Me, obviously joking, as Mark mistreats a kitchen chair: I will kill you if you break another chair.
Mark, also joking: Is that a threat?
Me: No.
Mark: Well, I will go to your house and bake you cookies!
That's how much silliness a nut-free batch of pesto makes people ;-) We made simple radiatore pasta with our signature basil-parsley pesto recipe, then kicked it up by mixing in sauteed onions, layering the pasta between two layers of fancy aged cheddar, and topping it with crumbled bacon. We accompanied this meal with broccoli roasted in the bacon fat, apples roasted with lemon juice and olive oil, and huge glasses of homemade limeade. The pesto recipe is inspired by Bobby Flay's pesto pizza from Worst Cooks in America season 5.
Does that sounds as awesome to you as it did to Mark and Ben?!! Here's how you can replicate this awesome meal:
You will need...
1 package of bacon
5 local apples
several lemons
huge bag of limes, approx 6 to 10 limes
1 box of radiatore or other shaped pasta
1 yellow onion
1 cup granulated sugar
2 blocks of fancy artisanal cheddar cheese
3 crowns of broccoli
For the pesto:
1 small bunch of fresh parsley
1 small package of fresh basil, or about 8 to 10 leaves pulled off of a basil plant
juice of half a lemon, no seeds
approx 1/3 cup freshly-grated parmesan cheese
olive oil to achieve appropriate consistency in the blender
2 cloves of garlic
pinch of salt
The first thing you should do, so it is done ahead, is to put the bacon in a single layer on a foil-lined sheet tray. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake the bacon for about 25 minutes. Start checking on it and turning it every few minutes after it has been in there for 15 minutes. Check often to make sure you don't end up burning it.
In the mean time, prep the broccoli crowns by cutting them into florets. Set aside.
Core the apples and cut them into large chunks. Squeeze half a large lemon, or an entire small lemon, over the apples. Remove any lemon seeds that may have snuck in. Add a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil.
When the bacon is ready, you will know it's time to put the apples in the oven. Put the bacon on a large plate, and immediately add the broccoli to the pan that the bacon was on so that it can soak up the fat that rendered out of the bacon. If there is only a little bit of fat, you may need to add a little drizzle of olive oil. Bake the broccoli for about 12 to 15 minutes.
When the broccoli is done, the apples will probably need about 10 minutes longer, so up the oven temperature to 400 degrees so the apples get really nice and applesauce-like for the last few minutes. Check on them after 5 minutes to make sure they are not burning, since everyone's oven is a slightly different temperature. You want them to look mushy.
While things are in the oven, make the pesto. Roughly chop the parsley on your cutting board. Chiffonade the basil. Juice the lemon half and pick out any seeds. Grate the cheese. Smash, peel, and roughly chop the garlic. Add all of those things to the blender with a pinch of salt, and add several glugs of olive oil. Start to pulse in the blender, adding more olive oil slowly until the mixture starts to get really blended and looks liquid-y and pesto-like. Stop adding olive oil, and pulse a few more times to break up any large chunks of parsley. Taste with a spoon and have your lovely assistant taste it as well. Does is need a bit more of any of the ingredients? Adjust as necessary.
In the mean time, you should finely dice the onion and start to sweat it in olive oil in a small pot or pan. Cook about 7 minutes on the setting just under medium on your stove, stirring frequently. I learned that "saute" in English is the same word as "sauter" in French that means "to jump," so you want the onions to jump around the pan a lot so that they get sauteed, but not significantly browned.
You should also be thinking of putting a huge pot of water on the stove on high to bring it to a boil. Add a very generous amount of salt. When it is boiling, add the pasta, and cook until al dente according to the package directions. This is often 9 minutes.
Drain the pasta, then immediately return it to the pot and add in the pesto and onions, including the oil from the onions, which will serve as an extra addition to the sauciness of the pesto.
Slice the 2 blocks of cheddar cheese into thin, long slices. Roughly chop the bacon.
Take your favorite casserole dish. Put in half of the pasta. Layer with one block's worth of the cheese slices. Add the rest of the pasta on top, then the remaining cheese slices. Now add the bacon. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. You don't need to grease the casserole dish because there is a LOT of oil in the pesto and in the onions combined, so don't worry about things sticking!
In the mean time, quickly clean the kitchen! Squeeze your bag of approx 6 limes and a few lemons. Remove any seeds. Mix with a cup of sugar and a pitcher of water. We like using empty orange juice bottles to do this because then you can shake the bottle in order to mix it. You can also use a pitcher that has a tight lid. Taste and see if it needs additional water or sugar and adjust accordingly. Add ice if you have it on hand.
Now serve the casserole, apples, and broccoli with huge glasses of limeade, and raise a toast to cheese!
