Presto Pasta Night Roundup #40

As you can see, we have a new logo for Presto Pasta Nights. I thought a new face was appropriate given we have now hit the big 40. Of course, being around longer doesn't mean we've become old and stodgie. So my very talented cousin Sheldon Cohen came up with this fun new look. I hope you like it. But let's get down to the real fun....all your fantastic pasta dishes.

First in this week is Ferdzy of Seasonal Ontario Food. She could barely wait until the last roundup to share her new all time favorite. I'm sure it will become ours too....Horace's Tagliatelle.


Abby of Eat the Right Stuff missed us last week so she brings a lovely looking dish of Fetuccine with Peas, Feta & Black Olives....some of my favorite things.


Inge of Vanielje Kitchen is a first time PPNer and I hope she plans on playing with us often. She shares a great dish of Spinach Trotolle with Tomato Sauce, Wilted Spinach and Buffalo Mozarella...and even better story.


Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything always shares beautiful looking and mouth-watering dishes with us. But this time she outdid even herself!!! Fresh Spaghetti with Black Truffles in Burnt Butter...the joys of living in Florence, sigh.


Alisha of Cook, Craft, Enjoy brings this Soup-erb Chicken Casserole which reminds me of my childhood dinners...except my mom used tuna. This one's perfect for the kid in all of us no matter how old we are.


Chantelle of Dish it Up! shares another creamy, comforting pasta....Creamy Bow Ties with Chicken & Broccoli which is perfect for the chilly weather.


Three creamy in a row! You can tell the weather is chilly almost everywhere. Marye of Apron Strings & Simmering Things shares this perfect dish of Turkey Tetrazini.


Lana of Boyfriendly Cooking, first time PPNer, shares this very friendly (not just boy friends, I might add) dish of Lasagna. I love the balsamic vinegar addition.


Katie of Thyme for Cooking always shares great stories, and great dishes, naturally. For our special big 40th she even made fresh spaghetti for the Classic Bolognese

Sarah of What Smells So Good? is back with another Cheesy Casserole - this one does have Tuna, like my mom did, only a healthier version ; -)


Glenna of A Fridge Full of Food is back with the most perfect dish for Thanksgiving Leftovers....Turkey & Stuffing Soup with Pasta. I love it.


Sher of What Did You Eat? has a real party dish for us...Individual Pastina Timballes. They are so pretty and sound yummy too.


Sara of I Like to Cook has shared 20 recipes over the past 40 weeks - and I'm thrilled. This Curry Rice & Noodle Soup is perfect for the weather. I wish I had some right now.


Bread Chick of The Sour Dough hasn't been around for a while, but now she's back with a great dish of Deli Chicken Parmesan. I think it's great that we live in a time (and for the most part) place where we can buy ready made elements for a dish we can truly call our own.


Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar shares this glorious looking Fresh Papardelle with Beef in Red Wine Sauce. This could NEVER be called left overs!


Michelle, the Greedy Gourmet shares another wonderful dish...Spaghetti with Tomatoes & Pancetta. I can't wait to try it.


Gay, our very own Scientist in the Kitchen shares a Pancit Canton that's often on hand when guests arrive...so when do we all go over to their place?


I got a little carried away this week. We had pasta three times! I decided to share them all....
Garlic Ginger Beef and Crispy Noodles


Winter Herb Pasta


and my favorite...Fusilli with Shrimps in Cilantro Tomato Sauce


Don't forget to join in the fun for next week and please visit the Presto Pasta Gang on Facebook.

As always...a very big thank you to all of you for playing along and visiting every week!!!

Related Links:Food and Drink easy cooking recipes pasta Food Blogging Event Presto Pasta Night

Shrimp in Cilantro Tomato Sauce - My New Best Friend

Did you ever make a dish and know that you could throw away every other dish and eat this one over and over and over? Well last night was such a night. I love Faye Levy - well I love lots of cookbook authors and she is definitely one of those. Her cookbook Feast From the Mideastis terrific. Every dish I've tried has become a family favorite...like Fattoush for example, which is a great chunky salad with lots of fresh mint and toasted pita - I'm drooling just thinking about it.

But back to pasta....and this Fusilli with Shrimp in Cilantro Tomato sauce was outstanding! Definitely worthy of the big Presto Pasta Night #40!

But Boaz is back from his trip with Mommy to Toronto and he's moving my furniture. What do you think....a career opportunity?

So don't forget to send in your pasta for tomorrow's big roundup.

Related Links:Food and Drink easy cooking recipes pasta Food Blogging Event Presto Pasta Night shrimp

New Presto Pasta Logo and Monday's Pasta

Given that we've indeed made it to 40, my very talented cousin Sheldon Cohen created this very fun new logo for Presto Pasta Nights.

