Butternut Carbonara

Squash is not a popular item on our table, unless it comes from the grill… So this time, I neglected to inform my taste-testers of this month’s Improv Cooking Challenge ingredients. I just knew that if I tossed in some bacon, chances of the dish being devoured would go way up!

For this recipe you will need:

• butternut squash
• drizzle of olive oil
• 4 oz. salted butter
• 12 fresh sage leaves (small to medium)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
• 2 oz. bacon crumbles
• Parmesan cheese (freshly shred about 2 oz.)

I went to Sprouts and bought the largest butternut squash I could find -- which proved to be slightly problematic for my little Veggetti. Cut off the bulbous portion, seed it & roast separately for some other use. Cut off the stem end and peel the rest of the squash.  Use a spiralizing tool to make “noodles”.  Place the butternut noodles onto a silicone baking sheet in a pan and drizzle with a little olive oil.Bake at 400° for about 7 or 8 minutes. (We prefer most pastas al dente, so I didn’t want them too soft…)

While the squash is baking, brown the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.When it starts browning, add the sage leaves and minced garlic. It takes only a minute or so for them to cook.Gently toss in the butternut noodles from the oven.Add the bacon.After plating the finished noodles, sprinkle with a generous amount of Parmesan.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much the fellas enjoyed dinner! They had seconds and asked for more, but the skillet was empty…

 

Want some more squash & sage recipes? Click the links below to see what my fellow Improvers prepared for you today:

An InLinkz Link-up

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Kalamata Olive “Pesto”

There was quite the dilemma at our table when I told the fellas their choices for the “Orange & Black” Improv Cooking Challenge. They wished to try “all the above”, so we made two meals -- one over here, which was slightly Southwesty, & this one, was moderately Mediterranean.

We served the gnocchi with blackened salmon, for one more layer of orange & black…

• 2 c. mashed sweet potato (bake sweet potatoes @ 400° for about an hour, let cool)
• 1 c. ricotta cheese (let drain overnight until it’s about 6 oz.)
• 1 t. kosher salt
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 c. gluten-free flour, plus some for the work surface

I started out by draining the ricotta overnight so it would be nice & dry for the gnocchi. I also baked the sweet potatoes ahead of time.(This was my first time using Bob’s Red Mill® Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. It worked, but tasted slightly “rice-y”, I thought…) You can see I tried to make the ridges with a fork, but that wasn’t working for me. I’ve since picked up a gnocchi board at the kitchen store to use on the next batch…

After the gnocchi was sitting around drying a little before cooking; I started the tedious process of hand-chopping the pesto ingredients. (Using the food processor would’ve made this too pasty, I think.)

• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 6 oz. Kalamata black olives, pitted and chopped
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1.5 oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 c. fresh basil leaves (about 2 oz.) chopped

Time to brown the gnocchi in butterI may or may not have eaten half while waiting for everyone to show up from school/work.

The salmon was simple. It wasn’t truly blackened. I used a tablespoon each of dark brown sugar, espresso powder & Cajun seasoning. I stuck it in a 425° oven for 10-12 minutes. Came out perfect!

The fellas love the Kalamata condiment! This nacho plate happened more than once with the leftovers:Yes! That’s tortilla chips, salmon, pesto & a little Colby-Jack… to. die. for.

Here are the links to the other Orange & Black participants’ foods:

An InLinkz Link-up

Bacon Pad See Ew

Kristen from Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker is the hostess for our linky party; and she invited us to use eggs and bacon for this celebration.  Bacon & Eggs? Yes, please!When I saw those were the theme for April’s Improv Challenge, my mind immediately went to pasta. One of my former (as in prior to gluten-free living) favorite go-to hurry-up week-night meals was Spaghetti Carbonara. Been there, done that. (Plus, I haven’t found a GF pasta that I would wish to use for the dish…) I needed a new type of recipe that hadn’t been posted on my blog before. If one were to follow my facebook or Instagram postings, one would think I have a new addiction to Thai food, namely Pad See Ew. One would be correct!I’ve been scouring the ‘net, searching for & pinning recipes that looked like they would taste as delicious as the dishes I ordered in my favorite Thai restaurants. The recipe I referenced most for my creation came from Bee Yinn Low of Rasa Malaysia. I did make a few changes: I didn’t find Chinese broccoli or fresh “river noodles” at my Asian market. And, instead of mixing soy/oyster/fish sauce(s) and sugar, I used San-J’s gluten-free peanut sauce.Because I used dry noodles, I soaked them in cold water for an hour to soften. I cut up the bacon & cooked it until it was the perfect color!I browned the onion in some of the bacon drippings & then added chopped garlic.The vegetables were the next to hit the pan.I returned the bacon after the veggies started getting tender.Made a well in the center of the pan & scrambled the eggs into it, one at a time.The noodles have to be very well drained. Then I was able to brown them in the pan with a little sauce. (I also added a touch more bacon drippings.)Mmmmmmmm! I gently tossed everything together.Heaped it high on a plate & let everyone dig in! I used tamari on mine. The hubs liked sriracha on his.

Check out the other guests at our eggs & bacon party:

penne broccoli salad

We made an absolutely yummy pasta salad for our Easter dinner.  We cooked about two pounds of penne ziti rigate. To this we added:


pound of fresh broccoli florets
box of grape tomatoes
half a pound sliced white mushrooms
fresh red bell pepper slices
sliced Kalamata olives
feta cheese


We tossed it all together with a light vinaigrette I made that included rice wine vinegar, fresh basil, garlic, fresh-cracked black pepper and some dried onions.


I'm eating some of the leftovers for lunch today...

My boys will do anything for this dish...

Seriously, an.ee.thing! I asked the younger two to please wash the dishes or I would have to fix tuna salad for dinner. (hmmmm -- maybe they'd do anything to avoid tuna...)

Actually, it ranks up there with pizza for mr-in-the-middle. He requests it for all sorts of special occasions -- his birthday, Christmas, when the grands are here...

The ingredients are few, the pans are two -- & you can whip it up in very little time!

Serve with parmesan & fresh focaccia... (the hubs likes to use sriracha on his!)

Of course we do change the recipe up every once-in-a-while.  I usually add fresh garlic to brown slightly after the onions. At times when I don't have onions I will use the dried ones from the spice aisle. If there's not spinach in the garden I use the fresh-packaged from Costco.


Now I'm going to link this up to Shanty2Chic's Shanty Suppers...