Mexican Pasta Bake

The other night I was craving Mexican food... and pasta (as a side note, I'm almost always craving pasta, so it's really not that unusual) so I decided to take a recipe I saw in Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine and change it up a bit. Instead of corn tortillas, I used rotini pasta. Oh yeah - it's as if Italian food and Mexican food made sweet sweet love in a casserole dish. It's so easy, you'll say gracias/grazie!

Mexican Pasta Bake

1 Tbsp. olive oil

3/4 lb. Rotini Pasta, cooked and drained

1/2 large onion, sliced

15-20 baby bella mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp. chili powder

1 can seasoned chili beans (I used Bush's)

1 jar medium salsa

1 large tomato, sliced

1 cup shredded taco seasoned cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large saute pan, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute 8 minutes (or until transparent). Add mushrooms and saute until mushrooms are cooked through (about 8-10 minutes more). Stir in chili powder.

Pour cooked pasta into a 9x13" baking dish. Pour mushroom and onion mixture over the pasta and spread over the pasta. Next, pour beans and salsa over everything and spread as evenly as possible. Take the sliced tomatoes and arrange them on top so they aren't overlapping. Last, sprinkle the taco cheese over everything and cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 20-25 minutes covered (until the center is hot), then uncover and and cook for 5-7 more minutes - until the cheese is bubbly.

Gettin' my mise en place together


Yummy sauteed veggies!

Spread over pasta!

Look at all those layers!

And there it be! YUM!

I must warn you, it falls apart just a bit because it's so warm and gooey, but I promise it will taste delicious!

Hope you enjoy it!

~ Mari

A Not-So-Bland Thanksgiving

Happy holidays, everyone! I've been looking forward to writing this post for a while, but haven't had a chance to do it! We've had company here at the Bland/Smith household since November 18th! It's been great, but it left little to no time for blogging. But, here it is!

~ Thanksgiving 2010 ~

We started the day off by putting up the Christmas tree!

And now... onto the FOOD!

(how stunning are those carrots, btw?)

Thanksgiving Menu

Fusilli Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin Pancetta Sauce

Roasted Leg of Lamb

and

Cornbread Stuffing with

olives, pinenuts, pancetta, and fresh herbs

with

Cranberry, Apple, and Mint Chutney

and

Roasted Jewel Carrots

Curried Parsnip & Apple Mash

Collard Greens

and

Roasted Baby Artichokes

Pecan Pie

&

Mini Chocolate Eclairs

Baby artichokes - soaking in lemon water

The cornbread stuffing - ready to go inside the leg!

Mmmmm....

Holy moley... that's a beautiful leg. :)

(Thanks, Jamie Oliver, for the recipe)

Are you salivating yet?

The pumpkin pancetta sauce

(Ryan and I had a similar dish in Italy - I wanted to recreate it)

Dad made his famous collard greens :)

Dad carved the lamb and we ate it. For a few days.

Cranberry, apple, and mint chutney

Mmmmm... stuffing

My plate!

( wish I had one in front of me RIGHT now...)

Hope you enjoyed checking out the pictures! It was a wonderful day of food, family, and 80 degree weather. ;) Hope everyone else has the happiest of holidays!

~ Mari

Back from the Honeymoon : Part II : Pasta

There's some pretty intense food pornography going on here... I hope you can handle it. ;)

Vernazza, Italy - Cinque Terre

Ligurian pesto and spaghetti

Capri, Italy

Homemade pasta with roasted tomatoes and clams


Capri, Italy

Tagliatelle pasta with lemon cream sauce

Corfu, Greece

Pastitsio

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Pasta with seafood

Murano, Italy

Homemade seafood ravioli

Murano, Italy

Spaghetti with shrimp

Venice, Italy

Lasagna

Venice, Italy
Tagliatelle with mushrooms

What did I tell you?

YUM!

~ Mari

Bison Bolognese

Pasta is my favorite thing to eat. Period. Here at the Smith household, we eat a pasta dish once or twice a week. And none of that "whole wheat" grainy pasta crapola. We have real, carb-filled pasta goodness. The trick is to vary the sauces from week to week so we don't feel like we're eating the same thing each week. This week, I was in the mood for Bolognese sauce. If you're not sure what it is, basically it's an amazingly delicious meat sauce with wine and cream. How can you go wrong with vino and cream? But, it can clog those arteries... so, I thought I would go for a healthier version of this classic dish by using a very lean (and tasty) meat - Bison!

Bison Bolognese

2 slices raw bacon

1 yellow onion

2 carrots

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 sprig fresh rosemary (1 tsp. dried)

1 lb. ground bison meat

1 cup pureed sweet potatoes (optional)

1 cup dry red wine

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

1.5 cups chopped fresh tomato

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup half & half

First, get your ingredients prepped: chop the rosemary, chop the garlic, and... dice the onion.

Grate the carrots.

Chop the bacon.

