Chicken Marsala

My history with Chicken Marsala is similar to my history with Penne alla Vodka: never had it, wasn't sure what it was, but the named sounded cool so I decided to seek it out.  Unlike Penne alla Vodka, I didn't realize that alcohol was involved until I got hold of the recipe.  On the day that I first made it, I headed up to the grocery store on my lunch break.  I went through the wine section but there was no Marsala wine to be had and no one around to ask.  The clock was running out, so I turned to google for help.  No one had a good suggestion for a Marsala substitute, but someone mentioned that in their grocery store Marsala was in the vinegar section.  And so it was in mine.  Since using up that first bottle of "vinegar" Marsala, I've always been able to find it in the wine section.  "Wine" Marsala is less salty than "vinegar Marsala", but both are fantastic.

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

This is a recipe that brings a smile to my face every time I make it.  It's a lightish version of spinach artichoke dip bundled up into a pasta dish, the perfect thing to make for company or for yourself, and the leftovers are freezer friendly.  Reason enough to smile, but there's more to the story.  The first time I made it was girls' night a few years ago.  My best buddy and I scoured the internet for the perfect dinner, and after much back and forth, settled on this.  We stopped at the store on the way home for frozen spinach and wine and headed to her place.  Dinner came together quickly and kicked back with happy bellies and settled in for the movie of the night.

Baked Ziti

Once upon a time, a friend gave a dinner party and served a baked pasta dish full of sausage, cheese, and just a little bit of tomato sauce.  It was heavenly, and I sought out my own version.  I started with Muir Glen's baked ziti, which has all of the above plus zucchini, but completely changed the recipe, doubling and halving ingredients until it resembled the meal I was craving.  Unfortunately I never got around to writing down the changes, so I had to reinvent the wheel every time I made it.  One of the side benefits to a food blog is that it has your exact recipe revisions, but not until you get around to posting the recipe.

So better late than never, here is the final draft of my baked ziti recipe.  In addition to being an excellent candidate for dinner, this recipe freezes well and is a frequent player in the lunchbox freezer leftovers rotation.

The final incentive to get this recipe on the blog was the arrival of this monster, which is obviously too much squash for any one recipe to handle.  Half of it went into a batch of lunchbox enchiladas, and the other half joined up with some pasta.

Ingredients
Recipe heavily adapted from Muir Glen
Yield: 8 servings

8 oz pasta
1 lb Italian sausage

½ small onion

2 cloves garlic
2 medium zucchini (or half of a monster zucchini)
8 oz tomato sauce
14.5 oz crushed tomatoes
1½ cups mozzarella/provolone mix, divided
Red pepper flakes, to taste

Method

Begin by slaying the beast.  If you're using an overgrown zucchini, remove the large seeds and plan on a little extra cooking time. 

Chop the onion and the garlic.

Cook the sausage, onion, and garlic on medium until the sausage is cooked.  At this point, start cooking the pasta and preheat the oven to 350°.

Add the zucchini and a pinch of salt.  Cover the pot, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is soft, about five minutes.

Add in the tomatoes and oregano, and simmer for about 10 minutes until thickened.

Stir in the pasta.

Stir in a cup of the cheese.  Season with red pepper flakes if desired.

 Transfer to an 8"x8" baking dish and top with the remaining cheese.

Cover with foil (or this handy dandy foil-on-one-side-parchment-paper-on-the-other deal so that the cheese doesn't stick) and tuck into the oven for 20 minutes. 

Remove foil and bake uncovered for five more minutes or until the cheese is browned to your liking.

And eat it up.

Penne with Zucchini and Mint

 

The drought has been hard on the garden this year.  I was sure that my zucchini plant was done and didn't check on it for a few days.  Which was long enough for this to happen...

Look at that monster!  Time to break out the zucchini recipes.  And this one not only uses up a ton of zucchini, but also uses up another garden pest, mint.  And oh yes, it goes from garden to plate in a scant 20 minutes.

Ingredients
Yield: 5 servings
(Adapted from Ellie Krieger)

• 12 ounces penne pasta
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb zucchini
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup Parmesan
• ¼ cup fresh mint leaves

Method

The journey began with a shopping trip...to my backyard.

