Pasta with Lemon Basil Cream Sauce, Chicken, Summer Squash, Zucchini, Spinach & Artichoke Hearts

CSA Items used in this recipe: Basil, Garlic, Zucchini and Summer Squash

It's been awhile since I've posted. I've actually done a lot of cooking since the last post. Some of that cooking was done last weekend when visiting a friend in Columbus, Ohio. We both love to cook and together we prepared some fabulous meals, but as this blog is dedicated to recipes that incorporate CSA produce from Crabtree Farms, I didn't blog any of those recipes. I've also created a few other new dishes, but feel a couple of them need refining, so when I try them again and feel they are worthy of the time it takes to document them, I will definitely share them.

On to tonight's recipe. I've been getting a bunch of basil and a head of garlic each week for the last few weeks in my CSA and I've made several batches of pesto. I also get lots of summer squash and zucchini each week. So tonight I made up another batch of pesto. I love pesto. I think I could eat it every day and never ever tire of it, but I did decide to change things up a bit and use it as a seasoning rather than the predominant flavor of the dish. The result was a delicious lemon wine sauce with a hint of pesto. Tim and I definitely enjoyed it, but we weren't the only ones. One of our babies, Fossie (short for Foster - long story) begged at our feet the whole time we were eating and as soon as we turned our heads, was licking our platters clean.

RECIPE: Pasta with Lemon Basil Cream Sauce, Chicken, Summer Squash, Zucchini & Artichoke Hearts
Serves 4 to 5

1.5 lbs boneless butterflied chicken breast
1 T. olive oil
Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper

10 oz. dry pasta, cooked according to package directions (I used a spiral pasta called Gemelli)

1/2 cup summer squash, chopped into 1/4 inch X 1 inch strips
1/2 cup zucchini, chopped into 1/4 inch X 1 inch strips
1 jar artichoke hearts (not marinated) drained
3 T. prepared basil pesto (click here for recipe)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 T. goat cheese
2 cups spinach leaves

Grated Romano or Parmesan Cheese for Garnish

Cut each chicken breast into quarters and pound with a meat mallet to a uniform thickness (about 3/8 in.). Press between paper towels to remove excess moisture and season each side with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Heat olive oil in a large grill pan set over two burners to medium high heat. Brown chicken on each side and cook until meat thermometer measures and internal temperature of 160º. Remove chicken from grill pan, place on a plate and tent with foil.

Add summer squash and zucchini to pan and sauté for 3 minutes. Add artichokes and basil pesto and stir to combine. Add lemon juice, wine, cream and goat cheese and stir. Slice chicken into 1/4 inch wide strips. Add chicken back to pan with 2 cups spinach and continue stirring until spinach is wilted. Add cooked and drain pasta to pan and toss to combine. Add salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Serve pasta with grated cheese.

Shrimp, Roasted Vegetable and Basil Pesto Pasta

CSA Items used in the following recipes: Basil, garlic, eggplant, spring carrots, zucchini, summer squash, Walla Walla spring onions, broccoli and chives

This weeks CSA included a beautiful and tasty variety of vegetables and herbs including 2 eggplants, several squash, 3 tomatoes, a bunch of spring carrots, a head of broccoli, a beautiful red cabbage, a few green beans, a bunch of basil, a head of garlic and some chives.

I made pesto with the basil last night. I added a little white wine vinegar to some of the pesto and made a savory vinaigrette for my salad for lunch today and decided to use the rest in a pasta recipe for dinner tonight. I love pesto and I often find when I mix it with pasta it gets a little watered down and tastes bland, so I decided to roast vegetables to add to the pasta in order to intensify the flavor of the dish. I also sautéed some tender, sweet Louisiana gulf shrimp and added them to the dish. The result was a success. Tim says this is the best CSA dish yet and I have to agree with him!

RECIPE: Roasted Vegetable, Shrimp and Basil Pesto Pasta

Serves 4-6

2 small or one large eggplant

olive oil for drizzling

balsamic glaze for drizzling

salt and pepper

8 spring carrots

1 medium zucchini

1 medium summer squash

1 small head broccoli

1 bunch spring onions (or green onions with large bulbs)

olive oil for drizzling

balsamic glaze for drizzling

salt and pepper

1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (preferably wild caught)

12 oz pasta such as penne or rotini, cooked according to package directions

1 recipe Basil Pesto (see below for recipe or use 1 cup prepared pesto)

Optional garnish: Grated pecorino romano (or other hard grated Italian cheese such as parmigiano reggiano or grana padano) and chopped chives

Preheat oven to 400º. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat with very thin layer of olive oil. Cut eggplant into large cubes. Place eggplant pieces in bowl and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix with a large spoon until evenly coated. Spread evenly on aluminum foil and roast 10-15 minutes until tender. Use spatula to loosen eggplant from foil and wrap foil loosely around eggplant to keep warm.

While eggplant is roasting, slice squash into 1/4 in. thick slices. Rinse broccoli and cut off florets, reserving stem for another use. Cut onion bulbs from spring onions, remove outer skin, cut off roots and rinse. Scrape baby carrots and rinse. Pat vegetables with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Place another piece of foil on baking sheet and spray with cooking spray or oil lightly. Place vegetables in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix with large spoon until evenly coated. Spread evenly on aluminum foil and roast 15-20 minutes, stirring once, until tender.

While vegetables are roasting, cook pasta according to package instructions.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat and add shrimp. Saute until shrimp are pink and opaque. Remove from heat.

Drain pasta and add back to pan with roasted vegetables, shrimp and pesto. Toss together until evenly coated.

