Quick and Easy Mushroom Pasta for Two

Here is a meal that can be on the table in under 30 minutes. It is a real comfort meal with no heavy sauce just lots of mushrooms and a few other fridge/pantry items to make it easy to put together on a weeknight.

I ended up using angel hair pasta (as my choice was limited to that or elbow macaroni) but a wider noodle like fettuccine or farfalle would be even better.

Use vegetable broth to make this a vegetarian dish.

Mushroom Pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
½ cup diced onion, about 1 small onion
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes
½ cup vegetable or chicken broth
Enough pasta for two people – try bowtie or fettuccine
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Bring salted water to a boil for the pasta.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until they give up their liquid; then increase the heat to boil the liquid away and caramelize the mushrooms, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the onion and sauté until softened and golden, about 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the butter and let it melt. Stir in the garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the broth and simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to its lowest setting and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. When the pasta is ready, drain while reserving some of the pasta water. Stir the pasta into the skillet with the mushrooms. Add a splash or two of reserved pasta water if necessary.

Remove the skillet from the heat and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Toss and serve warm.

Oatmeal Pecan Cookies

I come from a long line of oatmeal cookies aficionados. I usually make a few batches for my folks any time I spend more than a weekend at their house. This time, is no exception. I made this batch with pecans instead of raisins.

Sometimes raisins can be a little too much sweet. In contrast, these cookies are nutty and delicious.

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped
3 cups old fashioned oats (not instant)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Cream together the butter and the sugars. Add in the eggs one at a time. Add in the vanilla and beat to combine. Add flour mixture and mix well. Add in pecans and oats. Stir well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.

Stuffed Focaccia

As readers of this blog know, I really like focaccia bread. I’ve got recipes HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. The difference here is I’m using sponge to start things off.

This is a stuffed focaccia with sausage, onions and peppers plus cheese because who doesn’t like all of those things? Especially together and with a yummy bread packaging. I can totally see making this again for a Super bowl or World Cup party.

Not only does the entire house smell wonderful from the yeasty bread baking but it tastes awesome. Meaty, with gooey cheese and such a delicious focaccia. Think of this like a cheesesteak muffuletta.

It works best if you have a springform pan as the sides could blow up if left on its own and it would be hard to get out of any other kind of pan. I used a 9 inch one but, if making for a crowd, go for a slightly larger one and make this thinner to eat as a snack instead of a meal.

Plan your time as this takes three rises, not counting the sponge time. That’s once during the dough cycle on the machine, once in a warm place to double and then the final before baking.

Sausage and Cheese Stuffed Focaccia

Sponge:

½ teaspoon instant/active yeast
3/4 cup unbleached bread flour
½ cup warm water

Dough:

1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon instant/active yeast
1 teaspoon ground rosemary
3 ¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons coarse salt

Meat and Cheese Stuffing:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound of sausage (I used German Sausage removed from their casing)
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, sliced very thin
1 bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ cup Provolone (or any good melty cheese – mozzarella, monteray jack, cheddar) cheese, grated

Topping:

Coarse salt
fresh chopped rosemary
olive oil

For the Sponge: Whisk to combine yeast and flour. Add the water to and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for at least two hours and as long as overnight.

After the sponge has developed, place it in a bread machine. Add the water, olive oil, yeast, rosemary, flour and salt in the order suggested and set it for the dough cycle. Once the dough has risen in the machine, remove and place in a well-oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a towel and let sit in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about an hour and a half.

Prepare the stuffing while the dough rises, as you want it to come to room temperature before placing it in the dough.

Remove the sausage from its casing and brown with the olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Drain and remove from the pan. Wipe out the pan, leaving 1 tablespoon of fat. Melt the butter and sauté the onion for about 10-15 minutes or until golden. Add in the bell pepper and season with the salt and pepper and the garlic. Sauté until the garlic is fragrant and then remove from the heat. Add the onions to the sausage and set aside. Do not refrigerate.

After the dough has risen, punch it down and divide in half. Lightly grease bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with olive oil. Stretch half of the dough into a disc and place in the bottom of the pan. Press it out to the sides. Toss the sausage and onions with the cheese. Spoon the mixture into pan, leaving about a finger width border around the sides. Stretch the other piece of dough into a disc and place on top of stuffing. Cover with towel and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 F degrees.

Just before baking, drizzle olive oil over the dough and sprinkle with coarse salt. Add a sprinkling of fresh chopped rosemary. Dimple the top of the dough with your fingers, leaving indentations.

Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until the top is deep golden brown. To serve, slice into wedges and eat like a sandwich.

This stuffed bread is great the next day, too. Simply place leftover on a pan in the oven at 375 and bake for about 15 minutes, or until warmed through.

Slow Cooker Pork Loin

For New Year’s day, I didn’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen so I did a quick rub and sear of a pork loin and then put it in the crock pot to cook away. The rub plus the honey mustard sauce makes for a delicious flavor over the low and slow cooked meat.

We served the pork with some cornbread dressing (recipe HERE) and roasted Brussel sprouts.

Any leftovers make for great sandwiches the next day.

1-3 lb pork loin

3 tablespoons Rustic Rub (see below)
1 tablespoon ground rosemary

¼ cup honey
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Rinse pork loin and pat dry. Mix the Rustic Rub and Rosemary together with your fingers. Generously coat all sides with the dry rub mixture and massage into the meat. Place a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat and, once the pan is good and hot, sear all sides of the pork loin. This will take about 4 minutes per side.

Whisk together honey, mustard, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce.

Place seared pork loin in the slow cooker fat side up over low heat. Pour the honey mustard sauce over the meat. Cover and let cook for 4-6 hours. Baste with the pan juices at 2 and 4 hours. Pork loin will register 145 degrees F when done.

Let rest 10 minutes while you cook up the Brussel sprouts. I use this recipe (minus the cumin).

My base pork rub is Chef Emeril Lagasse’s Rustic Rub:

8 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons cayenne
5 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons onion powder
6 tablespoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 1/2 tablespoons dried thyme

Combine all ingredients and store in an air-tight container. Yield: 2 1/4 cup