Pappardelle’s Extreme Habanero “Mac and Cheese”

Both masochists and hedonists can love habanero peppers.  Whether they are in it to feel the stimulating rush of endorphins or to sweat out the toxins from last night’s bar tab, people love when the food “makes them hurt so good”.  So, in my pursuit of embracing spicy food, I decided to try out Pappardelle’s Extreme Habanero Radiatore Pasta.  Heeding the warning of the package label, I anticipated that a combination of pain and pleasure would be involved in eating this fiery pasta.   

 I used to think you either had to have a sick sense of fun or a callous tongue to chomp down whole peppers at once.   My tongue would almost blister at the slightest hint of heat; how could they tread so boldly, and enjoy it?  It’s one of those addictions where you work your way up.  You aren’t born loving spicy food, and you probably didn’t love it even after the first time.  But if you happened to be raised on habeneos, jalapenos, and Anaheims, you would soon develop a tolerance, perhaps even affinity, for spicy food.  So were habaneros too much for the novice?  

 Assuming the milk would tone down the capsaicin from the peppery pasta, we made a Habanero Macaroni and Cheese.  The recipe we used was standard, but the taste sends out flares to heat-lovers.   Pleased that it was nothing like eating Easy Mac and hot sauce, I praised the depth of flavor I got from the pasta alone.  We hardly seasoned the pasta – it brought its own specific flavor profile.  As my sinuses cleared, I enjoyed the habanero’s separate layers of heat: the initial tingle on my tongue, then the radiant warmth from the second bite, and finally the fiery finish.  After a few days of sitting in the fridge, the heat had intensified to a point where it had to be diluted with other pasta.  Like the label says, this is EXTREME.  I do advise those who consider Tabasco “as spicy as they can go” to avoid tackling this pasta; it was hot even for those who had eaten habaneros before. But if hot wings and Sriracha just aren’t doing it for you this week, this is your pasta.  Those whose palates crave painful pleasure or covet pleasurable pain, we salute you. 

Extreme Habanero “Mac and Cheese”

Ingredients:

½ lb Pappardelle’s Extreme Habanero Radiatore pasta

1 T olive oil

4 T butter, unsalted

4 T flour

2 cups 2% milk (may need more/less liquid, add in increments)

1 cup Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded

2 cups Monterey Jack, shredded

½ small onion, finely diced

3 t Worchester Sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup breadcrumbs

½ cup parsley 

Instructions:

1.       In a large saucepot, cook pasta until al dente (slight crunch in the middle).  Rinse with cold water and toss with about 1 T olive oil so it will not clump and stick. 

 2.       In another saucepot, melt butter over medium heat.  Add flour to make a rue. 

3.       Take pot off burner when first adding milk; return pot to medium low heat and stir mixture constantly.  Rue should thicken, milk should not scald.  

4.       Add in cheese, one cup at a time.  Stir until cheese mixture has a creamy consistency.

5.       Add in Worchester, salt, and pepper.

6.       Add in pasta, mix well.  Keep over medium heat until pasta mixture is warm.   

7.       Meanwhile, preheat oven to broil (500˚ F).

8.       In a large casserole dish, pour pasta and cheese mixture.

9.       Sprinkle bread crumbs and parsley on top. 

10.   Broil for about 10-15 minutes, or until top of mac and cheese is browned. 

Vegetable Lasagna Even Guys Enjoy

“Vegetable Lasagna” is like false advertising…or so some of my friends told me.  Delicious lasagna, by definition they say, must include greasy sausage or ground beef.  But when Italian sausage is $5 a pound, meat isn’t making the menu.   

**For all those already mourning the loss of flavor, I promise that it returns by the time you take your first bite. **

Meat consistently makes a dish tasty.  To make up for lost meat, I had to be elitist with my vegetable recruits.  I carefully chose the finest, firmest zucchini; went for the $2 splurge on brown Cremini mushrooms; got my money’s worth on frozen spinach and canned olives; and took on my trusted pantry standbys, onion and garlic. Other recipes might recommend red pepper, broccoli, or tomatoes, which are all excellent additions.  But alas, they are additions.  If you are looking to maximize the quality of your lasagna and not the quantity of your bill, this recipe is what you need.  Also, this recipe has the added health benefit of less cheese – notice that you don’t even need mozzarella!

