Chicken Ragu with Farfalle

This was an excellent meal! I am playing catch up from this past week as my parents were in town and we were busy and I did not get to put these up! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 whole chicken legs (I used chicken breasts)

2 teaspoons kosher salt plus additional for seasoning

Freshly ground black pepper

1 medium red onion, diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

1 rib celery, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

4 canned plum tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

2 sprigs fresh flat leaf parsley, plus 2 tablespoons chopped

About 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 pound farfalle pasta

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil, and heat until shimmering. Season the chicken with some salt and pepper to taste, and cook until brown on all sides, about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken to a platter. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and the 2 teaspoons salt to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until vegetables are just tender. Add the wine, tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, sage, rosemary, and the parsley sprigs. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down and mixture is saucy.

Slip the chicken with any juices into the tomato sauce. Add enough chicken broth to cover about 2/3 of the chicken. Simmer the ragu with the lid slightly ajar until the meat pulls easily from the bone, turning the chicken halfway through, about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken and when cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the bones, discarding the skin and bones. Skim off any fat that has collected on the top of the sauce and stir in the chicken. (The dish can be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead and refrigerated in a tightly sealed container).

When ready to serve, heat the ragu over low heat. Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt it generously. Add the farfalle and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 10 minutes. Ladle out about 1 cup of cooking water and set aside. Drain the pasta, add it to the ragu and too over low heat, adding about 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta liquid at a time until the sauce coats the farfalle.

Enjoy!

Sopa Seca

This was a great mexican pasta meal! I have never had one before and I loved it! :)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

12 ounces fideos (vermicelli) we couldn't find this so we used cappellini

1 medium onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican - I didn't have it so I used regular oregano

1 teaspoon New Mexican chile powder - I used regular chili powder

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 cups canned whole peeled tomatoes

1 to 2 chiptoles in adobo sauce, minced

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups shredded smoked turkey

1 cup coarsely shredded Cheddar cheese

Mexican crema or sour cream thinned with a bit of milk (optional) - we didn't use it

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush a 9-inch square baking dish with oil. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the fideos and cook, turning them with tongs, until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer the bundles and any broken pieces to a plate.

Add the onion to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic, coriander, oregano, chile powder, and bay leaf and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Crush the tomatoes over the pot with your hand and add them to the pot along with their juices. Add the chipotles, increase the heat to high, and cooke until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the broth, the toasted fideos, the salt, and pepper to taste. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer gently, uncovered, breaking up the fideos with a spoon, about about 5 minutes. Stir in the turkey.

Remove the bay leaf. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish, sprinkle the grated cheese over the top, and cover loosely with foil. Bake until the cheese melts and the casserole is hot through and through, about 20 minutes. If desired, serve with some crema drizzled over the top.

Enjoy!

Mac and Cheese with Red Peppers and Tomatoes

This is a highly labor intensive meal! Great at the end and well worth the work! Caution: Do not attempt to make this meal on your own! It may be possible...but it will take forever! :)

There are many ingredients that went into this meal along with two recipes on top of the actual mac and cheese recipe.

I am going to start with those two recipes before moving on to the actual meal!

First things first...Oven Dried Tomatoes! MAKE SURE TO READ THE DIRECTIONS!!

Ingredients:

2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cored and halved lengthwise

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Fresh herb sprigs, such as thyme, rosemary, or sage (optional)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 250. Arrange the tomatoes, cut side up, in a single layer on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt.

Bake until slightly shriveled but still plump, ABOUT 5 HOURS!! (yes, it took the whole time!)

*If not using immediately, refrigerate the dried tomatoes in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Or layer them with the herb sprigs, if desired. Add olive oil to cover, seal tightly, and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.* We made ours today, so we skipped this step!

Next, Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 shallot, chopped

1/2 medium carrot, peeled and chopped

1/2 rib celery, chopped

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 cups milk

3 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 small bay leaf

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot, carrot and celery and cook, covered until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon and cook until it lightens in color, about 2 minutes.

Slowly whisk in the milk and bring to a boil.

Add the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, whisking occasionally, until the sauce is thick, about 15 minutes.

Strain the sauce into a bowl and season with salt, nutmeg, and pepper.

Press plastic wrap on the surface of the sauce until ready to use.

On to the actual recipe! Mac and Cheese with Red Peppers and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1 pound ziti or penne pasta (we used a mixture of penne and bowtie!)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 clove garlic, smashed

2 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs, preferably sourdough bread

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme

6 ounces shredded sharp white cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)

4 ounces shredded fontina cheese (about 1 1/3 cups) *we could not find this so we used another cows milk based cheese*

3 ounces shredded smoked gouda cheese (about 1 cup)

1 recipe hot bechamel sauce (recipe is above)

10 oven-dried tomato halves (recipe is above)

1 roasted red pepper, seeded and diced (I cut the pepper in half and placed cut side down in oven while the oven was preheating and until it was roasted!)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400. Lightly butter a 9x13 inch casserole dish. Bring a large pot of cold water to a boil over high heat; salt it generously. Add the pasta and boil, stirring occasionally, until it just barely al dente (it will finish cooking in the sauce) Drain the pasta and put it in a large bowl and cool.

While the pasta cooks, melt the butter with the garlic clove in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the bread crumbs, parsley and thyme and toss to coat the bread crumbs thoroughly with the butter. Remove the garlic clove and sit the crumbs aside.

some of the cheeses are really smelly, but I have an amazing husband who grated them for me! :) love you babe!

Toss the pasta with the cheeses. Fold in the bechamel sauce, then the tomatoes, red pepper, salt, and pepper.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and scatter the bread crumbs over the top.

Bake until the sauce bubbles and the crumbs crisp and brown, 25 to 30 minutes, (ours didn't even take this long!)

Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

*As mentioned in the beginning...it is a long process, but definitely worth it!*