Creamy Farfalle with Mushrooms and Asparagus

Yummy and easy!

1 lb. farfalle pasta
2 T. butter
3/4 to 1 lb. mushrooms (I like crimini)
1 lb. thin asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 C. mascarpone cheese (can be found in the specialty cheese section)
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 C. toasted slivered almonds
1/4 - 1/2C. freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook farfalle until al dente, about 12 minutes. Make sure your water is well salted. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes. Add the asparagus and saute 5 more minutes. Add farfalle, reserving some of the pasta water (about 1 C.). Stir in the mascarpone cheese, nutmeg and parmesan cheese. Toss to coat and season with salt and pepper. If the sauce is not as creamy as you would like, add 1/4 C. of pasta water at a time until it is the desired consistency. Top with toasted almonds and additional Parmesan cheese. Serves 6.

Baked Gnocchi with Sausage and Cheese

This is a family favorite!

1 lb. gnocchi, cooked al dente, drained
2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. bulk Italian sausage
1 t. fennel seed
5 T. butter
5 T. flour
2 C. chicken broth
1 C. half and half
½ t. kosher salt
About ½ lb fresh spinach leaves (use a 9 oz. bag of spinach)
½ lb. Munster or Gouda cheese shredded

Place the cooked gnocchi in a baking dish (9 x 13” works well). In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the garlic and sausage. Saute until no longer pink; add fennel seed and cook another minute. Remove to a bowl; in same skillet, add butter and melt over medium heat. Stir in the flour; whisking until combined. Stir in the broth, half and half and salt. Cook another 2-3 minutes until thickened slightly. Stir in the spinach leaves and cook just until wilted. Add the cooked sausage to the sauce. Pour over the gnocchi, sprinkle on the cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes in a preheated 375 oven. Serve at once. Serves 6-8.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter

The best way to describe this dish is YUMMMMM!!! This is kind of a labor intensive dish, but it is so worth it! I LOVED it! It's one of Giada De Laurentiis' recipes and I just made a few slight adjustments after reading the recipe reviews. I would suggest making the gnocchi dough 1 day ahead so it can chill in the fridge. It was much easier to work with when it was chilled!
6 to 8 servings

Gnocchi:

2 lbs sweet potatoes
2/3 C. whole milk ricotta cheese
1 1/2 t. salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 C. all purpose flour, plus 1/3 for work surface
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork. Bake the sweet potatoes until tender and fully cooked, about 40-50 minutes. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, place ricotta in a strainer or some cheese cloth and allow excess moisture to drain into a bowl and set aside. Remove sweet potatoes from the oven and cool slightly. Cut in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Mash the sweet potatoes and transfer to a large measuring cup to make sure the sweet potatoes measure about 2 cups. Transfer the mashed sweet potatoes back to the large bowl. Add the ricotta cheese, salt, cinnamon, and pepper and blend until well mixed. Add the flour, 1/2 C. at a time until a soft dough forms. You may need slightly more flour than the recipe calls for. Just continue to add flour 1/2 C. at a time until the dough is no longer goopy and a soft ball forms. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour. Lightly flour a work surface and place the dough in a ball on the work surface. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls. Roll out each ball into 1-inch wide rope. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces. Roll the gnocchi over the lines of a fork (this is just for looks) and transfer to a large baking sheet.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the gnocchi in 3 batches and cook until tender but still firm to the bite. The gnocchi will float when it is done. Drain gnocchi using a slotted spoon and transfer to a baking sheet. After all gnocchi is cooked, saute in a nonstick pan with a little butter to create a slight crust on the gnocchi. Return gnocchi to the baking sheet and tent with foil to keep warm.

Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter:

1/2 C. unsalted butter (Make sure it is unsalted! If you use salted butter, do not add salt to the sauce.)
20 fresh sage leaves
1 t. ground cinnamon
2 T. maple syrup
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted add sage leaves. Continue to cook, swirling the butter occasionally until the foam subsides and the milk solids begin to brown. Remove from heat and stir in the cinnamon, maple syrup, salt and pepper. The mixture will bubble up. Gently stir the mixture and toss with the gnocchi. Transfer to a platter and serve immediately.

