As a faithful Catholic, and as a typical Catholic, feeling guilty when I'm not, our family doesn't eat meat on Fridays during the Lenten season. This poses a problem for me because my long runs are usually on Saturday mornings and I have convinced myself that if I don't have lots a glass of red wine and a steak on Friday night, my running suffers. (Isn't that great how I can convince myself of that - or really, just about anything if it involves wine?) So I've become creative with my Friday dinners without using meat. Something that I tried just recently was a pasta recipe that I found in Fine Cooking for Orecchiette with Brussels Sprouts, Gorgonzola, and Brown-butter Pecans. Now, Orecchiette pasta was a little hard to track down in my local supermarket, but of course, a trip to Whole Foods (any excuse for a visit to Whole Foods)
revealed it in their pasta aisle.
I have just discovered in recent months how delicious brussels sprouts are when roasted. My favorite way to prepare then has been to cut them in fourths, toss with olive oil and red pepper flakes, roast them at 450 for 18 minutes and drizzle with honey and white wine vinegar! Fantastic!!
For this pasta recipe the brussels sprouts were sliced thin, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted.
The pecans were toasted with butter in a skillet over medium heat.
Butter and shallots were cooked over medium heat and then cream was added along with Gorgonzola cheese to make a sauce. (This has become one of my favorite cheeses - it has a nice strong flavor,
but I don't think it is as sharp as Blue Cheese.)
Everything is then added to the cooked Orecchiette, tossed and then sprinkled with the pecans and more Gorgonzola! This was so flavorful and not your typical pasta meal!
Doesn't it look delicious? What are some of your favorite meatless meals?
That really does sound delicious...I'm a big sprout fan! Sounds very hearty even without the meat.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're a sprout fan! They really are delicious - but I think too many people just boil them to death and that's why they can't appreciate the great taste!
ReplyDeleteEven harder: Running on fasting days!
ReplyDeleteI would never have thought of roasting brussels sprouts - that sounds delicious! I will certainly be making those :)
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy,
ReplyDeleteGreat, great recipe. And great as a post-Xmas feed for Brits I'm imagine, as that's the only time of year many of us serve - or even think about buying - sprouts!
May I profer a suggestion for next time too? Freshly made orecchiette.
I was recently taught how to make these by my Italian mamma-in-law, and once you have the knife-roling knack down pat, they rock. (Have a vid on this, though feel free to delete link, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mryw9B8bFcY)