Squash and Hazelnut Lasagna - Sue Horwitz

Ingredients
For squash filling:
1 large onion chopped
1 hot pepper minced (optional)
3.5 lbs butternut squash, partly cooked, peeled, and cut into small cubes
2 cloves minced garlic
2 T chopped parsley
2 T chopped fresh sage
1 c. hazelnuts, roasted, skins rubbed off, then coarsely chopped

For sauce:
2 cloves garlic minced
3 T unsalted butter
5 T flour (whole wheat is best but can use white)
5 cups milk (can use some or all unsweetened soy milk)
1 bay leaf

Misc:
1/2 lb mozzarella grated
1 c. finely grated parmesan cheese
no-boil lasagna noodles

Directions
MAKE FILLING:
Cook hot pepper and onion in butter or oil until golden.
Add squash, garlic, salt & pepper to taste.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender (may need to
add some water to keep it from sticking).
Remove from heat and stir in sage, parsley, nuts.

MAKE SAUCE:
Cook garlic in butter 1 minute.
Whisk in flour and cook, whisking, 5 mins.
Add milk in a stream, whisking.  (I like to heat the milk first)
Add bay leaf.
Bring to boil, whisking constantly.
Lower heat, simmer 10 mins whisking often.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove bay leaf.

ASSEMBLE:
Preheat oven to 425.
Toss cheeses together.
Butter or oil a 13x9x2 inch baking dish.
Put 1/2 cup sauce in bottom.
Add pasta sheets (w/o overlap) then 1/2 of remaining sauce, then 1/2 of
filling, then 1/2 of cheese.  Repeat to form 2 layers.  (Or do 3 layers
if you have enough room and enough filling.)

Cover with foil.
Bake 30 mins.
Remove foil.
Bake 10-15 mins more until golden and bubbling.
Let stand 15 mins before serving.


Comments

Makes 6-8 servings (I think it's more like 10-12)

Yakisoba with Pork (or chicken) and cabbage - (Jessie via the NY Times)

Ingredients:
6 oz. dried Chinese Egg Noodles (Chukamen Noodles)  (or 10-12 oz. fresh)
1 T sesame oil
3 T peanut oil
2 T minced or grated ginger root
2 Pork chops, thinly sliced - or substitute chicken, shrimp, or tofu - cut meat thin while still partially frozen
1 small head Napa or Savoy cabbage, shredded (about 4 Cups)
2 carrots - shredded
2 T ketchup
1/4 Cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
2 T mirin, or a pinch of sugar
few drops tobacco sauce or "cock" sauce to taste
1 bunch scallions, chopped

Directions


1. Bring a pot of water to boil, salt lightly and add noodles.  Cook until just done, about 3 minutes.  Drain in a colander and run under cold water to stop cooking process.  Toss noodles with sesame oil to keep them from sticking together and set aside.

2. Put peanut oil in large skillet over medium high heat.  When its hot, add ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

3. Add meat and cook for 5 minutes until no longer pink, and starting to brown around the edges

4. Add cabbage and carrots to skillet and stir. Sprinkle with salt lightly.  Continue to cook until vegetables soften, adding a bit of water as needed to keep them from sticking.

5.  Meanwhile, stir together in a small bowl ketchup, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, miring, and hot sauce.  When vegetables are soft and any liquid has evaporated, add noodles and sauce to skillet.  Toss to coat everything well and cook until noodles are warmed through.

Serve topped with scallions.

Comments
Can add steamed frozen peas, or fresh snap peas - uncooked


Serves 4, takes about 30 minutes start to finish

Linguini With Goat Cheese Proscuitto and Spinach - Eva

Ingredients
½ lb linguini dried or fresh
1 small red onion
4-6 oz of goat cheese
1cup dry white wine
9 oz baby spinach
4-6 oz proscuitto sliced thin
olive oil

Directions
Bring a large quantity of water to boil in the large pot and cook the pasta to your desired doneness
Cut up the onion into a small dice, and sauté in a small amount of olive oil until soft in the small saucepan.
When the onions are soft, add the wine, and simmer about 5 minutes
Add the goat cheese and stir until the cheese is melted
Add the chopped basil, and set the pan aside

Cut up the proscuitto into small strips and sauté for a short time in the large frying pan with a few drops of olive oil
Remove proscuitto and add spinach to the pan. Cover and cook slowly until spinach is wilted. If water is released, drain it off.
Add the proscuitto to the spinach, add the drained pasta and the goat cheese sauce, stir and serve.

Implements
1 large pot for cooking pasta
1 small saucepan
1 large covered pot or frying pan

Comments
Recipe from Cooking Magazine, modified by Eva

Tagliatelle with Fresh Corn Pesto

Ingredients
4 bacon slices, cut lengthwise in half, then crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 6 large ears)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces tagliatelle or fettuccine
3/4 cup coarsely torn fresh basil leaves, divided


Directions
Cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown, stirring often. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet. Add corn, garlic, 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper to drippings in skillet. Saute over medium-high heat until corn is just tender but not brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer 1 1/2 cups corn kernels to small bowl and reserve. Scrape remaining corn mixture into processor. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan and pine nuts. With machine running, add olive oil through feed tube and blend until pesto is almost smooth. Set pesto aside.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot. Add corn pesto, reserved corn kernels, and 1/2 cup basil leaves. Toss pasta mixture over medium heat until warmed through, adding reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to thin to desired consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer pasta to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup basil leaves and reserved bacon. Serve pasta, passing additional grated Parmesan alongside.

