Halloumi, Zucchini and Sundried Tomato Penne

 

This month has a been taxing on the wallet so I've been avoiding buying groceries and trying to make do with whatever I have in the house. That, combined with the fact that Matt and I have opposing schedules this week and haven't been eating together, allowed me to be rather creative in the kitchen. This recipe is one of my creations that actually turned out. I would actually make this intentionally now. So should you.

When I was googling zucchini recipes trying to figure out what I could do with the 3 I had in the fridge I saw this recipe for sundried tomato zucchini rounds and was all excited because I actually had sundried tomatoes too! But I didn't have goat cheese or chives. Then I thought "YAY I have halloumi!!" so that's how I came up with this dish!

Ingredients

250g package of halloumi, sliced into 3/4" slabs
300-400g of dried penne
3 small zucchinis, sliced in 1" medallions, then chopped in half again
2 gloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 of yellow onion, diced
4 tablespoons sliced sundried tomatoes in oil
1 tbsp oregano
olive oil
salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Boil penne until al dente, and set aside.
2. Grill halloumi on a greased grill, or in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil. This should take about a minute a side, and the cheese should be golden and firm where the grill/pan has touched it. Set halloumi aside on a plate.
3. Put a large frying pan on medium heat, drizzle with olive oil, add your diced onions and cook until soft. Add the crushed garlic and mix around for 30 seconds.  When chopping the zucchini try and make your zucchini slices the same size as the penne. Add the sliced zucchini to the pan, mix well and add more olive oil if it looks dry.
4. Season zucchini generously with salt and pepper and the oregano. Cook zucchini until firm yet soft on the outside, for about 3-5 minutes.
5. When the zucchini is done, add the pasta, sundried tomatoes, break up the fried halloumi into bite-size pieces and mix it all together. Fry until all the ingredients have heated up and married into a lovely harmony of flavours. Then eat! It's great the next day too.

Spicy Tuna Noodle Casserole

This is a classic dish that everyone seems to love and have a version of their own. We took Matt's family recipe and tweaked it a bit to keep it interesting. We added Dijon mustard and jalapenos to the regular recipe and it added a creaminess and a zing, if that makes any sense! The flavours compliment each other very well, so don't be afraid to try the unconventional combination.

 

 

Ingredients

serves 4-6

 

500 g elbow pasta (or pasta ends like we did!)

3 cups of shredded mozzarella

1 cup shredded cheddar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp medium curry powder

3 jalapenos, minced

8 shakes Worcestershire sauce

4 shakes Tabasco sauce

4 cans tuna, drained

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup bread crumbs

 

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

2. Prepare your ingredients: grate cheese and mix the two kinds together, mince jalapenos,drain tuna, and cook your pasta 3 minutes less than al dente.

3. In a huge mixing bowl, add the cooked pasta, 3 cups of mixed cheese, mustard, jalapenos, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, tuna, chicken soup and curry powder. Mix well.

4. In a greased casserole dish, spread out the mixture. Top with bread crumbs and remaining 1 cup of cheese.

5. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the top is crispy and the cheese bubbly.

6. Eat with a green salad to balance the delicious out.

Greek Orzo with Shrimp, Artichokes and Spinach

This meal is great hot or cold. When it's hot from the oven the feta is all oozy delicious but when it's cold it makes for a great pasta salad. I was thinking it would be a great dish to take as a pasta salad to a pot luck since it's a meal in one dish. It has everything you need: veggies, carbs, lean protein and dairy!

Ingredients

serves 2-4

1.5 cups orzo, dried
3/4 cup very small pre-cooked shrimp
small bunch fresh dill, chopped
small bunch fresh mint, chopped
100 g feta cheese, crumbled
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 cups baby spinach
4 green onions, chopped
4 artichoke hearts, in oil, rough chopped
1 tsp chili red flakes
1 lemon
olive oil
salt and pepper
Club House Greek Seasoning

Instructions

1. Cook the orzo until al dente and drain, set aside.
2. Pre-heat your oven to 350 C.
3. Heat up a medium sized frying pan to medium heat and drizzle with olive oil. Add minced garlic and the spinach and continually stir around until the spinach is wilted. Set aside.
4. Chop up the herbs, green onion and artichoke hearts. Take out a medium size casserole dish and add the cooked orzo, fresh herbs, green onion, artichoke hearts, spinach, shrimp, chili flakes and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and half the juice of a lemon and mix well.
5. Top with crumbled feta and sprinkle with the Greek seasoning.
6. Bake for 15 minutes and when you take it out of the oven, squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon over it.
7. Serve either hot or cold!

Roasted Chicken Breasts with Bacon, Brie and Rosemary plus 2 Sides

This is what I made for me and my BFF's Christmas dinner. I think the recipe still needs perfecting (more Brie in bigger chunks, better bacon wrapping skills etc...) so you will see this again. It was super delicious but I think presentation-wise it could be improved. This meal was fast to make but had a big payout in the gourmet scale.

