Pesto and Goat Cheese Crostini

I originally shared this recipe back in March under my Irish Bunco and Other Ideas for St. Patrick's Day post, but wanted to give this Pesto and Goat Crostini it's own page on the site; especially since New Year's Eve is right around the corner.  

Penne with Avocado Pesto

What do you do when you have about eight ripe avocados sitting on your kitchen counter that were supposed to be used for guacamole to feed sixteen hungry teenage girls, but then the function gets cancelled? You have to find ways to use it up before they go bad! Hey..these things are expensive! So I pureed half of them and made this Avocado Pesto. It was deliciously creamy, though it always garners funny looks from the family when I serve them green food. Tune in tomorrow when I share what I made with some of the other avocados!


Penne with Avocado Pesto
Total Time:  30 minutes        Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Penne Pasta (I used Barilla Plus)
• 1/4 c. Fresh Basil, chopped
• 4 Avocado
• 1/4 c. Pecorino Romano Cheese
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 1 Lemon, juice only
• 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 c. Grape Tomatoes, cut in half
• Kosher Salt, to taste
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat with a little salt; then add the pasta. Cook until the pasta is al dente; then drain. 
2. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit and scoop out the fleshy, green part; then add it to a food processor.
3. Next, add in the cheese, garlic, lemon juice and oil. Pulse until well blended and creamy. It should have a smooth consistency. 
4. Place the cooked pasta in a large bowl; then add the tomatoes and avocado pesto. Mix well. 

Enjoy! 

Nutrition Facts

Calories 505, Carbs 62.1g, Fat 23.1g, Protein 15.8g, Fiber 12.4g, Sugar 3.8g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into Calorie Count and may not be 100% accurate. 

Penne with Avocado Pesto Shopping List

Pesto Chick Pea & Kaniwa Salad

I'm back, did you miss me? I missed you! What a fun, jam packed week I had while I was gone. This is  our last getaway for the summer as next month already starts cheering season, so only day or weekend trips from here on out!  

My family and I headed south from NJ to FL and stopped to visit potential colleges along the way for my oldest to attend next fall. We also visited my Mom, barbecued on the Fourth of July with our Jersey friends, Jenn from My Daily Jenn-ism (who also happened to be there at the same time) and threw in some theme park fun. As you can see below, you're never too old for Mickey Ears! 

We actually like and look forward to the long car ride as we don't get to spend much uninterrupted time together during our hectic schedules. It gives us a time to reconnect as a family and watch some good movies. I have to say that we've been doing this drive at least once a year for the last 20 years to visit family and we have it down to a science. Though we did learn about a fairly new driving law called the Move Over Law. We got pulled over in VA for not moving over into the left lane when someone was already pulled over on the shoulder. It's a fairly new law to help stop tragedies from happening when law enforcement, broken down vehicles or workers are pulled over on the shoulder. It is a great law, but took us by surprise. The law states that if you can't move into the left lane (which we couldn't because of other traffic) you are supposed to slow down to 25 miles per hour. I just thought I'd pass this along since when I posted this as a status on Facebook the other day, there were quite a few people who hadn't heard of this law either. After the long drive, we finally made it home, a little longer than expected with holiday traffic, but I hope you all had a great holiday weekend as well!

And now for today's recipe...

Kaniwa (pronounced "ka-nyi-wa") is a small, nutty, grain-like food from the Andes Mountains in Peru and is a fairly new product to the United States. It was a staple grain of the ancient Aztec and Incan cultures, is gluten free and is a good source of both protein and fiber. It is much smaller than it's cousin, quinoa; however it does not contain saponins so you do not need to rinse it prior to cooking. 

  

I first found this product in my local grocery store a few weeks ago and couldn't wait to try it since I have this new found love for quinoa and I really liked it. As you can see, not only is it smaller than quinoa, it's also a reddish-brown color. My daughter and I really liked this Pesto Chick Pea & Kaniwa Salad as it was very flavorful and filling. You can serve it as a side dish or as a main meal. 

