Shrimp and Scallop Arrabiata

Presto Pasta Night, o, how I miss thee!! It's been a while since we've had any pasta (this recipe is from early February!), but I missed emailing with Ruth, so I've pulled this arrabiata out of the draft black-hole that is my blogger! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!

I made my own pasta, which is why the ribbons above are thicker than normal linguine. I don't know why I have such a hard time cutting my pasta smaller... I think I just like the thicker ribbons and my hands act accordingly. Fresh pasta has such a nice chew to it, and considering how easy it is, I don't know that I can go back to store-bought (at least for the types I'm capable of making.)

What's so cool about this pasta sauce is how flavorful it is for how quickly it came together. In less than 10 minutes, dinner is done. Woo! We like an "angrier" arrabiata, so I probably used double the called-for red pepper flakes. My other change was to use fire-roasted canned tomatoes. I love the depth of flavor it provides to sauces, especially this one.

All in all, this was a real keeper. It wasn't fancy, sure, but it was spicy and delicious. Head on over to Ruth's round-up tomorrow for more fabulous pasta dishes!

Shrimp and Scallop Arrabbiata
c/o Cooking Light Magazine, March 2007
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1591041

Arrabbiata is Italian for "angry" and often refers to the classic combination of tomatoes, pancetta, and hot pepper. Substitute bacon for the pancetta, if you prefer.

1 (9-ounce) package fresh linguine
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
8 ounces peeled and deveined large shrimp
8 ounces bay scallops
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup onion, chopped
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 ounce pancetta, chopped
4 (14.5-ounce) cans organic stewed tomatoes, with juices
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Set aside and keep warm.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and scallops to pan; sprinkle with salt. Sauté 3 minutes or until almost done. Remove shrimp mixture from pan.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, fennel seeds, pepper, and pancetta to pan; sauté 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Return shrimp mixture to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat. Serve shrimp mixture over pasta. Sprinkle with basil.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup pasta, 2 cups shrimp mixture, and 2 teaspoons basil)

cals 480; fat 11.9g; sat 2.2g; protein 33.2g; cholesterol 110mg; sodium 718mg; fiber 5.7g; carbs 55.4g

See the recipe...

Spaetzle Baked with Ham and Gruyere

Spaetzle counts as pasta, right? I sure hope so, because this tasty comforting dinner is my entry to this week's Presto Pasta Night, hosted by the lovely Ruth!!

I had ripped this out of a Cooking Light magazine from 2004! I have been going through my stack of saved recipes and either making them or tossing them. I'm glad that this one made the cut!

I always enjoy spaetzle in restaurants, but I'd never made it at home. Wasn't too tricky, but boy, is it one sloppy process! I spilled the dough all over the place! I used a pasta insert in place of the colander, and it was a touch bigger than my pan, so yah, messy messy.

However, messy messy = tasty tasty! The dainty, soft spaetzle was so nice with the ham and cheese. The ham was cut into a fine dice, so it was really easy to get some ham, onion, and spaetzle with each spoonful. The gruyere was a great choice, it melted beautifully and bound it all together. I would maybe include a little extra cheese in the milk mixture, but only because I like it. :)

Pop on over to Ruth's blog, Once Upon A Feast Friday for the round-up!


Spaetzle Baked with Ham and Gruyere
c/o Cooking Light magazine, April 2004
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=604745

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/4 cups 1% low-fat milk, divided
4 large eggs, divided
2 quarts water
Cooking spray
1 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup finely diced ham (about 4 ounces)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Sift together 1 2/3 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and baking powder. Combine 3/4 cup milk and 2 eggs, stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, stirring with a whisk until combined. Let stand 10 minutes.

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a large saucepan. Hold a colander with large holes (about 1/4-inch in diameter) over boiling water; spoon about 1/2 cup dough into colander. Press the dough through holes with a rubber spatula (droplets will form spaetzle); set colander aside. Cook 3 minutes or until done (spaetzle will rise to surface). Remove with a slotted spoon; drain in a strainer (spaetzle will stick to a paper towel). Repeat procedure with remaining dough.

Heat a medium nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in ham. Combine spaetzle and onion mixture in a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray, tossing gently.

Combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 cups milk, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons flour, and pepper, stirring with a whisk. Pour milk mixture over spaetzle mixture. Sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Nutritional info: cals 310, fat 9.6g, sat fat 4.4g, protein 18.8g, cholesterol 165mg, calcium 288mg, sodium 786mg, fiber 1.5g, iron 2.4mg, carbs 35.7g

See the recipe...

Baked Goat Cheese and Roasted Winter Squash over Garlicky Fettuccine

I'll admit it. I have a problem. I tend to focus on an ingredient and then make it eleventy billion ways. At that point, Dave is tired of eating it, so I move on to something else. It may take a while for me to fixate on something new, but the fixation is inevitable. I don't see what's so wrong with it, myself. I look at it as fully exploring and experimenting with an ingredient. Or something. :)

This dish features two of my more recent loves (butternut squash and fresh pasta), plus one I can't let go (goat cheese). I think all three are easily explainable, don't you? It's Winter, and butternut squash is in season, so I am taking advantage of the opportunity to eat seasonably. Fresh pasta is so easy to make (provided you have the right equipment, otherwise not so much) and tastes so so nice. And the goat cheese? Well... it's goat cheese! What's not to like???

The cubing of all that squash was a bit time consuming, but very worth it. I really like recipes that let you pop them in the oven for a while. I use that time to clean up the kitchen or the apartment or generally horse around. Before I know it, dinner is ready! Rad!

I didn't expect to love the garlicky fettuccine as much as I did. But combined with the creamy roasted squash, the sweet bell pepper, and the tangy goat cheese... omg.... heaven! I was also partially convinced that the goat cheese would ooze all over the place in the oven, but it didn't. Don't be upset if the bread crumbs don't totally stick to the cheese, mine didn't either.

We had this on a Friday night and then had the leftover veg and cheese on new pasta for lunch on Saturday and they were just as good the second day. I highly recommend this. Highly. Go eat it. :)

Edit: I almost forgot AGAIN!!!! (skip blogging for a while and you lose your brains!) Pop on over to Ruth's blog, Once Upon a Feast for her weekly Presto Pasta Night Roundups! She collects some of the most amazing pasta dishes I've ever seen and shares them with us every Friday! Once you're there, check out her other tasty entries! When I have no idea what I'm going to make for dinner, I know that I can go to Ruth's site and find something healthy and delicious!


Baked Goat Cheese and Roasted Winter Squash over Garlicky Fettuccine
c/o Cooking Light Magazine, December 2006
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1559238

6 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled kabocha or butternut squash (about 2 1/4 pounds)
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (4-ounce) packages goat cheese
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 pound uncooked fettuccine
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
Rosemary sprigs (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°.

Place squash and bell pepper in a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil; toss well. Arrange vegetables in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt, rosemary, and black pepper. Bake at 425° for 40 minutes, stirring once.

Place goat cheese in freezer 10 minutes. Cut cheese crosswise into 8 equal rounds. Place breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. Dredge each round in breadcrumbs; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 6 minutes.
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. Return pasta to pan; add reserved pasta cooking water, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, red pepper, and garlic, tossing to coat. Place 1 1/4 cups pasta in each of 8 shallow bowls; top each serving with about 1/2 cup squash mixture and 1 goat cheese round. Garnish with rosemary sprigs, if desired.

Yield: 8 servings

cals 423, fat 14.1g, sat fat 7.4g, protein 17.8g, cholesterol 30mg, calcium 290mg, sodium 439mg, fiber 2.7g, iron 2.1mg, carbs 54.7g

See the recipe...