Implements
Large nonstick skillet
Large pot
Food processor

Comments

Lemon Chicken with Garlic and Potatoes (Betsy and Paul)

Ingredients
10 chicken pieces
1 lemon rind grated
2 Tbsp fresh thyme
2 lbs small potatoes
1 lemon, thinly sliced
12 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
¼ cup olive oil
salt, pepper

Directions
Season chicken with salt, and pepper. Toss with lemon rind and thyme. Place in baking dish. Add potatoes, lemon pieces and garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees, about 45 minutes.

Implements
Hearty appetite

Comments
Add a vegetable for a one-pot meal!

Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce (Steven and Jessie)

Ingredients
About 10 oz angel-hair or thin spaghetti (can use multigrain if desired)
1 shallot
3 cloves garlic
2 sprigs sage leaves
1-2 Tbs olive oil
¾ cup canned pumpkin puree
¾ cup chicken broth
½ cup low-fat milk
Kosher salt
Black pepper
¼ cup grated parmesan

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions. Mince the shallot and garlic, finely chop the sage.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the shallot and garlic; cook for about 3 minutes, stirring until they have softened. Add the pumpkin, chicken broth, milk and half of the sage. Reduce the heat and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce is slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper; keep warm on the lowest setting.

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce, then add 2 Tbs of the cheese and mix well. Divide among the individual plates and sprinkle with the remaining 2 Tbs of cheese and the remaining sage.


Comments
Can also add some toasted chopped walnuts. It’s a nice post-Thanksgiving dish and a great way to use any leftover pumpkin.

Pesto Lasagne (Hanne and Diana)

Ingredients
1 cup pesto sauce (If homemade, use less oil than usual. If store-bought, drain off any oil from the top)
2 cups Bechamel Sauce—
½ stick butter
2 cloves peeled garlic, cut in half
¼ cup flour
1 ½ tsp. salt
lots of freshly ground pepper
a pinch nutmeg
2 cups whole milk or ½ and ½, heated in microwave (not boiled)
¼ cup white wine.
Melt butter and whisk in flour. Gradually add milk to the butter/flour mixture. Let bubble, whisk, then lower heat and cook for 10 minutes, whisking occasionally. Add wine.

Lasagne noodles, cooked till just tender. Fresh is best! -use the Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles, since they’re thinner. Dunk the noodles in boiling water for a minute to soften slightly. They’ll cook more when the lasagna is in the oven, but since you don’t use as much sauce as in American-style lasagna, they can dry out without this step. (You can do this the day before—just roll the cooked pasta up in kitchen towels jelly-roll style, put in a large Ziploc, and refrigerate. Let come to room temp before assembling lasagna.)

1 ball fresh mozzarella. Avoid the pre-shredded packaged stuff
¼ cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
When making sauce- You can make this the day before and gently reheat before using. You may need to thin it with a bit more milk, since it thickens as it stands. Don’t try to use it if it’s cold, or you won’t be able to spread it over the pasta

1. Dunk pasta in boiling water until just tender—no more than 2 minutes. Lay onto a few
2. Meanwhile, make the bechamel sauce, as detailed above.
3. Bechamel sauce- Melt butter, add garlic, spices, gradually flour and add milk, cook for 10 minutes
4. Then stir in the pesto.
5. Shred the mozzarella.
6. Butter a lasagna pan. Pour a thin layer of sauce onto the bottom.
7. Place a layer of lasagna noodles onto the sauce
8. Spread on a thin layer of sauce.
9. Sprinkle with a bit of mozzarella, then a bit of parmesan.
10. Repeat layering pasta, sauce, cheese until you have 3 or 4 layers. You may have leftover sauce, which is great tossed with pasta as a Cook’s Treat.
Bake in a 400 oven for 20-30 minutes, or until golden on top. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Even better the next day! If there’s excess oil on top, blot with paper towels to remove

Implements
Heavy pan for sauce
Large oven proof pan to bake it all in

Comments
This is northern Italian lasagna. The layers are very thin, with the filling acting more as a condiment to the pasta. Do not overload the layers with sauce and cheese, or it’ll get heavy. You want this to be thin and delicate. I often double this recipe. This freezes well, if you only bake it for 15 minutes, then cool, cover well, and freeze. To reheat, place frozen pan in a 400 oven until hot and lightly browned.

Fettuccine with Prosciutto, Goat Cheese and Spinach (Ed and Eva)

Ingredients
1 cup dry white wine
2 Tbs minced shallots (can use a small onion)
5 oz goat cheese at room temp
Salt & pepper
1/8 tsp red chili flakes
1/3 lb dry fettuccine
¼ lb proscuitto, shredded
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 lb fresh baby spinach
2 Tbs chopped fresh basil

Directions
In a medium saucepan combine the wine and the shallots or onions. Over high heat, reduce the liquid by half. Whisk in the goat cheese until the mixture is smooth, season with salt and pepper and the chili flakes and set aside. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water, and drain. In a saute pan, heat the oil, and add the proscuitto. After this is warmed add the spinach, and sauté until wilted, about two minutes. In a large bowl, combine the pasta with the goat cheese sauce and add the spinach and proscuitto. Serve in warm bowls topped with basil.

