Now that the weather has turned colder I am getting back into our Tuesday pasta night routine. And one of my favorite weeknight pasta tricks is to stop off at my cheese shop to pick up some fresh cheese, meats and even fresh pasta. Cooking with flavored pastas eliminates the need for sauce, and you can instead focus on pairing a few favorite ingredients to make your pasta de jour.

Of course you don’t have to visit a cheese shop to make a gourmet pasta dish; at the grocery, just pick out a few high quality items from the deli counter. Because you only need a few slices of meat, you can splurge on a good prosciutto or salami.

With a quarter pound of spicy salami, a small container of creme fraiche, the roasted tomatoes and pasta, this made four servings of pasta for under $20. That’s cheaper than Olive Garden, and ready in less time the average Friday night wait for a table!

Recipe: Roasted Tomato, Salami & Saffron Pasta (aka Cheesetique Pasta)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound saffron angel hair pasta
• 1 bunch curly kale (or other greens), sliced into ribbons
• 6 oz. roasted tomatoes, in olive oil (can use sundried tomatoes)
• 1/4 pound salami, sliced into thin ribbons
• 4 ounces creme fraiche
• salt & pepper

Instructions: Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Cook pasta according to package instructions, adding kale for the final minute of cooking time. Drain pasta and kale, reserving some of the cooking liquid. In a large serving bowl, layer the tomatoes (reserving oil), salami and creme fraiche. Pour pasta and kale over top and use tongs to toss and combine. Add 2 tablespoons of the reserved tomato oil and a few spoonfuls of the cooking liquid, as needed to moisten the pasta. Season with a little salt and pepper (try red pepper flakes for an added kick), and enjoy! Makes 4 servings.

Shared with Presto Pasta Nights, created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and hosted this week by Venielje Kitchen.

The first CSA tomatoes of the season arrived in our bag yesterday, which means a quick stop at Cheesetique for pasta and cheese is all that’s needed to put together a fast, fresh pasta dish.

This week, I used red pepper pappardelle. I had orange Roma tomatoes, which I quick roasted in my cast iron skillet until they were just beginning to burst. I sauteed a chopped sweet onion in olive oil, added a handful of green beans broken into 1 inch pieces, then quartered the roasted tomatoes and returned them to the pan. Simmered a few minutes longer, added salt, pepper and fresh basil, then tossed it all with the papardelle and fresh goat cheese. (I used 4 oz. goat cheese which was a little much for 4 servings of pasta – but the toddler and I love our goat cheese.)

Typically I would use garlic, but the sweet onions from our CSA have just been incredible this summer, so I thought I’d give them a turn to star.

Toddler verdict: He slurped the noodles with glee, laughing “bye bye noo-noo” after each one. But when he discovered the green beans at the bottom of his bowl, he promptly requested ketchup. When we said no, he asked for a cup of frozen peas for dessert. Such an odd little kid.

Shared with Presto Pasta Nights, created by Once Upon a Feast and hosted this week by Thyme for Cooking.

This was another improvisational pasta night dish, as my original plans to use the last of my fresh ricotta were thwarted by the cheese having spoiled (so tragic). Fortunately, I still had some cream from last week’s shortcake, so this evolved into a springy green alfredo sauce. I thought it was yummy, but the husband felt it would be better if I had used bacon instead of zucchini …. you could certainly add meat to this recipe if you’re so inclined. I bet some Italian sausage would be good.

Recipe: Zucchini Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 c. shredded zucchini, strained/squeezed of excess liquid
• 1 white onion (fresh CSA spring onion)
• 1/3 c fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 T butter
• 1 T olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1/2 c cream
• 1/4 c grated parmiaggiano

Instructions:

Melt butter and olive oil in saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until onion begins to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in zucchini and cook 2 minutes more. Add pinch of salt and pepper and cream and cook about 5 minutes, until cream begins to bubble. Stir in parsley and cheese and remove from heat. Toss with cooked pasta (used tagliatelle here) and enjoy!

Submitted for next week’s Presto Pasta Night, hosted by Once Upon a Feast. Check out this week’s round-up at Chew on That.

This week’s pasta night dish is actually a soup, with Japanese rice noodles playing a supporting role. It was a little more improvised than usual, as I originally started out to make a slaw with CSA cabbage, carrots, onion and radish. After I tossed it with a dressing, I tasted the cabbage and realized it was a little too tough to eat raw. So I turned it into a soup and added some chicken gyoza (ala Trader Joe’s) for a one-pot meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 sm. head spring cabbage, sliced in thin ribbons
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and julienned
• 2 white radishes, julienned
• 1/2 t chili garlic sauce
• 1 t sesame oil
• 1 T olive oil
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 c chicken broth
• 4 c water
• 1/4 c soy sauce
• 2 T rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 package rice noodles
• 1/2 bag (about 12) gyoza

Instructions:

Heat olive oil in soup pot over medium heat, add onion and cook until translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add carrots and radish and cook another 2 minutes. Add sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, broth, water and cabbage and bring to a boil. Add rice noodles and gyoza and cook 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add lime juice. Serve with chili sauce on the side in case people want to up the heat level. Makes 4 servings.

Toddler Verdict: He loved the noodles (”noo noo”) and broth, ate a carrot and a dumpling or two, and as expected, ignored the cabbage. At least a hint of its nutrients probably made it into the broth, right?

Sent to Presto Pasta Nights – now with its own website! – hosted by Once Upon A Feast.

This was an easy pasta dish made easier with a few Trader Joe’s favorites – cooked, peeled frozen shrimp and Ginger Soy Broth, plus my own prepped and frozen broccoli and garlic scape pesto from last week. I also used TJ’s flax seed pasta to fulfill my Whole Grains Challenge quota for the day. (OK, so it was 1 of 3 meals, but every small step counts, right?)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 bag flax seed fusili
• 3 c ginger soy broth (added to water to boil pasta)
• 1 c frozen broccoli
• 1 bag shrimp, thawed and tails removed
• 2 T garlic scape pesto* (or whatever kind you have on hand)
• 1/2 T olive oil
• 1 t roasted sesame oil
• 1/3 c cashews

Instructions: I added the 3 c of ginger soy broth to the pasta water. Cook pasta as instructed, adding broccoli for final 2 minutes. Reserve cooking water for later. Heat pesto and oils in skillet over medium heat. Add shrimp and cook just a couple minutes, about 3-4, adding cashews for final minute. Toss with cooked pasta, broccoli, and about 1/4 c of the pasta water. Enjoy!

* Recipe: Garlic Scape Pesto

Take one bunch of garlic scapes (3-4) and chop into 1 inch pieces. Add to food processor with 1/4 c olive oil, 1/4 c nuts of your choice (I used cashews, pecans and pistachios are also great), and 1/4 c parmiaggano cheese. Chop till fine. This is pretty potent, so use with care!

Toddler Notes: I believe this was the first time we really served shrimp to the toddler. He wasn’t interested the first night, but ate one bite the second. He ate all his broccoli first and then stole every last piece off the husband’s plate, before getting to the noodles. Hooray for broccoli!

Submitted to Presto Pasta Nights, created by Once Upon a Feast and hosted this week by Closet Cooking.