Bangers 'n Spud

In 2006, we went to London with Scott's parents. It was a great trip. Of course we had some great pub food, including bangers and mash. I was craving baked potatoes the other day, so I thought why not make a bangers and mash stuffed spud? And so bangers 'n spud was born.

Notes: This dish would be Q.E.D. if you made the potatoes in the microwave. As it stands, though, it's pretty simple. And it only has three ingredients. So, you've got the E. and the D. of Q.E.D.

If you can't find pre-cooked chorizo, you can use kielbasa or andouille. Or you could use fresh chorizo and just increase the cooking time.

This recipe severs 4 people or it will give you a night of leftovers for two people.

Ingredients:
4 baking potatoes
1 lb pre-cooked chorizo sausage
1/2 bag frozen peas
Butter
Salt

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400. Rub a small amount of butter on the outside of the potatoes and season with salt. Prick them with a fork, wrap them in foil, and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Before the potatoes finish, heat a non-stick skillet on medium. Dice the sausage and add it to the pan. Cook until the edges start to brown. Add in the peas and sautee for just a few minutes until the peas are thawed and heated.

When the potatoes are done, slice them open and fluff with a fork. Spoon the sausage and peas into the potato. Serve and enjoy!

Q.E.D.: Chorizo with Rice and Peas

Tonite was one of those nights when you don't feel like going out and you don't feel like making anything complicated. I stood at my pantry and stared at the shelves trying to figure out if there was anything I could cobble together to feed Scott and myself. As it happened, I had some pre-cooked chorizo in the fridge that I planned to use later in the week. I had rice and I had frozen peas.

And you're looking at the delicious result.

Notes: This dish has SO many things going for it. It's comforting, so it would be perfect for a night when you're not feeling so good. It's a one-pot dish, so there's not much clean-up to do. It's made of things that you can keep on hand (even the chorizo keeps for awhile). And it will be ready for you before a pizza could show up at your house.

If you had the wherewithal, a little bit of onion would be great with this. I had no onion and no wherewithal.

You could replace the peas with any small veggie you like. If you had some frozen broccoli florets, that would be good too. Fresh veggies would work fine, just make sure it's chopped up fairly small so it cooks quickly. And add it at the same time you add the sausage.

If the 10 minutes is up and there's still water in the pan, turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes. That should take care of any leftover moisture.

Ingredients:
2 cups minute rice
2 cups water
1/2 bag frozen peas
1/2 pound pre-cooked chorizo sausage
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Slice the chorizo. Heat a large skillet with a lid on medium-high. When the skillet is hot, add the chorizo. When the slices start to brown a little, add in the rice and toast it together with the sausage. Pour in the water and add the peas.

Cover and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the rice is tender and fluffy. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve and enjoy!

Q.E.D.: Pasta with Peas and Mozzarella

Sometimes great things happen when you make a mistake.

I had planned to make one of my staple dishes for dinner: pasta with a vegetable and an olive oil and herb sauce. I like a healthy sprinkle of parmesan on this dish, but I was out, so I sent Scott to the store to get it.

That didn't quite work out. Scott, who doesn't have a ton of culinary knowledge, got mixed up and brought home mozzarella instead of parmesan. No matter, I thought, I'll figure out a way to use the mozzarella. The only think I could think to try was to chop it up and add it to my dish.

Well, it turned out great! The mozzarella melts just a little and it provides a great mix of textures with the peas.

Notes: I added the the mozzarella to the pasta after I put it in the serving dish. Dice the mozzarella and keep in a separate container so that you can add it to the individual servings of pasta. If you add it to the dish as a whole, it won't heat up the same if you have leftovers. If you don't plan to have leftovers, then you can add the cheese to the pot when the pasta is finished.

Ingredients:
1 box elbow or shell pasta
1/3-1/2 cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter (optional)
5-6 cloves of garlic
1/2 bag frozen peas
1 tablespoon Italian herb blend
1/2 tablespoon basil
Fresh mozzarella
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a small handful of kosher salt. Cook the box of pasta according to the directions.

Mince the garlic. Add olive oil, butter, herbs, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to a small pan. Heat the mixture on medium low while the pasta cooks.

Dice the mozzarella.

When the pasta has about 2 minutes left to cook, add the peas. When it's finished cooking, drain and return to the pot. Pour the oil mixture over the pasta and peas. Stir to coat throughly. Put the pasta in the serving dish and add pieces of mozzarella. Stir gently. Enjoy!

Pesto Spaghetti Squash with Bacon and Peas

Ever had gluten-free pasta? I tried some once. Um, it got a less than stellar review. I may have just tried the wrong brand, but I'm not exactly itching to give it another try.

I've seen the trick of using spaghetti squash in the place of pasta and I thought that might be a better bet than the gluten-free version.

Notes: Spaghetti squash does not taste like pasta. It's reminiscent of pasta and it looks like pasta, but if you're expecting it to mimic spaghetti exactly, you'll be disappointed.

