Spaghetti with Clams

Ingredients:
1 lb of clams
2 servings of pasta
lemon juice
splash of white wine
chives
garlic
pepper

Directions:
1. Wash and Steam Clams until all the shells have completely opened.
2. Boil water for spaghetti, strain the spaghetti when its a little under done
3. Remove the clam meat from the shell, but reserve and filter the clam juice.
4. In a saute pan, cook the garlic in a little bit of oil and pepper.
5. add the clam meat and the pasta to the pan.
6. add the clam juice and white wine and cook until the liquid is gone.
7. serve the pasta by topping it off with some chives and a squeeze of lemon juice.

tip: salt is totally unnecessary here bc the clam juice will be very salty. its from the sea after all.

Shrimp and Pea Pesto

I had a tuppy of left over pesto from a prior project so I decided to make a pasta. This actually turned out really well and the peas were not an after thought. They contributed a nice sweet touch to the dish that was rather unexpected.

Ingredients:
1 cup of left over pesto sauce
3/4 a box of bowtie pasta
1/2 bag of frozen peas
1 lb of shrimp
grated cheese

Directions:
1. Boil water for the pasta and cook pasta
2. Clean, peal, and de-vein the shimp
3. Season the shrimp with some salt/pepper and quickly saute in a pan
4. Boil a small pot of water and throw the peas in until they become bright green.
5. When everything is done, drain pasta and peas.
6. Combine all the ingredients together (shrimp, peas, pasta, pesto)
7. Grate fresh parm on top and enjoy.
8. Try with a little squirt of lemon juice.

football pasta sauce

During football season, I like to make spaghetti sauce and meatballs from scratch. I call it football pasta sauce because it takes about one game to finish. I keep the general process the same but change ingredients slightly each time depending on my mood. This iteration involved:

2 links turkey sausage

2 links linguica sausage

meatballs (used Italian panko breadcrumbs, put them in the oven ~20 minutes so they're not as soft as they would be if they were just simmered for three hours)

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans whole tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

garlic powder

oregano

dried basil

dried parsley

salt

pepper

red pepper flakes

Directions:

0. Make sure your tv is turned up loud enough to hear the game if you can't see it from the living room. If this game involves the Redskins, stop what you're doing and sit on the couch with a nice cold beverage and go watch! If the game involves the Patriots, leave it on and curse at them while you cook.

1. Saute the garlic in olive oil in a big pot over medium heat for about a minute.

2. Add the onion and saute until soft.

3. Pour in the tomatoes, tomato paste and spices.

4. Bring to a boil and then simmer.

5. In a separate pan, brown the sausage pieces. Put them in the tomato sauce.

6. Put the meatballs in the sauce.

7. Simmer for the rest of the game.

Put over whatever pasta you like (linguine is pictured above). I have a bunch of sauce left (this was made in December, frozen, and brought out after January's red meat ban was over) so I will likely post better pictures of other pastas.

Carlos' Shrimp Orzo

(actually a simplified Gianda De Laurentiis dish)


serves 4

Ingredients:
4 servings of dried orzo
4 cups of chicken stock
palmful of fresh parsley
1 lb of shrimp
the zest and juice of 1 lemon
salt/pepper
olive oil

Directions:
1. cook orzo in chicken stock
2. peal and clean shrimp
3. saute in salt/pepper, oil and parsley
4. when pasta is cooked drain and combine with olive oil, shrimp, lemon zest, and lemon juice.

good hot and cold

tuna piccata pasta salad

6 ounces angel hair pasta penne
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste
6 tablespoons olive oil (forgot this)
1 (9 ounce) can solid white tuna packed in water, drained
2 teaspoons capers, drained (used salted capers, not brined capers)

Added:
lemon chive dressing just to see what it would taste like
1/4 of an onion
Note: there are tomatoes in my ingredient picture but I decided not to use them.

Directions
1. Cook pasta.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, mayonnaise, mustard and lemon chive dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add tuna, separating into thick chunks. Add capers and onions, and stir to combine. Pour pasta into tuna mixture, and stir gently to combine. Cover, and refrigerate.



Courtesy of AllRecipes.

Pasta Salad a la Left Overs

new pasta salad I created....it was really goooooood, and I made it from random left overs and random salad stuff

small pasta: mini shells or bowtie.
arugula
carrots
purple onion
baby peas
parmesan
bacon
green peppers
cubed chicken (i used left over roasted chicken - just one drum stick)
salt/pepper
olive oil
chipotle mayo (optional - I used 1 teaspoon)

1. Boil water for the pasta.
2. chop veggies into about the same size as pasta.

**all veggies chopped up should be about double the size of the amount of dried pasta
I used 2 hand fulls of arugula-coarse chop, ~10 baby carrots (i actually chopped them into short strips), one slice of purple onion, 1/2 green pepper (more like these http://www.farmerfred.com/images/spanishspice2.jpg but not spicy), and hand full of cooked peas. You can adjust the veggies to your liking...my choices were dictated by what i had left over in the fridge.**

3. mix veggies together with oliveoil, salt, pepper, grated cheese (2 spoonfuls), and mayo
4. mince 1 slice of bacon, cook in pan with the cubed chicken (heats it up), add to mix.
5. once the pasta is cooked, drain, add to mix, and enjoy.

the heat from pasta/chicken wilts everything and its good hot and cold.
I made enough for dinner and lunch for both Los and I.
yay for leftovers.