And in all the excitement I forgot to mention the pasta we had on Monday. The photo and description of this Winter Herb Pasta caught my eye in this month's Gourmet Magazine. It was a little dry to my liking and even though there was all this lovely fresh sage, rosemary, thyme & parsley...it still was missing something. I added some dried red chili flakes and I know it's going to make an awesome fritatta this week. But next time I think I'll add more olive oil and some anchovies.

Related Links:Food and Drink easy cooking recipes pasta Food Blogging Event Presto Pasta Night

Ginger Garlic Beef with Crispy Noodles

Since this week is the big 4 - 0 for Presto Pasta Nights, I thought the least I could was make pasta EVERY night! So last night I started with a recipe from one of my favorite cookbook authors - Nina Simonds from one of my favorite cookbooks A Spoonful of Ginger.

I love making Chinese dishes. I love getting organized early in the day for the last minute rush of the stir fry. I love taking out all my tiny bowls - one for ginger and garlic, one for sesame & canola oil mix... I love doing all this in stages so I can impress everyone at dinner...."Wow, so fast" "How do you do that?" ....you get the idea. And, best of all...I love the eating!!!

Ginger Garlic Beef with Crispy Noodles

It was so good, that the little bit left will be a lunch! So good, I almost had it for breakfast!!!!

Related Links:Food and Drink easy cooking recipes pasta Food Blogging Event Presto Pasta Night

Weekend of New Toys - Bread Machine & Pizza Stone

It was a perfect weekend to hibernate and play with my newest kitchen toys....the bread machine and the pizza stone. I must admit that Salvatore's down the street will not be hiring me to make pizzas there. That said...I was looking through one of my favorite cookbooks (Jamie's Italy) for a better pizza sauce than the one I used from a jar and there it was...2 full pages of 8 equally misshapen pizzas! So now I'll just call my creations "Rustic" Pizzas!

I must admit, the smell of dough rising was lovely and even more so on Saturday when I made these Heavenly Herb Rolls.
By then I was not quite as anxious, but let's back up to Friday for a bit. Actually, I think Lucille Ball took over my kitchen!

I read all the instructions before starting...so far so good. I put the ingredients into the breadmaker in the correct order, double & triple checking myself and let it do its work for an hour and a half. Still fine....and then it says to lightly flour your counter to roll out the dough. Done! In the meantime, I'm heating up the pizza stone and organizing my toppings...this time a simple red store bought pizza sauce, pepperoni, sliced mushrooms and slices of red onions, and grated mozzarella cheese. I actually bought bocconcini balls to tear up and layer on top, but I forgot them in my craziness. Still fine and pretty organized and now....

Enter Lucille....The instructions on the pizza stone box says to use a pizza peel (I have no idea what that is) but it also said I could use parchment paper on the peel to transfer directly to the stone. So I started stretching the dough, rolling the dough, nothing's going well, so I started holding the dough up and letting gravity help me....can you say "HOLES"? Well, I worked the first batch way too long trying to get it round and big enough for the stone. So I ended up throwing it out, but second one was a little better - at least I stopped playing with it. And quickly added the toppings...a light layer of sauce, sprinkling of dried oregano, fresh minced garlic, mushrooms, pepperoni & onion slices nicely arranged, and then the cheese on top. Not bad after the first dough fiasco and we're ready to transfer to the pizza stone...or are we?

First of all, how could I possibly imagine that I could lift or shift this concoction over to the pizza stone? It wouldn't slide off the parchment, so I tried to lift one side and somehow ended up with a very large, very messy calzone! Well, at least it was on the center of the pizza stone. I could already hear it sizzling and cooking so I worked quickly to get the sides back down on the stone and rearrange the toppings (try that without burning yourself). Exhausting!!! Scary!!! and boy did I need that glass of wine!

By the way, the rolls were heavenly!

Related links: Food and Drink Easy Cooking Kitchen Toys recipes pizza bread

Presto Pasta Night Roundup #39

Next week we'll be hitting the big 4-0 and I hope to be coming up with a new image for Presto Pasta Nights to celebrate and, naturally to think of some over the top entry. In the meantime, we have another wonderful roundup filled with perfect pasta dishes. I'm sure you'll find many new "favorites" to add to your own collection.

First in this week is Astrid over at PreHeat. She's back with another healthier version of an old classic. This time it's Lasagna and it looks wonderful.


Jenni of Milk & Cookies shares the perfect reward for doing chores....Orecchietti with Eggplant Ragu. Hmmmm, what shall I tackle first?


Sarah of What Smells So Good? is a first timer and shares this "Camera-Shy Cannelloni". Unfortunately she forgot to take a photo. Oh well, perhaps you can take one for her when you try it out!

