Instant Pot Bolognese

Hi everyone,

It is Friday today but feels like it's hard to keep track of the days. I hope you are staying safe, healthy and mentally hanging in there. I think part of what is hard is all the uncertainty. Sure we can hunker down..but until when? how long? what's next? It's the eerie calm before the storm feeling that I find haunting, and really hope that social distancing leads to a less dire outcome. It's hard to plan for the weeks and months ahead so I am trying to let that go and just take things day by day.

You may find you are enjoying the new pace of life, appreciating the extra time with your kids, or spouse one minutes, frustrated and short-tempered the next.. It's okay to have mixed feelings and have highs and lows. There is no "right" way to feel. We are in this together and it's a great time as any to catch up with friends and family near and far! If you are feeling lonely, sad, scared, or just want to talk, please reach out. Lets stay connected and help pick each other up. Send a text, e-mail, call or face-time, I know I would love to hear from you!

Juliet said it might be a good time to revive this little blog and share some recipes. I don't know about you guys but I have been craving comfort food, hard! We are also trying to make sure we eat lots of veggies (while we have them and use them up before they go bad) so I decided to try my hand at making a bolognese sauce . So after days of eating delicious meals prepared by S (he reminds me), I finally got back into the kitchen.

I adapted this recipe and added in spinach and mushrooms. I recently ordered 1kilos of mushrooms from Roots and Shoots - they are doing deliveries if you live in the downtown core and their mushrooms are the local ones and are so good! As part of the delivery we also got eggs, spinach and beets. I was pleasantly surprised to have pretty much all the needed ingredients, including heavy cream and beef brothwhich we don't usually have on hand. We even had parsley for garnish growing in our little aerogarden. If you don't have all the ingredients, you can definitely adapt it and make it with whatever you have on hand. No instant pot? no problem.  This could definitely be made on the stove top, just leave it on low for a few hours to allow the flavours to develop.

I may be biased but I think it turned out delicious. S really liked it too. We froze some of the sauce to have at a later time. 

Easy Peasy Avocado Pasta

If there's one food I'm addicted to it's avocados so when I found a recipe for avocado pasta I knew it was love at first sight and I had to make it immediately for my dad and uncle.

We finished the WHOLE bowl of pasta, and it sure as hell was a lot of pasta! 

Look at this beautiful avocado.. mhmmmmm

What you'll need:

1x Avocado

1/2 Lemon

1 Garlic Clove

A handful of basil 

A handful of tomatoes 

and pasta as you please.

Boil the pasta and mix together the lemon, avocado and basil leaves. I used a hand blender, it came out nice and creamy. Once the pasta is ready, drain it put it in a serving bowl mix in the avocado mousse and add the cut up tomatoes.

Here's a photo of the massive avocado pasta portion I made :) Mhmm mhmm mhmmm 

I can highly recommend this if you're home and want something easy and quick to make ;)

Lasagna



So apparently..  this is the blog's 150th post! Seems unbelievable. Thanks for reading!

The other day, I had 2 of my absolute favourite dinner guests over for dinner! That's right- my parents!! They are amazing guests because no matter what I make, they always love it. It's always nice to cook for people who really appreciate it. Also, they are great company and help with dishes, sock folding, shelf organizing or whatever else needs to be done in my apartment. Oh and they also love my apartment- so positive and loving :). Anyway we had a great time.

I had a list of possible menu options and my dad chose lasagna. My mom had said he was trying to eat healthy and would prefer something light..but apparently this was news to my dad, who chose lasagna.  It was my first time making a real meat lasagna and it was quite simple. The sauce takes a little while but the rest is easy. I looked up a few recipes online and was inspired by allrecipes but in the end adapted into my own version.

Ingredients:
- lean ground beef
- 1 spicy turkey sausage
- 1 onion
- 1 red pepper
- garlic
- basil, and spices of choice
-  1 can tomato and basil tomato sauce
-  1 package ricotta
- part skim mozzarella ( 1-2 cups) (shredded- thank you Cuisinart shredder attachment for making my life easy)
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- fresh lasagna noodles- the ones kept in the fridge at the grocery (they don't have to be but fresh noodles but those ones or precooked ones will save you a step)

Directions
1. First stir fry the beef in a pan- drain and remove and put on plate. Then stir fry the sausage and remove. Then put in onion, red pepper, garlic, and sauté for a few minuets. Add meat back in along with tomato sauce and 1/2 cup water. Let simmer for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 375
3. Layer in your lasagna dish- 1) meat sauce 2) noodles 3) ricotta 4)mozzarella 5) noodles) meat sauce 6) parmesan  7)noodles, 8) ricotta, 9) mozzarella, 10) noodles, 11) ricotta, 12) parmesan. Or something like that. It all depends how many layers you make.