#pasta #casserole #bacon #eggfree
Mark, also joking: Is that a threat?
Me: No.
Mark: Well, I will go to your house and bake you cookies!
That's how much silliness a nut-free batch of pesto makes people ;-) We made simple radiatore pasta with our signature basil-parsley pesto recipe, then kicked it up by mixing in sauteed onions, layering the pasta between two layers of fancy aged cheddar, and topping it with crumbled bacon. We accompanied this meal with broccoli roasted in the bacon fat, apples roasted with lemon juice and olive oil, and huge glasses of homemade limeade. The pesto recipe is inspired by Bobby Flay's pesto pizza from Worst Cooks in America season 5.
Does that sounds as awesome to you as it did to Mark and Ben?!! Here's how you can replicate this awesome meal:
You will need...
1 package of bacon
5 local apples
several lemons
huge bag of limes, approx 6 to 10 limes
1 box of radiatore or other shaped pasta
1 yellow onion
1 cup granulated sugar
2 blocks of fancy artisanal cheddar cheese
3 crowns of broccoli
For the pesto:
1 small bunch of fresh parsley
1 small package of fresh basil, or about 8 to 10 leaves pulled off of a basil plant
juice of half a lemon, no seeds
approx 1/3 cup freshly-grated parmesan cheese
olive oil to achieve appropriate consistency in the blender
2 cloves of garlic
pinch of salt
The first thing you should do, so it is done ahead, is to put the bacon in a single layer on a foil-lined sheet tray. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake the bacon for about 25 minutes. Start checking on it and turning it every few minutes after it has been in there for 15 minutes. Check often to make sure you don't end up burning it.
In the mean time, prep the broccoli crowns by cutting them into florets. Set aside.
Core the apples and cut them into large chunks. Squeeze half a large lemon, or an entire small lemon, over the apples. Remove any lemon seeds that may have snuck in. Add a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil.
When the bacon is ready, you will know it's time to put the apples in the oven. Put the bacon on a large plate, and immediately add the broccoli to the pan that the bacon was on so that it can soak up the fat that rendered out of the bacon. If there is only a little bit of fat, you may need to add a little drizzle of olive oil. Bake the broccoli for about 12 to 15 minutes.
When the broccoli is done, the apples will probably need about 10 minutes longer, so up the oven temperature to 400 degrees so the apples get really nice and applesauce-like for the last few minutes. Check on them after 5 minutes to make sure they are not burning, since everyone's oven is a slightly different temperature. You want them to look mushy.
While things are in the oven, make the pesto. Roughly chop the parsley on your cutting board. Chiffonade the basil. Juice the lemon half and pick out any seeds. Grate the cheese. Smash, peel, and roughly chop the garlic. Add all of those things to the blender with a pinch of salt, and add several glugs of olive oil. Start to pulse in the blender, adding more olive oil slowly until the mixture starts to get really blended and looks liquid-y and pesto-like. Stop adding olive oil, and pulse a few more times to break up any large chunks of parsley. Taste with a spoon and have your lovely assistant taste it as well. Does is need a bit more of any of the ingredients? Adjust as necessary.
In the mean time, you should finely dice the onion and start to sweat it in olive oil in a small pot or pan. Cook about 7 minutes on the setting just under medium on your stove, stirring frequently. I learned that "saute" in English is the same word as "sauter" in French that means "to jump," so you want the onions to jump around the pan a lot so that they get sauteed, but not significantly browned.
You should also be thinking of putting a huge pot of water on the stove on high to bring it to a boil. Add a very generous amount of salt. When it is boiling, add the pasta, and cook until al dente according to the package directions. This is often 9 minutes.
Drain the pasta, then immediately return it to the pot and add in the pesto and onions, including the oil from the onions, which will serve as an extra addition to the sauciness of the pesto.
Slice the 2 blocks of cheddar cheese into thin, long slices. Roughly chop the bacon.
Take your favorite casserole dish. Put in half of the pasta. Layer with one block's worth of the cheese slices. Add the rest of the pasta on top, then the remaining cheese slices. Now add the bacon. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. You don't need to grease the casserole dish because there is a LOT of oil in the pesto and in the onions combined, so don't worry about things sticking!
In the mean time, quickly clean the kitchen! Squeeze your bag of approx 6 limes and a few lemons. Remove any seeds. Mix with a cup of sugar and a pitcher of water. We like using empty orange juice bottles to do this because then you can shake the bottle in order to mix it. You can also use a pitcher that has a tight lid. Taste and see if it needs additional water or sugar and adjust accordingly. Add ice if you have it on hand.
Now serve the casserole, apples, and broccoli with huge glasses of limeade, and raise a toast to cheese!
#pasta #casserole #bacon #eggfree