Spring Fling: Radiatore with Fresh Herbs and Goat Cheese

A delicate pasta combined with a decadent white cheese sauce and topped with the best mixture of fresh herbs makes a wonderful Spring meal. 

It's time for another Spring Fling recipe!  These are my series of recipes that are light and fresh and use the abundance of spring produce we have right now.

One thing about spring that makes me happy is the abundance of fresh herbs we have.  Fresh herbs lend so much flavor to dishes.  They give a dish a bright pop of flavor that you really don't get with dried herbs.  This recipe showcases a mix of fresh herbs beautiful and screams Spring!

RADIATORE WITH FRESH HERBS AND GOAT CHEESE

A delicate pasta combined with a decadent white cheese sauce and topped with the best mixture of fresh herbs makes a wonderful Spring meal.  Cute little radiatore pasta, named for it's radiator shape, is the base.  Goat cheese melted with half and half make this sauce decadent.  To give this a bright flavor we will use lemon along with a mixture of herbs (parsley, dill, mint, and chives) to top the pasta.  What a fabulous Spring pasta dish this is!

This is the perfect dish to serve for lunch or dinner, eating alfresco, along with some crusty Italian bread and a glass of white wine.  I can't think of a better way to celebrate Spring.

Enjoy!



Radiatore with Fresh Herbs and Goat Cheese


serves 4

Ingredients

1 pound radiatore pasta
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small shallot, minced
1/2 cup half-and-half
6 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
Freshly ground black pepper
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
3 tablespoons minced fresh dill
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint
3 tablespoons thinly sliced chives
1 cup grated Parmensan Romano cheese mix
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and return to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook until al dente according to the package instructions, 8 to 10 minutes. Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain.

Meanwhile, add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallot and saute until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the half-and-half and whisk in the goat cheese until smooth and warm. Season with pepper. Add the lemon zest and juice and half of the reserved pasta water and whisk until combined. Add half of the parsley, dill, mint and chives.

Transfer the drained pasta to the skillet and cook until the sauce starts to thicken, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, add 1/2 cup of the cheese and stir to combine. Adjust the consistency of the sauce with the remaining pasta water if needed. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

Divide the pasta among bowls and garnish with the remaining cheese and herbs.  

Spring Fling: Carrot Snack Cake

A wonderfully moist snack cake that's loaded with carrots and pecans and the perfect amount of spice.  The perfect everyday cake!

Here's to another installment in my Spring Fling series (yay!) where I bring you fresh and light recipes that use spring produce.  When I think of Spring I think of Easter, and when I think of Easter I think of Carrot Cake.  This Easter I didn't make a carrot cake so I was missing out on a wonderful family tradition and was literally craving it!  We typically don't have cake around the house so to solve my craving and the dilemma of having too much cake around I sought out an old favorite of mine, the snack cake.

I grew up with my mom making snack cakes.  Instead of making a tradition layer cake she would make a snack cake in a 8x8 pan just so we would have a little something sweet.  No layers, or icing, just a basic sheet cake that's topped with a little powdered sugar.  

I would say may favorite flavor has to be chocolate but since I'm craving springtime carrots, we'll turn a moist carrot cake into a snack cake. 

Hot from the oven this snack cake is loaded with carrots, pecans, brown sugar, and warming cinnamon, and it will fill your kitchen with the most heavenly scent!  

You won't be able to hold off very long before you dig in to this beauty.  This cake is so light and flavorful that is will be the snack cake you make for picnics, desserts, intimate birthdays, and those late night cravings.  The perfect size, and the perfect cake!

Enjoy!






Carrot Snack Cake


serves 9


2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Powdered sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix to combine. Add in the dry ingredients, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and flour.  Mix until all combined.

Fold in the carrots and pecans, until distributed throughout.

Spray an 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Note: make sure the center is fully cooked and the top springs back.  Since this is a very moist cake you must make sure the center cooks all the way through, no wet crumbs on the toothpick.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.  Once cooled sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the cake using a fine mesh strainer, cut and serve.

slightly adapted from: Tastesofflizzyt.com

Spring Fling: Simple Sauteed Zucchini

My Simple Sauteed Zucchini is simple, honest food, bursting with lemon and mint, and done in a flash!

It's time for another installment of my Spring Fling series where I bring you light and fresh recipes that use the abundance of spring produce available now.  There is one caveat to this post...the main ingredient, zucchini, technically is a summer produce.  But that little detail will not stop me from showing off this outstanding side dish plus zucchini is available all year round.

This side dish is the perfect accompaniment to any meat, chicken, or fish, any way you cook it.  This is the GO TO side dish of the season!  Did I mention how simple it is to make?  Well you will be astounded at how easy this dish comes together and in no time you have a side dish that, dare I say, may turn out better than the main dish!

What gives this otherwise bland vegetable amazing flavor, are the enhancers that we add to it.  We start off the saute with some diced onion, the zucchini and some lemon zest.  Once the vegetables are brown and become tender we finish it off with lemon juice and chopped mint.  This lends the dish a bright flavor that is irresistible!  

I have to say that this is my new favorite side dish.  It is seriously good!  The first time I served this was at Easter along side this roasted turkey breast, and this Carrot and Apple Matchstick Salad.  I have made this twice since then, and I'm making it again tonight!  It's really that good.  

The one thing I do love is that you can change out the flavors a little.  Don't like mint? Go for basil instead.  Or use orange in place of the lemon juice and zest.  You can even liven this up some more by adding a mix of zucchini and yellow squash.  That's the beauty of this dish!  Simple clean food bursting with flavor and done in a flash!  That's my kind of dish.

Enjoy!




Simple Sauteed Zucchini

serves 4-6

1 1/2 lbs. zucchini or yellow summer squash, trimmed and sliced 1/4" thick
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, small dice
1 tsp lemon zest
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped (or basil)

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot.  Add onion and cook until almost softened, about 3 minutes.  Turn up heat to medium high and add zucchini and lemon zest.  Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes.

Remove skillet from the heat and stir in lemon juice and mint.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.


source:  cook's illustrated cookbook "Vegetables Illustrated"