Classic Chicken Noodle Soup – Thank Goodness We Had Roasted Chicken Broth Around!

In case you haven’t been following along, let me catch you up. On Wednesday we made a gorgeous roasted chicken broth for the expressed purpose of making this soul-warming soup. Here, we used that wonderfully flavorful broth to complete the recipe, and let me tell you, it was incredible.

You know how much I hate to complicate a recipe, and I'll always err on the side of too few ingredients vs. too many, so when I make this chicken noodle soup it’s a constant battle to not add other “stuff.”

Not that’s there’s anything wrong with stuff, per se, but if properly made, this soup is just too amazing in its pure and natural state for any distracting, supercilious additions. By the way, a little advice to you young up-and-coming food bloggers; never use “per se,” and “supercilious” in the same sentence.

Yes, other than the mirepoix, and a tiny pinch of fresh thyme, the rest of this soup is basically chicken and noodles. Speaking of the noodles, I’m hoping you go with the wide ones I used. I was only half-kidding about this soup being a meditation, and egg noodle wrestling is half the fun.

Like I said in the video, this will work with regular chicken stock, but if you do decide to make this, I sincerely hope you go ahead and make the roasted chicken broth first. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4-6 servings:
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp rendered chicken fat

1/2 cup diced carrot

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced celery

1/4 tsp fresh thyme leaves or pinch of dried thyme

2 quarts roasted chicken broth

1 pound cooked chicken breast, cubed

4 oz dry wide egg noodles

cayenne, salt and black pepper to taste

Goat Cheese Apple Walnut Pasta – Suspect Supper Turns into Super Side Dish

It sounded so good on paper. Yes, this creamy, tangy goat cheese sauce, spiked with sweet apples and walnuts was going to make quite the memorable winter pasta dinner. The only problem was, halfway through the bowl I suffered that most dreaded of all pasta eating afflictions…palate fatigue.

For whatever reason, after three or four ounces of this perfectly fine concoction, I got tired of eating it. It wasn’t that it started to taste bad; it just became a little tedious. This is not an uncommon phenomenon, especially with a bowl of macaroni.

However, instead of declaring my goat cheese, apple, walnut pasta entrée idea a failure, I decided to cleverly re-brand it as a tasty, seasonal side dish. The same exact recipe that fell a little flat as a main course, turned out to be a stellar side for some roast pork.

Of course, with taste being as subjective as it is, maybe you’ll have a different opinion as to this pasta’s worthiness as a headliner, but I wanted to be clear about my official recommendation. Even simply adding some slices of cooked chicken breast would have transformed the dish into something a little less “one-note.”

By the way, this isn’t something to make way ahead of time, as the walnuts react with the dairy in the sauce, and will turn your leftovers a fairly disturbing purple-blue color! If you’re not going to eat this immediately, then don’t mix in the nuts until service. I hope you give this great winter pasta…err, I mean side dish, a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 cups ditalini, or other small macaroni

1 tbsp butter

1 apple, diced

1 cup chicken broth

4 oz fresh creamy-style goat cheese

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne

1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves

Minestrone Soup is a Once in a Lifetime Experience

I always feel a little apprehensive when I post a recipe like this minestrone soup. It’s the type of dish I never make the same way twice, and the fear is that someone will watch and assume that this is my “official” version.

You don’t need a recipe for minestrone, just like you don’t need a recipe for a great sandwich, or an epic salad. To make minestrone soup precisely same way every time, using a very specific list of ingredients and amounts, is to trample on the soul of this Italian classic.

Having said all that, what if you happen to make it so incredibly delicious one time that you want to experience the exact same shuddering soupgasm in the future? That seems like a perfectly sound reason for why you should write down the recipe…except cooking food doesn’t work that way.

Your perception of how a recipe tastes involves so many factors above and far beyond the list of ingredients. Remember that time you made that super awesome whatever, and it was so perfect, and then you made it again, exactly the same way, but somehow it just didn’t taste as great? This is why.

