Pasta dishes | MJ's Kitchen

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Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese with Asparagus

by mj on March 28, 2013

For some reason my craving for macaroni and cheese has been escalating. Maybe it’s because of all the wonderful mac & cheese recipes I’ve been seeing online lately. But the one that pushed me over the edge was Zsuzsa’s stovetop Creamy Macaroni and Cheese. When I first saw her picture, I knew that was the mac & cheese I wanted to eat. Her recipe looked fabulous and the video she provided in the post was a great tutorial on how to put all of the components together for a creamy outcome. You definitely need to check it out.

For this recipe I used Zsuzsa’s for the most part, but purely out of habit I ended up making the béchamel (white sauce) the way I normally do. I added a couple of herbs to the dish because I love herbs, and then cut back a bit on the cheese. For the finishing touch and to create a complete meal for Bobby and me, I added my Simply Asparagus dish which you’ll find later in this post. Each plate was served with a serving of macaroni and cheese and about 5 to 6 spears of asparagus. We cut the asparagus into bite size pieces and ate a piece with each bite of mac & cheese. It is quite tasty!

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A Celebration of Garlic

by mj on May 21, 2012

For anyone who has been following my blog for more than a day knows that I LOVE, I mean LOVE garlic! So in honor of this versatile and tasty bulb, I am dedicating this post to all foods garlic. Through the last several months I have found others that celebrate garlic as much as I do, so I am sharing their love and my love with you through a variety of recipes, all of which use a respectable amount of garlic. Cook and Enjoy!
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Capellini, Garlic, Lemon and Egg Pasta

by mj on April 10, 2012

I’m sure we all have our ridiculously easy dishes that we can fix on a lazy night in the kitchen or when we dine alone. This Capellini with lemon, garlic and an egg is one of mine. The most time-consuming part of the process is cooking the pasta and since it’s capellini (angel hair), it doesn’t take any time to cook once the water comes to a boil. The veggies can be chopped and sauteed by the time the pasta is done and then it’s just a matter of frying or poaching the egg.

I do use those wonderful preserved lemons I keep in the refrigerator, but if you don’t have any, you can always substitute lemon juice and zest, or even better Meyer Lemon and zest. See my Kitchen Notes for more substitution ideas.

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Tortellini with Roasted Pepper and Onion

by mj on February 17, 2012

In the fall when red bell peppers are plentiful and cheap, I buy a lot of them. Most get roasted and peeled, then wrapped individually for the freezer. All winter I used them on pizza, in sandwiches and pasta dishes, and in salads. The other night in trying to come up with starter for a small dinner party, I found the last two frozen bell peppers buried in the freezer. That lead to the creation of this roasted bell pepper and onion appetizer. It was a big hit and I will be making it again!

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Pasta Salad for Parties, Potlucks, and Picnics

by mj on June 29, 2011

A Lemony Orzo Salad

This recipe makes a huge bowl of pasta! This salad can be served hot, cold or at room temperature making it a great dish for parties, potlucks, and picnics, or really – just anytime you want it. There’s no meat, mayo, egg or anything to go bad if it sits out for a few hours.

When I make it for the two of us, we usually get two meals and a couple of lunches. Yes – we can make a meal out of it, it’s so good! Bobby eats the leftovers cold. I prefer them warm or at room temperature so I’ll microwave mine for about a minute. Sometimes we’ll add a little more protein to the salad by sauteing a few Creole seasoned shrimp in some butter and serving on top of the pasta.

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Thai Chicken and Vegetables

by mj on May 24, 2011

I love Thai food – some really unique flavors and oh so spicy. So playing with incorporating Thai flavors into my own dishes has been a lot of fun. For this recipe I took a typical chicken and vegetable pasta dish and added a twist - Thai red curry paste and fish sauce. The curry paste provides the heat and that can be controlled by how much paste you use. We typically go for medium (1/2 tsp. paste), but one of my brothers loves things hot, so 1/2 tsp. isn’t near enough for him.

Like any chicken and vegetable recipe there is a lot of versatility, so be sure to see Kitchen Notes for some ideas.

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