Summer pasta salad-Trooper York Style

2 lb boxes of wagon wheel pasta
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 quart boxes of cherry tomatoes
1 large bunch bail
1 large hunk of ricotta salad cheese (approx 2 lbs at least)
1 cup of grated Pecorino Romano Cheese
Salt

This is a quick and easy summer salad.

Boil a big pot of water and when it is bubbly toss in the two pounds of wagon wheel pasta. Any odd shape will do like bow ties or rotelli springs like in this photo but I particularly like wagon wheels because the stay all dente and firm longer. Cook for about six or seven minutes until the pasta gets a little soft, not mushy but still very firm.

Drain and put in a metal mixing bowl. Pour in the Olive oil and salt the macaroni liberally. Then cover it with aluminum foil and let it sit for twenty minutes. It will continue to cook in the bowl while you are preparing the other ingredients.

Wash and then cut the tomatoes in half. Dice the ricotta salad into small hunks about an inch all around. This might sound big but this is a soft cheese and when you mix it the pieces will break up into smaller units. Clean the basil so you have only the leaf as the stems might be bitter.

Uncover the bowl and add the tomatoes and cheese. Take a large wooden spoon and place the salad in our serving bowl. Be gentle and try not to break apart the pasta or the cheese.

Right before serving add ¾ of the cup of Pecorino Romano and mix thoroughly but gently. Reserve the remainder of the cheese for anyone who likes it extra cheesy. Add the basil at the last minute for freshness, mixing once again thoroughly but gently.

This is my favorite quick and easy summer pasta salad that can be assembled while you are doing a lot of other stuff. The cheese and the freshness of the basil make it particularly tasty.

Salud.

The closest poll ever!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey our Pasta Bowl ended up with the closest poll results ever. Holy macaroni. The results:

Ravioli 35

Manicotti 35

Fettuccini 23

Linguini 23

Ziti 17

A very evenly spaced poll. Just goes to show you that everybody loves pasta.

Next up a Father's day poll.

Our pasta bowl is almost tied. Cool!

Hey the pasta bowl is almost tied. It is neck and neck between my two favorites ravioli and maniccotti. I guess that is only because I didn't express a preference. Anyway here is a quick spinach manicotti reciep from the Food Network website.

Ingredients
12 ounces of Ricotta
1 egg
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 package frozen spinach, thawed
Salt
8 crepes
3 cups tomato sauce

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In bowl combine Ricotta, eggs and half of the Parmesan cheese. Drain spinach and squeeze out remaining water. Add to cheese mixture. Stir to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Take a crepe and top with 3 or 4 tablespoons of cheese and spinach mixture. Roll up. Fill and roll up remaining crepes. In a baking dish spread sauce evenly along bottom. Place stuffed crepes in baking dish. Top with more sauce and Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly. Serve.

What the Puck? Wolfgang Puck makes Pumpkin ravioli's

Here is a reciepe for pumpkin ravioli from Wolfgang Puck from the Food Network:

Ingredients

10 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter
1 pound fresh pumpkin, peeled and cut in 1-inch cubes
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 bay leaf
2 tablespoons minced fresh sage, plus 6 small leaves for garnish
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
2 eggs, beaten
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper
1/2 recipe Spinach Pasta Dough or Regular Pasta Dough, recipe follows
1 egg, beaten lightly, for egg wash
Semolina
2 cups chicken stock or light duck stock, recipe follows
2 shallots, chopped

Directions

Heat a saute pan over low heat and add 4 tablespoons of the butter. When the butter is foamy, add the cubed pumpkin and cook, stirring often to stop it from sticking and burning, until it softens and falls into a puree.

Turn the pumpkin into a saucepan, add 1/2 of the cream and half the herbs and cook over a low heat for approximately 1 hour, or until the puree is thick and the liquid has evaporated. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching. Remove from the heat and beat in an additional 2 tablespoons of butter. Whisk in the beaten eggs, season, to taste, with salt and pepper and set a side to cool.
On a floured surface, roll out the pasta as thin as possible. Cut into 2 sheets and brush 1 of them with egg wash. Using a teaspoon, place 24 equal mounds of the pumpkin puree on the egg-washed dough, about 2 inches apart. Cover the mounded dough with the second sheet of pasta and press around the mounds of pumpkin to seal the dough.

Using a ravioli cutter or a sharp knife cut the ravioli. Dust a tray with semolina and place the ravioli on it.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, while you make the sauce.

Prepare the sauce: In a saucepan, reduce the stock with the shallots to 1/2 cup. Add the remaining cream and reduce by half. Over a low heat, whisk in the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, a little at a time, over low heat. Strain the sauce into a clean saucepan and add the remaining sage and thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add the ravioli to the rapidly boiling water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain. Add the ravioli to the sauce and bring just to a boil. Correct the seasonings.
Divide the ravioli among preheated soup dishes and spoon the sauce over them. Garnish each serving with a fresh sage leaf. Serve immediately.

