Penne with Broccoli and Pumpkin Seed-Parsley Pesto

I have neglected to update this blog and have left out many delicious recipes i have made over the passed months. now that alex is in flight training, my goal is to have an organized weekly meal planner and to record the final products in this blog, critique the outcome, and include any modifications i think are necessary.

The first meal i planned for this week came out of my cookbook, A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop. I made "Penne with Broccoli and Pumpkin Seed-Parsley Pesto" (page 246). I was craving a pasta dish and this one looked simple, yet flavorful, and incorporated unconventional ingredients (the pumpkins seeds, which are one of Alex's favorites). I made the full recipe which is supposed to yield 4 servings so we could have leftovers later in the week.

Penne with Broccoli and Pumpkin Seed-Parsley Pesto

serves 4 as a main course

The nutty taste of green pumpkin seeds works well with the mild

parsley in this pesto sauce. Broccoli and pumpkin seeds marry

fall flavors.

1/2 cup hulled green pumpkin seeds

1 1/2 cups packed fresh parsley leaves

1 small garlic clove, peeled

1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for the table

salt

1 pound penne

1 pound broccoli, stalks discarded and florets cut into bite-sized pieces

1. Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot for the cooking of the pasta

2. Move an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread the pumpkin seeds out on a rimmed baking sheet and toast them in the oven, shaking the pan once or twice to turn the seeds, until lightly browned and fragrant, about 6 minutes. Cool the pumpkin seeds.

3. Process the cooled pumpkin seeds, parsley, garlic, and pepper flakes in a food processor, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until the ingredients are finely ground. With the motor running, add the oil in a steady stream through the feed tube and process until thick and fairly smooth. Scrape the mixture into a bowl large enough to hold the cooked pasta. (the Pesto will be very thick.) Stir in the cheese and salt to taste. (Salt the pesto generously; it has to season a pound of pasta and the broccoli.)

4. Add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Scoop out 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, add the broccoli, and continue to cook until the broccoli is crisp-tender, 1 1/2 minutes. Meanwhile, stir 1/2 cup of the cooking water into the pesto to achieve a saucier consistency. Drain the pasta and broccoli. Add the pasta and broccoli to the bowl with the pesto and toss, adding more water as necessary to moisten the pasta and help spread the pesto. Serve immediately, passing the grated cheese at the table.

I thought this dish was fairly flavorful for how simple it was to prep and make. I added more garlic and red pepper flakes to the pesto. I also think the pasta became slightly overcooked. Next time I would remove the pasta once it reaches al dente and then quick-boil the broccoli for 1 minute then combine together in a bowl. Also the amount of pesto was not sufficient for the full pound of pasta. I would also recommend making just enough for one meal. I found the pasta and broccoli became more mushy as it was reheated for lunch today. It also needs just one more component to balance the dish. something with acid or sweetness. I am not sure what, as I do not want to clash with the broccoli and pesto flavors. Also this component could add more color to the dish, as it was very green. Perhaps bruschetta topped with either tomatoes or peppers would compliment the pasta.

Linguine with Zucchini, Caprese Salad, and Garlic Bread

I decided to try one of my cookbooks I hadn't tried before. It's called Student's Vegetarian Cookbook: Quick, Easy, Cheap, and Tasty Vegetarian Recipes. It has recipes for 1-2 servings that are easy and low budget. I selected Pasta with Zucchini and Basil because we had an extra zucchini in the fridge. I also added a few other items we had in the fridge and doubled it to serve 2. Below is the recipe with my modifications.

Linguine with Zucchini, Peppers, Red Onion, and Basil

1/3 lb uncooked linguine

2 tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 large zucchini sliced 1/2" and quartered

3 mini sweet peppers, diced into 1/2" squares

1/4 red onion, largely diced

1 1/2 tbsp basil

salt and pepper

1 lemon juiced

grated parmesan cheese

1. Bring a covered pot of water to a rapid boil. Stir in the pasta and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to medium but maintain a simmer. Cook until pasta is al dente, start checking about 4 minutes before cook time on the box.

2. While the pasta cooks, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, zucchini, peppers, onion, and basil. Quickly fry until the zucchini begins to brown, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the lemon juice and stir, remove from heat.

3. When the pasta is al dente, drain it (reserve some cooking liquid). Place the hot pasta in a warm bowl, top with zucchini veggie mixture, and grated parmesan. Add a few tbsp reserved water to pasta. Toss lightly. Salt and pepper to taste.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to add the correct amount of basil to the dish. The basil brought back from the grocery store was only half usable, and I put it all in the Caprese Salad. I remembered at the end the pasta needed basil too, so I spooned some from the caprese dressing onto the zucchini mixture. I think if I had put the correct amount of basil into the dish, it would have been more flavorful. Also it needed more of a sauce. Next time I would reduce 1 cup of white wine in the zucchini mixture after it was browned. This should add a lot more flavor and liquid. All in all, the dish was mediocre, even with the addition of the peppers and onions (which were delicious!). This is ok because the Caprese Salad turned out amazing!

Caprese Salad

I did not have access to good heirloom tomatoes, so I substituted the most flavorful tomatoes the grocery carries, campari. Fortunately for us, they were on sale! I have been waiting months to see them 2(1 lb packages) for $4 rather than $4-$5 each! I used 1 lb tomatoes and 6 oz of mozzarella for the 2 of us but pretty much used the entire vinaigrette recipe. I didn't measure the oil and vinegar exactly, just kind of poured and stirred until it looked right. I substituted white balsamic vinegar for the red wine and it was a perfect substitution. Alex and I were discussing whether I should follow the recipe, use balsamic, or white balsamic. Alex thought I should use balsamic because of it's sweetness, but I thought it would be too strong and compete with the other flavors. We both thought red wine vinegar is just too boring. I decided to use white balsamic because it is light, but very bright. It worked perfectly and I would use it again and again. I quartered each tomato (it is about the size of a pingpong ball) and cubed the mozzarella into 1/2" cubes. Alex and I almost ate the whole thing! I loved it on garlic bread and by itself. This is definitely a repeat, especially while the campari tomatoes are on sale. If i was still in Orlando, I would definitely go to the Winter Park farmer's market every Saturday to buy the heirloom tomatoes to make this salad every week. They are also wonderful and come in MANY different colors, purple, yellow, orange, green.