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Pasta with Spinach Cheese Marinara
Pasta photo by JeffreyW
Pasta w/Spinach Cheese Marinara Sauce:
- 2 tsp to 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ onion, chopped
- 4 mushrooms, washed & sliced
- ½ green pepper, chopped
- 2-14 oz cans diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste*
- 3 cups fresh spinach, chopped
- 2 tsp basil, crushed
- 2 tsp oregano, crushed
- 1 tsp thyme, crushed
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- ½ cup grated Romano cheese
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 12 oz bow-tie pasta (farfalle)
2 saucepans
Bring water for pasta to a boil in large saucepan, add pasta and cook according to directions to al dente.
Meanwhile, heat oil in the other saucepan; sauté onions, mushrooms & peppers until onions are golden. Add remaining ingredients (except pasta) bring to a low boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to med-low, cover and let simmer until pasta is done cooking. As the pasta finishes up, add a ladle or two of pasta water to the sauce.
Drain pasta well and toss together with sauce. Serve with additional Parmesan & Romano cheeses if desired.
*you can freeze the remainder in an ice-cube tray and store in a freezer bag.
Tomato-Pasta Salad
Yesterday’s bounty from my yard and some bonus homemade salsa
Tomato season is in full swing. Every meal has tomatoes in one form or another. This is a nice combination of flavors to shake things up from the usual pasta salads:
Tomato-Pasta Salad
- 10 oz dry rotini pasta, cooked, drained, chilled
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp Dijon or stone-ground mustard
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 tsp dried basil, crushed
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 oz fresh basil
- 4 oz fresh spinach leaves
- 2 large tomatoes, cut into thin wedges
- 4 oz Kalamata (Greek green) olives
- 4 oz shredded parmesan
- 2 oz crumbled Feta
- 8 oz diced ham (opt)
serving bowl, bowl, saucepan
In small bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, pepper, garlic & basil. Slowly whisk in oil. To serving bowl, add pasta, fresh basil, spinach, tomatoes, olives, parmesan, opt. ham and toss with dressing. Garnish with crumbled feta.
Grilled Vegetable Salad
This works well as a side or a nice, fresh main course.
Grilled Vegetable Salad
- 1 large red onion, quartered
- 4 red potatoes, quartered
- 8 oz baby carrots
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp rosemary, crushed
- 1 tsp sage, crushed
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 8 oz bag spinach leaves or spring greens
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp melted butter
serving bowl, large bowl, grilling basket or foil
Mix oil and spices, toss with onion, potatoes and carrots in a large bowl, until well coated. Place in a grilling basket or wrap in foil and grill for 20 minutes, stirring or turning frequently. Mix together lemon & butter. In serving bowl, add greens, grilled vegetables and toss with lemon butter
Snow Alert Means Soup Time: Hearty Spinach-Tomato
French Toast Alert System may be activated, but I have my own comfort snow foods. Big pot of soup on the stove:
Tomato-Spinach Soup
- 1 lb ground beef (or 1/2 ground beef, 1/2 spicy Italian sausage)
- 1/4 of a small onion, chopped
- 24 oz diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
- 2 cups loosely packed baby spinach, cleaned
- 8 oz sliced carrots (I use frozen)
- 1 cup green beans
- 1 cup water, more as needed
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 tsp dried basil, crushed
- 1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (opt)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Grated Parmesan for garnish
- spinach chiffonade for garnish
blender, saucepan
In saucepan, brown ground beef and onions. In a blender, blend together spinach and tomatoes, until smooth*. Add to beef mixture, along with vegetables and spices. Bring to low boil, stirring frequently, reduce heat and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with Parmesan and spinach chiffonade. Makes 4 generous servings.
*Blending the spinach, tomatoes together gives you a nice hearty tomato base for the soup. You can add some additional spinach leaves at the end if you like, letting them get limp but not overcooked.
