Leftover Alfredo Pastries

Using leftovers from the "Perfect Alfredo" recipe, and some sheets of puff pastries in my freezer I concocted this little meal for my family. It was a hit so I am posting it, try it and see what you think too!

Ingredients

Left over Perfect Alfredo - refridgerated until solid

5 slices plain thick cut bacon, fat removed

1 or 2 sheets puff pastry depending on how much leftovers you have.

Directions

Heat oven to 400. F

Cut bacon into small pieces and cook in a pan to your preferred crispy stage.

Allow your puff pastry to defrost, and on lightly floured surface roll it out a bit. 

With a knife cut your solid alfredo leftovers into a square or rectangle shape. (see picture)

Cut out desired size of pastry, enough to wrap around teh entire piece of alfredo.

Place alfredo and wrap pastry around it. tucking and squishing in corners and edges, so that when cooking there are no holes for the creamy alfredo sauce to come out.

Whisk an egg and a tsp of milk together and lightly brush over your pastry.

Repeat for all leftovers.- I made mini pastries for my kids so feel free to do what you like size wise.

Put foil on top of a cookie sheet and bend up the edges to catch any juices that may escape while cooking so it won't make your oven dirty.

Allow to cook for approximately 20 minutes, until pastry is cooked and the inside is bubbling. It's easy to tell this by the steam and bubbles moving the pastry. Your pastry should be dark golden brown.

Like I said this is largely dependant on how many leftovers you have.

 

Perfect Alfredo

This is based on a recipe by Giada DeLaurantis, with some helpful hints from my sister in law Melinda.  In this particular instance I used chicken, but feel free to use this base and add in your preference, shrimp, scallops, mushrooms would all be scrumptous.

Sorry I have no picture for this one.... we ate it too fast to catch it on the camera!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups of heavy cream
12 TBSP butter
2 cups grated parmagiana reggiono cheese
salt and pepper
2 chicken breasts (sliced into bite size pieces)
2 tsp garlic
2 tsp butter
1 lb Mostaccioli pasta ( or whatever your preference, make sure it's a firm pasta that won't turn to mush)

Directions
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but firm to the bite (aldente). Drain.
Heat the 2 tsp butter and garlic in a skillet on low until melted and starting to heat the garlic (without burning it) add in chicken and allow it to grill and reduce butter to create a nice browning on each side of the chicken pieces.
Rinse the large pot you used to boil the pasta and dry. Stir 2 cups of the cream, add the butter (12 tbsp) and cook over medium heat until butter is melted. 
Add the pasta and toss through the cream mixture. Add cheese, mix through, add remaining 1/2 cup of cream. Season with salt and pepper. Toss over low heat until mixture starts to thicken slightly (it will thicken upon cooling as well with the cheese in there)
Add in chicken, mix throughout - serve hot.

Risotto with Mixed Seafood:Risotto alla Chiogiotta

Easily Serves 4

Based on recipe by Mario Batali

Ingredients
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped, plus 1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
5 Lobster Tails
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 cups arborio rice (Vialone Nano brand preferred)
1 cup dry white wine
Approximately 2 cups large shrimp
6 Large (the ones that are about 2 1/2 inches across) - cut in half
1 cup small bay scallops
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped to yield 1/4 cup

Directions
Bring 3 quarts water to boil with the coarsely chopped onion, carrot, and bay leaf. Prepare the ice bath. Plunge the lobsters into the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Remove with tongs and submerge in ice water 1 minute. Drain and set aside.


In a 12 to 14-inch frying pan with 3-inch sides, heat the olive oil and onion and tomato paste over medium heat until softened but not brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the rice and, stirring constantly, cook until opaque, about 2 minutes. Add the white wine, then the lobster cooking liquid, ladle by ladle, until the rice is covered. Turn the heat to high and, stirring constantly, continue to cook, maintaining the level of liquid just above the level of rice, for 10 minutes (keep ladleing the lobster broth to maintain the liquid level. Continue cooking 5 minutes.