Start cooking the pasta and slice n' dice the zucchini and garlic.

Saute the garlic in the olive oil for a few minutes.  Get it just short of brown.

Add the zucchini.  Cook on medium.  Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes until soft, stirring occasionally.

Zest the lemon.

Juice the lemon.

Chop the mint.

Turn off the heat and season with salt and pepper.  Add the lemon zest and juice.

Stir in the cooked pasta.

Add the mint & parm.  Stir everything together.

Penne alla Vodka

I was well into my 30's before I ever heard of "penne alla vodka".  I didn't know what it was and I didn't care.  I just knew that I had to find some immediately.  So I did, and the world became a better place.
Recently I was saddened to learn that two acquaintances of mine have never heard of penne alla vodka either, which is a shame.  Clearly those of us who know what it is need to do more to get the word out.  So here is my effort to promote this simplest, cheapest, easiest, quickest, tastiest, and most elegant little gem.

Ingredients
(Recipe adapted from Jeanne Lemlin's Vegetarian Classics)
Yield: 8 servings

• 1 lb penne pasta
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• ½ cup vodka
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Parmesan cheese
• Fresh parsley and basil 

Method

Add pasta to boiling water and let steep for 10 minutes.

Rinse and dry the herbs.

The biggest change I made to the recipe was to dial the garlic way down.  The original would have 8 cloves for the quantity that I'm making.  But there's something about the chemistry of the vodka and cream that really, really, seriously enhances the garlic smell in the final dish.  To the extent that your entire home will retain the smell for a week.  And if you bring the leftovers in for lunch, the entire organization will comment on it.

Saute the garlic and the red pepper in the oil for just a minute on medium heat.

Add in the tomatoes, salt, and vodka.  Let simmer for 10 minutes, which will thicken and heat the sauce, and yes, cook the alcohol out.  But since no other big cooking tasks are required for the next 10 minutes, no one is saying that you can't sample the vodka while the bottle is out.

Once your drink is ready, check on the pasta.

Drain it.

Slice the herbs into a chiffonade.

After 10 minutes, the sauce looks a little angry.

Soothe it by turning off the heat and adding the cream.

Spoon the sauce over the pasta.

Garnish with cheese and herbs.

Chicken Parmesan

When the craving for chicken Parmesan struck this weekend, I turned straight to the Cook Yourself Thin website.  I liked the basic idea, but knew that their method of substituting low fat ricotta for a thick layer of mozzarella wasn't going to cut it.  I also didn't feel like making their tomato sauce.  So I kept looking and added in an Ellie Krieger recipe and a few of my own ideas.  The result melted right in my mouth and the leftovers were just as good reheated a few days later.

Ingredients
(Recipe inspired by Cook Yourself Thin and Ellie Krieger)
Yield: 2 servings

• 2 teaspoons paprika
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ cup panko
• 1 egg white
• 1/4 cup flour
• 8 oz boneless chicken breast
• 16 oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan
• 2 zucchini (or 4 oz linguine if you're craving pasta)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Oil spray

Method

Trim the chicken breast and blot with a paper towel.

Cover with plastic wrap and grab a meat mallet.

Pound it out thin with the smooth side of the mallet.  Another name for a meat mallet is a meat tenderizer, and that's exactly what we're doing in this step...making that chicken so tender that it will melt away as soon as it hits your tongue.  Slice it into two pieces.

Measure out the seasonings.

Stir the seasonings into the panko.

Set out bowls with the egg white and flour.

Dredge the chicken in the flour...

And through the egg white...

And finally through the panko.  Preheat the oven to 350°.

Spray oil into a skillet and heat until it sizzles.  Cook the chicken in batches for about 3 minutes on each side.

 Meanwhile, get serious with the zucchini and a vegetable peeler.  Peel the skin, and keep peeling until you reach the seeds.  Snack on the zucchini centers while you finish cooking.

Set the chicken into an 8" baking dish.

Top with crushed tomatoes.

And cheese!

Bake for 10 minutes, until the cheese bubbles.

Saute the zucchini (skin and all) for a few minutes until tender.

Serve the "pasta".

Top with the chicken.