Ferdzy of Seasonal Ontario Foods is back with a wonderful dish - Hortopita - a Greek lasagna made with kale and Swiss chard and spinach that sounds absolutely dee-vine!


Gay, The Scientist in the Kitchen is back with her very own creation - Pad Taiwan...you'll have to read her post to understand. I can't wait to whip up a plate or two.


Elly of Elly Says Opa is back with a quick (but perfect) dish of Cajun Creamy Shrimp Pasta before she heads off to spend time with family for Thanksgiving.


TBC of The Budding Cook is back with a picture perfect Pasta Salad. I see it on a summer picnic and a brunch dish any time of year.


Rachel, over at Tangerines Kitchen brings this colorful Baked Penne Pasta dish. I love it.


The Happy Cook from My Kitchen Treasures shares this yummy Spaghetti with Meatballs that definitely will bring out the kid in all of us.


Dharm of Dad, Chef & Baker made his son a special treat for his birthday...Stuffed Lumaconi. Happy Birthday and thanks for sharing with the rest of us.


Michelle the Greedy Gourmet is back too. She's got an awesome dish of Leeks & Mushrooms with egg noodles- and a secret ingredient I never would have thought of - honey! I'll be doing this one very soon.


Sara of I Like To Cook a frequent PPNer made this tasty Penne a la Vodka. One of my favorites. Now I have to go buy some vodka.


Katie of Thyme for Cooking is back with another wonderful story and a very unique Pumpkin Sage Lasagna.

First time PPNer, Eliza of Notes From My Food Diary shares this quick and lovely Tomato & Spinach Toss. I do hope we see you back here often, Eliza.

Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything is a fantastic PPN regular and this time she shares some Fagottini Soup. I've bought them as sacchettini here...whatever you call them, they're delicious.

As for me, well I got my inspiration standing in front of the fridge for this Pasta with Chorizo, Mushrooms & Leeks.


Don't forget to join in the fun for next week and please visit the Presto Pasta Gang on Facebook.

As always...a very big thank you to all of you for playing along and visiting every week!!!

Related Links:Food and Drink easy cooking recipes pasta Food Blogging Event Presto Pasta Night

Rescue Ideas for Too Spicy Soups

Yesterday I sent out an S.O.S. for someone to Save Our Soup. And so many people responded with advice. I mean....look how beautiful the soup is, I couldn't bear to throw it out. And I'm sure there are some of you out there that would love this Chorizo, Tomato & Beet Green Soup just the way it is. But we're wimps, so here were some ideas should you find yourself in the same situation:

• Add cream or sour cream, dairy cuts the heat
• Dilute with more chicken broth, which would certainly work if you added enough, but then you might have to feed your entire neighborhood!
• Add some mashed potato
• Spritz some lime juice before serving.

In the end, I chose to mash a large sweet potato (I thought the flavors of the herbs, tomatoes, and chorizo married well with the sweetness of the yams) and because I didn't want the soup too thick, I also added about a cup of chicken broth.

The spritz of lime juice in the bowl was an added plus. In fact, I'm adding that to the original recipe. It was perfect.

Of course the best advice - when trying out a new sausage, saute a small amount and TASTE before adding the entire batch to your soup, stew or pasta.

Thanks everyone for all your advice. And since these tips are too good to keep to myself, I'll cross-posting to AskRuth.

Related links: Food and Drink Easy Cooking Kitchen Tips recipes soup

Help Required - The Soup's Too Spicy

I made this delicious Tomato, Chorizo & Beet Green Soup today, inspired by one that Kalyn made. It had wonderful things in it like beet greens to temper the chorizo, chick peas, tomatoes, fennel, oregano, basil...BUT and it's a really big BUT...it was so spicy we could hardly eat it, even with the sweetness of the Roasted Carrots & Beets Salad that I served with it. I thought that would be enough Yin/Yang - sweet/spice for balance. Not so! This particular chorizo really packed a punch.

And how is one to know just how spicy it will be? After all one person's "spicy" is another person's "mild", so simply asking the butcher doesn't necessarily work, and tasting raw chorizo doesn't appeal to me. I suppose I could have sauteed a small bit and tried it, but that would be too smart. Next time, I'll ...well, I think it will be a while before I try any more of the local chorizo. Probably the next time I make this soup I'll use some sweet fennel sausage from my local Italian grocery store. I know what that tastes like and I can always add a little crushed red chilies for a mild heat factor.

But I have a huge pot of soup sitting on the stove. I thought it would be perfect for the weekend. So here's where I need help fast - Today is Thursday. What can I do to take some of the heat out of the soup?

Related links: Food and Drink Easy Cooking recipes soup