I was able to send some home with my parents and I took some for lunch during the week. Lasagna is one of those dishes, where leftovers are just as good, if not better than the first time aroundl!

enjoy!

Pumpkin Goat Cheese Spaghetti

I apologize for the photo but the resident photographer was on vacay in Boston

I saw a recipe for this on pinterest, originally from Closet Cooking,  and it looked so good I immediately went out and bought goat cheese and then went home and made it. yummy!! I modified it slightly as I forgot to buy sage and used basil instead.

Has any one else noticed the massive amount of pumpkin and squash recipes on pinterest? they are everywhere!! Great fall comfort foods. I will also share a squash goat cheese lasagna recipe with you as soon as we find the cable to J's camera.. 

Anyway I will spare you the chatter, here is the recipe:
Ingredients
6 ounces pasta

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 cup milk (skim)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 4 ounces goat cheese (a bit elss than 1 small package)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
• 1 tablespoon sage, sliced thinly- or basil in a pinch
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• salt and pepper to taste << very important!! this really made a big difference
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Cook the pasta as directed on the package.
2. Melt the butter in pan over medium heat, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
3. Add the milk, pumpkin puree, goat cheese, parmesan, sage and pumpkin pie spice and simmer until the cheese has melted.
4. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve over pasta and enjoy!!

Soba Noodles with Eggplant and Mango

I love this beautiful dish that C & E got my parents?

Juliet arrived last Friday night, I can't believe it's been a week already!! J has been going for walks in the Gatineau, taking many photos, going to photography classes, meeting me at the gym at lunch, going to yoga with my mom, eating banana bread, watching movies,  vacuming my apt ( is she a great cousin or what?). We also managed to check out Nuit Blance last weekend - in the pouring rain- including a rickshaw ride, some art, and Samuel de Champlain statue.

We ran the army run 5k with Emily, A and 14,000 others.

L to R- El, Ana, Juliet, Emily 

It was J's first 5k race and she did awesome.  This weekend we are heading to MTL for some culture, night life, delicious eats and to see one of my besties Alien. It is Le Mois de la Photo so we are hoping to see some photography exhibits. And by some, I mean many.. J has it narrowed down to 6!

Last Saturday I had a catering setup in the morning. Who knew that setting up tables for a wedding and carrying chairs could be so tiring. This shift doubled as my morning workout.  I came home to a delicious lentil soup and found my mom and J chopping up a storm.  This recipe- adapted slightly from Ottolenghi's Plenty- is delicious. It requires a lot of fresh herbs and chopping but is well worth it! As you know I am a huge huge fan of Ottolenghi. J lived right near his restaurant in London and somehow only realized this after I visited her. Damn!! Next time!

Last time my mom made this she doubled the recipe and my parents ate it for days..this time we did not double it and devoured the whole thing (even though it supposedly feeds 6 and we were just 4). It was a great variation on the standard pasta as a pre-race dish the night before the Army run.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1/2 a fresh red chili chopped (or chili flakes)
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- grated zest and juice of 1 lime
- 2 eggplants cut into 3/4 inch dice
- 8 to 9 oz soba noodles
- 1 large ripe mango cut into 1/4 inch strips
- 1 2/3 cups basil leaves, chopped
- 2 1/2 cups cilantro leaves
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced.

Directions: 
While you are prepping the rest of the ingredients bring a large pot of water to a boil.

In the meantime, make the dressing by combining the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for up to 1 minute, or until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add the garlic, red pepper flakes or chili, and sesame oil. Allow to cool, then add the lime zest and juice.

Heat the sunflower oil in a large skillet and shallow fry the eggplant/aubergine in three batches, until deeply golden. Transfer to a large plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt.

Cook the soba noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water, per package instructions, or until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Shake off as much of the excess water as possible, then leave to dry in the colander or on a tea towel. If you're not using the noodles soon, toss with a tiny splash of olive oil to prevent the noodles from sticking to each other.

In a large mixing bowl toss the noodles the dressing, mango, tofu, eggplant, onions, and most of the herbs. Topped with the remaining herbs right before serving.

Orecchiette with Feta, Peas, and Pine Nuts

Meatless Monday!

Switch things up from your usual pasta with this original recipe. I modified a recipe from Jerusalem Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghiand Sami Tamimi (Conghiglie with yogurt, peas and chili), to make this flavourful dish. The pine nuts give it a bit of a kick and the greens make it healthy and filling.

