Low Carb Pasta with Wilted Mache

Al Dente's Carba-Nada Fettuccini has quickly become my favorite go-to pasta. It's all natural, high in fiber and protein, and low in fat and carbs. I like the roasted garlic variety and order it by the case via Amazon. A case has 6 bags (5 servings per bag), costs about $23/case, and I get free 2-day shipping through my Amazon Prime membership, so it's very reasonable, especially for such a unique and wonderful product.

The pasta only takes about 5 minutes to cook and since I tossed it with fresh mache, this dish couldn't be easier or quicker to fix - about 10 minutes in total. Mache is an ancient wild green originating from France, but Epic Roots grows it domestically in beautiful Northern California. The taste is mildly earthy and "green". I loved it tossed with the pasta and accented with the tang of sun-dried tomatoes and bite of fresh garlic.

Mache is a salad green that tastes mildly earthy and green.

Pasta with Wilted Mache (using Al Dente's Low Carb Pasta)

Serves 4-6

10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 10-ounce bag Al Dente Carba-Nada Roasted Garlic Fettuccini, prepared according to package

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon butter

1 cup julienned sun-dried tomatoes

4 large cloves of fresh garlic, minced

1  3.5 ounce container of fresh mache (or about 2 1/2 cups)

sea salt

fresh cracked pepper

grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

While the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat and add olive oil and butter. When butter is melted, add sun-dried tomatoes and garlic. Stir and cook until garlic is fragrant and beginning to lightly brown, about 1-2 minutes.

Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water. Add pasta directly to skillet with tomatoes and garlic, toss and remove skillet from heat. Next add fresh mache and about half of the pasta water. Season with salt and pepper, add the Parmigiano Reggiano and toss gently to coat. If too dry, add more of the pasta water. The mache will slightly wilt from the heat of the pasta. Serve immediately with more Parmigiano Reggiano.

Low Carb Pasta with Wilted Mache - fresh and yummy!

Another low carb pasta dish you may enjoy is Perfect Pasta - it's full of flavor with spicy Italian sausage, fresh asparagus, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Perfect Pasta with Al Dente's Carba-Nada Fettuccini {Low Carb}

Now you can have your pasta and eat it, too! Al Dente has a full line of low carb pastas that taste amazing. They're called Carba-Nada and they're all natural, high in fiber and protein, and low in fat and carbs.

Just take a look at the label:

Low carb, delicious AND it cooks in 5 minutes!

Guilt-free pasta - now that's what I'm talking about!

This pasta is excellent tossed with a little olive oil and fresh garlic, or with any of your favorite ingredients. One of my (many) favorite ingredients is asparagus and I just happened to have picked up some beautiful thin organic asparagus at the farmer's market yesterday.

fresh organic asparagus diced small

Combined with one of my other favorite ingredients, sun-dried tomatoes, makes for a great pasta dish.

I like these sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil).
They're much easier to chop when they're dry.

diced fresh organic asparagus and chopped sun-dried tomatoes

To these I added some spicy Italian sausage, a light and creamy tomato sauce (the creamy part comes from adding fat-free Greek yogurt), the low carb pasta and topped it off with my favorite Parmigiano Reggiano. If that's not perfect, I don't know what is.

My Perfect Pasta dish is:

• low carb
• high in protein and fiber 
• full of rich flavor
• quick and easy to make (less than 30 minutes, including prep)

What more could you ask for?

Yummy "Perfect Pasta"!

Perfect Pasta

serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 10-ounce bag Al Dente Carba-Nada Roasted Garlic Fettuccini Noodles, prepared according to package

1 bunch fresh organic asparagus (the thinner the better), diced small

3/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

3 large links hot Italian sausage, removed from casing (or you can use chicken sausage cut in small pieces like the one I used here)

1 26.46-ounce box of Pomi Marinara Sauce (or use your favorite brand of marinara)

1/2 cup 0% plain Greek yogurt (I like Chobani)

salt

fresh-cracked pepper

grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Heat a large skillet to medium-high and add the sausage. Break up with your spatula as you cook for approximately 5-10 minutes or until sausage is fully cooked.

I love this sausage, but any spicy Italian sausage will do.

Next add the asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes, plus a dash of salt and fresh cracked pepper (just enough to season the veggies you're adding).

Stir and cook for approximately 2 minutes then add the marinara sauce and cook a couple more minutes until warmed through.

Next add the Greek yogurt and stir until creamy.

Last, add the cooked pasta and toss together with the sauce.

Top with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and enjoy!

Enjoy this delicious "Perfect Pasta" guilt-free!