Pesto Chick Pea & Kaniwa Salad

Prep Time:      100 minutes              Yield: 10

Cook Time:     20 minutes                 Serving: 1/2 cup

Total Time:     30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 c. Water
• 1 c. Kaniwa, rinsed
• 1-16oz. Can Chick Peas, rinsed and drained
• 1 c. Grape Tomatoes, halved
• 1 Scallion, chopped
• 1/2 c. Prepared Pesto
• 2 tbsp. Aged Balsamic Vinegar

Directions

1.  Place the water in a pot and bring to a boil; then add the Kaniwa. Reduce heat to low, cover and allow to simmer until all of the water is absorbed; approximately 15-20 minutes. 
2. Place the Kaniwa in a bowl and allow to cool; then add the chick peas, tomatoes, scallion, pesto and vinegar. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Nutrition Facts

Calories 153, Carbs 23.3g, Fat 4.4g, Protein 5.5g, Fiber 3.4g, Sugar .5g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into Calorie Count and may not be 100% accurate. 

Enjoy! 

Shopping List

Stuffed Baked Red Potatoes with Basil Pesto (Copycat) and a Giveaway

Can I just start off by saying that I LOVED these potatoes created by my foodie friend Laurie Bakke?! When I first got her cookbook over the holidays I wasn't sure which recipe I was going to try first. Should I try the Thai Marinated Cucumber Salad? The Mediterranean Orzo Salad with Basil, Mint and Sherry Vinaigrette? Or maybe the Stuffed Gourmet Meatloaf? Decisions. Decisions. Then while planning out my dinner one evening, I flipped through the book again and saw these Stuffed Baked Red Potatoes with Basil Pesto...SOLD!

They were a little time consuming, but OH SO WORTH IT! In fact, I bet you could even cook the potatoes the night before when you're not on a weeknight time-crunch because I HIGHLY recommend baking these in the oven like Laurie suggested and not in the microwave. It really gave the skins a crunchy outer texture that just added to the other wonderful flavors going on here. 

Overall, these potatoes got two thumbs up from everyone in this house and because it made extra servings, we ate them twice that week. 

Stuffed Baked Red Potatoes with Basil Pesto (Copycat) 
Recipe Adapted from Laurie Bakke's Kitchen
8 to 10 Medium-Sized Red Potatoes-pierced with a fork
1/4 c. 2 % Milk
2 tbsp. Butter
3 tbsp. Basil Pesto
1 tsp. Granulated Garlic
Kosher Salt, to taste
Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for brushing inside of shell

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees with rack in center oven. Rub potatoes with oil and salt and bake directly on the rack for 30-45 minutes or until tender all the way through when pierced. 
2. Remove the potatoes from the oven and prepare the potato shells by first cutting a small piece off of each end from the 8 potatoes. Scoop out the potato from the shell and place in a large bowl. 
3. Stand the potato shells up in a muffin tin or oven safe dish, wide side up and brush the inside of the skins with the oil. Sprinkle with salt and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until crisp. Remove and set aside.
4. While the potato skins are in the oven, heat the milk, butter and garlic over medium heat until the butter has melted. Add the milk mixture and the pesto to the potatoes and mash with an electric mixer until the potatoes are stiff. To bulk up the filling, add the remaining two potatoes and adjust your seasonings. 
5.  Finally, spoon potato mixture into shells making sure you stuff them all the way so they will not cave in as they bake. Drizzle each potato with some oil and salt and bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and heated through. Serves 8. 


And now for the Giveaway....

Laurie has graciously agreed to give one signed copy of her book, Laurie Bakke's Cookbook: Fresh Recipes from Cafe Laurie, Culinary School and other Great Kitchens,  to a Carrie's Experimental Kitchen reader! I know that you will love the book as much as I do and kudos to her husband Paul for creating such a work of art for the covers. Click on the Rafflecopter link below to enter and Good Luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sun Dried Tomato & Asiago Cheese Pesto

Right after I made the Spinach Pesto my kids were craving panini's for dinner and it would have made a nice spread with the grilled chicken. So instead, I made a quick batch of this Sun Dried Tomato & Asiago Cheese Pesto to go on our sandwiches and they were AMAZING! The family liked them so much that I didn't even get a chance to photograph the sandwiches themselves. Pesto will last about a week in the refrigerator or if you're not going to use it by then, you can also freeze it. 