Friday Recipe Exchange: Not Afraid to Experiment
What a week we’ve had here. I retreated to the kitchen often, cooking truly reduces my stress and helps me refocus. And since everyone needs to eat, I have a perfect excuse to retreat and regroup.
Cool weather blew in today, signalling the start of soup season, a great time of year. I have quite a few soup recipes and I began the season with one of my favorites, Tomato-Spinach, pictured above and recipe here.
Next up, Pumpkin Bars, because I needed something to share with friends and this recipe makes a lot. Click here for recipe and photos.
JeffreyW went to the Farmer’s Market and made Refrigerator Pickles, there are plenty of great photos and the pickle recipe here. He went on to use the beans he purchased to make Three Bean Salad, here.
And finally, for the pet lovers, some Bixby pictures and a bit of an update.
It’s the last official weekend of summer, how will you usher it out? What’s on your plate for the weekend? We are going to head up to the mountains to take in some color, which is predicted to be a short show this year.
For tonight’s featured recipe, I decided to experiment with flavors I would have never thought of on my own. Facebook and blog friend Michael F, shared a recipe on Facebook from Italy, in Italian no less, and the photo intrigued me. I let google translate the recipe (which was a hoot) and went about putting my touches into it.
It was so unusual, my most reliable recipe testers politely declined my dinner invite. Totally understandable. But I will tell you I was pleasantly surprised how well this turned out. If you like pork and apples, this has a similar flavor palate. It was also quick and easy to prepare. I’m glad I decided to experiment.
All right, if you’re up for something new and different, here you go, tonight’s featured recipe.
Sausage and Grapes
- 8 links Italian sausage (I used spicy, but you could use any style sausage you favor)
- 1/2 sweet onion, finely diced
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 cup green seedless grapes, washed, dried and halved lengthwise
- 1 cup red seedless grapes, washed, dried and halved lengthwise
- salt and pepper to taste (I used none, didn’t need it)
- angel hair pasta
- freshly grated Parmesan
skillet
Slice sausage links into four pieces each, add to skillet and fry on medium high for about 10 minutes. Add onion and fennel seeds, cook another 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent. Add grapes, stir until well mixed, cover and let simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes while pasta cooks.
Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain well.
You can toss with the sausage mixture, or serve separately. Serve with Parmesan.
The pasta was my addition. When I asked Michael what would be a good side, he suggested eggplant or roasted potatoes. Roasted zucchini spears would probably work well, too.
That’s if for this week. Have a great weekend. – TaMara
Soup Season: Updated Tomato-Spinach Soup
It’s been a rough week – mostly for people around me. I found myself retreating to the kitchen often to cook. Definitely helps clear my head and regroup. Soup season is in full swing as Autumn is fast approaching. We may actually blow off work tomorrow and head up to the mountains to see the colors.
Today I decided to make a big batch of one of my favorite soups. It did not disappoint. I ‘beefed’ it up because I had some ground beef that I needed to use up. I’ll do that again. Yum.
Tomato-Spinach Soup
- 1 lb ground beef (or 1/2 ground beef, 1/2 spicy Italian sausage)
- 1/4 of a small onion, chopped
- 24 oz diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
- 2 cups loosely packed baby spinach, cleaned
- 8 oz sliced carrots (I use frozen)
- 1 cup green beans
- 1 cup water, as needed
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 tsp dried basil, crushed
- 1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (opt)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Grated Parmesan for garnish
- spinach chiffonade for garnish
blender, saucepan
In saucepan, brown ground beef and onions. In a blender, blend together spinach and tomatoes, until smooth*. Add to beef mixture, along with vegetables and spices. Bring to low boil, stirring frequently, reduce heat and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with Parmesan and spinach chiffonade. Makes 4 generous servings.
*Blending the spinach, tomatoes together gives you a nice hearty tomato base for the soup. You can add some additional spinach leaves at the end if you like, letting them get limp but not overcooked.
Original vegetarian recipe is here.