So, I hope you give this amazing minestrone recipe a try soon…but only once. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 oz pancetta

2 tbsp olive oil

1 diced onion

1 cup diced celery

4 minced garlic cloves

4 cups chicken broth

1 (28-oz) can plum tomatoes, crushed fine

2 cups water, plus more as needed

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp dried Italian herb blend (mine was thyme, oregano, rosemary, basil)

red pepper flakes to taste

1 cup freshly shucked cranberry beans (aka shelling beans)
2 or 3 cups chopped cabbage

1 (15-oz) can garbanzo beans, drained

1 bunch swiss chard, chopped

2/3 cup raw ditalini pasta

extra virgin olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and fresh Italian parsley to garnish the top

Smoked Ham and Butternut Squash Spaghetti – Short on Daylight, Long on Flavor

I never film at night, since I don’t like the look of the video when I use artificial lights. Sure, I could actually learn how to use a real lighting kit, but it’s easier for my simple brain to just film during the day.

However, once in a great while, I’ll starting making something, like this smoked ham and butternut squash spaghetti, that looks like it’s going to be so good that I don’t care about lighting quality, and film it anyway.

Other than this less-than-subtle warning about the lighting quality, there’s not a lot to say about this simple and very delicious winter pasta. It will work with literally any type of ham or smoked sausage; and as I mention in the video, bacon would also shine.

Despite the rich and decadent mascarpone, the sauce is actually pretty light when you consider much of the sauce is really just chicken broth and squash. By the way, I didn’t add it, but I think a squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the end would have been a great idea. I hope you give this hearty pasta a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

14 oz package dry spaghetti

2 tbsp olive oil

4 oz thinly slice smoked ham

3-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

red chili flakes to taste

1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken broth, or as needed

3 cups diced butternut squash

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup mascarpone cheese

1-2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Know Your Cheese

As most of your know, I LOVE cheese, and two of the most commonly used varieties in my kitchen are fresh mozzarella, and mascarpone. In addition to this recipe, I’ve used mascarpone in several recent videos, and received numerous inquires as to which brand I used.

My usual go-to brand is Galbani, so I was thrilled when Michele and I were recently invited to an event hosted by Lactalis Foodservice. Along with Galbani, Lactalis owns many of markets’ top cheese brands, such as President, Sorrento, and Precious, just to name a few.

This Chef’s Table event was held at Farina, San Francisco, and not only did we enjoy a very nice meal, but we got to talk directly to the people making the cheese. One reason I love shopping at Farmers Markets is that you get to meet the people producing the food you’re about to cook, but it’s not often you get the same experience for a product you buy at the supermarket.

Here are a few highlights from the evening.

Pardon the poor quality photo, but I just had to show this Foccacia di Recco, featuring Galbani’s Bel Paese. It’s sort of like a stuffed pizza, which uses a very basic, unleavened bread dough that’s rolled, spun, and stretched very thin, before being stuffed with the creamy cheese. It’s baked in a very hot oven, where it puffs up, and gets crispy on the outside, while the inside stays soft and cheesy. It was awesome, and something I must figure out how to make!

Chef at Farina spinning the dough for the Foccacia di Recco. By the way, the videographer seen here is my friend Vincent McConeghy, a fellow western New Yorker, and author of the novel, Gastro Detective.

This was my favorite course of the night. A golden and red beet timbale with Istara Petit Basque and shaved black truffles. What glorious combination of flavors!

I want to thank Lactalis Foodservice for hosting such a fun evening, and the chefs at Farina for taking such good care of us! For those of you that requested more info about the mascarpone cheese, you can check out the official website here. Grazie!

Butternut Squash and Mascarpone Gnocchi – I Don’t Like Gnocchi, But I Love These!

When I tell people I don’t like gnocchi, I always have to clarify that I’m talking about the traditional, potato-dough style dumplings, and not the much easier and lighter, cheese-based versions, like this one featuring butternut squash and mascarpone cheese.

Unless created by the hands of a true master, traditional potato gnocchi are too often dense, gummy nuggets of disappointment. However, as temperamental as the classic recipe is, these cheesier, low-starch versions are really quite simple.

