How cute are these organic alphabet pasta shapes from Trader Joe’s?! I’m 28 years old and I still couldn’t resist adding the package to my cart. I’m trying to decide what scrumptious dish I should make with them. So many possibilities…so little time. So what do you guys think? Any special recipe suggestions for the most adorable pasta shapes to ever grace my kitchen?

All it does in Boston lately is rain every single day so this spicy and hearty recipe felt very fall and yet still appropriate when we made it. In his new cookbook, Food 2.0, the brilliant Charlie Ayers, former executive chef at Google, proclaimed that this dish was “slamming.” And oh how it lived up to its reputation…

CK and I have been obsessively watching Supernatural on DVD in the evenings so our nightly routines goes something like this: get home, I whine about not wanting to go on a run, CK makes me, shower, make dinner, watch silly boys battle ghosties, beasties, and ghoulies until I fall asleep on the couch. What’s missing? Oh yeah! That whole clean-up the kitchen thing.

So on Butternut Chilijack night, we were both very lazy and left the kitchen a complete mess. Honestly I didn’t even give it another thought. After all, CK is a fabulous kitchen picker-upper, but than I got a phone call and an odd question was posed to me, “Which towels don’t you like?”

It would seem that while trying to dispose of the butternut squash peelings in the garbage disposal something awful happened. The sink plugged, a leak sprung, and when poor CK bent over to investigate under the cupboard the pipe exploded stringy squash all over CK and the kitchen.

Just because you’ve always successfully stuffed everything from banana peels to limes down the disposal doesn’t mean it wont get back at you in some malicious way when you least expect it. In the end, I came home from work, the lovely maintenance man fixed the disposal, the kitchen was cleaned, and Chef Ayers Chilijack will live on in kitchen infamy.

Butternut Chilijack
Originally published in Food 2.0 by Charlie Ayers
Serves 4

2 butternut squashes, peeled, seeded, and diced
2 red onions, diced (Note: I only used one as I’m not a super fan of red onion).
1/4 cup sliced jalapeno chillies (from a can or jar)
1 tbsp mild chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
2 tomatoes, diced, or 1 cup drained, canned crushed tomatoes
2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed (Note: I left this out. CK wanted it, but I wasn’t feeling very corn friendly that night)
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
A handful of fresh cilantro leaves torn into pieces

Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Combine the squash, onions, and chilies in a roasting pan and season with chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper. Drizzle the grapeseed oil over and toss well. Roast until just tender but still with some texture, 25-30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and tip into a large bowl. Add the tomatoes, corn, Monterey Jack cheese, and cilantro. Mix gently until the cheese begins to melt. Serve warm

Remember the song I’d Do Anything from the musical Oliver? Well while making this recipe I realized that I would obviously do anything for Jamie Oliver, even cook with *gasp* anchovies. If Jamie and I were doing this little duet on a stage in the West End somewhere it might have gone something like this:

[Erin (sung)]
I’ll do anything
For you Jamie anything
For you mean everything to me.

I know that
I’ll cook anything
For your cheeky smile, anything –
For your cheeky smile, ev’rywhere –
I’d see.

[Jamie]
Would you make that cannelloni I banged out on my show the other day?

[Erin]
Anything!

[Jamie]
Chop up broccoli and cauliflower and cook it till it’s mush?

[Erin]
Anything!

[Jamie]
Turn CK’s mouth into a four alarm fire with too many chiles?

[Erin]
Anything!

[Jamie]
Even cook with anchovies?

[Erin]
What? Fish?!
*crickets* I’ll have to think about that…um.  Ok?!
I’d cook anything
For one kiss — everything
Yes, I’d do anything…

[Jamie]
Wow!  Even Fish?! What a brilliant girl!

[Erin]
Anything for you!!

