Tag Archives: pasta

Two-Pepper Rigatoni and Cheese

Making macaroni and cheese from scratch is nothing new to me.  I never even tried boxed macaroni and cheese until I was in college.  I remember saying “Why would you buy boxed macaroni and cheese when you can make it from scratch?”  My mom always made it from scratch on the stove and she never baked it in the oven or covered it in bread crumbs.  Now that to me is how macaroni and cheese should be. 

That being said, this Two-Pepper Rigatoni and Cheese is not like my mom’s.  But I was willing to give this a try because it reminded me of the most delicious jalapeño pepper pasta dish I had early this summer at Amis, a restaurant in Philadelphia.   So, I thought this might be a good make-at-home substitution.  I’ll be honest, it isn’t.  BUT I have to admit that it’s probably my fault.  In typical Shannon-fashion, I used reduced-fat cheese instead of the full-fat cheese the recipe calls for.  Therein lies my problem.  If you’ve ever made cheese sauce from reduced-fat cheese, you’ll probably know that it tends to get gritty when it melts and doesn’t have that smooth creaminess that comes from real cheese.  I knew better.  Looking past that, I think I have come to decide I’m not particularly fond of pickled jalapeños.  If I were to make this dish over again, I think I would use a fresh jalapeño pepper and sauté it with the red pepper instead.  And, of course, I would use real cheese.

There are a lot of dishes that can be made into “lighter” dishes without sacrificing flavor…macaroni and cheese, in any form, should not be one of them.  Lesson learned!

The ingredients:

Prepare pasta according to package directions and drain.  Melt butter in a pan and sauté chopped red pepper.  Once softened, add the red pepper to the drained pasta and set aside.

Using the same pan used for the pepper, add in flour and milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Once milk is thickened, stir in both cheeses, pickled jalapeños, and salt.

Carefully pour the cheese sauce over pasta and red pepper.  Stir to combine and add in green onions.

Pour the pasta into a baking dish coated in non-stick spray and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.  Bake at 375°F.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Whole-wheat rotini for rigatoni (my error!)
  • Reduced-fat cheddar cheese
  • Reduced-fat 4-cheese Italian (a wedge of fontina at my store was over $13!  Yikes!)
  • Breadcrumbs for white bread

Overall Rating:  So-So

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

Pappardelle with Baby Spinach, Herbs, and Ricotta

Pappardelle is a wide-ribbon pasta that I finally found at my local Trader Joe’s and is the main ingredient in Pappardelle with Baby Spinach, Herbs, and Ricotta.  It’s basically a wider version of fettucine so if you can’t find pappardelle, fettucine can easily be substituted.  This fairly light and herby pasta dish is made with baby spinach, fresh thyme, parsley, dill and ricotta.  Once you’ve prepped all the herbs, the whole meal can be made in about 15 minutes.  The ricotta is mixed with reserved pasta liquid so you can make it as thick or thin as you like.  The heat of the pasta slightly wilts the spinach and brings out the fragrance of the fresh herbs.  I left out the chives since my grocery store was out of it but I think the hint of onion would have been nice.  If you like the flavor of fresh dill, this will be a good one to try.

The ingredients:

Cook the pappardelle according to package directions and drain, reserving the cooking liquid.

While the pasta cooks, remove any stems from the spinach and chop the fresh herbs.

In a blender or food processor, mix together ricotta cheese and reserved pasta water.

In a large bowl, combine cooked pasta, ricotta sauce, spinach, fresh herbs, olive oil, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Wrap around your fork (or forks if you have one in each hand!) and enjoy!

Additions:  None

Omissions: 

  • Chives

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Like It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

Linguine with Two-Cheese Sauce

I had a friend over for dinner who was craving some pasta so I decided to make Linguine with Two-Cheese Sauce.  It tasted like a lighter (and just as good) version of fettucine alfredo.  Instead of heavy cream, butter and loads of parmesan, this recipe is made with milk, a little olive oil, a little parmesan and an even littler bit of mascarpone cheese.  The addition of the basil gives it that extra bit of fresh flavor and some fresh-cracked black pepper gives it just a hint of kick.  My friend loved it so much, he had two helpings and trust me, it’s hard not to.

Additions:  A small handful of pecorino-romano

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

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