Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo Replay And Pinot Grigio Taste Test

Since returning from Italy, we have been having Bruschetta regularly for happy hour and during a recent trip to the Mennonite Market, I bought a bag of Roma tomatoes to use for the tomato mixture so it wouldn’t be as watery – I removed the seeds from the Roma's.  I had six Roma's left and was thinking about another use for them when Bev reminded me of the pasta with fresh tomatoes we had made in the past.  So I did a blog search and found the recipe for Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo and recalled that I had a half box of small shells pasta in the pantry so a meal was born.  I’m posting this dish again to document the recipe using the Roma tomatoes.

Pork Chops On The Griddle, Cucumber Salad, & Another Red Wine Taste Test

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA

Bev wanted fried pork chops like we both grew up eating and I wanted to cook them on the grill griddle so a plan was born using the following recipe.  For sides, Bev wanted cucumber salad using the recipe below and well done broccoli then tossed in butter like she got at the cafeteria she used to lunch at.

Crack Chicken Casserole - Very Good

I try to make cooking for Friday cards pretty simple so one-pot meals and casseroles are usually high on my list.  I saw this recipe for Crack Chicken Casserole on the “Ask Chef Dennis” blog and it seemed to fit the bill.  Dennis says that “Crack Chicken Casserole is creamy, cheesy, and packed with crispy bacon, ranch flavor, and pasta. Pure comfort food baked to perfection.”  I followed the recipe as written.

Crack Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cups rotisserie chicken - shredded

8 oz cream cheese - softened

1 packet ranch dressing mix

10.5 oz cream of chicken soup condensed

1 cup sour cream - full fat

1 cup half and half or whole milk

1½ cups sharp cheddar cheese - shredded

6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled 

8 ounces shell pasta - cooked aldente

2 cups crushed Ritz Townhouse crackers  

4 ounces unsalted butter - melted (1 stick)

½ cup green onions - sliced for garnish

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Cook the shells per the instructions on the package for aldente.

Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish. Set aside until needed.

Add the softened cream cheese, ranch seasoning mix, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and half and half to a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth and creamy.

Trip to Italy Day 29 – The Trip Home And Italy Observations

Both of our flights were good and on time with the only bad part being the long layover in Chicago – by flying on a first class international flight, we had access to the Polaris Club where they was food, drinks, and comfortable chairs all complimentary.  This made the seven-hour layover much more bearable.   

Nearing the end of a very long day.

Dill Pickle Potato Salad And Pinot Noir Taste Test For Father's Day

I grew up eating and loving my mom’s potato salad, Bev learned how to make it, and I still prefer it over all others.  It is simple with potatoes, hard boiled eggs, onion, celery, mayo, mustard, and celery seed (definitely no pickles) and eaten at room temperature after sitting for several hours for the flavors to marry.  However, when I saw the recipe for Dill Pickle Potato Salad  on the “Flavor Of The Moment” blog and knew I liked all of the ingredients, I decided to give it a try.  With the dill, I thought it was somewhat Mediterranean to go with the Greek shrimp for supper.  The trick to enjoying it was to not compare it to mom’s but think of it as an entirely different dish.  Bev made it for us and doubled the recipe as shown below.

Trip to Italy Day 27, 28 – Good-Bye Sorrento and On To The Rome Airport

Bev and I were due to stay in Sorrento for another day but Wende had to leave on May 9 so rather than find transportation for her to the Rome airport and since we had nothing planned for another day, we just all left on Friday although our flight home wasn’t until Sunday.

For our last Sorrento meal, we opted to just go up the street a short way for our second visit to La Lanterna and we all wanted pizza.  We began with our usual of sparkling water and a bottle of good prosecco which made for a pretty busy table.

Pasta Puttanesca And Easy To Eat Open-Faced Burger

We’ve had a Puttanesca Sauce several times on fish and chicken but never on pasta until our final tasting in Sorrento and we loved it so I just had to try making it.  For the fish version, I had adapted recipes from two fellow bloggers and for the pasta version, I adapted that version plus one from “Simply Recipes” to get the one below.  The major difference is that the pasta version has more tomatoes that are cooked down into a marinara-like sauce.