Weeknight Pasta with Artichokes, Olives, and Sausage

On Friday, along with a bunch of total wackos, I'm going to get in a van, drive up to the Canadian border, and spend the next 24 hours and 200-ish miles competing in a relay race back toward Seattle. It's Ragnar time! This is my 5th year running in the Ragnar Relay! Team Chafin' the Dream, represent! 

If you don't know what Ragnar is, you're missing out. Or maybe you're just sane. Teams of 12 people tag team running for 24 hours straight, relay-style. So, one runner hits the road at a time, and the rest of the team hops along in the vans. Each runner runs three times, with each leg ranging between 3-8 miles. Total distance per person is anywhere from 12 miles to 20 miles. I'm somewhere in the middle. The low middle. 

Leading up to the race is always a bit crazy, as I'm trying to pull my running clothes together, pack healthy snacks, get in a few last workouts, create some crazy costumes, and of course, carb UP! Ok, that last part is a bit of a joke, because I mean, c'mon…carb might as well be my middle name. I carb up to prep for carbing up. 

With all this running around, I've been a little stressed out about getting a blog post up here. Sometimes I get caught up in wild, fancy recipes, trying to think up something you've never seen before. So I forget that simple, easy, every day recipes can be pretty damn good. Like this one. Not only does it help me hit the ol' carb quota, but it's perfect for a busy weeknight (and tastes pretty great, too). It's also perfect for last minute dinners with friends, because it makes a big pot of pasta and comes together like that. Oh...picturing me snapping my fingers when I say "like that." 

My friend Bree threw this combo together one night, and I was blown away by the simplicity and awesomeness of it. Oh yeah...people like every day recipes, too! You can add pretty much whatever you want, but I start with a box of whole wheat pasta, a big can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes, a can of artichoke hearts and black olives, an onion, a bell pepper, and some pre-cooked sausage (I used smoked garlic chicken sausages here...sorry if they look a little...pale and weird). If you wanna spice it up, add garlic and basil, and maybe some red pepper flakes. And definitely top it with parmesan. 


Eat this, and wish me luck this weekend! 

Weeknight Pasta with Artichokes, Olives, and Sausage

Serves 4-6

1 box whole wheat penne pasta (about 13 ounces)

Olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 package pre-cooked sausage (about 4 links), sliced

1 bell pepper, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, diced

Handful of basil, slivered

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I like San Marzano) 

1 normal-size can artichoke hearts, drained

1 normal-size can large black olives, drainedOlive oil

Salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese, grated 

Cook pasta according to package instructions. 

Meanwhile, heat a swig of olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté until starting to brown. Add sausage, and cook for a couple of minutes, add pepper, garlic, and basil, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Drain pasta, reserving about a half cup of pasta water. Add pasta and reserved water to pot with veggies, and stir in tomatoes, olives, and artichoke hearts. Serve with grated parmesan. 

Sausage, Kale, and Sweet Potato Soup

It’s been rainy, windy, stormy, and cold in Seattle! It’s most definitely fall, and I couldn’t be happier about it. While I am sad to see the sun go away (not that it really ever showed up this year), I’m stoked out of my mind for stews, baked goods, soups, pumpkins, apple cider, apple cider cake (I made it, yum!), soups, Halloween, boots and scarves, soups, Thanksgiving, mulled wine, and lots and lots of soup. Oh, did I mention soup?!

Guess what?!?! I love soup! I think it’s souper. Get it, soup…er? Ok, so maybe that was overkill, but I really do love soup of all kinds. Brothy soup, veggie soup, hot soup, cold soup, meaty soup, chunky soup, noodle soup, and extra hearty soup, like this one, with sausage, potatoes, and kale.

I wanted to add something leafy to my typical potato soup, but I knew Evan wouldn’t go for the green unless I countered it with something spicy and made of animal. So, in addition to russet potatoes, onions, and carrots, this soup is chock full of kale, spicy-smokey Andouille sausage, garlic, and sweet, buttery chunks of sweet potato (I just couldn’t pass it up at the grocery store!). It ended up being nothing like my normal potato soup (I also didn't add milk or cream), but it’s so good and hearty that it will definitely be on the soup rotation from here on out.

PS. Evan claims to hate kale, but ate every last leafy green bit in his bowl.

