Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Randy's Recipes: Rotini with Veggies and Turkey Bacon


Boil some whole wheat rotini with a few drops of olive oil

I grind up my herbs and spices in a small grinder some good friends gave me in the early 80s. It brings out the flavor and gets them into your system more readily. Minced onion, oregano or mixed Italian herbs, parsley flakes, garlic granules, fennel seed, Kosher salt and peppercorns. Put half (or more) into the boiling pasta and add the rest to the pasta dinner before serving. Remember, ground is more potent!

Heat a sauté pan. Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Cut up two slices of turkey bacon and put in heated pan. Cut a few pieces of fresh broccoli from the head, slice half a red bell pepper into large chunks, chop or slice ¼ of a white or red onion, a little kale (it was on hand), a handful of walnuts (pieces or halves), mushrooms and throw into pan. Stir everything.

This cooks fast. Add a chopped scallion or green onion towards the end.

Drain the pasta, add to the pan with some more olive oil. Add the rest of the ground herbs. Add four tablespoons of pasta/tomato sauce. I used TJ’s Vodka Pasta Sauce. Crack one whole egg over the top. Stir it in. Secret ingredient: Had a bag of candied cranberry bits on hand and added some. You can also use dried apricots ¬– I’ve tried that and it’s great. Little more tangy than the berries.

Add a little more ground black pepper, or if you like, a little red, or cayenne pepper. Splash in a little red wine. Sprinkle some toasted sesame seed on top.

Put into bowls, top with feta or parmesean, reggiano or whatever, add a few green or black olives and serve!

This is an easy meal to make, and can be done at the spur of the moment.

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