These are often made with drained ricotta, and you are welcome to substitute, but here we’re going with mascarpone, a very rich and luscious Italian-style cream cheese. Along with Parmigiano-Reggiano, all you need besides the cheese is some cooked squash, and just enough egg and flour to keep it all together.

Once your mixture is done, and you let it firm up overnight, you have a few options as far as final service. You can follow the spoon-boil-fry-serve method seen herein, or you can do the spoon-boil part ahead of time, and then fry in the sage butter when ready.

If you do want to make these ahead, simply fish them out of the boiling water as they’re cooked, draining well, and place on a plastic-wrapped sheet pan to cool. Once cooled to room temperature, they can be carefully wrapped up (in a single layer), and kept in the fridge for at least a day, until you’re ready to crispy up in the butter.

Either way, prepare your palate for some incredibly light, tender, and delicious gnocchi. You can use them for a first course, like I did here, or as a very special side dish to some roasted meat. I really hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 12 appetizer-sized portions:

2 cups cooked butternut squash

1 cup mascarpone cheese, or cream cheese, goat cheese

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 oz (about 1/2 cup) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (if you’re going to use fake Parmesan cheese for this, don’t even bother)

1 packed cup all-purpose flour

1 stick unsalted butter for frying, used in batches

cayenne, salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup sliced sage leaves

My Snackpicks' No-Bake Macaroni & Cheese with Crunchy Cheez-It Gratin

One thing a cook never stops searching for is the perfect macaroni and cheese topping. If it's crunchy, or has the potential to be crunchy, we'll try it as a topping. This time, a handful of Cheez-It crackers, toasted in butter, are taking their turn, deliciously covering this creamy, no-bake mac and cheese.

By the way, just because I'm using this on a no-bake recipe, doesn't mean you can't use this in the traditional way. If you want to try this cheesy topping for a regular macaroni and cheese, just toss the crumbs and Parmesan in melted butter, but don't crisp it up in the pan. The topping will brown during the baking time, and will come out just as nicely.

This recipe is part of a series of eight snack videos I did for Kellogg's Snackpicks.com. When you click on the video player below, you'll be taken to their great snack-filled website to view the video and get the written instructions. If you have questions or comments, please come on back and post them here. Thanks, and enjoy!

Mystery Noodle Experiment: Operation Crepenoodlespaetzlecini

This bizarre and quite possibly useless video recipe is what happens when I don't have the good sense to not film what I'm cooking. What started as some innocent experiments with semolina dumplings, somehow turned into a surreal crepes-pasta-spaetzle-noodle-chowmein hybrid.

As I cooked and edited this freak of nature, I kept going back and forth between thinking this was a giant waste of time, to actually thinking we may be on to something. I think the basic idea of using a denser semolina crepe as noodles is worth exploring further, but not until I hear what you all think.

By the way, some of you may be wondering why I didn’t mention what it tasted like during the video. I have no idea. It was pretty good – kind of like fried macaroni, only a bit softer and richer. I think I was just so confused by the whole exercise, it never occurred to me. Anyway, I hope some of you do some experimenting of your own, and together we can take this to the next level…or not. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

pinch of salt, and maybe sugar

1/2 cup semolina flour

2 teaspoon olive oil (not shown in video, but add it in)

Ditalini with Roasted Tomato Sauce, Oregano, and Goat Cheese - More Than Meets the Eye

At first glance, this roasted tomato sauce recipe may not seem like something that's worth the trouble. That is, until you realize it's actually less work, and about the same amount of time as a stove-top version.

However, don't make this because of any procedural advantages, make it because it tastes awesome. What the hot oven does to the deep red San Marzano tomatoes is a wonder to behold, and produces a pasta sauce with some serious depth of flavor.

After it's post-roast re-hydration, this sauce is ready to rock. This would be amazing for a chicken parmesan or beef pizzaiola, or even more simply showcased, as it is here. The always entertaining ditalini are a perfect medium for the rich sauce, smoky oregano, and creamy, tangy goat cheese.

