Spinach and Shrimp Alfredo Sauce

Spinach and Shrimp Alfredo Sauce

 It was late Friday evening and we were hungry. This meal took probably 20 minutes start to finish and it was DELICIOUS! The sauce was a bit thin because of all the liquid the spinach releases but you can improve that by adding a few teaspoons of corn starch to the cream sauce before you add the spinach and shrimp. This is especially important if you have a T mix.  If you are using a conventional method then reserve a 4th of the cream and mix the corn starch in before you add the spinach and shrimp.

Spinach and Shrimp Alfredo Sauce

• 1 medium union minced (4 seconds on 4 in Tmix)
• 2 cloves of garlic crushed or minced (4 seconds on 4 in Tmix)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups (1/2 liter) cooking cream (half can be “low fat” cooking cream)
• 1/2 tbs corn starch
• 100 grams spinach
• 24-30 small/medium shrimp
• salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• fresh basil
• 2 dashes of nutmeg
• 60 gr. Parmesan cheese

Saute onions and garlic in the olive oil- 7 minutes in T-mix on speed 3, temperature varoma. Add 1 cup of the cream, 1/2 tablespoon corn starch, and fresh basil.  Mix for 2 minutes on temperature 100 degrees centigrade speed 3. Add remaining ingredients and program 8 minutes on temperature 90 degrees centigrade. If it isn’t quite done program 2 minutes temperature 100 centigrade.  If using a regular pan simmer over low heat for 1o minutes can stir every minute.

Serve over pasta and top with parmasan cheese!

Pasta With Shredded Vegetables and Lavender

Ravioli with Shredded Vegies and… Lavender!

As we know Sarah is the chef, and Carlos the assistant. But today Carlos is the only one. He worked from home so he was home earlier than Sarah. Although Sarah makes almost as much as Carlos, she works half as much; so during the weekdays she takes the lead in the kitchen.
So Carlos watched the 4 min. video at the nyt.com Pasta with Lavender (cool video of how to make it). He basically followed the recipe as Mark Bittman shows, the main difference is the substitution of eggplant for zucchini. He happly went to the nearby park to find the lavender. 

• 2-4 garlics
• 1 eggplant
• 1 small onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 pepper
• Olive oil
• Leaves of lavender
• Salt & Pepper and thyme

Why not shred the garlic and onion with the oil too? Put all three ingredients in the t-mix. For the garlic of course, you can do what Mark recommends, smash it first with the big knife, we always do that. Sarah likes to use the garlic presser, although Carlos tries to avoid it (probably because he does not like cleaning it – he usually takes the lead cleaning dishes).

Then put the rest of veggies in and shred them. Saute and mix with the pasta. In this recipe we used fresh ravioli with cheese and spinach (that’s why it’s green). Sarah recommended putting cheese on the top. “Everything taste better with cheese”  she assured me with a smile.

The dish was good, but probably lacking Sarah in the kitchen, so it was not that good. We decided (at bloggin’ time) that it needed more thyme, more lavender leaves (remember, not the flowers!) and garlic. So the recipe now calls for 2 to 4 garlic cloves.

Dinner for company: Fetuccini Alfredo and Eggplant Parmesan

We invited some old friends (a guy from France and a girl from Rwanda) over for dinner and wanted to do something new that we hadn’t ever made for them before. So we decided to make two different dishes that could be eaten together. The first dish was fried eggplant with a really good garlicky tomato sauce (inspired by Buca di Beppo (one of the most popular Italian Restaurants in the U.S.). The second was fresh pasta with a homemade Alfredo sauce. It was the first time we had made the Alfredo sauce and it tasted really good but next time we would either blend it to completely creamy or leave out the pork chunks until then end so that the sauce has a better consistency.

Tomato Sauce:

• 2 medium-large onions
• 4-5 medium cloves garlic
• 2 400 gr. (16 oz) cans chopped tomatoes
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1/2 Tbs sugar
• 1/2 Tbs oregano and basil
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• dash of pepper
• salt to taste

Saute the onions in a tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. After they are mostly cooked add one clove crushed garlic. You can crush the other cloves of garlic and leave them sitting. I have read that crushing garlic and letting it sit for at least 20 minutes enhances the health benefits of garlic. The secret of this garlicky tomato sauce is to add the garlic at the end so that it has as stronger flavor.

Add the all the cans of tomato. Mix in 1.5 cans (use the tomato paste can!) of water. Add the remaining ingredients. I add sugar to cut the acidity of the tomato. Simmer on low heat while you make the rest of the meal. Add garlic to boiling sauce and remove from heat. 

 Eggplant Parmesan

• 2 eggplants
• 2 eggs
• bread crumbs with salt
• While the sauce simmers, cut the eggplant in medium sized slices. Try to make them as uniform as possible. Beat eggs and put bread crumbs and salt in a separate bowl.
• Dip eggplants in the beaten egg and then in the bread crumbs. Fry without a lid until golden. We use less oil by turning them once when cooked on one side. Usually the bread crumbs that have fallen off will burn about half way through so when the oil runs out and you are about to add more wipe out the pan with a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt when they are done frying. Top with the hot tomato sauce and serve immediately.
• (The way this eggplant is done, follows a recipe from the Carlos’ Grandma from Spain. Because it has egg it is really filling, so you can just eat the eggplant as a dinner. The Abuela does.)

Fettuccine Alfredo:

• 200 gr. pork chops or bacon
• 1 onion
• 1 small garlic pressed
• 50 g. butter
• 1/2 tbs oil
• 50 gr. Parmesan cheese
• 500 gr. cooking cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Fettuccine pasta. Fresh or dried.

Add onion, garlic, butter and oil to the t-mix. Puree completely (15 seconds on 9). Cook 5 minutes on 100 degrees, speed 2.  While the onion mixture is cooking, cook the pork chops in a frying pan. When the onions are cooked, add the cream, Parmesan cheese, mix on speed 8 for a few seconds. Cook for 8 minutes on temperature 90 on speed 4.   When you add the cream to the t-mix , put water on to boil for the noodles.  When the alfredo sauce is done, mix the chopped pork chops into the sauce using a spoon. You could do this in the bowl you are going to serve it in!

Serve the alfredo sauce over the hot noodles. It is fattening but very good!

 

Fettuccini Alfredo (left) and Fried Eggplant and Sauce (right).

The time says 30 minutes, but it takes 30 minutes for each one! Making both of them for the same meal will take an hour. We like to cook with friends.