Mac n Cheese...

I finally made a decent batch of mac n cheese. After quiet a few flops. You can use light cheese in this recipe from the April issue of Cooking Light. I used whatever I had on hand. No light cheeses. It came out great. We finally enjoyed a nice bowl of creamy mac n cheese. Finally.

Although compared to this one from way back, anything is an improvement :)

We needed to actually scrape it off the plate.

 But this one was light, creamy and cheesy. Perfect. and it had a nice toasted bread crumb topping.

Easy Mac and Cheese

original recipe from Cooking Light, April 2013

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Printable Recipe

1 box elbow macaroni
2 cups 1% low-fat milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
dash of ground red pepper
3/4 cup Velveeta cheese, cut in chunks, or shredded
2/3 cup extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more or less to taste
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs (I used brioche)

Preheat broiler.

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

While the pasta cooks, combine milk, flour, and red and black peppers in a saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; keep stirring, cook until thick, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add cheeses and salt; stir until smooth. Add pasta, and stir to coat. Spoon mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle breadcrumbs evenly over top; broil 2 minutes or until browned. Watch carefully so the breadcrumbs don't burn.

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Shrimp Scampi

It's been a while but I'm back with more seafood. After not having it for so long, I'm really enjoying making up for lost time. This one was super easy and really good. You can serve it over pasta or not. We loved it over spaghetti. I didn't exactly follow the recipe, no kidding :) and you have to watch the breadcrumbs under the broiler, it was real close to setting off the smoke alarm. But I was actually paying attention this time. I will definitely be making this one again. And again.

Sorry for the comment moderation, the spammers seem to be typing overtime these days.

Shrimp Scampi

original recipe by from MarthaStewart.com, courtesy of Patsy's owner, Sal Scognomillo

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Printable Recipe

1 package of spaghetti or linguine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 cloves garlic, minced
18 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup Sauvignon Blanc or other white wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 seasoned breadcrumbs, store bought or homemade (I used seasoned panko)
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes

Preheat broiler.

Prepare spaghetti according to package directions.

Melt butter in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until it start to get some color, about 3 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until well coated with butter and garlic, about 2 minutes. Add lemon juice, wine, red pepper and broth; bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover, reduce heat, and let simmer for another 2 minutes.

Uncover; sprinkle shrimp with paprika. Transfer the skillet to broiler and broil until shrimp are cooked through, about 5 - 6 minutes. Remove skillet from broiler, top with breadcrumbs and drizzle with olive oil. Return skillet to broiler and broil until breadcrumbs are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Keep an eye so it doesn't burn. Toss with spaghetti and serve.

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Chicken Parm Meatballs and Spaghetti

This was one of those last minute dinners. With the internet, blog lists and a cookbook addiction there are a million places to get recipes. Not to mention magazines. Still getting those, too. So I don't lack for ideas, just that I am better at procrastinating. I'll cook tomorrow. We'll order in today. Then the mail came and I got the October issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food and I knew there would be no procrastinating about cooking dinner. No being lazy. Had to pick up a few things but I knew these would go over really well with my family. They did. And they made a great lunch sandwich next day on crusty bread. So good. Already have orders to make this again. Soon. And we don't even like ground chicken. But they looked so good in the magazine.

You can see the fresh mozzarella oozing from the meatballs. It was really a fantastic dish!

Spaghetti and Chicken Parm Meatballs

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Source: Martha Stewart Everyday Food, October 2012
Printable Recipe

salt and pepper
3/4 pound spaghetti
1 3/4 cups plain dried breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk (I used 1%)
1 1/2 pounds ground white-meat chicken
1 - 1/2 cups olive oil

1 egg white
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into small pieces
3 cups marinara sauce (homemade or jarred)
chopped fresh parsley

freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain.

In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, milk, egg white, a teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken and mix together until just combined. In a medium  skillet, add the oil to about one inch or so. Heat oil on medium-high heat.

Place remaining breadcrumbs in a dish. Gently form mixture into balls, and place mozzarella pieces in center of each, then form back into a ball around cheese. Coat balls in breadcrumbs and fry until golden brown, turning once. With a slotted spoon, transfer meatballs to a paper-towel-lined rimmed baking sheet and let drain for a minute.

Discard paper towels and transfer baking sheet to the oven. Bake the meatballs until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Serve with the spaghetti and sauce. Top with grated cheese and parsley. Serve.

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Paccheri Carbonara

We love Carbonara. But it's one of those dishes that is either really good or really bad. And some restaurants try to put their own special "touch" to it. It's basically just eggs and cheese, but some places have to put their own touches to it and make it their own. We found a place like that and their version was delicious. So I wanted to recreate it. Close but no cigar. I also don't think their dish was a true Carbonara but they can call it whatever they want, we called it fantastic. But mine didn't come close. We liked, not loved, so it needs more tweaking!

I found a recipe online by Barbara Lynch at Bon Appetit. Then just added what I remember was in the original dish. Mushrooms, peas. I think it must have also had cream, which to me would make it more like an Alfredo but that's a whole new discussion. I didn't use the cream. Next time.

The recipe from Bon Appetit used rigatoni but I used the same pasta the restaurant did, a large tube-shaped pasta called Paccheri, sort of like a big fat rigatoni. This wasn't exactly like we remember but it was still pretty good. The Paccheri is nice because it's big, hollow and hearty and when it's cooked it flattens and grabs a lot of sauce, except mine didn't flatten much because it was really al dente. It needed a tad more cooking time but on the bright side it wasn't crunchy. I also need more work on technique it's been a long time since I made a Carbonara. The sauce was a bit diluted, I added way too much pasta water this time because I was rushing to get dinner on the table and I didn't pay attention. Story of my life. But it was good. Just not great. So next time will be perfect. Maybe.

