Today was another really cold day (and blustery too might I add) so I wanted to make something that was warm again. I had a lot of fresh food on hand so I wanted to cook something that used it before it went bad. I also had opened a can of tomato sauce for the chili so I wanted to use that up as well before it went bad. And what does tomato sauce always go in...a pasta or italian dish. The original dish that I wanted to make was called Baked Eggplant with Mushroom-and-Tomato Sauce which hopefully someday I will make but sadly it didn't happen tonight. I was planning on using zucchini instead of eggplant because I like it better and it was cheaper so I started followed the recipe as it read. Lesson that I learned tonight...I always read the ENTIRE recipe. As I was broiling the zucchini, I looked down further and saw that this thing was supposed to bake for an hour. Now normally I would have been fine with this but considering that I was starving long before I started cooking, there was no way I could wait an hour.
So thinking quickly on my feet, I decided to make a pasta...best decision I have made. This was honestly the best thing that I've made so far in my opinion. I don't know why I liked it so much but I was so incredibly satisfied and proud eating my pasta when I was done. I did kind of a hybrid recipe with the help of my mom so here are the list of ingredients that I used...
1 large zucchini, sliced
cooking spray
1 cup white mushrooms
1 + 1/2 cup fresh spinach
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
1 medium Roma tomato
1/2 cup cooked Rotini pasta
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 tsp canned pesto
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
So since I was originally following the other recipe at first, I set my broiler to high and placed the sliced zucchini on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. I roasted the zucchini for about 4 minutes on each side. While the zucchini was roasting, I added the mushrooms, onions, Italian seasoning, salt, and garlic to a saute pan over medium high heat. I was also cooking the spinach on another pan over medium high heat as well. The mushroom mixture cooked for about 10 minutes and then I decided to make the pasta. So since I needed to make the sauce, I added the tomato sauce to the pan and mixed them all together. Also while they were blending flavors together, I began to boil water for the rotini to cook. Once it boiled (took about 10 minutes), I added the pasta and cooked it for about 9.
Sauce pre-pasta
Now back to the sauce. I added the zucchini and spinach to the sauce at this point as well as the pesto. I think the pesto was what made it so good even though it was only a little quantity. I'm definitely going to try making sauces that mix marinara and pesto from now one but anyway. I kept stirring the sauce while the pasta was cooking but the liquid was starting to evaporate so I took the pan off the heat for a little bit until about the last minute of the past cooking. When the pasta was done, I drained it in the sink and added it to the pan. I mixed it all together and added about 2 handfuls of part-skim mozzarella cheese to the pan as well. You don't have to do this but a little cheese can't hurt right? The cheese melted into the dish and it was finally time to eat...like an hour later.
With the pasta
Well worth all the time and effort though! It was amazing and I was really happy with myself. I definitely enjoyed eating it...the cleanup afterward not so much though haha. After cooking 4 nights this week, I've come to realize how much time and effort really goes into cooking a good meal. It's a lot and it's draining. I love cooking but this week has kinda taken it out of me which is kinda sad considering that I haven't made things that are super intense. I think it's the cleaning that burns me out the most though honestly haha. I'll have to get used to that though sadly. Well I would 100% say make this dish because it's amazing and I loved it and I think y'all would too!
All my hard work in one bowl
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