Quick Weeknight Comfort Dinner

It happens to us all.  It's a Wednesday night, we all need to eat, and mom is tired and not feeling terribly creative.  For this reason, I keep a stash of go-to items so I can still whip up something filling, tasty and that constitutes a decent meal on the fly.

After spending some of my last week in the hospital (what an experience!) I am still dealing with a dull headache, fatigue and frustration as we try to get my meds straightened out.  So, this was one of those "call it in" nights.

Thanks to my beloved Aldi, I had cheese ravioli, jarred Alfredo sauce, regular pasta sauce, and pesto on hand. The ravioli takes a whopping 8 minutes. I warmed up the red sauce for the kid and for Neil and myself, I used the Alfredo with some pesto and extra parmesan mixed in.  I had sliced fresh mozzarella, my basil plant and made a reduction of balsamic vinegar.  Lastly, thanks to my buddies at Publix, there were garlic knots in the freezer. 

Result? It really hit the spot!  And, there's still some leftover ravioli that I can turn into a pasta salad tomorrow. I highly recommend this plan for your busy weeknights when cooking isn't really in the cards for you. I know it's not "real" cooking, but it was just the thing for a Wednesday night!  

And Presto! It's Pesto.

I remember my first introduction to pesto.  It came out of a packet. No, really.  This would have been somewhere in either the late 80's or early 90's.  I spotted it in a grocery store; a packet of pesto sauce made by Knorr Swiss.  You see, this "exotic" green sauce hadn't really become mainstream in America at that time. Not only had I never tasted it, I'd never even heard of it.  What came out of that packet was indeed delicious, but years later when I finally found fresh pesto being served in Columbia, I quickly realized the difference.  This, of course, led me to "Hey, why don't I just make this myself?"

Pesto originated in the Ligurian region of Italy and remains today their culinary star.  Just as France dictates that champagne can only come from Champagne, the Italians have restrictions on true Pesto alla Genovese.  They insist on the proper ingredients, preferably all local.  So, pesto involves basil, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, parmesan, pecorino romano and sea salt.  If you're a purist, which I am not, invest in a mortar and pestle to grind the ingredients into a sauce.  This is the most pristine method of preparation.  I use either my blender or food processor simply out of convenience and speed.  Some Ligurians would say that the heat generated by the machine may alter flavor a bit, but <<newsflash>> I'm not Ligurian.  I'm a busy American mom whose attitude is:  when I want fresh pesto, I want it now!

Truthfully, if I had a nice mortar and pestle, I'd use it.  But I don't, so the blender it is. The funny thing is that some people I know have no idea how ridiculously easy it is to make your own. And, how fast.  Just this morning, we sat out on our patio and had coffee.  Neil and I both glanced over at our pot of basil and decided today would be a great day to whip up some pesto.  Now, the reason I'm posting this at all, is to show you how fast and easy this is.  If you're not in the habit of making pesto, I want you to start after you finish reading this.  

Pay attention, this is tricky...Pick a good packed cup of basil leaves.  Put those in your blender with 1/4 cup of parmesan, 1/4 cup pine nuts, 2 tsp minced garlic.  As you begin blending, pour in a 1/4 cup olive oil through that opening in the lid of your blender.  You may need to thin it with a little bit of water.  You be the judge.  

VOILA! PESTO.  

See?  Wasn't that ridiculously easy? Now you're ready to toss this magical emerald sauce with hot pasta, stir it into a baked potato, add some to that pot of minestrone you have on the stove or mix it into a cream sauce and drizzle over grilled tuna.  If you're not ready to use it, you might like this: I freeze mine in ice cube trays.  Once frozen, just pop them into a ziploc and when you need pesto, each cube will give you about 2 Tablespoons, depending on the size of your ice cube trays, of course. Here's an interesting tidbit:  years ago, I wrote to Vegetarian Times magazine and told them about my ice cube tray trick and guess what?  They published my letter.  15 minutes of fame.

Ok, that's it.  If you don't have any basil in your garden or on your patio, get in the car and go to Lowe's or a garden center.  That's step one.  

Now get going and buon appetito!

 

The Great Ravioli Switcheroo

I have never made fresh pasta.  Not because I don't want to but because I don't have a pasta machine nor do I have the counter space to roll it out by hand.  One day I suppose.  So, we are forced to eat dried pasta and other store-bought pasta.  I like the "fresh" refrigerated pastas from time to time but I think they're overpriced.  But one thing I really like having in my freezer is ravioli.  They go on sale often and coupons are pretty easy to come by as well.

