Weeknights after work are the least desirable times to start cooking. Work is tiring, commutes can be unpleasant, and by the time I get home I want to eat right now. I could order take out (and sometimes I do) but then I still have to wait for the food to arrive. And I could heat up something pre-made, but I rarely do that because I don’t find refrigerator section foods to have that much personality. So I cook at home, even when I don’t want to. This recipe for orzo with sausage and tomatoes (and some other vegetables), will be a meal you’ll be happy to cook and eat after work. 

Although cooking dinner after work can feel like a chore, I really do love it and think it’s important. I like that it makes the whole apartment fill up with the yummy smell of sauteing garlic or onions. It makes me happy that in less than hour something that didn’t exist before, that was just separate ingredients, has come together to make something tasty and filling. And also, when it goes well I love the appreciation I get when dinner has been delicious and satisfying.

Everyone should have a handful of go-to of weekday meals that they can get on the table in an hour of less. Some of mine are taco salad, spaghetti and homemade tomato sauce, roast chicken with broccoli, baked salmon, and chicken and vegetable stir fry. But sometimes, the old favorites get well…old, and so I experiment. Sometimes I experiment with recipes from other sources and sometimes I make things up based on what’s available in my house and the tiny convenience store I pass on the way home from the tube. This orzo recipe is one of those I just made up. And it’s pretty good ya’ll.

The orzo, which is pasta cut short and shaped like rice, was taking up space in my cabinet so I decided to highlight it for dinner. I especially like dinner recipes where I can fit multiple food groups together, so I decided to do something like a stir fry with sausage, tomatoes, and leafy greens. The sausage I had, the vegetables were what the conveniences store had. I figured it’d be easy and it would have protein, grain, vegetables, and fruit (the tomato I guess…) all in one. I like when the vegetables are woven throughout because it means I’m more likely to eat them than if the vegetables are kept on the side. Yes, I’m 30 years old and I have ways of tricking myself to eat vegetables.

The first time I made this I used kale instead of spinach. Ryan and I agreed we really liked the dish overall, but we really didn’t like kale. I know kale is a super food and has been impossibly trendy recently, but I just don’t like it. I’m sorry, I just don’t. No matter how it’s cooked kale always always tastes like a dead crunchy autumn leaf off of the sidewalk.

We decided for future iterations we’d use other leafy greens like spinach, but I think chard word work nicely too. Ryan also suggested adding peas, which I think adds nice color and a different texture. In fact, I think this recipe is really versatile and can easily be changed to suit your tastes. If you like kale, or collards, or whatever – use that leafy green instead. If you don’t like sausage you could do this just as easily by sauteing bite sized chunks of chicken breasts, shrimp, or tofu. It’s s-i-m-p-l-e. And that’s totally what we want for after work dinner. Also, it’s great as lunch leftovers for the next day too!

Messy level: Two spoons only because you need a pot for the orzo and a separate frying pan for everything else. Overall though, not too many dishes.

Orzo with Sausage and Tomatoes

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Serves: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 6 sausages, in whatever seasoning flavor you like (about 400g or about 1 pound)
• olive oil
• 4 medium sized round tomatoes, chopped roughly to 1" pieces (about 380g or about .8 pounds)
• 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup orzo
• water to cook the orzo
• 3 cups spinach
• ½ cup frozen peas

Instructions

1. Remove the sausages from their casings.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the skillet is hot add the sausage meat. Cook the meat until cooked through. This takes about 10 minutes depending on the heat of your pan. As you cook the meat, use a wooden spoon to break the sausage up into bite sized pieces.
3. Cover a plate with a paper towel and put the cooked sausage on top. Try to pour out as much of the grease from the skillet as you can, but it doesn't have to be perfectly clean. This step helps to drain off the excess grease. You can skip this step if you want, but the overall dish will taste nicer without the grease.
4. Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of water to boil. Once it's boiling generously salt the water. Add the orzo to the water and cook for 8 minutes (or check package for timing recommendations). When the orzo is done cooking, drain the water and set the orzo aside.
5. Return the empty skillet you used before back to the stove. Add a splash of olive oil if the pan is dry. Once the oil is hot, add the tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until the tomatoes are losing their juices and everything is starting to simmer. Taste and adjust seasonings if you need to.
6. Add the spinach to the skillet. Stir the spinach in until it starts to wilt, about 1-2 minutes.
7. Next add the frozen peas. Stir the peas in until they lose their frozen look and start to turn brighter green, about 1 minute.
8. Now add the sausage and orzo to the skillet. Mix so everything is coated with the tomato juices and the vegetables are distributed throughout.
9. Serve in a bowl or on a plate.