Incredible Baked Cauliflower and Broccoli Cannelloni
Originally included in the cookbook Jamie at Home scheduled to be published on September 16, 2008

Sea salt
1 pound broccoli, washed, florets and stalks chopped
1 pound romanesco or white cauliflower, washed, florets and stalks chopped
Olive oil
7 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 small bunch fresh thyme, leaves picked
1 (1-ounce) can best-quality anchovies in oil, drained and chopped, oil reserved
2 to 3 small dried chiles, crumbled (Note: I used 4 because Jamie used 4 on the episode.  It was seriously spicy, which I was OK with, but you should probably stick to 2 or 3).
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups good-quality tomato sauce
Good-quality red wine vinegar
2 cups creme fraiche
7 ounces Parmesan, finely grated
16 cannelloni tubes
1 small bunch fresh basil, leaves picked
7 ounces good-quality mozzarella cheese
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 large handfuls arugula leaves, washed and dried
1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and drop in the chopped broccoli and cauliflower. Boil for 5 to 6 minutes, until cooked, then drain in a colander, reserving the cooking water.Heat a wide saucepan, pour in a couple of good glugs of olive oil and add the garlic. Fry for a few seconds, then add the thyme leaves, anchovies, anchovy oil and chiles and continue frying for a few seconds more before adding the cooked broccoli and cauliflower with around 4 tablespoons of the reserved cooking water. Stir everything together, put a lid on the pan leaving a little gap, and cook slowly for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring regularly - overcooking the vegetables not only intensies their flavor but gives you the texture that you need for this recipe. Remove the lid for the last 5 minutes to let the moisture evaporate, then use a potato masher to crush the vegetables. Take the saucepan off the heat, taste the vegetables and season carefully with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture on a baking sheet to cool. Meanwhile, get yourself another baking dish or roasting pan (the right size for fitting the cannelloni tubes snugly side by side - I test this by actually laying the tubes into the dish, then remove them and put to 1 side) and pour in the tomato sauce with a pinch of salt and a swig of red wine vinegar.

Now, to make a really quick and easy white sauce, mix the creme fraiche with half the Parmesan, a sprinkling of salt and pepper and a little of the reserved cooking water to thin it down.

Spoon your cooled broccoli and cauliflower mixture into a large sandwich bag and cut off the corner. Twist the top of the bag and squeeze it to pipe the filling into the cannelloni tubes. (If you prefer, use a teaspoon to push the mixture into the cannelloni or use a piping bag.) Fill the tubes up - don’t be stingy! - and place them in a single layer on top of the sauce. Lay the basil leaves over the cannelloni and spoon your white sauce evenly over the top. Season with black pepper, sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan and tear over the mozzarella. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden and bubbling on top.

Dress the arugula leaves with a squeeze of lemon juice and about 3 times as much extra- virgin olive oil. Serve the cannelloni with the arugula and some good crusty bread.

My Boston Organics adventures this summer have really allowed me to experiment with a number of ingredients that I would never buy simply browsing the local produce aisle. So when I received a huge bunch of dark leafy collard greens one week I definitely felt a little stumped. What could I do with them? Since I’d never had them before I didn’t even know what they tasted like, so I didn’t feel comfortable deciding what flavors might go well with them in a dish. So they sat in the fridge for a few days until I started googling for recipes. Thankfully I happened upon an older post at Kaylyn’s Kitchen that sounded exactly like something I’d like full of spicy sausage, red pepper flakes, and pasta.

In the end I made a few minor changes to the original recipe. Perhaps a little out of laziness, I decided to only use one pot to boil the sausage, greens, and pasta. I like to think that this gives the pasta a little extra flavor. I also used six turkey links instead of five as the turkey sausage I use comes in packages of six. I also used farfalle pasta for the simple fact that I think it’s pretty. Finally, I finished each bowl of pasta, sausage, and greens with an extra few dashes of red pepper flakes, a drizzle of olive oil, and a healthy grating of Parmesan cheese.

The funniest thing happens when you make this recipe. The sausage blows up to a disturbing size in the boiling pot of water. This immediately reminded me of the turkey hot dogs I ate as a kid that would blow up to ridiculous proportions on the grill. Does anyone else remember that phenomena? It’s pretty hilarious. Sometimes the turkey dogs would even develop bubbles and they’d look like total science fair projects on a bun.

I can’t recommend this recipe enough! My experimental dinner turned out delicious and I was surprised to discover that the collard greens have a slightly peppery taste. I’ve received collard greens twice more from Boston Organics since I originally freaked out over what I could do with this so-called “mystery ingredient” and both times I’ve returned to this recipe.

Pasta with Sausage and Collard Greens
Slightly altered and based on the recipe in The Best Recipes in the World cookbook by Mark Bittman originally discovered online at Kaylyn’s Kitchen.

