folks.  Get creative!

Also, I should note that this made a giant pot of sauce which I would recommend.  It's perfect for freezing, making weeknight dinners even easier.

- 1/2 of lean ground beef
- 1/2 ground pork
- 2 large cans of good quality whole tomatoes in sauce
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 2 red peppers, roasted and finely chopped
- A couple splashes of beef/chicken/vegetable stock
- 1 sweet onion, finely chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- A couple of splashes extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- A couple of very generous handfuls of fresh basil, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Pasta (I recommend using fresh pasta if possible but of course, any type would work)
- Side salad to serve alongside

Check out the instructions by clicking the link below:

Demystifying The Perfect Baked Pasta

Throughout my blog posts, I have often talked about that one meal that just really does it for me.  It's the dish that I consistently turn to, signifying comfort and love.  After yesterday's trip to the North End, I found myself staring at all of the components of my favorite meal and I just had to make it.  I couldn't resist.  Although I devoted a whole post to this dish before, I didn't actually share the recipe or pictures and today's absolutely perfect combination of fresh cut dried pasta, important Italian tomatoes, chopped basil and fresh mozzarella slices just was so perfect that I had to share.

There really isn't much to this dish however the possibilities are endless, which is what makes it so wonderful.  You can easily make enough of it to feed an army or just enough for one.  Today I just kept it simple and fresh but sometimes I like to change it up by adding different meats and vegetables.  You can also switch up the herbs, tonight I opted for a traditional basil and left it at that, but sometimes I'll put in rosemary and thyme along with some oregano.  Or I'll also throw in some fennel seeds for a slightly different flavor.

There are a couple of tricks to getting the perfect baked pasta:

1. Bake it slowly.  I bake mine at 300 - 325 degrees.  It takes longer but the rewards make it worth it.  This is how you get some of the noodles that are poking out of the cheese to brown and get a little crispy (that's my favorite part).

2. Bake the pasta until it is still very al dente (in Italian that means "to the tooth".  It means that you should cook your pasta for a couple of minutes less than normal so that the center still has a little snap to it.)  This way, it will still cook in the oven, but not over cook and get mushy.

3. Use way more sauce than you think you'll need.  Noodles are like little sponges and you don't want them to soak up all the sauce, leaving a dry baked pasta.  You want this oozing with flavor!

4. To get the most out of this dish (or any dish your making for that matter), use all of the freshest ingredients possible, right down to the pasta.  I recommend (when you can) using a fresh dry-cut pasta.  What I mean by this is you want to look for pasta that was handmade and then handcut and dried for packaging.  Now this might not seem like a big deal but it is.  The flavor difference is amazing and in a baked pasta dish, this type of pasta really holds its own and doesn't fall apart and get super mushy.  It also has this unique flavor that machine made pasta just doesn't have.  To tell if it's been handcut, sometimes it will say so on the package but the telltale sign pasta with sort of a floury exterior and somewhat irregular in size.  The ends might even be a little jagged.

5. Always generously salt the water before you boil the pasta.  It is the only chance you have to give the pasta  an extra boost in flavor and it leaves your baked pasta with an added layer of flavor.

Good luck and Enjoy!

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough EAT Sweet Potato Ravioli

Still in the midst of a rough week, I knew from the moment I woke up this morning that by the end of the day, sweet potato ravioli would be had.  Patience is certainly not my strong suit and to be honest, I'm surprised my sweet potato ravioli made it two days in my freezer.  However, in my defense, I did say that I would save them for a rainy day and it has been a rainy week here in Boston, that counts for something, am I right?

So there they were.  Beautifully fresh sweet potato ravioli, staring me in the face and begging for me to enjoy their sweet cinnaomy goodness.  But then came the question of the hour, what should I create to top these little sweets with?  I didn't want a sauce to blanket the pasta and mask the surprising center.  That just wouldn't work...the filing was the focus and I wanted it to shine!  So I started with the center of the dish and worked from there, selecting ingredients that would accentuate the core of these raviolis.  I punctuated the natural sugars of this dish with caramelized shallots and glazed pecans, which added different and complimentary layers of sweetness.  Wanting to add some earthy elements, baby button mushrooms were added and a salty crunch was brought to this dish courtesy of crispy prosciutto.  Simply put, this recipe is the epitome of a winter meal.  It provides comfort and substance.  It's the type of dish that chilly, rainy weather was made for.

