Pumpkin and Sausage Pasta

Pumpkins: It is what brightens the fall season when the skies get dark earlier.

I love pumpkin smoothies, and I try to extend my personal "pumpkin smoothie season" for as long as possible by stockpiling pie pumpkins every fall weekend, puréeing, then storing it in the freezer.  When the winter ended (finally!), however, it was also time to say goodbye to the last bit of my frozen pumpkin purée and pray that fall comes around again soon.

I had just enough pumpkin purée left to try something different with it: a pumpkin pasta sauce, to go along with some fresh pumpkin fettuccine I had gotten from Penn Mac. I figured it might work well with sausage, fall spices, and some herbs, and came across this Rachael Ray recipe that seemed to fit pretty much what I was trying to go for.  I used my own pumpkin purée, of course, as opposed to the canned variety called for in the recipe, and was a bit more generous with the cinnamon and nutmeg, because, well, I like my fall spices.

Pumpkin and Sausage Pasta

Next time I might try it with spicy Italian sausage and use parsley instead of sage.  I didn't mind the sage, but I think I might prefer something a little less dominant.

Ahh...is it fall yet?

Recipe courtesy of:

Food Network (get the recipe here)

Prosciutto and Orange Cream Sauce with Szechuan Orange Spice Linguine from Olio Fresca

Continuing with my series of recipes using Olio Fresca pasta, I recently came up quite possibly the best recipe I ever concocted.  I had made Olio Fresca's Szechuan Orange Spice Linguine before with shrimp, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, crushed red pepper, and parsley with decent results, but my comment at the time was that a citrusy sauce would bring out more of the orange flavor in the pasta.  So this time, I tried something completely different: I made an orange cream sauce and tossed the pasta with prosciutto, orange zest, parmesan cheese, and other spices, and the result was so remarkable I couldn't believe I came up with this myself!  The orange flavor in the pasta really shines through in this simple recipe, and the prosciutto was a great accompaniment.  I suspect bacon might work well, too.

Prosciutto and Orange Cream Sauce with Szechuan Orange Spice Linguine

Ingredients:

1/4 lb prosciutto, torn into small pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup orange juice
Zest of 1 small orange
Grated parmesan cheese, to taste
1 lb Olio Fresca Szechuan Orange Spice Linguine
Ground black pepper, to taste
Crushed red pepper, to taste
Chopped parsley, to taste
Cooking spray

Directions:

Cook pasta for about 2 minutes, just before al dente.  Drain.

Spray skillet with cooking spray and heat prosciutto on medium heat for a few minutes, until heated through.  Add heavy cream, orange juice, parmesan cheese, ground black pepper, and crushed red pepper.  Once heated, add pasta and toss.  Serve, topped with orange zest and parsley.

Check out other recipes using Olio Fresca products here.  To purchase Olio Fresca pasta, check out their website for currently available products.

Pittsburgh's Passion Linguine from Olio Fresca with Clam Sauce

So Super Bowl weekend is coming up, and I know the Steelers aren't in it this year (boo!), but I still need to complete this very belated Steelers-related post I had been working on for a long time but never got around to finishing!  Sometime before the NFL season is officially over would be good, I thought.  Besides, maybe the pain of not making it past the first round of the playoffs this year has subsided enough that it would now be safe to mention the Steelers again...

Anyway, a little background:  I was never much of an NFL fan before I moved to Pittsburgh, and I can't say that I've become a convert, but now that I'm making Pittsburgh my home, I've certainly been doing my part to embrace our hometown Steelers.  For my first Hallowe'en in Pittsburgh, I donned a #43 jersey, gold football pants, and a wig, and when the Steelers made it to Super Bowl XLV last year, I joined everyone else in town in waving my terrible towel and cheering on my team.

When I found out several weeks ago that Olio Fresca Pasta would stop selling at the Pittsburgh Public Market, I made a few trips out there to stock up on my flavored pasta supply.  One of the varieties I got was the Pittsburgh's Passion Linguine - black squid ink mixed with yellow saffron linguine.  I thought it might be a fun way to support the Steelers during the playoffs, so I made this for the first round game between the Steelers and the Broncos.

