Excellent Recipe – Pasta Primavera by McCormick

Ok so I’m kind of an iPhone app nerd – nothing new there.  I am ALWAYS trying to figure out what to make for dinner…. I like to try new things and new recipes.  My dilemma – all of my cook books are at home along with my Mac Recipe software.  So I’ve downloaded the McCormick iPhone app to help me out.

This way I don’t have to drive home from work, find a recipe and THEN drive to the store.  I don’t usually get home from work until around 6:30pm so by the time I get dinner cooked and ready to eat it’s usually 7:30 or 8 o’clock and that’s IF I cook dinner as soon as I get home.

I do have some staple meals like spaghetti, or patty melts that I can always fall back on, but hey I’m an A.D.D.-er and I LIKE change.

I tried this recipe about a month ago and absolutely LOVED it.  I added a little bit of chicken to it for more protein.  A warning on this one though… and it could have been a mistake I made somewhere but the sauce was REALLY runny.  I don’t know that the sauce for this particular recipe is supposed to be thick.  I say this because I have another really good (LOWER CAL AND FAT) recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara and the sauce is pretty runny too – but you’re supposed to just douse the noodles in it so they get some of the flavor but they noodles and other ingredients aren’t supposed to be swimming in the sauce.

The flavor was great on this though and I absolutely love anything with fresh dill in it!

This restaurant favorite is easily made at home. Your favorite vegetables cook in the same pot as the pasta.

Makes 6 (1-cup) servings.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

8 ounces linguine

4 1/2 cups assorted cut-up vegetables, such as broccoli florets, sliced carrots, red bell pepper strips and peas

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon McCormick® Dill Weed

1 teaspoon McCormick® Garlic Salt

1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Thyme Leaves

1. Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding vegetables during the last 3 to 4 minutes of cooking. Drain well.

2. Place cream, cheese, broth, wine, butter, dill weed, garlic salt and thyme in same saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring constantly with wire whisk. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes. Add pasta and vegetables; toss gently to coat well. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Shrimp Pasta Primavera: Prepare as directed. Add 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, with vegetables during last 3 minutes of cooking.

per serving

Calories: 390

Fat: 22 g

Carbohydrates: 36 g

Cholesterol: 74 mg

Sodium: 662 mg

Fiber: 4 g

Protein: 12 g

ENJOY!!

xoxo

Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving

Oh how I do love to bake during the Holidays!  I don’t like to cook (I can, I just don’t enjoy it as much).  But I DO love baking pies, cookies and pastries to share with and give away to my loved ones during the Holidays.  It really is a warm-fuzzy for me.  I turn my Pandora radio onto Holiday music, plug my headphones in and bake the night away.

That’s what I did for my Thanksgiving Pecan Pie this year.  It turned out DELICIOUS and it was fun to make.  I decided to document it with my camera this year.

• Preheat your oven to 375º
• Prepare a pastry for a 9 inch one crust pie
• 1/3 cup plus 1 Tbs shortening
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

I mixed the dry ingredients (flour and salt) together.  Then I added the shortening and used a pastry blender (which I highly recommend because it’s so much easier) to blend the shortening in with the flour and salt.  The trick with this pie crust is to blend and blend until there is no longer a “powdery” consistency in the flour.  You want it all to be absorbed by the shortening, until it looks like large crumbs.  Then I added 3 Tbs of water sprinkling it on one at a time and tossing with a fork.  Then I gathered all the dough together into a ball and squished it out flat.  I put it on my floured counter top and rolled it out to about 1/4 inch thick.

It can be tricky getting your pastry into your pie plate without it falling apart.  I usually place my rolling pin in the center of the pastry and roll one half of it over the rolling pin then I place my pie plate right beside it and use the rolling pin to drag it up over the plate.  Once I got it in the pie plate I pushed it down around the bottom before trimming off the excess leaving about an inch hanging over.  Then I folded the extra underneath before putting creases all the way around.

Next it was time to get out the BEAST (aka my kick-ass Kitchenaid) to mix the ingredients for the pie filling.  You can always use a hand-mixer or beater if you don’t have a beast like mine

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup stick butter or margarine
• 1 cup Karo syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 large eggs

I then mixed all the above ingredients until it was smooth.  After that I added the pecans.  The recipe calls for 1 cup of pecans but I usually just put the whole bag in and I haven’t had a single complaint yet!   I would recommend using a spoon or spatula to mix in the nuts as my mixer tends to pulverize them :p

I took the empty pie shell and put it on the oven rack and poured the filling in.  After that was done I made a “tent” out of aluminum foil to place over the top.  It’s my experience when baking pies with such a high sugar content they tend to burn or scorch on top really easily.  I baked my pie for the first 35 minutes with the foil on and for the final 10-12 I removed the foil so the top would brown a little bit.  But keep your eye on it once you take the foil off because it will turn brown really fast.  Bake your pie for 40-50 minutes until the center is set.  The pie is done when you give it a half-turn and the center barely jiggles.  It can jiggle a little bit because the pie will continue to cook after you take it out of the oven.

Taaaadaaaa!  A delicious Pecan Pie for the whole family to enjoy!  It was WONDERFUL!

Happy Holidays everyone!  Share your love and caring by baking goodies for your loved ones this season   The “Mmmmmmm!” sound is a gift in and of itself

XOXOX

Kim