By the way, this is a great trick when you already have the oven on for roasting some meat or chicken. While your roast is cooking, you can also be making the sauce for your pasta side dish. Also, the sauce will add moisture and aroma to the oven, so it's a win-win. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup good olive oil

28-oz can San Marzano plum tomatoes, regular or packed with basil

1/2 onion, sliced

6 cloves garlic

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

2-3 springs fresh oregano

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups cold water

Creamy Tomato Tuna Penne Pasta and the Great "Tuna Melt Defense"

This fast and easy creamy tomato tuna penne pasta recipe is inspired by one of my favorite lunches of all time; the tuna melt with cup of creamy tomato soup combo. Not only is this diner classic a great tasting meal, it's also the basis for what I call, "The Tuna Melt Defense."

Whenever I hear chefs (usually young American ones, trained in Italy) say that you may NEVER add cheese to a pasta that contains fish or seafood, I'm forced to use this argument to defend my firm belief that sometimes it's okay to do just that.

Who can argue against the deliciousness of the perfectly made tuna melt? I don't know anyone that loves both cheese and tuna separately that doesn't enjoy this classic grilled sandwich. Throw in a cup of tomato soup and you're talking about one of the best lunches ever.

So, if this combination is culinarily acceptable at Joe's Diner (by the way, this is the same diner those chefs I was talking about in the 2nd paragraph go to eat tuna melts after a late night out), then why in the world can’t we enjoy the same basic flavor profile in a bowl of pasta? I rest my case. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 (6.7-oz) jar of tuna packed in olive oil

pinch of dried oregano (if not already in the oil)

3 cloves garlic

pinch of pepper flakes

1 teaspoon mashed anchovy filets or paste

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

3 cups high-quality cream of tomato soup

1/2 cup water

14.5-oz package dry penne pasta

1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
2/3 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, more as needed

Artichoke and Spinach Stuffed Shells - A Lesson in Leftovers

I love cooking with leftovers, and this artichoke and spinach stuffed shells recipe is a perfect example of why. There's something very satisfying about turning a dish of tired leftovers into a vibrant new creation. It's also great exercise for your cooking muscles, which should never be confused with your following-a-recipe muscles.

When you follow a recipe, you're tying to manipulate food into something fabulous that fits some beautifully idyllic description, or looks like some photoshop'd picture in a cookbook. When you're cooking with leftovers, you don't have as lofty of a goal. In fact, your usually just trying to keep something from going straight into the bin.

Much like a sports team that has nothing to lose, and plays great because of their free and easy attitude, the same thing often happens when cooking with leftovers. In fact, if I weren't so jetlagged, I'd come up with some brilliant metaphor for living life with this same approach.

Due to dangerously high quantities of food at our Super Bowl party (by the way, how 'bout dem bones!), I found myself with a significant amount of leftover spinach artichoke dip. I've always enjoyed spinach and ricotta stuffed pasta shells, so I thought I'd see if I could turn this fairly unattractive dish of food into something slightly less unattractive.

As you'll see from the video, I think I succeeded. The would have been too long had I included the making of the béchamel sauce, but we've done that one many times, and you can see that recipe video here. I just made a standard batch of white sauce, and tossed in a handful of grated Gruyere.

Anyway, I hope this video inspires you to take a look around the fridge, and fearlessly, and without any grand expectations, make something into something else. Enjoy!

Technical Note: Do not adjust your monitors! This was filmed at my mom's home on a dark winter's day, so the lighting is not very good. Although, it is kind of fitting for the subject.

Artichoke and Spinach Stuffed Shells Ingredients:
(recommended as a side dish)

3 cups leftover spinach artichoke dip

1 generous cup ricotta cheese
1 egg

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

red pepper flakes to taste

juice from one lemon

1 box jumbo shells

1 batch béchamel sauce with 1 cup of grated cheese added to it at the end

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

A Christmas Lasagna

It only took about 300 food wishes before it finally came true, but here is my favorite lasagna. Since this is such a traditional Italian-American Christmas recipe, I figured what better time to post it?