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Guys, today I have a lovely salsa recipe as well as a little gush about Saltedtv.com. I’ve become kind of obsessed with Salted. Basically it is an online cooking school with hundreds of videos presented by 75 professional chefs (some of whom I’ve even heard of before). And it’s where I got today’s recipe for pico de gallo. Since joining a week ago, I’ve spent practically every break during work watching videos and they have everything. Everything I need to know and everything I didn’t know I wanted to know. 

The first video I watched was about how to make an omelette. An omelette is one of those things that seems easy but takes secret finesse and practice. After watching the video I went home and made omelettes for dinner. They didn’t come out perfectly, as I broke them taking them out of the pan – but they were perfectly yellow and fluffy which is something I haven’t done before. Usually, my omelettes get over cooked and browned on the outside. So see, I’m learning, which is exciting.

There are also courses on simple things like coring an apple, trendy things like using a spiralizer (which I both scorn and covet), and difficult things like how to stuff chicken wings. You can search videos by ingredient, chef, type of dish, and my favorite – mood. If you are feeling adventurous, romantic, or playful you can search for that!

Finally, in addition to one-off videos they also have courses with videos that go together. They have introduction courses and courses specific to a cuisine or holiday. I watched a course on grilled cheese, which may sound silly but my mind was blown. I had never thought of putting cheese outside the sandwich too. There are a bunch of other reasons I like this site, but I don’t need to go on and on. In short, I think Salted is totally brilliant. If you’re intrigued and curious about joining, consider doing so through the links in this post or the image in the side bar. I would great appreciate it because if you do join through those avenues, I’ll get a small commission for referring you. Oh and also, if you join you’ll get one month free and then after that it’s just $9.99 per month.

Ok, no enough of that and now on to pico de gallo. The other day Ryan and I watched Jamie Oliver’s TED talk and it got us thinking about healthy snacks and lunches. We talked about it a bit and decided we should try to incorporate more healthy, easy, vegetable heavy-recipes into the blog and into our diets. So, that evening as I laid in bed, I brainstormed recipe ideas and thought of salsa. Sure, not a whole meal but it’s easy, healthy, and vegetable based. About ten minutes later when I was 80% asleep Ryan came to bed and said, “I think you should make salsa.” From my groggy state I said, “I was just thinking that.” To which, Ryan said something surprised and confused because I was basically asleep so how could I be thinking about salsa? But, I liked that we were in sync so I was definitely going to make salsa. 

I went online to Salted and found a video tutorial for pico de gallo. Not only did I learn how to make this dish, but I learned an interesting fact. Pico de gallo means “rooster’s beak.” Originally people ate this with their hands using a pinching scooping movement that looked like a beak.

Anyway, I love this kind of salsa because it’s so simple but wonderfully delicious. I love the big chunks of vegetables, the crunch from the onions, the heat from the jalapenos, and just the overall bright flavor from using fresh vegetables. The salty mushy tomato gunk that’s in most jarred salsa can’t hold up to freshly made pico de gallo. Ryan and I had this with taco salad for dinner and plain with chips for snack. While I was cooking I put a little bowl out for snacking and Ryan said, “I’m so happy! This is delicious!” I’m not sure if there is higher praise. Also, this is the easiest thing ever to make. All you have to do is chop and stir. So, what are you waiting for? Go make this right now. Seriously, I’ve made it twice in 24 hours and it’s nearly all gone.