The plate was a kaleidoscope of colors and flavors.  This meatless lasagna retained all the hearty taste, without leaving you bulging at the belt.  Even the carnivorous skeptics at the table were silent, mouths full of delight.  It was the type of dinner where you heard only the scraping of utensils.  It was the type of night where you redefine “delicious lasagna”.  

Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients:

½ box of lasagna noodles

2 T olive oil

½ cup onions, finely chopped

1 cup mushrooms, finely chopped

1 cup zucchini, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

¼ cup sliced black olives (from the can)

1 10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed  

Basil

Oregano

Salt and Pepper

1 can pasta/marinara sauce

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 egg

Pinch of nutmeg

Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350˚.

2.       Prepare the vegetables; meanwhile heat pasta sauce in small pot over medium. 

3.       In a large pot, boil water for the pasta.

4.       In large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat.

5.       Add onions, mushrooms, zucchini – cook for about 3-5 min, then add garlic and cook for until vegetables are fork tender (less than 5 min).

6.       Reduce heat to medium.  Add olives and spinach, toss until warm.

7.       Meanwhile, mix together ricotta cheese, egg, and nutmeg.

8.       Season with basil, oregano, salt and pepper until achieve desired taste.

9.       In a deep dish – at least 4 in (i.e. Corning Ware) – layer lasagna noodles, vegetables, pasta sauce, and ricotta cheese mixture.  Repeat as needed.  Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese.

10.   Bake for about 45 min.  Consume!

More than One Way to Get Sauced: Barbeque Chicken Pasta Salad

Some like it hot. Others like it with a twang of vinegar or a smidge of smokiness. I like it sweet and buttery. I am a Southern Girl after all. Ah, can you smell that smoky charcoal burning? Hear the crackle of the flame? See the coals or chips turn from inky black to sooty white? This is a regular barbeque. The flavors of the grill mixed with the taste of slow roasted meats are enough to make you want eternal summer. Alas, most of us college kids don’t have a grill. Buzzkill, right? Now you’re craving barbeque, but you don’t have the means to make it happen. My suggestion: get sauced.

“Wait, what? It’s only noon!” No, no. I’m talking about barbeque sauce.

So you are in this cramped, closet-like dorm kitchen with little more than a mini fridge and an easy-bake oven. You definitely don’t have a grill; doesn’t matter. You can turn even a piece of rotisserie chicken into a barbequed bird by just beginning with the sauce.

Barbeque sauce has to be among the most variant food traditions I’ve come across. Unless you are buying it from the bottle, you cannot have the same type twice. Restaurants might have a “secret recipe”, but you know there is someone in back taste-testing it to her particular preference. Having a recipe may seem sacrilege for those barbeque-ers who cook with the soul, but it’s a necessary crutch we all need until find the barbeque sauce that speaks [to] our tongue.

The best thing about this pasta salad, surprisingly, was that it was cold. The sweet, juicy chicken smothered in buttery barbeque sauce, tossed with fried corn and fresh green peppers was enough to make your mouth say “mmmmm”. It’s the best of your backyard barbeque all made on your stovetop. And it can be eaten cold! What’s not to love? So, when you find yourself reminiscing about a summer forgotten, make yourself a batch of this Barbeque Chicken Pasta Salad.

Barbeque Chicken Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast

1 T olive oil

Salt and pepper

About 2 cups pasta

1 ear of corn/ ½ cup frozen

2-3 T butter

½-1 cup chicken broth or water

1 fresh green pepper, diced

Barbeque sauce [basic directions to follow]

Instructions:

1. In a medium pot, make pasta. Once cooked, rinse with cold water. Place in large container, set in fridge to chill.

2. In a skillet, high oil until hot. Salt and pepper the chicken. Pan sear – be careful not to overcook. Cook about 3-5 min a side [check inside, not pink].

3. Remove chicken after cooked, allow to cool. Then cut into bite sized pieces and add to pasta container.

4. In same skillet, fry corn and butter for about 5 min. Slowly add water, bring to a boil. Cover. Cook until corn is soft and cooked through.

5. Remove from heat. Toss corn and diced peppers with chicken and pasta. Store in fridge.

6. Make barbeque sauce. Mix all together, chill, eat!

Barbeque Sauce

Ingredients:

¾ c ketchup

3 T butter

3 T brown sugar

1 t Worcestershire sauce

1 T vinegar

2 t lemon juice

1 t mustard

2 T minced onions

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Mix all together in small saucepan over medium low until hot.

