Tag Archives: tomatoes

Seafood Arrabbiata 

Standard
Seafood Arrabbiata 

Y’all, this is the most amaaaaazingly yummy dish! “Arrabbiata” is Italian for “angry”, and it comes from the red pepper flakes in the dish. I like my pasta’s anger somewhere between 1) they’re out of my mascara at the store and 2) on hold with American Airlines for an hour and they just hang up on you. Of course, you can add more or less to your liking 😄

You may have also noticed those aren’t regular pasta noodles in there. No, it’s not spaghetti squash either. It’s yellow summer squash and zucchini cut from my brand spankin new Veggetti! I’m so very happy with my “As Seen On TV” purchase! It cuts the squash into these deliciously long and incredibly pasta-like strands and you can choose thick cut like a linguini or thin cut more like spaghetti/angel hair. That being said, of course you could make this with traditional pasta, but I think you should give the veggie pasta a try!

First, here’s the Veggetti:

You can buy it here on Amazon cheaper than you can get it at Bed Bath & Beyond if you don’t already have one:
Veggetti Spiral Vegetable Slicer, Makes Veggie Pasta

I used yellow squash and zucchini for this pasta, but next time I will probably just use zucchini because it cut up in half the time as the squash and I really couldn’t taste a difference. I’m so excited to try this with my other favorite pasta dishes!

Ingredients:

  • 4 squash, zucchini, or combination of them
  • 1 chopped sweet onion
  • Olive oil
  • 3 chopped garlic cloves
  • 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
  • 1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes drained and chopped
  • 2 tsp dried parsley flakes
  • 1/2 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)
  • 1/2 lb scallops
  • 1/2 lb mussels
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper

1. Get your “pasta” ready by putting your four squash/zucchini through the Veggetti.

2. Get your can of whole peeled tomatoes and drain the juice, then chop the tomatoes and set aside.

Why am I not using diced tomatoes? Because whole tomatoes are generally the highest quality canned tomato and use plum/Roma tomatoes that have been peeled. Diced tomatoes can be a mix of different kinds of tomatoes and not always peeled, so it’s worth the effort to dice these up.

  

3. In a large skillet over medium high heat, drizzle olive oil and add your shrimp and scallops, season with salt and pepper, and cook until they’re totally done. You might need to drain off a little liquid while its cooking if they give off too much water. Once they’re finished, drain and set aside.

4. In the same skillet, add another drizzle of olive oil and add your chopped onion and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Start out with 1/4 tsp and you can always add more later if that’s not enough for you. Sauté for 3-4 minutes.

5. Add your chopped garlic and sauté another minute.

6. Add your chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried parsley flakes, and bring to a boil. Then add your “pasta” noodles, stir, and let boil for one minute.

7. Turn your heat down and add your seafood back into the dish you cooked earlier, plus your mussels.  At my store, mussels are sold already cooked and only need to be heated through. But, if the mussels you purchase are not cooked, add them to the sauce while its boiling and put a lid on your skillet to allow them to steam for a few minutes. You’ll know they’re done once they open up. Any mussels that don’t open are no good and will need to be removed.

Voila! Your angry Italian dish is complete and ready for a glass of wine to go with it!

Advertisement

Duke’s Jalapeño Havarti Sliders

Standard
Duke’s Jalapeño Havarti Sliders

Duke's Jalapeño Havarti Sliders

You may or may not have drawn the logical conclusion that I’ve had a thing for sliders this pregnancy. It’s true! I’m currently obsessed with sliders and have made them several different ways, but I think this one is my favorite! This recipe uses ground turkey and deliciously creamy Havarti cheese, and they’re heavenly. Can’t find Havarti cheese? Pepper jack would work great here too.

Ingredients:
1 package ground turkey (the one I bought was 19 oz, so slightly over a pound)
1 chopped jalapeño (seeded and deveined)
About 1/4 c cubed jalapeño Havarti cheese
Your favorite burger seasoning
1 heaping T Duke’s mayonnaise

1. Combine mayo, ground turkey, jalapeños, cheese, and seasonings in a mixing bowl. I added about a tsp of seasoning into this mix, then sprinkled a little more on each patty after they were assembled. It’s important to note that every Southerner knows that Duke’s mayo is the best mayo you can buy and blows Hellman’s out of the water, so I highly suggest that’s what you use. However, if you can’t find it, any mayo you find will work.
image
* That one on the top right is plain for my 2 year old 🙂

2. You can either grill these or cook them on your stovetop. You may have heard me mention I live in a wind tunnel with a vortex that threatens to suck me up every time I step outside to approach my grill, so I did these on the stovetop. Don’t forget to spray your pan like I did, because these puppies stick!
image

3. Prepare yourself for the juiciest and most delicious slider ever! I highly recommend serving on a toasted slider bun with a kicked up creamy coleslaw and sliced garden tomato. For a quick coleslaw that’s only semi-homemade I used a creamy coleslaw mix and added a spoonful of Duke’s mayo to the mix, a splash of white vinegar, cayenne pepper, and salt & pepper. It really made it taste like it was totally from scratch and incorporated the Duke’s mayo theme I was going for. Yum! Duke's Jalapeño Havarti Sliders

Pasta Salad

Standard
Pasta Salad

IMG_1443
Hey y’all! I bet you’ve been wondering where I’ve been and why I haven’t posted anything in a while. Well, that’s because I just finished my first trimester of my pregnancy and I am just now able to begin to look at food again. Seriously, looking at or smelling food in any way was a big no no up until now, so slowly but surely I’ll be coming back to post more Blonde Bitchin West Texas Kitchen recipes!

Here is my go-to pasta salad recipe whenever I’m going to a BBQ or even packing a picnic. It’s so yummy and kids love it too because of the string cheese surprise in there! Who puts string cheese in a pasta salad? I do 🙂

Ingredients:
1 box of pasta (spiral or penne works best)
1 cup Italian dressing (my favorite is the original Wishbone kind in the green bottle)
4 sticks of string cheese cut up into slices
1/2 bunch of green onions chopped
1/4 sweet onion finely chopped
1 cup total red and yellow cherry tomatoes chopped in half
*I also like to add whatever I have in the fridge that looks good and these are optional – chopped marinated artichoke hearts, chopped marinated green olives, sliced roasted red peppers marinated in oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. First chop up all your ingredients and add them to a large bowl and add your Italian dressing and let that sit in the fridge while your pasta is boiling according to the instructions on the box.
IMG_1439

2. Add your cooked pasta noodles to the yummy mixture you have in your bowl and add salt and pepper all over and stir together.
IMG_1441

3. Place your pasta salad in the fridge and allow it to chill at least 1 hour prior to serving. So good!
IMG_1442