Messy level: This is even neater than a one spoon recipe. All you have to do is chop and mix. Practically no mess and everything can go in the dishwasher afterward. It’s hassle-free and sure to be a crowd pleaser. What is better than that?

Pico de Gallo

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

Serves: 2-4 servings

Ingredients

• 4 plum tomatoes, ¼ inch chop
• ½ red onion, diced
• 2 jalapenos, seeded (optional) and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup of chopped cilantro leaves
• juice of ½ lime
• salt, to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl mix together the tomatoes, onions, garlic, and half of the jalapenos.
2. Once all of that is well mixed add the cilantro and lime, gently stir together.
3. Taste. Do you want it spicier? Add the rest of the jalapenos.
4. Taste. Do you want a little more zip? Add some salt, about ¼-1/2 teaspoon should be fine.
5. Stir so everything is well mixed.
6. Serve as a garnish or with chips as a salsa.

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I like leftovers. I love having yesterday’s dinner for lunch because something warm and satisfying is often better than a pb&j that got squashed in my purse. While Ryan was in South Africa, I decided I didn’t want to cook every night of the week so I wanted to make something that would yield a lot of leftovers. Meatloaf seemed like a hearty and delicious option. And this recipe fit the bill. I had it for a few days of lunch, and there was even some left over for Ryan to eat when he returned to London tired and hungry.

In my search for a tasty meatloaf recipe, I came across one from Yotam Ottolenghi. To be honest, I’m intrigued and intimidated by Ottolenghi recipes. Yotam Ottolenghi is an Israeli chef based in London. He has multiple restaurants and many cookbooks. His food tends to be influenced by Israeli and Mediterranean flavors. And he’s well known for creating delicious vegetable based recipes. Obviously I’ve ignored the vegetable part and gone straight for the meaty recipes. 

For my birthday last year, Ryan and I went to his restaurant on Upper Street and it was very good. I also felt, it was slightly hyped up. I was expecting to have my mind blown by the food, but everything was served small plate style, and it was kind of expensive and overall I felt that the cost didn’t match up to my expectation. But, I will say the dessert was amazing. The window display overflowed with dessert options, each looking so tempting it was hard to choose. My overall takeaway of the experience was that everything we ate was a combination of interesting and unusual textures and flavors.

And the same is true for the recipes in his cookbooks. When I was first learning to cook, I wanted to get ideas about how to do more with vegetables. I borrowed his book Plenty from the library and I was intimidated. Some of the ingredient lists were a long and had items that I wasn’t familiar with and wasn’t sure I wanted to buy. I wasn’t ready for risk taking and complex cookery.

So when I came across this meatloaf recipe, I was nervous. I read through the recipe and thought, yeah I can do this. Sure, it has some ingredients I wouldn’t usually put in meatloaf, like cinnamon or pine nuts. But, I was willing to try something new. And in fact, I think this is a perfect starter Ottolenghi recipe. Even though the ingredient list is a bit long, it includes items that are all familiar and seasonings you probably already have in your house. I think this recipe will push you out of your comfort zone, but only just the right amount. I thought the texture and combination of this meatloaf was fantastic and really different from the usual slab you’d get at a diner. This recipe also made me receptive to trying other Ottolenghi recipes. This one went well, so I feel confident enough to go back to Plenty and try to tackle some more complex recipes and learn to do awesome things with vegetables.

The original recipe (found here) includes recipe for a yogurt-tomato salsa. I didn’t make that, but you might want to consider it. The first day I made this the meatloaf was so moist that I didn’t need any gravy, ketchup, salsa, or sauce. It was delicious just plain. But as with all meatloaf, after a few days in the fridge it started to get a little dry and would have benefited from the salsa. Since I didn’t make it, I just used barbecue sauce and that was delicious as well.

Finally, this recipe asks you to grate some tomatoes and an onion. I highly, highly, highly recommend using a food processor. I grated the onion using a box grater and started profusely crying. Seriously, I had to stop occasionally because I couldn’t see. Use a food processor and save yourself!

