One Pot Pasta

I may have mentioned that I truly love to cook, what I bet I didn't mention is that I hate doing dishes. For years I have found ways to cut corners and dirty as little prep dishes as possible. This is just one of the many reasons I'm so thrilled for the one pot cooking movement that's beginning to take shape. Martha Stewart recently released a one pot cookbook that I have already added to my Amazon wish list. And when I found this recipe on Everyday-Reading I was excited to try a delicious recipe with minimal clean up. It was a smashing success!

Creamy Spinach Tortellini (adapted from Everyday-Reading)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb smoked sausage (optional, see below)
2 14oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 cup half and half
10 oz Tortellini
2-3 cups spinach

In a large skillet heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sausage to brown if using meat. Add the minced garlic. Add the cans of tomatoes then the half and half. Stir and allow to simmer. Add the tortellini and cover to cook about 10 minutes, or until tender. Add the spinach and toss lightly. Salt and pepper to taste.

Lessons Learned and Advice:

• I skipped the meat entirely and the meal was delicious and filling without it. 
• When I added the tomatoes I left them as it. If you want a smoother meal you can put the in a food processor first or use an immersion blender. 
• I try to cut down on lactose whenever possible so I substituted the half and half for lactose free milk. It still made the dish creamy and you could not notice a taste change. 
• This recipe can easily be halved for a smaller serving. 

Homemade Fruit Roll Ups

Wasted fruit is a travesty, especially this time of year, as fresh, local fruit starts to disappear. After being out of town for a few days I returned home to find overripe plums and knew just how to use them. I have a weakness for all things gummy and have been wanting to try to make my own fruit roll ups for some time now. This is quite a simple recipe, only three ingredients, and most of the process involves waiting. 

Fruit Roll Ups  (adapted from Giada De Laurentiis)
1 lbs. Fresh Fruit- any fruit, all fruit! OK, not really, but most fruit works and include skin if you would eat it. I used three plums (with skin) for one batch and 1 lbs. of blueberries for the other.
1 tablespoon of honey or agave
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat the over for 170 degrees. Place the fruit, agave/honey and lemon juice in a blender. Blend until smooth. Line a rimmed heavy baking sheet with a silicon baking mat. Using an offset spatula, spread the puree evenly, leaving a one inch border around the baking mat. Bake until the puree is no longer sticky, at least 6 hours. When cooled, use kitchen scissors to cut into strips. Roll up using wax paper to keep the roll from sticking. 

Homemade Fruit Roll Ups

Homemade Fruit Roll Ups

Lessons Learned and Advice:

• The second time I made these I roasted the plums first. While it succeeded in bringing out fruit flavor it is not a necessary step. If you have time, cut the plums in half and roast them for 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees. Allow them to cool before placing them in the blender. 
• I made these the first time overnight which was a bad idea, I kept waking up to check on them. The next time, I made them on football Sunday and checked on them during commercial breaks. 
• It's very important to spread evenly on a slip mat. Otherwise the edges will overcook before the center dries. 
• I really struggled with cutting these babies once they were done. My first batch was a crooked mess. I ended up switching to cut them into shorter strips which helped me with cutting, and portion control.

Fresh is Best

One of my absolute favorite things about Detroit is Eastern Market. Every Saturday vendors from near and far come to sell fresh produce, prepared food and plants in downtown Detroit. I truly loved our market in Baltimore  and knew it would be one of the things I missed the most. So you can imagine my joy when we found Eastern Market and all it has to offer. We have come to buy the majority of our groceries here every week, and even a collection of plants for our windowsill garden. (More on that to come later.) I am constantly impressed by the amazing fresh and local produce and the affordability of it all. Last week, among other things, I picked up a gem of an eggplant for just one dollar! I decided to try a new recipe, eggplant parmesan, with my dollar investment this week for a delicious meatless Monday dinner. And it was in fact delicious. I treated the eggplant just like chicken in it's preparation and presentation, though I have heard it served a lot of different ways. This summer my most used ingredient was zucchini; boats, spirals, lasagna, we did it all. As summer comes to an end it may be time to switch to eggplant, and this was a great introduction.

Eggplant Parmesan with Pasta

Eggplant Parmesan
1 large eggplant (Try to find one with a consistent diameter for even cooking.)
1 cup italian style bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs- lightly beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 lb pasta
Tomato sauce (I defrosted a freezer bag from a large sauce batch, but store bought always works.)

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees and place an over rack in the top section of the over. Grease a cookie sheet or line with non-stick aluminum foil. In a shallow bowl, beat the two eggs. In another shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs with parmesan cheese. (At this point, if you choose you can remove the skin from the eggplant. I like the texture so I leave it on.) Slice the eggplant into one inch thick discs. Dip the eggplant discs one at a time into the egg then the breadcrumbs mixture. Place the coated eggplant on the baking dish and repeat steps for each piece of eggplant. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and flip the eggplant. Spoon sauce onto the eggplant and top with mozzarella cheese, return to the over for an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese is hot and bubbly. Serve with pasta.

Do you have any eggplant favorites I should be trying?