Random recipe: Alfredo sauce in 3 ingredients

Posted by random olio

In November we went to the 2014 Portland restaurant of the year (Ava Gene‘s in case you were wondering). It took us almost two months for a reservation due to our schedules, and the fact that we wanted to eat before 10 pm. One of the dishes was a chorizo with white sauce, which they called some fancy name that I cannot remember. It was good, but nothing too amazing. We both decided it was something we could easily make at home, and after I finished reading: “The Cooking Counter Cooking School” I found the below recipe for an easy homemade Alfredo sauce.

We have made this recipe twice now. The first time we tried it with a chorizo that after Chris cooked it he said it was nasty, so instead of chorizo he added chicken. It was so much better than Alfredo sauce from the jar, and so much better for you. Lighter, tastier, and all with three ingredients + salt/pepper. Oh, and so much better for you.

This week we tried it again with a different kind of chorizo.

Alfredo Sauce

8 ounces cooked pasta
2 cups heavy cream (2 Tablespoons reserved)
1 teaspoon salt
1/c cup grated Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 garlic clove minced (optional)
Freshly ground pepper

Prepare the pasta according to the package directions. Carefully reserve one cup of the pasta water to use in the sauce. Over medium-high heat, add all but 2 tablespoons of the cream to a saute pan or skillet. When it bubbles, add the salt. Small bubbles will erupt into larger bubbles. Stir. When the sauce thickens enough to cover the back of a spoon or leaves a clean line in the bottom of the pan when you pull a spatula across it, add the pasta water. Cook over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes, until it bubbles again and the sauce thickens. Add the reserved 2 tablespoons of cream, heat through, and then add the cheese, garlic (if using), and a few cranks of pepper. Taste, and add more salt if needed. Add the cooked pasta and any additional ingredients and stir well to coat. (page 142)

Add any items, leftovers to sauce and pasta. Such as: chicken, broccoli, asparagus, shrimp, sausage, the list is endless.

Random recipe: Pumpkin + Sage + Goat Cheese Fettuccine

Posted by random olio

I am a sucker for goat cheese, pumpkin, and sage. I found a recipe that combines all three things. We tried it. Amazing taste, with just a few tweaks. First, I hate having a heavy meal where I feel like I ate a brick a few hours later. There are three things I would change about this recipe:

Use spaghetti or a small round pasta (such as a Campanelle) in place of the Fettuccine. The Fettuccine is too thick and heavy that it makes you dread continuing. When I eat pasta I want to crave it and ask Chris if there is more. Next time we make this recipe it will be with a lighter pasta.
The sauce was too thick, so make it a bit more liquid by adding more heavy cream. Trust me on this.
Last thing. Forget the last step to add the fried sage. It didn’t do anything for me. There is already sage cooked into the sauce. The extra on top is not needed.

This recipe is not hard. Chris said it takes just as long to boil the pasta as it does to put the sauce together. 15 minutes max (just as the recipe says).

Pumpkin Goat Cheese Fettuccine Alfredo with Crispy Fried Sage [Closet Cooking]

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes Servings: 2

A quick and easy creamy goat cheese pumpkin alfredo with crispy fried sage.

6 ounces pasta
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
4 ounces goat cheese
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
1 tablespoon sage, sliced thinly
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1 handful sage leaves

Cook the pasta as directed on the package.
Melt the butter in pan over medium heat, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
Add the cream, pumpkin puree, goat cheese, parmesan, sage and pumpkin pie spice and simmer until the cheese has melted.
Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat, let it turn a light brown, add the sage and fry until crispy.
Serve hot over the pasta garnished with more parmesan and crispy fried sage.

Random recipe: Roasted Maple + Goat Cheese Carrots

Posted by random olio

I have already blogged this week about New Year’s resolutions. I do them some years, other years I feel ambivalent about it all. The blog I posted earlier in the week was about goals versus resolutions. For 2015, I decided to not make resolutions but find out what was missing in my world, and find ways to bring them into my life. I know that I want to find more time to be creative, and recently came across a concept called #yearofmaking. The idea is to make something everyday. To me that feels complicated, and yet you could take a photo every day and be “making.” I do not want to “make” just because I have a goal to do so. So instead, what kept coming to me is that I would like to jump-start our meals. I often find new recipes to make and then it will be weeks or months until we actual try them (if ever). I want to have a plethora of dinner ideas (and dessert too) and be excited to make them again if they are hits. Lately we have been having the same things each week.

What am I going to do about it? A goal. We are going to try a new recipe each week and I am then going to share how it went on random olio. Chris and my food adventures. I do not want to carve out more than that as life is busy in all honesty. If it is a dinner option Chris will probably be making it (you do not want me to cook) and if it is a dessert option I will be the one in the kitchen.

The first recipe of the year: Roasted Maple + Goat Cheese Carrots. I am not a fan of cooked carrots. I will eat them in soup or stew, but usually I would rather eat them raw with hummus, or veggie dip, or on a salad. Cooked carrots are not really my thing. Until last year. At a local, freaking amazing restaurant (OX) we had a side dish of carrots. Once I had them, I could not stop talking about them. Over the last year we have tried different versions of trying to recreate this carrot dish, with boring, not even close results.

Until last week. Yes, Chris did it. He figured out the missing ingredient. All the recipes we found were to steam the carrots and he decided to roast them instead. The result: the most amazing carrot dish. I keep asking if he will make it.

Roasted Maple + Goat Cheese Carrots

Ingredients:
7-8 regular sized Carrots, sliced (I love when we use the colorful kind: yellow, orange, purple…)
1/8 cup Maple Syrup
1/8 cup Olive oil
Sprinkle of Kosher Salt

Mix everything together in a cast iron pan, and roast in the oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Once the pan is taken out of the oven, sprinkle desired amount of goat cheese on top of the carrots, and enjoy!

Let me know what you think of each random recipe!