Pasta

Bob Stevenson’s Spaghetti Sauce

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Submitted by Mary Ciambelli and Bill Wasinski, who consider this “the best spaghetti sauce known to humans”  Thanks to Bob for allowing them to share it!

  • A few cloves of garlic, diced
  • A good size yellow onion, diced
  • 1.5-2 pounds of ground meat. Italian sausage (sweet or spicy or mixed); bison, lean ground beef or some combination of all.
  • Italian seasoning, two palmfuls.
  • Bay Leaves 3 or 4. Pull them out before eating but leave them in for the leftovers.
  • Red Wine 2-3 oz. (too much makes it bitter, too little you don’t get the flavor)
  • 1 heaping tablespoon of sugar
  • Olive oil to brown the garlic and onions.
  • One big can and one small can of tomato paste. Flavor + Sweetness
  • One big can of tomato sauce.
  • One big can of diced or crushed tomatoes (Better yet, buy canned whole tomatoes and
  • Squish them in your hands and put that squished stuff in the sauce). Put the liquid from the can into the sauce.
  • One big can of water.
  • Never think about adding salt (plenty in the canned tomatoes)

Assembly

Open all of the cans and dump them into your stock pot. Place on low-simmer heat. Dump in the one can of water, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, sugar, and wine.

Stir.

Sautee the onions in olive oil until almost clear. Dump into the sauce including the residual olive oil.

Sautee the garlic in lots of olive oil so that it is all swimming. As soon as it starts to think about getting brown STOP and dump the oil and garlic into the sauce.

Brown the meat. Just let it get fairly gray. Dump off as much of the grease as you can.

Put the meat into the sauce after grease removal.

Cooking

Bring the sauce to the lowest boil possible. Once it begins to boil, you want it to be quite watery. Add water if needed at this step (may be just fine). Return to simmer.

The longer this simmers, the better it is (at least an hour but no matter how long it simmers its always better as leftovers. All day is good. Just keep putting in water if it gets too thick and cook it down again). This sauce keeps for at least a week in the refrigerator and can also be frozen. Never make a smaller batch.

Use pasta that holds a lot of sauce like penne or seashells. To live longer use whole wheat pasta.

Buon Appetito!

Pasta with Spinach and Red Clam Sauce

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  • 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
  • 2 Tablespoons flour
  • 1 (8 ounce) bottle clam juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 pound thin spaghetti or linguine
  • 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach or 1/4 pound fresh spinach (about 4 cups leaves
  • 1 can (6 1/2 ounces) canned chopped clams, drained
  • 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
  • Dried red pepper flakes

Coarsely chop onion.

In a large skillet, warm the butter in the oil over medium-high heat until the butter is melted.  Add the onion and garlic` and sauté until the onion just begins to brown, 2 to 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, put a large pot of water on to boil.

When onion and garlic are done, stir in the flour and cook, stirring, until the flour is no longer visible, about 30 seconds.

Stir in the tomatoes, clam juice, salt and pepper.  Bring the liquid to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the spinach.  If using frozen, thaw in the microwave and squeeze between paper towels to remove as much liquid as possible.  If using fresh, stem and roughly chop.

Add past to boiling water and cook according to package directions.

After it has simmered for 10 minutes, bring the tomato sauce back to a boil over medium-high heat.  Stir in the spinach and clams and cook until just heated through (about 2 minutes).

Drain pasta and toss with the sauce and 1/3 cup of the Parmesan.

Serve with remaining Parmesan and pepper flakes on the side.

Serves at least 4.

Chicken Alla Godfather

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From the 1990 Rehfwitz (and Friends) Cookbook, originally submitted by Bob and Shelley Clemens

  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 3 ounces butter
  • Flour
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • Pinch of fresh parsley
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Red pepper
  • Cooked linguine

Melt butter and garlic in a frying pan over high heat.  When the butter has melted, place the chicken in the pan.  Cover with a handful of flour.

When chicken is browned on one side turn it over and brown the other side.

Add white wine.  Wait 1 minute, then add beef broth and parsley.  Cover and allow to cook 5 minutes (still on high heat)

Add Parmesan and red pepper.  Serve chicken and broth over linguine in pasta bowls.

