simple green veggie sauce

I am thrilled to say that we are now experiencing an autumnal shift in weather patterns. I'm wearing a hoodie right now! In my apartment! And big fuzzy-wuzzy slippers! In June! Ah, so great. Earlier this week the Twin Cities shattered some hot weather records, which became very apparent to the rest of the country when we had the warmest temps in the continental US on a weather radar map. I feared I would have to call it quits on serious cooking and baking for some time. Thankfully, not an issue.... yet.

Today's recipe was a weird fusion of a Cook's Illustrated recipe for Broccoli & Ricotta sauce and what I could find in my fridge.  It turned out super well, was ready in a jiffy, and only required one pot and the workbowl of the food processor.  I seem to hold a grudge against simple suppers of noodles with jarred red sauce. I would rather just give up and order pizza.  It's too simple, I guess? Or not filling enough maybe? Regardless, this new idea will probably enter our rotation of quick and easy dinners.

Simple Green Veggie Sauce
1 lb. broccoli, roughly cut florets; stems peeled and cubed
1/2 lb. spinach
3 large cloves garlic (or however much garlic suits your fancy)
1 c. whole milk cottage cheese
1/2 c. shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 c. milk
1/4 t. smoked paprika
1/2 t. salt
black pepper to taste
1 lb. your favorite pasta - I suggest something curly or whirly so that the thick sauce sticks to the noodles evenly

1. Bring water to a boil in a deep saucepan.
2. While waiting for the water to boil, put cottage cheese, parm, milk, paprika, and salt in the food processor (fitted with standard chopping blade) and blend until smooth. Fun fact: If you hate cleaning the underside of the lid of the food processor, cover the workbowl with saran wrap  -- this recipe doesn't require you to add things while you're processing. Ta-da! Clean lid! Win!
3. Skewer garlic onto bamboo skewer. Once water is boiling, submerge the garlic for 30-45 seconds to mellow the flavor (raw garlic would probably make it gross). Place the blanched garlic into the workbowl of food processor.
4. Wilt spinach in the boiling water, then squeeze out as much water from the spinach as you can. I just squeeze it against a medium-mesh strainer until I'm satisfied. Add to food processor and blend until smooth.
5. Blanche the broccoli in the same water, 1 minute, until bright green and tender. You'll be buzzing it around in the food processor, so a little overdone is not a biggie.
6. Use a slotted spoon to remove the broccoli into the food processor.
7. Salt the boiling water and cook the pasta.
8. Pulse the broccoli into the sauce until you like the consistency. I tend to like mine on the smoother side than the chunkier side of things. Adjust seasonings to taste.
9. When pasta is drained, return to the saucepan and stir in the sauce. Reheat and serve. We liked it with Red Truck Red Wine. :)

broccoli & cheese soup

Okay, so I may not have posted in a month (gulp!), but a lot has been going on behind the scenes to make 2011 an excellent year for food blogging!

1. Husband, being the tech-efficiency whiz/sweet guy that he is, got me a blog-conscious holiday gift! Meet the Eye-Fi: I now have a memory card for the camera that is linked to our wireless network, so whenever I snap a photo,  I get an email letting me know it has been uploaded to my computer! AMAZING! One thing that always bogged me down was waiting for the effin' camera to sync with my computer. Now all I have to do is type up the recipes. :P
2. New iPhoto on my computer = better organization = better blogging.
3. Although I swore I wasn't allowed to get any more new cookbooks, I got four for Christmas, so there's more new things to discover and make! (sneak preview: I now own a dog biscuit cookbook! And these hilarious cookie cutters!)
4. The house New Year's resolution is one homemade loaf of bread per week. I may tweak this to be "anything that involves yeast and flour", as I realize that pizza dough and cinnamon rolls should *totally* count. We are partial to the NYTimes No-Knead Bread, but once we get that one down I'm sure we'll get more adventurous. In fact I just took loaf #1 of 2011 out of the oven. Maybe I'll just have to go snap a photo...
5. I am now all kinds of outfitted to make my own cakes from scratch. Now if I can just get over being so very intimidated by making them (and frostings! with a hand mixer! eek!). Any encouragement would be appreciated. :)

So yeah, today's recipe comes from my fave standby, A Beautiful Bowl of Soup. Last night I started out feeling pretty uninspired, feeling like mac & cheese was going to be the solution. Then I decided to guilt myself by looking through our produce in the fridge and I was stuck on the broccoli (most likely because we tossed a soupy head of it before we left town for the holidays -- gross). I consulted a few other sources and the recipes seemed either too simple or too full of heavy cream. I made a few adjustments to this one for what I had in my pantry, and ta-da! Delicious soup!

Broccoli & Cheese Soup

ingredients:

3 T. unsalted butter

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 c. onion, chopped

1 stalk of celery, plus a sprig of leaves, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 T. all-purpose flour

2 c. veggie stock

1 1/2 c. small broccoli florets

4 tangerine-sized red potatoes, cubed

2 c. milk

2 c. shredded white cheddar cheese

1/4 t. dry mustard

1/4 t. parsley

S&P

directions:

1. Melt the butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. 
2. Add the carrot, onion, celery, and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the flour; stir constantly over low heat for about 2 minutes.
4. Gradually add the veggie stock, stirring until mixture is smooth each time.
5. Meanwhile, in a separate pot, steam the broccoli.
6. Add the potato, mustard, and parsley to the veggie mixture. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are tender, about 10 minutes.
8. Stir in the milk, and off the heat.
9. Using an immersion blender, puree the veggies and milk.
10. While the soup is warm, gradually adding the cheese and stirring until melted. 
11. Add in the broccoli, season with S&P if needed, and warm if needed.
12. Serve and enjoy!