The thing is that I have been getting behind on grocery shopping. We have pretty much had to make do with the scraps and bits left on the empty pantry shelves. In fact, the refrigerator echoed the other day. I swear it did. No reason for me not to go, just still run down from the surgery and then the potassium issues. I am so blessed with work right now that it is easy to get behind on things like groceries! That is how I found myself with a group of intense faces in front of me and a clock behind me that said “SUPPERTIME!”

Oops.

Grabbed a can of pumpkin and the thing of flour and started throwing things together and this is what happened:

Look at the colors in that! The dish is Autumn personified. I love it. I wanted a smoky flavor that would reflect all that is Fall. Spicy, earthy, and easy. I think I got it. And this is my entry to Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this week by Sara of I’m a Food Blog

Applewood smoked bacon, onions, roasted red peppers, chipotle, and smoked olives are sauteed in olive oil and finished with just a splash of maple syrup. Diced fontina gets sprinkled on top and the whole thing takes less than 30 minutes.

The roasted red peppers were commercial, as were the smoked olives. I got mine at the grocery store but if you can’t find them I think Amazon carries them. I also found these chipotle smoked olives which sound amazing.

You can make these a day ahead and store them in the refrigerator for a really quick meal.

Need a menu? Try this:

• Pumpkin Gnocchi with Smoky Chipotle Sauce
• Baguette
• Sauteed Lemon Brussels Sprouts with Pistachio
• Pecan Praline Cheesecake

I hope you like this as well as I do.

Pumpkin Gnocchi

• 1 (15 oz.) can solid pack pumpkin or two cups of homemade pumpkin puree, drained
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 3 cups flour or enough to make a soft dough
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Mix together until you get a soft, kneadable dough. You want it to be the texture of soft Play-do.
2. Cut in about 5 or 6 parts and roll each part out into a 3/4 inch thick rope
3. Slice in pieces about 1/2 inch thick
4. You can use a fork to make a design, or not as you wish
5. Spoon gnocchi into water that is at a slow boil
6. Cook until done, it will come up to the surface and float there. Just take that batch out with a slotted spoon and add the next batch until all are cooked.
7. Toss with Smoky Chipotle Sauce

Smoky Chipotle Sauce

• 1/2 cup smoked green olives, sliced
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
• 6 slices of applewood smoked bacon
• 1 tsp of dried chipotle, more or less to taste
• 1 onion chopped
• Pinch of cinnamon
• 1/4 cup olive oil, smoked olive oil if you have it
• 2 tbs of maple syrup (more or less to taste)
• 4 oz fontina, diced

Directions:

1. Simmer everything but the maple syrup and fontina in a pan on low heat until the onions are cooked
2. Stir often, don’t let anything caramelize
3. Stir in the maple syrup and simmer for another minute or two. Taste and adjust seasonings
4. Pour over cooked gnocchi and toss
5. Sprinkle with fontina

Serves 6-8

Post from: Baking Delights

Here it is.  Presto Pasta 108.  You won’t believe the visual feast you are about to experience.  We have gotten some of the most amazing dishes ever.  If you are hungry now? No worries, you will be by the bottom of the page.  Ready?

Elizabeth at Blog from Our Kitchen was the first one in the gate with this Skyliner Chili over pasta.  It looks amazing…and now I am hungry for Chili Mac.

Melissa, at Alosha’s Kitchen, submitted one of my favorites. Beef  Stroganoff.  I love this stuff.  I could eat it all day..and then waddle back for more.

How about something really fast? Sarah at Taste My Plate presents her recipe for In a Flash Singapore Noodles. I am getting the chopsticks ready right now.

Abby at Eat the Right Stuff certainly has created the right stuff with the Chinese Spagetti. Just wow.  Doesn’t it look fantastic?

Restless Chipotle joins Presto Pasta Nights for the first time with this Spring Pasta. Fresh, delicate, and local.  Yum.

Purplesque offers Color Me Green Pasta. Spinach, goat cheese…all the good stuff.  This is also Purplesque’s first entry into Presto Pasta!

RedVanilla has a pasta addiction that seems to rival mine.  Her entry for this week is Tomato and Mushroom Linguine in Cream Sauce.

Juliette from A Little Foodie created a Roasted Vegetable Puttenesca.

Alice created Fried Laksa Noodle on Bits of Taste.  The recipe sounds wonderful and her photography skills are intense.

Next is a dynamic duo, Kerri and Stephan from Dinner Diary.  They have submitted this luscious Pork Ragu. Can’t you just smell it?

Ready for something spring-like?  Deb from Kahakai Kitchen sent in this Spagetti with Shaved Asparagus.  Mmmm.  I love asparagus.

Nic created an amazing combination at Lemon and Cheese.  Spaghetti with Cream and Scampi Sauce.  Another delicious spring pasta meal!

And now, for something completely different.  You know, one of the  things I absolutely love about Presto Pasta Nights is that there is so much variety in the submissions.

Haalo,  who blogs Cook (almost) Anything Once,submitted a Farfalle con Tonno di Coniglio – Farfalle with “Rabbit Tuna.  Quick, easy, and it looks amazing.