Messy level: The assembly for this recipe is fairly straightforward. You mix all the ingredients in a bowl and then press it into a large pan. It’s the prep where you get messy. You’ll need to do a fair bit of chopping and then the grating requires a food processor which is more equipment to clean. The actual food won’t get everywhere as you cook, but you will have a pile of dishes at the end.

Beef, Lamb and Bulgur Meatloaf

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

Author: Yotam Ottolenghi

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 150g/ ⅔ cup bulgur wheat
• 400g/ 14 oz ground lamb (if you go for a full pound of meat that's ok)
• 400g/ 14 oz ground beef (if you go for a full pound of meat that's ok)
• 1½ teaspoon ground allspice
• 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 medium onion, peeled and roughly grated
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 20g/ ¾ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
• 20g/ ¾ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• 60g pine nuts, roughly chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, cut in half and roughly grated (discard the skins)
• olive oil

Instructions

1. Put the bulgur in a medium bowl. Cover with 2 cups of warm water and let soak for 15 minutes.
2. Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
3. Line a 8x12" pan with parchment paper.
4. Drain the bulgur and press it to squeeze out excess moisture.
5. In a large bowl, add the bulgur, lamb, beef, allspice, cinnamon, salt, grated onion, garlic, parsley, cilantro, pine nuts, and grated tomato. Mix well until everything looks evenly distributed.
6. Transfer the mixture to your prepared pan. Use your hands to press the mixture down so it is tightly packed and even across the pan.
7. Brush the top of the meatloaf with a little bit of olive oil (less than 1 tablespoon should do it).
8. Bake for 30 minutes, or until brown on the top and cooked through.
9. Let cool slightly, then serve.

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For Christmas my sister-in-law bought me a box of conversation cards with questions all about food. Some of the questions are a little bit silly like, “has our love of bacon gone too far?” (Yes, bacon is nice, but bacon maple frosting is too far) Some are really fun to think about like, “what would you serve if Julia Child came to diner?” (Probably something Puerto Rican since maybe she wouldn’t have eaten much of that before)

One question I really like is, “what do you eat when you’re alone?” I like this question because the answer encompasses a whole range of foods. When I’m lazy, I like popcorn, a spoonful of Nutella, and cheese and crackers. Sometimes when I’m alone I like to try something really difficult to make because then if it comes out badly, no one else knows. But my favorite thing to eat when I’m on my own is Greek salad. I love Greek salad. It’s crunchy and salty. It’s pretty healthy, but it’s got some indulgences with the olives and cheese. And I just love all the flavors and I eat it whenever I can. When I was in grad school writing my thesis, I’d run down to the deli beneath my apartment and grab a salad on a break. When, it was too loud and crazy at when I worked at Ford’s Theatre, I’d run to Cosi for lunch and get one. And now I always search for it on takeaway menus.

And also, I eat Greek salad when I’m alone because Ryan doesn’t like olives and feta. But sometimes I can’t resist, and I make it for dinner anyway. I wanted to make it a little heartier, so I decided to substitute the greens for bulgur, but still keep all the yummy other vegetables. This was the first time I ever had bulgur and it was so good! It’s small like quinoa, but chewier like rice. Also I like that it’s got an uneven shape.

To be honest, although it’s a straightforward salad recipe, I feel a little nervous sharing this! I have two Greek coworkers who sometimes ready this blog, and I’m changing up a traditional dish. That feels somewhat taboo. But in truth, this recipe is like tabbouleh and regular Greek salad fell in love and had a delicious hybrid child. So it’s like two wonderful Greek recipes in one. This is yummy, a nice side dish, and Ryan even liked it (without the feta and olives).

