pasta – Oven Love

Chicken, Kale and Broccoli Casserole

Natalie — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 01:28:00 +0000

Let’s start this with a .. YUM.

Reasons to try this recipe: It’s full of healthy greens.
Dark, beautiful, curly kale and a little family-friendly broccoli. I like greens on their own, but when you add pasta and cheese? That’s a win.

It’s freezable.
I made the full recipe; baking up half of it for our meal and freezing half of it for a future dinner. I love that I only had to cook once, but I get to eat it twice (and not as leftovers).

It’s tasty.

Big bites of pasta, creamy ricotta cheese, perfectly moist chicken and dark, flavorful greens. Pair it with a salad and you can feel great about what you’re feeding your family.This is a solid weeknight meal- try it soon.
(And do not fear the kale! It’s your body’s best friend, I swear.)

Chicken, Kale and Broccoli Casserole

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

adapted from Martha Stewart- http://www.marthastewart.com/862208/chicken-and-kale-casserole

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Main

Serves: 4

Ingredients

¾ lb. large or jumbo pasta shells
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 bunch kale, stems and ribs removed, coarsely chopped
1 head broccoli, chopped into florets
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped
1 large container ricotta cheese
zest of 1 lemon
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain; return to pot. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is beginning to soften, 4 minutes. Add kale and broccoli, cover, and cook until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to pot with pasta.
Stir in chicken, ricotta, lemon zest, and ½ cup Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; top with ¼ cup Parmesan. Bake until top is golden, 30 minutes.
To freeze: Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water; return to the pot. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is beginning to soften, 4 minutes. Add kale and broccoli, cover, and cook until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to pot with pasta. Stir in chicken, ricotta, lemon zest, and ½ cup Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a 9-by-13-inch disposable baking dish (or two 8-by-8-inch baking dishes); top with ¼ cup Parmesan. Let cool to room temperature, cover with aluminum foil and freeze.
To reheat from frozen: Bake casserole (straight from the freezer) at 350 degrees for 60-90 minutes or until completely warmed through, removing the foil for the last 20 minutes of baking. You can also thaw in the fridge the day before and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.

Spicy Kale Lasagna

Natalie — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:05:00 +0000

Mmm.. I am having good memories of this lasagna.

Are you ready for cool weather comfort foods? I’m sure you northerners are. I’m getting in the mood myself, but the southern weather is getting in the way! This lasagna is a great way to transition into fall- not too heavy, since there’s no meat involved. Some vegetarian lasagnas leave something to be desired, but I really love this version- very filling and you don’t miss the meat at all.

I want to tell you more about this lasagna, but there’s a crazy, silly toddler making it difficult to hear myself think. So you’ll just have to trust me on this one!

Tell me, though- what cool weather dishes are you looking forward to?

Spicy Kale Lasagna

Prep time

45 mins

Cook time

55 mins

Total time

1 hour 40 mins

adapted from Annie’s Eats- http://annies-eats.net/2011/03/01/spicy-kale-lasagna/

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Main

Serves: 10

Ingredients

1¼ lbs. kale (or spinach), stems removed
3 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes, (preferably with herbs)
1 (15.5 oz) can tomato sauce
2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1 tsp. lemon juice
4 cups cottage cheese (I usually use a mix of cottage cheese and ricotta)
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
¾ tsp. pepper
16 no-boil lasagna noodles (or noodles cooked according to package directions)

Instructions

To prepare the kale, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the kale to the pot and boil for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water until cool enough to handle. Wrap the kale inside a clean kitchen towel and wring out as much excess liquid as possible. Chop roughly, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
To make the tomato sauce, combine the oil, garlic, red pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt in a cold saucepan. Heat over medium-high, stirring frequently. Once bubbling, cook for about 30 seconds. Mix in the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce, reduce heat and let simmer 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice.
To make the cheese mixture, strain all of the liquid out of the cottage cheese. (I used a fine mesh strainer and pressed down to remove the liquid.) Mix in ½ cup of the Parmesan, 1½ cups of the mozzarella, 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper.
Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. To assemble the lasagna, add a thin layer of the sauce to the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Cover with a layer of noodles, then half of the cheese mixture, half of the kale, and half of the remaining sauce. Add another layer of noodles, the remaining cheese mixture, and the remaining kale. Top with the remaining noodles, then the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup Parmesan.
Bake for 45 minutes, until bubbly and browned. Let stand at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Farfalle con Broccoli

Natalie — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 02:28:00 +0000

Before I dip into the vegan recipes, let’s warm up with something vegetarian.

Let’s keep the cheese and cream for just a little while longer, shall we?

This dish feels like something you would make if you lived in Italy, went to market, saw a beautiful head of broccoli and just came home and put dinner together on a whim. It’s a picture of simple Italian-style cooking. If only every dish was this easy.

Preparation here is low-maintenance. The pasta and broccoli are cooked in the same pot and the sauce comes together quickly in the meantime. All you have to do next is toss the pasta with the sauce and add your cheese and you’ve got a lovely dish. It’s also an easy introduction to vegetarian cooking. The recipe calls for a little anchovy paste (don’t freak out- it’s not gross, it just adds a salty flavor), but that can be replaced with a little extra salt to make the dish truly vegetarian. Most kids will go for it, too (you don’t have to tell them about the anchovy).

If you’re cooking for a pickier/non-veg crowd (little ones or men used to eating more meat), you can easily add a little grilled chicken or some crisp bacon to the dish.

While you give this one a try, I’ll be busy daydreaming about Jess making me this dish when I come to visit her in Italy..

Farfalle con Broccoli

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

35 mins

adapted from The Geometry of Pasta, via Suzie the Foodie- http://suziethefoodie.blogspot.com/2010/11/geometry-of-pastas-farfalle-con.html

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Pasta

Serves: 4

Ingredients

⅓ lb farfalle (bowtie) pasta
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 salted anchovy filets or anchovy paste (omit if necessary and add a little extra salt to compensate)
¼ cup heavy cream
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and broccoli florets and boil until al dente (it should still have a little bite to it). Meanwhile, fry the garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Turn off the heat and add red pepper flakes to the garlic oil.
Crush the anchovies with a little oil to make a paste (or use a bit of anchovy paste per your taste). When the garlic oil stops sizzling, add the anchovies and mix with a wooden spoon. Mix in the cream and return it to the heat. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce.
Cook together until the sauce thickens. Add the parmesan and some freshly ground black pepper. If the sauce gets too thick and sticky, add some pasta water.