Butternut Squash Orecchiette with Ricotta

 Another winner on our quest to cook with squash. We don't eat many meatless dishes but this one kept us full and satisfied for the evening.

For those who haven't had experience with cutting up squash, they can be a bit tricky. The butternut squash is easiest peeled first with a vegetable peeler and, then, sliced in half lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp and seeds, and cut it up. 

Butternut Squash Orecchiette with Ricotta

1 butternut squash cut up into bite size pieces

1 yellow onion, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces

4 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly 

about 20 fresh sage leaves

olive oil

1 lb. orecchiette

15 oz. whole milk ricotta

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place butternut squash, onion, garlic and sage on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and mix to coat. Cook for 40 minutes, stirring a couple times.

Cook orecchiette al dente in a pot of boiling water. Reserve about 1/2 c. of pasta water and dispose of the rest after cooking. 

Place cooked orecchiette with pasta water into a large bowl. Mix well with ricotta cheese. Stir in roasted veggies and sage with the pasta and cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 4 servings.

Roasted Red Pepper and Fennel Quiche with Goat Cheese

Well, it's about time.

I've had so many requests for more recipes, more blog posts, it seems I can no longer neglect this little corner of the world wide web. My posts won't be frequent and they won't be regular, but at least I can offer a little something every once and a while. :)

I concocted this recipe the other day when I was searching for a tasty quiche recipe for a breakfast date with a friend. It ended up making enough for two, so I sent one off with my husband for his weekly work Saturday brunch potluck. If you don't want two, it is easy to half the recipe.

And it's a wonderful meatless Lenten recipe, something I'm always searching for more of.

Enjoy. :)

Roasted Red Pepper and Fennel Quiche with Goat Cheese

2 pie crusts

2 large red peppers

1 head of Fennel, green part removed

1 large yellow onion

8 oz. goat cheese

A dozen eggs

1 c. milk

2 t. thyme (I used dried, but it would be great with fresh)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place your red peppers on a baking sheet, whole and entire. Roast for 30 minutes, turning about every 10 minutes. Keep them in the oven until their skins are completely blackened. Once black, remove from oven and immediately wrap in foil. Leave inside for at least 30 minutes. Once cool, remove stem and seeds, and carefully peel off skin. Cut into thin strips.

Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees F.

Chop onion and fennel. Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion and fennel for about 10 minutes, until softened. Place in bottom of pie crust along with roasted red peppers, split evenly between two pies. Sprinkle 4 oz. of cheese in each crust. 

In a small bowl, crack 6 eggs. Whisk eggs. Mix in a 1/2 cup of milk and 1 teaspoon of thyme. Pour into pie crust on top of vegetables and cheese. Repeat with second crust.

Place in oven for one hour, or until inserted knife comes out clean. 

Allow to cool for at least a half hour. Delicious hot or cold! 

Lenten Meals

Today marks the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday. If you saw people walking around today with a random black smudge on the center of their forehead, no, it is not suddenly en vogue to traipse around with dirt smeared on one's forehead. I remember being rather embarrassed as a child with the mark on my forehead. Or rather I was somewhat afraid of people's reactions. They usually range from a sympathetic grin upon sighting (usually indicating to me a sense of camaraderie in the act) to a quizzical look and a question akin to what a friend experienced this morning exiting her residence in Rome -- "Lei e un po sporco qua" (There is a little smudge there.) Oops, must have missed a spot when I was bathing this morning.

In all seriousness, though, the dusty cross is a reminder to us of the fleetingness of life. It calls to mind the fact that in this present world we will soon be no more than like the dirt we encounter today. It helps us to recall, too, that there is something beyond this world. The cross is a sign of hope. It reminds us of what we truly live for -- the promise of heaven made possible through Christ's death on the Cross.

During the Lenten season, it is good to forgo some of life's pleasures in order to atone for our sins, grow in virtue, and remember the suffering Christ underwent for our sins. One of the means of mortification practiced during Lent is abstinence from meat on Fridays and Ash Wednesday. Fish dishes become frequent while rich meat dishes dwindle. (Makes one anticipate Easter Sunday with even more fervor! ;-))

Staple 'abstinence meals' in our household include tuna casserole, bean burritos, cheese raviolis with tomato sauce, macaroni and cheese, fish sticks and fries, and scrambled eggs with toast.
This year I would like to discover and try some new fish and vegetarian meals. First on my list is fish tacos. Stay tuned for the results...

What are your favorite Lenten dishes?