Rigatoni With Zucchini Sauce Food

RIGATONI WITH ZUCCHINI SAUCE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large saute pan; add in the chopped zucchini, onions, and salt; saute over medium ehat for 10-15 minutes, until the veggies are very soft without browning; set aside to cool for 20 minutes.
• In batches, puree the zucchini-onion mixture with the parsley; return the sauce to a clean saute pan; place over low heat.
• Bring a big pot of water to a boil; add salt and then add the rigatoni; cook to al dente.
• Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water.
• Toss the pasta in the sauce, adding some of the pasta water if the sauce is too thick.
• Serve right away sprinkled with shredded zucchini and Parmigiano-Reggiano and a drizzle of olive oil.

RIGATONI WITH MEAT SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and oregano and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the beef and garlic and cook, breaking the beef into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon, until the onion and beef are lightly browned, 9 to 10 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook until it is nearly evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and zucchini; bring to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until slightly thickened, 2 minutes.
• Stir in the rigatoni, salt, pepper, and 3 cups water; bring to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until the sauce is somewhat thickened, about 18 minutes. Add 1 cup water and continue cooking until the pasta is tender, 9 to 10 minutes more.
• Serve the rigatoni topped with the Romano and basil.

BAKED RIGATONI WITH ZUCCHINI AND EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Cook the rigatoni in a large pot of salted water, stirring occsasionally, until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot while preparing the sauce.
• Puree the tomatoes with their juices in a blender or food processor and remove the seeds by passing the puree through a fine strainer placed over the bowl.
• In a large non-stick skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat.Add half of the eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove eggplant and place on paper towels to drain excess oil. Repeat procedure with remaining eggplant.
• Remove vegetable oil from skillet and add the olive oil. Over medium heat, saute the garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the zucchini and onion and saute' for 6 minutes.
• Add the tomato puree, basil, and oregano. Simmer over medium heat until sauce is reduced, about 15 minutes. Stir in eggplant and season`with salt and pepper.
• Fold eggplant and zucchini sauce into the rigatoni along with mozzarella and reserved cooking water.
• Transfer the pasta to a 9x13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese evenly over the top. Bake until heated through, about 15 minutes.
• Serve the pasta piping hot.

RIGATONI WITH ZUCCHINI AND EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°.
• Boil pasta according to package directions, cooking until just barely tender (a little undercooked is better than overcooked). When it's done, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water before draining the pasta.
• While the pasta's cooking, sauté the eggplant, zucchini, onions, bell pepper and garlic in 2 tablespoons water in a nonstick pan over medium heat, adding more water if needed to prevent sticking. When the vegetables are tender, add the reserved pasta cooking water, 1 teaspoons basil, 1 teaspoons oregano, the rosemary, 1 teaspoons salt, tomatoes, and tomato sauce; stir, and keep warm.
• Combine the mashed tofu with the pine nuts, parsley, nutritional yeast, and remaining basil, oregano, salt, and red pepper flakes. Stir the cooked rigatoni into the tofu.
• Lightly coat a 4-quart casserole with vegetable oil spray. Spread a thin layer of the vegetable mixture over the bottom (you just want a little sauce there to keep the pasta from sticking). Place a layer of half the pasta mixture, then cover with half the sautéed vegetables; repeat layers.
• Cover the casserole and bake it for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 15 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle with soy Parmesan cheese, if you want.
• This is a great dish to serve to vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. Unfortunately, if you bring it to the Unitarian church in my town, you won't have any leftovers to bring home!

BBQ CHICKEN BREAST WITH ZUCCHINI SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large (preferably non-stick) pan.
• Add the garlic and sea salt and sauté for a couple of minutes, until the garlic has softened.
• Add the zucchini and a little more salt and continue sautéing, stirring continuously.
• Add the water or stock (or stock and wine)and allow the contents of the pan to simmer for 2 or 3 minutes, until the zucchini is well softened.
• Remove half the zucchini from the pan and blend it roughly with the butter. Return this to the pan and add pepper, salt and a dash more olive oil.
• Meanwhile, sprinkle the chicken breasts well with salt and extra virgin olive oil and chargrill them for a couple of minutes on each each side to produce a criss-cross effect. Add another dash of salt to the chicken breasts when you turn them. This melts into the meat as it rests. Rest the chicken breasts for 2 minutes.
• Spoon the zucchini sauce onto the two plates and serve the chicken over the top with a dash of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper.

PASTA WITH ZUCCHINI SAUCE

Steps:

• cook pasta according to the box instructions. while pasta is cooking, gently heat oil and garlic over medium heat.
• slice zucchini, thin, using a slicer.
• place zucchini in a collander and salt heavily. allow to sweat for 10 minutes and rinse thoroughly. dry well.
• fry zucchini in garlic oil until lightly golden; do not crowd the pan, take your time and fry in small batches.
• the zucchini should take about the same amount of time as the pasta. when pasta is ready to be drained, reserve a 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.
• strain pasta and return to the cooking pot. add zucchini and garlic oil. add water depending on how dry the pasta looks. it could take the whole 1/4 cup depending on how much oil evaporated while frying.
• add cheese and gently toss.
• serve immediately.