Starving Artist

Sometimes you just need a little comfort, whether it’s a long phone conversation with your mom, a hug from a best friend,  or a warm dinner to cozy up to. I was in need of a little bit of home tonight, and thought I would cook up a version of one of my favorite childhood dishes, macaroni and cheese.

With shrimp and homemade pesto sitting in my freezer, I decided to combine them with a beautiful squash and some of the turkey bacon that I had left over from the other day. The result was a hearty, cheesy, kicked up version of my favorite treat :)

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Pesto Shrimp and Bacon Mac & Cheese

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Ingredients:

• 2 cups of whole wheat pasta (I used rotini)
• 1 summer squash (can substitute zucchini)
• 1 cup of small frozen shrimp (thawed)
• 2 slices of turkey bacon
• 3 tbsp pesto
• 2 cups of shredded fat free cheese (I used a mozzarella and cheddar combo, 45 cal per 1/4 cup)
• 4 tbsp fat free cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cup fat free milk
• 4 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 4 tbsp whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

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Directions:

1. Cook the pasta until it still has a slight bite to it.
2. Cut the squash into bite-sized pieces. Put the squash and frozen shrimp in a small bowl with a splash of water, salt and pepper. Microwave for 2 minutes, drain any access fluid, and then add to a large bowl with the pasta.
3. Cut the bacon into small pieces and add to the bowl with the pasta mixture.
4. In a saucepan, combine the flour with 1/2 cup of milk over medium heat. Gradually add in 1 cup of milk, and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and mix in the pesto, salt and pepper.
5. Add in 1 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese, and the cream cheese to the saucepan. Mix well.
6. Add the cheese mixture to the bowl that contains the pasta and stir well.
7. Grease a small baking pan (I used 8″x8″), and add in the mixture.
8. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese, and then the breadcrumbs.
9. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
10. Enjoy! :)

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1 serving = 1/6 of dish

Calories: 340  Carbs: 40g  Fat: 5g Protein: 33g

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I’m starting to really love Tuesdays, since that’s when my delightful bundle from Boston Organics arrives! It’s like Christmas every other week – I love the surprise. This week’s box was beeeeautiful. Check it out:

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It contained the following colorful gems:

• half dozen eggs (add on)
• bag of cranberries (add on)
• .75lb local apples
• 2 Macintosh apples
• 1.5lbs bananas
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1lb carrots
• 1 head of cauliflower
• 2 kiwis
• 2 oranges
• 2 tangerines
• 1.5lb delicata squash
• 1lb zucchini
• 1 head of red leaf lettuce

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I had looked ahead to see what I would be receiving this week, and wanted to come up with a recipe that would utilize a few of the vegetables – particularly the delicata squash, cauliflower, and zucchini.

Maybe it’s the Italian in me, but my mind went straight to lasagna. Not just any lasagna though – I wanted to make one that was filled with vegetables and low in fat and calories.

I came up with a zucchini and delicata squash lasagna with a cauliflower cream sauce…

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I was slightly skeptical about the cauliflower sauce at first, but the flavor in the lasagna ended up tasting very reminiscent of a bechamel. It was really good and paired well with the other veggies. Try it out! :)

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Zucchini and Delicata Squash Lasagna with a Cauliflower Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• Squash-Ricotta Filling (recipe below)
• Cauliflower Sauce (recipe below)
• 1 lb of whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices
• 1 package of part skim mozzarella cheese

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare filling (recipe below)
3. Prepare sauce (recipe below)
4. Place zucchini on a sheet pan and brush with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 5 minutes, until soft.
5. Par boil the noodles (cook for half of their regular cooking time that’s listed on the box).
6. In a 9×13” casserole dish, spoon some of the sauce on the bottom to coat the dish.
7. Line the bottom of the dish with a layer of noodles.
8. Add 1/2 of the ricotta filling on top of the noodles.
9. Top the ricotta with a layer of the zucchini slices.
10. Pour 1/2 of the sauce on top of the zucchini.
11. Repeat steps 5-8.
12. Top the lasagna with the mozzarella cheese.
13. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
14. Sprinkle the squash seeds and parsley over the top.
15. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, until the lasagna is bubbly and top is slightly browned.
16. Cool for about 5 minutes, slice and serve!