Ingredients

yields 4 portions

for the Chicken Breasts with Bacon, Brie and Rosemary

4 chicken breasts, pounded and fillet
6-8 pieces of thick cut smoked bacon
28g fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves chopped
1 small wheel Brie cheese
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
olive oil for drizzling

for the Sauteed Kale

5 leaves of kale, chopped and stems removed
1 tbsp red onion, fine sliced
1 clove garlic, fine sliced
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
dash of red chili flakes
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

for the Walnut Basil Kale Pesto and Linguine

35g fresh basil leaves
1 leaf of kale, chopped, stems removed
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts
heaping 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
salt and pepper
3 garlic cloves, skin peeled
500 g linguine, cooked al dente

Instructions

Instructions for the Chicken Breasts with Bacon, Brie and Rosemary

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Gently pound chicken breasts with flat side of meat tenderiser, with plastic wrap on top of the chicken. This is just to ensure that each breast is a consistent thickness.
3. Fillet your chicken breasts.
4. Remove the rind from the Brie and scoop tbsp sizes of Brie out and place about 3 tbsp globs inside each fillet breast.
5. Sprinkle a bit of rosemary (reserve some) inside each breast. Evenly spread some minced garlic inside as well.
6. Fold the flap of the chicken over so the the Brie, rosemary and garlic are encased.
7. Drizzle chicken with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and more rosemary.
8. Wrap each breasts with 1-2 slices of bacon.
9. Place chicken breasts in a baking Pyrex that has been drizzled with olive oil.
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the bacon is crispy and the chicken is cooked through.

 Instructions for the Sauteed Kale

1. When you wash the kale don't dry it before you chop it. The water on the kale will help steam it.
2. Preheat a frying pan on medium heat.
3. Add all of the ingredients for the kale above to the frying pan.
4. Cover with a lid, and saute for about 10 - 15 minutes until kale is all wilted. It will need more time than you think.

 

Instructions for the Walnut Basil Kale Pesto and Linguine

1. Get out a food processor.
2. Put into the food processor the basil leaves, garlic, chopped kale leaf, garlic, walnuts, Parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper and buzz until all smooth. If the mixture is too dry add more olive oil.
3. Cook the linguine as per package directions until al dente.
4.  Drain the pasta. Add the pasta to a frying pan on medium heat with the pesto and toss until well coated. Cook for about 3 - 5 minutes.
5. Serve with your Brie and Rosemary Chicken Breasts and Sauteed Kale!

Note: This pasta/pesto recipe makes a lot - so I just portioned out how much pasta I wanted that night and fried it up with the pesto, then kept the left over pesto and pasta for leftovers.

MegaCheese Casserole

This is another recipe that Matt and I came up with from whatever was in the fridge. We had a lot of cheese. Like 8 different kinds. I guess for the last while everything we have made with cheese in it had a different cheese in it. So the solution to this problem was an extremely delicious one. If you don't have a million ends of cheeses in your fridge I'm sure 3 or 4 would work just fine.

Ingredients:

1 cup Aged Cheddar
1 cup Gouda
1 cup Havarti
1/4 cup Parmesan
1/4 cup Romano
1/4 cup Swiss cheese
1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
28 g or a healthy handful of fresh thyme, leaves picked
500 g of pasta (bow tie, fusilli, rigantoni or the 'odd ball shape' that we used
1 cup pasta water
2 tbsp butter
3 heaping tbsp flour
1 & 1/4 cup milk
3-4 garlic cloves, fine sliced
500 g cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. Grate all your cheese. Make sure the cheddar, gouda and havarti are in one bowl, and then the parmesan, romano and swiss are in another bowl.
3. Chop tomatoes in half, place in a bowl and season with sea salt and pepper.
4. Fine slice your garlic and set aside. Pick all your thyme leaves and set aside.
5. Boil your pasta until just before al dente. It will cook more in the oven. Make sure to RESERVE PASTA WATER and don't forget like we always do.
6. Grease a big casserole pan.
7. Now that all your prep is done, 100% of your attention will be devoted to the roux. Heat a frying pan to medium heat, melt the butter in it. Add your sliced garlic.
8. Slowly add flour to the butter, whisking the entire time. Once you've added all your flour, it should be a thick paste, and the garlic should be golden brown.
9. Reduce heat to medium low.
10. Start slowly, very slowly, adding the milk to the paste, whisking all the time.
11. Make sure that you are constantly whisking and that the paste is becoming a thick sauce.
12. Now that the roux is very rich, thick sauce, you can add to a big mixing bowl your pasta, pasta water, roux, seasoned cherry tomatoes, thyme, cheddar, gouda and havarti. Mix until well combined. Have a taste and season with salt and pepper again, if needed.
13. Pour the pasta mixture into the casserole pan and spread out evenly.
14. Evenly sprinkle the bread crumbs over the surface. Sprinkle over the surface your parmesan, romano and Swiss cheese.
15. Put in oven and cook for 25 minutes or until the top is a lovely golden brown and all bubbly.
16. Eat it! Mmm, now I am regretting now having this with a pickle. A pickle would have been the perfect acidic complement to the creamy goodness.

