Tag: rosemary

Pastas

Pumpkin Rigatoni with Rosemary Walnut Crispies

cathysmahaLeave a comment

Pumpkin Rigatoni with the savory, delicious rosemary walnut crispies is a real treat. Daughter, Megan, first made this (substituting the pasta) and it was divine. I made it a couple of weeks later and, again, loved the results. The Rosemary Walnut Crispies can be made in advance to save prep time. I opted to add cooked, shredded chicken to add some protein, a nice addition. The rosemary walnut crispies would be delicious on a pear or other fall salad!

Pumpkin Rigatoni with Rosemary Walnut Crispies

INGREDIENTS:
  • Pumpkin Rigatoni:
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1–2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • squeeze of lemon
  • 1 lb. rigatoni
  • Optional: 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast
  • Rosemary Walnut Crispies:
  • 1 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  • 1–2 tablespoons brown sugar (I like 2)
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (more to taste)
  • black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Rosemary Walnut Crispies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Run the walnuts through a food processor until they have a chopped texture. Arrange chopped walnuts on a small sheet pan and toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and toss with rosemary, butter, sugar, salt, and pepper. Set aside to cool.
  2. Pasta: Cook according to package directions. Drain.
  3. Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce: While the pasta cooks, heat the butter in a skillet over low heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant (do not brown the garlic – it tastes bitter). Add the pumpkin and broth; simmer until smooth. Add the cream and salt; simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Add a little squeeze of lemon juice if you’re into that. Add cooked pasta to the sauce. Optional: stir in shredded chicken
  4. Assemble: Serve pasta in shallow bowls with a sprinkle of the walnut crispies on top, and a little sprig of rosemary for a fancy garnish if, you know, you’re fancy.

Recipe from PinchofYum with modification to add chicken.

Italian Dishes · Pastas · Sauces

Sauage Ragu

cathysmahaLeave a comment

Sausage Ragu is a family favorite. We made this recipe for the first trip during the COVID lockdown when we took Zoom cooking classes with Chef Lucas of Italy. When we are hungry for pasta, this our go-to recipe. The red wine colors the sausage a darker color but the taste of this sauce is heavenly. The left-overs are just as good and we now double or triple the recipe so we can freeze sauce for an emergency Ragu night.

Sausage Ragu

INGREDIENTS:
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 12 oz. Italian sausage (remove casings)
  • 1/2 cup of tomato paste
  • 1 cup beef stock
  • 1 cup mascarpone
  • 1 1/2 cups red wine
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
  • 1 pinch of chili peppers
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lb. pasta of choice, cooked per directions
DIRECTIONS:
  1. In a large frying pan, brown garlic, chili peppers, rosemary and sausage in the olive oil.
  2. After the meat is cooked and brown, add the wine and reduce to half. (Note from Cathy: I like to remove some of the drippings and oil at this point, then adding the wine).
  3. Add the tomate paste and the stock. Let it cook for ten minutes on low heat.
  4. Turn the heat off and combine with the mascarpone, then toss with the pasta.

Recipe from Chef Lucas cookbook ‘Cooking with Lucas’

New Favorite · Rheumatoid Arthritis · Skinny · Vegan · Vegetarian

Silky Squash Soup…Vegan and Delicious!

cathysmaha3 Comments

Recently, I started a 10-day cleansing/detox diet that requires that I eat primarily fruits and vegetables. I love both but don’t have a strong vegan recipe inventory. One of the bloggers I follow, Lucys Friendly Foods, recently posted a wonderful Silky Squash and Rosemary Soup.  I did not have fresh rosemary on hand so I used a wonderful spice blend from Savory Spice Shops, Cantanzaro Herbs, a mix of Garlic, lemon peel, marjoram, basic, thyme, rosemary and oregano.  The results were yummy!

SILKY SQUASH SOUP

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon Cantanzano Herbs  (originally recipe calls for 2 sprigs of rosemary)
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
32 ounces vegetable stock
salt and pepper

  • Saute the onion, carrot and celery in the oil until softened but not browned
  • Add the squash and herbs (or rosemary) and stir well
  • Pour in the stock and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the squash is cooked through
  • Remove Rosemary sprigs if you use this option
  • Taste and adjust the seasoning
  • Serve scattered with roasted pumpkin seeds

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon Cantanzano Herbs (or finely chopped rosemary)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  • Combine all ingredients and spread on baking sheet
  • Roast for 10-15 minutes until the seeds start to turn golden brown

 

Recipe adapted from Lucys Friendly Foods

Family Favorites

Chicken Divine

cathysmahaLeave a comment

Chicken Divine starts by roasting chicken breasts with savory rosemary making your mouth water, anticipating the great final dish to come.  This dish takes a while but you could easily bake the chicken breasts ahead of time.

I do not recall where I found this recipe but it’s been a family favorite for the past 20 years.  Pair Chicken Divine with a green salad, crusty bread and a nice glass of white wine.  Dinner is served!

CHICKEN DIVINE

3 whole chicken breasts
rosemary to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 sliced onion
1 pound fresh or frozen broccoli
3/4 cup raw rice, cooked

CHEESE SAUCE:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup grated, sharp Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

SAUCE:

  • Melt butter, add flour and stir until smooth. Cook 2 minutes. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened. Add cheeses and seasonings.

CASSEROLE:

  • Sprinkle chicken with rosemary, salt and pepper. Bake chicken at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool. Skin, bone and slice.
  • Cook broccoli in water with salt and onion. Drain.
  • Layer chicken, then broccoli, then rice in buttered casserole.
  • Pour cheese sauce over entire dish. Add more grated Parmesan on top if desired.

  • Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Gluten Free · New Favorite · Skinny

Lemon Rosemary Chicken

cathysmaha3 Comments

Lemon Rosemary Chicken is a new favorite recipe.  I love rosemary with chicken anyway so I knew this would be a winner!  The potatoes also roasted beautifully and complimented the chicken and sauce nicely.  I served this dish with my slow cooked green beans.

The leftovers were wonderful resulting in a fabulous chicken, pesto sandwich (see pesto recipe post of 10/19/12).

Lemon and Rosemary Chicken

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3/4 pound potatoes (small red-skinned) or large cubed potatoes
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 1 tablespoon rosemary leaves
1 clove smashed garlic
pinch red pepper flakes
juice of 2 lemons (reserve the squeezed half lemons)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons salt

  • Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  • Cover the potatoes with cold water in a saucepan and salt the water.  Bring the potatoes to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender; 8-12 minutes.
  • Drain and set aside.
  • Place the rosemary leaves, garlic, red pepper flakes and salt on a cutting board. Mash the ingredients until a paste-like mixture. Transfer to a bowl.
  • Stir in the juice of 1 lemon and olive oil. Coat the chicken breasts in this mixture.
  • Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken , cover and cook until browned. Turn the chicken and brown the other side.
  • Add the potatoes to the chicken and drizzle with the juice of the 2nd lemon and any remaining paste.
  • Add the rosemary sprigs and the squeeze lemon halve to the skillet.
  • Place skillet in preheated oven and roast, uncovered until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 30 minutes.

Adapted from eatyourselfskinny Lemon and Rosemary Chicken