Mighty Nice Macaroni And Cheese A La Rob

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Submitted by Rob Anning

  • 1 recipe sauce (see below)
  • 1 pound chicken breast, cooked and cut into bite sized pieces. (Or 2-3 packages prepared chicken from the salad section.)
  • 1 package grape tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 bunch asparagus, slightly steamed and cut into bite sized pieces.  (Or 1 package frozen asparagus pieces, thawed.)
  • Pasta (see below)
  • Panko crumbs (see below)
  • Melted butter (see below)

Toss pasta and sauce.  Gently toss in chicken, tomatoes, and asparagus.  Put in 13 x 9 glass or ceramic pan.  Cover top with panko mixture.  Bake at 300′ until hot and topping is browned.  (The veggies work best if everything else is still hot when it goes in the oven, minimizing oven time.)
*****

Sauce

  • 1 stick melted butter
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • ½ cup chopped onion
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
  • 6 cups grated sharp cheddar
  • 1 cup sour cream

Combine all ingredients and stir over medium heat until cheese is well melted.

*****

Pasta

Boil 32 oz. Radiatori (ruffle pasta).  You’ll want it al dente – it will get softer in the oven

If you can’t find radiatori pick a pasta that’s not smooth so the sauce has something to cling to.)

*****

Use enough panko crumbs to cover your dish, tossed with enough melted butter to lightly coat crumbs.

*****

Pasta with spicy shrimp & sun-dried tomatoes

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Submitted by Deborah Gibbs, adapted from Cooking Light

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound uncooked large shrimp – peeled & deveined
  • 4 shallots, sliced
  • ¾ cup sliced, drained, sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
  • ½ cup sliced, pitted, Kalamata olives
  • 1 pkg frozen artichoke hearts ( You can substitute or add asparagus.)
  • 6 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
  • ½ tsp. dried crushed red pepper
  • 1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes in juice drained ( I sometimes add fresh diced as well.)
  • ½ cup chopped fresh basil
  • 1 (12 oz.) package linguine
  • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add shrimp & cook about 2 minutes. Transfer shrimp to a bowl. Add remaining oil to pot- add shallots, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, garlic, lemon peel, crushed red pepper, artichokes (and other vegetables as desired). Sauté about 4 minutes. Add canned tomatoes ( and fresh if desired) Simmer about 3 minutes until thickened. Mix in basil- add shrimp back.

Cook pasta. Drain. Add pasta to sauce. Transfer to bowl & top with cheese.

Spinach and Orzo Salad

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Submitted by Suzy Bonnah from Allrecipes.com

* 1 (16 ounce) package uncooked orzo pasta
* 1 (10 ounce) package baby spinach leaves, finely chopped
* 1/2 pound crumbled feta cheese
* 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
* 3/4 cup pine nuts
* 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
* 1/2 cup olive oil
* 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add orzo and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and rinse with cold water. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in spinach, feta, onion, pine nuts, basil and white pepper. Toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Refrigerate and serve cold.

Note: Makes a lot! Could feed a small army!

Turkey Supreme

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· 7 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

· 1 Tablespoon cooking oil

· 1 pound ground turkey

· 1 medium onion, chopped

· 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

· 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

· 1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

· ½ teaspoon dried oregano

· 1 cup plain, non-fat or low-fat yogurt

· 3 ounces cream cheese

· 1 ½ Tablespoon snipped fresh parsley

· 2 cups shredded low-fat cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 350°.

Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Crumble turkey into skillet; stir in onion and garlic. Cook until turkey is no longer pink. Drain.

Stir in tomato sauce, Parmesan, and oregano. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Mix yogurt, cream cheese, and parsley until smooth. (A food processor is good here if you have one.)

Spray a 9” x 13” pan with cooking spray.

Layer macaroni, yogurt mixture, and turkey mixture in prepared pan. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Bake, uncovered, 35 minutes.

Serves 6.

Popeye Pasta Toss

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· 16 ounces penne pasta (I used Barilla Plus)

· 1 pkg. sliced baby portobello mushrooms

· 4 tablespoons olive oil

· Salt to taste

· 1 ¼ teaspoons dry oregano

· 2-3 handfuls fresh baby spinach

· 1 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

· 4-5 basil leaves, chopped

· ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook and drain pasta.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil and sauté mushrooms, salt and oregano until mushrooms begin to soften. Add spinach, tomatoes, and basil and cook until spinach begins to wilt.

Remove from heat and toss with pasta and cheese.

Submitted by the Rehfwitzes