Macaroni and Cheese with Crumb Topping

I've been looking for a really good macaroni and cheese recipe. I think this one is pretty good, but I think I might try a few more recipes. Addy loves this mac and cheese! I have made it with white cheddar and regular cheddar. Both are good.

12 servings

1 ½ C. fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French bread
¾ C. freshly grated Asiago cheese
1 t. sweet paprika
8 T. butter, divided
6 T. flour
6 C. whole milk (I used skim and it was still good)
2 t. Dijon mustard
1 t. ground black pepper
4 C. grated white cheddar cheese
1 ½ T. chopped fresh parsley
1 lb. macaroni

Mix breadcrumbs, Asiago, and paprika in medium bowl. Melt 6 T. butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk, then mustard and pepper. Cook until thickened, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Mix in 1/2 of the cheddar cheese. Cool sauce slightly and then add the rest of the cheese and fresh parsley. Preheat oven to 400 F. Butter 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish. Cook macaroni in pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain macaroni. Return macaroni to pot; mix in sauce. Season to taste with salt. Transfer mixture to prepared dish. Sprinkle with topping. Dot with remaining 2 T. butter. Bake until cheese is bubbling and crumbs are brown, about 40 minutes. Cool slightly and serve.

Delicious Pasta Salad

This has been a family favorite for years. We just love it! The only thing I do differently with this recipe is use a different shape of pasta than the recipe calls for. The recipe calls for shell pasta, but I think farfalle pasta just looks prettier. I'm all about making my food look pretty!

2 C. farfalle pasta(measure dry then cook and cool)
4 C. cooked chicken(I use a rotisserie chicken. It's fast and easy)
2 C. water chestnuts(drained)
2 C. celery, chopped
2 C. seedless grapes, halved
2 C. unpaired apples, cut up
2 T. chopped green onions
1 1/2 C. slivered almonds

Mix the above ingredients. Then mix 1 cup Kraft coleslaw dressing and 1 cup mayonnaise together in a small bowl. Pour over salad, mix and chill.

Caprese Ravioli

A few years ago I got a little ravioli maker and a good old fashioned pasta roller. I am constantly on the lookout for good ravioli recipes so there will probably be quite a few more ravioli recipes on this blog in the future. Anyway, making ravioli CAN be time consuming, but the great thing about it is that you can make a big batch and freeze what you don't cook. I like to make my own pasta dough, but you can just buy wonton wrappers and use those instead. I found this ravioli recipe in one of Jamie Olivers cook books, but I changed it a little to make it my own. The ingredients in the filling are similar to the ingredients in caprese salad, so that is where the name came from. Caprese salad is a simple, but delicious Italian salad that consists of fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

Ravioli Dough:
2 C. flour
1 t. salt
2 T. butter
1/2 C. boiled water
In a food processor pulse flour,salt and butter together. Slowly add boiled water while pulsing until all of the dough collects on one side of the food processor and forms into a ball. Kneed the dough until smooth, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for about 10 minutes. Cut the dough into four pieces. Run each piece through your pasta maker until very thin and about 5 inches wide and 12 inches long (maybe longer). You can also roll it out, but it takes a lot of work! You just want the dough to be 1/16th of an inch maybe a little thinner.

Filling:
8 oz. fresh mozzarella pearls or chopped fresh mozzarella
About 6 or 7 sundried tomatoes, chopped fine
5 fresh basil leaves chopped fine
3 slices of cooked bacon, chopped fine
1/3 C. grated romano cheese
Combine all ingredients. Brush your 5 x 12 sheet of pasta with water or an egg wash. Place 12 mounds (about 1 T. each) of filling on your sheet of pasta dough making sure to get at least 1 piece of mozzarella in each mound. Lay another sheet of pasta over the top and press around the edges of each mound and cut into squares. Repeat with the rest of the pasta dough and filling. If you are using wonton wrappers, brush water on one wonton, put the filling on top and then put another wonton over the top and then press around the edges.
If the pasta is fresh, cook in boiling, salted water for about 3 minutes. If it's frozen, cook for about 7 minutes and drain. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and top with fresh ground pepper, romano cheese and fresh basil.