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1 serving = 1/8 of lasagna

Calories: 256  Carbs: 33g  Fat: 7g Protein: 18g

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Squash-Ricotta Filling

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Ingredients

• 1 delicata squash
• 1 1/4 cup fat free ricotta cheese
• 3 1/2 tbsp goat cheese
• 4 tsp parmesan cheese
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup spinach
• Pinch of crushed garlic
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp parsley

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Directions

1. Slice the delicata squash in half (the long way), and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
2. Roast on a baking sheet at 425 degrees for 35 minutes.
3. Let cool, then scoop out the squash into a large bowl.
4. Mash the squash until it is fairly smooth.
5. Add in the ricotta, goat cheese, parmesan cheese, and egg whites, and mix well.
6. Add in the rest of the ingredients, and mix well.

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Cauliflower Sauce

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Ingredients

• 4 cups fresh cauliflower
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 3 tbsp dry white wine
• 6 tbsp fat free half and half
• 4 tbsp water
• 1/4 tsp crushed garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

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Directions

1. In a medium-sized microwave safe bowl, combine the cauliflower, onion, garlic and wine.
2. Cover and microwave on high for 5 minutes (or until the cauliflower is soft).
3. Pour the mixture into a food processor, and add in the half and half, salt and pepper.
4. Puree until smooth.

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Enjoy! :)

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A full day of work and a 3 hour (eeek) hair appointment behind me, the only thing that I feel up to making for dinner tonight is a big bowl of granola with milk. Gourmet, huh? Since that leaves me with not much to blog about, I though I would post about the most incredible lunch I had yesterday, and the duo that was responsible for it.

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Nella Pasta is made up of the amazing team of Leigh and Rachel, who specialize in fresh handmade pasta. The word “nella” is Italian for “in the”, which refers to the girls’ dedication to creating their pastas with the most local and farm fresh produce that is available to them.

From their amazing specialty ravioli flavors (Nutella, butternut squash, and roasted red pepper to name a few), to their beautifully handcrafted linguine and capellini, you can tell how much detail and love goes into each individual piece of pasta.

I was lucky enough to try a portion of their pasta while at work yesterday. The dish I had for lunch was their rigatoni with maple glazed butternut squash and brown butter thyme sauce, topped with parmesan and toasted butternut squash seed.

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SO AMAZING! These girls really know what they’re doing. The pasta was so fresh, still al dente, and the butternut squash, olive oil and parmesean gave it the perfect amount of flavor and texture.

I met Leigh through my good friend Neha, and I’m so excited that her dream is becoming a reality! Please take a look at Nella’s website for information on the Hingham and Prudential farmers markets at which you can find them!

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FILHO’S!! That’s all I could think about once I got home with the fam (minus my sister). I hadn’t eaten that much today since I was rushing around to get home, and was more than excited / ready to go out to a delicious dinner with my family. Filho’s is an incredible Italian pasticceria about 15 minutes from hometown that has an extremely wide array of pastas, sandwiches, salads, etc. Their pasta is to-die for, so I never venture off of that page of the menu. Another wonderful plus – Filho’s is BYOB and - gasp – attached to a liquor store. My, how convenient!

My dad, brother and I split a 6 pack of 2 different local Fall beers:

1 – Wachusett Octoberfest (from Westminster, MA)

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2) Fisherman’s Pumpkin Stout (from Gloucester, MA)

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Loved them both, although the Octoberfest was my favorite. It was the perfect blend of spices, and not too heavy. I really think it might be my favorite Octoberfest! The Fisherman’s had a light pumpkin taste, but I was hoping for a bit more to it. It wasn’t a heavy stout though, so it was very drinkable along with my meal.

Ohhhh my meal….

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To say it was delish is an understatement. I went with the Chicken Piccatta which is one of my favorite dishes. Obviously swapped spinach for mushrooms since mushrooms = ICK in my book. The chicken was very tender, the sauce a tangy lemon with a splash of cream, and the pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente. The portion was massive, so I was able to save about half for dinner tomorrow. Can’t wait for round 2!

Bedtime for this girl, as tomorrow will be an early morning with the walk. Night! :)

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