Pumpkin Mac-n-Cheese

I am obbsessed with pumpkin. I love it.  I  recently roasted 2 pumpkins which yielded lots of pumkin puree and also some delicious roasted pumkin seeds. I froze most of the puree to use throughout the winter, but kept some out to incorporate into oatmeal or whatever else. When I saw this recipe on Emilybites, I couldn't resist. It's quite similar to regular mac and cheese, with the added benefits of less cheese and more veggie/fruit..I think pumpkin is technically a fruit. It's definitely a lighter version of a comfort food classic.

Rachel's Mac and Cheese

So, this recipe says Rachel's mac and Cheese but it should maybe be called Mary-Anne's Mac and Cheese because Rachel got the recipe from her mom. When Andrei and I were down visiting her and David this weekend, Rach made this for us for dinner one night. We devoured it!!

When I got back, I told my mom all about this, and she was was like..um yeh, that's how you make mac'n cheese. I guess this recipe is for those who,  like me, had no idea how to make macaroni and cheese. It's definitely something everyone should have in their recipe collection.

Udon Carbonara

Hello blogosphere! Just wanted to let you all know that despite being MIA for the past 3(?) months, I am still alive and I have not forgotten about you guys or this blog. I admit I haven't cooked as much lately, which is why the posts have sort of stopped. But nonetheless, I did manage to try some pretty interesting recipes in these last few months, which I am going to post in the next few days. AND I am totally committed to trying more recipes this summer, so there will definitely be more posts from me. Big thank you to Eleanore for keeping this blog up and running and continuing to post delicious recipes! :o)

So the recipe I am going to post today is Udon Carbonara. Some of you may ask, what is udon carbonara?

Conchiglione

I got the idea for this recipe from my colleague's blog ( K&K Test Titchen) she has a lot of great recipes on there. She also has a series of recipes- 5 meals for $50, which I think is a great idea. I, for one am known to overspend on groceries.

At any rate, I saw her recipe for stuffed shells, and I had spinach and ricotta leftover from spinach ricotta pasta so I decided I'd give it a try. Of course I didn't quite have the exact ingredients, so I made my own variation. I cooked the spinach without oil and reduced the cheese to make it healthier and lighter.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound jumbo pasta shells

8 ounces spinach ( can also use some frozen spinach, I used combo of both)

2 cups light ricotta

1/2 cup cheddar ( if you have  light mozzerella use that)

5 basil leaves, shredded

Salt and pepper

2-1/2 cups marinara sauce

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 F

-Cook the pasta in salted water until just under al dente.  The pasta will continue to cook in the oven. Drain the pasta and let it cool.

- Rinse the spinach and then put in skillet. Cook it until it is wilted.
-Meanwhile stir together the ricotta, cheddar/mozzarella, and basil.  Stir in the cooked spinach. Season wit salt and peper 

Pour half of the marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch glass baking dish.  Fill the shells with the spinach-ricotta mixture and line them in the dish.  Cover the shells with the remaining sauce and then cover the dish with aluminum foil.  Bake covered for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and cook 15 more minutes.  In the last minute, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Ricotta Spinach Pasta

Since I have been training for the marathon, I have been gradually increasing my distances for long runs on Sunday. This weekend we ( myself and the running room group) ran 26km and it was the most i've ever ran. It took almost 3 hours ( 2 hours 50). Luckily we stopped to refill our water as it was so hot out! Beautiful sunny day. Because of the long distances, I like to eat some pasta on Saturday either for lunch or dinner.
[Okay fine, I love pasta. Long run or not, I would eat this.]

This recipe from CookingLight was absolutely delicious. It has some vegetables and protein as well which is great.  I love the crispyness of the pasta from putting it in the pan.. and it was equally good as leftovers.

Ingredients
9 ounces refrigerated fettucine (I just used penne pasta, whole wheat is a good option)
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided (I used 2 tsps instead)
1 1/2 cups diced red pepper
1/3 cup chopped walnuts ( I am out of walnuts so used hazelnuts which were delicious)
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or pressed (I used 2)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 cups fresh baby spinach (I used regular spinach and it worked fine)

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package, drain in colander; reserve 1/2 cup pasta water
2. combine ricotta, 1 tsp lemon rind, 1/4 tsp salt, and black pepper
3. heat 1 tbsp olive oil (or 1 tsp depending how much you are putting) in large skillet over medium high heat. Add bell pepper. saute 2 minutes. Add walnuts, 1/2 tsp salt, and garlic, saute 2 minutes. Stir in remaining oil (1 tbsp or tsp)  and juice. Add pasta, pasta water and spinach; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts. Top with ricotta mixture

The magazine suggests serving it with Orange Olive Salad
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Vegetable Lasagna with Butternut Bechamel

I found this recipe on TheKitchn's list of top 15 vegetarian recipes. It was submitted to them by Julia from Washington DC and won "best healthy casserole" contest.

