DIPs!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Pasta (easy)

This is an easy pasta dish that tastes like you ordered in a fancy restaurant. Cubing the squash is the only hard part.



Roasted Butternut Squash with Pasta

3 c. cubed butternut squash (about one decent sized one per two people)
1 T. dark brown sugar (you can use light if you don't have it)
1 T olive oil and 2 t for the pasta
1 t salt ( you can cut this a bit if you like)
1/2 t ground pepper
8 shallots peeled and halved (I had some mini red onions I found, but I think if you used regular onions in a pinch it would be fine)
1 t rubbed sage
4 oz of whatever pasta you have
1/4 c grated parm (this really sets the dish off)

1. Oven 475. In a bowl mix the squash, 2 T olive oil , brown sugar, salt, pepper and shallots until coated (save sage for later). Bake at 475 or until tender. Add sage when finished. While squash is cooking make the pasta. Add the 2 t of olive oil to pasta and serve squash on top of pasta with cheese on top.

Easy Tortellini Soup

This fast recipe makes for a hearty and quick dinner. I combo'd some recipes from Cooking Light and came up with this one.

Tortellini Soup
4 c. Broth (chicken or veggie)
2 c water 1/2 c. white wine
3 T. lemon juice or whatever you can squeeze out of a lemon
1/2 t fresh ground pepper
2 packages tortellini (you could really use one if you were going low budget)
1 can of white beans (rinsed and drained)
6 oz of spinach ( chopped a bit)

Put all the liquid ingredients together and bring to a boil. Add pepper and tortellini and cook for 8 min. Add white beans and spinach and heat through. Done. Well, you could add some fresh parsley or feta on top if you wanted.

Serve with

Baked Pita Cut pitas into wedges. Paint with some EVOO and sprinkle with garlic and onion powder and salt and some red pepper. I subbed some Turkish seasoning that I had laying around and they were really good. They go nice with the soup.

My bro's Pizza and shrimp po boy

White Pizza

Ingredients:

Bread dough recipe (used bread machine to make fresh pizza dough)

2.5T Olive oil (used what I needed, didn’t measure)

2T cornstarch (I’d cut this in half if you like less sauce)

2C milk (used whole milk, I’d cut this in half if you like less sauce)

1 t salt (used sea salt grinder)

1 t pepper (used fresh pepper grinder)

3 cloves garlic, minced (store bought minced garlic)

1T white wine, optional (didn’t use, didn’t have, it’s on the grocery list)

1 t onion powder (used chopped dried onion pieces vs powder, powder is too salty for us)

1 t oregano (also used Basil, Rosemary, and Thyme)

2T Parmesan cheese (used grated, I’d cut this in half if you like less sauce)

1C shredded mozzarella (used what I needed, didn’t measure)

1C shredded provolone (used Italian cheese combo, didn’t measure)

(artichoke hearts full size, cut into quarters)

(canned mushrooms pieces)

(roasted red peppers)

In parens is what I used or recommend.

Pam spray cookie sheet. Roll dough on flat surface using plenty of flour. Transfer to cookie sheet. Then pinch edges of dough to build wall around the pizza, makes it look more professional.

In medium saucepan sauté garlic until soft (until it gets warm). Blend in cornstarch and all spices (I had them cornstarch and all spices together ready to be added), mix and have ready the last 3 ingredients, you don’t want this to burn. Gradually add milk, wine (optional) and Parmesan and heat to a boil. Making sure to stir constantly (I used a whish), cook for about 2 minutes. Put to the side and let cool.

Brush dough with olive oil, I like a crisp crust, so I cooked the crust about 8 minutes or so at 425, you don’t have to, depends on preference. I prep’d sauce while my crust was getting crisp. Added a little more olive oil after I took the crust out. I put the sauce on the crust. I sprinkled the cheese on lightly. This first time through the recipe I used the full sauce but we like it less saucey, so I’d cut the cornstarch, milk, and parm cheese in half. Then I added mushrooms, red peppers and artichoke hearts. Sprinkled a little more cheese on top. Finally sprinkled some pizza seasoning on top, you could add parm, pepper or whatever you like to add flavor. Cooked 425 for additional 8-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Tasted really good. My three boys are more traditional, so you’ll see the pic for ½ cheese and ½ pepperoni, using traditional red sauce, this one I didn’t cook the crust first, so it is more doughly, just depends on your taste.

super taqueria part dos

So after our mushroom drilling we hopped on over to Super Taqueria on Roxboro Road. Some good inexpensive Mexican around the corner. A tamale and a coke, and the cheese empanada were delicious. Definitely get the coke in the bottle, a flashback pleasure. The agua frescas are good also. They are a fruit flavored drink. Good for if you pick the wrong salsa (too hot) from the great salsa bar. If you still have not ventured out to your local taco place, you should really give it a try. Carpe Durham has reviewed a ton if you are looking for another review.