Friday Date Night

Supper in the backyard eating pasta with tuna, tomatoes and capers, freshly-baked bread and cucumber with caviar, lemon rind and chives. 

Cheers to a happy weekend!

Mediterranean Pasta

... made of shell pasta, tuna, capers, cherry tomatoes, salt and pepper, lots and lots of garlic and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Yum!

Gnocchi

Pronounced n'yaw-kee, this dish originated from Northern Italy, in the province of Lombardy.

Tonight's dinner is gnocchi in marinara sauce.  The gnocchi is store-bought, the sauce is homemade marinara.

Niçoise Pasta Salad

...without eggs.  

Husband is not a fan of tuna pasta, I am... so I usually make this on my day off or while I'm on vacation like today. Otherwise, I have to cook the pasta two ways - with tuna for me and with ground beef in tomato sauce for hubby and the Little Guy.

The arsenal for this Niçoise Pasta Salad:  orecchiette, tuna in can, grape tomatoes, capers, anchovies, green beans, a sprinkle of salt and a generous cracking of black pepper.

Spaghetti with Shrimp in Pesto Sauce

In times like this, when work life gets too hectic, when I have to work until the wee hours of the morning to get reports done, this is one of my go to recipes... spaghetti in pesto sauce topped with shrimp sauteed in lemon garlic sauce.  

Filipino-style Spaghetti (sans hotdog)

… is cooked exactly the same as regular spaghetti except that the sauce we use is on the sweet side and it has sliced hotdog. 

Rigatoni with Sausage

I'm not really a fan of rigatoni, but that has changed since I had it at GC Marketplace in Universal City.

This is rigatoni cooked in San Marzano tomatoes, mild Italian sausage with fennel and finished off with two cups of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Buon Appetito!

Left-over Thanksgiving Turkey Soup

What to do with Thanksgiving left-over turkey?  

Make a soup, a turkey pasta soup that is -- with wagon wheel pasta, carrots, green beans and kale.

Penne with Tuna and Artichoke

Tick, tock -- tick, tock -- done. It takes no longer than twenty minutes to prepare this dish.  A box of penne pasta in salted boiling water then drained and sauteed in olive oil, artichoke, grape tomatoes and canned tuna.  

Dinner is served...

Cavatappi & Chicken Soup

I cooked a box of cavatappi two ways -- with tuna and veggies for me and soup with chicken and celery for hubby and the Little Guy.

Cavatappi with Tuna and Zucchini

A delicious and nutritious pasta recipe for dinner made of cavatappi, zucchini, mushroom, cherry tomatoes, tuna, salt and pepper.

Farfalle with Ham and Green Peas

A box of farfalle pasta cooked in salted water then sauteed in olive oil, ham and edamame and topped with mozarella cheese.

Pasta Cooked Chinese way

Soup made of pork cut into strips, mushrooms, sliced onion and garlic, grated ginger, beef broth and linguine pasta.

Cherry Tomato Spaghetti

A simple spaghetti recipe made with organic cherry tomatoes, all-natural ham cut into cubes, chopped onions, lots and lots of garlic and then topped with basil from the garden.

A package of pasta cooked two ways

1) with ground beef and eggplant in San Marzano pomodoro sauce for hubby and the Little Guy

and 

2) with tuna, anchovies, capers, eggplant and grape tomatoes for me

Mac & Cheese

The arsenal:  elbow pasta, smoked sausage, green pepper and cheddar cheese.

Rigatoni and Eggplant Ragù

It's pasta night tonight!

The arsenal:  a box of rigatoni pasta, eggplant, a can of  San Marzano tomatoes, mild pork Italian sausage and chopped parsley. 

Tuna Pasta Bean Salad

Cavatelli pasta, navy beans, potatoes, tomatoes, caperberries, albacore tuna, a sprinkle of rock salt and a generous amount of creme fraiche. 

Orecchiette, Tomatoes and Peas

Tonight's dinner is orecchiette cooked in a pot of salted boiling water for twelve minutes then spooned over to a pesto sauce with cherry tomatoes cut in quarters, green peas and a cup of grated parmigiano-reggiano.

Beef with Cabbage and Orzo

A one pot dish perfect for a weeknight meal. 

The arsenal: chopped cabbage, ground beef, a box of orzo, tomato sauce, chicken broth, salt & pepper.