Spinach Fettuccine

I seriously can’t say enough about my love for my new pasta rollers. I make a ton of fresh pasta every two weeks-ish now, which is amazing. I used to have to plan an entire Saturday for pasta-making because my little hand crank took so long, made such a mess, gouged a hole in the bottom of my table with the screw-attach-y-thingy, and hurt my back from bending over the crank. Me and my old pasta roller could totally be in one of those infomercials as the miserable scene in black and white before the new, cool thingamajigg arrives. And then this new pasta roller comes in, and everything turns to color a la Wizard of Oz, and suddenly my life is GOLDEN. But seriously. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore. PLUS, I crank my mixer’s speed up super high and the pasta basically flies through the rollers. It takes me less than ten minutes to roll and cut a whole batch.

 

IMG_1371

 

Side note: speaking of Toto, if you follow me on Pinterest you may have guessed that I am completely smitten with puppy fever. I want one SO. BAD. But I just want it for the cuddly cutesy best-friend part. Not for the shedding and the high maintenance and  the vet visits and the expensive pet food. So Kyle says we can’t have one until I can be a grownup about it. WHATEVER.

IMG_1391

 

My friend Maddie (Hiiiiii, Maddie) just got the cutest dog EVER. Which totally doesn’t help curb my give-me-a-puppy-right-now affliction. But, see, even if we did get a dog, we’d have to fight over a million names for it. Kyle really wants a dog named Ramekin. You know, like the ceramic baking dish. Totally serious. He also wants a dog named Odysseus. His reasoning is that those are really good names to yell into the wind. “RAMEKIIIIIIINNNNNNNN!!!!!” You get my drift. Very “SPARTAAAAAA” a la 300. Personally, I’d also like to have a teacup pig. Because 1. pigs are the coolest and 2. they are cute and small (even though apparently they get kind of big eventually- WHAT) and 3. I could get it little rain boots. And we could have a dog named Ramekin and a teacup pig (his name will be Snake, because he’s tough and cool and would probably have tattoos and a motorcycle if he was a person) and they could be best friends. These are the dreams I have for my life. Yup. I’M THE COOLEST.

 

IMG_1379

 

Anywho. Maybe I should talk about this pasta a bit. It’s super good. You can taste the spinach, but it’s nice and subtle rather than overpowering. Also, the pasta is this GORGEOUS green color. How fancy.

 

IMG_1422

 

I also saved some of this dough for a batch of cheese-filled spinach tortellini, which were kind of amazing. That recipe will be coming later this week, so stay tuned! In the meantime, you can wolf down some of this fettuccine and, if you’re anything like me, google cute puppy pictures while you make a mental list of all the things you should be doing instead. Because WE ARE THE COOLEST.

 

IMG_1440

[read more...]

{ 0 comments }

Parmesan & Spinach Orzo

 

When I was little, I always gave my mom a hard time about making orzo. I picked a fight every time we ate it because “it’s not pasta, it’s rice!” and would have to sit there and (un)patiently listen to her tell me that orzo is, in fact, pasta. It was a whole big thing. But I’m over it (sorry, Mom). Even though it still LOOKS a lot like rice. Just saying.

 

IMG_9187 2

 

Anywho, Mom sent me some rice orzo in a care package awhile back, and I recently discovered the last half of the package sitting in my pantry. “Eureka!” I thought. “I’ll make some orzo!” [read more...]

{ 41 comments }

Spinach Prosciutto Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

 

When I tell you that I love this salad, I want you to understand what that means.

 

IMG_8577

 

See, I like spinach. I do. But spinach salad and I had something of a falling out. I was a vegetarian in college, and when I ate in the cafeteria there weren’t always very many appetizing veggie options. So every day at lunch and every day at dinner, I ate a spinach salad. [read more...]

{ 6 comments }

Mushroom & Spinach Lasagna

 

LASAGNA. It’s such a great word. la-ZAH-nya. Especially when you say it with GUSTO. LASAGNA! And hey, it also tastes pretty awesome.

 

oij

 

This lasagna is great for a few reasons. 1. It freezes spectacularly and can be made ahead of time. 2. It has a white sauce, which is a little unusual and makes it INTERESTING. 3. It’s a great way to use up holiday leftovers! Although this recipe is written as a vegetarian version, I often add a few handfuls of leftover chicken or turkey to the sauce.

[read more...]

{ 4 comments }