One last thing before the recipe – I have a tip on cutting cherry tomatoes. Cutting a lot of small circular foods is kind of annoying and time consuming. To speed up the process, take two lids from food storage containers. Put your tomatoes (or grapes or pitted cherries or your circular whatever) between the two container lids. Make sure your knife is sharp, then carefully cut horizontally between the two lids. Then boom, you’ve got lots of tomato halves in one slice. Some might be a little uneven, but for a salad that’s not really important. I really like this trick because I think it makes preparing a salad less tedious and it’s a fun trick. Sorry, I don’t have a trick for cutting tomatoes into quarters.

Unrelated to this post, after three years of having a Twitter account, I’ve decided to finally start using it. For real, I’m going to start tweeting and stuff. Help me get up and running! You can follow me @mariel621. Thanks!

Messy level: Salad is so easy and neat – if you plan it properly. You’ll need a cutting board, knife, and a saucepan for the bulgur. You could use a separate bowl to mix it all together and serve, but if you have a large enough saucepan you can do it in there. I didn’t have a large enough saucepan, then I transferred it to a mixing bowl that was too small, and then I finally got it right and put it in a big enough bowl. Don’t make my mistakes, and it’s a one spoon recipe.

Bulgur Greek Salad

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Serves: 6 large servings

Ingredients

• 1½ cups bulgur
• 3 cups water
• ½ cup cherry tomatoes in quarters
• ½ cup cubed cucumber
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (or in strips if you prefer)
• ½ red onion, cut into matchsticks
• ⅓ cup pitted kalamata olives
• ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• oregano (optional)

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the bulgur and water. Bring it to boil.
2. Once the water has come to a boil, cover, and lower the heat. Simmer until all the water is absorbed. It should take about 15-20 minutes, but check what the package says.
3. While the bulgur is cooking is cooking chop up all of your vegetables
4. When the bulger is finished, fluff it with a fork and let cool to room temperature (or just slightly warm).
5. Stir the vegetables into the bulgur.
6. Pour the olive oil and balsamic over the bulgur and vegetables. Taste and adjust as you prefer. I like only a little balsamic to give it a nice tang, but not over power the dish.
7. Serve and sprinkle with a little oregano (dried or fresh) for garnish.

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Meanwhile, while I was doing that, Ryan was in Brussels for work. How cool is that?! Seems super cool to me. He did get to do a bit of walking around, he ate an awesome waffle, and he even saw the King of Belgium! I was jealous. He was only there overnight, so I didn’t go with him, which means I was making dinner for one.

Now, I’ve mentioned it before, but when I’m alone I make girly, vegetarian, salads. My go-to is usually a Greek salad because Ryan doesn’t like olives or feta. I decided to put a twist on a regular salad and do a pretty liberal interpretation of this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Part of the reason for interpreting the recipe is that I don’t currently have access to an oven or food processor. What I found is you don’t need an oven, but a food processor would definitely be helpful. Either way, it’s a pretty yummy and simple dish. The proportions below are small, since it was just for me – but feel free to double it. And sorry, this is not a photogenic dish.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa

1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes

3 garlic cloves

Dressing:

1/8 cup olive oil

1/8 cup warm water

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives

1/4 cup crumbled feta

Instructions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Or, put 1/2 cup of quinoa and 1 cup of water in a pot, bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer until all water is absorbed. This takes about 20 minutes.

2. Heat a skillet on low. While the pan is heating, cut the tomatoes in half. Also cut the garlic cloves in half. Put the tomatoes and garlic in a hot skillet. Heat for 10 minutes, stir once halfway through. The tomatoes are done when they’re a bit wrinkly and when you press on the tomato skin, it has some gentle give. This part smells so so good!

3. In a food processor, blend the olive oil, water, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and half of the tomatoes and all the garlic. Blend until smooth (or in my case smash with a fork to the best of your ability).

4. Plate the quinoa, mix in the olives, tomatoes, and feta. Then pour over the dressing. Pour the dressing slowly, to your taste. Don’t just dump it or you’ll have soggy quinoa.

Messy level: Two spoons, and only because you need two pots. It’s easy to make though and won’t have much clean up.

