Lemon Basil Tomato Pesto Pasta with Shrimp

Lemon Basil in the garden....

Southern Ontario is experiencing a wonderfully warm and steamy summer so far, which means that it's only June 23 and my garden looks like the 'after' picture from a Miracle Grow commercial.  This weekend I was delightfully surprised to find that my lemon basil plant already had enough leaves to make pesto....(YAY!). 

A couple of years ago, on one of my yearly trips to Florida, my aunt made this memorable Tomato Pesto Pasta with Shrimp.  You know how some dishes (for whatever reason) just stick with you (this happens to me all the time)....this pasta dish was no exception.  So I thought I'd take a crack at replicating it....and it turned out to be a TOTAL SUCCESS.

This recipe will give you left over pesto, which can stay in the fridge for a few weeks.  It has a fresh taste (from the lemon basil) and light richness (from the roasted garlic and roasted tomatoes) that would be great with baked fish, baked chicken, as a spread on a baguette (mmmm, baguette)....etc.

Mmmmmm...pasta....

Lemon Basil Tomato Pesto Pasta with Shrimp

Inspired by Sunny Anderson - Shrimp with Roasted Garlic Pesto Pasta

Serves 5

Ingredients:

20 cloves of garlic, peeled

1/2 cup of olive oil, plus a little more for roasting tomatoes

1 pound cherry tomatoes, washed and drained

1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons pine nuts

1/4 grated Parmesan

Salt and pepper

1 cup packed lemon basil leaves, rinsed and drained (regular basil will work just as well)

1 package of brown rice spaghetti (standard package is 454g)  (any pasta will work here - just modify the cooking time according to the package instructions)

1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined

Directions:

Pesto:

(1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees

(2) Place garlic in a single layer in a small baking dish

(3) Add 1/2 cup of olive oil to the dish, making sure all of the garlic cloves are coated

(4) Cover the baking dish with foil.  Roast garlic cloves in the oven for 45 minutes until fragrant and golden brown

(5) In a medium sized baking dish, toss the cherry tomatoes with enough olive oil to lightly coat (about 2 tablespoons)

(6) Place the tomatoes in the oven (at the same temperature --- 375 degrees) and roast (uncovered) for 25 minutes

-Tomato skin should be blister-y when they are ready

Roasted Tomatoes...

(7) While the garlic and tomatoes are roasting in the oven (your kitchen should smell really yummy by now), in a small fry pan on the stove, over medium heat, toast all of the pine nuts for about 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown, turning occasionally so they don't burn…

-pine nuts should to be toasted before using.  There is this thing called 'pine nut mouth' that is not dangerous, but will mess with your tastebuds for a couple of days – which is not fun...

Toasting pine nuts...

(8) When the garlic is nicely roasted, remove the baking dish from the oven and remove the garlic cloves from the oil (both the garlic and the oil will be HOT so be careful).  Set the garlic aside in a small bowl.  Reserve the oil for use later.



          

Roasted garlic cloves on the bottom, garlic infused olive oil on the top...

       

(9) In a food processor, blend the roasted garlic and 1/4 cup of the toasted pine nuts until creamy

(10) Add the roasted tomatoes to the food processor (not including the olive oil from the dish the tomatoes were roasted in – this will make your pesto too liquidy) and lemon basil leaves.  Blend until smooth.

(11) Add the Parmesan.  Blend until smooth.

-while the food processor is running, add 1-2 tablespoons of the garlic infused olive oil.  This helps to bring everything together and enhances the garlic flavour.

(12) Your pesto should be the consistency of a paste now.  Season for salt.


Lemon Basil Tomato Pesto....

 Note: you will have leftover pesto. 

Pasta:

 (13) In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta, stirring occasionally, until almost tender, about 8-10 minutes

-I find that brown rice pasta is super starchy.  When water is super starchy, pasta will stick together - so make sure you are using a big enough pot with plenty of salted water to assist with constantly moving the starch away from the pasta surface.

-Salt your water people.  Adding salt now will reduce the amount of salt/cheese/butter you will have to add later.

(14) Reserve about a 1/2 cup of the pasta water prior to draining the cooked pasta

-this will be used to aid in the when tossing the pasta with the rest of ingredients later....

Shrimp: (can be done while pasta is cooking)

(15) In a small fry pan over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of the garlic infused oil

(16) Season the shrimp with pepper and sauté until the shrimp turn pink (about 5-6 minutes....don't overcook - rubbery shrimp is never good...)

