Pasta

Pumpkin Lasagna

Happy Halloween! Here is a new take on Lasagna using pumpkin puree that you can eat while sitting near the front door.                                                                   […]

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  October 31, 2011   No comments

Bacon, Pasta & Cheese Casserole

A casserole for winter Here is a delicious, easy, make ahead casserole recipe that I have (believe it or not) toned down the fat content. The original recipe used bacon drippings to make the roux and it also called for 4 cups of heavy cream – I used 2 cups of milk and 2 heavy […]

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  October 24, 2011   1 comment

Molded Casserole of Ham and Mushrooms with Macaroni, Cheese, and Cream With Tomato Cream Sauce

Simca’s Cuisine – A Simone Beck Recipe Since moving to my mother-in-law’s house, I have been perusing her cookbooks and came across this one by Simone Beck.  Simone “Simca” Beck (7 July 1904 in Normandy, France – 20 December 1991) was a French cookbook author and cooking teacher who, along with colleagues Julia Child and Louisette Bertholle, played a […]

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  September 30, 2011   No comments

Lemon Pesto Pasta

Here’s an easy weeknight dinner idea.  This pesto uses mint and peas instead of the traditional basil. Lemon Pesto Pasta Serves 4 14 oz fettuccine 1 cup frozen baby green peas, thawed 3/4 cup mint leaves 1/4 cup pine nuts or pecans, toasted 2 Tbs capers, drained 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese 1 […]

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  September 28, 2011   3 comments

Paraguayan Pasta With Mushrooms

Pan American’s Complete Round-the-World Cookbook I have high hopes for the new Pan Am series.  Myra Waldo Schwartz was a travel writer, food editor and critic. She wrote more than 40 books, including Pan American’s Complete Round the World Cookbook, Seven Wonders of the Cooking World, The Molly Goldberg Jewish Cookbook and 1,001 Ways to Please Your Husband. Here is a […]

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  September 26, 2011   No comments

Pasta Shapes

There are more than 300 shapes of Italian pasta from all different regions of Italy.  Local ingredients and local cooking customs match the thickness and texture of sauces with the pasta shape best suited to hold the sauce for a perfect bite. There are some general considerations, though: –Stuffed pastas typically pair well with lighter […]

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  September 22, 2011   No comments

Pumpkin Parmesan Sauce

$16 per jar!!  What, are they nuts? Over the weekend, I was browsing in a William Sonoma (I said browsing!). They are selling a new line of pasta sauces.  I wanted to buy them all, but they are $16 per jar!  Anyway, the one that was most appealing was the Pumpkin Parmesan Sauce.  Well, here is a […]

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  September 21, 2011   1 comment

Hamburger Stroganoff

A food fad from the 1970s…. Hamburger Helper was first introduced in 1971. In 2005, the American-based Food Network listed Hamburger Helper as number three in its list of the top five fad foods of the 1970s.  Hamburger Helper  consists of boxed pasta bundled with a packet or packets of powdered sauce/seasonings. The contents of each box are combined with browned ground beef, water and milk to create a […]

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  September 13, 2011   No comments

Harvest Moon Macaroni

Full Harvest Moon of September Is Peaking Now This month’s special full moon gets its name because its appearance low in the southeastern sky for several nights historically afforded farmers extra time for harvesting crops. Before the invention of electricity, farmers relied on bright moonlight in the late summer to gather their ripening crops after […]

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  September 12, 2011   No comments

Romanesco Broccoli & Rigatoni

The most beautiful vegetable Romanesco broccoli, or Roman cauliflower, is an edible flower of the species Brassica oleracea, and a variant form of cauliflower. It is sometimes called broccoflower. Although in Italy there are a number of recipes dedicated to Romanesco broccoli, in the rest of the world it is usually prepared like conventional broccoli. […]

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  July 8, 2011   No comments