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But I thought about it and said, why not?! Let’s lean into the holiday season of hearty foods, decadent meals, and rich desserts. Now, don’t get crazy and give up your exercise routine, but let’s wait until January 2nd to worry about our meals. So here’s a great meal that will make you feel cozy on a cold day, that’s great to serve to holiday house guests, and will provide you with workday lunches you’ll eagerly gobble up.

The way I make this recipe, I make the sauce using Marcella Hazan’s recipe, which I first mentioned in my pici post. If you do the whole recipe the way I do, it should take you about an hour. If you’re going to use jar sauce, I think this should take you about 30 minutes.

Now, I know most of the time a recipe like this is called baked ziti. I’m calling it baked rigatoni because it’s my favorite noodle to use. Rigatoni’s large and textured shape makes it perfect for sticking to cheese, sauce, and meat. In my opinion, rigatoni allows you to have the perfect bite. But, if you’re interested in other pasta, I’ve used penne and ziti before and I also think you could use macaroni or fusilli.

Last but not least, I don’t usually measure when I make this. I like a lot of cheese and sauce. Feel free to find your perfect balance of ingredients. I hope you enjoy and can find space in your belly for this great meal.

Adapted from Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce recipe and the Amateur Gourmet’s baked ziti recipe.

Baked Rigatoni

 

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Ingredients

Tomato Sauce

• 1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes
• 5 tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion

Meat

• olive oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• salt
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb ground beef
• ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
• ½ tsp smoked paprika (optional)
• salt

Everything Else

• 1 lb box of rigatoni
• 8-10 oz ricotta cheese (so a bit more than 1 cup)
• 8 oz ball of mozzarella (or larger!)
• ¼ cup grated parmesan

Instructions

1. We're starting with the tomato sauce. Put the can of tomatoes in a medium sauce pan. Take a knife and roughly cut up the tomatoes in halves or quarters. This isn't the serious, it just helps everything break down.
2. Cut (and peel) the onion. Cut the onion in half from end to end, not across the equator. Put the onion halves and butter in the tomato sauce.
3. Heat the sauce on medium high until it's simmering. Then turn the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes. Set your kitchen timer! Over the 45 minutes, stir occasionally and use your spoon to smash and cut up the tomatoes.
4. Preheat your oven to 450°.
5. When the timer says 25 minutes left, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet on medium-high heat. Add the minced onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is soft but not yet brown (about 7 minutes).
6. Once the onions and garlic are ready, add the ground beef. Add the crushed red pepper, salt and paprika, if using. Cook until brown. Break up with your spoon as you cook it.
7. When the meat is finished pour out any excess fat and grease from the pan. Then set the meat side, it will wait until everything else is ready.
8. When the timer says 15 minutes left, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
9. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta. Cook until it is al dente (about 6-8 minutes). This means, when it still has a chew to it. Cook it about 2 minutes less than you usually would, when it's just on the cusp of being ready but is still a bit tough. The pasta will cook more in the oven.
10. Drain the pasta using a colander.
11. The sauce should be done by now. Remove the onion and throw it away. Add the cooked ground beef and the pasta to the pot of sauce. Mix it thoroughly.
12. Add the ricotta to the pot. Mix a little, but try to leave some chunks of ricotta showing.
13. Pour half of the pasta-beef-sauce mix into a 9"x13" pan. On top of that half, add half of the Parmesan and half of the mozzarella.
14. Pour the other half of the pasta mix and then top that with the rest of the cheese.
15. Cook in the oven for 15. The sauce will be bubbling and the cheese will be a bit brown.

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Messy Level  I’m giving this three spoons only because the pasta, meat, and sauce, and final product are all cooked in different pans, so that means there’s a lot of dishes. Also, pouring the rigatoni mix can be a little hard and sauce can splatter. I don’t really find this that messy, but my dishwasher might disagree.

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And then I tried a roasted acorn squash stuffed with rice and lentils. It came out under cooked and under seasoned. That was probably a recipe that with a little tweaking I could get right, but I was still disappointed.

