Pork and Lemon Ragu with Pasta

  

The photo above is when it had started to thicken upon standing a few minutes, but wasn't the finished product.  I could have taken a better 'finished' photo but honestly I was hungry, it smelled (and tasted) so good I started to eat it, and didn't really care about getting a better picture.  It's just for my personal blog - I don't make any money for posting recipes I make, and I have no income from the time I spend on this site, so... yeah.  LOL.

I would normally use a different pasta with this one, but for a number of crazy things going on in our life right now, I have cleared out the pantry except for mere basics and all I have to choose from currently is macaroni shapes and spaghetti shapes.  So, I chose spaghetti this time. 



Pork and Lemon Ragu with Pasta

Bacon, cooked and crumbled or use real bacon crumbles bought - about 1/3 cup
olive oil
1 lg onion, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 t salt
1 t thyme
1 t fresh black pepper
1/2 - 3/4 c cream or half and half
1 1/2 - 2 c water
1 1/2 lb. boneless pork roast
1 t dried lemon peel
1/4 c lemon juice
12 oz. pasta of choice
Romano or Parmesan cheese

In an oven proof pan with a lid, cook the bacon bits in the oil until they start to crisp up, add the onion and cook til soft and turning golden.  Add the garlic and salt, pepper and thyme.  Add the cream and water and whisk/stir.  Add the pork roast, cutting it into half or even quarters.  Bring to a boil and then remove, put the lid on and place into a 350 degree oven.  Roast until tender (about 1 1/2 hours).

Add the lemon juice and zest.  Let it set as you cook the pasta.  When the pasta is almost done, use two large forks to pull apart the pork into shredded pieces.  Add the pasta to the sauce reserving just a bit of the pasta water in case you want to thin the sauce.  It should have a bit of liquid at this point as it will thicken as it stands.  Let it thicken about 10-15 minutes before serving.   You can stir in a bit of the pasta water to the leftovers before refrigerating, as it will absorb the liquid and become really thick by the next day. 




Stirring in the half and half or cream to the onion/bacon mixture
Adding the pork to cook
Shredding the pork
 

Add the pasta and cheese (I used quesa fresca as I didn't have Romano on hand)  It will be VERY LIQUID at this point as it hasn't thickened up at all yet.  It will in the next 10-15 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Ramen Noodle Lasagna - fast, easy and so good!

 

 

 

In my previous post I showed the quick and easy homemade spaghetti sauce and recipe I used in this dish.  All you need is Ramen Noodles (yep, the cheap packets you get at the store for under 50 cents), a jar of spaghetti sauce and some cheese.  That's it. 

It's so FAST because you throw it together in about 5 minutes and it bakes for around 35 minutes so you have hot, delicious lasagna on the table in 40 minutes.   The secret of course, is the Ramen.  Noodles that are precooked and then dried cook fast and with less liquid so they are perfect for lasagna dishes.

Note:  if you can tell, a package of the noodles is 'folded' when packaged, so you actually have 2 layers in each packet.  Break that layer apart so you get 2 squares of noodles from each packet.  That way you can fill the bottom of your dish - using the 3rd packet to break each of those squares apart to fill the narrow strip.   (See photo below).

To make in a 9X13 pan for more people, just double the ingredients.

 

Ramen Noodle Lasagna

3 packages Ramen Noodles
4 c spaghetti sauce (or 1 jar)
Cheese:  ricotta, queso fresco, mozzarella, etc. 
garlic powder or fresh minced garlic to taste, about a teaspoon Italian Seasoning
parsley for on top and some parmesan if you want/have it

In a baking dish break apart the noodles in one package and lay the squares in the bottom of the dish.  Break the second package into 2 layers and use one layer to break in half and fill the narrow strip on the side.

Cover that layer with sauce - about 2 cups should fully cover it.

Layer your cheese choice over - about 2 cups worth.  I used queso fresco that comes in a wheel because it's one of my favorite cheeses and it's easily freeze-able so I had 3 wheels in the deep freezer for food storage.  Mozzarella and ricotta are the typical choices of course.  If you only have long term, freeze dried food storage cheese left, you can use the freeze-dried cheese, reconstituted.