Why do I like this stuff so much?  It's quick and easy to cook and it's ridiculously versatile.  Obviously, you can serve it with red pasta sauce.  I like them coated in bread crumbs and toasted.  Another way that we really like to prepare them is simply with toasted walnuts and a drizzle of olive oil.  And, of course, we cannot forget about pesto!   

The wunderkind usually does well with these too.  Until the other day.  When I mentioned having ravioli, she announced that she doesn't like the kind that I cook.  She prefers ravioli from a can.  Picture me looking over each of my shoulders to see who on Earth she's talking to?  As I embark on my (very) logical explanation of why this is so much better than canned, Neil waved his hand very slowly at me and gave me that mystical "I've got this" look.  I stopped talking and just walked away shaking my head.

Here's what the genius did.  He opened a can of something, put it in a tupperware and removed the label.  Then he cooked some of the frozen ravioli, tossed it in sauce and put it in the can.  Next, he found the Vivver and showed her that he had indeed discovered a can of ravioli in our cabinets.  She was delighted and daddy headed back to the kitchen to warm it up in a pot.  Peace.  Everybody wins.  


Why the hell didn't I think of that?

Chicken Pesto Casserole...Yum

The other day, I was delighted to get my Earth Fare email newsletter and find a FREE 1 lb. of chicken coupon!    Earth Fare does these great deals where you spend $5 in their store and you get something for free.  I set out happily skipping off to the store.  I bought a hunk of Parmigiano Reggiano and some organic flax seeds and swung by the meat counter.  Before I could say a word, the butcher cheerily said "Would you like a pound of chicken?" and just handed me this nice, white paper-wrapped pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast.  He was prepped and ready for people like me!  

So I thought and thought yesterday about what to do with this nice, fresh chicken.  And something that I could get the Vivver to eat without much coaxing and fussing.  I remembered seeing this casserole dish on www.Pillsbury.com  for a chicken pesto casserole. I went back and found it, saw that I had all ingredients on hand and said to myself, "Self", I said, "We're making this tonight!"  Since I got the recipe online, you can simply follow this link rather than me typing it!  Creamy Chicken-Pesto Casserole.  We really enjoyed it.  As usual, I thought of some changes I may make next time.  For instance, I think adding chopped artichokes would be an awesome addition and I might add a little more pesto just to ramp up that basil flavor a bit.  

I told you all before in this post  about how much I like the reduced fat Buitoni pesto.  I used that and a reduced fat/calorie Alfredo sauce in my dish.  Oh, by the way, if you make it, I would not recommend changing pasta types.  The radiatore works well because the sauce sticks to it and all its little crevices, it's easy to fork (for kids and grown-ups alike) and it stands up well to the other ingredients.  I think a different shape would get lost. I was really pleased with the outcome, how fast and simple it was to prepare and it will no doubt enter my repertoire of dished to take to friends who are ill or recuperating. 

Pretty Perfect Pesto

Pesto is one of the most magical sauces on Earth.  Not as magical as bearnaise, but pretty close.  How can anyone not be enamored with the basil:  it's a flavor that you can smell and an aroma you can taste.  And the pine nuts are subtle, yet provide a "toothsome-ness".  Then there's the nutty, kinda smoky undertone of the heavenly Parmesan.  All of these are married together by the almighty olive oil.  It's just brilliant.

Before I became Super-Mom (I am, you know) I used to grow myself a bumper crop of basil each year and make my own pesto.  It made great circes for friends but it was also so awesome to put some away so that in the dead of winter, I could pull a little bit of Summer out of my freezer.Once, I wrote in to "Vegetarian Times" magazine to share that I froze my pesto in ice cube trays.  Then, I'd store the cubes in a ziploc and could just grab a few to thaw for sauce, or toss the cubes into a marinara, etc.  They actually published my letter.  Yes, I am a published author.

Being a coupon addict, I recently bought some Buitoni pasta and pesto, since I was on my weekly trip to 'rob' Publix.  (I bought the reduced fat one). What better quick, weeknight supper for Super-Mom and Super-family?  My expectations for the pesto weren't low, because Buitoni is a pretty good brand, but they weren't overly high either.  After all, it's not my homemade pesto.  Well, guess what?  It was really good.  I mean really.  The basil was very fresh and bright tasting and it was a little thicker than homemade, which I really like.  So, until I can start making my own again, I'm going to be buying this stuff with pesto zesto.