Spaghetti squash is also a bit bland, so it needs flavor help. I thought the bacon grease would do the trick, but that wasn't enough. Neither was the pesto. It needs salt. So, be sure to salt the squash before you add in the pesto and peas.

I love that you can roast the squash ahead of time (thanks to Martha Stewart for the tip). You could roast it on the weekend and make this a Q.E.D. weeknight meal.

Ingredients
1 large spaghetti squash
5-6 slices of bacon
1/2 bag frozen peas
2 tablespoons (homemade) pesto
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Heat oven to 375. Using a small knife, prick the squash all over. Put it on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through. Allow the squash to cool and cut it open. Scoop out the seeds and discard. Using a fork, scrape out the strands of squash into a large bowl. This step can be done up to 2 days ahead. You can keep the squash in an airtight container in the fridge.

In a large skillet, fry bacon until crisp. Set the slices on a plate lined with a paper towel. Add the squash to the bacon grease and toss to coat and warm through. Season with salt and pepper (don't be shy). Add the peas and toss enough to heat the peas. Turn off the heat, add the pesto, and stir to combine.

Dish it up, crumble the bacon on top, and enjoy!

Pictured here with optional parmesan cheese!

Wild Mushroom Risotto with Pesto and Peas

Our weather has gotten cooler and it's hard to believe it's still July. I was able to comfortably wear jeans the other night, which is pretty unheard of. Since it's not so hot, a nice steamy bowl of risotto did not sound like the torture it otherwise would in the heat of summer.

Notes: Risotto gets a bad rep for being a fussy dish, but it's really not that fussy. The idea is just to let the rice absorb the liquid slowly so that it produces a creamy texture. That's why you add the liquid a little at a time rather than all at once.

Arborio rice isn't always easy to hunt down, but I've seen the bigger chain stores like Wal-Mart and Target carrying it lately. It's a bit expensive, but if you're in the mood to splurge, it's definitely worth it.

I used "wild" mushrooms (in quotes because most mushrooms in the US are cultivated rather than foraged), but you could use whatever mushrooms you like. If the store has a pre-sliced pack, all the better.

How do you know when risotto is nearly done? Two things: (1) it will  basically double in volume and (2) just taste it! If the rice is still crunchy, it needs a few more minutes.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups uncooked arborio rice
4 cups chicken, vegetable, or mushroom stock
1 heaping tablespoon pesto (homemade if you have it!)
1/2 bag of frozen peas
8-10 oz. of assorted sliced mushrooms (baby portobellos, shitake, oyster)
2-3 garlic cloves
Salt
Pepper
Butter or olive oil

Directions:

Pour stock in to a medium sauce pan and heat to just below a simmer. Keep it at that temperature.

Mince the garlic cloves, clean and slice the mushrooms.

Heat the fat of your choice in a large skillet over medium high. Add the mushrooms and sautee until the edges just start to turn a little brown. At the garlic and cook another minute. Add the rice and toast it in the pan with the mushrooms and garlic for just a minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Add 4 ladles of stock and stir. When the mixture starts to look dry and sticky, add two more ladles of stock and stir. Repeat this process until the rice is tender and most of your stock is gone. The whole process takes between 35-40 minutes depending on the brand and age of your rice. If you run out of liquid before the rice is done, just add warm tap water to your sauce pan and use that.

Once the rice is tender, stir in the pesto and frozen peas (no need to thaw). Allow the peas to just heat through. Serve and enjoy!

Q.E.D.: Pastina and Peas with Herbs and Romano

Normally you put pastina in soups. I like it on its because it has a creamy texture similar to risotto, but lighter. It takes no time at all to cook and reheats really well. This is one of those curl-up-on-the-sofa dishes --  perfect light pasta dish for a chilly week night!

Notes: The only trick to cooking pastina on its own is that you can't drain it in a normal collander: it's too small and it will drain right through. I use a fine-mesh strainer to pull it out of the boiling water.

Use whatever herbs you like, just be sure you use fresh herbs rather than dried. Because there are so few ingredients in the dish, dried herbs just wouldn't be the same.

Ingredients:
1 box pastina (any shape you like -- I used stars)
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
2 or 3 garlic cloves minced
Dash red pepper flakes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 a bag of frozen peas
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Bring a stock pot of water to a boil. While your waiting for it to boil, chop your herbs and garlic.

Add the oil and butter to a large sauce pan and heat it on medium-low. Add the garlic, herbs, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. If they start to sizzle, turn your heat down.

Once your pasta water boils, add a small handful of salt and drop the pastina in. It should take between 4-5 minutes to cook.

When the pasta has 2 minutes of cooking time left, add your frozen peas. When the time is up, use a fine-mesh strainer to fish the pastina and peas out of the water. Add them to your warm oil and herb mixture.

Once all the pastina in in the pan, sprinkle in half the Romano cheese. Stir it in and then add the other half. Stir until everything together. Serve and sprinkle a little more cheese on top is you're feeling saucy. Enjoy!