By the way, this is simply my rendition of Italian-American lasagna, and not intended to claim any type of superiority, authenticity, or other such nonsense. If your Nonna uses fresh pasta, or insists on a béchamel, then bless her heart, but that's not how this half-Italian rolls.

There are only two things you need for great lasagna; a thick, rich, super-meaty meat sauce, and lots of it; and a ricotta filling where only the finest cheeses are welcomed. For the sauce I love a combination of half Italian sausage and half lean ground beef. I also like lots of sauce.

If you use too much sauce, the worst that can happen is you have a plate of pasta with sauce, but if you don't use enough, you end up with dry lasagna, and there's nothing sadder than dry lasagna.

For the cheese mixture I like the holy trinity of whole milk ricotta, fresh mozzarella, and Reggiano-Parmigiano. If you use the real stuff, your lasagna will taste better. I also use twice as much ricotta as most recipes, which works great here since I use twice the meat as well. Hey, this is Christmas lasagna after all. Enjoy!

Ingredients (for a deep 15" x 10" lasagna pan):

For the meat sauce:

1 pound Italian sausage

1 1/2 pound lean ground beef

8 oz mushrooms, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

6 cups marinara sauce

1/2 cup water

Note: depending on the seasoning of your sausage, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of an Italian dried herb blend.

For the cheese filling:

2 egg, beaten

2 lbs ricotta cheese

8 oz mozzarella cheese, cubed

2/3 cup freshly grated Reggiano-Parmigiano

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

big pinch of cayenne

The rest:

1 lb lasagna noodles

8 oz mozzarella cheese, torn in small pieces

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese to top

This Spaghetti Aglio e Olio Recipe (Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil) Almost Left Me Speechless!

I hope this video recipe for Spaghetti Aglio e Olio looks better than it sounds! A fairly minor cold led to a few days of semi-laryngitis, but I just couldn't wait any longer, so I summoned up my best Phyllis Diller impersonation and went for it. Like Phyllis always said, "the show must go on!"

Spaghetti aglio e olio is about as primal a pasta dish as there is. This is easily the most popular spaghetti recipe in Italy, and if you'll pardon the probably-annoying-to-Italians analogy, the comfort food equivalent to our "mac and cheese."

This is a very simple recipe – in fact, the recipe is much easier to make than pronounce. You know a recipe name is hard to say when you can't even come up with a respectable phonetic spelling. It's something close to "ah-leoh-oh-leoh." Give it a couple tries, and if you can't do it, feel free to just call it garlic spaghetti.

Anyway, this is my version (no two spaghetti aglio e olio recipes are alike), and I think it's pretty true to the classic method. The key is slowly toasting the garlic slices to a perfect golden-brown in the olive oil. If it's too light, you don't get the full flavor, and if it's too dark, it gets bitter. My advice? Do it perfectly. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 pound dry spaghetti

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

6 cloves garlic, sliced thin

1/2 cup olive oil (note: I prefer a regular olive oil for this recipe, as opposed to a strongly flavored extra virgin olive oil)

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (highly recommend Parmigiano-Reggiano)

*It's not traditional, but for extra richness add 1 tablespoon of butter when you toss with the cheese.

Pasta Fazoolander - So Good You'll Want to Take Off Your Underwear Without Removing Your Pants!

I realize that if you haven't seen the movie Zoolander, the title of this pasta e fagioli, aka pasta fazool, makes absolutely no sense. But, having recently seen someone perform the famous underwear extraction scene from the movie (see bonus video below), I just couldn't help myself.

So, is this hearty winter soup really so good you'd spontaneously attempt to remove your underwear without taking off your pants? Well, possibly, but you'd really have to love soup. Really love soup.

Regardless of whether you go Zoolander or not, no one will deny this is a super simple, very fast, and quite nutritional recipe. The addition of cheese tortellini in place of significantly less interesting macaroni, makes for an extra satisfying bowl of food.

