I’m always looking for zucchini recipes ever since I’ve begun to grow them in my garden. Not only is this recipe delicious, it has the added bonus of being easy to prepare. It’s great to serve at holiday dinners, picnics, and pot-lucks.
ZUCCHINI PASTA SALAD – makes about 650g (5 cups)
- 12g (2 T) diced shallots
- 2 T extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 10g (1 T) red wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black ground pepper
- 114g (1/4 lb) small pasta
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 15g (1 T) ketchup
- 170g (1-2) zucchini, chopped into half-moons
- 46g (1/2 cup) red pepper, chopped
- 27g (1/4 cup) small carrot, sliced thin
- 130g (1 cup) Feta cheese, crumbled into chunks
- 63g (1/2 cup) Kalamata olives, chopped
In a small bowl, blend together 1 T olive, the shallots, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
Bring about a quart of water to a full boil and add in the uncooked pasta. Cook for about 9 minutes, stirring now and then. Drain without shaking out the excess water in the sieve. Pour the cooked pasta into a large bowl.
Into the now empty pot, put the remaining 1 T olive oil, garlic, ketchup, zucchini, red pepper, and carrot. Over medium flame cook about 5 minutes, stirring often. You only want to par-cook the veggies so there’s still a slight bite to them, not make them soggy.
Pour the cooked veggies to the bowl of cooked pasta. Mix in the Feta, Kalamata olives, and vinegrette.
Serve at room temperature (or chilled, if you prefer).
I hate waste – particularly of food. Unless it’s gone bad, I find a way to use it or save it (thus my self-proclaimed moniker of Queen of Freeze!) So I often find myself with bits and bobs which need to be eaten.
Here comes the tricky part – you’re going to need to flip the frittata to brown the other side. Loosen the bottom using a metal spatula. Once the bottom is no longer stuck, carefully slide the frittata onto a large plate.
(Or, you can place a plate on top of the skillet and, using oven mitts, flip the skillet letting the frittata drop onto the plate.) Cover with another plate and flip. 
Then, slip the flipped frittata back into the skillet and cook until the bottom is well browned. 
Let set about 5 minutes before slicing.
Broccoli Garlic Pasta is a new addition to my list of favorite dinners. It’s one of those recipes that I create in order to use up an ingredient that would soon be going bad – in this case, it was mushrooms. I threw in other items I had on hand – the pièce de résistance being the Feta cheese, which made all the difference.
Kill heat and sprinkle on flour. Over low flame, stir 1-2 minutes to slightly thicken the liquid and cook-off the flour taste. 
Add in the wine and cream. Cook over medium heat about 1 minute. 
Stir in the Feta, Pecorino, and parsley. Stir in the pasta and heat through. Pour into serving bowl (or let remain in pot), cover, and let set for about 5 minutes to allow pasta to absorb the liquid and thicken up.
Pasta Carbonara is a delicious meal, but is often overlooked by vegetarians since it generally contains pancetta or bacon. Also, it contains raw eggs, which can cause salmonella fear.
After 5 minutes, begin stirring now and then until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms have browned – about 5 minutes. 
Add in shallots and garlic, cooking another few minutes – just before shallots begin to brown. 
Stir in the 1 tsp kosher salt, cooked pasta, and 1 cup of the reserved pasta water. Remove pot from heat source and let cool about 5 minutes.
Separate the yolks from 5 of the eggs and beat these yolks together with the whole egg. As you’re beating the eggs, slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of the pasta water, stirring constantly – this will temper the eggs. 
Then slowly pour the eggs into the pasta mixture, stirring constantly. 
Stir in the pepper, Pecorino-Romano, and the parsley. 
Turn burner to very low and continue to stir in order to heat pasta for serving, taking care not to scramble the eggs. If mixture is too thick for your liking, loosen it up with remaining pasta water.
Heat saucepan until water reaches 140º Fahrenheit. Maintain 140º for 3 minutes for large eggs and 5 minutes for extra large eggs. (You’ll probably have to turn off burner all-together to maintain the temperature.) 
Remove pan from heat source and immediately remove eggs to the ice bath for about 5 minutes. This will stop the cooking process.
Remove eggs from ice water and refrigerate until needed. Make sure you mark them somehow so they don’t get confused with unpasteurized eggs.
When asked to attend a potluck, my Spicy Macaroni Salad is often specifically requested. Unlike the usual bland pasta salads, this recipe will wake up your mouth…in a good way!
Stir the carrots, radishes, cucumber, scallions, parsley, and dill into the dressing. Mix well and chill.
Cook pasta in salted water until just tender. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking (don’t worry, it will continue to soften when mixed with the dressing) and drain. Mix into the dressing. Chill at least an hour to allow the flavors to penetrate the pasta.
Remove from heat and stir in vinegar, mustard, and dried tomatoes. 
In a Dutch oven, bring 2 quarts of water and 1 T salt to a boil. Remove 1/2 cup of this water and stir into shallot mixture. 
To the pot of boiling water add the broccoli and cauliflower. 
When the water resumes boiling, cook veggies 1 minute only, just to blanch them, then scoop them out and add to the shallot mixture (which is still off-heat).
Add the pasta and lemon zest to the boiling water, cooking until the pasta is done. 
Save a cup of the pasta water in case you need it, then drain pasta. Into the empty Dutch oven combine the shallot mixture and pasta.
Adjust seasoning, if needed. Add saved pasta water if you feel it needs to be looser.
Chop leaves with knife, then place in food processor and pulse until leaves are very finely chopped. 
Add egg and oil, and pulse a few times to blend. 
Pasta making is all about having the right ratio of liquid to dry ingredients. The spinach, egg, and oil are the wet, and the flour is the dry. You’ll have to go by feel since the water in the spinach and the size of the egg are variable. Don’t worry, there’s wiggle room!
When dough reaches the proper consistency, form 2 balls and place them back in food processor with lid to rest for about 1/2 hour or so. 
Attach pasta machine to a table or countertop with plenty of room to lay out dough. You’ll also need something to hang the dry pasta over, such as a dowel. Pour about 1/4 cup of flour on the work surface. Work as quickly as you can so the dough doesn’t dry out.
Brush off extra flour the run dough through machine at the lowest number setting (this will be either ‘0’ or ‘1’). Fold dough like an envelope and run it through again. 
Lay dough flat and rub a little flour over both sides of dough. 
Fold in half and run it through machine at same setting. Repeat this last step 3 more times. You will have run the dough 6 times through the machine on the lowest setting. Repeat with second dough ball.
Run these pieces through the cutter before doing the other strip, so the cut edges don’t dry out.
Sadly, when we think Mac & Cheese, we often think of Kraft Mac & Cheese. While children seem to love it, one wonders what exactly is that suspicious orange “cheese” and multitude of ingredients that hearken one back to high school chemistry.
Add in pasta and bring to a simmer. 
Maintaining the simmer, cook uncovered until pasta is just past the al dente stage – about 6 minutes. 
If you want to make the bread crumb topping, toast the panko, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small skillet until browned. (Keep an eye on it – it only takes a couple of minutes.) Remove from heat and mix in the Parmesan.
Vegetarian Cooking For Carnivores BLOG 