Pasta :: Leslie Durso

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Lemon & Spinach Pesto Pasta

By Leslie · Comments (2) · June 11th, 2012

Last night was one of those beautiful San Diego evenings, it was warm and the air was full of ocean breeze… I was enjoying myself so much that I didn’t want to go to the store so instead I walked around my parents backyard and grabbed ingredients for dinner. Lemons from my Mom’s magical lemon tree and some basil. I’ve never put lemon in a pesto before, but I thought, “why not?” and I’m glad I did! The results were very tasty!

Lemon & Spinach Pesto Pasta

Serves 4

1 lb. pasta

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

4 cloves of garlic

about 2 cups of basil (including stems)

about 2 cups of spinach

1 lemon

about 1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

What you’ll do:

Put your pot of water on to boil for the pasta and make the pesto in your food processor. You’ll place the basil and spinach in the processor topped with the garlic and nuts. Pulse a few times to break them down a bit. Add in the zest from the lemon and all the lemon juice. Pulse again and then drizzle in the olive oil until the pesto is smooth. Cook your pasta to al dente, drain and return to the pot. Add the pesto right on top and stir to coat the noodles. Serve immediately.

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Comments (2)

Categories : Ethnic: Mediterranean, featured, Pasta, recipes, Vegan

ah-May-zing Farmers Market Pasta

By Leslie · Comments (2) · May 29th, 2012

May is an incredible month to get to your local farmers market. Here is a pasta dish I created that’s just perfect for all those farmer’s market Spring veggies! Check out my video making it!

Farmers Market Pasta

Serves 4

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

1 crown of broccoli, cut into bite size pieces

1 large zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

1 yellow summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

1 bell pepper, deseeded and diced into 1/4 inch pieces

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 roma tomatoes, deseeded and diced

a couple handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

5-6 large basil leaves, sliced

1 lb. of pasta

olive oil

a few pinches of salt

Place a large stock pot of water on to boil. In the meantime place a large pan over medium heat, drizzle a couple tablespoons of olive oil and add in the onion, carrots and broccoli with a pinch of salt. Saute for 2 minutes and add the zucchini and squash.

When the water is boiling, add your pasta with a few big pinches of salt. Stir and cook until al dente or according to the directions, about 7-9 minutes.

Add to your veggie pan the bell pepper and garlic. Saute until the pasta is done cooking then lift the pasta straight from the pot right into the pan. Add in the tomatoes, spinach and pine nuts and stir to coat the pasta in all the veggies.

Serve topped with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of fresh basil.

Enjoy!

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Categories : Entrees, Ethnic: Mediterranean, featured, Pasta, recipes, Vegan

Mushroom and Corn Pasta

By Leslie · Comments (4) · May 10th, 2012

Sounds like an odd combo, right? I know, but trust me when I tell you it is super tasty! I love the flavor combo of corn and mushrooms to begin with and then add in garlic and pasta and seriously… yum! It’s perfectly Springy and perfectly delightful! THE best part about this dish? In the time it took to boil the water and cook the pasta, dinner was done! Yup, this only takes about 15 minutes to make. Give this one a try asap!

Mushroom and Corn Pasta

Serves 2

What you’ll need:

1/2 lb. pasta

8 oz. of your favorite mushrooms (I used baby portobellos), sliced

1 large ear of corn (or two small ones), zipped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

a handful of chives chopped

2 tbsp. Earth Balance or you favorite butter substitute or butter

drizzle of olive oil

salt and pepper

What you’ll do:

Get your pasta water on to boil. In a large frying pan over medium heat melt the butter and a few drizzles of olive oil (a tbsp. or two). Add in the mushrooms and pinch of salt and stir to coat. When the water is boiling, add in a small handful of salt and your pasta. Stir and cook until al dente or about 7-8 minutes. When the mushrooms begin to get soft, toss them and add in the garlic and corn. And when your pasta is ready, drain and pour the pasta into the frying pan with the mushrooms. Toss to coat pasta in the buttery, mushroomy liquid! Add a few more drizzles of olive oil if the pasta is too dry. Serve warm topped with the chopped chives.

