Recipes Cooking

Well, maybe not a thousand, but I did get quite a few requests for the sauce that went with the homemade pasta my Uncle Bill made during my trip to New York. We did two videos together, one was the “Homemades,” and one was an amazing chicken recipe called Chicken D’Arduini. In that post I said I would try to demo the olive oil sauce that went over the homemade fettuccine. Well, I haven’t filmed that yet, and have lots of great excuses why, some of which are even true.

So, in the meantime, since it’s such a simple sauce, I’m just going to talk you through it. You can see most of what’s happening in the photo of the pan. I can’t give exact amounts because it’s just not that kind of sauce.

While the pasta is cooking (I think we cooked about 2 pounds), put a heavy sauté pan on low heat. Add lots of olive oil, maybe a good cup. Add 5 or 6 anchovy fillets, and 4 cloves of minced garlic. Sauté on low until the anchovies melt and the garlic begins to sizzle. Add some chopped fresh basil and some hot pepper flakes and cook for another minute. Do NOT brown the garlic. Turn off the heat. In a large pasta bowl, cut up a stick of butter into small pieces. Grate about a cup of Parmesan cheese (the real stuff!). When the pasta is cooked and drained, add it to the pasta bowl, and toss with the butter for a few moments. Pour over the olive oil mixture, and add the grated Parmesan (save a little for the table), and toss until everything is coated. This is best served as a side dish due to its obvious richness, and was great with the Chicken D’Arduini, as it would with any similar recipe.

This is not the type of pasta to eat if you are thinking about grams of fat, or calories, or those new “skinny jeans.” In fact, this is a dish best eaten when your brain is completely void of all thought. So, clear your mind as you slurp the buttery, salty, spicy, garlicky, cheesy goodness. Enjoy!

If you are in need of a quick appetizer try this one!  There are only four ingredients (okay, 5 if you count the egg wash) but they are packed with flavor! Change up the fillings to suit your taste but remember this is supposed to be a quick and asy recipe so dont make it too complex.

If you are a frequenter of  Trader Joes, be sure to pick up a jar of their Olive Tapenade.  You all know how much I love my olives and therefore try different brands of tapenade often.  This is by far my favorite. 


Olive and Sundried Tomato Palmiers

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry
1/2 jar olive tapenade
Approx 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil, sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Egg wash - 1 egg plus 1 tbsp water, beaten

Directions:

Defrost puff pastry according to package directions.  Roll out pastry into approx a 14 x 11 inch rectangle.  Spread the tapenade over pastry, scatter the sundried tomatoes over the tapenade and then top with shredded mozzarella.  Starting with the short side, fold both sides of the pastry to the center.  Gently press both sides together so they stick.  Brush with egg mixture and slice into 1/2 inch slices.  Place cut slices on baking sheet and brush with egg mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.