Bacon-Gruyere Cavatappi

Cheese is a food group to me.  When the rest of my fridge could be pretty empty, the cheese drawer is full.  When I was pregnant with Townes, the first thing I did was call our favorite French Restaurant, Justine's, in a panic that their triple-creme brie wasn't pasteurized (it is, thank goodness).  When I am at the grocery store with Chanel and I ask, "do we need cheese?" she just laughs at me.  You get the picture - cheese is a big deal.

My kids know it too.  We don't just eat American cheese - which has its throne in the crockpot to make queso.  But Townes has always loved brie spread on a cracker, or feta in his eggs, or blue cheese in a lobster beignet (not that he can even say, beignet).  So when I am feeling like a cheesey comfort food staple like mac and cheese we go one of two routes: 1. we make Annie's white cheddar shells with extra butter and some cream (SO GOOD) and maybe some peas and carrots thrown in or 2. I make some from scratch version with "stinky" cheese so it has a more adult flavor.

This is clearly the latter, since I'm not gonna post a recipe on how to do-up some Annie's (though I totally could if anyone is interested). In my opinion, bacon and gruyere go together so wonderfully.  There is a bitterness to the cheese that is perfectly complimented by the saltiness of the bacon. For this cheese sauce I also tried to liven up that deep flavor in the gruyere with some Worcestershire, horseradish, dry mustard and then smooth it out with cheddar.  Topped with more bacon and some butter bread crumbs, this was a total win.

Bacon-Gruyere Cavatappi

Serves 8

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. cavatappi pasta (or elbows)
  • 1 lb. thick cut bacon, diced
  • 1 small white onion, grated
  • 1 tbs. butter
  • 1 tbs. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. dry mustard
  • 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/2 tsp prepared horseradish (optional)
  • 3 tbs. flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • 8 oz block of orange cheddar, freshly grated
  • 6 oz block of gruyere, freshly grated
  • 2 tbs. butter
  • 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
  • Green onions or chives, chopped for garnish

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large sauce pot or dutch over, boil water with salt and a dash of olive oil (to prevent sticking), cook pasta to the al dente directions.  Rinse your pasta under cold water in a colander and set aside.

Empty the pot and return it to the stove.  Cook all the bacon in the pot over medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent scorching.  When crispy, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

Pour the lose bacon fat from the pot into a heat safe container and set aside, do not wipe out or rinse your pot. 

Add the 1 tbs. of butter to the pot over medium-high heat.  Saute the grated onion until translucent.  Add the garlic powder, dry mustard, Worstcheshire, salt and pepper and horseradish.  Whisk until mixed.  Add the flour and stir until evenly coated.

Immediately add the milk, whisking to incorporate smoothly. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the cheddar and gruyere. Turn off the heat and stir until creamy and blended.

Add the pasta to the pot with the cheese sauce.  Reserving a small handful for topping, add the cooked bacon to the pasta and cheese.

Transfer the pasta mixture to a 9x12 casserole dish.  Melt the 2 tbs. butter in a microwave safe dish and then stir in the bread crumbs.  You may need to add more  if you want them a little drier, but its your preference. 

Chop the remaining bacon into small bits and add to the bread crumbs.  Top the pasta with the bread crumbs and bacon.

Bake until the breadcrumbs are just browned and the casserole bubbles.

Remove and top with chopped green onions or chives.


Cheesy Sausage and Pepper Pasta Bake

Another day, another dinner I haven't planned and have no idea what we are eating later, or even if we are eating at all.  It probably sounds crazy, but its normally by 11 am that I start to feel stressed I don't have a plan for dinner.  I will look at Chanel and whine, "what am I making for dinner tonight" and stretch out and lay my face down on the kitchen island in utter defeat.

Its seriously 11 o'clock in the morning, and I'm already over it.  I love when something comes to me the night before and I wake up with a fun plan for dinner.  That doesn't happen nearly as frequently though as the above-described scenario.

However, the majority of the time, Chanel and I manage to talk our way to something or some idea that seems worth a shot.  Or we come up with something we already know and love that sounds yummy.  On this particular morning I whined and Chanel replied, almost terrifyingly quickly, "sausage and peppers."