Some other uses for this pesto might be to mix it with cooked pasta, mix it in with a risotto, or use as a filler in stuffed chicken or pork. Hmmm....I better go make some more because that sounds delicious! 

Sun Dried Tomato & Asiago Cheese Pesto
1 c. Sun Dried Tomatoes
2 Garlic Cloves
1 c. Fresh Basil
2 tbsp. Asiago Cheese, shredded
3/4 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:
1. Add the tomatoes, garlic, basil and cheese to a food processor and pulse until all ingredients have blended together. 
2. With the machine running, gradually add the oil until the mixture forms a paste-like consistency. Makes 1 1/2 cups (24 tablespoons) 

*Nutritional Information per Tablespoon: Calories 65, Carbs 1.4g, Fat 6.8g, Protein .4g, Fiber .3g, Sugar .9g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into Calorie Count and may not be 100% accurate.

Enjoy!

Ravioli with Spinach Pesto

As a kid, I'd spend a complete day at my father and step mother's home making homemade ravioli for Christmas each year and it was definitely a "labor of love". The house would be buzzing with lots of noise; mainly laughter, as one person would be mixing the dough and another would be rolling out the dough using an old wooden closet rod that had been passed down. Usually it was my dad and grandfather that would take turns as it's a very stiff dough and hard to roll out. Then the rest of us would make the filling, fill, cut and seal the ravioli and place in cornmeal lined shirt boxes so that we could freeze them for the special day. 

The last time I made homemade ravioli was when we first got married and were living in our townhouse. It was the blizzard of 1995 and my best friend Barbara (who also lived in the same townhouse community) and I pooled our resources and managed to find all of the ingredients to make ravioli to keep us busy while we were snowed in. So we spent the day making several different varieties; then treated our new husbands to an Italian treat. I don't think I've made them since, but will have to try it again soon. It's a little hard for me to roll out the dough as my wrists are too weak, but I got a new pasta attachment for my mixer recently so I do want to give it another try soon. 

Ravioli are a type of Italian filled pasta and are made by creating a filling inside two layers of egg pasta dough; then sealed shut. You can fill it with just about anything you wish, but the most popular (or at least the kind we made from scratch) were cheese filled. Since today is National Ravioli Day, I thought I'd share a quick and easy ravioli recipe that has such a robust flavor. Serve with a tossed salad and you'll have a quick, restaurant quality weeknight meal your family will love in minutes! 

Ravioli with Spinach Pesto
24-1oz. Cheese Ravioli
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 c. Prepared Spinach Pesto (see below)

Directions:
1. Add water and salt to a large pot and bring to a boil. 
2. Slowly drop in the ravioli and cook until they start to float to the top. Times may vary depending on whether you're using fresh or frozen ravioli. 
3. Remove ravioli with a slotted spoon and place in a serving bowl. 
4. Add the pesto and mix well. Serves 6 (4 ravioli per serving). 

*Nutritional Information per Serving: Calories 248, Carbs 34.5g, Fat 7.1g, Protein 11.7g, Fiber 2.2g, Sugar 1.1g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into CalorieCount and may not be 100% accurate.

Spinach Pesto
2 c. Fresh Baby Spinach; rinsed, stems removed, firmly packed
1/4 c. Fresh Parsley; rinsed, stems removed, firmly packed
1/4 c. Pine Nuts
2 Cloves Garlic
1/4 c. Asiago Cheese
2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt, to taste
Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Directions: 
1. Add the spinach, parsley, pine nuts, garlic and cheese to a food processor and blend together.
2. Gradually pour in the oil and pulse until smooth. Stop the machine in the middle to scrape down the sides. Makes 3/4 cup. (You can also make this ahead of time and freeze in an airtight container until you're ready to use).