But one meal worth writing about was my lunch on Monday. I had off for Columbus day and my friends Ashley and Mala came over. We had a pretty fancy lunch despite some lazy hostessing on my part. And by lazy hostessing, I mean that 75% of the dining table was covered with a puzzle of Abraham Lincoln that I’m working on, and I also made them use paper plates. In spite of that, lunch actually turned out quite nice and now I wish I had taken more pictures.

We started out with a cheese plate. Ashley brought apple-cinnamon covered goat cheese. I had never had goat cheese coated in anything but herbs, so it was cool to try. We also had Gruyere and cheddar, which I served on my fancy cheese platter with the fancy cheese knives.

For our lunch we had a salad (that Ashley made), pici pasta, and homemade tomato sauce. Ashley’s salad was a great combination of sweet, from the fruits, and a sharp saltiness, from the blue cheese. The pear she used was a little soft, which was actually really nice because it soaked up the dressing. And the addition of pecans made for a nice crunch.

The recipes for the pici and tomato sauce I adapted from the Amateur Gourmet. We were all skeptical of how well the pasta would come out and we were delighted that it actually tasted like pasta. We did have some issues with shaping the pasta. The Amateur Gourmet said to shape the pasta, put it on a plate, and toss it with flour before putting the pasta into boiling water. We did that, but we must not have used enough flour because all the pasta stuck together and Mala and I ended up ripping the heap of dough apart and throwing in random sized pieces into the water. The three of us agreed it would have been easier to bring the water to a boil, then shape the pasta, then immediately throw it in the water so the shape would be less weird. Because of the random shaping, some of the fatter pieces were heavy and reminded me of gnocchi. But, if you roll thinner pieces it really tastes just like pasta. Though in the end, I think we were all impressed that we made homemade pasta for lunch.

The pasta sauce was my favorite part. I learned about it from the Amateur Gourmet, but the original author is Marcella Hazan. This recipe is SO EASY and SO DELICIOUS. I really don’t think I’m overselling it. There’s this pasta restaurant that Ryan and I love called Pasta Mia. The pasta there is so good that we always overeat because we want to soak up as much of the good flavor as possible. The first time I made this recipe I thought, “this smells like Pasta Mia.” But I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to influence Ryan. Then he took a bite and said, “this is like Pasta Mia.” So if Pasta Mia means anything to you, then you’ll know this sauce is good. If Pasta Mia means nothing to you, sorry. You should still try it because it’s so simple and comforting and tasty.

Anyway, today’s post has three recipes and I hope you enjoy!

Ashley’s Salad–

Ingredients:

(Portion amounts based on your taste preferences)

arugula

sweet and spicy pecans

crumbled blue cheese

1 pear, sliced

dried cranberries

balsamic vinaigrette

Directions: 

1. Mix arugula, pecans, cheese, pear, and cranberries in a large bowl.

2. Dress with balsamic vinaigrette. Serve!

Tomato Sauce –

Ingredients:

1 28oz can of whole peeled tomatoes

5 tbsp butter

1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half.

Directions:

1. Empty the can of tomatoes into a pot. Use a knife and roughly cut up the tomatoes. Don’t get crazy with this, just cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters.

2. Add the butter and onion halves. Turn on the heat to medium and bring to a simmer.

3. Once it’s simmering, lower the heat. Let it simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally and use your spoon to smash and crush the tomatoes.

4. After 45 minutes, discard the onion.

5. Serve.

Pici Pasta –

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 large egg, beaten (Mala beat the egg first, then we measured out half)

1 cup water, room temperature

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix together flour and salt.

2. Add the water and egg. Knead until smooth. (Amateur Gourmet says about 5 minutes)

3. Flatten it and rub it with olive oil. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes.

4. While you’re waiting for the dough, bring  a large pot of water to boil.

5. Generously flour your work surface and hands. Roll out the dough. Cut the dough into desired pieces. (I cut the dough into chunks and then rolled out snakes).