Paccheri Carbonara
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Source: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/04/the-silkiest-carbonara, recipe by Barbara Lynch
Printable Recipe

1/4 pound pancetta, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
7 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1 pound rigatoni, paccheri or penne (spaghetti works well, too)
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen green peas
kosher salt
1/2 cup finely grated Pecorino or Parmesan plus more for garnish
1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper (or you can use a blend of pink, green and black peppercorns)
 
Put the pancetta in a large skillet and place over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until fat renders but the pancetta is not browned, about 5 or 6 minutes. Saute the mushrooms until softened, add the peas and cook for another minute. Pour into a fine-mesh sieve set over a small bowl; reserve drippings. Transfer the pancetta, mushrooms and peas to a large bowl and let cool slightly. Add egg yolks and egg to bowl; whisk to blend.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid.
 
To egg mixture, immediately add the pasta, 2 tablespoons of the reserved pasta cooking liquid, and 1 teaspoon of the pancetta drippings; toss to coat. Working in batches, gradually add the Parmesan, stirring and tossing to melt between batches. Add freshly ground pepper and toss until sauce thickens, adding more pasta water by the spoonful if needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
 
Divide into bowls and top with more grated cheese. Serve immediately.

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I won some soup...

from Bertolli! And it was good.

You can read about it at Mille Fiore Favoriti, Pat's blog had a giveaway for this Ladles of Love during National Soup month back in January.

I won the ladle, too. A nice one from Crate and Barrel. All for a good cause.

The Bertolli was really good, we enjoyed it. The package said for two, but three of us managed to enjoy nice size bowls of the Roasted Chicken Minestrone. Next to try will be the Chicken Rotini and the Tomato Florentine. Quick, easy and very good.

If you prefer homemade,
this lentil soup is also delicious and takes no time to put together. You end up with a very nice, hearty soup with minimal effort and a full tummy. 

Pasta con Lenticchie 

(Pasta with Lentils)

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Source: Patsy's Italian Restaurant

 original recipe -- http://patsys.com/recipes-detail.php?id=205

Printable Recipe

1/4 cup olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups low salt chicken or vegetable broth

1 can fire-roasted tomatoes

1/4 pound lentils, picked over and rinsed

1/4 pound small pasta, shells, tubettini, anellini or ditalini - cooked al dente

pinch of dried oregano

4 leaves of fresh basil, chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over a medium flame and sauté the onions, stirring occasionally, about 3-5 minutes until just browned. Add the garlic and sauté for about another 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes to the pot. Add the lentils, oregano and the broth, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for an hour, more or less, until the lentils are tender. Add the cooked pasta and simmer until all ingredients are heated through, about three minutes. If the soup thickens too much, add water or broth to thin it to the consistency you like.

Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper. Serve.

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Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Pesto and Tomatoes

The picky kid was hungry and her usual go to is Mac and Cheese. For someone that hates cheese this was always a surprising choice. She would eat it every day if she could. So when she asked for me to make a Pasta Primavera I was fine with that idea. Except for the fact I had no more fresh vegetables. None. Nothing I could throw in except for some left over little tomatoes. The whole wheat spaghetti worked well with this. And there we had a perfect lunch. Pasta. Tomatoes. Pesto. A little cheese for me, none for Picky. And garlic. Garlic overload. I had already chopped up all the garlic and mixed it in the oil when I decided to throw in some pesto. An abundance of garlic. Just don't stand to close. We are pretty garlicky at this point. But boy was that good.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Pesto and Fresh Tomatoes

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Printable Recipe

1 pound whole wheat spaghetti or any pasta, cooked until al dente (about 7-8 minutes) save about 1/8 cup of the pasta cooking water

2 pints grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes or any small tomato, sliced in half. Or 3 large tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup pesto (homemade or jarred)

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, pesto, and oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and let it marinate at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

Add the hot cooked spaghetti to the tomato mixture, pour in a little of the pasta cooking water and toss well. Sprinkle with the cheese, drizzle a bit more oil, if you like, and serve.

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Cincinnati Four Way Chili

We finally tried Cincinnati Chili the other night. Four way. Spaghetti, Chili, Cheese and Onions. I forgot to get the oyster crackers. I saw it on Food Jaunts, it looked so good and that was that, I had to make it. It's nothing like the chili I normally make, which is more like Texas Chili but I do use beans. Miss Picky likes them and when it comes to food if she's asking for something good for you, I'm throwing it in there. So much for authentic. Those real Texans who say beans don't belong in chili never had to feed my picky teenager. And I finally found something that went really well with whole wheat spaghetti. The chili. I needed to use up that last box. Whole wheat spaghetti just didn't go over well with marinara at my house. But it's perfect with Cincinnati 4-way Chili. Just perfect.

and leftovers are even better!

Cincinnati Style Chili

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Source: http://foodjaunts.com/cincinnati-style-chili

Printable Recipe

2 lbs ground extra lean ground beef (at least 95% lean)

2 onions, finely chopped

2 cups water

2 cups beef stock

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

4 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder 

1/2 teaspoon allspice

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

3 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 bay leaf (fish it out before serving)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

4 dashes Tabasco or similar sauce

2 teaspoons paprika

shredded cheddar cheese

chopped onions

red kidney beans

oyster crackers

spaghetti, cooked according to package directions (I used whole wheat and it was good with the chili!)

Bring the water and beef stock to a boil and add the ground beef. Stir until the beef is separated. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 2 to 3 hours or until thickened.

Serve over the spaghetti and top with cheese, kidney beans, onions and oyster crackers.

Joining 

 Beth at Beth Fish Reads for her fun Weekend Cooking Party. Every weekend. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share! Go on over and see some fun posts.
 

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