Fusion Bolognese

I am a huge fan of Ken Hom, I own several of his cookbooks and find that his recipes come out dependably well. One of my favorites is an out of print Chronicle Books book, the first of the Quick & Easy series I love so much. This recipe is based on his "Fast Spicy Meat Sauce for Noodles," which I made several times before R suggested that it would be even better with tomatoes. Then MZ announced that the sauce was too spicy and sweet for her and it changed again. This is a super-easy, fast and very satisfying dinner, we like it served over dried Chinese noodles along with a salad or a quick stir-fried vegetable. R and I add chili garlic sauce at the table to bring it up to our spice preferences.

1 T vegetable or peanut oil
3 T coarsely chopped green onions
2 T coarsely chopped garlic
2 T finely chopped fresh peeled ginger
1 lb. ground beef (94/6 works well here)
1 T bean ground bean paste
1/8 t chili garlic sauce
1 T dark soy
2 T rice wine or dry sherry
2 T hoisin sauce
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1 t salt
1 t sugar
1 28 oz can ground tomatoes, or diced tomates whirled with a hand blender till coarsely pureed
1 T tomato paste

Heat a medium saucepan ove medium high heat and add the oil. Add the onions, garlic and ginger, stir and saute for 1 minute. Add the ground beef and stir and saute for 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, stir, bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve over noodles or rice.

Farfalle with Sugar Snap Peas, Spring Onions & Ricotta

It's been so crazy with work and life events that we've fallen off the weekly meal plan. However there have been some very good dinners and this one was so good and so easy it begs to be recorded.

I had skim milk ricotta, a bag of sugar snap peas and spring onions from my farm box and some leftover roast chicken breasts from GFC. I had Marlena Speiler's article full of pasta recipes from the Chronicle food section. This came together in under 20 minutes and was very tasty!

• 12 to 14 ounces Barilla whole wheat rotini pasta*
• 2 cups sugar snap peas, halved crosswise on the diagonal
• 3 spring onions, halved and very thinly sliced
• 1 stem green garlic, white and lightest green part only, halved and very thinly sliced
• 2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 7 ounces part skim milk ricotta cheese
• Shredded meat from 1.5 roast chicken breasts
• Salt and liberal grindings of freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano, plus more to pass at table

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to package instructions. With about 2 minuts to go, add the peas to the water and continue cooking until the peas are bright green and tender and the pasta just al dente. Set aside a cup of the cooking water and then drain the pasta and peas.

Return the pasta and peas to the still hot pan and toss first with the green onions and olive oil, then the ricotta, salt and pepper. Add pasta water as necessary to moisten. Lightly stir in the chicken and grated cheese. Serve right away.

True to her recommendation, this went fabulously with dry rose. Even MZ enjoyed it!

* This is our favorite w/w pasta, it has great pasta flavor and texture, it's never gummy or tough.

Creamy Asparagus Mustard Sauce for Pasta

This recipe is a riff off an Eating Well recipe. I didn't want red sauce, R wanted cream sauce, we had asparagus and pancetta that needed to be cooked. The end result was delicious, easy and extremely satisfying but not crazy-creamy. Definitely worth making again

1 t EVOO

1/4 cup pancetta, fine dice

1 lg shallot, halved and thinly sliced

1 stalk green garlic, white part only, halved and thinly sliced

1/4 cup white wine

4 t mustard

4 t flour

1/2 t kosher salt

1/2 t freshly round pepper

3/4 cup each half/half and 1% milk

zest of one half lemon

1 bunch asparagus, thicker stalks

1/4 cup grated parmesan

8 oz. whole wheat fusilli or spaghetti

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Heat the oil in a medium pan over medium heat, add the pancetta and brown slowly. Drain all but 2 t fat and add shallots. Saute till softened, add green garlic and saute briefly. Add white wine, turn up heat and reduce by 2/3.

Meanwhile, snap the bottoms from the asparagus stalks, trim "points" from sides and slice 1/4" thick on a sharp diagonal. Reserve tips.

Cook pasta per the package directions. Add asparagus tips in the last 90 seconds of cooking, then add the asparagus in the lass minute. Drain.

Whisk together mustard, flour, pepper and salt. Add milk and half/half slowly, whisking to combine. Add to pancetta mixture, heat to a simmer and stir, 1-2 minutes till the sauce thickens. Stir in the lemon zest and parmesan, combine with the pasta and asparagus and serve.

Dinners Week of 02/22

o Sunday: Lamb steaks with Penzey's Greek Seasoning + Steamed Broccoli + Boiled Red Potatoes
These may be MZ's three favorite foods

o Monday: Butternut Squash and Turkey Sausage with Whole Wheat Fusilli + Green Salad
I was going to make this baked pasta recipe with cubed roasted butternut squash, but it seemed several steps too many. So I browned the bulk sausage, removed it from the pan, sauteed the onions, added the chard, squash, sausage and olives and some chicken broth and pasta water. Finished it with olive oil and lemon zest. It was delicious!

o Tuesday: Out for Papa's Birthday

o Wednesday: Chile Verde tacos with sour cream, salsa and cabbage slaw
Just one container of chile verde left in the freezer for another quickie dinner. This is the recipe from The Gourmet Slow Cooker Cookbook, made in a big batch and frozen.

o Thursday: Moroccan Chicken with Green Olives + Whole Wheat Couscous + Salad
This is the easiest recipe, I made it on Monday when I worked at home and it was delicious a few nights later. The chicken doesn't need browning yet the flavors are so rich. My only adjustment to the recipe is browning the onions first.

o Friday: Out

o Saturday: Bistro Salmon + Steamed Asparagus + Roasted Potatoes
This simply seared-then-baked salmon recipe in Bistro Cooking is amazing, it completely transforms the texture of the the salmon into something amazing.