Tortelloni Frittata

Leftovers on Huevos Experiment III

I love pasta salad.  One of my favorite pasta salads came from a local pizzaria that recently shut down leaving an empty, gapping whole in my heart.  So when we recently purchased some fresh pesto tortelloni, I was quick to turn it into the best pasta salad I could using only the ingredients I had on hand. What ended up in the pasta salad was....

Tortelloni

Diced Red Peppers

Chopped Banana Pepper

Olive Tapenade (making sure to add a lot of the oil)

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Diced onions

Halved Sungold Tomatoes (the best little 'maters you'll ever put in your mouth)

Garlic Pepper and Salt to taste

Sorry I don't have a recipe, but I wasn't measuring or intending to post it.  However, pasta salad is hard to screw up   Just chop, eyeball, add, mix, taste and repeat until it's to your liking.  If you over do one thing or another, just physically weed it out.  If you really screw it up, then just rinse the pasta off and start anew (and maybe sober up a bit).

Flash forward to Sunday morning, a day that is sacred because it is the only day that I can sleep in and (most of the time) am obligated to do nothing.  A day where I can enjoy a cold coffee with maple syrup on the front porch and build up an appetite as I mentally plan a day that will bring me enjoyment.  The first thing to accomplish is to concoct a heady breakfast.  Eggs are usually involved -- you may have noticed from previous posts.  

Now, a frittata is quite a simple and grande thing baked up into one little pot.  Having already chopped several vegetables for the pasta salad, the most work I had to do for this dish was whisk together the egg mixture and cut the tortelloni's in half (they were huge!)   I used a small cast iron skillet and it made 2 servings.  I recommend expanding the recipe to feed a large mass...just use a bigger skillet.  

Ingredients

1/2 - 3/4 cup leftover pasta salad (any will do, but the stuffed pasta put it over the top)

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 tbsp butter

Directions

Heat butter in a small oven proof pan on medium-high heat.  Mix together eggs and milk in a bowl.  After butter has fully melted, pour egg mixture into pan.  Evenly spoon pasta salad into the egg mixture.  

Let cook until the edges of the frittata are cooked.

Preheat oven to broil (light broil if it's an option). Place pan in oven ~5 minutes to finish cooking the top of the frittata. Watch closely!  Seriously, don't stray far.  Keep the oven light on and park a chair in front if you have to.  

When eggs look fully cooked and there is no runny liquid when you tilt the pan, it's done!

Slice into quadrants and slide out with a spatula onto your plate.  

This ended up being a completely excellent creation. 

Would go well with some toast or biscuits on the side.  Yes, indeed.

Squash Casserole w/ Goat Cheese and Lobster Ravioli Crust

This summer we've been squash casserolin' it about once a week due to the obscene amount of squash and other veggies coming from our friend's farm.  I usually top with bread crumbs, and serve with a side of potatoes, mashed or roasted.  Since we were sans potatoes this week, and extra hungry, we decided to use the near expired (and cheap as hell) lobster ravioli from Trader Joe's we'd been saving.  The resulting casserole was a thing of beauty...

Ingredients
4-5 Squash, sliced and quartered
2-3 medium red peppers
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup frozen spinach or 1 bag (~8 oz) fresh spinach
1/2  cup whole wheat flour
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
6 oz goat cheese
1 package Trader Joe's Lobster Ravioli
Salt and Pepper
Shredded Parmesan to garnish
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions
Fill a pot with water and add Lobster Ravioli.  Place ravioli on stove and bring to a boil.  Once water starts boiling, take pot off the heat and drain in a colander.  In another pot, sauté onions in olive oil for 5 minutes then then add garlic, peppers and squash.  Cook until squash are soften but still firm (about 15 minutes).

While vegetables are cooking, mix milk, egg and flour in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Add spinach, goat cheese and sauteed veggies into the casserole dish.  Mix thoroughly.

        

Strategically and artistically place raviolis on top of the mixed ingredients and sprinkle with some parmesan.  Cover with aluminum foil and place in oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, remove foil and let cook for another 20-30 minutes, until top begins to brown.  If top has not browned by that time, broil for 1-3 minutes...but watch carefully, it can turn from brown to burn very quickly on broil!

Yum.

adj. Slang, -mi·er, -mi·est.

1. Very pleasing to the taste or smell; delicious. See synonyms at delicious.
2. Delightful; delicious.

[From yum, the sound of smacking the lips.]

yumminess yum'mi·ness n.

Alcoholic Puddin'

Is more then just a sweet southern nickname.

This is so easy!  I recently picked up a 99¢ box of instant chocolate pudding from Trader Joe's because  I thought it would be a cheap, easily stored, quick-fix for the sugar munchies sometime in my future.  When the time came, I was also eyeballing the bottle of irish cream in the fridge as an even quicker fix.  Then, like an eclipse - or a Venn diagram of thought- the 2 were combined...


Ingredients

1 box chocolate instant pudding
1 1/2 cups milk (I used Vanilla Almond Milk)
1/2 cup Irish Cream

Directions

Follow directions on box.  This particular box called for 2 cups milk to be mixed in with the pudding powder.  I decided to replace 1/4 of this with the Irish Cream, but you should experiment with replacing 1/2 or all of the milk and let me know the results!

The whole prep time took about 10-15 minutes - longer if you wish to chill, which I recommend.  The shallower the container you store it in, the quicker it will cool.

