Linguine with Turkey Meatballs and Quick Sauce

I've sat down twice to blog about the linguine with turkey meatballs and quick sauce recipe from Everyday Pasta, which I cannot find online in an official form (it's on page 177-- buy it!). The trick to the recipe is that Giada throws all kinds of flavorful bits in with the turkey in the meatballs to pump up the bland flavor, including pancetta, sun-dried tomatoes and cheese, which makes it perfect for someone who is turkey ambivalent like me. Since we're counting calories these days, I cut out the first installment of EVOO down to 2 tablespoons, and then reused the leftover oil for the quick sauce without adding more. I also cut the cheese in half-- this I might recommend even if you're not counting calories, because the cheese has the tendency to burn and stick to the pan in the oven. Finally, I cut down on the amount of linguine and used whole wheat; unless you're making your own linguine, the sauce is the yummy part and doesn't need an excessive amount of pasta.

Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil

So, not everything I make goes into the blog. Sometimes I'm starving and frantic and forget to snap a photo. Other times, the recipe completely bombs for whatever reason (hello, Jamie Oliver's favourite curry sauce from Happy Days with the Naked Chef). This recipe almost fell into the latter category, but I gave it a judge's save.

Here's the deal: I've mentioned before (here and here) that I love Giada. Love her. Love her because her recipes are so, so, so reliable. Make it the first time for company reliable. As such, I started cooking the Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil from Giada's Kitchen without intensely studying it. I was humming along well into the third paragraph when I realized that I had reserved a cup of the pasta cooking water (as directed in paragraph 2) but had no clue where it went, as the recipe did not so indicate. Panicked, I threw it in with the cooked linguine, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Immediately it became clear that that was a mistake. I don't know where the pasta cooking water goes, but it does not go back in the pasta. [ed.: Actually, now that I've seen the online version of the recipe I do know: "some" should be added after the addition of the lemon oil to bring the pasta to the desired consistency.] I hastily drained some of it out, but flavor dilution was an obvious concern. With this in mind, I ate the pasta and was not wowed. My husband, aware of the pasta water disaster but somewhat removed from the situation, liked it fine. Flash forward to the next day, eating the pasta for lunch. The reasons for selecting the recipe came back to me: good warm or good cold, incorporates enough veggies to make this a one-dish meal and light enough for summertime.

I'm planning on trying it again-- maybe with frozen shrimp this time, so at least if it fails I won't have spent 30 minutes peeling and deveining.

8/12 update: made it again WITHOUT adding any pasta water and it was a success! The peppery taste of the arugula really popped against the lemon flavor.

Pork Chops with Sweet Onion Marmellatta

I am not the world's biggest pork fan. No "other white meat" for me. But my husband's tolerance for chicken breast is as low as the price of fresh fish is high, and so I've been trying to find ways to serve up this lean alternative. (except... now that red meat is okay, and bacon and sausage are bad... my world is rocked and I may need to rethink). The best thing about Giada's Pork Chops with Sweet Onion Marmellata (besides the fact that she signed my Giada's Kitchen cookbook with the recipe in it!) is that you could put the marmellata on literally anything and it will taste fantastic. It's the kind of thing you see in specialty shops in a very small, very expensive jar, and after you have a sample on crostini you pay the $10 and have to have it. The third best thing about the marmellata is that it is still delicious if you don't exactly follow the directions and cook the onions for 1 hour instead of 2. Same with the pork rub. The fourth best thing, since we're counting, is that instead of 4 pork chops, you can substitute 3 pork chops and 1 bone-in chicken breast :) Marital harmony, people.

Chicken Cacciatore

I think I've mentioned previously my love for Giada's recipes and how well they turn out. Everyday Italian is the cookbook that started it all for me. Every dish in it tastes exactly like you expect it would-- classic, Italian-American cuisine. Chicken Cacciatore, though, was never a meal I ordered at a restaurant and wow, was I missing out! The sauce, which is really more like a stew broth, picks up tang from the veggies and depth from the chicken. I've made this dish as called for, with both thighs and breasts, and with only one or the other. If you go the latter route, don't change the portion size; just cut down on the protein overall and pick up some crusty bread to soak up the broth. And of course, this dish is great with fresh grated parmesan on top.

Marinara Sauce

Making mirepoix is one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen. The peeling, the chopping, the crying over onions-- if you crush a couple garlic cloves as well, it's better than therapy! I always end up with with extra celery, carrots and onions, and a great way to use up the extras is in a simple spaghetti sauce, like Giada de Laurentiis' marinara sauce, that you can make and keep in the freezer to use in other recipes later on. If you were bottling this sauce as a type of Prego, it would be "Chunky Garden Fresh." Sometimes I like to throw in some red wine to tone down the tanginess but really this recipe is all about complementing Eggplant Parm, Manicotti or Penne alla Vodka (and using up your mirepoix!)