(17) Remove from heat

(18) In a large bowl, add the cooked pasta, and some of the pesto (I usually put 3-4 heaping spoonfuls - about a 1/4 of the total amount of pesto that this recipe makes).  Toss to coat the pasta with pesto.  If needed, add a bit of the pasta water to make tossing easier. 

(19) Add the shrimp and lightly toss just to coat the shrimp.

(20) Season for salt and pepper

(21) Garnish with the 2 tablespoons of leftover toasted pine nuts. 

Optional - serve with chilli flakes and lemon wedges on the side

Nutritional Information (for one serving - 1/5 of the final product):

Calories 583

Fat 19g

Carbs 76g

Fibre 5g

Protein 27g

WW Points 15

Happy Cooking!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

 
I have never met a sweet potato that I didn't like.  The subtle sweet and starchy qualities make it one of my go-to vegetables.  

(And I've heard that they are pretty healthy too...).

My love of sweet potatoes is what inspired this recipe.  When making potato gnocchi I thought...why not try this with sweet potato? 

What I learned through the process is that (1) Sweet potatoes are not as starchy and have more moisture then regular potatoes.  Therefore, more flour was required in order to get the ‘dumpling effect’.  (2) It's important to make sure that the sweet potatoes are boiled through.  They are more fibrous then regular potatoes...if they are not fully cooked, ricing them can be more difficult. 

I made two different sauces to go with the sweet potato Gnocchi....A simple cinnamon and butter sauce - melt about 1/4 cup of butter in a sauce pan and add two cinnamon sticks and let simmer for 5-10 minutes. 

(and because of my insatiable sweet tooth) I wanted to try a candied sweet potato gnocchi as well, so I made a similar sauce to the above - melt about 1/4 cup of butter in a sauce pan, add 2 tsp ground cinnamon, add 1/4 cup brown sugar and let simmer on medium to low for 10-15 minutes.  I put these sauces on to simmer prior to boiling the gnocchi so they could be sauced as soon as they were done. 

The directions are similar to the those from the potato gnocchi.  You will need a ricer to mash the sweet potatoes in order to achieve the desired texture while avoiding the ‘compacting-effect’ that mashing by hand gives the potatoes. 

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

(makes about 10-12 servings)

Ingredients: 

1kg sweet potato, left whole

3 cups all purpose flour + more for dusting

1 egg
1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

(1)  Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside
(2) Cook the sweet potatoes with the skins on in plenty of gently boiling salted water until done

-This can take a while (up to an 1/2 hour to an hour, depending on the size of the sweet potato) because you are literally boiling the sweet potatoes whole

-The reasoning behind leaving the skin on is to minimize the amount of moisture that gets into the potato while it is boiling (which is what would happen if potatoes were boiled with the skin off)

-Check with a small knife for done-ness (when poking the potato with the knife, it should slide through with little effort)

(3) Remove the sweet potatoes from the pot and allow them to sit for a few minutes

                -(optional) can plunge in some cold water to help ease peels off

(4) Peel the sweet potatoes while they are still hot. This can be done by taking a paring knife and scraping the skin off. It should come off effortlessly.

(5) Press the sweet potatoes through a ricer

-if the sweet potatoes are not cooked all the way through you might end up finding chunks of 'super hard' sweet potato in the ricer, pick them out, toss ‘em and keep on ricing…

(6) When the sweet potatoes are just cool enough to handle, add the flour, eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper (to taste). Mix by hand with a spatula until everything is just incorporated. Do not over work the dough (a rough mix is okay here).

Mix until all ingredients are just incorporated...

(7) On a heavily floured surface, working with small sections of the dough at a time, roll into a log (remembering to work dough as little as possible)

-the dough might be a little sticky at this point.  Once you section it out and start working it on a floured surface to roll into logs, continue to add flour until most of sticky-ness is gone and it becomes easy to roll into a log

A heavily floured surface will make this dough easier to work with...
I lightly pressed a fork onto the tops of the Gnocchi...

(9) Put the Gnocchi on the baking sheets, dusting lightly with flour. Be careful not to pile them on top of each other


Be sure to dust with flour....



(10) When you are ready to cook, drop the Gnocchi in plenty of salted boiling water (if needed, stir gently). When they float to the top, they are cooked. Remove and immediately sauce them and serve hot.

Cinnamon & Butter sauce...

Cinnamon, butter and brown sugar sauce - The 'Candied' version.  I served these with a spicy chicken, and they were actually the perfect compliment... 
Once the gnocchi was tossed with this sauce, I then baked these in the oven at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes to get that 'caramelized' effect...

