recipeworld

I know, I know, I’m really on a pasta kick. Don’t worry, though, soon enough I’ll be moving on to a new obsession. I have some soup recipes archived, but it feels too hot to even be talking about soup.

So today I want to tell you about one more quick and easy pasta recipe that includes two things that I always have on hand: frozen spinach and canned tomatoes.

People who wax poetic about using only fresh tomatoes in their sauce couldn’t be more wrong. Yes, in August or September at the peak of tomato season, it’s great to use real tomatoes to make a sauce. But in general, the tomatoes you find in the supermarket have little to no flavor, compared with high-quality boxed or tinned ones that taste great! Go for canned tomatoes with no added flavorings like herbs or salt, and you’ll be fine.

If you can find canned San Marzano tomatoes, from the volcanic regions around Naples, you’ll swoon!

As for the frozen spinach, I buy it in bags where it comes in branches that are wound together to make little balls. The balls of spinach are easily picked out, so you can have quick and simple servings. I usually use two per person for a side dish of spinach.

Spinach is also great for fleshing out pasta sauces like this one. I only had one small can of tomatoes, and the Canadian and I were having pasta for dinner. Adding chicken chunks and spinach really helped the dish.

Pasta with Tomatoes, Chicken and Spinach

8 oz. pasta

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 small chicken breast halves, cut into chunks

1 onion, diced

1 small can tomatoes (I used pureed tomatoes because it was what I had, but I usually use whole tomatoes and chop them up a little before throwing them in a sauce)

1 cup thawed frozen spinach

Cook the pasta according to package directions in a pot of salted, boiling water.

Meanwhile, heat half of the olive oil over high heat. Add the chicken pieces, allowing them to brown on all sides. Remove from the pan. Add more olive oil if necessary, and turn the heat down to medium/medium-low. Add the onion and sweat until sweet and translucent. Add some of the pasta water to the pan to deglaze the browned bits of chicken and onion, and then add the chicken, canned tomatoes and spinach to the sauce. Cook together until heated through and thickened slightly, about five minutes.

Add pasta water if necessary, and then toss about a half-cup of sauce with the drained pasta so that it doesn’t stick. Serve the pasta in pasta bowls with the sauce on top and grated cheese on the side.

As you can probably tell, I often resort to pasta as an easy dinner. I was raised with pasta on the menu almost every night, so when I have no idea what to make for dinner, I usually make up a batch of rotini.

I used to make a lot of vegetarian pastas: pasta with olive oil, lemon juice and cayenne pepper, macaroni and cheese, fettucine alfredo and, of course, pasta with tomato sauce. But my boyfriend is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, and while he loves pasta as much as the next guy, if there’s no meat in it, it’s not dinner.

I started having to come up with pasta dishes that would please him, and this is one of them. It includes another of his favorite foods, mushrooms, as well as a lot of cheese, which he loves.

Pasta with Mushrooms

8 oz. uncooked pasta

2 tsp olive oil

10 white button mushrooms, thinly sliced

¼ lb ground hamburger meat

½ cup shredded cheese (I use Emmental because it comes pre-shredded here, but any bagged blend is fine)

freshly ground pepper

salt

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente, about six minutes. Drain and reserve some of the pasta water.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet over high heat and add one teaspoon of the olive oil. Place the meat in the skillet and add salt and pepper. Allow the meat to brown on each side before turning, about four minutes total.

Remove the meat from the skillet and drain off all but two teaspoons of the fat. Add the mushrooms and more salt and pepper, and sauté until cooked through. Add the reserved olive oil if necessary.

Add the meat back to the skillet, and toss with the pasta. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Add some of the reserved pasta water if necessary. Taste for seasonings.

Some days, the key to a good meal is knowing what to do with what you have lying around the house. Most days, I plan ahead for dinner and go to the store to get what I’ll need. Other days, though, I just need to raid my fridge and see what I come up with. Since I always have canned tomatoes on hand, this usually means a simple pasta with some kind of tomato sauce… usually with some meat or veggies thrown in. However, one night I started making some pasta: fresh ravioli, when I realized I didn’t have any canned tomatoes.