Sprinkle your garlic and Italian seasoning over all. 

Repeat layers again:  noodles, sauce and cheese.

Top with crumbled cheese, a little parsley and if you wish, some Parmesan (mine from the green bottle - which I have in storage). 

Bake about 30-35 minutes at 350.   Serves great with homemade garlic bread from the 'daily bread' recipe and bucket in the fridge I've been walking about for 2 months.  :)

 

 

The Ramen layer

Ramen, sauce and cheese, spices.  Ramen, sauce and cheese.
Parsley and Parmesan

Into the oven.

Let's eat!

 

 

Feta Pasta bake - but a ricotta version

 

 

Tonight's dinner was so, so good!  It's something I make often but not usually from food storage.  My normal would be a baked feta pasta dish but opted to use some homemade ricotta I had in the freezer from last week.   

The baked cheese pasta dish didn't use a recipe but went something like this...

3 cans diced tomatoes, drained
olive oil
fresh minced garlic
homemade ricotta cheese
oregano
red pepper flakes
basil
pasta - cooked and tossed with a bit of butter
salt and pepper

On a foil lined baking pan, drizzle some olive oil.  Add the tomatoes and garlic.  Place the feta or ricotta in the center, drizzle with more olive oil.  Sprinkle with oregano, red pepper flakes and basil, salt and pepper.  Bake at 400 for about 35 minutes or more until the tomatoes are roasted through and cheese is getting golden.

Mash it all up if you wish - or leave it all in whole pieces if you like that better.  I do a bit of both.  I use a stick blender to blend about 1/3 of the sauce to thicken it.   Pour over pasta of choice and serve with homemade bread.

I'm also going to add the homemade cheese 'recipe' although I didn't actually use a recipe for it. 

Very similar to my homemade yogurt, except I didn't have any fresh plain yogurt as a starter, and ended up using citric acid crystals and making cheese.  I do make homemade cheese fairly often, but I've always used fresh milk - not milk powder.  I'm happy to report the whole milk powder worked pretty well.  It was a soft ricotta like cheese, which I salted to taste and then froze until today.

I actually added the cheese to the pan and went into the oven while it still frozen.  :)

 

 

The Cheese

1-2 t citric acid crystals mixed in 2 T milk

1 quart water

1 1/2 - 2 cups dry whole milk powder - I used Nido
Salt

Use a 1 quart container of whatever style you wish but it's easiest if it has some sort of lid.

Fill it about half way with water, add the citric acid/milk mixture and whisk or mix briefly, then add the powdered milk.  Shake, whisk or blend until smooth.  Fill the rest of the container up to the 1 quart line.  Put the top on or cover it well, and let it set for about 12 hours someplace fairly warm like an oven with a light on or, I put mine on a heating pad set to 'low' and cover with a dish towel.  You can also speed up the process by heating your milk on the stove until it starts to get tiny little bubbles around the edge, but it doesn't burn, scorch or boil!  You take it off the heat, add the citric acid (or use about a tablespoon of vinegar or even lemon juice) - stir, and as it starts to curdle, you continue with the next step.

Sprinkle salt to taste, mix and then place it in the center of a piece of cheesecloth, and bundle up.  Hang so the liquid can drain out and let it drain for an hour until all the liquid has drained off.  Squeeze a bit, form into a round and refrigerator or freeze until needed.

 

 

 Into the oven........ the cheese was still frozen as I didn't know I was making this for dinner until... I was.

 

 

Out of the oven.  Could have gone longer, but it smelled so good and I was getting so hungry!

 

Using a stick blender to blend about 1/3 of it to thicken... then onto the pasta! 

I randomly grabbed a box off the shelf - it was rotini this time.
Served with the homemade bread made earlier today.

