"Chopped" Challenge - Red Pepper, Spinach and Feta Risotto

My fabulous blogging buddies Judee (Gluten-Free A-Z Blog) and Judy (Cranberry Morning) suggested feta cheese and basil pesto, respectively, as items they wanted me to use in creating an appetizer for my "Chopped" challenge, in which I had asked readers to suggest ingredients that I would then have to use in creating something wonderful to eat.

In addition to sharing a name, despite the spelling variation, they also both eat gluten-free diets.  So I thought that this was a match made in cyber-Heaven and that I should unite my friends' items into one great dish!

I didn't want to offer a recipe for pizza or noodles or anything that could contain gluten.  Sure, there are breads and pastas which would accommodate this dietary restriction; but there are also so many, many foods without gluten that it seemed better to showcase them rather than to use substitutions.

The ingredients I was challenged to use made my thoughts immediately travel to the Mediterranean.  In Italy, it is customary to eat dishes in succession, with pasta or rice - a "primo piatto," or first course - served before the main meat dish.  So a creamy risotto, enhanced with the vibrant flavor of pesto and the zesty addition of Feta, sounded like the perfect antidote to a winter day.

I must say, this dish is simply, richly, and addictively delicious; I was so disappointed when I finished the last of it!  And isn't flavor the most important ingredient in any dish?


Red Pepper, Spinach and Feta Risotto

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup Arborio rice (the high starch content contributes to the creamy texture of the dish)
1 cup vegetable stock or water
1 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon kosher salt
generous sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper
2" rind of Parmesan cheese (see note below)
3 tablespoons basil pesto
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup Feta cheese, divided
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
2 cups chopped baby spinach leaves

Heat the oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan.  Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat the rice in the oil.

Heat the stock and the wine.  Add the liquid to the saucepan in small increments, stirring the rice until the liquid is mostly absorbed and then adding a bit more liquid.  When half of the liquid has been added, add the salt, pepper, Parmesan rind, and pesto.  Continue to add liquid to the rice, stirring constantly, until the liquid has been used up.  Test the rice to make sure it is just tender; if it's a bit on the crunchy side still, add a bit more liquid and continue to stir.

Once the liquid has been almost entirely absorbed and the rice is creamy, remove the Parmesan rind.  Stir in the lemon zest, 3/4 of the Feta, the red peppers, and the spinach; cook just until the spinach is wilted.

Place onto small serving dishes and sprinkle the remaining Feta on top.

Serves 4-6.

Note: Buy hunks of good Parmesan cheese, and always save the rinds!  With the last scraps of cheese on them that are beyond being grated, they add flavor and creaminess to risotto, to sauces, and to soups.

Pasta in Pesto Cream with Chicken and Tomatoes

This elegant dish is actually a cobbling together of scraps - a little of this, a little of that, put it all together to make something amazing!

I had leftover tomato rotini sitting in a baggie in the pantry. I had leftover cream from making chocolate truffles. I had tidbits of chicken sitting in the refrigerator. I had a few tomatoes still looking for a purpose in life. Why leave each of these ingredients to feel forlorn, when they could be transformed into something delicious?

If you have macaroni instead of rotini, that's okay. If you have ham instead of chicken, it'll be fine. If you have sundried tomatoes rather than fresh ones, don't worry. Whatever bits and pieces you need to use up, this sort of dish is very forgiving.

Just cook the pasta, then stir everything else together into a sauce. Your meal will be simple, sophisticated, and sublime.

Pasta in Pesto Cream with Chicken and Tomatoes

1 cup rotini
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped chicken
8 grape tomatoes, quartered
2 tablespoons pesto
pinch of kosher salt
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup cream
parmesan, for serving

Prepare rotini according to package directions.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and tomatoes; saute 2 minutes. Stir in the pesto, salt and pepper; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook for 2 minutes.

Drain the pasta, and pour the sauce over it; toss to combine. Serve immediately, topped with parmesan.

Serves 2.

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad for the EMU Game

Last week's game against Notre Dame was AMAZING!!! A come-from-behind touchdown with 2 seconds left gave Michigan a 35-31 lead, and Notre Dame had no time or opportunity left. This was a game so big that ESPN's "College Game Day" show was based here in Ann Arbor, the Goodyear blimp was hovering over the stadium, and scalpers were seeking as much as $4000 for some tickets! And we won!

Now, this week, next door neighbor Eastern Michigan University - from just 5 miles down the road - is coming to The Big House on Saturday.

Sadly, this isn't particularly a fair play date: Eastern is a small school from the MAC conference rather than Michigan's Big 10. Eastern also doesn't have a particularly stellar football history, though they did beat Howard University in style in their season opener, 41-9. They're also 2-0 for the first time since 1998 after beating Alabama State last weekend. I'll spare you my rant about these uneven match-ups; I'm just here for the food, after all!

