Warm Pasta Salad (Grilled Eggplant, Sausage, and Mushrooms Special)

6 Servings

Ingredients:
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil, divided, plus olive oil for brushing
2 eggplants (about 1 lb), sliced
Cooking Spray
Salt and Pepper
1/2 lb Portobello mushrooms, caps and stems separated, caps left whole, stems trimmed and sliced lengthwise
1 large sweet onion cut into 3/4" slices
2 large beefsteak tomatoes sliced into 3/4" slices
1 lb Italian sausage
1 lb pasta
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup basil, julienne
1 tsp thyme, finely chopped
1 cup shaved Pecorino Romano cheese (or Parmesan)


MARINADE: In a bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar and 1/2 cup olive oil. Place eggplants in a zip-top plastic bag. Pour in marinade and wait for 1 hour, turning bag every now and then.

SPRAY grill racks well with cooking spray and preheat to medium-high heat. Remove eggplant from marinade, shaking off excess; reserve marinade. Season eggplant, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes with salt and pepper and brush well with olive oil.
GRILL vegetables and sausage until well browned and softened and sausage is cooked through. Remove to a cutting board. Coarsely chop all vegetables and slice sausage. Combine and set aside.
COOK pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water until al dente; drain.Take 1 cup of reserved marinade and whisk with remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil, parsley, basil and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Return drained pasta to pot. Add vegetables, sausage and dressing and combine well.
ADD shaved Romano, toss to coat and serve immediately.

Oven Ready Lasagna with Porcini Mushrooms

20 minutes to prepare
35 minutes to cook

7-9 servings





Ingredients:
2 ounces Dried Porcini Mushrooms
5 tablespoons Butter
3/4 cup Flour
6 cups Milk
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup Parmigiano, grated
4 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil
2 cloves Garlic
1 & 1/2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 box Oven Ready Lasagna


SOAK mushrooms in water for 30 minutes.
MELT butter in a pan, stir in flour and cook for 3 minutes.
BOIL milk and stir milk in the flour/butter mixture and simmer for 3 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and 3/4 cup of Parmigiano.
SAUTE oil and finely chopped garlic in a separate pan. Add drained and chopped mushrooms, sauté for three minutes.
STIR the mushrooms and parsley in the sauce.
LAYER the lasagna in a 13 x 9 baking dish starting and finishing with sauce. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
BAKE in oven for 35 minutes at 375.

TIP: Great with white wine.

3 Most Basic Sauce Recepies:

Oil it!

After boiling and sieving pasta, put the itinto the serving bowl and pour a cup of the sauce or a tablespoon or two of olive oil into the serving bowl. Toss the pasta the way you would a salad. This is the key to keep it from sticking together.

A quick marinara:

Saute three cloves of crushed and chopped garlic in three tablespoons of olive oil over medium low heat until it begins to turn brown. Add about three tablespoons of finely chopped parsley and two or three fresh basil leaves. You can substitute a teaspoon of dried basil for the fresh. Stir for an additional minute, then add one can of crushed tomatoes, a pinch oforegano and salt and pepper to taste.Turn the heat up slightly to bring to a simmer, while stirring. Reduce the heat and cover it with a lid. Let it simmer for at least a half-hour, stirring occasionally.

Pesto:

Cut four cloves of garlic into chunks. Coarsely chop 1/2 cup of fresh basil. Pour 1/3 cup of olive oil into a blender. Add the garlic and blend thoroughly. Add some basil and blend again.You may have to stop the blender once or twice so you can push the basil down into the oil. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter at room temperature, but not melted, and 4 tablespoons of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. Blend again. Just before serving, add 1/2 cup hot water and blend slightly one last time. Toss with your favorite pasta.

Cooking pasta is easy. And cooking pasta tasty each time is easier with these tips:

Prepare pasta just before serving it:

• Use a tall, large pot filled no more than ¾ with water. If there is too much water in the pan it may boil over, and too little water will not allow the pasta to cook properly.

• Use a 6-8 quart capacity pot to prepare one pound of pasta.

• The temperature of the water used to fill the pot does not affect the end result of the pasta and its performance. However, using hot tap water will allow the water to come to a boil faster.

Salt the water:

• Salting the water brings out the natural flavor of the pasta.

• Salt must be added once the water has started to boil. If the salt is added too late, it will not be absorbed correctly into the pasta. Adding salt too early may lengthen the boiling time.

• Allow the salt to dissolve before adding the pasta.

Add the pasta and quickly return the pot to a boil:

• Pour in the pasta and increase the heat source to bring the water back to a boil.

• Do not cover the pot.• Stir the pasta gently several times while it is cooking, approximately every three minutes.

Do not add oil to the water:

• When poor quality wheat is used, the pasta releases too much starch and sticks together.

• Olive oil does nothing for the taste of pasta and its usage will make the pasta slippery, allowing the sauce to “slide” off the pasta.

Cook as told on the package:

• For perfect pasta, simply follow the cooking times on the package, even though it is a good idea to taste the pasta just before draining to make sure it suits your taste.

• Pasta has been cooked properly when it is soft on the outside, but the inside is still a little hard. In authentic Italian cooking, this is called al dente.

Drain pasta immediately after it is done cooking:

• Drain pasta into a large colander and toss it gently to remove excess liquid.

• The pasta should remain moist but not dripping wet.

• Pasta should not be rinsed after cooking unless for a pasta salad recipe. The natural starches released from the pasta complement the pasta meal because they help “bind” the sauce that is to be used, and allow the sauce to adhere better to the pasta.

• Always save a couple of tablespoons of the cooking water; it may be needed to dilute the sauce or in sautéing the pasta with the sauce before serving.

Add sauce and serve immediately:

• When pasta is drained, it is still cooking so the sauce should be added quickly.

• In Italy, pasta is usually undercooked in the water for about 3 minutes. It is then cooked in the sauté pan with the sauce for another 3 minutes so that it absorbs the flavors of the sauce.

• Pasta should be served hot.

• Italians use very little sauce with their pasta—just enough to coat it.

• To finish the pasta, top with parmesan cheese, a little freshly ground black pepper and olive oil.

Angel Hair with Italian Sausage, Fennel and White Beans

5 minutes to prepare
30 minutes to cook

4-6 servings


Ingredients
1 pound Italian sausage*
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 can (28 ounces) peeled tomatoes
1 can (19 ounces) Cannellini beans, drained
2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
1 bulb Fennel, thinly sliced
Salt & Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 box Angel Hair
1 tablespoon Fresh basil, chopped

BRING a large pot of water to a boil.
ADD sausage to a large skillet and brown over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and cannellini beans. Season with salt and black pepper. Simmer 15 minutes. HEAT olive oil in a medium skillet. Add fennel and sauté until tender. Add cooked fennel to sauce.
COOK pasta according to package directions. Drain and add hot pasta to sauce. Mix well. Sprinkle with chopped basil.

Tip: *May substitute Italian flavored turkey sausage.
Pairs good with red wine.