This is another recipe I’m recycling from the cookbook I made for Jessica.  This one is from Rachael Ray’s 30-Minute Get Real Meals, a cookbook Jessica had when were in college (that I think I sort of appropriated — oops!). We made it several times when we lived together on Clark Street, and now it’s a last-minute staple for Matt and me. It’s tasty but also very easy. When I took these pictures, I served it with Jessica’s mom’s roasted green beans, so maybe you can guess what’s coming up next?

Swedish Meatballs
Adapted from Rachael Ray’s 30-Minute Get Real Meals

1 lb. frozen turkey meatballs
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups beef stock
1 Tablespoon red currant or grape jelly
1 cup heavy cream or sour cream (I almost always use sour cream, but I think Jess used cream)
~3 Tablespoons flour
1/2 lb. wide egg noodles
2 Tablespoons butter
a small handful parsley, chopped

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the meatballs (still frozen is fine) and brown on all sides.

Add the stock, jelly, cream, and flour. Bring to a bubble and reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, or a little longer, until the sauce is thickened to your liking.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the egg noodle and cook until just tender. Drain the noodles and toss with butter and chopped parsley.

Serve the noodles topped with meatballs and their sauce. (Rachael also says to garnish with chopped gherkins, but we never have.)

Easy to scale up or down for any number of people, from one to a crowd.  The recipe below is for 2 medium size portions, or a pretty large one with a bit leftover.  Spaghetti is traditional, but I like egg noodles.  Adapted from Marcella Hazan.

3 slices of bacon, cut in 1″ pieces
about 4 oz (1/3 of a package) egg noodles, or other pasta
1 egg
1 T creme fraiche (optional, or substitute sour cream or plain yogurt)
2 T parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
fresh ground black pepper
2 T chopped parsley, or other fresh herb

Brown bacon in a small pan, until crispy. Reserve drippings. Meanwhile, cook egg noodles per directions. While pasta cooks, beat together the egg, creme fraiche, and parmesan cheese. When pasta is done, reserve a little bit of the pasta water and drain. Return the pasta to the pot, and toss with the egg mixture. (Since the pasta and pan are hot, the egg gets most of the way, but probably not completely, cooked, making a rich and delicious sauce.) If it seems too dry, add in a bit of the reserved pasta water. Toss in the bacon, herbs, and some of the drippings. (I only used about half the drippings, but my bacon was pretty fatty.) Garnish with more herbs and parmesan cheese.

For Christmas last year, my parents gave me a “gift certificate” to go shopping with my mom for something for the kitchen.  Although I used some of it a couple months ago (to get those low bowls in the picture, come to think of it) we hadn’t found time for me to use the rest of it, mostly because I had been indecisive about what I wanted to get.  Last week I was told that my “gift certificate” would expire after six months, so I needed to get to it!  We went to Williams Sonoma one night last week and I decided to buy this beautiful pasta maker.  Isn’t it a beauty?  I love that it’s bright red and shiny!

I was eager to put this baby to work, so I decided to make ravioli for some friends we were having over Saturday night.  (I’m in a little bit of trouble for breaking it in without letting Mom help, but I was just getting the kinks worked out.)  My only previous experience with making pasta was for the Daring Bakers lasagne a couple months back.  In that case, while it turned out very tasty, it was really a pain to roll out by hand (tearing, etc.) and I could never get it anywhere close to as thin as I wanted. (more…)

I remember this recipe from when I was a little kid and it is one of my favorites as I like almost any sort of pasta. My grandmother, whom I called Granny Pat, made this recipe for my mom many years. I latch on to traditions more than the rest of my family did when I was growing up. One tradition we had was having this for Christmas Eve either right before or right after a movie.

The sauce is a mix between chili and a traditional spaghetti sauce. I truly don’t know the origins of the recipe, but it very well could have come from a Campbell’s soup recipe book. I have written the recipe just as my mom has given to me, but it is fairly forgiving to add a few things for a change. I like to add garlic, fresh mushrooms, or a fresh spice like basil or oregano. One of these days I will try it in a crock pot. I hope you enjoy.

Recipe after the break.

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Somehow Mom and I got it into our heads that it would be fun to try our hand at making gnocchi for the first time for Christmas Eve dinner. We were right — it was fun, but boy were these little potato dumplings a lot of work. Not including baking the potatoes, I think it didn’t take us but about an hour to make them, but we were working pretty hard for that hour.

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