*Nutritional Information per Tablespoon: Calories 43, Carbs .8g, Fat 3.9g, Protein 1.1g, Fiber .2g, Sugar .1g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into CalorieCount and may not be 100% accurate.

Happy 1st Day of Spring! 

Lemon Thyme Pesto Risotto

Remember last week when I posted about the Lemon Thyme Pesto? Well I used some of it to make this risotto and it was amazing! Light and lemony, it made a great side dish to accompany our meal. 

Lemon Thyme Pesto Risotto
1/2 c. Arborio Rice
1 tbsp. Butter
3 c. Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
1 tbsp. Prepared Lemon Thyme Pesto
1 tbsp. Pecorino Romano Cheese, grated

Directions:
1. In a large, non-stick saute pan, melt the butter and add in the rice. 
2. Stir until the rice turns slightly brown, then add 1 cup of the chicken broth. 
3. Allow the liquid to evaporate, then add the remaining broth 1 cup at a time, allowing the liquid to evaporate after each addition. 
4. Add the lemon thyme and cheese; mix well. Serves 4. 

*Nutritional Information: Calories 162, Carbs 18.9g, Fat 7.3g, Protein 5.1g, Fiber .4g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into CalorieCount and may not be 100% accurate.

Enjoy!

Lemon Thyme Pesto

Believe it or not, you can make a pesto out of just about any leafy fresh herb. Here, I had an abundance of lemon thyme in my mini garden and experimented with this recipe. Lemon thyme has a sweet and lemony flavor which is light, so it's great to use with poultry, fish, pasta or sauces.  Pesto is so simple and quick to make. Just pop all of your ingredients into your food processor and in 5 minutes you have fresh pesto you can use in your recipes. This one I used in some risotto (recipe to follow!). 

Lemon Thyme Pesto
1 c. Lemon Thyme, removed from stem
1 Garlic Clove
1/4 c. Pignoli Nuts
2 tbsp. Pecorino  Romano Cheese, grated
3 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:
1. Add the thyme, garlic, nuts and cheese to a food processor or blender and pulse until well blended. 
2. Next, gradually add the oil until the mixture forms resembles a paste-like consistency. 
3. Use immediately or store in an air tight container in the freezer for later use. Makes 1/2 cup. 

*Nutritional Information per Tablespoon: Calories 84, Carbs .6g, Fat 8.6g, Protein 1.2g, Fiber .5g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into CalorieCount and may not be 100% accurate.

Enjoy! 

Grilled Chicken & Pesto Panini

I love my Cuisinart Griddler/Panini maker! Not only does it make a great sandwich, but I use it to grill meats and vegetables during the colder months as well. The other night was one of those nights where I had about 30 minutes to cook dinner after I got home from carting the kids where they needed to be. So I prepared these sandwiches ahead of time so that all I had to do was grill them. They were DELICIOUS! There is nothing like fresh pesto on a sandwich and it's so easy to make too. 

Grilled Chicken & Pesto Panini
8 Thinly Sliced Chicken Breasts
1 Medium Panella Bread, sliced (or any other loaf of round bread), you won't use the entire loaf
8 Slices Fresh Mozzarella
2-3 Roma Tomatoes, sliced
Prepared Classic Pesto
Olive Oil Cooking Spray

Lightly spray cooking spray on your grill pan and cook chicken until it is cooked through, approximately 2-3 minutes (depending on thickness). Remove and let cool. Assemble your sandwiches by spreading some pesto on each side of the bread. Next, add your grilled chicken, tomato and mozzarella to one half of the bread then the top piece of bread. Repeat for remaining three sandwiches. Spray each side of the sandwich with cooking spray, close your grill/panini cover and squeeze down to form marks on the bread. The sandwich is done when it's golden brown and the cheese is melted. Makes 4 sandwiches. 

