Baked Spinach and Mushroom Rigatoni

Source:  Real Simple Magazine

28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
2 T olive oil
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1/2 lb rigatoni
1 red onion sliced (I chopped mine -- b/c I didn't read the directions carefully).
1 lb mixed mushrooms trimmed and sliced (I used baby portobella, shiitake and enochi mushrooms)
2 10 oz packages of spinach thawed and squeezed of excess liquid
15 oz container of ricotta
8 oz mozzarella cheese

Break up the tomatoes and their juices in a medium bowl with your hands.  Be careful, with my first enthusiastic squeeze, I managed to squirt tomato juice all over myself, my daughter and the kitchen floor.  Add the garlic, oil, 3/4 t salt and 1/2 t pepper.  In a separate bowl (and pick a really nice big bowl), combine the uncooked rigatoni, onion and mushrooms.

Spread a third of the tomato mixture in the bottom of a 4 to 6 quart of slow cooker.  Top with half of the pasta mixture, half the spinach, a third of the tomato mixture, half the ricotta and half the mozzarella.  Repeat.

Cover and cook on high until the pasta is tender, 3.5 to 4 hours.

Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

I picked this recipe b/c I love slow cooker recipes -- it is so nice to come home at the end of a long day to a house that smells delicious and it feels like someone spent all day making you dinner.  They are also nice on a lazy Sunday like today, b/c it just feels so homey.  It's great in the winter b/c you can make soups, stews etc.  They are great in the summer b/c you don't have to slave over a hot stove or oven.  They are great.  Why, I ask myself, then, do I have one of those cheesy old slowcookers that have the designs on the outside and are tall and narrow?  Why don't I have one of those sleek new steel models with the lids that lock in place?  Why?  I don't have the answer to that, other than I don't think about slow cookers other than on the few occasions that I use them.  But there is a great gift idea should someone want to get me a birthday/Christmas present :)

I am having an attention deficit sort of day.  I failed to follow the recipe in several respects.  I completely messed up the layering sequence, for one.  In the end, I just randomly put things in the crockpot.  I also didn't realize until about 5 minutes after I turned it on, that I completely omitted the mozzarella cheese.

Another note on the recipe -- it makes a lot.  I am not sure what size my crockpot is -- it's the standard old school slow cooker -- it is overstuffed with the amount of stuff this recipe makes.  However, as you start cooking and the mushrooms shrink -- the space issue improves greatly.

OK, so no picture of this dish -- it is just not that pretty -- it's pasta and a bunch of stuff -- there was just no pretty way to dish it up.  By the way, for serving, I put some of the mozzarella cheese I left out on top of my pasta.

This is a solid, hearty vegetarian dish -- perfect for a weeknight.  I would recommend solid seasoning with salt and pepper as there are a lot of mellow flavors going on in the dish.  And I would also highly recommend using a mixture of interesting mushrooms -- the texture of the mushrooms are key in this dish, and lets face it, button mushrooms don't have much of a texture or flavor.  So splurge on some good mushrooms, your dish will thank you.

Cucumber and Radish Salad

Source:  Bon Appetit Magazine

3/4 c sliced almonds -- toasted
1 small shallot finely chopped
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1.5 lb English cucumber cut into 1/2" pieces
1 bunch radishes, trimmed, cut into thin wedges
2 c flat leaf parsley leaves chopped

Whisk shallot, oil and vinegar in a large bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add cucumbers, radishes, parsley and almonds, toss to coat.  Season with salt and pepper.

It was high time I tried something healthy.  Spring is coming, and I felt like we needed a fresh and vegetable based side dish.

Obviously, this is a very easy dish to make.  I love cucumbers and radishes -- so I knew I would like this combo.  Radishes are an early spring food for me.  When I was little, it was very exciting when the little fresh radishes became available.  My mom would slice them really thin, and it was delicious on sandwiches, or on a fresh roll with just butter and salt.  These days, I like to dip them in sea salt and eat them.  I enjoy the tender little radishes first out in the season, and this salad seemed like the perfect dish for that.

The salad is fresh, light, crunchy and delicious.  The sliced almonds provide an unexpected and different texture in an otherwise crunch salad.  All the main ingredients are up front and center -- so only make this if you like cucumbers, parsley and radishes.  Also, be sure to use plenty of salt and pepper -- it really brings the flavors together.

Roasted Pork Belly

Source:  Bon Appetit Magazine


I skipped two weeks.  I can assure you guys that I did try more than two recipes during that hiatus, but with Easter and everything else, things were just a little a hectic, so I didn't have time to blog, take pictures etc.  And frankly, the recipes I tried weren't all that great.  So no harm no foul -- hopefully no more hiatus either.

Now for the Roasted Pork Belly

3 lb pork belly, skin removed, fat intact
2 T fresh thyme
2 T sugar
2 T kosher salt
2 t black pepper
1 medium onion, sliced into 1/2 inch rings
1 c dry white wine

Using a sharp knife, score pork belly fat in a crosshatch pattern at about 3/4" intervals, taking care not to cut into the meat.

Mix thyme, sugar, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Rub thyme mixture on both sides of pork.  place pork in a large resealable plastic bag, and seal bag, chill at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 250.  Arrange onion in bottom of large heavy pot with a lid.  Rinse pork, and place fat side up on top of onion, add wine.

This is the pork right after you put it in the put -- not very appetizing, right?

Cover pot, place in oven and braise pork, basing occasionally, until fork-tender 2.5-3 hours.  increase oven temperature to 400.  Uncover pot, and cook until meat is very tender and fat is crisp and golden brown, about 1 hour longer.

This is the pork belly after a couple of hours of braising -- lots more liquid (fat?)  -- and still not looking very good.  I kept going b/c it smelled good, and b/c frankly, there was not much else to do.

And, the finished product -- much better, right?  And something you'd actually want to have for dinner.


So I picked this recipe b/c , well, I've heard about pork belly before, but never used it.  It is supposed to be a delicacy (although not a lean protein, to say the least), used in Asian cuisine a lot.  This recipe looked fairly simple (although time consuming), so I thought I'd give it a try.

I have read other people having problems sourcing the pork belly.  People on line were suggestion Asian markets or grocery stores.  I had no problem finding pork belly at Whole Foods -- $7 per pound. Not cheap, but also not terribly extravagant.

So pork belly is a very fatty cut of meat -- in fact, I think bacon comes from pork belly.

This was very easy to make.  All it took was patience.  And the smell of the pork, onion and wine in the oven while gently braising -- it was very pleasant.

The dish is good.  Incredibly rich, salty -- but very tasty.  With the time, health effects and cost involved -- I would probably not make this dish very often.