Sausage, Kale, and Potato Soup

Olive oil

1 T butter

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 large garlic cloves, minced

2 carrots, chopped

4 fully cooked smoked sausage links (like spicy Andouille), sliced

2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed (I used the orange variety, sometimes referred to as a yam)

Salt, pepper

Pinch of rosemary (fresh or dried)

Red pepper flakes (to taste, a used a hearty pinch)

1 bunch/head of kale, washed, ribs/stems removed, and chopped

8 cups of chicken broth

Add a few pours of olive oil and the butter to a stock pot or Dutch oven, heat on medium. Add onion, and cook until translucent. Add garlic and carrots, and cook until fragrant, but don’t let garlic burn or brown too much. Add salt, pepper, rosemary, and red pepper flakes to taste. Add sausage, and cook until slightly crisp on the edges—we want it to really meld with the flavor of the onions and garlic, and to release some of it’s fat into the pot. Next, add russet potatoes and cook for a minute or two, just long enough for the potatoes to start sticking to the bottom of the pot, but not enough to burn. Add broth, and bring to a boil, scraping cooked bits off the bottom of the pot. Boil for a few minutes, then add the sweet potatoes. Taste, and add more salt/pepper/flakes, if needed. Turn heat to medium/low, cover, and simmer. When potatoes are soft and starting to break apart (you’ll have to start checking after about 10 minutes), add kale. Cook for a few more minutes, until kale has reduced, and serve (with crusty French bread on a blustery fall night).

Queen of Tarts

It's a good thing I've taken up running, because lately I’ve been obsessed with tarts! I'm not just talking about fruit tarts… nor am I talking just savory tarts… I’m talkin’ buttery, cheesy, melt-in-your-mouth savory fruit tarts! I can’t stop thinking about them, dreaming about them, and making them (and then, of course, eating them)! The obsession began when a friend was on her way over for coffee, and requested snacks. With less than an hour until our coffee date, I frantically ripped open the cupboards looking for ‘snacks.’ No snacks were to be found. I took inventory of what I had, and decided to get creative. Strawberries. Cheese. A basil plant. To the average Joe it looked like it was going to be a fruit and cheese platter type of night. To me, it was the makings of a new creation!

I quickly got to work slicing strawberries, dicing red onion, mincing garlic, grating cheese, and plucking basil leaves off my basil plant (which gets very little sunlight but still seems to be thriving, unlike the purple plant, Barney, that I had to send to live with "aunt" Amanda). I mixed together the strawberries, red onion, garlic, and chopped basil, and added a splash of balsamic and olive oil. With that left to macerate, I pulled out my trusty Fannie Farmer. I whipped up the basic tart crust, and pressed it into a tart pan with a generous helping of grated parmesan cheese. I poured in the strawberry mixture, covered with a hearty layer of shredded jack, another handful of parm, and threw it in the oven, hoping for the best. To my surprise, it wasn’t half bad! To my guest’s surprise, it wasn’t just a bowl of chips or a fruit and cheese platter! With the first bite both of us were a little wary (strawberries and melty cheese!?) but by the end of the evening the tart was almost gone and I was pleased (she still seemed a little wary …).

All week I thought about the strawberry basil tart, with its simple buttery crust and fruit and cheese filling, and started to toss some new ideas around in my head... what if added bleu cheese, or maybe camembert? What would happen if I made a reduction with the vinegar? After awhile, my tart-dreams started to take off in wild tangents, and I wasn't even thinking strawberries anymore. A few ingredients kept popping up in my savory-fruit-tart fantasies. Brie, caramelized onions, and apples. I forgot about perfecting the strawberry basil tart, and set out to make a new savory fruit tart. I started out with the same basic Fannie Farmer tart crust… it’s so easy to make! Wanting to spice this diddy up a bit, I decided to break out the sausage. Evan recently bought an 800 pack (ok, so there are only 24…) of roasted garlic-gruyere sausages from Costco… shortly before he discovered that he no longer likes sausage due to a brat and hot dog overkill a few summers ago (I guess that’s what you get for eating bratwurst 3 times a day for 3 solid months… but hey, we all made our mistakes in college, right?)…needless to say, I have a freezer full of sausage. I combined the brie, caramelized onions, sausage, apples, and a honey-black pepper glaze to make a savory fruit tart good enough to write home about… or at least post here for you to enjoy!


Fannie Farmer’s Tart Crust

whisk together 1 cup flour with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut in 6 tablespoons of cold butter-cubed- with fingers or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles tiny peas. whisk 1 egg yolk with 2 tablespoons cold water, and mix in with flour mixture. blend until smooth dough forms. Pat into bottom and sides of un-greased pastry or pie pan.


Apple Onion Tart

Layer the following into the tart crust, and bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is golden.

1 sausage (any chicken sausage will work) - sliced paper thin
1 small wedge of brie- cut into small cubes or slices (enough to cover the sausage layer completely)
1 large yellow onion – sliced and caramelized (cook in skillet over medium heat with butter and olive oil until soft and brown- pour onions and drippings over brie layer)
1 medium sized granny smith apple – sliced thinly and neatly arranged on top

Let tart cool for 5 minutes. Mix 2 tablespoons of honey with a few drops of HOT water, until honey dissolves. Add a few twists of course ground black pepper, and brush over apples slices. Try to share with friends, or before you know it, the tart pan will be empty and you'll be squeezing into too-tight jeans come fall...