(11) Freeze unused Gnocchi on the parchment lined baking sheets.  Once it's completely frozen, transfer to Ziploc bags and immediately return them to the freezer.  When ready to eat, do not thaw.  Drop into boiling water from frozen.  This should only add a minute or two to the cooking time.  They will still float to the top when they are cooked.

Edit: 02/12/2012: Ruth @ Sping of a Curiouseed made a Carrot and Wine sauce to go with these Sweet Potato Gnocchi that is sure to please.  Be sure to check it out.  Thanks for sharing Ruth! 

Happy Cooking!

Gnocchi

Gnocchi are like little potato pillows.  Once they are made and frozen, they make for an easy week night dinner as they can be boiled right from the freezer, so there is no thawing time required.  They taste great with anything from a simple tomato sauce to pesto to even melted butter and parmesan cheese. 

This is great Italian comfort food, especially on a cold snowy day when carbs are a necessity.

A ricer (pictured above) makes the Gnocchi process a lot easier as you'll be able to achieve the fine mashed texture required for the potatoes in this recipe with very little effort. 

Gnocchi

(10-12 servings)

 

Ingredients:

1 kg baking potatoes (left whole)

300 g all purpose flour + more for dusting

3 eggs

80g parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated

salt & pepper

Directions:

(1)   Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside

(2) Cook the potatoes with the skins on in plenty of gently boiling salted water until done

-This can take a while (up to an hour) because you are literally boiling the potatoes whole

-The reasoning behind leaving the skin on is to minimize the amount of moisture that gets into the potato while it is boiling (which is what would happen if potatoes were boiled with the skin off)

-Check with a small knife for done-ness (when poking the potato with the knife, it should slide through with little effort)

(3) Remove the potatoes from the pot and allow them to sit for a few minutes

(4) Peel the potatoes while they are still hot.  This can be done by taking a paring knife and scraping the skin off.  It should come off effortlessly.

(5) Press the potatoes through a Ricer

Potatoes pressed through a ricer....

(6) When the potatoes are just cool enough to handle, add the flour, eggs, parmesan cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper (to taste).  Mix by hand with a spatula until everything is just incorporated.  Do not over work the dough (a rough mix is okay here).

Mix until all ingredients are just incorporated...

(6) Working with small sections of the dough at a time, roll into a log (remembering to work dough as little as possible)

(7) Cut the log into Gnocchi (think potato pillows when shaping these, about 1 inch long (or longer if preferred))

-(optional) They can be shaped by gently pressing thumb into one side and pressing a fork on the other


Potato Pillows!

I opted to gently press a fork onto the tops of some Gnocchi, and also leave some 'au natural'...

(8) Put the Gnocchi on the baking sheets, dusting lightly with flour.  Be careful not to pile them on top of each other

Spread out on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and dust well with flour...

(9) When you are ready to cook, drop the Gnocchi in plenty of salted boiling water (if needed, stir gently).  When they float to the top, they are cooked.  Remove and immediately sauce them and serve hot.  

-(hint c/o my instructor) To serve a pasta dish like a restaurant Chef.... in a medium frying pan, on medium-high heat, add some butter and/or olive oil, enough to equal a couple of tablespoons and let heat up.  Add enough tomato sauce to the pan to sauce the pasta you intend to serve, and let sauté for a couple of minutes.  Add boiled Gnocchi and toss together with sauce.  Leave on the heat for a minute or two more and then serve.  Doing this adds an extra layer of richness to your pasta dish (and maybe a couple of calories....but we won't talk about that...). 

End result...yummy sauced Gnocchi....

(10) Freeze unused Gnocchi on the parchment lined baking sheets.  Once it's completely frozen, transfer to Ziploc bags and immediately return them to the freezer.  When ready to eat, do not thaw.  Drop into boiling water from frozen.  This should only add a minute or two to the cooking time.  They will still float to the top when they are cooked. 

Happy Cooking!

The Biscotti Series.....(Part 2)

The great thing about biscotti is that you really can add anything to them (I've seen some great Cranberry & White Chocolate versions) once you understand a basic biscotti recipe.  However you'll want to be careful with any sort of chunky ingredient, as they can cause crumbling when attempting to cut the biscotti loaf into biscuits (for example, finely chopping the nuts before adding them to the batter will make slicing the biscotti loaf into biscuits much easier...).

The 'zester' makes zesting citrus fruit easy....otherwise a grater or a peeler & fine dice will work...