Replacing 1/4 of the milk with Irish Cream imparted a noticeable alcohol "bite" to the pudding and the Irish Cream flavor mixed beautifully with the chocolate.  

And it would be simply mad if you decided to pour it on some Ben & Jerry's Crème Brûlée ice cream...

Fried Basil Egg with Mac & Cheese

This is a similar idea to the Exploded Macaroni Omelet dish that I made several months ago.  It is a simple, straight forward cheese, egg and pasta seasoned with some fresh torn basil, garlic, salt and cracked pepper.  It made for a tasty wake and bake munchie-hangover cure.  

Ingredients
(serves 2)

1 box Annie's Macaroni and Cheese
2 1/2 tbsp butter
2 eggs
a small handful of chopped or torn fresh basil leaves
salt and garlic-pepper


Directions

Cover pasta in a a pot or saucepan with water (about 6 cups).  Bring to a boil and cook at Medium heat. 

Cook for another 5 minutes or until done. 

Drain pasta.  

Heat 2 tbsp of butter in the pasta pot on low heat. 

Place 1/2 tbsp of butter in a small skillet or frying pan set to Medium-High heat. Crack an egg in the frying pan when the butter melts.  I like to bust open the yolk with a spatula. 

Tear or cut up the basil leaves and sprinkle on top of the eggs.

Add 1/4 cup milk and powdered cheese to pasta pot. 

Mix cheese, butter and milk together until smooth and creamy. 

Add pasta back in and mix well. 

After about 2 minutes, pile as much pasta as you want in a a bowl.

Salt eggs in the frying pan.  Flip eggs for 30 seconds and then  remove and place yolk side up on top of the Mac n' Cheese. 

Crack some Garlic-Pepper to taste. 

If you don't have garlic pepper, you can add ~ 1 tbsp minced garlic to the butter to fry the eggs.

You can also garnish with a little shredded cheese if you have some on hand.  

EAT WITH A KNIFE AND SPOON!

Toaster Pastry S'mores

I just want to say.... this is one of the most beautiful and delicious creations I have ever made.  

The sweet berry filling mixed with the the quality dark chocolate makes this unlike any S'mores that has come before it.  

You must try this before you die. 

Ingredients

2 toaster pastries/pop-tarts (I recommend strawberry or cherry-pomegranate flavors from Nature's Path)

3 large marshmallows

1 bar dark chocolate (I used Newman's Own Dark chocolate-it was exactly the same size as the toaster pastries!!!)

Directions 

Place both Toaster Pastries, icing side down, on a plate.  Place 3 marshmallows on one pastry.  Place both pastries in the toaster oven.  Toast until marshmallow tops are brown. 

Remove from oven.  Place chocolate bar on the toaster pastry without the marshmallows.  

Sandwich together and let it blow your mind like a sticky, melty, sweet chocolate-marshmallow shotgun.

Baked Life - The Marijuana Website

If you haven't checked out the Baked Life blog @ www.bakedlife.com, go check it out!  They post very intelligent articles on politics, health and society regarding marijuana as well as killer product reviews, a frequently updated strain encyclopedia and fun and entertaining posts too!

While you're there, make sure to also check out their Cannabis Kitchen section. It has great tips and recipes for stoner food and food that will make you stoned PLUS  a recent write up about yours truly!   

Naan Pizza Eggs

I recently spotted  the Tandoor Chef Naan Pizzas in the grocery store and thought, 'They beat me too it!'  I've been wanting to make my own version of a Naan pizza after spotting a recipe online, but decided  to give Tandoor Chef's Spinach and Paneer Cheese Naan Pizza a try first.  The frozen box hung out in my freezer for a little while until one afternoon I had a strong desire/craving to try out my next Pizza Eggs concoction: a fried egg atop a pizza.  All I had in the house was the Naan pizza, so it was going to have to do.

The Naan Pizza was ok.  Since they were using an Indian cheese on top of the pizza, I was expecting some more Indian flavors , but the pie itself was very lackluster and the naan or "crust" was flavorless, and a bit chewy.  It wasn't bad, put it's just not what I was hoping for and it wasn't much different from a run of the mill frozen pizza.  Next time I make a Naan Pizza, I will definitely use unfrozen garlic naan and some fresher ingredients.  (Garlic goes with pizza...why didn't they use garlic naan??)

Despite my complaints , the experience of eating an egg atop a pizza was delightful.  It mixed well with the cheese, spinach and tomato sauce, and it made for a very filling Sunday brunch.

Ingredients
1 Naan Pizza (Tandoor brand or make your own!)
1 egg
1/2 tbsp cooking oil

Directions
If you are using a frozen pizza, follow the directions on the box and begin baking the pizza in the oven.  Once the pizza is in the oven, heat cooking oil in a frying pan over med-high heat.  Crack and fry egg in the frying pan (break the yolk!) for 1-2 minutes, or until the egg can be picked up with a spatula without being too runny.   Try to time it so that you are finished with the half cooked egg approximately halfway through the pizza baking process.  At this time, open up the oven and place the partially fried egg on top of your pizza.  The egg will fully bake while the pizza completes baking.

If you are using fresh pizza dough or naan, then you can actually just crack the egg on top of your pizza before baking.  Just make sure you have a high crust, or toppings surrounding the edge of the pizza sufficiently so that the egg doesn't run off the side while baking.

A third option would be to bake the pizza and then ad the completely fried egg on top at the end of the cooking process.

When finished from whatever method you prefer, remove the pizza from the oven and devour.