Rustic

Are you noticing a trend with all my new recipes? I think quick and easy has become my thing. As you may recall reading on my post, “The Diva is Back,” my blog fell to the wayside for a couple of years because life was just too crazy. Juggling work, youth sports, and well… just life, I have been all about quick, yet quality, meals. Don’t get me wrong, I still love spending time in the kitchen cooking for hours but 5 days a week I find myself short on time and energy at the end of the day.

This recipe is great for so many reasons. It only takes about 20 minutes from start to finish and you end up with a veggie packed delicious dinner. This isn’t one of those “one pot” recipes where you cook something in a pot, transfer it to a plate, cook something else, transfer it back to the pot, you catch my drift. You literally throw almost all the ingredients into one pot and cook it all together. So to recap, you eat a delicious dinner and then have almost no dishes to wash. Win win! Now you can spend that extra time cozied up on the couch with a glass of wine (or beer) and unwinding from your crazy day.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb spaghetti noodles
2 c white mushrooms, sliced
2 zucchini, thinly sliced and halved
2/3 c frozen peas
2 tbsp garlic, minced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
salt & pepper
1/2 c grated parmesan
1/2 c heavy cream

STEPS

In a large pot combine noodles, mushrooms, zucchini, peas, garlic, thyme, and 4 1/2 cups of water.
Season the water with salt and pepper.
Set the stove to high heat and bring the water to a boil.
Once boiling reduce the heat to medium high and simmer uncovered until the pasta is cooked through, about 9–11 minutes, making sure to stir every couple of minutes.
Once the pasta is cooked, remove the sprigs of thyme.
Stir in the parmesan and heavy creamy until well combined and the cheese melted.
Serve immediately topped with some extra parmesan.

Recipe adapted from Damn Delicious.

Appetizers, Dinners

Recipe—Fig, Goat Cheese, Prosciutto, and Arugula Flatbread

July 6, 2013January 26, 2018 Diva di Cucina

I have this coworker that lives on a real genuine farm. (In the Sacramento Area that’s not very common.) Throughout the year we are the very lucky recipients of various homegrown goodies. A couple weeks back he brought in the most gorgeous figs. I will admit, I look forward to his figs every year. Figs always inspire me to make fun and creative recipes. Well we were having some friends and their kids over the other day for a bbq and some slip n’ slide fun. I knew we would be sitting out on the patio and wanted to come up with a fun appetizer we would all enjoy with a nice bottle of white wine. This flatbread was amazing and so perfect! This took 15 minutes total and was super easy to whip up. The figs are mildly sweet and go great with the richness of the goat cheese and saltiness of the prosciutto. The finishing touch of fresh arugula gives it a nice peppery flavor and the sweet honey just pulls it all together. This rustic flatbread is just layer after layer of fabulous flavors.

Note: I used the Pillsbury whole grain pizza dough and thought it turned out great!

INGREDIENTS
1 can refrigerated pizza dough (I like Pillsbury)
olive oil
4 figs, thinly sliced
3–4 oz sliced prosciutto
4 oz goat cheese
salt and pepper
2 tbsp honey
2 c arugula

STEPS

Heat oven to 400°F.
Grease large nonstick cookie sheet with cooking spray.
Unroll and press out the dough onto the prepared baking sheet to make a 10” x 15” rectangle.
Drizzle the crust with olive oil.
Place the fig slices on the crust in a single layer.
Tear off pieces on the prosciutto and scatter it over the top of the figs.
Crumble the goat cheese and sprinkle it over the flatbread.
Season the flatbread with salt and pepper.
Bake for 12–14 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden color.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Drizzle the honey over the flatbread.
Scatter the arugula over the flatbread.
Slice the flatbread into squares and serve.

Dinners

Recipe—Garlic Shrimp and White Beans

January 3, 2013January 29, 2018 Diva di Cucina

A couple of weeks back I had the opportunity to be a guest blogger over at Rantings of an Amateur Chef. I shared this simple recipe for Garlic Shrimp and White Beans. In case you missed it here it is.

I absolutely love it when I can find a recipe that is not only fabulous but also incredibly quick and easy. Being a working mom those are mandatory criteria for a recipe to make it into our weeknight dinner rotation. This recipe for garlic shrimp and white beans is very simple and yet super flavorful and it only uses one pot making clean up a breeze. Score! I just put the pan right on the kitchen table and let everyone serve it up family style. This rustic recipe goes great with some crusty bread to sop up all the rich tomato sauce and a green salad to balance out the meal. Yum!

Note: If you don’t have a large ovenproof skillet just complete the first 9 steps in a regular skillet and transfer the bean and tomato mixture to an oven safe baking dish and then top with shrimp and finish off under the broiler.

INGREDIENTS
6 tbsp olive oil, divided
4 tsp garlic, minced and divided
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (more if you like is spicy)
1 bay leaf
15 oz can petite-diced tomatoes, drained
salt and pepper
2 tbsp tomato paste
2-15 oz cans white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 c chicken broth
1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tsp paprika
2–3 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped

STEPS

Preheat broiler.
Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.
Add 2 teaspoons of the garlic, chili powder, crushed red pepper, and bay leaf.
Cook stirring constantly for 1–2 minutes making sure not to burn the garlic.
Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Using the backside of the spoon smash up any large chunks of tomatoes and cook until broken down, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and cook stirring constantly until the tomato mixture is a deep red and begins to caramelize, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the beans and broth and bring to a steady simmer.
Cook down until the liquid has reduced and thickened.
In a large bowl combine the shrimp, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, remaining 2 teaspoons of garlic, paprika, and salt and pepper tossing to coat.
Lay the shrimp over the beans making sure they do not overlap.
Place the entire oven safe skillet in the oven under the broiler.
Broil until the shrimp are cooked through, about 4–5 minutes.
Carefully remove skillet from broiler.
Drizzle with dish with the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and garnish with the chopped parsley.
Enjoy!