Well, okay! However, I immediately realized the main issue with the classic Italian-American staple, that none of my boys would probably been keen on eating slimy slices of peppers and would just eat sausage.  And baby Hondo, would probably manage to choke on pieces that big and it just didn't seem like it would be a very popular choice.  But I like sausage and peppers, and Chanel likes sausage and peppers (not that she eats dinner at the house very often, but she taste tests a lot, and often snacks on last night's dinner after our morning walks, so I suppose she kind of has a dog in this fight).

So my brain started working through it and this creamy, tomatoey, sausage-peppery pasta is what came out and it was fantastic. I mean, it got gobbled up like I could not have predicted.  Two 9x9 pans of pasta was GONE by 11 am the next morning!

Aaron called his bestie Clay to come over and they both had two helpings, Hondo tore through three bowls, even Townes gobbled two servings down.  I packed some up for T to take to school for lunch the next day, and the little bit left was snatched up the next morning for a baby brunch split between Hondo and Betsy and tastes for Chanel. 

It's only been a week since I made it and I've already had requests for it again! I think it might have bumped regular ol' baked ziti from the rotation.

Cheesy Sausage and Pepper Pasta Bake

Serves 8

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. tube pasta (like penne or ziti), cooked al dente
  • 1 medium white onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
  • 4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tbs. butter
  • 1 lb. hot Italian sausage*
  • 3 heaping tbs. flour
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 large jar (24 oz) of chunky tomato sauce (like this Classico one)
  • 3-4 cups shredded Italian blend cheese (mozzarella, parmsean, etc)

*I used bulk sausage for this recipe, I think the crumble texture of bulk sausage lends well to being mixed into a pasta bake.  However, you could also use a link sausage.  In that case, you will want to sear the outsides first, then slice it into 1/2 inch thick discs and then add them to the veggie mix to cook through.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large stock pot or dutch oven, over medium-high heat, melt the butter.  Add the onion, bell peppers, garlic and salt and pepper; saute until onions are translucent.

Add the sausage to the pot.  Using a wooden spoon, mix the veggies into the sausage and break it up into small pieces as it cooks. 

Once the sausage is browned and cooked, sprinkle the flour on top, 1 tbs at a time, and mix until all the fat and grease has been absorbed by the flour and has created a paste.  Depending on the variety of sausage you chose, you may need more or less flour, based on the amount of fat released by the meat.

Whisk in the jar of sauce a little at a time, making sure it combines smoothly and without lumps. Bring to a boil and stir in the cream.  Simmer and stir until combined. Remove from the heat.

Add the cooked pasta directly to the pot and stir to coat the pasta evenly. 

This would taste amazing just as it is and would not NEED to be covered in cheese and baked, you could easily just spoon this pasta right into a bowl and eat it. 

Pour the pasta into a 9x12 casserole pan or two 9x9 pans.  Sprinkle the cheese on top, add a little salt and pepper.  Bake in the oven until cheese has melted, about 15 minutes.

Bucatini del Giordino

Until I moved to Texas, there was something I didn't realize about my childhood that made it unique: Everyone in New York eats Italian food (whether you are Italian or not) like its the most average American food you can find.  Apparently, to the rest of America, a standard, casual dinner was something like meatloaf or burgers; to New Yorkers, a simple throw-together meal is baked ziti or chicken parmesan. 

Of course we all had burgers and chicken nuggets at some point growing up, but I didn't realize how deeply Italian food had permeated my palette until I started cooking dinner for my friends and husband in Texas.  The first time I made baked ziti with a homemade meat sauce, everyone reacted like I had discovered a new element (though I must admit, I had a similar reaction when I was introduced to breakfast tacos).  They had eaten Italian out at restaurants, but it wasn't something their moms made every night of the week.  Tackling a homemade lasagna seemed as advanced as making from-scratch enchiladas appeared to me.

Then I started thinking about it more and more and I realized that nearly all of my go-to dishes were Italian of some kind: Chicken Parm, Lasagna, Baked Ziti, Chicken Cacciatore, Sausage and Peppers, Eggplant Parm, Fettuccine Alfredo, Ravioli... For most of the people I knew here, the extent of their home pasta-making was limited to Macaroni and Cheese.  I had no idea the rest of the country - nay, the world - could be missing such staples from their menus!  What kid doesn't like Italian food!?

