Zucchini & Tarragon Pasta Saute

The annual zucchini over-production has begun and we are officially beginning to drown in zucchini.  At the farmer's market they are practically giving it away.  While zucchini bread is a wonderful thing that is certain to make it's bloggy-debut shortly, I wanted to turn this week's zucchini into a savory dinner, which is how the zucchini and tarragon pasta dish was born.  This was a pretty quick dish, although I did cook the zucchini first and remove it from the pan before making the sauce because I didn't want it to turn into zucchini-mush (which can happen so quickly).  I did spend a little time considering the possibility of making this into a vegan dish, but then I capitulated realized that a little butter in the sauce and some cheese on the top would be very good things, so I abandoned the vegan plan.

Zucchini and Tarragon Pasta Saute

3 medium sized zucchini
1/2 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
8 ounces whole wheat pasta
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh tarragon
2 tbsp sliced fresh basil
2 tbsp shredded asiago cheese

Put the pasta water on to boil and slice the zucchini into 1/2 inch slices.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  When the oil is hot add the zucchini to the pan making sure not to over-crowd it (I had to work in two batches) salt and pepper the zucchini.  After 2- 3 minutes turn the zucchini, they should have some browning on the first side but should still be relatively firm.  When the other side is browned remove the zucchini from the skillet and set them aside.  While the zucchini is cooking, dice the onion and the garlic cloves.  Once all of the zucchini is browned set it aside and add the onion to the pan (there should still be olive oil left in the pan, but feel free to add a little more if the pan is too dry) salting it lightly.  At this point the pasta water should be boiling rapidly, salt the water and add the pasta. After the onion has cooked about 5 minutes over medium heat, add the garlic, let it cook for about 1 minute and then add the chicken (or vegetable) stock and the wine to the pan, bringing it up to a boil. Boil the liquid for about 2 minutes, then turn it down to a simmer and add the butter to the pan.  When the pasta is about 75% cooked add the zucchini and the herbs to the sauce, tossing to coat.  Once the pasta has reached al dente, drain it (reserving about a cup of the liquid in case you don't have enough sauce) and add it to the sauce and zucchini, tossing to coat.  Serve with a sprinkling of the herbs over the top and a hearty grating of the asiago.  Bon Appetit!

Serves 4

Herbed White Beans and Pasta

Last week the Hubs had the opportunity to go to a football game (although I'm still unclear as it how it's August and there's football already) which left me free to experiment with this dish for Meatless Monday.  The real advantage to this dish is that you could buy the ingredients and just put them in the cupboard to save for a day when there isn't anything else to eat in the house.  I don't know about you, but "Nothing To Eat in the House" does seem to just sneak up on me.

This white bean and pasta dish came from a request/comment from Bob.  She pointed out that while people might be interested in eating a vegetarian meal they might have a hard time convincing their significant other of the tastiness benefits of soy products.  So Bob requested that I work out an alternative to the soy products I traditionally rely on that is still a complete protein.  This dish combines a legume (the white beans) and a carbohydrate (the pasta) to provide all of the essential amino acids.  There is recent research showing that just getting all of the essential amino acids in one day is sufficient, but I figure there's no harm in shooting for getting them all in one meal.


[Note to Everyone: please feel free to request dishes and/or present culinary challenges, I like trying new things and new ideas are always appreciated.]

In making this dish I relied on fresh herbs from the front porch, but dried herbs would work just as well here.  You can also substitute dry white wine for the vermouth (which is just fortified wine) if you don't have vermouth and feel free to use soaked white beans if you don't have canned beans.  I was eating alone last night so I made enough for myself and for lunch today, so double the ingredients if you are serving 4.

Herbed White Beans and Pasta

1 1/2 cups dry whole wheat pasta
1 15 oz can cannellini beans
1/2 large yellow onion
1 tbsp olive oil
2 to 3 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, winter savory, oregano, etc.)
1/2 cup white vermouth
2 tbsp low fat cream cheese

Get a large pot of water boiling for the pasta and once it comes to a boil salt it generously.  While the water is coming to a boil dice the onion and add it to the olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Let the onion soften for 5 minutes while you finely chop the herbs and drain the beans.  After the onion has softened add the herbs, garlic and beans to the onions along with the remaining butter (depending on your butter tolerance).  Then add the pasta to the salted boiling water.  While the pasta cooks stir together the beans, onions and herbs, adding in the vermouth and allowing the alcohol to cook off.  Once the bean mixture has come to a boil turn the heat down to low and let it just simmer for the 10 minutes the pasta takes to let the flavors come together.  When there is about 5 minutes left on the pasta add the cream cheese to the bean mixture, stirring it around to let the cream cheese melt into the beans.  If the mixture seems a little dry feel free to add a little more vermouth or vegetable stock (depending on your taste preference), but keep in mind that you can add some pasta water to the mixture if it's too thick once the pasta is combined with the beans.  When the pasta is al dente remove the pasta from the cooking water with a spider strainer, reserving the pasta water.  Stir the pasta in with the beans, add a little pasta water if necessary and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve garnished with some of the fresh herbs you added to the beans.  Bon Appetit!

