Category Archives: Dinner

Baked Vodka Pasta +5 Cozy Pasta + Dessert Recipes To Get You Through The Rest of Winter

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I had this recipe ready to go a couple of weeks ago but then COVID hit our house. We are all recovering now but we had a rough go of it. This baked vodka pasta is comfort in a bowl. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did…before we lost our sense of taste and smell. I’m looking forward to spring. More recipes and writing to come. Stay healthy and safe!

Baked Vodka Pasta

Recipe adapted from Alexandra Cooks

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

½ cup vodka

1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes

2 heaping tablespoons of tomato paste

Kosher salt, to taste

Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

1lb penne pasta

Parmesan rind

1 cup parmesan

½ cup heavy cream

16 ounces of whole milk ricotta cheese

8 ounces fresh mozzarella

Fresh basil, optional but delicious

Directions:

Combine the butter, garlic and red pepper flakes in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.  Stir often until butter is melted and garlic is fragrant, about 5 minutes.  Next, add the vodka and bring to a simmer. Allow the vodka to reduce by one third so cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the tomato paste and mix well.  Next, add the crushed tomatoes, parmesan rind, and a large pinch of kosher salt and black pepper.  Simmer over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the penne and cook for 6 minutes (4 minutes under the al dente time).  Reserve 1 cup of the past liquid and set aside.  Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water.

Remove the parmesan rind from the sauce.  Add some reserved pasta liquid if the sauce seems too thick.  Place the pasta in a large bowl.  Add the sauce and parmesan.  Mix well. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Using a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta and heavy cream.

Add half of the pasta to a 9×13 pan.  Spread ricotta mixture evenly over pasta and top with remaining pasta.  Tear the mozzarella into chunks and spread it evenly over the pasta.  Bake until the top of the cheese is golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes.  Serve with fresh torn basil leaves and more parmesan if desired.  I highly recommend it! 

**Pasta dish can be made a few hours or up to a day ahead of time.  Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake. **

**Vodka can be replaced with an equal amount of water and a squeeze of lemon juice. **

Cozy Winter Dinner and Dessert Links

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini + Chocolate Cake

Winter Squash Lasagna + White Chocolate and Lemon Curd Pavlova

Shrimp Scampi Pasta + Red Velvet Marble Cake

Baked Ziti with Roasted Vegetables + Stewed Cherry Eton Mess

Homemade Mac n’ Cheese + Banana Cream Pie

Baked Chicken Meatballs + 5 Must Try Meatball Recipes!

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resolution: noun:

the act or process of resolving: the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones: the act of answering: solving, the act of determining

Cross the finish line, even if I have to crawl.  This is my New Year’s resolution.

On April 20, 2015 I will run my first marathon, the Boston Marathon, for a fantastic, local non-profit called YES or Youth Enrichment Services.  I will train all through a long cold winter. I will run until I hit a wall and then somehow keep running.  My muscles will ache and my toenails may fall off.  Beyond all logic I will continue to run.  While I prepare my body for this 26.2 feat, I will fundraise month, after month, until I reach my $10,000 goal.  You read that right.  $10,000.  I will call on friends and family for help; send letters, make phone calls, beg for donations.  I will do what it takes.

Run 26.2 and raise $10,000.  This task feels daunting, yet, somehow, possible.  I am terrified, but excited.  I am pushing and stretching myself further than I have in a long time.  I am ready.

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I should eat more protein smoothies, kale, quinoa and hemp seeds.  Maybe I should even attempt the Bon Appetit’s food lovers’ cleanse.  Or maybe I will listen to my body and eat meatballs and carbs, after all, I am training for a marathon.  It’s January.  I need comfort food.  Food that will stick to my bones.  Food that will keep me running…

Baked Chicken Meatballs

Tender chicken meatballs flavored with oregano, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes and a bit of fresh parsley are perfect on their own with a big salad.  Want pasta? Go for it! Put it on a sub roll and add some provolone cheese for an awesome meatball sub.  Freeze and save for later. So many options.  Enjoy!

makes about 24

recipe slightly adapted from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

6 slices whole wheat bread, torn into medium chunks ( Italian bread will work here too)

3/4 cup whole milk

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

3 small cloves of garlic, minced

2 pounds ground chicken

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

pinch of fennel seeds

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley

3 to 4 cups tomato-based pasta sauce ( I used Rao’s marinara sauce.  When I make marinara sauce from scratch I like this recipe.)

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 375F.  Set aside 2 9×13 inch pans.

Place bread crumbs in a medium and pour in whole milk.  Soak for 5 minutes or so.

Using a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the olive oil a bit.  Add diced onions, a pinch of salt and cook until softened and light brown, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Place the ground chicken in a large bowl. Squeeze excess milk from the bread.  Add only the bread to the chicken.  Toss the milk!  Add the cooked onions and garlic.  Next, add eggs, salt, red pepper flakes, oregano, fennel seeds, parmesan cheese, tomato paste and parsley.  Use your hands or a wooden spoon to mix all of the ingredients together.  I used my hands.  Be sure the ingredients are completely combined.

Spread 1 cup of marinara sauce in each 9×13 pan.  Use your hands to shape the meatballs into a golf ball size.   You should end up with about 24 meatballs. Place 12 meatballs in each pan and top each meatball with a dollop of marinara sauce. (You could also use a steel cookie scoop! I tried this and it was much faster and less messy. I used this scoop.

Bake meatballs for 25-30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling and the meatballs are cooked through.  Serve with pasta and a simple salad.  We ate them one night with pasta and the next night on slider buns.  The meatballs will last for up to 4 days stored in an air-tight container, in the refrigerator.  You could also freeze any leftovers for an easy weeknight meal.  (Freeze for up to a month in an air-tight container.) Enjoy!

5 Must Make Meatball Recipes!

Looking for a classic Italian meatball recipe? Head to Simply Recipes for Elise’s Italian meatball recipe.  I want to eat 5 of them now!

Need a meatless meatball? Cookin Canuk has a recipe for cannellini bean vegetarian meatballs.  Perfect for meatless Mondays!

If you love chicken parm, check out What’s Gaby Cooking? chicken parmesan meatballs: all the ingredients found in the beloved dish in one delicious meatball!

Serve a spicy and smoky meatball at your Superbowl party this year.  Head to Food 52 for their Korean-style Gochujang meatballs. Yum!

Any meatball in just 5 steps? Yup, it is that easy! Head to Food 52, they’ll walk you through it.