Great Low Carb Bread Company Pastas.... Rotini, Shells, Fettucini and more... ready for pasta salads, speghetti, alfredo and so much more

 

 

This is a 're-post' of sorts - originally blogged about in March of 2021.  However, it's here today because for the past 3-4 weeks I've been trying to talk myself into spending the money to place another order of low-carb, or keto foods and ugh... I just don't want to spend the money!   But I really need to, as it's much easier, more fun and quicker to cook healthy low carb when you have ingredients on hand.

 

When it comes to pasta salads, I make them using whatever we have on hand at the time, or whatever I feel like that day.  I also sometimes take into account if I've already had a high number of carbs that day and want to leave out higher carb veggies or use fewer of them, and take into account what the salad is being served with.

Lastly is the dressing used.  I always keep a couple low carb no sugar added dressings on hand, but also often throw together my own versions - either Italian or Ranch.  Both bode well in pasta salads depending on what taste you're going for.  The final note to that is sometimes I use mayonnaise with the Italian dressings sometimes not. 

Basically you use your favorite pasta salad recipe or toss together random ingredients - but do so using low carb options.

• pasta - low carb/sugar free only
• fresh broccoli
• fresh cauliflower
• red pepper
• fresh lettuce
• cabbage shreds
• green onion
• cucumbers
• mushrooms
• cheese - mozzarella or feta with Italian or ranch
• cheese - cheddar if using ranch or plain mayonnaise
• basil
• dressing - Italian style or ranch style within your personal carb counts for the day
• black or green olives, red onion, yellow or orange peppers, fresh spinach, etc. (watch your carb counts and likes/dislikes)

Do not use high carb veggies like yellow onion, peas, corn, potato or carrots.  Use just a bit of tomato if you wish - it's higher carb or some artichoke hearts (not many - higher carb).

Mix and chill.  Serve cold.

Here is the nutrition listing for the Great Low Carb Breads Company Rotini Pasta.  Just 7 carbs.

 

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Feta Cheese - Pasta Sauce

  

We are low carb so the 'pasta' I used in this dish was low carb macaroni and Palmini spaghetti mixed together because it's the only two low carb pastas we had in the pantry at the time.  I finished the meal by using some keto buns to turn into cheesy garlic bread.

Oh my.  It was good.  Very good.

 

 

Feta and Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce

2 pints cherry tomatoes
1 small block feta cheese (about 6-8 ounces)
Olive oil (I used avocado oil)
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper
Fresh minced garlic

Dried red pepper flakes

Dried basil or fresh basil

Pasta of choice (we use low carb and keto pastas)

In a cast iron skillet I used about 1/3 cup oil, added the cherry tomatoes and roasted them in a 400 degree oven until they were starting to crinkle but weren't yet brown.  At that point add the block of feta cheese to center and return to the oven to roast until the tomatoes start to turn golden brown on the edges.

Add a dollop of fresh, minced or chopped garlic and salt and pepper to the feta, return to the oven for a few minutes to roast the garlic a bit.  Then sprinkle the rest of the spices on top and mash the tomatoes with the back of a spoon as well as smashing the cheese, all together to form a sauce.  I debated using a stick blender to blend it a little more but I liked the rustic sauce as it was.   

Boil and drain your pasta, top with the sauce and serve with your favorite garlic bread and a side salad.

Adding the feta cheese and returning it to the oven

 

 

 

 

Spaghetti Inside a Garlic Pastry Crust - (my Low Carb, Keto option too!)

  

When I decided to try making this 'idea' I had in my head, I didn't know how it would turn out but since I had one of my old cell phones sitting on the kitchen counter, I grabbed it every once in a while and snapped some photos.  I'm glad I did... because this was pretty yummy!

I was busy yesterday and had left the house early so I had nothing out thawing for dinner, nor had any ideas of what to make.  When I had to brainstorm something fairly fast for dinner, a keto spaghetti came to mind.  I normally like to use Great Low Carb Bread Company Low Carb Pasta, but I'm currently out of all but their elbow macaroni.  However, I had Palmini Hearts of Palm Pasta - which I always keep some on hand in the pantry, as I can find that locally and don't have to order it online.