So, what food to offer for a game between Eastern and U of M? And what to serve when the weather 'round here can go from morning temperatures in the 90s to thunderstorms in the afternoon, followed immediately by days of highs in the 60s?

Pasta. Everyone loves it, it's easy to make, it goes with almost everything and is appropriate no matter what the weather is. I even made it green and white to honor Eastern's team colors. A girl's gotta have some fun with feeding the masses for the football games, after all!

Eastern Michigan University at University of Michigan
Saturday, September 17 at 12 p.m. EDT
GO BLUE!!!

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad

6 asparagus spears, cut into 1" pieces
1 cup green beans, cut into 1" pieces
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
12 ounces green and white rotini
2 ounces crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup jarred pepperoncini, drained, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup pesto
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400F. Place the asparagus and beans into a pie pan; toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes until tender and slightly caramelized.

Prepare rotini according to package directions; drain and rinse under cold water, then place into a large mixing bowl.

Add the roasted vegetables to the mixing bowl, along with the feta, pepperoncini, oregano, pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Combine the pesto, lemon juice and remaining tablespoon of oil; pour over the salad and toss to coat.

Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Cheese-Stuffed Italian Sausage Meatloaf

This may not be the most photogenic recipe I'll ever offer to you (trust me - I tried valiantly with different plates and angles and lighting!), but it's truly one of the best. Just imagine it: Italian sausage, Parmesan, Gorgonzola, pesto ... a feast of flavors, if not a feast for the eyes!

Meatloaf often gets a bad reputation because it's usually just plain ol' ground beef mixed with ketchup or bread crumbs or Lipton onion soup mix, but it doesn't need to be that way. Use a variety of meats, change up the sauces and seasonings, stuff something interesting into the middle ... give it a make-over and glam it up!

You can vary the spiciness of the dish by using mild, sweet or hot Italian sausage; and you can lower the fat content by using links made of turkey, if you prefer.

This dinner was devoured so quickly that there wasn't even a hope of leftovers for the next day - pretty good reviews for a meatloaf!

Cheesey Italian Sausage Meatloaf

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 pound ground turkey
1 small red onion, chopped fine
4 tablespoons pesto, divided
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
4 ounces Gorgonzola, divided
1/4 cup shredded parmesan

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sausage, turkey, onion, 2 tablespoons of the pesto, salt, pepper and oregano. Take two-thirds of the mixture and press it across the bottom and up the sides of a 9" pie pan. Place half of the Gorgonzola and all of the parmesan into the center of the circle, leaving a 1/2" border. Carefully spread the rest of the mixture over the cheese, and seal the edges.

Bake for 45 minutes, then brush with remaining the remaining 2 tablespoons pesto; sprinkle the remaining Gorgonzola over the top. Bake 5 more minutes.

Let the meatloaf rest for 5 minutes before cutting into portions.

Serves 6-8.

Spinach Feta Pizza

As I mentioned last week, I bought a huge tub of spinach on sale ... so, spinach being highly perishable, I've eaten quite a lot of the stuff in order to use it up before it started to get slimy.

Today's method of plowing through the supply involved a universal favorite: pizza.

I had a bit of leftover feta, as well as a lovely prepared blob of garlic-herb pizza crust dough (99-cents at Trader Joe's -- an incredible deal!), and decided that combining these ingredients would make not only a nutritious dinner but also excellent leftovers to bring for lunch at work.

So, that's precisely what I did: I placed the dough into a pan, threw as much spinach onto it as I could without burying the dough entirely, and used up the last of the cheese.

And it was an exceptional dinner, if I may say so myself ... :)

Spinach Feta Pizza

1 ball of fresh pizza crust dough
1/4 cup pesto
2 generous cups baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan
freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425F. Grease a 9"x13" baking pan.

With lightly floured hands, press the pizza crust into the prepared pan. Spread the pesto over the dough, leaving a 1" border. Tear the spinach leaves and distribute them over the pesto. Sprinkle the feta and the parmesan over the spinach, then grind pepper over everything to taste.


Bake for 20 minutes or so, until the crust is lightly browned.


Cut into 6 pieces and serve.

Sometimes I Amaze Even Myself!

I was tickled to have been invited by Heather, of Girlichef fame, to participate in a link-up dedicated to "REAL food" which was "the brainchild of Alex from A Moderate Life." Real food is just what you think it is -- homemade, wholesome, fresh, delicious. No hydrogenation, none of that high fructose corn syrup nonsense, no preservatives. Just food.

And so, what better way to become initiated into the fold than by writing about my Saturday trip to the Farmers Market??? Oh, I absolutely adore the Farmers Market! The colors, the aromas, the flowers, the vegetables, the herbs, the baked goods, the honey, the syrup ... it leads me into temptation and makes me want to spend a fortune that I just don't have.

