Sasha's Kitchen: Rigatoni with Broccoli and Turkey Sausage

Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple of weeks.  Life has been getting in the way of both cooking and writing, but I do have a backlog of some delicious meals and desserts to share.  I hope to be getting back into the swing of things a bit more.  I've made some good pasta dishes recently.  I'm looking forward to ramps coming back into season so I can make my ramp ricotta ravioli, but this Martha Stewart/Emeril dish I tried out with broccoli came out so good I made it twice.  I was tempted to leave out the anchovies/anchovy paste, but the recipe warned against doing that so I left it in, and it was the secret ingredient that made the dish delicious.

Rigatoni with Broccoli and Sausage (from Everyday Food)
coarse Kosher salt and ground pepper
1 lb rigatoni
2 head broccoli cut into florets (about four cups)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T grated lemon zest
2 T lemon juice
4 anchovy filets, minced into a paste (I used 1 tsp anchovy paste)
1 lb sweet italian turkey sausage, casings removed
parmesan, grated for serving

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta according to package instructions (about ten minutes, total).  In the last 2-3 minutes of cooking add the broccoli and cook until bright green and crisp-tender.  Reserve one cup of the pasta water and grain pasta and broccoli.

In a small bowl, whisk together the zest, lemon juice, oil, garlic, anchovy paste, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Add the sausage to pot and cook over medium high, breaking up meat, until browned and cooked though - about eight to ten minutes.  Return pasta and broccoli to the pot and add the oil mixture and toss to combine, adding enough pasta water to create a thin sauce that coats the pasta (I used about half a cup of the pasta water).  Serve with parmesan cheese.

Sasha's Kitchen: Rigatoni with Broccoli and Turkey Sausage

Sasha's Kitchen: Coconut Curry Chicken

This is a simple, heathy chicken recipe that is delicious and easy to make. I cam across this on Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, and thought it was worth giving a try. I made some minor modifications and it worked out just beautifully. This is another great dinner dish to make for a nice family dinner, or dinner for two with leftovers. The original recipe can be found here, and is called a spicy coconut chicken. Mine wasn't spicy (which was fine with me) because I used a different type of curry (powder and chile paste combo rather than curry paste), while I used a whole cut up Empire chicken rather than just the legs. Also, I added a yellow zucchini to the mix. It worked out just perfectly! This is definitely a thai inspired fusion dish, which is a favorite ethnic cuisine for me to experiment with.

Coconut Curry Chicken
1 T olive oil
whole chicken, cut up (about 3-4 pounds)
salt and pepper to taste
1 can (14.5 oz) light coconut milk
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock
1/2 cup water
1 tsp curry
1 tsp chile paste
1 cup jasmine rice
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
8 oz green beans
1 yellow zucchini, cut up

Using a five quart Dutch Oven, heat the oil over medium high heat. Season the chicken to taste with salt and pepper, and cook the chicken until browned (about 6-8 minutes). Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Add the coconut milk, 1/2 cup water, curry and chile paste to the pot and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the curry and chile paste. Stir in the jasmine rice and add the chicken back in. Cover the Dutch Oven and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the rice is almost tender, about 15 minutes.

Put in the green beans, zucchini and bell peppers in the pot on top of the chicken and cover the pot again. Cook until the veggies are crisp-tender, which took me about 15 minutes.

Sasha's Kitchen: Coconut Curry Chicken