Implements
Saute pan for cooking pasta, serving bowl big enough to hold all the ingredients

Comments
This recipe actually calls for sautéed chicken breast cut into strips instead of the proscuitto, but it tasted very bland that way. With the proscuitto it has some zip.

Fresh Pesto (Diana and Hanne)

Ingredients
2 cup fresh basil
½ cup olive oil
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon salt
¾ grated fresh parmesan cheese
½ cup fresh parsley
2 teaspoons butter
3 tablespoons pine nuts/walnuts
3 tablespoons cottage cheese

Directions
Combine all ingredients in food processor
Use food processor and blend ingredients until smooth
Pour mixture over pasta

Comments
The cottage cheese makes a creamier taste

Pepperoni Pasta (Jessie and Steven)

Ingredients
A few Tbs olive oil
Spinach leaves well washed and chopped
5-6 slices pepperoni, chopped
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Small amount of cubed feta cheese
Salt and fresh ground pepper
Toasted pine nuts
Spaghetti or other pasta

Directions
Cook garlic in olive oil in a large frying pan. On high heat, add spinach until wilted. Add pepperoni and cook briefly until pepperoni is a little crispy. Add chopped tomatoes and simmer about 5 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss with hot pasta and cheese. Top with pine nuts.

Serve over pasta of your choice


Comments
This is fast and kids usually like it.

Pasta Puttanesca (Ed and Eva)

Ingredients
1/2 c. olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 jar(2.5 oz) capers
1 can anchovy fillets
1 35 oz can plum tomatoes
1 1/2 c pitted black olives, chopped
fresh ground pepper

Directions
Place oil, anchovies, garlic in saucepan. Mash to a paste
Add the tomatoes, capers, olives.

Stir & heat to simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and
simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Season to taste with pepper

Serve over spaghetti

Pasta Primavera (Ed and Eva)

Ingredients
4 TBS butter
Red pepper flakes
Broccoli florets
1/2 cup olives
1 green onion
1/2 c parmesan
parsley
6 oz linguini
1/2 red pepper
Fat free 1/2 & 1/2
3/4 c mushrooms
Nutmeg

Directions
Cook broccoli florets 1 min in microwave
Melt 4 TBS butter and cook red pepper and mushrooms briefly add a few red pepper flakes
Add 2 TBS flour, then 1 cup 1/2 & 1/2.
grate in nutmeg

Meanwhile cook the pasta. Add drained pasta to sauce with vegetables. Add Parmesan

Macaroni and Cheese-Lower Fat (David and Diane)

Ingredients
1 ½ cup 1% cottage cheese
1 ½ cup buttermilk ( I make this up from the dried kind which seems to last forever in the ‘fridge)
1 tsp dried mustard or 1 Tbs Dijon mustard
pinch cayenne
¼ tsp nutmeg (fresh ground if possible)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ cup grated onions
10 hydrated sun-dried tomatoes - chopped
1 cup grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
½ pound UNCOOKED elbow macaroni
2 Tbs finely grated parmesan or romano cheese
¼ cup bread crumbs

Directions
This is faster than the traditional M&C, and better for you too! Made with UNCOOKED macaroni. Neat!

Preheat oven to 375 deg. F.

Prepare a 9-10 inch square baking pan with light coating of olive oil or cooking spray.

In a blender (too wet for food processor) combine cottage cheese, dry buttermilk powder and appropriate amount of water, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg, salt, and pepper until smooth

In a large bowl combine pureed mixture with the onions, cheddar cheese, sun dried tomatoes and uncooked macaroni. Stir well. Pour mixture into the baking dish. Push any tomato parts down with a chop stick so they are not sticking out.

Combine parmesan cheese and bread crumbs and sprinkle over the top. (Can use grape nuts as a replacement for bread crumbs too)

Bake for about 45 minutes, until topping is browned and center is firm.

Gnocchi with Gorgonzola (Ed and Eva)

Ingredients
3 Tbs unsalted butter
1/2 lb mild Gorgonzola cheese ( I used Blue Cheese)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1lb pasta or 1 1/2 lb gnocchi
(I use fat free 1/2&1/2)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
freshly ground pepper
1Tbs chopped parsley
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Directions
Melt butter in a large saute pan set over low heat. Add cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Heat gently. Cut Gorgonzola into little chunks, add to cream mixture, stirring until melted. Remove from the heat.
Cook pasta or gnocchi in a large quantity of boiling water. Drain when al dente. Then add pasta or gnocchi to sauce, and toss over low heat until evenly coated. Serve immediately with a sprinkling of parsley and parmesan cheese to pass at the table. Enjoy!!


Comments
The recipe comes from a book called "Ciao" by Nancy Radke (Ed and Eva)