Since I've been cooking more and more unplanned meals for the family as the boys grow up - I also came to notice that I THINK in Italian (not the language, I wish) when I cook.  My regular seasonings are basil, oregano, thyme, and sage; my typical vegetables are spinach, peppers, tomatoes and eggplant; my usual cheeses are mozzarella, parmesan and ricotta. In any case, it has made for some interesting new dishes in this kitchen as I try to branch out, but hang on to what I love.

Last night I asked Aaron the typical question: What do you want for dinner?  I got a typical answer: Pasta.  Really? That only opens up a million options (see problem above). Since I was feeling totally unwilling to walk to the grocery store because its already unfairly hot - I decided I had to use what I had at home... and thus the birth of Bucatini del Giordino (thanks to Google translator, Bucatini of the Garden got a whole lot official sounding). 

This is how it happened: Not surprisingly I only had Italian ingredients laying around.  Spinach, red bell pepper, garlic cloves, bucatini (a thick spaghetti noodle that is hollow and holds onto sauce perfectly), basil, oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, chicken broth, and butter (duh).

Because I am cooking for a person who avoids vegetables like they are poison and a two-year old, I always try to make the vegetables as unavoidable as possible.  Thus, I threw the pepper, spinach, garlic into the food processor (a momma's favorite cooking tool).

Then I realized I could make everything even that much easier and season the whole kit and kaboodle right now.  So I went ahead and threw in the dried basil (though you could absolutely use fresh), oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper directly on top of the veggies before I switched it on.

Then I let 'er rip.  Depending on your food processor or blender you may need to do some stirring (or shaking of the container) to really shred everything up since there isn't much liquid.  If you are still having a tough time, you can stream a bit of olive oil into it to give it something to blend.  When its done, it should look like a rough pesto.  Though this would be tasty and work just as well if you used a rougher (or finer) chop to your preference.

It pretty much smooth sailing from here.  Toss a couple tablespoons of butter into a pasta pot with the veggie mix and sauté over medium heat for just a minute or two until its fragrant and bubbly.  Pour in chicken broth, half and half, and a bit more butter - heat it up to a boil and drop in your pasta.  You cook the pasta right in the sauce - less dishes, less time, everyone wins. Simmer for 18 - 24 minutes, stirring quite often to ensure your pasta doesn't stick to the bottom. 

When your pasta is cooked and your sauce is thick, turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let it thicken up just a bit more.  Nows the time to season with salt and pepper again to your preference, or stir in a bit of parmesan cheese - hell, or both.  Go big or go home.

Bucatini del giordino

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 2 - 3 cups of fresh spinach (or two generous handfuls)
  • 1 medium-large red bell pepper, seeds and stem removed and chopped into 1 inch pieces
  • 8 - 10 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 tsp. dried basil (or a handful of fresh)
  • 2 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1 tsp. dried thyme
  • Red pepper flakes, to taste
  • Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 3 cups half and half
  • 6 tbs. butter
  • 1 lb. box of bucatini 
  • Grated parmesan cheese (optional)
  • Olive oil (if needed)

Combine the spinach, bell pepper, garlic cloves, and seasonings* into the bowl of a food processor or blender* and puree into a fine blend, but not a paste.  Put the mixture into a bowl and set aside.

*When seasoning something like this that you can not taste right off the bat, its best to air on the side of caution and use less until your sauce comes together and you can get a taste.  Then you can always add more seasoning of your choosing right into the pot - but you can't take any out.  Be light-handed with the red pepper flakes in particular, until you have made this a few times and know what looks right to you.

*Depending on the size of your bowl, you may need to divide it into two batches (in which case, divide each thing in half and do it twice).  I need to do two batches because my food processor is small. You may also need to add a bit of olive oil to help the puree along.  I find that picking up the bowl and shaking it helps just fine though.

Melt 2 tbs. of the butter into a large stock or pasta pot over medium heat.  Add the vegetable mixture and sauté a minute or two until fragrant and bubbly.

Pour in the chicken broth, half and half, and the remaining 4 tbs. of butter.  Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil.  

Once boiling, add the pasta directly to the pot, stirring slowly as the pasta softens to fit the pasta in without breaking it.  With all the pasta submerged in the sauce, lower the heat and simmer the sauce for 18 - 24 minutes until the pasta is cooked and your sauce is thick.

Turn the heat off (and stir in Parmesan cheese if desired) and cover to allow sauce to thicken perfectly. Uncover, stir, serve and enjoy.