Serves 2

Not-So-Secret Pizza Dough

The Hubs has many wonderful qualities, two of which are generosity and computer prowess.  The computer prowess part might not seem quite so amazing to you, but it really is.  Every time I say to the Hubs "I wish my blog could do _____", a few moments later it can!  Recently I told the Hubs that I really wished that my blog had the capacity to print off just the post (without all of the sidebar stuff) and that the post had a printer icon to identify that printing ability.  Check the bottom of this post, that printer icon, see how cool the Hubs' talent really is?

This new found ability to print is just in time for my revelation of the Hubs' secret pizza dough recipe (there's that generosity I was talking about).  It turns out that the Hubs' method of trial and error to find the best pizza dough recipe was to try different recipes he found on the internet (more of that computer prowess).  The one we liked best came from the blog 101 Cookbooks (the post is called "Best Pizza Dough Ever" I can see why the Hubs picked it) and it seems that the original recipe is from Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice.  So even though I am sharing this recipe I am liberally applying credit where credit is due.

Not-So-Secret Pizza Dough 

4 1/2 cups unbleached high-gluten bread or all purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 3/4 cups water, ice cold
Cornmeal for dusting

Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer.  If you aren't using bread flour you will need to add vital wheat gluten as per the instructions on the wheat gluten box or the dough won't have enough structure to form.  (That is the Hub's Voice of Personal Experience.) Turn the mixer on to low speed and pour in the water and olive oil until the liquid is all absorbed and the dough has come together.  The dough should be sticky and pull away from the sides of the mixer's bowl.  Increase the speed the medium-high and let the machine need the dough for 5 minutes (the dough hook attachment is best for this).

After 5 minutes take the dough out of the mixing bowl and put it on a floured counter (also flour your hands).  Roll the dough into a round ball and cut it into quarters.  We only make two of the dough balls at once, so if you are freezing two of the dough balls, spray them with a little cooking spray and put them into freezer bags and then directly into the freezer.  Spray the two remaining dough pieces with cooking spray and let them rise on the counter, covered in a clean kitchen towel, for 2 - 3 hours.

The Hubs pointed out the dough is much better if left in the fridge overnight and eaten the next day.  So once you've cut the dough into quarters and frozen two of the pieces spray the remaining two pieces with cooking spray and put them into a large bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge overnight. The next day, take the dough out of the fridge about 2 - 3 hours before you plan to eat it, punch the dough in the bowl down, take it out of the bowl and leave it on the counter covered in a clean kitchen towel to rise.

The frozen dough should be taken out of the freezer 24 hours before you plan to use it and put into the frigde.  Take that dough out of the freezer 2-3 hours before eating it and (again) let it sit on the counter under a clean kitchen towel to rise.


Some at-home pizza making tricks (these are also the Voice of Personal Experience):
First, the best thing you can buy for making pizza is a pizza stone.  It's worth it.  You can even store the pizza stone in the oven where it will regulate the temperature while you are baking, which means that opening the door to peer at the food in the oven (who? me??) won't drastically affect the oven's temperature.

Second, turn your oven all the way up when baking the pizza (be VERY careful taking the pizza out and you probably shouldn't do it while drinking wine) so that the center gets nice and crispy.  It also only takes about 10 minutes to bake the pizza at those temperatures.

Finally, put cornmeal down on the vessel you are using to transfer the pizza from the counter to the oven (we use a cutting board) and make sure that the dough slides back and forth on the vessel before opening the oven (again, it's hot in there, you've got to be prepared).

Top and enjoy with abandon!  Bon Appetit!


Serves 2 - 6

Sloppy Tempeh Joes

Have you ever noticed that sometimes, on a Monday, it's hard to get your act together?  For us Modays are often crazy, the Hubs goes to his office on Mondays (rather than working at home) and everyone at my job is trying to get the week "started off right", which means calling to ask me a zillion inane questions.  By the time we get home dinner is often just a little more than we can manage, and this Monday was no different.  The Hubs wanted to just order in a pizza, thinking that it would be easier than tackling dinner, but I promised him that this dinner would be done in less time that it takes to get a pizza delivered (generally 30 minutes) and with only one dirtied pan.  Turns out, it takes only 12 minutes to make sloppy tempeh joes. Delivery pizza just can't compete with that.  (More on the idea of quick dinners v. prepared dinners later this week.)

Sloppy tempeh joes are also vegetarian, in honor of Meatless Mondays, but if you only have chicken stock at home, don't sweat it, just use what you've got. For this recipe, I add a can of tomato paste to the onions and tempeh and then mix in the vegetable stock.  This method is very quick and it allows me to control the level of "sloppiness". Just keep mixing in the stock until you reach the consistency you're looking for.

Sloppy Tempeh Joes

2 cups vegetable stock
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 block tempeh
4 sandwich rolls
1 can tomato paste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp worchestire sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp onion chutney
2 tsp siracha (or other hot sauce) to taste

Saute the chopped onion in a large skillet with the olive oil over medium heat.  After the onion has been cooking for 4 minutes, crumble the tempeh into the skillet with the onion.  Saute the onion and tempeh for another 2 minutes.  Add the tomato paste to the skillet and start adding vegetable stock, mixing the stock into the tomato paste until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.  Add the remaining ingredients to the tempeh and onions, adapting the amounts to suit your taste.  Serve over the rolls.  Bon Appetit!


Serves 4