Showing posts with label artichoke hearts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label artichoke hearts. Show all posts

Monday, September 6, 2010

Pasta Salad from the Pantry

I have talked before about the importance of a well-stocked pantry. There are times when time is short and yet you must prepare dinner. Salads are easy and quick, but sometimes the family simply isn't in the mood... It's the end of the summer and we're pretty much all sandwiched out... Pasta is a pretty reliable palate-pleaser in the Entertaining House. I had some hot Italian sausage in the fridge that I needed to use up. But there was not much else... So I took to the pantry and loaded the tins into my arms and ended up making a fabulous, simple and delicious warm pasta salad. Perfect for a coolish night!



Ingredients:

1 can black small, pitted black olives -- I used about 3/4 of the can
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 small jar of small green pitted olives -- I used about half the jar
1 small jar of sun dried tomatoes, Julienned -- I used about 8
2 Tbs of the sun dried tomato oil
1 Can of artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
Olive oil, a good dose!
1/4 of an onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 package of Italian sausage -- or 4 links -- Chicken sausage is perfect in this as well. (Or cook the entire package and use the remaining half to place on home made pizza another night!)
1 1/2 Tbs Italian seasonings
Sea salt to taste
Crushed red pepper to taste
1 lb of your favorite pasta (I use Barilla)

Directions:

Cook pasta in large saucepan per directions on the package
In a large saute pan cook sausage in batches. As sausage is cooked set aside on a plate lined with paper towels.
When pasta is done and cooked al dente drain and return to pan. Add a touch of olive oil to keep from sticking together. When the sausage has cooked put desired amount into pasta. The rest can be refrigerated for another day.
In the saute pan add 2 to 3 tbs of olive oil and cook garlic until lightly browned. Gently scrape out garlic and add to the pasta pot. Add onions to the saute pan and cook until translucent. Add the olives, chick peas, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, sun dried tomato oil, crushed red pepper, Italian seasonings, and sea salt. Simmer for 5 - 10 minutes to marry the flavors.
When ready add to the pasta pot. Mix well. Serve immediately or as people are ready to eat. This dish is simple but packed with flavor that lends itself to tasting wonderfully whether hot or warm.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Linguine with Artichoke & Mixed Olive Pesto

Pasta. It's my go-to easy, lazy food. It's what I pull off the shelves when the kids are starving and I am too busy to cook. It's filling and fast and I can get pretty creative with it with even the most basic of ingredients. We eat pasta once a week here. Yet again the kitchen is empty and I need to get to the grocery store. I ran out yesterday for yogurts, milk and apples. Healthy snacks to last the weekend. I'll go tomorrow. Meantime we always have pasta. Rebecca told me that she wanted an artichoke pesto. Luckily my canned and jarred goods have not been depleted yet. I had everything I needed to concoct a flavorful artichoke pesto. There's a little leftover. I think I know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow!


Ingredients:

1 lb thin linguine, cooked per directions on the package

1 jar of artichoke hearts in oil
3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of shredded or freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of mixed, pitted olives
1/8 cup of olive oil


 If you do not have, or do not have access to pitted olives, you can easily remove the pits yourself by taking a really large knife and lying it on it's side over the olives. Smash the flat side of the knife with your palm. The olive will flatten and the pit will come out easily.

In a small food processor add the artichoke hearts plus 1 tbs of the oil
Add the garlic and pulse
Add the olive oil, Parmesan, olives and pulse until thoroughly blended





When the pasta is done, drain pasta and reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
Return pasta and water to the pan.
Add about 1/2 of the pesto and mix well. (If you wish you can add more)
Add freshly ground pepper and sea salt on top, if desired.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

insalata di antipasti

We eat a lot of salads. I am fortunate that my kids quite like salad. Of course I have to spice it up and add lots of fun things to it. I chop the lettuce so that it is not too big for my littlest one to handle. And I toss in all sorts of goodies that leave them coming back for more. One of their favorites is my Antipasti salad. It's just as it sounds. All the goodies found in antipasti tossed into a large bowl with some lettuce and a nice red wine vinaigrette.

The following will feed a family of 4 to 5

Ingredients:

3 heads of Romaine lettuce, trimmed, washed and chopped
1/4 lbs of sliced turkey (from deli) julienned
1/4 lbs sliced ham (from deli) julienned
1/4 lbs sliced cheese (from deli) julienned
1/4 lbs sliced salami, julienned
1/4 lbs pitted kalamata olives, sliced
1 15 oz can of artichoke hearts, sliced
1 handful of cherry tomatoes sliced
1 handful of peperoncinis, sliced (optional)
1/4 - 1/3 red wine vinaigrette (good bottled variety)
1 tbs oregano

In a large salad bowl toss in all your ingredients and mix well!

Feel free to add any other ingredients you wish!

(The picture above is missing some of the goodies... they were buried!)