HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: No, I'm not telling you it's ten minutes until dinner. I mean, it probably isn't. But here's a wonderful delicious dinner you can make in 10 minutes. Maybe 12, if the pasta takes that long.
(Okay, that's not counting boiling the pasta water, but that's easy. )
As my mom always told me: read the recipe all the way through before you make it!
Hank's Super-Fast Delicious Pasta
Ingredients:
Pasta (Any kind works, but penne or rigatoni or farfalle work better than spaghetti, but that's fine too.)
Any vegetable, chopped. But broccoli is fabulous. Or, ooh, broccolini. More on that in a minute.
Three tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 TBS Breadcrumbs (a theme from yesterday's blog)
One clove finely chopped garlic (or the perfectly good kind in a jar or tube) (NOT garlic powder or salt)
A tiny shake of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese
Chopped fresh parsley if you have it and love it
Chopped fresh basil if you have it and love it
Instructions:
1. Put on a big pot of water for the pasta.
2. While the water is heating, see what vegetables you have. Broccoli? Perfect. Cut it into little florets. Zucchini? Great. Pop chopped zucc (sprayed with olive oil?) under the broiler til browned--just a few minutes. Same for cauliflower. Frozen peas? Cook them in the nuke for two minutes. Corn? Yum. Grilled corn cut off the cob? Perfection. Put these aside.
If you don't have any veggies? No prob. Go on to step three.
3. Put olive oil, breadcrumbs, garlic and a few flakes of red pepper in a microwaveable dish. Stir. Make sure the olive oil pretty much covers the breadcrumbs. You can adjust the amounts, it won't matter.
4. Check the water--is it ready? If it is, put in the pasta. However much you are making.
5. Cook pasta until one minute from done. (I known this seems weird, but it's hard to hurt it, just guess.)
6. If you are using already cooked vegetables, cook pasta til done.
7. If you are using uncooked broccoli, put the chopped florets into the boiling water with the pasta. If nuked frozen peas, add now. Already grilled veggies? Hold aside.
8. Put the bowl of oil into the nuke, and heat for 30 seconds on high.
9. The pasta and broccoli should be done now.
10. Turn the stove off. Drain and pasta and broccoli, then put it all back into the hot pasta pan.
11. Dump the hot olive oil mixture into the hot drained pasta/broccoli, and quickly mix well. If you are using already cooked vegetables, add those now and stir to get warm.
Add S and P if you like.
12. Serve immediately, topped with Parmesan cheese and parsley and or basil. If you have leftover grilled chicken, add that, too!
HANK: You can see how easy this is, and how it works with almost any veggies. This is a recipe for two-ish, so expand as you will. You can't go wrong with the oil mix--if theres not enough, just nuke a bit more and add. After you've made it a million times, as I have, you'll just know.
SO yummy!
What's YOUR favorite 10-minute recipe?
Oh, that sounds delicious, Hank . . . I can’t wait to try it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as ten-minute recipes are concerned, I have a stack of them. One of our favorites is diced chicken pasta [usually we have leftover chicken to make this . . . I’ve been known to cook extra chicken just to have leftovers for this dish].
Put pasta [we like bow-ties, but you can use any shape] on to cook.
Dice one onion, two sweet peppers; cook in two tablespoons of olive oil and two tablespoons of butter until the vegetables are soft. Add one minced garlic clove and cook another minute.
Stir in diced chicken. [If you don’t have leftover chicken, it will take more than ten minutes, but you can dice chicken breast, cook it, then add to pot with the peppers onions, and garlic.]
When the pasta is done, add it to the pan with the chicken and vegetables. Add a quarter of a cup of shredded parmesan cheese, a bit of pasta water and stir together, adding more water as needed until all the pasta is coated.
Remove the pan from the heat.
Mix together four eggs and half a cup of shredded parmesan.
Pour the egg/cheese mixture over the pasta; mix until the sauce coats the pasta.
Season with freshly-ground black pepper.
Serve with warm bread and [if you like] a glass of wine.
WHAT?? That sounds AMAZING!! Thank you!
Delete(Is that for four people or so?)
Yes, but it's one of those recipes that you can juggle the amounts to make as much or as little as you like . . . we often make double to have some left over for a lunch meal . . . .