There is no recipe for this, it's more of an idea I had when getting ready to make a regular keto style spaghetti and garlic bread dinner.

Use your favorite keto/low carb spaghetti sauce, faux pasta and favorite keto Bread Product.

Keto Spaghetti Inside a Garlic Bread Pastry

Your favorite keto/low carb spaghetti sauce
Your favorite keto/low carb bread - thin sliced
Your favorite keto/low carb pasta
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Butter
Garlic, minced
Garlic salt
Parsley

Prepare your keto pasta of choice, add a bit of butter or oil so it doesn't stick while you prepare the pan.
Cut the crusts off enough slices of keto or low carb bread, enough to cover whatever size pan you are using.  SAVE the crusts for another dish!  I save all my keto bread ends and bits in a baggy in the freezer and use them to make 'keto bread crumbs' and stuffing for a keto Thanksgiving.
Use a rolling pin to flatten the bread slices.
Melt some butter (amount depends on the number of bread slices) - start with about 1 stick or 1/2 cup.
Add about 2 teaspoons minced garlic, a 1/2 t garlic salt and about a tablespoon of parsley.
Brush each slice of flattened bread on both sides and start to lay them in your pan of choice, overlapping the seams just a little to cover your pan.
Use your fingers to seal the seems a little bit.
Place a layer of mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese over the bread pastry crust bottom.
At this point you can pre-bake your bread for about 8 minutes or so. If you don't have time, skip it.  The bread just won't be quite as crunchy on the bottom.
Layer your spaghetti sauce and keto pasta into your pan in as many layers as you wish.  Fill your pan.
(If you use a sauce that is really runny or has a lot of liquid, you can simmer it ahead of time to reduce it to a nicer, thicker sauce.)
Top your pan with more garlic/parsley/butter brushed breads.

Bake at 350 approximately 40 minutes or until it's heated through, bubbly and golden brown.

I didn't have my favorite keto pasta on hand but I always have Palmini.  I rinsed it twice and then boiled it in water for about 10 minutes to soften it a bit. 

 

 

Cut the crusts off your bread and save them for another recipe like stuffing or use for bread crumbs.

 Now roll them out with a rolling pin to flatten them. 

 

  

And brush both sides with melted butter with garlic and parsley in it.

 Start to line whatever pan you wish to use - based on the number of servings you need to make.

  

The pan is covered with garlic bread, seams gently pressed together. 

 

Heating my sauce to reduce it a bit and make it thicker so it doesn't saturate the bread.

 A thin layer of mozzarella and parmesan.

 

 

This time I started with a bit of sauce over the cheeses.  I thought my cheese layer would seal the bread but next time I make this I'll pre-bake the bread with the cheese layer first for about 8 minutes and then I'll top with the keto pasta, followed by the sauce.  I think this will seal the bottom bread layer better from getting soft.

  

Layering 

 

 Finish the top of your pan of spaghetti with the same melted butter/garlic brushed slices of keto bread.

   

Into the oven!

I baked mine about 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

When I served it, I flipped my pan over onto a serving tray as I had used a rounded, pretty, half-circle loaf pan.  I popped it back into the oven with the curved side up, to toast the underside (now topside) of the bread.   If I had used a regular flat bottomed pan to bake it in, we could simply cut and serve much like lasagna.

___________________________________________________

Low Carb Spaghetti Puttanesca - (Even with some substitutions using things I had on hand to work with, it was fabulous!)

 

 

 

"Spaghetti Puttanesca" How can so little ingredients taste so good? 

 

Last weekend we returned home after a long week away at the beach for vacation.  Because I had been carefully using up all the fresh ingredients we had before we left (so nothing would go bad or go to waste while we were gone) we had very little in the house by way of 'fresh' to use for an easy dinner.

I was needing some inspiration for a meal so I opened one of my bajillion 3-ring notebooks where I have typed out, collected and hand written recipes.  I saw two little tiny pink pieces of paper where I had jotted down the ingredients for "Puttanesca".