Shrimp Linguini with Garlic and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Shrimp Linguini with Garlic and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Talk about quick, easy and satisfying. This dish has it all. I used frozen peeled and deveined wild caught shrimp and whole wheat linguini - both cook very quickly. And I used jarred sun-dried tomatoes plus the oil they were marinated in so this dish came together in under 20 minutes.

Use the oil and seasonings from your
sun-dried tomatoes to cook the shrimp

One of the other things I really love about quick pasta dishes like this is that I can whip it up for lunch for one, or easily increase the ingredients to accommodate as many servings as needed. In this case I made enough for 2 for dinner.

Shrimp Linguini with Garlic and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Serves 2 (recipe easily doubled)

4 ounces whole wheat linguini, cooked according to package directions, reserve small amount of pasta water

20 medium (41/50 count) peeled and deveined wild caught shrimp

2 large cloves fresh garlic, minced

1/2 jar of 8.5 ounce jar of marinated sun-dried tomatoes, tomatoes rough chopped, use oil for cooking

1 Tablespoon butter

sea salt

fresh cracked pepper

shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

fresh chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

In a large skillet over medium-high heat place half the oil from the jar of marinated sun-dried tomatoes plus butter. When heated add the garlic and cook for about a minute until garlic is fragrant, then add shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes and sprinkle with sea salt. Cook for approximately 1-2 minutes per side until shrimp is opaque and cooked through.

Add cooked pasta to skillet along with small amount of reserved pasta water and toss. Season with additional sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. Place in bowls and garnish with fresh parsley and Parmigiano-Reggiano and serve immediately with a small salad or green veggie.

Quick, easy and satisfying!

Yummy with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano

Grass Fed Tenderloin of Beef/Kobe Beef Ribeye with 3-Cheese Mac 'N Cheese, plus a great wine and a celebrity sighting

Grass Fed Tenderloin of Beef with 3-Cheese Mac 'N Cheese

Kobe Beef Ribeye with 3-Cheese Mac 'N Cheese

It's great to be back home from Las Vegas and the first thing I did (after sleeping for approximately 18 hours) was make a good home-cooked meal.

Today we went to this butcher in Costa Mesa, CA called The Meat House to pick up some steaks and the selection there was phenomenal. We got a Kobe beef ribeye steak and grass fed tenderloin of beef steaks. Both were excellent but the Kobe beef was my favorite. The Meat House currently has locations in California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, and Texas.

The Meat House in Costa Mesa, California

Kobe beef ribeye, grass fed tenderloin of beef
with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper

The steaks were super easy to prepare on the grill. They were incredibly tender, flavorful and the Kobe ribeye with its generous marbling just melted in my mouth.

Steaks:
Serves 3-4

Grill High Heat

Steaks:

1 10-ounce Kobe beef ribeye steak (about 3/4 inch thick)

2 6-ounce grass fed tenderloin of beef steaks (about 1 1/2 inches thick)

sea salt to taste (I used Le Saunier de Camargue Fleur de Sel)

fresh cracked pepper to taste

Let the steaks come to room temperature by letting them sit out on the counter for about an hour to take the chill off. This will keep them from seizing up when you put them on the hot grill. Salt and pepper them on both sides, then place them on the grill at high heat - about 550 degrees F.

I cooked the ribeye for 3 minutes per side for medium and the tenderloins for 6 minutes per side for medium (because they were much thicker). Remove from grill and allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.

3-Cheese Mac 'N Cheese

Gruyere Cheese, Maytag Blue Cheese, and Cheddar-like Cheese from Ireland

The 3-Cheese Mac 'N Cheese was rich, creamy and a nice accompaniment to the buttery steaks.


3-Cheese Mac 'N Cheese:
Serves 6

Oven 350 degrees F

Ingredients:

8 ounces (about 1 3/4 cup, dry) elbow macaroni, prepared according to package directions

4 thick slices of applewood smoked bacon, cooked and crumbled

Cheese Sauce:

2 Tablespoons salted butter

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt (regular iodized salt)

1/8 teaspoon of white pepper (or finely ground black pepper)

1 teaspoon ground mustard

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese (I used Emmi)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used Kerrygold Red Leicester, which is similar to cheddar, but any cheddar will work)

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (I used Maytag)

Topping:

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

sprinkle of paprika (any kind)

To make the cheese sauce: In small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Then add flour, salt, pepper, and ground mustard and stir to combine, making a roux or paste.

roux on left, white sauce on right

cheeses on left, cheese sauce on right

Next add milk and stir or whisk constantly until mixture is thick, bubbly and smooth. This is your béchamel or white sauce - the base for your cheese sauce. Remove from heat and immediately add the 3 cheeses. Stir until cheese is melted in and completely combined.

Place cooked macaroni and crumbled bacon in 9 x 11 baking dish (or similar size). Pour cheese sauce over and mix. Cover with additional shredded cheese and sprinkle with paprika.

