Pasta with Bacon, Peas, and Goat Cheese

As I was perusing my GoogleReader for something different to make last night, I came upon Elly’s newest recipe.  I picked up the ingredients on my way home since we didn’t make it to the store on Sunday, and this turned out to be a delicious and quick weeknight meal.  The flavors of the creamy goat cheese w/the salty bacon were delish- Thanks Elly!  The only major change made was that I omitted the pine nuts and made ½ bag (8 oz) pasta.

8 oz. (1/2 bag) pasta (with some of the cooking water reserved)
4 strips bacon, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bag frozen peas
2 - 3 oz. goat cheese
freshly ground pepper and salt

Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente.

Reserve about 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking liquid and drain.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and then add the bacon.  Once cooked, remove the bacon, drain on a towel, and chop up.  Leave about 2 tsp. of bacon grease in the pan and discard the rest.

Add the garlic to the bacon fat and stir, just until fragrant.  

Add the peas and some of the cooking water (start with just a little  bit of the water; you can always add more), and then the pasta and bacon.

Once the peas have warmed through, add the goat cheese and stir until it coats the pasta, adding more pasta water if necessary.  

Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. 

Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes & Feta

I had sundried tomatoes and didn't know what to do with them...so I looked around on allrecipes.com for a quick and easy side-dish for which I had the ingredients!  This is the simple recipe I put together, and it came out pretty good...we would make it again!

Ingredients:
Approximately 10-15 sundried tomatoes, diced
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 package angel hair or similar pasta
crumbled feta cheese
1-2 tsp Parsley
1-2 tsp Basil
2 cloves diced garlic
Cornstarch to thicken

Soak the chopped tomatoes in the broth while you prep the water and cook the pasta.
Shortly after starting the pasta, turn the heat on the sundried tomato/chicken broth, and add spices and garlic and simmer.

Use a few tbsp water with 1 tbsp cornstarch and mix well, then slowly add to the sauce to acquire desired consistency, just a bit thicker than it is.

Once the pasta is cooked according to package instructions, toss it in with the tomato mixture.

Add feta and mix in well - we served with oven roasted bone-in chicken breasts:

 

Spinach & Mushroom Stuffed Shells

Stuffed shells were my favorite dinner as a kid, and it was what I always requested for my birthday dinner from my mom.  Come to find, it was Chris' childhood bday special request as well!  Therefore I can't believe that in the 2+ years we have lived here, I had not made them yet.  The time has come :)

I wanted to make them a little different; the plain ricotta & mozz shells are too boring for me these days!  I also like to get the nutrition of extra veggies in there.  I found this recipe on Allrecipes and made some changes but did not stray too far.  We eliminated the ground turkey because one of our dinner guests is a vegetarian.  These shells were a big hit!  They were really delicious, this recipe is definitely a keeper!

You will need:

1 box of jumbo shells

1 large jar pasta sauce.  I like :

(We used the larger, "Family Size" jar)
8 oz organic mushrooms, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (**This is important, get fresh!!)
1 and 1/2 - 15 oz containers of Ricotta cheese
1 (8 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.  *Try to time it that they are not sitting waiting to be stuffed long, they can get stuck together and therefore get hard to work with.  Keeping cold water slowly running on them in the strainer helps.
In a large heavy skillet saute mushrooms, garlic and onions. 

Season with salt and pepper. 

Remove from heat, and stir in spinach, parsley, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella cheese.

Stuff the cooked shells with the mixture, and place in a 9x13 inch baking dish. 

Cover with tomato sauce, and sprinkle top with mozzarella cheese.
Cover with foil, and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Remove foil and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Garlic Scape Pesto

At the farmers' market this summer, I was introduced to the world of garlic scapes by my favorite organic farmer (tall, skinny man in overalls with a long grey beard and straw hat...classic).
Scapes are the green chutes of the garlic that grow out of the ground, and are quite delicious.  He taught me to make a pesto with them.   I put the bunch of scapes, olive oil, S&P, and parmigiano in the food processor (adding olive oil / cheese to balance out the consistency to a nice pesto) and chop minimally, so it remains somewhat chunky.  The scapes have a nice mild flavor and it was great as a cold pesto salad.  Here it is-