Peppercorn Cream Sauce with Homemade Fettuccine

Peppercorn cream sauce and homemade fettuccine is the bomb. I really don't need to advertise it anymore because you know I'm right. Not usually something Matt and I tackle on a weeknight, but it was for my brother's birthday dinner so we went all out. Stay tuned for the recipes for Sweet and Spicy Glazed BBQ Salmon and Balsamic Roasted Green Beans shown in picture. Matt made steak with this and I think the peppercorn cream sauce would go nice over steak too.

Notice how the picture is actually nice? That's because Matt took it. :)

Homemade Fettuccine

Thanks to my BFF and her Nonna for teaching me how to make homemade pasta!
Yields 4 side dish portions of pasta or 2 main dish portions.

Gear You'll Need:

• Pasta maker with the fettuccine slicer attachment.
• Wire mesh strainer/sift.
• Medium sized bowl.
• Small sized bowl.

Ingredients:

1 cup semolina
1 cup Farina Tipo "00"flour
2 eggs, whisked
3/8 cup water
extra flour

Instructions:

1. Put your wire mesh strainer over a medium sized mixing bowl, and sift the semolina and 00 flour into the bowl. Combine.

2. In a separate small bowl, whisk your 2 eggs with 3/8 cup of water. That's an awkward measurement, I know. This recipe is half of the normal size so to cut 3/4 cup of water in half I just eyeball it and put slightly less than 3/4 cup water in the measuring cup.

3. Pour the egg and water mixture through the strainer into the dry mixture. Push through all the slimy bits of egg.

4. Combine with a spoon.

5. Start kneading the dough with your hands while it's still in the bowl. Pour your dough ball onto a floured surface and kneed 8 times or so until the dough is well combined. The dough should not be sticky to the touch. If it is, add more flour. If its crumbly, add a bit more water. The consistency of the dough should be elastic, dense and not sticky all at the same time.

6. Place dough back into the mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for ½ hour.

7. In the meantime, set up your pasta machine and set out a bowl with flour in it for dredging the pasta through. I don’t know if dredging is the right word. But you get it, right?

8. Flour a big plate or cookie tray to place the pasta nests on.

9. When the half hour is up, form the pasta dough into a fat log, and slice a 1.5” chunk off. Cover your fat dough log with a slightly damp towel.

10. Coat the piece of dough in flour bowl. Set your pasta maker to the largest setting for the flat rollers. Mine is 7. Pass through setting 7, then fold in half, then pass through again. Repeat until 6 folds and passes have been completed. Then pass through the second largest, mine is 6. Do this twice without folding. Then pass it twice through 5 without folding and then finally once through 4 without folding.

11. Then pass your thin strip of dough through the fettuccine slicer rollers. As the pasta comes out, gently grab the end with your hand.

12. With the pasta dangling from your hand, dip in the flour bowl.

13. Now wrap the pasta around your hand, and dropping onto your floured plate to make little pasta nests. Sprinkle each nest with flour to keep from sticking.

14. Repeat steps 10 through 13 until you’ve used up your entire dough log. You should be able to make about 6 nests with this recipe.

15. About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve dinner, put a large pot of salted water on high, and once it’s at a mad boil, take each pasta nest and gently unravel it into the water. Mix it all up making sure the noodles don’t stick. Then boil for 3-5 minutes until al dente.

16. Then drain the water and drizzle some olive oil on the pasta to prevent sticking. 

OR you could skip the above 16 steps and make store bought pasta and move onto the easy part: the peppercorn cream sauce!

Peppercorn Cream Sauce

Makes 1/2L of sauce - enough for 4 side portions or 2 meal size portions.
Prep time: 10 minutes. Cook time: 30 minutes. Total time: 40 minutes.

Ingredients

1/2 L of whipping cream, tempered
1 tbsp butter
2 large handfuls of Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tbsp whole black peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 shallots, fine diced
1/2 tsp oregano
salt to taste
fresh cracked pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Make sure your whipping cream is tempered. Meaning it should be room temperature. If you forget to leave it on the counter like Matt and I do, you can just put it in the microwave for a minute. FUN FACT: If you do not temper your cream your sauce will most likely curdle. It is still edible, we know from experience, but it will surely ruin date night. And Christmas.

2. Crush your garlic and fine dice your shallots. Heat a small sauce pan over medium heat.

3. With a mortar and pestle, crush up your whole peppercorns a bit.

4. Melt your butter in the pan, add your shallots. Cook for 5 minutes,  then add your garlic, cook for 1 minute. Add the peppercorns from the mortar.

5. Turn down the heat to medium low. Let it chillax for a minute to reduce in temperature.

6. Add your tempered cream and stir.

7. Watch the cream carefully and stir every couple minutes to prevent burning at the bottom. The cream should be gently simmering ever so slightly. Keep this lazily simmering for 20 minutes.

8. Once 20 minutes has passed, add your Parmesan cheese to the sauce, a little at a time, whisking as you go.

9. Gently simmer for another 10 minutes, whisking ever couple of minutes.

10. Add your oregano and season to taste with fresh cracked pepper and salt.

11. Serve over fettuccine or steak or both!!