As I say in the video, this is an answer to all the people who claim not having enough time to cook after a long day at work. This entire recipe, start to finish, takes about 30 minutes. And, if your excuse is you don't cook at all, well, this is a heck of a recipe to start with! It also happens to be the kind of dish you really want to be savoring on one of these chilly winter days. Enjoy!




Pasta Fazoolander (pasta e fagioli, pasta fazool) Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1-2 anchovy fillet
1 quart chicken, or vegetable broth
1 cup dry tortelinni
1 (15-oz) can white beans, drained
2 cups packed baby spinach, roughly chopped
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
red pepper flakes
parmesan cheese

Bonus Borderline-Inappropriate Zoolander Impersonation Video
The reason Zoolander was on the brain was this performance by Aubrey Huff at the San Francisco Giants' World Series parade. He went full Zoolander to remove his red "Rally Thong," the good luck charm he actually wore during the season (true story).

Macaroni and Cheese as Crunchy Potato Chip Topping Delivery System

Since everyone agrees that the best part of a macaroni and cheese is the crisp, crunchy topping, why not feature that as the star of the dish? That was the basic idea behind today's video recipe for crispy potato chip mac and cheese.

There are all sorts of "favorite" casserole toppings, but the one that seems to excite people the most is the potato chip crust. Maybe it's the extra crunch, or the cheesy flair, or that very few unpleasant memories include potato chips.

So, the concept here is simple. Make a batch of béchamel (basic white sauce) using the recipe below. If you need to watch the technique, here is a video recipe for it, but use this post's measurements. To that add 12 ounces of really good cheese, and when it's melted, mix into cooked macaroni.

That would make a great meal as is, but when you add a big spoon of this impossibly crispy, cheesy, crunchy, buttery love…well, damn. Not only is this delicious, but it's a triumph of textural perfection. It's also a versatile recipe, as you can make the topping mixture and the white sauce ahead of time. I hope you give it a try, enjoy!




For the white sauce: (watch technique video here)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 cups cold milk
small pinch of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, or few springs of fresh
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt, or to taste

Cheeses I used:
1/2 pound shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 pound shredded Gruyere cheese

For the potato chip topping:
1 tablespoon butter
1 bag (minus 6-7 chips) white cheddar kettle-style potato chips, crushed into medium-fine crumbs
1/3 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (real Parmesan cheese)
2 tablespoons plain breadcrumbs

Fast, Hot Tuna: Tonnino "Tuna Ventresca" Stuffed Shells

Today's post was supposed to be the Seared Scallops with Orange Supremes and Jalapeno Vinaigrette recipe I teased a few days ago, but then I realized the deadline for a tuna recipe contest I had entered was just days away!

This "Tuna Ventresca" stuffed shells recipe is my entry in the Tonnino Tuna Chef Challenge. As you'll hear in the video, "Tuna Ventresca" is the crème de la crème of the canned tuna world. You can check the Tonnino website for more details on why this wild-caught, hand-picked, Yellowfin tuna belly is so yummy, but I'll just say it made for one incredible casserole!

What I was trying to do here was gourmet-up the good old tuna noodle casserole. While it may seem counterintuitive to "cook" such an expensive, premium quality tuna, I'm so glad I did.

The flavor of this particular type of tuna is outstanding, and while I do usually enjoy it cold, as-is, I have no problem using it like as well. A regular chuck burger is great, but sometimes we just have to grind up a dry-aged rib eye steak.

A few technical notes about the video… They gave us a 2-minute time limit, which is why the presentation is way too fast. I will be posting a longer, "director's cut" soon.

Also, the odd little intro and outro screens were for my peeps on YouTube, so they would know what was up. I hope you enjoy the video, and yes, this would work with any tuna, but if you can try it with the "Tuna Ventresca," I think you'll really enjoy it.

To vote, follow this link to the official recipe page, and just click on the "Like" button. Thanks!!




