Three New Recipes in One Night!

Alex invited some of his family that live in the Cincinnati area over for dinner and while I was excited to see them, I was a bit nervous making dinner for people that weren't Alex or my parents who, let's face it, will love me no matter how my kitchen experiments turn out.  I had a menu planned out but was thrown a curve bowl... Months and months and months ago, my mom and Alex convinced me that I had to have pasta bowls and convinced me to fall in love with a specific set from Sur la Table.  I thought I had plenty of time to get them.  I mean, who wouldn't be selling pasta bowls well into fall?  Sur la Table apparently.  Sometime in July they sold out.  Then last week, as my mom and I were checking out the Home Goods store in my area, we saw THEM.

Not only did I HAVE to get the bowls, but I immediately had to re-plan my menu to include pasta.  Obviously.

Quick and Easy Roman Pasta Recipe (from Williams-Sonoma recipe card in-store):
kosher salt to taste
1/2 lb. spaghetti
1/4 cup olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 jar cherry tomatoes (17.6 ounces)
4 large fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
fennel salt to taste (I didn't have, so I omitted.)
grated cheese for serving

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the pasta and cook until al-dente according to package instructions.  Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.  Set aside.

In a large saute pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and gently smashing about half of the tomatoes.  Add 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water and bring it to a simmer.

Add the pasta and toss together until well combined and warmed through, about 2 minutes, adding more cooking water as needed to create a light sauce.  Sprinkle with the basil and fennel salt.  Serve immediately and pass grated cheese alongside.  Serves 4.

(Diva Note: Although I was serving four people, I doubled the recipe.  Alex counts for 2-2.5 people anyway.  I used Barilla multi-grain pasta, and I added some grilled chicken breasts right before serving.)

Nutrition Information: I put the recipe information in Spark Recipe's recipe calculator and with the addition of the chicken breasts, it comes to around 258 calories per serving.

Verdict:  Definite make-again and a meal worthy of the new pasta bowls.  I am a huge fan of pastas in lighter, olive-oil based sauces, and the use of fresh, smashed cherry tomatoes was an interesting twist in both the preparation and taste of the dish.  I've never cooked with fennel or fennel salt before, so I'm not sure what that would have added, but the fresh basil was delightful to both the senses of taste and smell.  This will likely be kept on hand as a go-to busy weeknight dinner, and it will be keep me going back to Williams-Sonoma looking for more freebie recipe cards!

What did I serve with this pasta?  Well, I was looking for a use for our pizza stone since the guests we were feeding had given it to us as a shower present.  I thought a Tomato, Spinach, and Mozzarella Flatbread recipe found on Spark Recipes would fit the bill.

Recipe:
1 tube Pillsbury thin crust pizza dough
Red Ripe Tomatoes, sliced thinly
8 slices fresh mozzarella cheese (Diva Note: I used a mix of shredded gouda and mozzarella because it's what I had.)
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
2 cups fresh spinach

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Open and unroll pizza crust onto pizza stone.  Bake about 12 minutes.

 Remove from oven and top with BBQ sauce, spinach, tomatoes, and mozzarella.  Bake another 6-8 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Cut into 36 pieces.  Serve hot.

Nutritional Information:

• Servings Per Recipe: 18
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 89.9

• Total Fat: 4.2 g
• Cholesterol: 9.9 mg
• Sodium: 83.0 mg
• Total Carbs: 8.8 g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.4 g
• Protein: 4.3 g

Verdict: This is a recipe with possibilities if tweaked slightly.  First of all, the pizza dough recommended is a rectangle.  My pizza stone is round.  Messy.  I think a 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce was too much.  And I didn't really measure the spinach, just used enough leaves to cover the surface.  I think the initial 12 minute bake time needs to be shortened a bit too.  The crust was overdone in my opinion.  Not burnt but.... it could be improved.  The flavors were great.  The technique just needs to be refined.

And finally, we finished with a light, fall-inspired dessert: apple crisp (recipe from Spark Recipes), apples direct from Michigan - thanks Mom!

Recipe:
3 medium baking apples, cored and sliced thin
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp sugar

Topping:
1 cup quick oats
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp heart-healthy margarine (Diva Note: I used butter.  I realize this changes the nutrition information, but I prefer using small amounts of butter over margarine.)

Mix first four ingredients until apples are coated and place in a 9-inch baking dish.  Mix the remaining ingredients in a small bowl until crumbly and sprinkle over apple mixture in baking dish.  Bake at 325 degrees until apples are soft and topping is golden brown (about 30 minutes.)  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream on the side.

Nutrition Information: (before addition of vanilla ice cream)

• Servings Per Recipe: 9
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 131.5

• Total Fat: 3.6 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 33.9 mg
• Total Carbs: 24.4 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2.6 g
• Protein: 1.5 g

Verdict: Delicious!  Cinnamon and apple are some of my favorite fall flavors.  It didn't taste 'light' at all even though it came from a website known for its lightened recipes.  Note though, that the recipe claims to serve 9, and you are baking in a 9-inch square baking dish.  Unless each person has only a square inch size serving, the nutrition information per actual serving is way off.  I'd say it more realistically serves 6. 

All in all, I think our guests left satisfied.  I would not, however, recommend going three for three on new recipe attempts for dinner guests...