The owners of Olio Fresca had said that the Pittsburgh Passion Linguine would go well with a clam sauce, and I just so remembered having seen a recipe for that posted by fellow Pittsburgh food blogger Molly at Cooking For My Dad - perfect!  I followed Molly's recipe pretty closely, except I used six rather than four cloves of garlic, and instead of canned minced clams, I used about 3/4 of a pound of fresh clams and 1/2 cup of clam juice.  It turns out great!  (Thanks, Molly!)

Pittsburgh's Passion Linguine with Clam Sauce

And what do you think about the football-shaped bowl? ;)

Unfortunately, the Steelers lost a close one that day, but I'm sure they'll be back next year stronger than ever.

Check out other recipes using Olio Fresca products here, and there will be more to come soon!  To purchase Olio Fresca pasta, check out their website for currently available products.

Creamy Italian Sausage Fettuccine with Spanish Peanut Sauce from Cinco de Mayo Salsas

I know I've been posting a lot lately about my dining out adventures, but I've actually been cooking a lot as well!  Lately, I've been doing a lot with Olio Fresca products and Cinco de Mayo Salsas from the Pittsburgh Public Market, and I plan to write a series of posts featuring them.

Since I first discovered Cinco de Mayo Salsas not long ago, I have become a loyal fan.  Last time I wrote about Cinco de Mayo Salsas, I posted owner Arturo's Chicken with Spanish Peanut Sauce recipe.  The Spanish Peanut Sauce is probably my favorite of Arturo's salsas, and here's a second recipe he taught me, and the result is so phenomenal that I've already made this three times in the past month!

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian sweet sausage, removed from casings
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 (8 oz) tub of Spanish Peanut Sauce from Cinco de Mayo Salsas
4 servings of fettuccine
Spices to taste

Directions:

Cook fettuccine according to package directions until just before al dente.  Drain.

In a large skillet, cook sausage until brown while crumbling with your spatula.  Add Spanish Peanut Sauce and heavy cream.  Once heated through, add pasta and toss.

Creamy Italian Sausage Fettuccine with Spanish Peanut Sauce from Cinco de Mayo Salsas

Pittsburgh friends, if you want to make an easy yet delicious meal and support a local small business owner at the same time, go to the Pittsburgh Public Market on Saturdays, buy some Spanish Peanut Sauce from Arturo, and give this recipe a try!  You won't be disappointed!

Click here for more recipes using Cinco de Mayo Salsas, available at the Pittsburgh Public Market during the winter and all around town during the farmers market season.

Olio Fresca Pasta

I'm in love...

...with pasta from Olio Fresca, that is.

I have been making a point to visit the Strip District more often lately, and it was during one of these trips to the Pittsburgh Public Market that I discovered the little stand selling flavored pasta:

Olio Fresca

Customers are invited to try them by tearing off small pieces of the dried pasta and eating it as is.  At $8 per pound, the flavored pasta is a bit of a splurge, but the selection was intriguing I just couldn't resist.  On my first visit, I took home two varieties of the pasta: the Szechuan Orange Linguine and the Wild Mushroom Linguine.

Because the pasta is already flavored, it is entirely possible to simply add olive oil and/or herbs for a quick meal.  Really quick, in fact, because the pasta takes only about 2-4 minutes to cook.  Personally, I prefer my pasta with more toppings.  But in the kitchen I'm a bit helpless if I don't have an existing recipe to follow. So...what to do?  I tried my best to slap together ingredients I already had with additional ones I thought would complement each pasta flavor.

Szechuan Orange Linguine

I prepared the Szechuan Orange Linguine (1 lb.) with a pound of shrimp, some broccoli, about 25 cherry tomatoes, and some crushed red pepper for a little heat.  With the parsley I have growing at home, I added some as garnish.  This yielded about 4-5 servings.  This ended up being pretty good, but could maybe use a little bit of a citrusy sauce to bring out more of the orange flavor.