Ching writes the blog, Little Corner of Mine.  She created this Stir Fried Whole Wheat Spagetti with Pork that makes you want to lick your screen.

Kristin made a Tortellini Vegetable “Lasagne”.  Looks perfect, quick, easy and delicous.  Check it out at Sogkonnite Living.

Are you still hungry? Check out Leslie’s recipe for Angel Hair Pasta Soup on My Asian Kitchen.  Looks very filling and yet light.

Kait at Pots and Plots submitted a great looking Rotini and Cheese Primavera.  She said she hoped it wasn’t too late but even if it had been how could I resist this?

That’s it for this week.  Wasn’t it an incredible round up?  A big thanks to everyone who participated.  Now..how in the world do I choose which to make for lunch?

Next week’s round up will be hosted byKatie at One Little Corner of the World .  You can enter next week’s round up by contacting both her and Ruth: sprange (at) hometel (dot)com and  ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com.    If you have never participated before you can see the Presto Pasta Nights guidelines here.

Images are the property of the various participants and are used by permission.

Post from: Baking Delights

Anyway I get to host PPN 108..Can you believe it? ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT!  One hundred eight weeks of yummy pasta.  So, put your pasta thinking caps on, and please make me look good here.  Daring Bakers, you DO have a pasta dish for PPN 108, as I recall!

I have been working on a star shaped ravioli recipe, and I am hoping to share it for PPN 108.  We’ll see what happens this weekend.

How to enter? Simple!

Just create your pasta dish.  Blog it and send me a link, your name, blog, and image (no bigger than 400px, please) to maudet8816ATaolDOTcom.  CC a copy to RuthAT4everykitchenDOTcom.  That’s it!  Easy!

So, let’s recap.

• Pasta
• Next Friday, April 10
• Be here or be uncool

Now…today Ruth is hosting Presto Pasta so you better head over there for your carb fix.  Three different mac and cheeses? Wow.

image:Presto Pasta

Post from: Baking Delights

One thing that I get asked over and over again is how much groceries cost us.  The cost more since I have been working because I tend to buy some things I used to make form scratch but for our family of 8 (which includes at least 3 very big eaters) and three cats and a dog we spend about 600.00 a month.

Now, that does not include milk or eggs because we have goats and chickens for that.  The total bill for animal feed, including hay, runs about 60.00 a month.  That gives us 3 1/2 gallons of organic milk a week (at the moment, in the spring it is more and in a month or so the does will be dry until spring), and about 15 organic eggs a day in the summer and 9 eggs a day in the winter months.  I think I save about 80 dollars a month by having the animals.

All in all I think that I am pretty frugal..but I am sure there are lots of people doing better than I am.  Anyway, one thing I have learned to do is to create a meal from something I find on clearance.  For example, I got this piece of beef on sale for 30% off the lowest price..which made it $2.13

Obviously on it’s own it isn’t enough to make a meal for 8 people on.  But with a few additions it is filling, yummy and the whole meal, including green beans and salad as  sides, cost less than 1.00 a person…AND everyone was stuffed.

This is my entry for Presto Pasta Nights.  Ruth (Once Upon a Feast) is hosting this week so be sure and check out the great pasta ideas that everyone came up with. Pasta is a great way to fill up kids and save money, too!

Fajita Casserole 

serves 8 to 10 generously

1 lb bag of pasta, any shape cooked

1/2 to 1 lb of beef, sliced thin as for stir fry.

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbs or more Fajita seasoning

1 tsp cumin

1 jalapeno, sliced (optional) or 1 tbs chipotle chopped (optional)

1 large can diced tomatoes

1/2  cup shredded cheddar

Sprinkle the beef with fajita seasoning and allow to stand for 30 minutes or up to several hours covered in the fridge.

Saute with the garlic, peppers, and onion in a pan until the meat is cooked but still tender.  Add tomatoes and cumin and pasta and simmer until heated through.  Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and serve.

Let’s recap…

meat-2.13

tomatoes 1.29

cheese .50 maybe

vegetables and spices 1.00

That works out to just over 61 cents per person…

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I love pasta.  It is quick, cheap, easy, and filling..what more can you ask?

This is my entry for Presto Pasta.

Ruth is hosting it this week so go by her blog tomorrow and check out the awesome creations!

• 2 lbs penne pasta, cooked a la dente
• 2 pounds sweet Italian sausage, taken from the casings
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup chopped bell pepper
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine if desired
• 1 pint homemade or organic marinara
• 1 large can Muir Glen Fire Roasted tomatoes
•   2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Fontina

Brown the sausage, onions, peppers, and garlic in the olive oil until the sausage is cooked through.  Add the marinara, wine,  and fire roasted tomatoes, as well as the mushrooms and simmer for a few minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

Preheat oven to 400

Place the penne in a casserole and pour the sauce over it,  stir to blend.  Sprinkle cheese over the top.

Bake for 20 minutes, until heated through and top is bubbly and starting to brown.

Image:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights