Pasta With(out) Red Sauce

I try to avoid cooking complicated meals during the week, mostly because I lack the brainpower after hours of wrangling high school students. Luckily, this pasta dish I made a couple of weeks ago ended up tasting complex, even though it wasn't. I had a good mix of ingredients already in the fridge, including leftover zucchini from Sunday's panini recipe, mushrooms I didn't fit into risotto last week, and some pancetta from Saturday's trip. Pancetta is basically really thick Italian bacon, and I'd been hoping to use it to fix up some red sauce, which was my intention this evening.

I started the water to boil, then started crisping up the pancetta with the garlic and mushrooms. Once I'd gotten the pasta and sausage started I opened my cupboard to pull out the jar of sauce and ... nothing. So I opened the other cupboard door and, nope, not there either. After 5 or so minutes of bewildered searching and reorganizing I had to face the facts -- I had no red sauce. At this point almost everything was done cooking. What to do?? Pesto! There was still some left over from the panini. I didn't want to make everything overwhelmed with pesto flavor, though, since there was a fabulous pancetta and garlic taste to everything. Solution? I added a can of drained diced tomatos to thicken the liquid from the meat and veggies, then a few tablespoons of pesto as a seasoning rather then a sauce. After a bit more salt and some Parmesan on top I declared a flavor victory.

I definitely beat Rachael Ray on this one. 30 minute meals? I did this one in less than 20, even with my sauce dilemma. And, it was delicious. Even though I just cooked up sausages with whatever was in the fridge and added it to pasta, it totally worked. This recipe is absolutely going into my list of fast and easy weeknight meals. Added plus? Plenty of leftovers!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 oz thick cut pancetta, largely diced (ok to substitute bacon!)
• 1 lb button mushrooms, sliced
• 3 large cloves of garlic, crushed
• olive oil
  
• 3 - 3oz spicy Italian chicken sausages, sliced in half, then sliced into 1/4 in chunks
• 1 marinated, grilled zucchini (see Perfect Panini, steps 1-3)
• 1 can diced tomatos, drained
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp pesto
  
• 1 lb radiatore shaped pasta
• salt to taste
• grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil in pan to medium heat.
2. Add pancetta, allow to cook until brown on one side before turning.
3. Add garlic when you stir the pancetta for the first time.
4. When the pancetta begins to turn translucent, add the mushrooms.
   
5. Allow everything to cook until the mushrooms release their juices. Remove mushrooms, pancetta, and garlic to a plate or bowl while keeping as much of the drippings in the pan as possible.
6. Add another 1/2 tbsp olive oil to pan and allow to heat.
7. Add sausage.
8. When sausage is brown on one side, add zucchini and yellow squash to reheat. (If yours are still warm from cooking, save them until the mushrooms get added back)
9. When sausage is brown and zucchini is heated through, add diced tomatoes and return the mushrooms and pancetta back to reheat.
10. Ideally, at this point your pasta will be cooked and strained. Put it back in the pot you cooked it in, then add the sausage, etc., to the pot and mix.
11. Add pesto and salt to taste.
12. Scoop yourself some pasta into a bowl or onto a plate, then garnish with freshly grated parmesean.
    

Perfect Pesto Panini

I've often found that I don't eat three real meals on Sundays. It usually ends up that I'll have brunch around 10 or 11 and then snack until I get hungry enough to make dinner. Today I tried to remedy the meal conundrum by making a panini that would fill me up (and Adam) and end the cycle of Sunday snacking.

I have to admit, I was a lucky ducky in that I had a very well stocked fridge when I got this idea. Yesterday I made a stop at Cossetta's in St. Paul and came home with some beautiful, thinly sliced sopressata and prosciutto. If you've never had sopressata before, it falls somewhere between a salami and prosciutto in the spectrum of yummy Italian meat. Since both of those meats are fairly high in fat content, I knew I couldn't just make a panini with those. Using my contact electric grill (since it's too wet outside to actually grill) I cooked up some zucchini and yellow squash, then threw some chicken breasts on. An added bonus from cooking on the electric grill was that the balsalmic vinegar that didn't stick to the veggies ended up carmelizing and sticking to the chicken for some added deliciousness. After heating up half a loaf of take-and-bake ciabatta bread I layered up the goodness and threw the panini back on the grill. They turned out delicious and managed to have a healthy amount of veggies in them, too. The best part of this sandwich, though, is that you can add or subtract ingredients to really make it your own perfect panini.

Ingredients (makes 4 sandwiches)

• one medium zucchini
• one medium yellow squash
• 2 tbsp balsalmic vinegar
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt (I used seasoned sea salt)
• 4 thin boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to a uniform thickness
• italian seasonings (your favorite blend)
• red pepper flakes (if you like added spice)
• garlic salt
  
• 1 loaf ciabatta bread, sliced into 4 sandwich-sized sections and cut open
  
• 1/3 lb provolone cheese, thinly sliced
• pesto (approx. 1 tbsp/sandwich, but more or less is okay too!)
• 8 slices sopressata, prosciutto, or your favorite salami

Directions

1. Slice the zucchini and squash diagonally into 1/8 inch wide slices.
2. Marinate them in a bowl with balsalmic vinegar, salt, and olive oil while you preheat the grill.
3. When the grill is hot, arrange one layer of squash/zucchini and grill 5-7 minutes until soft but still slightly crunchy. Repeat until all the veggies are cooked. DO NOT clean the grill after this step.
   
4. Pat the chicken breasts dry, then season with garlic salt, italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes.
5. Cook the chicken on the grill for 5-7 minutes depending on thickness. Wipe down the grill after this step.
   
6. Allow the chicken to rest. This is important so that some of the juices drip out and your sandwich doesn't end up soggy.
7. Spread pesto on both sides of the bread, then layer on the veggies, chicken, italian meat, and cheese.
8. Grill the sandwich until the cheese is melted and the outside of the bread is toasted.