Szechuan Orange Linguine

Wild Mushroom Linguine

For the Wild Mushroom Linguine (1 lb.), I decided to go vegetarian and added sliced portabello mushrooms, onions, and about a 1/4 cup of homemade pesto.  There was probably more in there that I can't remember now, but these were the basic ingredients I used.  Pesto + mushroom = good!

Wild Mushroom Linguine

I went back to the Market soon after for more.  This time, I picked up some Lemon Pepper Linguine and Sweet Potato Fettuccine.  This time, I also resolved to make better notes on how I prepared them.

Lemon Pepper Linguine

Lemon Pepper Linguine

For the Lemon Pepper Linguine, the ingredients I used were as follows (for 1 lb of pasta):

roasted pork tenderloin
12 oz pkg cherry tomatoes
2 tsp capers
chopped kalamata olives
1/4 cup or so white wine
1/2 tbsp pesto
chopped basil
olive oil
splash of fresh lemon juice
pepper

Some of these ingredients were leftover from when I made the Chicken Meuniere with Tomato and Parsley Sauce (capers, olives, white wine) so I made a similar sauce with them adding tomatoes first cooked in olive oil, as well as basil, pesto, and a splash of fresh lemon juice.  Then I topped it up with pork tenderloin seasoned with pepper and oven-roasted to 160 degrees. This was a great combo.

Sweet Potato Fettuccine

Sweet Potato Fettuccine

Finally, I tried the Sweet Potato Fettuccine (also 1 lb.), which I thought would benefit from adding fall flavors like apples and pumpkin pie spice:

2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
2 tbsp butter, divided
1 tsp ground cinnamon, additional for seasoning
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 lb chicken tenders, cubed
splash of lemon juice
splash of white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper
1 tbsp grated pecorino cheese
basil and parsley

(Yes, I made even better notes this time!)

For the apples, I borrowed a technique I learned from this Curried Apple Couscous recipe.  I melted 1 tbsp of the butter in a large skillet along with the cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in medium high heat.  I then added the apples until they are cooked tender, and set them aside.  Using the same skillet, I heated up the remaining 1 tbsp of butter, seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, and cinnamon, and added them to the skillet, cooking them until done.

Then I added the heavy cream, cheese, splash of lemon juice, splash of white wine, basil, parsley, and seasoned everything with additional cinnamon to taste.  Once the sauce is heated through, I tossed in the cooked apples, and served it with the cooked sweet potato fettuccine.

All four varieties of pasta were delicious and all four of my own recipes turned out to be at least above average; most were actually excellent.  (My favorite of the four was the sweet potato fettuccine.)  Maybe I'm actually better at recipe creation than I give myself credit for, but I also think that these all turned out so well because the pasta themselves were great to begin with.  Thanks, Olio Fresca!  I will be back for more!

Update:  As of January 2012, Olio Fresca no longer sells pasta in the Pittsburgh Public Market.  To purchase Olio Fresca pasta, check out their website for currently available products.  For other recipes, look here.

Links:
Olio Fresca
Pittsburgh Public Market

Chicken Fusilli with Pesto

Back in July I started growing my own herbs.  I was finally fed up with buying a whole bunch of fresh herbs only to use a little bit before it would go bad.  The final straw was the day I trekked to five different stores before I was able to find fresh mint, and even so, only a small packet of it.  Problem was, I was never known to have a green thumb.  I have never had a garden in my life, nor did my parents, and I promptly killed the first thing I ever tried to grow - potted roses that R. got me for our first Valentine's Day.

But the one thing that gave me some hope was an orchid plant that a friend gifted me three years ago that is, miraculously, still alive, even after the traumatizing event of moving it to three different temporary apartments en route from DC to Pittsburgh.  I thought maybe I was finally ready to tackle something that required more frequent care than once-a-week watering.