But I only needed $3 to realize my goal on Saturday: I came for, I saw, and I went home with garlic scapes -- the usually discarded long, green, twirling tops of garlic. Two bunches of 'em, 'cause their season is short but they supposedly freeze well (never tried it, but I've heard it). I may not even get around to freezing them, though, because there are so many things you can do with them:

- chop them into small pieces and add them to salads or soups
- chop them into itty-bitty pieces and stir them into sour cream for a dip
- puree them with oil and toasted pine nuts to make a pesto (see my fellow Michigan Lady Food Blogger Diana Dyer's recipe, which has been receiving rave reviews among other friends who've been trying it!)

Oh, the list goes on and on! Simply use garlic scapes in any way that you would use green onions or garlic.

As I was giddily making my purchase on Saturday morning (I think it was from the Frog Holler stall, but in all honesty I was so focused on my mission that I'm not 100% positive), the woman next to me was wondering what in the world I was holding and how to use them. I told her that I intended to use some for my lunch that day by chopping them and sauteeing them in olive oil, then pouring that fabulous mix over pasta. Really, it's the little things -- there is no need for anything fancy or elaborate when an ingredient as glorious as garlic scapes is available!

And so, here is a meal that was truly so exceptional that I amazed even myself! Who needs a drive-thru or a drive-up or delivery when it's so easy to make something that's both nutritious and delicious??? I served the pasta with a fabulous Kalamata olive breadstick from Mill Pond Bakery; each could be happily devoured on its own, but together they are a thing of great beauty ... :)

Spaghetti with Garlic Scapes

12 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 large garlic scape, chopped fine
a bit each of kosher salt and pepper
handful of parsley, chopped
few sprigs of oregano, chopped
shredded Parmesan

add-ins for my lunch that Jeremy doesn't like:
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
2 baby Portobello mushrooms, diced
sprinkle of red pepper flakes

Bring water to a boil and cook spaghetti according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic scape, salt, and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until the scape pieces have softened. Turn off heat and stir in parsley and oregano.

Drain pasta and pour the garlic scape oil over it; stir to mix well. Serve immediately, topped with Parmesan.

If you want the add-ins: Saute the tomatoes, mushrooms and red pepper flakes in a tablespoon of oil in a small saucepan for a few minutes, until the tomatoes have wilted and the mushrooms are golden. Stir them into the pasta along with the garlic scape oil.

Serves 2-4, depending upon portion size and how greedily you inhale this once you find out how amazing it is!

This recipe also happily belongs with the Presto Pasta Night link-up, so be sure to visit that one, too, which is being hosted by The Sweet Kitchen this week ....

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

First of all, I've gotta defend myself -- I'm probably the least contrary person I know! I'm pretty adaptable and agreeable, and like to think that I'm haymish (Yiddish = "warm and welcoming").

I'm also not a horticulturist or landscaper by any means, but I always have a backyard garden. Last year's didn't do very well, for inexplicable and anomalous reasons, but I'm hoping for better results this time. I'll also have a larger plot, thanks to the beneficence of Project Grow and its community gardens, so that will double my chances of success!

I always grow tomatoes and basil -- unlike zucchini, you can never have too many or too much of either one of these. If I find I have an abundance of the former, I roast them and puree them into sauce to put in the freezer. It also takes a fair amount of the latter to make pesto, which also finds its way to cold storage for the winter. And that's not even counting the multiple uses for each entity during the summer itself -- salads, basil vinaigrette, pizza, pasta, sandwiches, you name it!

This year, Jeremy and I picked out two varieties of tomato: sweet cherry tomatoes


and beefsteak tomatoes whose tags promise bounty weighing 2 pounds each, which will be tempting to the woodchucks who like to visit my backyard every year and steal from me even though the tomatoes are too big for them to carry and they end up dropping them after ruining them .... take a deep breath, now! Stop carrying that grudge!

(Yes, by the way, I'm aware that my babies look the same at this point, with no distinguishing red fruits to make them appear like fraternal rather than identical octuplets ....)

Jeremy also asked if we could grow peas, which -- along with corn and carrots -- are about the only vegetable he actually enjoys. He's a good eater, and even when he was little he proudly pronounced that spinach souffle was his favorite food. But those three are the only ones I can guarantee he'll eat. So I said, "Sure!" even before he pointed out how much I like to shuck peas. We both win -- good wholesome food, and some pre-cooking entertainment for lil' ol' me.

And I do love to shuck peas, although most people would find it a waste of time and brain function. I find it very relaxing, just like pitting cherries in July when the tart varieties that Michigan specializes in growing will appear. Turn on some tunes, sit in the sun and pretend I don't live my life under fluorescent lights in an office, and peel those pods off those peas! I'd show you their picture, but they look fairly pitiful right now. Let's let them buff up a bit, shall we? But no steroids -- I only grow organic gardens.

So, that's it for the tour. You've met the cast, now let's see how this production plays out ....