Roasted Cauliflower Pasta: 3 Ingredient Recipe #2

3 Ingredient Recipe: Roast Cauliflower Pasta w/Goat Cheese

Day two of my challenge got some help from a post from TheKitchn.com .  I subscribe to the site's newsletter and yesterday as I hashed over ideas for getting more flavor out of 3 ingredients, I received their email with piece called How To Roast Any Vegetable .  As I was planning on making a dish today that I knew would have cauliflower in it, this was perfect.

This recipe for a simple pasta dish gives you a chance to take notice of individual textures and find nuances in a common vegetable normally found pan fried, boiled or muted in sauces or breadings.  Here the roasted cauliflower is crisp, bright and smoky.  Tangy goat cheese is sauteed to create a caramelized crust and oozing rich center.

For a refresher on the rules of my 10 day, 3 ingredient challenge, check out the first post.

3 things to get...

1. 1 head of cauliflower - chopped
2. 4 cups of bow tie pasta (or similar)
3. 8 ounces of goat cheese (tube shape preferred)

What to do with it...

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
  
• Toss cauliflower in olive oil to coat, paying special attention to coat the floret tops so they brown evenly
  
• Place cauliflower into a roasting pan and roast for 20 minutes, checking occasionally and shaking/turning to get even browning
  
• Cut half the goat cheese into 1/4 rounds and set aside
  
• Prepare pasta according to instructions and drain, place in large bowl
  
• Toss hot pasta with the uncut half of your cheese and 2 tablespoons olive oil and set aside, covered
  
• Heat enough olive oil to a skillet to coat bottom evenly
  
• Add your 1/4 cheese rounds and saute on medium heat for 1-2 minutes until brown, watching carefully
  
• Carefully flip rounds with a metal spatula (cheese may cling to rubber/wood) and saute another 1-2 minutes, then transfer to paper towels to absorb excess oil
  
• Remove your roasted cauliflower from the oven and add to pasta along with salt and pepper to taste
  
• Serve immediately in individual bowls topped with sauteed goat cheese rounds
  

2 down, 8 to go!

Roast Pepper Chicken with Acorn Squash: 3 Ingredient Recipe #1

3 Ingredient Recipe: Chicken with Roasted Peppers and Acorn Squash

One of the challenges of 3 ingredients is getting a rich, full flavor and texture with limited options.  With this dish I tried to create a rich sauce out of 2 ingredients.  The result was buttery and rich, and with the addition of a good amount of cracked pepper, it had a kick, too!

For a refresher on the rules of my 10 day, 3 ingredient challenge, check out the first post.

3 things to get...

1. 4 chicken leg quarters
   
2. 6 ounces of roasted red peppers*
   
3. 1 medium acorn squash, cubed (you can leave skin on, or peel if you're industrious)  

*Prepared, jarred peppers were used for acidity


What to do with it...

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  
• Heat a large oven-proof saute pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon butter
  
• Sprinkle kosher salt/cracked pepper on chicken
  
• Add chicken to your pan and saute on each side until brown, then transfer to a roasting pan and add to oven.
  
• Start timer for 45 mins, keeping the pan with drippings on the stove on low heat for the next step
  
• In the same pan used for the chicken, toss in squash and saute until golden and then transfer pan to oven (keeping the squash in it's own pan will help keep flavors separate/distinct until plating)
  
• While chicken and squash are roasting, add roasted red peppers to a food processor and pulse until it's the consistency of a chunky paste (you can also use ajvar for this)
  
• After 45 mins, remove chicken and squash from the oven and transfer half of the squash and all of the chicken to a large plate, reserving the chicken drippings
  
• Remove the skins from the remaining half of squash in the pan and add your pepper mixture
  
• Pour the chicken drippings from your roasting pan into the pepper/squash mixture
  
• Return the pan to the stove on low heat and begin mashing the squash to incorporate into the sauce
  
• Season with general cracked pepper and salt to taste
  
• Serve sauce over the chicken along with the roasted squash

One down (small 'hurrah!), 9 to go...

The Chickenless Kitchen 30 Rock Challenge!

My fellow food blogger over at the Chickenless Kitchen posted a challenge a few days ago: Create a recipe inspired by the show 30 Rock.  Well I can't resist a challenge that is TV related (food and TV pair so well together), and definitely can't resist a chance to post about 30 Rock.


Tina Fey feels like my long lost, much more successful sister.  I'm told I look like her all the time, a fact that is not surprising I guess considering we are both half Greek on our mother's sides.  She has lived in PA and Chicago (like me), and, most importantly, she enjoys FOOD and is not afraid to make a fool out of herself if it makes people laugh.  I'm going to stop with the comparisons now because they'll begin to border the creepy/stalker variety and just get on to the recipe... oh, and also my nickname has been "Tina" for years and years before I knew who Tina Fey was... OK, that was the last one, I promise!  To the challenge!



Being that there is the Greek connection there, I thought I'd do a recipe that works with that.  I decided to brush off the Greek cookbook passed down from my YiaYia, very cleverly named "The Art of Greek Cookery"...gotta love 1960's cookbooks for their creativity.  This is also inspired by the "Night Cheese" scene in 30 Rock...



So without further ado, I bring you...


Night Cheese: The Recipe


1 pound of kasseri cheese
1 pound of fresh mozzerella
1 pound of feta
1 lemon
Olive oil
Flour for dredging
Assorted olives (including kalamata)

1. Directions: Cut all the cheese into 1/4 inch thick pieces and dredge in flour.
2. Heat the oil in a medium skillet and add cheese pieces.
3. Brown on each side, 1.5 min for kasseri, 1 min for softer cheeses.
4. Remove to dish and serve with olives, a few squeezes of lemon juice, and drizzle olive oil.

OPA!


I'll be posting my first 3 ingredient challenge recipe today so stay tuned for that later!