Recipe

Penne Con Finochietto: Fennel Sausage & Sun dried Tomato Pasta

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This is from one of my many favorite restaurants in Downtown Saratoga Springs. This is where Chuck took me for my Birthday Dinner, the sweetie.

It’s one of those sultry, dark little places that’s always has light jazzy music in the background and is full of the sounds of clinking glasses. It’s perfectly romantic and the food is to die for. Every time we go there is something different on the menu or in the specials that makes our little hearts just flutter, whether it be a braised rabbit, hydroponic lettuce, homemade pasta, quail stuffed with sausage & herbs, a bowl of pasta piled high with seafood or even just the bread they put on every table. It’s all so good.

Also if it happens to be your birthday, be prepared for one of those impeccably dressed waiters to feed you your first bite of desert after a whole group of them sings to you in Italian. It’s totally embarrassing, you’ll be red, but it’s ok even the free lemon gelato they give you if you don’t order desert is amazing, so just go with it.

This dish is my own take/imitation on one of their dishes, the one in fact that I had on my birthday. It was pretty amazing, and seemed so simple I had to give it a try in my own kitchen.

I did in fact buy a full pound of sausage, but the rest was popped into some breakfast burritos for us to finish out the week, since I’m trying really, really hard to actually eat a full healthy breakfast, and something more than a granola bar and tea.

All in all I think I was able to successfully recreate their dish, it was as easy as I thought, and absolutely delicious. I think it may become another one of those staple meals I make around these parts.

Penne Con Finochietto: Fennel Sausage & Sun dried Tomato Pasta

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 2 Servings

Ingredients

½ lb mild Italian sausage
1 small fennel bulb, chopped
1/3 cup diced oil packed sun dried tomatoes
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 ½ cups cooked pasta (aldente)
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese (for garnish)

Instructions

In a large skillet cook the sausage until browned.
Drain well and add fennel. You may need to add a touch of oil to stop the fennel from
sticking. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the fennel begins to brown, stirring and
breaking up the sausage.
Add the sun dried tomatoes, rosemary, and cook for an additional minute.
Add the wine and cook for another 2-3 minutes until it has reduced to half.
Adjust seasoning and add pasta to the pan; cooking for just a few seconds, while tossing all the ingredients together.
Serve immediately topped with Parmesan cheese. (Serves 2)

Loaded Greek Salad

By Jessica

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It’s Tuesday, and I’m posting because I was too busy recovering from bachelorette party shenanigans to put anything together for yesterday. I’m pretty sure that none of you noticed, but I still feel guilty enough to explain my reasons why.

So ok now that that is out of the way let get on with today’s post.

I was flipping through my previous posts, you know wondering at my own genius and taking note of a few things, when I realized that I never covered a recipe I meant to cover right after I did this post. It’s fitting because this is a great salad to help bounce back after a long weekend of champagne, rocking out, and too rich food.

This is one of my favorite salads to make at home. I love the bold colors, and different textures. If you want to up the protein add an egg, or some grilled chicken, but they aren’t necessary this is a super hearty salad that stands on its own for an awesome and easy summer meal.

I think it’s pretty obvious that this one is clean and healthy, but it’s also packed with antioxidants and tons of nutrients. I paired it down to serve one, for ease, but it’s super easy to double.

Loaded Greek Salad

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: Serves 1

Ingredients

1 cup mixed baby lettuce
½ cup baby arugula
A handful of cherry tomatoes
½ a cucumber, sliced
1 tbsp of red onion, chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
½ cup of low sodium chickpeas, canned, drained
¼ cup of kalamata olive, halved
1 tbsp of low fat crumbled feta cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste
Light drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Instructions

In a large bowl toss all ingredients together and serve
immediately.

Since we are on the topic what’s your favorite hang over cure? I sure could have used some good ones this weekend.

One Pot Ground Beef Stroganoff; A Classic Simplified

By Jessica

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It’s turkey hunting season in Vermont.

For those of you who don’t have a hunting obsessed significant other I will explain that this means I will be pretty much on my own for the next couple weekends since I don’t find getting up at 3:30am on the weekends all that much fun, especially if it means my old lady behind needs to be in bed by about 7pm.

…

Spring Vegetable Couscous

By Jessica

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Spring has sprung! Grocery stores and farmers markets are filling with wonderful, luscious, and vibrant colors. Rainbow Swiss chard, purple asparagus, green peas are just the beginning. My favorite part of spring, after the fresh post rain smell is the amazing vegetables that finally start their rotation on our plates. I could seriously eat a salad of some kind for every meal right now and never get bored.

In fact this salad I did eat for several days in a row. It’s super filling and wonderfully satisfying. I swear it’s like I can feel the sun shine in every bite that I take.

I started out cooking the couscous in vegetable broth, just to impart it with a bit more flavor, an added the veggies at the very end of the cooking process to save on dirty dishes. I mean I was going to steam them anyway to why not do it all in one pot? Besides I wanted them still pretty crisp, so just a few minutes in a hot pan was all that was needed. Finish off the flavor with a handful of fresh chopped herbs, maybe a tiny bit of fresh cracked pepper and you have yourself a wonderfully flavorful salad type thing. I did also top it with some fresh alfalfa sprouts for a bit more protein, and a cooler contrast to the warm salad.

It’s really enough to feed a group of 4 without anything else, but
if you wanted to stretch it I’d grill up some meat or veggies and then you
could feed more like 6 or 8.

Spring Vegetable Couscous

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups dry couscous
1 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1 lb asparagus
1 cup of fresh or frozen green peas
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste
½ cup alfalfa sprouts (optional)

Instructions

Cook couscous according to package instructions with the broth substituted for water. 5 minutes before cooking is complete, add asparagus and
peas.
Once finished toss with herbs, and adjust seasoning.
Serve warm or cold with sprouts on top.

Spring Sangria & Mothersday

By Jessica

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Spring is a time of celebration, rejuvenation, rebirth, and
celebration, did I say that already? Well it’s kind of what I am going for
here. Recently we celebrated the 60th birthday of someone near and
dear to my heart and I made this amazing Spring Sangria. It was a hit at the
party and I thought it might also be a hit for your mom this Mother’s Day.

Fresh Spring Sangria

1 bottle Spanish White Wine

1 lime, sliced

1 lemon sliced

½ cup sliced strawberries

1 granny smith apple, cored and sliced thin

1 (12 oz) can of seltzer

2 cups mint simple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a large picture. Stir to combine
and serve over crushed ice.

Mint Simple Syrup

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1 cup packed fresh mint leaves

In a small saucepan combine all ingrediants over medium
heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes stirring
occasionally, until all of the sugar has fully dissolved. Remove from heat and
let cool before using.

The recipe makes a good sized pitcher but I promise you that
it goes really quickly. It’s super light and fresh, so it’s good for a spring
brunch. And since we are talking about brunch why don’t you check out these
amazing brunch ideas for mom?