Glancing over the ingredients I thought to myself "This would be a great way to use some of that tube of anchovy paste I have in the refrigerator that has never seen the light of day since that one recipe made with it... so long ago now that I don't even recall what it was!"

Let's see...

Anchovies?  Check.
Olive oil?  No problem.
Garlic?  Of course.
Canned tomatoes.  Absolutely.
Kalamata olives... shoot.  I used them up right before vacation.  But we have green olives!  Just as salty and yummy.
Capers.  Nope... only have those on hand when I make my homemade tartar sauce.  But oh well.
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes.  Oh yes.  Always!

And I had low carb pasta on hand as well since I had ordered a few bags of it a couple months ago!

Woowhoooo!  Let's do this thing!

 

Even with the substitutions I had to make, it was incredible!  Surprisingly, my HUSBAND loved it, which I wasn't sure he would even give it a chance considering it had green olives and anchovies in it.  He loved it and raved about it two different times so I know he wasn't just being polite.  Ha ha.

 

 

  

The photos for this post are the ones I took to post on my Instagram that night (so if you follow me on Instagram, you'll have already seen them!)      

 

Substitutions were needed based on what we had on hand...

Low Carb Spaghetti Puttanesca

3 T olive oil or avocado oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 t anchovy paste
1 - 28 oz. (ish) can diced tomatoes
1/3 - 1/2 c green olives, sliced
1/2 t oregano
1 t crushed red pepper flakes
Low Carb Pasta of choice (spaghetti, rotini, penne - or use spiralized zucchini or Palmini Angel Hair Pasta)

 

Boil your pasta while you are making the sauce.  If you are using the Low Carb Bread Company pasta like I did, you only need about 1/2 - 3/4 of the 8 oz. bag.  I used 3/4 of the bag in the photos here.  Next time I'll just use half so we have more sauce, less pasta.

Put the oil in a saucepan on the stove and heat over medium high heat.  Add the garlic and anchovy paste, stir and cook just a minute then add your tomatoes.  When it starts to simmer/boil, lower the heat and simmer it for a few minutes while you finish the pasta, and drain it. Add the sliced olives, oregano and red pepper flakes.  Stir and let simmer 2-3 minutes - toss with the pasta and serve. 

I sprinkled a bit of black pepper and Parmesan on ours and a bit of fresh minced basil from my kitchen window planter.

(I whipped up some garlic bread using keto bread to serve with it... totally up to you of course!)

 

 

SUBSTITUTIONS
Obviously if you have the original ingredients on hand you can use them.

Kalamata Olives for the green olives
Add 1-2 T capers
Regular pasta if you aren't keto or low carb
3 anchovy fillets instead of the paste

 

 

 

 

 

Low Carb Pasta Salad: I Use Great Low Carb Bread Co. Rotini

 

Basically you use your favorite pasta salad recipe or toss together random ingredients - but do so using low carb options.

• pasta - low carb/sugar free only
• fresh broccoli
• fresh cauliflower
• red pepper
• fresh lettuce
• cabbage shreds
• green onion
• cucumbers
• mushrooms
• cheese - mozzarella or feta with Italian or ranch
• cheese - cheddar if using ranch or plain mayonnaise
• basil
• dressing - Italian style or ranch style within your personal carb counts for the day
• black or green olives, red onion, yellow or orange peppers, fresh spinach, etc. (watch your carb counts and likes/dislikes)

Do not use high carb veggies like yellow onion, peas, corn, potato or carrots.  Use just a bit of tomato if you wish - it's higher carb or some artichoke hearts (not many - higher carb).

Mix and chill.  Serve cold.

 

I love broccoli and red pepper in my pasta salads.  I'm not a fan of tomato, but we had one to use up and my husband loves fresh tomato so I added it.  My feta was in the freezer but I had cheese sticks in the fridge so I grabbed a couple mozzarella sticks to cut up this time.  Easy peasy.  After some italian style dressing (sugar free and keto) I added some fresh basil.  We didn't have any cucumbers 

  

Here is what they look like after they are cooked. Yum!