Bake in oven for 35 minutes until lightly browned and bubbly.

cheese sauce mixed in on left, with cheese on top in middle, baked on right

A Great Wine:
When I was in Las Vegas, we ate at a wonderful restaurant called Lavo in The Palazzo. The food was outstanding and the service was impeccable. Although I'm not a big wine drinker, I decided to sample what our host had ordered for the table. Turns out I really liked it and so I splurged on a bottle today to go with our dinner. It's from Orin Swift Cellars and it's called Papillon. I took a photo of the sign at BevMo where I bought it and it's a better description than I could articulate so here it is.

Great bottle of wine with the coolest label ever

Celebrity Sighting:
Last but not least - I had one celebrity sighting while in Las Vegas - Chazz Palminteri. He was arriving at Lavo as we were leaving so my friend snapped this photo.

Chazz Palminteri at Lavo

Pasta Red! (using my favorite ingredient - Peppadews)

Pasta Red!

Pasta Red! is versatile.

Pasta Red! is easy.

Pasta Red! is another quickie throw-together using my favorite lesser-known ingredient.. Peppadews. You may recall my mentioning them here, here, and here and don't be surprised if you see a poem or 'ode to them' at some point, too. I'm just forewarning you now, so you won't be surprised, or think I'm weird or something crazy like that.

Anyhoo, this is something super simple to throw together and leftovers are great as a cold salad to take in your lunch the next day.

sliced peppadews and a few other "red" things to go in the pasta

This is so easy, in fact, I'll just post a list of ingredients and simple instructions below and you can tailor this to suit your needs.

Ingredients:

Any kind of pasta you like (I used organic whole wheat fusilli bucati), cooked according to package directions and drained

Extra-virgin olive oil

Peppadews (the hot ones), sliced

Red onion, chopped

Vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, whole

Fresh garlic, minced

Pepperoni, cut into bite size pieces

Kosher salt to taste

Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, shaved (or you could use grated, but either way I recommend Parmigiano Reggiano - if you have access to it and if your budget allows, it's well worth the money)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the oil. Then add peppadews, tomatoes, garlic, and pepperoni and saute for a couple of minutes until tomatoes are about to burst.

Next add the cooked pasta to the pan, stir, and add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat, top with Parmigiano Reggiano and serve immediately (or refrigerate if you'd rather have a cold salad).

Spaghetti all'Amatriciana

Spaghetti all'Amatriciana

Spaghetti all'Amatriciana is essentially spaghetti in a spicy tomato sauce with guanciale (pork cheek) or pancetta (pork belly, similar to bacon), but everything just sounds better when you call it by its Italian name.


I stumbled across this recipe while perusing Saveur online, and because I have a weakness for spaghetti in a classic tomato sauce, I was instantly drawn to it. I made a few changes - kicked up the heat a little, added more garlic, and finished with a bit of cream to give the sauce more body. I think it's a winner. Btw, you could also use bucatini pasta (similar to spaghetti, except hollow on the inside like a thin tube), but spaghetti is easy to find and works beautifully.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 ounces thinly sliced/shaved pancetta, cut in half (or guanciale)

Fresh cracked pepper, to taste

3 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 small carrot, minced or finely shredded

1/2 medium onion, minced

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 28-ounce can San Marzano peeled tomatoes, including juices, puree in blender or food processor (I used Cento)

Kosher salt, to taste

1 cup grated Pecorino Romano, divided (or Parmigiano Reggiano)

1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)

16 ounces spaghetti (or bucatini)

chopped Italian flat leaf parsley for garnish (optional)

Heat large, deep skillet over medium heat and add oil. Add pancetta and cook until lightly browned on both sides, about 4-6 minutes.

browning pancetta

Add lots of fresh ground black pepper and cook for about a minute longer, until fragrant.

pepper added

Increase heat to medium-high and add garlic, carrots, and onions, and cook until soft, about 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

garlic, carrots, and onion added in

Add chili flakes and cook for 1 more minute.

crushed red pepper added in

Add pureed tomatoes, stir, and reduce to simmer. Continue simmering and stirring  occasionally until sauce thickens and flavors meld, about 25 minutes or longer. This sauce thickens and is more flavorful the longer you simmer. Season with kosher salt to taste.

tomato sauce added in

Stir in 1/2 cup of cheese, and cream and continue simmering while you prepare the spaghetti according to package directions.

cheese already in, cream just added

all mixed together

Drain spaghetti reserving 1/2 cup of the liquid. Add spaghetti and liquid directly to skillet and toss with sauce. Serve with remaining cheese and garnish with parsley.

spaghetti into skillet with sauce, about to toss

Mangiare!