Serve, sprinkling each serving with a little grated cheese and chopped chives.

RECIPE: Basil Pesto

Makes about 1 cup

1/2 c. grated pecorino romano (or other grated hard Italian cheese such as parmigiano reggiano or grana padano)

2 T sliced almonds (or pine nuts or chopped walnuts)

1 bunch basil

1 head roasted garlic, cloves divided and peeled or 2 cloves uncooked garlic, minced (NOTE: To roast garlic, remove out layers of garlic skin and cut off top to expose tops of individual cloves - drizzle a small amount of olive oil over cloves, wrap garlic head in foil and roast in a toaster oven for 20 minutes or until it feels tender when slightly squeezed)

olive oil

Place cheese and almonds in food processor and process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add basil and peeled roasted garlic or uncooked garlic. While processing, slowly drizzle olive oil into processor until mixture comes together and forms a smooth paste.

If not using immediately, place in a small container, cover with a thin layer of olive oil and store in the refrigerator.

This Week's CSA and Broiled Eggplant Recipe

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks because I was on vacation, so a friend picked up my CSA bag last week and she and her family enjoyed it.  I plan to post later about my trip to British Columbia where I enjoyed lots of delicious local food including seafood and vegetables as well as some fabulous British Columbia wines.

Today's CSA bag brought a much greater variety of items.  There was a bunch of young carrots, a bunch of baby beets, two heads of "German Porcelain" garlic, zucchini and summer squash, a lovely shiny purple eggplant, a large, almost ripe tomato, and more "Sweet Jewel" strawberries and collards.

I came home and made a lovely salad and topped it with some chopped carrots and baby beets. I didn't actually read my vegetable list before I started chopping and thought the "radishes" looked unusual inside.  They were striped like beets.  Well, that's because they were beets!  I put them on the salad anyway and they were delicious.  I'm glad I mistook them.  They had the same crunchy texture of radish and while they had a little bit of the bite of a radish, they were sweeter.  Of course the carrots were tender, sweet and crunchy.

I decided to go ahead and cook the eggplant while it was still so fresh.  I'm going to have it for lunch tomorrow with pasta and marinara sauce.  Following is my recipe for preparing broiled eggplant.

RECIPE: Broiled Eggplant

Serves 3 as a main dish or 5-6 as an hors d'oeuvres

1 large eggplant

Kosher salt

2 T olive oil or flavored oil such as basil oil

1 T sweet balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze

Ground black pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmaggiano Reggiano

Slice the eggplant into 3/4 inch rounds.  Rub the surface of both sides of the eggplant sliceswith kosher salt and let stand between two paper towels and let stand for about 30 minutes to remove some of the moisture and bitterness. 

Set a baking rack in a cookie sheet and brush lightly with olive oil.

Wipe salt from surface of eggplant slices.  Mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil or basil oil with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (use a sweeter balsamic or balsamic glaze - not a harsh vinegary variety).  Brush both sides of eggplant slices with oil/balsamic mixture and sprinkle with ground black pepper.

Place slices on baking rack and set pan on middle rack of oven.  Broil for 4-5 minutes until balsamic caramelizes.  Remove from oven, turn over eggplant pieces and brush with oil/balsamic mixture on second side, sprinkle with ground black pepper and grated parmesan cheese.  Broil another 4-5 minutes until second side caramelizes.

Serve as a main dish with a side of pasta and marina or cut into cubes and serve as an hors d'ouevres.

Bruschetta & Shrimp Pasta

CSA Items mentioned in this post: Garlic Scapes

Since I have plenty of vidalia onions, tomatoes and fresh basil on hand, I decided to make bruschetta.  After making the bruschetta, I realized it was almost lunch time and wondered how I could make it part of a meal, so I decided to sauté shrimp, cook some pasta and toss it all together with freshly grated parmagianno reggiano and crumbled feta.  

The bruschetta was very nice by itself on crackers and it wasn't too bad tossed with the pasta and shrimp, but if I do this again, I'll make a couple of modifications.  First, I'll use a different type of pasta - probably fettuccine or angel hair. And second, rather than mixing the cheese in with the warm shrimp and bruschetta, which resulted in soggy cheese, I'll mix the shrimp, bruschetta and pasta and then top the plated servings of the mixture with cheese. 

Following is the recipe.  The bruschetta is also great as a snack or first course on crostinis and topped with a little shaved parmaggiano reggiano or similar hard Italian cheese.

RECIPE: Bruschetta

Serves 4 to 5 as an appetizer

2 small ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 small vidalia onion, diced

2 garlic scapes, finely chopped (substitution: 1 clove minced garlic)

3 T. basil, coarsely chopped

2 t. extra virgin olive oil (I use Colavita for everyday cooking)

Salt and pepper to taste

Shaved parmaggiano reggiano or other Italian hard cheese

Mix all ingredients and add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve on crostini and garnish with a little shaved cheese or mix into pasta (recipe follows).

RECIPE: Bruschetta and Shrimp Pasta

Serves 2

One recipe Bruschetta (see above)

20 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 T. olive oil

6 oz. cooked pasta (6 oz. dry weight before cooking)

1/4 c. shredded parmaggiano reggiano

2 T. crumbled feta (I used Bonnie Blue Goat Milk Feta)

Prepare bruschetta per recipe.  While pasta cooks according to package directions, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.  Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels.  When skillet is hot, add shrimp and sauté a couple of minutes until opaque. Remove shrimp from skillet to a bowl to stop the cooking process. Drain the pasta and toss with the bruschetta and shrimp. Plate the mixture and top each serving with parmesan and feta.