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Categories : featured, Pasta, recipes, Vegan, Vegetables: Corn, Vegetables: Mushrooms

Veggie Pesto Pasta

By Leslie · Comments (1) · January 9th, 2012

The other night my brothers family came over for dinner. His family includes his wonderful wife and two of my adorable nephews! I adore these kids and obviously wanted to make something for dinner that a two year old would be willing to eat. He loves pasta and broccoli. I decided to do a nice big bowl of veggie pesto pasta. I loaded it with lots of fresh veggies and I don’t know about you, but I make pesto a little differently every time I make it. It always depends on what I have on hand. Pesto really needs 4 ingredients: garlic, toasted nuts, greens, and olive oil. Now don’t go changing the garlic and olive oil, but you can change up the nuts and greens a lot. Sometimes I do pine nuts and basil, but I also like to switch it up and do walnuts and spinach or almonds and arugula. You can really get creative and find your perfect combo! This recipe includes a combo of pine nuts, almonds, spinach, and basil.

Veggie Pesto Pasta

serves 6

What you’ll need:

1 lb. of pasta (I used rigatoni)

1 purple onion, halved and sliced

1 head of broccoli, cut in 1-2 inch pieces

1 bunch of asparagus, cut in 1 inch pieces with the tops reserved

5 leaves of swiss chard, sliced

2 zucchini, halved and sliced

a couple handfuls of grape tomatoes

pesto:

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

4 cloves of garlic, peeled (you can do more or less, but this is a good amount)

about 2 cups basil leaves and stems

about 2 cups spinach

What you’ll do:

In a very large pan, on medium heat, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil and the onion, broccoli, and asparagus stems. Saute on medium low for a few minutes and while it’s going, make the pesto. Also put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta.

In a food processor, place the garlic, then greens, then the nuts. Pulse until pureed. While pulsing, slowly drizzle in about 1 – 1 1/2 cup olive oil until the pesto is smooth.

So, your water should be boiling, so cook your pasta until it’s al dente.

At the same time, add the rest of the veggies (except the tomatoes) to the vegetable pan and saute on medium. When the pasta is done cooking, reserve a couple cups of the cooking water and strain the rest of it. In the large pasta pot combine the pasta, pesto, vegetables, and tomatoes. Gently stir together. If the pesto is super thick, add a little bit of that reserved cooking water.

Serve warm and enjoy!

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PS my brothers family loved this recipe

Comments (1)

Categories : featured, Pasta, recipes, Vegan

Golden Tomato Sauce

By Leslie · Comments (3) · September 28th, 2011

I got a few pounds of these gorgeous golden tomatoes at Green String Farm and I knew immediately I wanted to make a golden tomato sauce. It may look a little strange, but since these tomatoes are uber sweet the flavor was fantastic! I served it over some fresh spinach linguini. You could also make this recipe with red roma tomatoes.

Golden Tomato Sauce

Serves 6

What you'll need:

2 1/4 lb. golden roma tomatoes, diced

1 medium onion, diced

4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped

What you'll do:

In a large frying pan over medium heat, add in a few swirls of olive oil, the onions, and a big pinch of salt. Saute the onions until they are soft. Add in the garlic and the tomatoes. Saute on medium-medium low until the tomatoes breakdown. About 15 minutes. Using an immersion blender or transferring to a blender. Blend until smooth. Serve over pasta.

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Comments (3)

Categories : Ethnic: Mediterranean, Pasta, Vegetables: Tomato

Super Easy Creamy Tomato Bowties

By Leslie · Comments (2) · September 15th, 2011

Tonight was one of those nights… There was nothing in the fridge… I stared at the ketchup and mustard for a few minutes trying to figure out if I could make anything with them. When I'm in this position, there is only one thing that really helps me. I go through the refrigerator and pantry and take out all the ingredients I think I could use and place them on the counter. Then I mix and match them up to see what I can make. Can you tell I'm a visual learner? Well, with everything out there on the counter I decided on using the onion, tomato paste, garlic, leftover cream, and some pasta. Honestly, I've never made a sauce like this before, but it turned out really, really delicious! By the way, it comes together as fast as boiling and cooking the pasta!