Taste to make sure the rice is nearly aldente before the next step adding more liquid if needed.
Remove the lobsters from their shells, chop the meat into 1-inch pieces, and toss into rice, along with the shrimp and scallops. Continue cooking until rice is soft but still al dente and seafood is completely cooked (do not overcook it or it will be rubbery) Season with salt and pepper, remove from heat and stir in butter and parsley. Serve immediately.

Shrimp and Pancetta over Pasta

Practically perfect in every way. Moist, tastey and very satisfying. If you love Shrimp you will also love this recipe.

Adapted from a recipe by Emeril Lagasse

Serves: 6

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound torn fresh pasta sheets, or other wide noodles
1/4 cup olive oil
6 ounces pancetta, chopped (Or if you can't find it use the thickest sliced bacon you can find)
1 medium red onion, peeled, cut in 1/2, and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 pounds large (21 to 25 count) shrimp, peeled, deveined, and butterflied UNCOOKED
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest, garnish
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a large pot of salted water, cook the pasta until just al dente. Drain and return to the pot. Cover to keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from pan.
3 To the oil in the pan, add the onions and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. WATCH IT so that it does not burn. Add the wine, salt, lemon juice, pancetta/bacon and shrimp and cook, stirring, until the shrimp are pink and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the parsley and stir to combine.
4. Add the cooked pasta to the shrimp mixture and toss well to combine. Cook until the pasta is heated through, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat, add the lemon zest, and adjust the seasoning, to taste. Sprinkle generously with parmesan. This dish looks great if you serve it on a large platter.

Shrimp and Scallop Lasagna

This is a variation of a Paula Deen recipe on the Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/). I tried the measurements she recommends and have changed it slightly. I prefer more meat than just sauce between the pasta layers, so I have adjusted the white seafood sauce with more of the meat so you can really stuff the lasagna full of the good stuff---the seafood. For all those that aren't such a fan of seafood I have to say this is very mild tasting.. and the fresher the scallops and shrimp you get the less seafood taste it will have.

Ingredients

2 boxes whole grain lasagna noodles (Regular pasta noodles can be used.. I like the nutty flavor the whole grain pasta gave the dish)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups half-and-half
1 1/4 cup grated Romano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pound sea scallops, cut in half or quartered if very large
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2/3 cup grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 10-inch casselrole dish with vegetable oil cooking spray. (I also made a mini dish in a small casserole dish for Dave to take to work the next day with the leftovers---if you have any)
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the lasagna noodles until they are just done, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside. ---remember they will cook when you bake as well so don't over cook the noodles.

Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet and cook the onion over low heat until very soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute more (watch your temp so your garlic doesn't burn). Over medium-low heat, stir in the flour with a whisk, then gradually add the half-and-half, allowing the sauce to thicken slightly before adding more. When the sauce has thickened to about the consistency of whipping cream, add the cheese and stir well. Add the salt and pepper and stir again. Add the scallops and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, then add the shrimp and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or just until the shrimp turn pink. Turn off the heat.
Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the sauce from the skillet into the prepared pan. Cover the bottom of the pan withnoodles edge to edge or slightly overlapping until layer is complete(you might need to cut some to make them all fit depending on what size noodles you purchased. Spoon 1/3 of the sauce over the noodles, distributing half of the seafood evenly. Layer more noodles over the top of the seafood, 1/3 of the sauce, and remaining seafood. Cover with one more layer of noodles and the remaining sauce. (For the top layer, do not spoon any seafood on top of the noodles; just use the sauce and try to save enough sauve to really cover it good.) Tuck in any edges of the noodles so they're all coated with sauce. Top with the a generous serving of Parmesan.

NOTE: you might want to add in another layer if you have enough sauce and seafood.. you can never have too much seafood and scallops right?

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, uncovered, until bubbly and the cheese on top starts to get golden brown and yum yum. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before slicing.