ReplyDeleteHank, that is a wonderful dish! I love pasta, and adding a veggie and seasonings and breadcrumbs is perfect.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to think about my recipes more for a ten minute one. But, something really simple is another pasta dish that doesn't include a red sauce. I could eat this anytime. I just cook some angel hair pasta (I like my spaghetti pasta on the thin side), saute some chopped portabella mushrooms with paprika, and combine the two with some Parmesan cheese. If I have any leftover chicken, I sometimes add that, or some sauteed green or red peppers. Really, I like it simple.
That sounds great!
DeleteThat sounds so good, Hank. I think pasta is going to be the theme of the day. At this time of year I like to dice garden-ripe tomatoes. While the pasta water is heating, mix with a minced garlic clove and a handful of scissors-slivered fresh basil, and olive oil over. Stir and let it sit until the pasta is ready. There's nothing like fresh sauce on hot pasta topped with grated Parm.
ReplyDeleteSO just dump the tomato-oil onto the hot pasta? Yum!
DeleteSounds delish and it is something I can do.
ReplyDeleteWhen you are cooking that pasta, double the amount. Right after you drain it, take that extra half, mix it with your favorite vinegrette or Italian dressing. Cover tightly and refrigerate. Tomorrow night, pasta salad is on the menu. Mix greens (spinach is perfect) with other crisp veggies, chic peas and olives (you choose), left over grilled meat, chicken, cheese, etc. Add favorite dressing, toss, add cold dressed pasta, toss again. Yummy.
ReplyDeleteOh, brilliant!
DeleteI don't think I have any ten-minute recipes beyond my awesome sandwich-making skills, but yours sounds delicious! I love one-bowl meals like that. They give me an excuse to invest in beautiful pottery bowls, so I can enjoy tasty food and beautiful handmade art/dishes at the same time. Clearly I will now have to invest in bread crumbs.
ReplyDeleteGigi, you don't have to buy breadcrumbs - you can make your own! I had no idea until I finally tried it and they are so much better than anything you can buy. Put some slightly stale bread in a food processor, zap for a couple seconds.
DeleteAgree with Judi! Or if you don't have stale bread, lightly toast some fresh bread, tear it up, and whiz it in the food processor. We haven't bought bread crumbs in years.
DeleteYes, make them! I toast the bread, then crumble it in a plastic bag, then add s and p. I make croutons, too.
DeleteYou're assuming a food processor here. I have some great multi-grain bread, though, so I'll give it a try!
DeleteThis looks yummy! If I make it, I'd add some freshly chopped tomatoes. One of my easiest dishes is a stir fry. I slice two thin chicken breasts and brown in some oil. Add sliced zucchini and yellow squash, and some chopped peppers and onions. Season with salt, pepper, and whatever else you like (my go-to seasoning is McCormick's Hamburger Seasoning--seems to go with anything!) Serve over brown rice. Bird's Eye makes a frozen brown rice that only takes a couple of minutes to microwave. Easy!
ReplyDeleteYES! And Ben's microwave brown rice in a pouch in miraculous!
DeleteFor book club this Thursday the theme is going to be summer picnics, since the book we are reading mentions no food (Klara and the Sun, which is about a robot). I had already decided to make a pasta salad, and we have zucchini and tomatoes, plus basil, so this recipe will probably influence what I end up making, Hank!
ReplyDeleteBack when I edited/wrote the monthly newsletter for the local professional sewing association I had members submit their own fast recipes. We called them Deadline Dinners, for when you were too busy to cook. The "rules" were that everything had to be mindless, no fussy measuring, just dump a can of this or that, with a handful of something else. That was 30 years ago, and most of us relied heavily on canned soups, etc. I haven't bought a can of soup in ages, though!
Perfect. xx
Deletefast chicken: S&P boneless chicken breasts, heat cooking oil in skillet, add chicken and cook 5-7 minutes, flip and cook 5-7 more minutes with a tablespoon of butter. Rest, slice, and serve
ReplyDeleteOOH, butter!
DeleteHank, this quick and simple dish sounds amazing! See above for what I said to Gigi about making your own breadcrumbs which are so much better than the ones you buy.
ReplyDeleteSO agree!
DeleteOh, that sounds yummy! My favorite 10 minute dinner is very, very similar. It's One-Pot Pasta with Tomato-Basil sauce - yes, one pot!
ReplyDelete12 oz shappy pasta, 28 oz can diced tomatoes, 2 c chicken broth, 1/2 diced small onion, diced garlic, 1 teaspoon or so of Italian seasoning, 1 of those produce cuppy things of basil 1 T olive oil put it all in a Dutch oven, cover, bring to a boil over medium high heat reduce heat to medium low and cook until the pasta is done - about 10 - 12 minutes. Serve with parmesan cheese and a glass of red wine. Garlic bread optional. No reason not to add diced veggies, broccoli and/or zucchini would be fantastic.
