Another Pantry Winner

For some reason, this past week I have failed in the meal planning and grocery shopping arena. Monday nights I'm on my own for dinner, so I decided to play with some flavors that aren't Matt's favorites. There was some white wine in the fridge that needed to be used or thrown away, so I used that as a base and came up with a super tasty pasta with a white wine gorgonzola sauce. I didn't measure ingredients, so this is my best guess as to what the recipe is. Everything is certainly to my tastes, so someone else who makes it should make it to theirs. Enjoy!

Bow Ties in a White Wine Gorgonzola Sauce

from Linda

8 oz bow tie pasta

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c chopped onion

1/2 c white wine

1/2 t cornstarch

1/4 c gorgonzola

salt, pepper and dried basil to taste (I think it was basil. It may have been oregano. I really don't remember.)

1 small tomato, chopped

2 handfuls baby spinach

chopped black olives

Cook the pasta according to package directions. In a large saute pan, saute the garlic and onion in a little olive oil until onion is soft. Add white wine and cornstarch. Let simmer until reduced by 1/4-1/2, about 5 minutes. Stir in gorgonzola and seasonings. Add cooked pasta, along with a little of the cooking water (maybe 3 T). Toss to coat. Stir in tomato and black olives. Wilt in spinach by handfuls. Serve hot.

Still cleaning out the pantry

Cooking at the end of the month requires a little more creativity than usual. I'm trying to avoid grocery shopping before October 1st, but my usual pantry staples are starting to dwindle. I had a package of Trader Joe's chicken sausage in my freezer so I decided a simple pasta dish would work well. However, I had no tomatoes or tomato sauce, so I had to get a little more creative. With a little help from my What's Cooking ladies, I came up with this very tasty white wine sauce. Pretty tasty pantry/freezer dinner.

Spinach and Fontina Chicken Sausage with White Wine Sauce

from Linda

1 package chicken sausage

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T olive oil

1/2 c white wine

1/2 c chicken broth

1 t cornstarch

1 T butter

8 oz cooked pasta

fresh chopped parsley

Remove casings from sausage. Slice into bite size pieces and brown in a large saute pan with 1/2 T olive oil. When browned, remove from pan and keep warm.

Add remaining olive oil and saute garlic until just softened. Add white wine to deglaze the pan. Mix cornstarch with chicken broth and add to pan. Bring to boil, then simmer to reduce by approximately 1/2, about 10 minutes. Melt in butter and add cooked sausage; warm through. Serve over cooked pasta and garnish with parsley.

A little help from Trader Joe's

I am absolutely addicted to Trader Joe's. One of my favorite convenience items is their ravioli. It comes in so many tasty varieties and I think I've almost tried them all. Tonight I wanted something easy and I had some heavy cream that was on the brink of expiration, so I decided to pull the ravioli out of the freezer and have that for dinner. I had the spinach and ricotta ravioli in my freezer, so I figured a simple white wine cream sauce would compliment the ravioli nicely. The sauce is my own creation, pulling from various recipes. I'm really proud of it; I think it came out restaurant quality!

White Wine Cream Sauce

from Linda

1 shallot, diced

1 T butter

1/2 c heavy cream

1/4-1/2 c white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)

1 t cornstarch

salt

pepper

red pepper flakes

grated Parmesan

fresh basil

Melt butter in large skillet. Saute shallots in the butter until translucent. Add heavy cream and wine. Whisk in salt, pepper, pepper flakes and cornstarch. Heat over low heat until thickened, whisking constantly. Add cooked ravioli to pan. Toss lightly in the sauce. Transfer to serving plates and sprinkle with cheese and basil.