Classic Pesto
2 c. Fresh Basil, firmly packed
1/4 c. Pecorino Romano Cheese, grated
1/4 c. Pine Nuts
3 Cloves Garlic
2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until well mixed and the basil is a paste-like consistency. Makes 1/3 cup. 

Enjoy!

Basil Lime Pecan Pesto Stuffed Pork Chops

I had purchased quite a large bunch of basil and honestly forgot I had it when I saw it all hiding in my refrigerator. Usually, when I get that much, I rinse it off, let it dry then freeze it. So when I took pork chops out for dinner this particular day, I wasn't sure what I was going to make with them but knew it would include something with basil. And...apparently lime since my daughter cut off a piece of one the night before then left it unwrapped. I was also running out of eggs, so I used up my liquid egg whites but you can certainly use whole eggs if you prefer. I decided to make a pesto out of these ingredients. I have to say that these pork chops, though it may seem a little odd eating green food, tasted incredible. They had a citrusy tang but the pecans also gave it a bit of sweetness. 

Basil Lime Pecan Pesto Stuffed Pork Chops
4 Center Cut Boneless Pork Chops
4 tbsp. Prepared Basil Lime Pecan Pesto(see below)
1/2 c. Liquid Egg Whites
1 c. Panko Breadcrumbs
Canola Oil Cooking Spray

Trim any visible fat from the meat and make a slice horizontally in the center of the pork chop; careful not to cut all the way through. Spread 1 tbsp. of the pesto into each pork chop, stuffing it in to the open slit. Next, dip your meat into egg whites,  then into the breadcrumbs. Place a rack on a baking sheet and add your breaded pork chops. Spray with cooking spray and bake at 350°F for approximately 35-40 minutes (depending on the thickness of your pork chops). Serves 4.
Points+=9 

Basil Lime Pecan Pesto
1 1/2 c. Basil, tightly packed
1 Lime, zest and juice
1/4 c. Pecans
1/2 c. DiGiorno Three Cheese Blend (Parmesan, Asiago and Romano), shredded
1/4 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 tsp. Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Add all ingredients in to a food processor and pulse until well blended. Makes 8 tbsp. 
1 tbsp Pesto=3 Points+

Enjoy!

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Roasted Cauliflower

First, I want to wish my husband a very Happy Birthday today. The poor guy is exhausted  after being in London and Amsterdam this past week and only just came home last night around 2am. Luckily, he took the day off to catch up on some sleep. We don't have much planned for a celebration tonight since my older daughter has a football game tonight (don't worry, she's not a linebacker, she's a cheerleader for my new friends reading this). But I do have to cook. Each week, our Booster Club makes dinner for the girls before each game and there are 20 of them...who, as I'm told, LOVE to eat! When they found out it was going to be my turn about a month ago, they all decided that they wanted me to make them the Asian Chicken Wings and Fried Rice. So as I'm typing this, I have 10 lbs. of wings soaking in the marinade, ready to cook later and bring to her school later today. As for my husband's dinner, he wants me to make him a huge pot of sauce with bracciole and sausage on Sunday so we'll have his birthday celebration then. :)


Now, onto food... That pesto I purchased the other day only contained about 3/4 cup in the jar, so I had 1/4 cup of it left after I made the Turkey Stuffed with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto & Asiago Cheese. I decided to make this with the turkey to complement the flavors for that evening's dinner and I'm embarrassed to admit that up until about 4 years ago, I never would touch the stuff. As a kid, if the vegetable wasn't frozen, we didn't eat it. I'm so glad my Mother's food palette expanded over the years and now she's an incredible cook and loves to try new things all the time. There is something about roasting fresh cauliflower that brings out such a great flavor and no matter what I seem to add to the mix, it just keeps tasting better and better. 


I also happened to pick up the most recent copy of Real Simple magazine the other day(I don't subscribe to any magazines, can't stand the clutter...told you I'm a little OCD) and cut out an article they had on cauliflower that I thought might be useful to someone. So, since I'm actually posting about it this week, here is what Emily McKenna had to say. 