Heat a large thick-bottomed sauce pot over medium high heat. Put the bacon in, and render it away!

Next, add the olive oil, onions, carrots, rosemary, and garlic. Saute until the onions become transparent.

Now, add the bison meat and saute until browned.

Now you're ready for some booze! Add the red wine and canned tomatoes. Reduce to low, cover, and allow to simmer for 40-50 minutes. Once the sauce has reduced and it smells amazing (it will... I promise), taste it. Add salt and pepper as you like it, and dump those yummy fresh tomatoes in there. Here is where one would add the sweet potato puree. If you don't have any sweet potatoes, don't worry. It just adds creaminess and body to the sauce.

Let the sauce cool in the pot for 10-15 minutes (stick your finger in there and if it's still hot... wait a bit longer for the next step). Pour 1/2 cup of half & half in your pot and stir it up.

Now, try it. YUM. If it's not the best pasta sauce you've ever had...add more half & half. Haha. But, it should be pretty amazing as it is.

Just add pasta, grated parmesan, and fresh basil and you've got a delicious (and not QUITE as bad for you) meal fit for any pasta lover!

Enjoy!

~ Mari

Chicken with Goat Cheese and Spanish Couscous

I would be lying if I told you that Chicken is my favorite meat. It's definitely not. In fact, it can get pretty boring. But, they had some nice-looking organic chicken breasts on sale at Kroger and I figured I could come up with something tasty to make with them. So, I looked through Ina Garten's (she's pretty amazing) "Barefoot Contessa at Home" cookbook and she had a great recipe for Chicken stuffed with goat cheese that I decided to make. I made a few minor adjustments, but here it is:

Chicken with Goat Cheese and Basil

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 heaping Tbsp. of goat cheese

6 fresh basil leaves

Extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt and ground pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Finely chop three of the basil leaves and mix it with the goat cheese in a small bowl with a fork. Then add some salt and pepper. Put a Tbsp. of the goat cheese mixture into each of the three basil leaves. Put the chicken breasts on a cutting board so that the tenderloin is facing up. Take the basil leaves with goat cheese inside and stuff each little basil "package" underneath the tenderloin on each breast. Next, rub each breast with extra virgin olive oil. If you have "Silpat" (a nonstick surface for cooking on), you can use that, but if not, put parchment paper down on a sheet pan. Then place the chicken breasts on the sheet pan and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Put them in the oven and allow to bake for 35 minutes, basting them with olive oil (or spray with olive oil cooking spray) frequently.

After the 35 minutes, check that the internal temperature of the thickest part of the breasts is at 165 degrees F. Once it is, turn off the oven and turn the broiler on high. Watch the chicken closely as it will brown very quickly! Once the breasts are golden brown, take them out and allow them to cool.

While the chicken is cooking, you can make the couscous (it's so nice, they named it twice!):

Spanish Couscous

1 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup chopped onion or shallots

3 cups chicken stock or broth

1.5 cups couscous

1 ear, grilled corn, off the cob

10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup frozen, chopped spinach

1.5 tsp. chili powder

Melt the butter in a large pot and add the olive oil once it's melted. Add the onions/shallots and saute them over medium-low heat for about three minutes - until they become translucent. Next, add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, stir in the couscous, add the frozen spinach, cover the pan, and set aside for about 10 minutes. The couscous will soak up all that yummy liquid and the steam will cook the spinach.

In a smaller pan, saute the corn and tomatoes with a little olive oil and some chili powder. After the couscous has soaked up the liquid, add the corn and tomatoes and stir until mixed well.

Now that your chicken and couscous are perfection, plate, eat, and enjoy!

Here's what the inside looks like with the melty goat cheese and flavorful basil leaf:

Hope you like it! Happy eating and buon appetito!

~ Mari

Penne with Arugula, Ham, and Orange Wine Sauce

I just created my first dish as a married lady, and I'm quite happy with it! I had plans for flank steak, but didn't feel like driving to Kroger. So, instead, I used some stuff we already had and created...

Penne with Arugula, Ham, and Orange Wine Sauce

1 lb. Penne pasta, cooked (al dente, of course)
2 handfuls fresh arugula
4 slices of honey ham (from the deli)
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
grated parmesan cheese, to taste
salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce:
1 Tbsp. butter
1 c. white wine
1 clove garlic, smashed
3 Tbsp. frozen orange juice concentrate
1 tsp. Italian seasoning

In a small sauce pot, melt the butter. Add the wine, dollops of orange juice concentrate, Italian seasoning, and garlic clove. Allow to simmer until it has reduced to half of its original amount.

Slice the ham into strips and saute in a little olive oil until caramelized.

In a large bowl, toss the warm pasta with the fresh arugula, caramelized ham, orange wine sauce, and salt and pepper. Top with freshly grated parm and serve!

Enjoy! Ryan did... :)

~ Mari

Arugula