I started with some basil and parsley, and eventually added mint to my patio herb collection as well.  (More on the mint in a later post.)  The basil had grown some during the three weeks I had them before I left for Italy.  But still, did I have a surprise waiting for me when I got back after 12 days!  The basil had grown so much I hardly recognized them as my own!  Wow-ee!  I'm so lucky to have friendly, wonderful neighbors who took such good care of them while I was away!

Basil (July 12, 2011)

Basil (August 9, 2011)

But the biggest surprise was the parsley.  My first pot looked horrible when I first got it:

Parsley (July 12, 2011)

And when half the parsley dried out after just a few days, I seriously thought it was not going to survive, so I bought another one:

Parsley (July 17, 2011)

And this is what I found on my porch when I came back from Italy:

Parsley (August 9, 2011)

Yep, the one on the left is the original pot I had.  It was beyond belief that not only was it still alive, but it was thriving, after being so close to certain death.  The pot on the right is the newer one, and it, too, grew like a weed while I was away.  I am so proud of my babies!

But now, what to do with this much herb?  R.'s mom suggested that I make pesto.  She listed the basic ingredients, but just to be sure, I consulted a recipe online to get the relative proportions right, and added parsley as well like R.'s mom suggested.  And so last weekend, I set out to make my first pesto ever, with herbs I grew myself!  I couldn't be more proud of me.  I know for many people this isn't such a big deal, but it really marked a significant step for me.  Just three years ago I barely cooked anything beyond spaghetti with meat sauce, and now I have gone from a self-proclaimed plant-killer and non-cook to making pesto with basil and parsley I grew on my own patio.  (*tear*)  I feel as if I have achieved a whole new level of foodiness.

Pesto

And it's awesome pesto to boot!  So now, what was I going to do with all this pesto?  I decided the most efficient way to use up a lot of pesto is to serve it with pasta:

Chicken Fusilli with Pesto

It is a simple recipe, really.  Fusilli, thin-sliced thicken, cherry tomatoes, tossed with pesto and topped with toasted pine nuts.  But it's very good, if I may say so myself! :)  The full recipe can be found in the link below.

Full recipe (both pesto and pasta):
Download here

Baked Pasta with Sausage or Tofu, Tomatoes, and Cheese

I've been going through something of a pasta "phase" lately.  Perhaps it reflects my anticipation for my upcoming trip to Italy.  Or because many of the pasta recipes in my collection happen to be quick and easy.  Anyway, this is one I've made several times in the past and is always a huge hit, with the basil and the hot Italian sausage being the star flavors.  I love taking this to parties because it makes 8 servings, and always seems to fool others into thinking that I'm a great cook. ;)  I also love making it when I am lazy/busy and don't feel like cooking as much, for with 8 servings this can last me a long time, and it's a good thing it's so tasty that I don't get tired of it!  I have also varied the recipe a bit by substituting turkey sausage with tofu and lots of spices (see below for link to recipe) to create a vegetarian version, which turned out pretty good as well.

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese

And here's the tofu version:

Baked Pasta with Tofu, Tomatoes, and Cheese

Recipe courtesy of:
Cooking Light
Recipe for the original sausage version here
Recipe for the vegetarian tofu version here

Portabello Parmesan

This is one of my go-to recipes whenever I need something quick, easy, and delicious.  I had originally seen it on my friend Ken's blog, but I think the original recipe is from the Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis.  I love that it takes only about 30 minutes and always comes out great.  This time, to my surprise, the dish was particularly tasty, and I think the credit goes to the portabello mushrooms from McGinnis Sisters.  I'm anticipating a busy several months ahead and I have a feeling I will be making this a regular dinner menu item!

Portabello Parmesan

Recipe courtesy of:
Food Network (get the recipe here)

Shrimp Arrabbiata

I really love this recipe.  I only discovered it three months ago and have made it at least five times.  Added bonus: It's super quick and easy to make!

Dinner is ready!

Recipe courtesy of:

Cooking Light (Get the recipe here)