How to Choose
Look for cauliflower with compact, creamy white florets and crisp bright green leaves. An old cauliflower will have a yellowish tinge and tiny black mold spots on the surface. 


How to Store
Refrigerate cauliflower unwashed and tightly wrapped in plastic for up to 5 days. 


How to Prepare
Remove the hard core by breaking of the leaves, turning the cauliflower upside down and cutting around the core with a small, sharp knife. Cut the rest of the cauliflower into similar sized florets so that they cook at the same rate. 

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Roasted Cauliflower
1 Head Cauliflower, core removed and florets cut and rinsed under cold water
1/4 c. Giada  De Laurentiis Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
1/4 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic
1/4 c. Pecorino Romano Cheese, grated
1/4 c. Low-Sodium Chicken Broth


Add all ingredients in to a bowl and mix well until all of the cauliflower has been coated. Place in a 9"x9" baking dish and bake at 350°F for 1 hour, turning occasionally. Then, place under the broiler for 5-10 minutes until they turn golden brown. Serves 4. 


Enjoy!

Turkey Stuffed with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto & Asiago Cheese

Well, my house projects are coming along nicely but I feel like I'm going to collapse from exhaustion.  I do have to say that after one year, my bathroom is finally done (and looks great..YEAH!). Also, we had a new banister put in, refinished hardwood floors in three separate rooms and so far this week, I managed to paint the dining room and living room in between running errands and playing Mom taxi. Though with all of this other busy work, it has left little time for me to do much cooking over the last week (good thing I cooked a lot the week before so I had something to post! lol). 

So on Monday I needed to give my back a break from climbing up and down a ladder and decided that would be my "errand day" (I should have stayed home...7 stores later). During one of my stops, I went to Target to pick up two items (yeah right, who can go in there and just buy two things?). I always like to browse through the food isles to see if anything new is out there that I can use to try different things and I hit the jackpot. 

Giada De Laurentiis had come out with a line of pesto made specifically for Target(and apparently it's been out for almost a year but I've never seen it in our local store). She had a couple of different varieties but the Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto caught my eye. It contains olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, basil, Grana cheese, tomatoes, cashews, garlic, salt, vinegar, and pine nuts. Now I could have just made this myself but being so busy lately, I purchased it thinking I could just make it with pasta one night in a pinch. 

Then I got home and my 40+ brain had forgotten that I had taken out a Turkey London Broil for dinner already. I didn't want it to go to waste since it was in the refrigerator for 2 days already and I needed to do something with it. (Here's a picture of what it actually looks like if you've never seen it. Basically, it's just the breast meat from a turkey and is usually 1 1/2-2 lbs so it's the perfect size to feed my family of 4). I decided to slice the turkey and flatten it so that I could stuff it. I used the pesto and found some leftover Asiago cheese in the refrigerator. INCREDIBLE...though how can you go wrong with sun dried tomatoes and Asiago cheese! This was so easy and quick to prepare and as you can see, hardly any ingredients. I used the wine to put in the bottom of the pan so that I could baste the turkey with it while it was cooking but you could also just use some chicken broth or water, you just don't want it to dry out. 

Turkey Stuffed with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto & Asiago Cheese

1 1/2 lb. Turkey London Broil

1/2 c. Giada De Laurentiis Sun Dried Tomato Pesto (or you could make your own)

1/2. c. Shredded Asiago Cheese

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Garlic Powder, to taste

Kosher Salt, to taste

Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste

1/2 c. White Wine

Using a sharp knife (I use my Wusthof, ok free product plug here), carefully slice the meat horizontally into about a 1/2" thickness, unraveling it until it it flat. Gently pound with a meat mallet to get even thickness, spread the pesto and sprinkle with the cheese. Next, roll up the turkey from right to left (or left to right if you're a lefty like my Mom), and tie with kitchen string to secure. 

Place in a baking dish, brush with olive oil then sprinkle the top with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add the wine to the baking dish and bake at 350°F for approximately 1 hour 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165°F. Let it rest 10 minutes before slicing. Serves 4. 

Enjoy!