1 bunch collard greens (about 1 lb.) stems removed, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced crosswise into half inch slices
3 T olive oil
1 T minced garlic
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
6 links hot turkey Italian sausage
16 oz. pasta (Note: I used farfalle).
salt and pepper to taste
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, add sausage and cook at low boil 10 minutes. Let sausage cool and slice. Add sliced collard greens and boil 5-7 minutes, until tender but still bright green. Remove collards from water, keep water in the pot and bring back to a boil. When water comes to a boil, add pasta and a small amount of salt and cook 9-10 minutes, until done but still quite al dente. Drain pasta, reserving about one cup of cooking liquid.

While pasta cooks, in large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add sliced sausage and brown until well browned on both sides. Add remaining tablespoon olive oil and garlic (and the red pepper flakes if using) and cook 2 minutes, scraping bottom of pan to get browned sausage bits. Add collards and saute 2 minutes, then add pasta and enough cooking liquid to moisten dish, and cook 2 minutes more. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. (Note: In addition to the cheese, I also drizzle a little more olive oil on top and a few extra shakes of red pepper flakes).

For the most part, new Food Network hostess Mary Nolan has gone unnoticed and unheralded since her episodes began airing this summer. To be perfectly honest I mostly tune in because I really like her hair. Although, she absolutely freaked me out during the “Posh Picnic” episode when she repeatedly touched raw meat, followed by the blender, and finished off her germ spreading spree with a good hard pull on the refrigerator handle. Most of you probably didn’t even notice, but I’m a total germaphobe. I practically went into apoplectic shock after they discontinued the Dawn “Wash ‘n’ Toss” because that meant I would have to use sponges to wash dishes. Sponges seriously gross me out.

Even after all of those cooking missteps, I still wanted to try some of the recipes from Mary’s show. Her hair must really be impressive, right? Seriously though this salad is absolutely delicious. The tangy sugar laced dressing is amazing paired with corn and creamy avocado chunks. CK and I ate this for three days and never complained once. So Mary you (or at least your Orzo Salad) get our stamp of approval. PS: I know your Food Network kitchen is fake and all, but just try to wash your hands once in a while, OK?

Orzo Salad (recipe courtesy of Mary Nolan)

1 cup whole-wheat orzo pasta (Note: I used regular Orzo)
3 ears corn, shucked and kernels removed from cob (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 avocado, diced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

Bring a pot of generously salted water to a rapid boil. Add the orzo and cook according to package directions, adding the corn in the last minute of cooking, until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain and transfer to a medium bowl. Set aside. Pour the lime juice over the avocado and coat evenly (this will minimize discoloration). Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, sugar, cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Drizzle over the orzo and add the avocado with lime juice, tomatoes, and parsley. Mix until combined and serve warm or at room temperature.

After a long and involved process the Limoncello was finally sampled on Saturday.  Beforehand though I spent hours in the kitchen prepping dinner.   Unfortunately several glasses of wine into the evening it completely slipped my mind to take any actual shots of the cooked food.  No doubt, a common hazard of the “job.”

In reality I served a Roasted Vegetable Lasagna (specifically Portobello Mushrooms, Red Pepper, Zucchini, and Spinach) with spicy Turkey Sausage, Baked Artichokes with Gorgonzola and Herbs, and a Strawberry and Marscapone Granita.

I should warn you that even though Giada said you can eat the artichoke leaves, I thought they were really too chewy.  So I cut up cubes of Seeduction Bread (I know…I know…I’m obsessed) and served the artichokes as a sort of mini personalized fondue.   The fact that those leaves were so gross really annoyed me because it took 20 minutes to snip off the tips of six artichokes and those ends didn’t just fall gracefully to the counter in a neat pile, they flew all over my kitchen with an audible ping.  Zoom!

As for the Limoncello…well…I sort of had a hunch that I wouldn’t like it.  I haven’t been a fan of lemony cocktails in years ever since an unfortunate incident with some Bacardi Limon in college.   But my other guests didn’t seem to mind it.  CK actually liked it!  He drank his in the form of a modified Gin and Tonic.  My friend Melissa had the best response of all:

Anyway, I have two full wine bottles of the stuff left so if anyone has any good ideas on what I can do with it (besides drink it) I’d be forever grateful.