Really? That works? Covered?
DeleteYep, and the leftovers are great! I watched it carefully the first time, but didn't have a problem. Although I have a gas stove so I kept the heat at 2 on my dial which is probably low on a normal stove.
DeleteLove speedy, simple suppers. My winner is nuke the leftovers. Currently there is a bowl of curried chicken and rice calling my name. I love your hack Hank, I also put frozen veggies into the pasta or rice boiling water. I did a Reds recipe back a while which was pasta with an anchovy sauce. That’s a 10 minutes or less one. Make it with sardines or tuna if you’re not an anchovy fan. To find it search my name on JRW and my recipe posts come up.
ReplyDeleteCelia, you're a woman after my own heart. I am not disposed to cook enough for just one meal, so every other night it's leftovers. And those don't take even ten minutes!
Deleteleftovers can always work...
DeleteContinuing my unbroken streak of not being able to contribute anything substantive to these Sunday food blog posts, my favorite ten minute dinner recipe is stopping by the sub shop on the way home from work and picking up dinner. If I call ahead, it is generally 10 minutes from work to the sub shop and I'm on my way home to a delicious but patently unhealthy dinner.
ReplyDeleteyep, that's my idea of a 10 minute dinner
DeleteLove you both! (If you two haven't yet met, you must sometime soon when it's safe.)
DeleteNice to know there's someone else in the club Dru!
DeleteEdith, Dru and I have not met, maybe someday if I go to Malice or something. Which at this rate will be when I'm about 80. :D
Works for me!
DeleteCannot wait to be there to see this meeting!
DeleteOooh, that sounds delicious. I will pass on to the Hub as I quit cooking in 2020 and have no intention of ever doing it again :) I do still bake - but rarely. Maybe if I retire I’ll start cooking again but for now…nope.
ReplyDeleteDON"T RETIRE!
DeleteJenn, I love that you retired from cooking. I'm semi-retired and after I made a disastrous welcome home dinner for my husband after he'd been gone for nine days, it may be permanent.
DeleteWell, hmm, nope nothing to add. Gigi mentioned sandwich making. Jay mentioned stopping by the local sub shop on the way home. Celia mentioned leftovers which is my plan for tomorrow. My plans for tonight are for meatloaf. Tomorrow will be a meatloaf sandwich. Yum.
ReplyDeletePERFECT!
DeleteMy quick meals are usually anything you can throw in a corn or flour tortilla. I will buy smoked sausage such as Eckrich, cut it into pieces around 4 or 5 inches, heat it up in a pan. Slice it lengthwise, pop a piece on a warm flour tortilla, add some barbeque sauce, roll it up and enjoy. That's the quick version. The long version is to put it on the barbeque grill outdoors to heat it up.
ReplyDeleteOh, what a great idea. I make pizza on tortillas: crisp the flat tortilla in a super hot pan. Put it on a cookie sheet. Cover with jarred pizza sauce, mozzarella, parm, and whatever pizza toppings, oregano, bake. Voila, pizza!
DeleteThat is perfect, Hank. I have short pasta I need to use, stale sourdough bread, and an overload of broccoli from a grocery delivery last week. I'm definitely making this!
ReplyDeleteOur weekly ten minute dinner is whole wheat spaghetti with TJ's marinara sauce. And fresh parmesan. We both love it.
Yes! That'll work! xx
DeleteHANK,
ReplyDeleteThis sounds yummy! I cannot think of a 10 minute recipe off the top of my head. Today is JULIA CHILD's birthday! I found a cookbook, BAKING WITH JULIA! I loved the movie with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.
We use a crockpot to slowly cook food. We have been slowly cooking French Onion Soup all night and it is one of my favorite soups.
Love pasta, though I think it takes me longer to make pasta. I will have to try your ten minute recipe.
Happy Sunday,
Diana
Let me know how it goes! xxx
DeleteHank,
DeleteThe French Onion Soup was yummy!
Diana
Thank you all for an AMAZING week! See you tomorrow! xxx
ReplyDeleteYour recipe sounds delicious, thank you for sharing it. For me a ten minute recipe would be a ham and cheese sandwich. aliciabhaney(at)sbcglobal(dot)net
ReplyDelete