Ingredients:
For the sauce:
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 cups cold milk
pinch cayenne
pinch nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup grated Fontina cheese

20 cooked jumbo pasta shells

For the filling:
1 tablespoon reserved olive oil from tuna jar
1/2 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup diced red pepper
1/2 cup green peas
*1 jar Tonnino Ventresca Tuna in Olive Oil, drained
2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup grated Fontina cheese
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
pinch of cayenne
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

*By the way, in the spirit of full disclosure, a while back I did receive a couple complimentary samples of Tonnino tuna to try out – just in case that kind of thing matters to anyone.

Penne Pasta with Spicy Sausage Ragu – If You're Not Cheating, You're Not Trying

When it comes to this penne pasta with spicy sausage ragu recipe, we aren't just cheating a little, were cheating all over the place. Thanks to two simple shortcuts, this recipe is nothing more than a basic "brown and simmer." Really, that's it – brown and simmer. Oh, you do have to boil some penne pasta, but I think you can find a way to work that into your busy schedule.

First of all, we're using ready-made marina sauce. Ideally, this is from a batch of homemade you whipped up after watching this video, but if not, I used a jar of Barilla, and you are free to do the same, guilt-free. Using a prepared sauce excuses you from the kind of mincing and dicing that can often turn a meal like this into a call to the local pizzeria.

The second, and most ingenious cheat is using spicy Italian sausage instead of plain old ground meat. Any decent brand should be packed with an array of spices, herbs, and garlic that traditionally accompanies the pork into the casing. Think about it; if you like the flavor of the Italian sausage you usually buy, then I'm thinking you'd like the flavor of this ragu.

I usually start this in a dry, cold saucepan, and cook over medium heat until it's ready for the wet ingredients. If your sausage seems particularly lean, you can toss in a glug of olive oil to get things going. Conversely, if there seems to be lots of grease in the pan, simply drain some off before continuing the sauce.

Of course, with all the options for different kinds of sauces and types of sausage, it goes without saying that you can embellish this a hundred different ways, and I hope you do. Who says cheaters never win? Enjoy!




Penne Pasta with Spicy Sausage Ragu Ingredients:
1 pound spicy Italian sausage
1 tablespoon freshly minced parsley, optional
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 1/2 cups (1 jar) marinara sauce
1 cup water (rinse the jar)
1/4 cup cream
14.5 oz dry penne pasta
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Beef Brisket Cherry Tomato Meat Sauce - Blending Low and Slow with Fresh and Fragrant

Pardon my Latin, but once in a while I like to shake up my meat sauce modus operandi, and this brightly colored beef brisket cherry tomato sauce recipe is an example. The video shows two major deviations to my usual ragu-how-to: I used beef brisket instead of chuck; and I used some fresh cherry tomatoes, instead of all canned product.

The result is a deeply flavored sauce, heavy with that special beefiness that only a brisket can bring. Despite being such a slowly cooked dish, the fragrant cherry tomatoes give the sauce a surprisingly bright, fresh flavor and glow.

The brisket does take a long time to cook, but all that connective tissue adds a certain body that I love in a meat sauce. I cheated here with some additional boneless beef short rib meat I had on hand, so feel free to add any tough, stewing cuts of beef.

As I mentioned in the video, if you haven't seen how we finish our pasta recipes around here, click on some of the links you'll see below the post, or in the pasta category, and watch the last steps.

Sauces like this should never be ladled over drained pasta! You need to let the hot pasta absorb some of the sauce before serving – so check it out, and enjoy!




Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 1/2 pounds beef brisket, cubed
1 teaspoon salt
1 qt chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 pint small, sweet cherry tomatoes
2 shallots, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 1/2 cup prepared tomato sauce
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup cream
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
hot red pepper flakes and/or cayenne to taste
1 pound penne pasta

You Can't Stop Zucchini, You Can Only Slow it Down

Very soon, if not already, you're going to be faced with one of summer's great dilemmas; what the hell am I going to do with all these zucchini?

Maybe they're from your garden, or possibly some sadistic neighbor's, but regardless of where they came from, there they sit on the counter, taunting you with their size and numbers.

While it will probably only put a small dent in your cache of courgettes, this recipe I posted last year is very simple and quite tasty. Enjoy!