6. Drop the pasta snakes into the boiling water.

7. Boil for 3-4 minutes.  You want the pasta to be cooked through but not raw.

8. Drain, top with sauce. Serve!

Messy level: The salad and tomato sauces are easy 1-2 spoon recipes. The pici though is a 4-spoon recipe. You have to stick you hands in and knead the dough and it get really sticky and caked into your finger nails. Also you have to flour your work surface and roll everything out. It takes a bit of work and makes quite a bit of mess. All this mess is the reason I was  a lazy hostess and opted for paper plates.

The post Pici Pasta, Tomato Sauce, and Salad appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Now, like all family recipes, many of the directions I got from my mom and my aunt were a bit vague. Things like “a lot” and “until it looks right” can be really confusing and frustrating until you make it and it comes out yummy and “a lot” and “until it looks right” makes a lot of sense. I’ll do my best to be specific, but this recipe allows for wiggle room when it comes to seasoning so don’t worry!

Before getting started, let’s talk ingredients. I use mostly Goya products. You can use whatever you want, but Goya is easy to find in grocery stores and always hits the spot. First, let’s talk pigeon beans, or gandules. I have only had pigeon beans in this dish so I have no idea how else to use them, and I really have no idea what they taste like solo, but they are great in this dish.

Second, is sofrito. I like the Goya frozen version. You can make your own fresh version. The recipe I like is from Wilo Benet’s book True Flavors. You can also buy the sauce-like Goya version, but the frozen container is the  largest and is less tomato-y. To use it, I just microwave the container for 20 seconds and then scrape off the portion I need.

Finally, let’s talk tomato paste. You can use regular tomato paste, but I’ve used whatever tomato based sauce I’ve had in the fridge. Some sometimes I’ve used paste, sometimes plain pasta sauce, and once the tomato juice from a can of whole tomatoes.

I think that’s the basics, so we should be good to get started!

Ingredients:

1 cup medium grain rice

1 can pigeon beans (drain the beans but hold on to the liquid)

2 cups of liquid (You can use all water, but it will be most flavorful if you measure the bean liquid and then use chicken broth or water to make the difference up to 2 cups) You might also need more than 2 cups of liquid, and I’ll explain why in the directions.

olive oil

1 small onion diced

2 tbsp garlic minced (can use more or less depending on taste)

3-4 tbsp sofrito

3 tbsp tomato paste

3 tbsp cilantro

*People also add green olives, cubanelle peppers, and diced ham. I don’t because Ryan doesn’t like olives and I don’t like ham, but if you choose to use these ingredients add them the step before you put in the pigeon beans.

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat 1-2 tbsp of oil. I like to have the setting at medium-high.

2. Cook the onion and garlic for about 3 minutes, or until the onion in translucent.

3. Stir in the sofrito, cilantro, and tomato paste. Now here is where my mom said you can use “a lot” of sofrito. She said there was no way you could use too much, so don’t feel like you have to stick to just 3-4 tbsps of sofrito. I know I’ve used enough sofrito when everything that turned the color of sofrito and the onions and garlic now look they are cooking in a thin layer of liquid.

4. Stir in the drained pigeon beans.

5. Pour in the liquid. If you can see the pigeon beans clearly through the liquid, add a little more until you can’t see the ingredients at the bottom of the pot. Usually I add about another 1/4 -1/2 cup.  Bring it to a boil. Season with salt if you’d like.

6. Once the liquid has boiled add the rice.

7. Cook until the liquid evaporates and the surface of the rice is visible with some bubbling between the grains of rice. This usually takes 9-10 minutes.

8. Lower the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and cook for about 20 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is fully cooked. Some people like to overcook it a little at the bottom so those grains are crunchy – I usually have people fighting for those portions.

Messy Level – Low. It’s really a one pot dish so there’s not much to clean afterward. Also, everything cooks at a nice boil or simmer so there isn’t an occasion for thing to pop out of the pot.  Any mess I make comes in through spilling sofrito, chicken broth, and tomato sauce as I balance out how much I want to put in. But who doesn’t spill while cooking? 

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