Super Easy Creamy Tomato Bowties

Serves 2

What you'll need:

1/2 lb. bowtie pasta (you could also use penne or any other fun shape)

1/4 onion, sliced or diced (whatever you like)

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

3 oz. tomato paste (1/2 of those little cans)

4 tbsp. cream

4-5 basil leaves, thinly sliced

What you'll do:

In a medium size pot, boil some water and cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. While you are waiting for that, place a large frying pan on the stove and turn on medium heat. Add in a drizzle of olive oil and the onion. Let it get happy for a minute and when they start to get shiny add in the garlic. Turn the heat down a little and add in the tomato paste. With the back of a spoon, break up the paste and mix with the onions and garlic. Turn the heat to low and add in the cream. Carefully stir together until the sauce is smooth.

By now the pasta should be perfectly al dente. When it's ready, turn the heat off the pot and use a slotted spoon to put the pasta right in the sauce. Don't throw the the water out just yet! Toss the pasta and sauce together and add in spoonfuls of the hot pasta water to thin to the right consistency. Toss in some fresh basil and serve.

I hope you enjoy!

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Comments (2)

Categories : Ethnic: Mediterranean, Pasta

Pasta with Broccoli and Lemon

By Leslie · Comments (11) · July 15th, 2011

When I was just in New York, I went out to Connecticut to see my Dad's best friend and his family. "Mrs. B" always makes this incredible pasta! It's so good I literally eat like 3 bowls every time she makes it. It's soooo good! This is one of those dishes that is filled with so many memories! When I make it I do alter it just a little. I add fresh parsley and basil and I usually end up making it with brocolini instead of broccoli. But that doesn't matter because it's still dripping with butter and lemon!

Pasta with Broccoli and Lemon

Serves 6

What you'll need:

1 lb. pasta (I use bowties because that's what "Mrs. B" uses, but penne, rigatoni, or even linguini would be nice)

4-5 heads of broccoli (you can very this a lot by how much you like broccoli), cut up into bite size pieces

1 stick of butter (or earth balance it you are making it vegan)

4-5 tablespoons olive oil

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 lemon, zested

the juice of 1 lemon (ps use the one from above so all you need is 1 lemon)

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

a handful of fresh parsley, chopped

about 5 leaves of fresh basil, sliced into thin strips

What you'll do:

Steam the broccoli in a large pasta pot until just fork tender (the broccoli will continue to cook, so don't over cook!). Remove from heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove all the broccoli and set aside in a bowl. Now fill the pot with more water and cook the pasta in the broccoli water.

In a smaller pot, melt butter and add olive oil and garlic. Saute on medium low for a few seconds and add the lemon zest. Turn the heat down to low and add the lemon juice. (it's going to bubble a lot)

When the pasta is al dente, strain it and return it to the big pot. Add in the cooked broccoli and stir in the lemon/butter sauce. Toss in the chopped herbs and pine nuts. Serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy as much as I always do!

**Side note: I cook the pasta in the vegetable water because my Grandmother always does. She says that the vegetables lose most of their nutrients when you steam them, but if you boil your pasta in the same water, the pasta with re absorb the nutrients. This may or may not be true, but I always hear her voice in my head when I'm cooking : )

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Comments (11)

Categories : Entrees, Pasta, Vegetables: Broccoli

Finishing and Plating Pasta

By Leslie · Comments (3) · June 24th, 2011

Every pasta recipe tells you how to make it and then at the end just says "serve". . . There are actually a few tricks to finishing and plating pasta that I've learned from my family and thought I'd share.

1. A frying pan is your best friend for making sauce. (Today I'm using vegetable bolognese leftover from this recipe) If you are making for two, I make the entire sauce in the pan, but if it's a lot, go ahead and use a big pot and transfer some to a pan for finishing. Ok, so you've got your sauce in a large frying pan on low heat (sauce and pasta are already cooked, we're just tossing them together to make them happy):

2. When your pasta is done cooking, strain it and place it right in your frying pan:

3. Toss the pasta and sauce together:

By doing this, you are giving each piece a nice coating of sauce and letting it get absorbed a little bit.

Ok, next step, plating.