Pistachio-Orange Biscotti

(makes about 36 cookies)

 

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cup all purpose plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, unsalted, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp orange zest

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp almond extract

2 eggs

1 cup pistachios (ground or finely chopped)

Directions:

(1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

(2) Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl; set aside

(3) With an electric mixer on medium speed, mix the butter, sugar, orange zest, vanilla extract and almond extract mixture has lightened in colour

(4) Add one egg at a time, mix on medium until combined

(5) Reduce the mixer speed to low, add pistachios and mix until combined

(6) Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until incorporated

(7) Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about an hour

-this makes the 'sticky' cookie dough easier to work with

(8) Take dough out of bowl and shape into a log on a floured surface

Pistachios & Orange make for a light and fresh biscotti

(9) Place shaped log on layered baking sheets; fix shape if required 

Layered baking sheets prevents the bottom of the biscotti from burning...

(10) Bake 25-30 minutes, until top is a light golden brown

(11) Remove from oven and let cool slightly (cool enough to work with).  Cut log into 3/4 inch slices (biscotti) with a serrated knife.  Lay Biscotti on side on baking sheet, cut side down.

-No longer need to bake on double layered baking sheets

-Might have to use more than one baking sheet - make sure they are lined all line with parchment paper

-Cut with confidence.  Tentative cuts may cause biscotti to crumble.

(12) Bake for 10-15 minutes more
(13) Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet on wire racks.  Once it's cooled a bit, if you find that the biscotti is not hard enough, bake for another 5-10 minutes. 

Can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of months

I found this recipe one the Williams Sonoma website (and adapted it to my liking, because that's what I do...).

Happy Cooking!

The Biscotti Series....(Part 1)

Biscotti + Coffee = (makes me) happy.   It's very simple. 

And because of my simple equation, I was very excited to learn how to make Biscotti in my Northern Italian Cuisine class. 

The keys to making biscotti (the ones that I've found useful)...

-In the summer, flour tends to be more moist, so you might have to use more

-In the winter, flour tends to be more dry, so you might have to use less

-If you live in a humid climate you might need more flour

-if you live in a dry climate you might need less flour

-You might also want to see how the stars are aligning on the day you are going to make Biscotti...

I generally start off with the amount of flour the recipe states.  If the dough is too moist once all the ingredients are incorporated (and most of the time my biscotti dough is too moist, because the humidity in Toronto is higher) I'll incorporate a 1/4 cup of flour until I get the right texture.  What you are looking for in the batter is the consistency of sticky cookie dough.  

If you are unsure when it comes to baking 'doneness', it's always better to under-bake biscotti then over-bake...for two reasons:  First, the cookie will harden as it cools and second, (once it has cooled a little after the second baking) if the biscotti is not as hard as you would like it to be, you can always put it back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

I have two recipes for biscotti that I love => Toasted Almond & Chocolate and Pistachio & Orange 

Chocolate and Toasted Almond Biscotti

(makes about 36 cookies)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup almonds, chopped

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

(1) Toast almonds.  Spread them out on a baking sheet and toast under the broiler (set to high).  Once they have a light golden colour take them out of the oven and let cool.  Don't walk away because they can go from toasted to burned in about 10 seconds

-can also toast almonds in a pan on medium until they just start to smell

***don't over-toast the almonds as they will give the biscotti a bitter taste***

-once almonds have cooled, chop them up finely

(2) Get two trays and layer one on top of the other.  Place a piece of parchment paper on the top tray

-the layering of the two trays ensures that the bottom of the biscotti won't burn

(3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

(4) Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt; set aside

(5) With an electric mixer on medium speed, mix the eggs and butter until mixture has lightened in colour

(6) Add the sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract, mix for another 2 minutes

(7) Turn the mixer to low, add chocolate chips and toasted almonds, mix until just combined

(8) Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined

(9) Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about an hour

-this makes the 'sticky' cookie dough easier to work with

(10) Take dough out of bowl and shape into a log on a floured surface

(11) Place shaped log onto layered baking sheets; fix shape if required

(12) Bake 25-30 minutes , until top is a light golden brown

First bake - light golden brown

(13) Remove from oven and let cool slightly (cool enough to work with).  Cut the biscotti log into 3/4 inch slices (can do this either vertically or on an angle...your choice) with a serrated knife; lay the biscuits on baking sheet, cut side down

-No longer need to bake on double layered baking sheets

-Might have to use more than one baking sheet - make sure they are lined all lined with parchment paper

-Cut the biscotti log with confidence.  Tentative cuts may cause biscotti to crumble.

Lay biscotti on baking sheets, cut side down for second baking

(14) Bake for 10-15 minutes more, until top of biscuit is golden brown

(15) Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet on wire racks.  Once it's cooled a bit, if you find that the biscotti is not hard enough, bake for another  5-10 minutes. 

Can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of months

These are great for sharing as they travel really well.