I decided I wanted to make this casserole for my parents, so they would have an easy meal to eat after a long trip back from argentina. Also, after I got back from argentina (and eating tuns of steak) I was craving vegeteables and vegetarian food, so i thought they might feel the same. I had intended on making this right after work on Friday, but ended up going to the movies, and didn't get starded until 9pm. It has many steps, and I was pretty tired by the end of it. I definitely recommend making this lasagna when you are full of energy and have lots of time (haha, when does that ever happen? maybe when you are procrastinating studying or cleaning). I had a hard time cutting and peeling the squash, so next time I might do that in advance or just buy squash that's already cut into pieces.

I think it was worth the effort, as everyone really enjoyed it. Next time I will add in more chard and maybe some eggplant.

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Ingredients:
1 pound (about 16) lasagna noodles
2 to 2 1/2 pound butternut squash (or 2 pounds chopped squash)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large bunch (about 5 large leaves) chard, well-washed
1 pound cremini mushrooms, washed and sliced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup water or white wine
1 cup milk, plus additional if needed
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 lemon, zested
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves, plus extra for the top of the lasagna
1 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan and mozzarella cheese mix

Directions:

Heat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the lasagna noodles and cook as directed on the package. When cooked, drain and lay out on clean kitchen towels to dry.

While the pasta is cooking, peel and seed the squash. Cut into 1-inch cubes and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for 40 minutes or until extremely soft.

Remove the stems and ribs from the chard leaves by folding each leaf in half lengthwise and using the tip of a chef's knife to slit away the main rib. Chop each rib and stem into 1/2-inch pieces. Roll each leaf up into a cigar shape, cut it in half lengthwise, and then crossways into thin ribbons.

Heat a thin drizzle of oil oil in a 10-inch sauté pan. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the mushrooms. Cook without stirring until quite brown — about 5 to 7 minutes. Flip them over and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium, and add the garlic and chard stems to the pan. Cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is fragrant — about 3 minutes. Add the chopped chard leaves and 1/4 cup water or white wine and cook until the leaves are tender and wilted. Turn off the heat and season the vegetables lightly with salt and pepper.

At this point the butternut squash should be quite soft. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Scrape all the squash into a bowl and add 1/2 cup milk, the nutmeg, lemon zest and thyme. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture, adding the remaining milk as you go. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble the lasagna, spoon about 1/4 of the butternut sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking pan and spread to thinly coat the bottom. Place 1/4 of the noodles on top (four noodles) and then spread 1/3 of remaining sauce on noodles. Top with 1/2 of the cooked vegetables, and 1/2 cup of cheese. Add another layer of noodles, then sauce, then the rest of the vegetables, and 1/2 cup of cheese. Place the final layer of noodles over the vegetables and spread the last 1/3 of the sauce over top. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and a pinch of thyme leaves.

Cover the lasagna with foil and bake at 375°F for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the top is golden and the cheese is gooey. Remove from the oven and let stand uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.

Mac and Cheese Lite

A healthy Mac and Cheese Recipe!!



In the baking Dish

Served with a nice side salad and voila-dinner !

I have been craving macaroni and cheese for ages, so when I spotted this recipe for a healthier, lighter version in Fitness magazine, I decided to give it a try. I was intrigued by the fact that it doesn't use butter, milk or cream, and instead uses onion/garlic to build flavour and texture. It does take a little prep time but it's worth it! It is quite addictive and perfect comfort food for this cold weather. I am looking forward to having leftovers for lunch.

Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray (or drop of oil)
Salt
4 ounces whole wheat macaroni ( I used half whole wheat half regular)
1/2 cup onion-garlic puree*
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup shredded 50 percent reduced-fat cheddar ( I only had mozzarella so i used that)
1/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
* This puree was very intriguing. You \ to put 1 onion with 9 cloves of garlic ( I used just 4, as 9 seemed excessive) in a covered dish in the microwave with 1/2 cup of water for 10 minutes! You then blend it in a blender (magic bullet works great), and it comes out looking like a white, creamy sauce. The leftover puree can be kept in the fridge in a container for a few days.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mist an 8-by-8-inch baking dish with cooking spray; set it aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add macaroni and cook according to package directions, drain.
3. Meanwhile, bring onion-garlic puree, mustard, and cayenne to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. Whisk in cheddar until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in yogurt.
4. In a medium bowl, toss the macaroni with the cheese sauce. Season with salt to taste. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle panko over the top. Top with Parmesan.
5. Bake until Parmesan is melted and macaroni is hot throughout, about 10 minutes.