Tuna Zucchini Elbow Pasta - It's Just Dinner

I almost didn't film this meal. Initially, it struck me as so mundane and unimpressive that I wasn't sure it would make a worthwhile video recipe. Then I remembered I'm an atypical Food Wishes fan. While it's getting harder and harder for me to impress myself, thankfully most of you remain fairly easy to impress.

I don't say that with condescension, but with envy. I have to remind myself that not everything I make has to be a "special." That it's okay to just cook, film, and post without a point, or an angle, or even a reason.

This recipe is not impressive, it's not interesting, there are no new techniques, it doesn't remind me of any funny stories, and it certainly isn't going to win any beauty contests. I promised myself to never use the phrase, "it is what it is," but here, I really have no choice. It is what it is, and that's just dinner. Enjoy!




1 lb elbow macaroni
olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 large zucchini, 1/2-inch cubes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 tsp dried Italian herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc., the usual suspects)
3 1/2 cups marinara sauce
1 1/2 cups water
12 oz tuna
Parmesan cheese

Penne with Neck Sauce – The Perfect Pasta for Your Next Vampire-Themed Dinner Party!

While I do think this penne pasta with beef neck sauce would be an amusing and delicious dish to serve at a vampire-themed dinner party, I'll admit my real motive was to attract some new visitors to the site using some of these extremely popular search engine key words.

Thanks to True Blood and the Twilight movies, America is vampire-crazy, and associated word searches on Google are very popular. So if you are reading this post because you thought it was going to be about vampires, or vampire movies, or vampire television shows, or vampire fashion, or vampire games, well, it's not. (See what I did there?)

This recipe does take a long time, but requires very little effort, and you'll be rewarded with a wonderful, richly-flavored sauce. The hardest thing will be getting some neck bones, but a quick conversation with your friendly neighborhood butcher should be all you need. Just be careful. For whatever reason many real-life werewolves actually make their livings as butchers. Look for the unusually thick ear hair.

By the way, speaking of search engine key words, I can't say for sure, but I think Lindsay Lohan, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Aniston, and LeBron James would really love this pasta recipe. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
3 pounds beef neck bones (ones with some meat on them!)
1 onion
3-4 cups tomato sauce (a prepared pasta sauce would be the best choice)
1 cup water, plus more as needed
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
red chili flakes
2 tablespoon chopped fresh green herbs
penne pasta and cheese

Spaghetti alla Carbonara for Real

I've never been obsessed with recipe authenticity. If you want to call your bagel half spread with sauce and cheese, a pizza, well, more power to you. I will, of course, make fun of you behind your back, but publicly I'll defend you enthusiastically.

I remember posting a ceviche recipe years ago, which had some diced mango mixed in. I received at least a dozen emails from Peruvian readers, not suggesting, but demanding that I change the name.

Their point was simple; true ceviche never features mango. My point was equally straightforward; mine does. So, while I normally don't worry too much about such matters, sometimes I do enjoy demonstrating a recipe in its original form, simply because I find it interesting.

Here I'm doing a spaghetti alla carbonara, as the recipe was made before people started "cheating," and started adding cream. Spaghetti alla carbonara's "creamy" sauce is simply a thin egg and cheese custard, spiked with pork and black pepper. People add cream because they're afraid of scrambling the eggs. But, if you follow the steps in the video, this will not be an issue.

By the way, there are many theories for where the name "carbonara" comes from. The one I officially endorse is that the name was inspired by the specks of black pepper in the sauce, which look like particles of charcoal. It just makes the most sense.

Speaking of authentic, try and find some pancetta or guanciale, which is cured like pancetta, but made from pork cheek. Those two products are not smoked, which works much better in this delicious pasta. Enjoy!




Ingredients for 2 portions:
6-8 oz dry spaghetti (or any pasta)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 oz pancetta, guanciale, or in a pinch, a mildy smoked bacon
fresh coarsely ground black pepper
2 eggs
about 3/4 cup grated Italian cheese (a half Pecorino Romano and half Parmigiano-Reggiano blend is perfect)