Part 2 of my 'Biscotti Series' will be the Pistachio & Orange recipe. 

Happy Cooking!

The Delightful Tiramisu

Tiramisu (for those who don't know) is an Italian trifle made with Savoiardi (lady finger biscuits) soaked in coffee and liquor, layered with a heavenly rich, but light custard.

As a general rule, I do not like trifle.  Apparently this is not the case when it's Italian trifle.  It must be the combination of the lady finger biscuits and liquor, and of course the decadence of the Mascarpone cheese. 

This recipe was adapted from the one that is in the George Brown College Northern Italian Cuisine manual.

You’re going to need a few mixing bowls for this - one for the egg whites, one for combining the egg yolks and sugar and one for the mascarpone cheese. 

I like to do the mixing by hand.  It does require some arm and shoulder stamina, but I prefer the control that you get when mixing by hand..I find that it helps with determining the right consistency for each step (and it has the added benefit of burning off some calories, which you are guaranteed to consume when you eat this dessert). 

A couple of my Tiramisu tips:

-Take the eggs out of the fridge a couple of hours before you want to make this....they need to be room temperature
-This dessert requires some planning as it does have to be refrigerated overnight
-This version of Tiramisu does contain raw eggs...if you would rather the eggs be cooked, please see the modification at the bottom of this post

Tiramisu

Ingredients:

450 g (1 tub) mascarpone cheese

6 eggs

6 tsbp sugar

1 pkg Savoiardi (lady fingers biscuits)

6 oz Kahlua (or other coffee liquor)

3/4 cup espresso coffee

1 vanilla bean

Cocoa powder (for dusting)

Directions:

(1) Have a pan (about 12" x 10" x 2.5" deep) ready for assembling the Tiramisu (I used a foil pan...)

(2) Empty mascarpone Cheese into a mixing bowl;  Mix vigorously by hand with a spatula until mascarpone is smooth (like spreadable cream cheese); Set aside

Mascarpone

(3) Combine espresso and Kahlua together in a bowl (wide enough to dip the length of the biscuits in); set aside

(4) Separate the eggs, placing the egg whites into one mixing bowl and the eggs yokes into another

(5) Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until thick and pale

Egg Yolks and Sugar

(6) Slice vanilla bean down the center and scrap insides of vanilla bean out with the back of a knife; mix into egg yolk mixture until just combined

***placing the husk of the vanilla bean into a jar of white sugar infuses the sugar with a lovely vanilla flavour/scent which can then be used for baking, sweetening coffee etc...

(7) Whip the egg whites until they double in volume and form stiff peaks

Tips for whisking egg whites:

-make sure the egg whites are at room temperature

-use a dry, clean bowl

-make sure whisk is very clean

-whip with a loose shoulder and wrist

-sometimes it helps to put the bowl at an angle.

Egg Whites

(8) Combine egg yolk mixture with the mascarpone cheese a little at a time until just blended

(9) Fold the egg whites into the egg yolk/Mascarpone mixture a little at a time until just incorporated

***don't over mix*** (it's okay if it's a little lumpy)

Egg Yolk/Mascarpone/Egg White mixture...

Assembly:

(1) Dip the cookies in the espresso/Kahlua mixture

-Don't soak them...Quickly dip each side of biscuit in the liquid mixture and then flick off excess liquid.

(2) Layer the biscuits into the pan, covering the entire bottom of the pan (cutting the cookies as required to cover the entire bottom of pan)

(3) Spread about 1/2 of the custard mixture over the biscuits

***At this point, drop the pan from about 2 inches in the air, 2-3 times to release any air bubbles

(4) Dip and cover the custard layer with a second layer of biscuits.  Position the cookies the opposite way of the first layer (i.e. If you placed the first layer horizontally, then position second layer of biscuits vertically)



Second layer of biscuits over first layer of custard

(5) Spread the remainder of the Custard over the second layer of cookies

***Again, Drop the pan from about 2 inches in the air 2-3 times to release any air bubbles

(6) Refrigerate overnight. 

(7) Before serving, sprinkle with cocoa power

I was sending this one to my Aunt's house...but of course I had to try it first to make sure it was okay.....

*** if raw eggs freak you out ***

-Step 3 - whisk egg yolks and sugar over a pot of boiling water until they turn pale, but use 8 egg yolks instead of 6 (you must whisk continuously, otherwise you'll end up with scrambled eggs)

-Step 4 - replace the egg whites with 300-350 ml of 35% whipping cream and whip until stiff.  Replace egg whites with whipped cream in step 6 above and gently fold into the egg yolk/mascarpone mixture

Happy Cooking!