WWDH - Chicken and Roasted Capsicum Pasta - or Quinoa

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay recipe was chosen by Margaret. She selected Donna's Chicken and Roasted Capsicum Pasta.

The only part about this recipe that I didn't like was peeling the skin off the roast capsicums - never an easy job, and it takes forever.  I used quinoa instead of pasta in keeping with my diet, and used balsamic vinegar instead of malt vinegar for the dressing.

The resulting dish was delicious, and I would make it again - with pasta.  Unfortunately, I have a quinoa sensitivity (nothing to do with washing the quinoa - I first suspected there was an issue when I was only eating the very processed quinoa flakes), which makes my gut burn for a couple of hours after eating quinoa.  Very sadly, I had to toss the the leftovers from this dish, but if you don't have a quinoa sensitivity, the quinoa makes a very serviceable alternative to the pasta.

To see what Margaret, Kayte, Chaya and Sarah thought of this dish, visit their websites.

WWDH - Roasted Sweet Potato Pasta

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay pick comes from Chaya.  She has chosen Roasted Sweet Potato Pasta.

The pasta was supposed to be 400g of spaghetti or linguine, but I had 250g of spiral pasta in the pantry, so that is what I used.  I also only used one sweet potato and one tomato, substituted cheddar for parmesan and left out the feta and olive oil.  I still think my version of this pasta tasted fantastic!

This pasta is very satisfying and is very tasty - it is perfect for dinner, and for lunches - which is what I will do with the leftovers.  I would happily make this again.

To see what Chaya, Kayte, Margaret and Sarah thought of this dish, visit their websites.

WWDH - Mushrooms with Pasta

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay pick comes from Margaret, who chose Mushrooms with Pasta from p22 of Off the Shelf.

This dish involves making a creamy mushroom sauce with stock, chilli, basil and cheese to coat fettucine.

I thought this was really quite nice.  I cut down the pasta from 400g to 250g and made the whole amount of sauce, which gave me three hearty serves of pasta.  It was another quick, easy, tasty dish.  I even bought pre-cut mushrooms to cut down in preparation time.

To see what Margaret, Kayte and Chaya thought, visit their websites.  And if you want to cook along with us each week, feel free to join us - just contact one  of us to let us know, and we will add you to our mailing list.

WWDH - Rigatoni with Peas, Asparagus and Ricotta

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay pick came from Chaya, who selected Rigatoni with Peas, Asparagus and Ricotta from p130 of Modern Classics I.

This is such a simple, light, fresh dish - it comprises pasta with asparagus, peas (whole and mashed) cooked in chicken stock, ricotta, parmesan, salt, pepper and a little olive oil.  It is quick to make and very easy to eat.  I loved it.

To see what Chaya, Margaret and Kayte thought of this dish, visit their websites.

WWDH - Lemon Chicken Pasta

For Wednesday with Donna Hay this week, I have chosen Lemon Chicken Pasta from Donna's Off the Shelf.  The recipe is also online here.

The title of this recipe says it all - it comprises pasta with shredded chicken, lemon zest and lemon juice, with garlic, capers , chilli and basil thrown in, and parmesan on top.  I used spinach linguine as I had half a packet left over from some other project, and I didn't want to make as much pasta as the recipe suggested.

This was simple to make and good - I do think it could use more sauce though.

To see what Kayte, Margaret and Chaya thought of this recipe, check out their websites.

WWDH - Spinach and ricotta cannelloni

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay recipe was chosen by Kayte.  It is Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni from Modern Classics Book I, and can also be found online.

I have never made cannelloni before, so I found this to be an interesting recipe.  It ended up being fairly easy to make, as Donna stipulates the use of fresh lasagne sheets into which the spinach and cheese filling is rolled up before being topped with bottled tomato pasta sauce.

Here is a peek at the insides:

This cannelloni is very tasty but quite rich - I couldn't eat the entire serving of two pieces, so divided the cannelloni up into one and half piece lots.  I served my cannelloni with frozen veges dolloped with aubergine and chilli jam.

I would make this again - it was delicious.

To see what Kayte, Margaret and Chaya thought of this dish, visit their websites.

WWDH - Brown Butter Sage Fettucine (with Chorizo)

For Wednesdays with Donna Hay this week, Margaret chose Brown Butter Sage Fettucine.  This dish is comprised of fettucine with a browned butter and crispy sage sauce.

I added pan fried chorizo sausage to make this a complete meal, and I am glad I did, as it added some oomph to the flavour.

This is a simple, quick dish if you are on the run and don't have many ingredients in the house.

To see what Margaret, Kayte and Chaya thought of this dish, please visit their websites on Wednesday their time.

WWDH - Fettucine Carbonara

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay recipe is Fettucine Carbonara, chosen by Margaret, from Modern Classics I.    You can also find the recipe online here.

The recipe is for a quick, easy, traditional creamy pasta with eggs, bacon and cheese in the sauce.  I prefer tomato-based sauces, but this was pretty good, especially when paired with fresh vegetables to add some balance to the equation.

To see what Margaret and Chaya thought of this recipe, please visit their blogs on Wednesday, US time (~ 1 day behind me).

WWDH - Pasta with Tomato, Basil and Olives

For this week's Wednesday with Donna Hay, Margaret chose Pasta with Tomato, Basil and Olives from p18 of Off the Shelf.

This dish is simplicity itself to make - boil your pasta, make a sauce based on tinned tomatoes, mix them together and bingo!

It was delicious, and I think it would be great with chorizo.  I was going to add chorizo, but I thawed the wrong thing from my freezer, so my version is vegetarian, as Donna intended it.

Check out what Margaret, Kayte and Chaya may have thought of this dish by visiting their sites.

WWDH - Spinach and ricotta pasta bake

 

It's not that easy being green;
Having to spend each day the colour of the leaves.
(from Bein' Green by Joe Raposo)

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay recipe from Off the Shelf  is Spinach and Ricotta Pasta Bake, chosen by Margaret of Tea and Scones.

I only made a half recipe so that as a solo diner, I wasn't eating this for the rest of the year. (I got six serves out of half, so I am not sure how Donna got six serves out of double that - they must have been very generous serves!) However, I used up all the (baby) spinach that came in the bag, as it wasn't cheap, and it seems that this may have been a little enthusiastic, as I seem to have a very high ratio of spinach to everything else in my pasta bake.

No matter - this was absolutely delicious, and a nice change from what I would usually make.  It is creamy without being rich, and has all the goodness of spinach and dairy.

To see what Margaret,  Kayte and Chaya thought of this dish, visit their blogs.

WWDH - Baked Carbonara

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay pick was Baked Carbonara, chosen by Margaret.  This dish is a baked fettucine with cheese and bacon.  

I used spinach fettucine, red leicester cheese instead of parmesan, and light evaporated milk instead of cream:

It was tasty, but quite rich.  To see what Margaret, Kayte and Chaya thought of this dish, go visit their sites.