Mike and Music

Tonight I made a delicious pasta dinner using a recipe from our “America’s Test Kitchen” cookbook.  I can’t say enough good things about “Test Kitchen” recipes.  My only issue with them is that most of the recipes seem to require using every bowl, pot, and pan I own.  This meal isn’t like that, thankfully.  It is, however, delicious!

Skillet Penne and Sausage

Ingredients
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 onion, minced
* salt
* 1 lb sweet Italian turkey sausage or hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed (I used chicken and artichoke sausage)
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/2 cup sun-dried tomato packed in oil, rinsed and chopped fine
* 8 ounces penne (2 1/2 cups, can also use ziti) (I used whole grain pasta, to make this more healthy)
* 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
* 1 cup milk
* 1 (5 ounce) bag baby spinach
* 1 ounce parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
* pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. (Be sure to use at least a 12-inch size skillet to hold all ingredients.) Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the sausage and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.
3. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Sprinkle the sun-dried tomatoes and penne evenly over the sausage. Pour the broth and milk over the pasta. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Stir in the spinach a handful at a time and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. (It may seem like a lot of spinach, but it will wilt considerably.) Stir in the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mike and I haven’t been doing a very good job of cooking at home since the baby came.  Breakfast and lunch are mostly memories, and we haven’t done much for dinner, either.  We’ve had some cobbled together meals (a sad iceberg lettuce and tomato salad + warmed up store-bought enchiladas, for example) and have gone out quite a bit, too (Michaela is 3 weeks old and has been to Chipotle 3 times– I think that sums that up).  But tonight I made an effort to give us something healthy to eat for dinner (and lunches in the next couple of days) and to clean out the freezer.  The result was my take on a Turkey Tetrazinni recipe I originally saw on Amber’s Delectable Delights.  Delicious!

(A word of warning, though.  I found this recipe to be one that required a lot of dishes.  I probably could have been more efficient and used fewer, but my brain is too addled right now to be efficient!)

Turkey Tetrazinni

Ingredients
12 oz egg noodles, spaghetti, linguine or other pasta  (I used “No-Yolk” egg noodles, which come in an 8 oz package, and found that it was plenty of noodles)
12 ounces mushrooms, sliced (about 4-5 cups)  (I used one small container of mushrooms, but increased the other veggies)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/4 cup cream
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup dry sherry (or vermouth or dry white wine)  (I substituted water.  I know, I’m no fun.)
3 cups coarsely chopped cooked turkey
1 cup peas  (Instead of peas, I used frozen mixed veggies: carrots, green beans and corn, and probably used more like 1 1/2 cups)
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan (divided into 1/3 and 1/3 cups)
1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Salt and Pepper
1/3 cup fine fresh bread crumbs (or panko)
Freshly chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Method
1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Start heating 2 to 3 quarts of water for the pasta. Add 1 teaspoon of salt for each quart of water.

2 Cook the mushrooms in 3 Tbsp of the butter over medium heat, stirring, until all of the liquid the mushrooms give off has evaporated, 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

3 In a large, heavy saucepan, melt 1/4 cup of butter. Stir in the flour, and cook the mixture over low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes.

4 About now, put the pasta into the boiling water you’ve heated. Follow the package directions and cook until al dente. While the pasta is cooking continue on with the recipe.

5 Into the saucepan with the butter and flour, slowly whisk in the milk, cream, broth, and the sherry. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 to 8 minutes.

6 When the pasta is ready, drain it. In a large bowl combine the pasta, the sauce, the mushrooms, the turkey, and the peas. Stir in 1/3 cup of the Parmesan and the 1/3 cup of Swiss cheese. Stir in the lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Note that if you have been using unsalted butter, and/or unsalted or low sodium stock, you will need to add more salt than you might expect. Just keep sprinkling it in until it is seasoned to your taste. Add a pinch of ground nutmeg if using, again to taste. Transfer the mixture to a buttered 3-quart casserole.

7 In a small bowl combine well the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and the bread crumbs. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the tetrazzini, and dot the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, cut into bits.

8 Bake the Tetrazzini in the middle rack of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until it is bubbling and the top is golden.

I posted this on Facebook, too, but for those readers who aren’t connected to us on Facebook…  This is a picture taken by our good friend Scotty Papek.  The proud mother in me has to point out that Scott is very talented, but he also had a great model!

Just because Michaela has joined our family desn’t mean the renovation work has stopped.  On the contrary, its pace has accelerated.  Mike has been hard at work on what will be our new office and bathroom, tearing down the old walls, framing in new ones, and preparing the room for the next steps of plumbing and drywall.

Tonight’s big project is tearing out the window that was in the room.  First Mike took down the ugly security bars (the last set remaining on our house, thank goodness).

Then he broke out the glass in the old window.

Next up on this project (I think– my knowledge of construction is extremely limited!) will be putting in studs we can wall over the hole where the window was, then making a space for the new window, which will be a different size and located several feet to the left of where the old window was.

Tomorrow we have several plumbers coming to give us estimates to rough-in the new sink, bathtub, and toilet, and once that work is done, we’ll have the drywallers come back and put up walls.

I may be able to work in the new office when my maternity leave ends at the end of January– very exciting!