4. Using tongs, grab a big chunk of pasta and place it right in the middle of your plate. Don't worry if you don't get any of the sauce, we'll get to that in a minute:

5. With the tongs perpendicular to the plate, slowly spin.

6. You're starting to look like a pro already! When you get a nice circle-ish shape on the plate. Use the tongs to grab some of that sauce and place it right on top:

7. Now top with some freshly chopped basil:

Now you are ready to serve! All your guest will be super impressed : )

xoxo

Comments (3)

Categories : Pasta

Vegetarian Bolognese

By Leslie · Comments (0) · June 23rd, 2011

A staple in most Italian homes, bolognese sauce is hardly ever vegetarian, but it's so easy to take out the meat and make it that way. I was recently asked if I had a recipe for vegetarian bolognese and I realized I've never posted it! So here is my recipe adapted from my tomato sauce recipe, which is adapted from my Grandmother and Mothers. You may notice that there is no celery in this recipe. You are welcome to add it, I just don't love cooked celery. That's the great thing about a recipe like this, you can tailor it to whatever vegetables you like or dislike. I hope you enjoy!

PS this dish is vegan, but it's so filling, it's perfect to serve to anyone!

Vegetarian Bolognese

Serves 6-8 or 4 very hungry people : )

What you'll need:

1 onion, diced

56oz. (2 large cans) of whole tomatoes (I prefer san marzano if you can find them) If you have a garden full of tomatoes, definitely use fresh! You'll need about 3.5 pounds. Stew them before you add them in the recipe.

6oz (1 can) of tomato paste

a pinch of sugar

a dash of wine (optional)

1 carrot, sliced

15 mushrooms (1 package), sliced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 medium zucchini sliced and halved

1 pint of small grape tomatoes, halved

a large handful or two of spinach (or any green), sliced

6-8 cloves of garlic, sliced

a tiny dusting of cayenne pepper (optional)

fresh basil leaves, sliced

What you'll do:

First you have to make the base sauce. In a large pot pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil in to cover the bottom. Heat on medium and add in the onions and a big pinch of salt. Saute for about 2 minutes. Add in the canned tomatoes, paste, sugar, half of the garlic and wine (opt.). Stir and cover on medium low to low heat (you want a gentle simmer) for about 30 minutes. Stirring occasionally. NOTE: if your sauce becomes too thick at any point, add in a little water.

Now to add the vegetables. You are going to add in the order that takes longest to cook to shortest. So first in the sauce is the carrot. Let cook as you chop the other vegetables. NOTE: the key to a good bolognese sauce is not to overcook the vegetables! Mushy vegetables never taste good! You'll want to add in the vegetables about 20-30 minutes before you serve it. Next add in the mushrooms and bell pepper. Then the zucchini. And about 5 minutes to service, add in the fresh tomatoes, rest of the garlic, spinach, a dusting of cayenne and stir. Taste and adjust seasoning to your taste.

Serve over linguini or whatever pasta you like. Gluten free? It's just as good served over quinoa.

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Tools I Used:

My favorite Le Crueset Pot

the Wusthof knife (best knife in the world for cutting anything!)

San Marzano Tomatoes

Comments (0)

Categories : Ethnic: Mediterranean, Pasta, Vegetables

Making Homemade Mac n' Cheese Video

By Leslie · Comments (3) · May 16th, 2011

Here's a little "how to" video for making homemade mac n' cheese! A special thanks to my friends Ellie and Henry for helping out!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuRd2GI1J38]

I hope you enjoy!

For the complete written recipe, check out this post: Mac n' Cheese

Comments (3)

Categories : Pasta, Videos

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“@GaryBlouin: @LeslieDurso Happy Belated Birthday. Same birthday as my wife who's from Orange County CA.” Thank you! :)
Excited to try @FeedBodySoul in Venice for @SarahNatasha birthday! I hear great things about their #vegan food! Menu recommendations?
“@TheSquirrelWood: @LeslieDurso HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Wishing you a fabulous day and wonderful year ahead :)” Thank you!! xoxoxo!!
“@joan_fuller: Happy birthday @LeslieDurso! Had an amazing vegan cupcake in Sacramento last week. I'm starting to eat like you!”Thank u! :)

Archive for Pasta

Lemon & Spinach Pesto Pasta

ah-May-zing Farmers Market Pasta

Mushroom and Corn Pasta

Veggie Pesto Pasta

Golden Tomato Sauce

Super Easy Creamy Tomato Bowties

Pasta with Broccoli and Lemon

Finishing and Plating Pasta

Vegetarian Bolognese

Making Homemade Mac n' Cheese Video

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