Pasta musings

Usually on my evening commute, I can be found tucked away and lost in my own world amongst the mobs of people on the t. Ipod firmly in place, I tune out the stresses of the day and focus on what really matters to me: What's for dinner. This is my favorite part of my Monday through Friday. It's my time and in my own nerdy food ways, it's thrilling. I dance around this topic all day but this...this is crunch time! What do I feel like? What do I have at home? Will I need to stop on my way home to pick up fresh basil? These are the important questions that I love answering and it always amazes me that no matter how tiring the day was, I still greet this series of questions with the same level of excitement and anticipation of what's to come.

It seemed that this week was a little busier than usual, making my evening commute questions all the more valuable. I find that on a tough day, the meal at the end of it is even more important than on an average day. With a few chops of a knife and a stir of this or that, I wholeheartedly believe that a ho-hum day seems a little better with some Frank Sinatra, a good glass of red, and a very comforting meal. I think it's fair to say that everyone has their own go-to list of foods that they find comforting. For me, it's usually one of three meals: Cheeseburgers, Pizza, or (and this is the one that usually sits firmly at the top of my list) PASTA, with lots of melted cheese, of course. Tonight, I couldn't take it anymore, I needed some cheesy pasta and I needed it now. I have no idea why this dish is the food equivalent of a giant hug to me, but it is. This concoction changes based on what's on hand and what I'm really craving but it's pretty much the same idea. I make a simple sauce consisting of good quality canned tomatoes (I like San Marzano's the best) add in whatever herbs I have on hand (tonight was a combo of basil, rosemary and oregano), a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil, some lean ground beef, garlic and fresh sliced button mushrooms. The sauce is added to giant fresh-cut dried wagon wheel pasta (my favorite place to buy this pasta is J. Pace in the North End. They have a dizzying selection of pasta choices..) and this is all topped with fresh mozzarella. Then the whole thing goes in the oven until the cheese bubbles and little bits of exposed pasta get a subtle crunch to it. It's so very basic but this dish just does it for me. I like to eat it slowly, savoring each bite of noodley deliciousness and washing it down with a nice Rioja (I'm still on a Spanish wine kick).

I'd like to end my noodle musings with a quote that seems fitting:

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating" - Luciano Pavarotti.

Well that's all for tonight, I'm full.

Happy Eating!

Of the Asian Persuasian

Crisp fresh vegetables, tender Udon noodles coupled with a spicy ginger soy sauce and artfully topped with sprigs of cilantro, green onions and crunchy cashews, this dish begs you to whip out your chop sticks and dig right in.

My favorite aspect of this dish is how well all of the textures and flavors play off of each other and provide an element of surprise with each bite. The bright and bold flavors of the spicy ginger soy sauce are balanced by the coolness of fresh cilantro and green onions while the veggies and toasted cashews provide a subtle crunch. I love making Chinese food because it is so versatile and the combinations are endless. This dish starts with Udon noodles (usually found in the refrigerated vegetable section of any grocery store) adds in vegetables, and then tosses in a basic, but certainly not plain sauce. The best part is, the combinations are endless. My recipe is listed below, but I encourage you to tweak it. Try throwing some pork or chicken or play around with different veggie combinations. If you don't care for the heat that this dish offers, leave out the crushed red pepper flakes. (Or maybe you want to add some more?) It's up to you. Go with your likes and this dish will fulfill that desire for a meal from the far east.

Sauce-
~1/2 c. soy sauce
~2 healthy tbs Dijon mustard
~1 tsp fresh finely grated ginger
Fresh black pepper

Add-ins-
Udon Noodles
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 c. sugar snap peas, cut in half
7-8 small button mushrooms, cut into quarters
1/4 c. frozen corn
Vegetable oil for pan
Handful of whole cashews

Garnishes-
Thinly sliced green onions
Fresh cilantro sprigs

To make the sauce, combine all of the ingredients, mix thoroughly and set aside. Boil the udon noodles in salted water until tender and set aside. In a frying pan, fry up the mushrooms in a little vegetable oil. Add the carrots and gently toss. Cook for a minute or so on medium heat. Add the sugar snap peas, corn, and cashews. Let cook for a minute. The trick is to not overcook the veggies. They should still have a healthy snap to them. Add the noodles to the pan and pour sauce on top. Toss all ingredients until everything is well incorporated. Top with green onions and cilantro. Enjoy!