2. Taste test! See what you like.

3. Remove from heat to cool slightly.

4. Add to pasta salad.

5. Eat!

Pasta Primaver-y-good

Tonight on my plate sat a medley of vegetables over pasta to accompany my medley of homework over the weekend. Let you in on a secret though – the dinner was better than the homework. Showcasing vegetables is what pasta primavera does best. Fresh and crisp, this dish left me feeling full, but not bloated with carbs. It was wildly colorful with an assortment of peppers, carrots, squash and onions – any fresh produce you can find and if not, try the frozen section. Without a heavy sauce covering up the flavor, it felt clean. With the bite of freshly grated parmesan and voluptuous taste of herbs de provence, it was just what the college student wants on a Sunday night.

Start to finish, this meal took about 25 minutes. Time can be a deal breaker in college between getting off a shift at work and catching up on that pile of reading in the corner. This dinner gives full enjoyment without requiring a full commitment. Plus, this makes just enough for a lunch tomorrow. Perfect, in my case, because my creative cooking juices haven’t started flowing at 8 AM when I wake up for class. Ideally, I’d love to make something fresh every day for lunch. Realistically, I don’t have that kind of time. Therefore, having the ability to reheat something great for lunch that I had for dinner is a perk in itself.

[And this pepper was telling me to eat. NOW!]

Pasta Primavera

Ingredients:

Handful or so of pasta [traditionally use farfalle, but I used angel hair]

2 T olive oil

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 small zucchini, chopped

½ onion, chopped

½ green pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small tomato, chopped

Salt and pepper

Herbs de provence

Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. In medium sized pot, cook pasta.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in frying pan over medium high heat.

3. Once hot, add carrots, zucchini, onion, and green pepper. Cook for about 3-5 min – once onions start to turn translucent.

4. Add garlic and spices, cook for 2 min.

5. Drain pasta, add to fry pan.

6. Mix in tomato and grated parmesan.

7. Eat!

Make Your Own Rice-A-Roni: Homemade Asparagus Rice-A-Roni

Usually on the same aisle as Hamburger Helper and other highly processed, low budget foods, Rice-A-Roni has been known to find a home in many college kitchens. When I first tried the stuff out of the box I conceded that, for the price, it seemed like a mildly satisfying college meal. Then I took a gander at the nutrition facts. One box contained nearly my entire daily amount of sodium and would set me back over 600 calories! What had come in such a tiny box would take a large toll.

A challenge arose: could I make it myself and cut down on the bad while increasing the good in my own kitchen? Rice-A-Roni has a nice combo going on – rice AND pasta, both common staple foods, make the dish stretch further for cheaper. Rice-A-Roni has the aisle-side appeal of easy, and on sale, but homemade versions will always allow you more control on taste, texture and other additions. In fact, if you want to give your dish some texture diversity then fry your spaghetti in butter until it is golden brown and crisp, then separate and add at the end to your cooked rice for the perfect contrast between crunchy and fluffy. For variations on flavor you can use beef or chicken broth, add other types of veggies, maybe even some nuts.

My rice-a-roni was delicious, buttery and light – a perfect use of the asparagus that went on sale this week. The asparagus was just fork tender so that it still had a little snap when you took a bite. The vegetable broth is the key for depth of flavor in this dish. I made my own, but feel free to pick up your favorite brand of broth on the soup aisle. Overall, it’s an easy, tasty dish that’s a far cry from bland, boring or boxed.

Homemade Asparagus Rice-A-Roni

Ingredients:

2 T butter, unsalted

1 oz angel hair, broken into ¼ths

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup rice

1 cup vegetable broth

¼ lb asparagus

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in medium sized saucepan over medium heat.

2. Once butter is hot, add in angel hair and fry until golden brown and crispy.

3. Add in onions, cook for about 3 min. Add garlic, cook for another 2 min.

4. Add in rice, cook for about 5 min. Add in vegetable broth, bring to a boil.

5. Cover, cook for about 15 min until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.

6. Meanwhile, in another saucepan, boil about 1 cup of water; steam asparagus for about 3-5 min or fork tender.

7. Add asparagus to rice. Dig in!

Makes about 2 large portions.