A simple but delicious alternative sauce can be made from fresh unsalted butter, minced fresh sage, and a little freshly grated Parmesan.

Check out Dust Bunny Queens Pasta dish.

Dust Bunny Queen was nice enough to post a recipe for PASTA PUTTANESCA on her great blog Recipe Junkie.

2 or 3 large tomatoes *seeded and coarsely chopped
2 tbsp capers crushed
1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
1/4 cup chopped fresh italian parsley
1/2 cup chopped calamata olives
1 small tin of anchovies in oil
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 pound linguine
fresh Parmesan or asiago cheese

In a medium sauce pan over low heat saute the garlic anchovies in the olive oil. Don't over cook, just smoosh the ancovies and garlic and oil around to make a paste and to release all the yummy flavors. Add the chopped tomatoes, capers, chili flakes, olives and simmer on low for about 10 to 15 minutes, stiring occaisonally.

Meanwhile. Cook the linguini to al dente in a large pan that has been salted with about 1 tbsp kosher salt.

Drain the pasta. Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss in the Italian Parsley (bet you thought I forgot about it, didn't you?). Mix the linguine with the sauce and parsley.
Top each serving with a bit of shaved Parmesan or Asiago cheese.
Serve with a green salad, fruit (cantaloupes are really good right now), crusty french bread .....oh and of course a good wine.

My husband hated the Kalamata Olives. He thought they were too salty with the anchovies so you might substitute milder ripe olives. For those of you who don't like hot/spicy dishes you can also lighten up on the chili flakes (weenies). I also like this sauce over Farfalle pasta. Soon, I plan to try it with a mixture of yellow and red tomatoes from my garden.

* to seed tomatoes: cut the tomato in half crossways and simply squeeze the seeds and juices into a bowl. You want as much of the juice removed from the tomatoes or else your sauce will be watery and you will have to cook it much longer which will ruin the delicate flavor of the capers.

You have to check out some of the recipes in the archives. I have made several of them and they are easy to follow and very tasty.

"Salsa alle Vongole con Broccoli" from Lidia.

Here is a great recipe for Linguine with white clam sauce with Broccoli from Lidia's Italy!

Enjoy Basta!

Serves 6

Salt

3 cups broccoli florets

36 littleneck clams

1 pound linguine

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Cook the broccoli in a large saucepan of boiling salted water just until it is softened a little bit, about 2 minutes. Drain it well and cool under cold running water. Drain completely, then chop the broccoli coarsely.Scrub and shuck the clams, reserving the liquid. Strain the liquid, chop the clams, and combine them with the liquid. Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in an 8-quart pot over high heat. Stir the linguine into the boiling water. Return to a boil, stirring frequently.

Cook the pasta, semi-covered, stirring occasionally, until not quite done al dente, about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Scatter the garlic over the oil and cook, shaking the pan, until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the blanched broccoli and crushed red pepper ad cook until the broccoli is sizzling, about 2 minutes.
Pour in the clams and their liquid and bring to a boil. Ladle about 1/2 cup of pasta-cooking water into the skillet. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer.

Cook until the broccoli is tender, about 4 minutes.If the skillet is large enough to accommodate the sauce and pasta, fish the pasta out of the boiling water with a large wire skimmer and drop it directly into the sauce in the skillet. If not, drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and pour in the sauce. Bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, stir in the parsley, and check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper.

Serve to your hungry guests.

Alfredo, you were my brother.

Here is a recipe from Little Big Head Giada DeLaurentis for a quick and dirty fettuccine alfredo.
Please be sure to use a lot of cheese.

Ingredients
18 ounces fresh fettuccine
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice from four lemons
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups grated Parmesan
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Directions

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Drain.

Stir 2 cups of the cream and the lemon juice in a heavy large skillet to blend. Add the butter and cook over medium heat just until the butter melts, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Add the pasta and toss. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, and Parmesan to the cream sauce in Toss the pasta mixture over low heat until the sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute. the skillet. Add the lemon zest, nutmeg, salt, and white pepper.

Toss the pasta mixture over low heat until the sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute.

Hey it's time for pasta!

So it’s time to get to what is your favorite pasta. We will be doing a lot of recipes over the next couple of days but think of the pasta in your favorite sauce or dish if you want to vote for it. The choices.

Ravioli. It could be cheese or meat or mushroom or even pumpkin. Your choice.

Ziti. Baked or otherwise.

Fettuccini; Alfredo is preferred but you can do what you want.

Linguini. With clam sauce or just a fresh basil tomato sauce.

Manicotti: With straight ricotta or maybe spinach you choose.

So get out your forks and start doing some research.