This led to this baked ravioli dish, a really quick and easy supper with lots of yummy veggies. I like to enjoy ravioli this way now: the absence of a thick tomato sauce allows you to focus on the taste of the fresh pasta, which I don’t have too often because of the expense.

Baked Ravioli

1 package fresh ravioli, cooked

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 teaspoons dried basil

fresh black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2 oz. Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese, broken into chunks

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Toss all of the ingredients except for the cheese in a large baking dish, adding more olive oil if the ingredients are not sufficiently coated. Scatter the cheese chunks over the top. Bake until the cheese is melted and the tomatoes have released their juices. Remove from the oven and toss so that the tomato juice is evenly distributed, and serve with extra grated cheese on the side if you like.

Usually, my cooking philosophy is to think of what I’m in the mood for and go for it: sometimes that means going through my endless file of recipes to try, and other times it means that I just start improvising in the kitchen. There are days, however, when I cook on command.

My DBF (known affectionately here in cyberspace as “the Canadian) stayed with me for a few months in Paris. He’s a meat-eater, and I’m a recovering vegetarian, so we didn’t always see eye-to-eye on what I should be making for dinner. Sometimes I would content myself with a salad or some tomatoes, and he would want something more substantial. This is how this recipe for “Tuna Casserole-ish” was invented.
I don’t like canned tuna to be hot. I don’t really like tuna to be hot at all. When I make tuna, I grill it ahi-style so that the interior is still cold. When I have tuna out of a can, I make it into tuna salad, to be eaten cold on lettuce leaves or on a sandwich. But when the Canadian asked me to make pasta with a can of tuna and some mayo, I knew I couldn’t say no to such a simple request.

Instead of mayo, which I don’t usually keep around, I beat some egg yolks with olive oil and tossed the mixture with the hot pasta, carbonara-style. I also added some Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese, because the Canadian likes everything cheesy. I tried it, and it’s not my cup of tea, but the Canadian ate up every bite. If things like tuna melts and tuna casseroles are your thing, then you might enjoy this Tuna Casserole-ish as much as the Canadian did, and who knows? Maybe you’ll be requesting an encore, just like he did a few weeks later.

Tuna Casserole-ish

8 oz. uncooked rigatoni
1 egg yolk
1.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons grated Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese
1 teaspoon spicy mustard (I like Dijon)
1 small can tuna fish, canned in olive oil, drained

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water. While the pasta is cooking, combine the egg yolk with the olive oil, pepper and cheese. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving a little bit of the pasta water.
Turn off the heat and return the pasta to the pot. Using your wooden spoon, add a little bit of the egg, oil, cheese mixture at a time, stirring to combine and making sure that the egg doesn’t curdle. The sauce should thicken to a creamy consistency.

When all of the sauce is added, break in the tuna with a fork. Mix to combine. If the sauce seems too thick, you can thin it out with some of the pasta water. Serve with extra cheese on the side.

This is a recipe from a long time ago. I was in the mood for pasta primavera, but since it wasn’t primavera yet, I had to improvise with what I had.

A grill-pan is great for bringing out the flavors in veggies, although a roasting pan will do the trick nicely. If you decide to go the roasting route, there’s no need to save the extra dressing: the veggies will release their juices, and you can just “rinse” the pan with a few tablespoons of pasta cooking water to make sure you get all the good flavors in your pasta instead of on your pan.

Pasta Primavera nel’Inverno

spinach spaghetti for two people

1 zucchini, sliced into rounds

1 red onion, sliced

salt and pepper

juice of one lemon

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

parmesan cheese for serving

Cook the pasta to al dente, reserving some of the pasta cooking water. Heat a grill pan over high heat. While the pan is heating, toss the remaining ingredients (except the cheese) in a large bowl, ensuring that the vegetables are well-coated. Using a spaghetti spoon, lift the veggies from the dressing, allowing excess to drip to the bottom of the bowl. Save this for later.

Grill the veggies until charred on one side, about two minutes, and then turn to cook the other side. When the vegetables have finished cooking, return them to the bowl of dressing along with the pasta. Toss with a few tablespoons of cooking water to ensure the dressing coats the pasta. Serve with parmesan cheese.

Note: You could marinate chicken in the same dressing and toss it with the pasta for more protein, but be sure not to return the final dish to the same bowl you marinated the raw chicken in.