Penne della Palma (serves 3-4)

Ingredients:
1 pound penne pasta
1 can hearts of palm
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
¼ cup parsley, minced
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
½ cup brandy
½ cup starchy pasta water
½ cup whipping cream
½ Tbs salt and pepper (or to taste)

Instructions:
Boil pasta until al dente.  Drain water, but reserve ½ cup of starchy pasta water.  Drain water from palms and cut into ¼ inch pieces.  In a large pan, heat olive oil and butter, then saute garlic, parsley, tomatoes, and palm.  Add cheese and breadcrumbs, and combine. Add brandy, water, and cream (attention:  cooking with liquor is flammable).  Add pasta and mix together.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and a drizzle of olive oil and a dusting of grated Parmesan cheese for more flavor.

Penne della Palma

Posted in Recipe-Italian, Recipe-Pasta | 1 Comment »

To make this little can of albacore come to life, I created my version of Italian tuna pasta that I ate in Florence during my seminary days.  I’ve made it for several other people and they say it’s definitely the opposite of penitential!  But, it’s still in the Lenten rulebook for fasting and it sure beats the texture and blandness of those sandwiches!

Ingredients:  Serves 1 portion

1 cup of dried fusili pasta, boiled and cooked al dente

1 can of albacore tuna

1 Tbs olive oil

1 clove fresh garlic, minced

1 Tbs fresh capers

½ tsp green peppercorns

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ cup tomato sauce

Instructions:

Sauté garlic in pan of hot olive oil. Add tuna (including the liquid in the can), capers, and peppercorns.  Mix until tuna is warm.  Add tomato sauce and let simmer for 1 minute.  Add pasta and allow some of the pasta water to help “cream” the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Posted in Italian, Recipe-Italian, Recipe-Pasta | 5 Comments »

Popeye’s Spicy Pollo Pumpkin Pasta – serves 4-6

1 box rigatoni pasta

1.5 lbs (apx. 5-6)– chicken tenders

1 tsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1/2 (apx. ½ cup) white onion

1-2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 cup brandy

1  can pumpkin pie filling

1 tsp ground sage

1 cup milk

2 Tbs Parmesan cheese

4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves

2 tsp salt

1-2 tsp black pepper

Heat olive oil, and sauté garlic, onions, and red pepper flakes.  Cut chicken into ¼-inch thick pieces and season with salt, pepper flakes and sage.  Add chicken to pan and cook for 1-2 miutes.  Add brandy, and flambé.  Add pie mixture, milk, and Parmesan cheese, and mix.  Add pasta, incorporating apx. 2-4 Tbs of the heated starchy water.  Add fresh baby spinach leaves, and incorporate all the ingredients in the pan.  To serve, you could add a few more fresh spinach leaves around the pasta, with a light drizzle of oil, and then top with a light dusting of Parmesan cheese.  

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