Pasta Ranchera

My boyfriend wiped his bowl clean with a tortilla and commented that this was ‘Mexican Fusion’. Laughing, I informed him that it was really just made out of whatever I had lying around the house. Sometimes those become my very best recipes. Lemme tell ya, this turned out so great, I took an after-the-fact photo and I’m posting the recipe even without the other pictures.

So without further ado, here’s how to whip this one up:

Pasta Ranchera

• 2-4 cloves of garlic, sliced and chopped
• 3-4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb skirt steak, flat meat, carne asada meat or other very thinly sliced steak – don’t buy it chopped up
• 5-6 mushrooms chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 red onion chopped
• 1/2 bell pepper chopped
• 1 jalapeño chopped
• 3 tomatoes chopped
• 2-3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 lime juiced
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 4 tbsp sour cream
• 1 lb pasta of your choice
• salt
• pepper
• cotija cheese grated

Heat the olive oil and toss in the chopped garlic. Salt & pepper both sides of the meat and sear it on all sides quickly. Remove from the heat immediately and set aside. Turn heat off. Chop all your veggies and toss them into the skillet (heat off) except for the tomatoes. Slice the meat into long 1″ strips going with the grain. Then slice it against the grain at 1/2″-1″ apart. Put the meat in with the veggies and the Worcestershire sauce. Cover and simmer over low heat. Now you can slice your tomatoes.

When meat is almost cooked, add the tomatoes and simmer for another couple minutes. Then add the chili powder, lime juice and cumin. Stir the sour cream into the sauce and simmer for another minute or so.

Scoop over the pasta into bowls and then grate a little cotija cheese over the top. Let set for a minute or two while you finish setting the table so the sauce can thicken. Dig in!

I recommend margaritas to go with it!

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Cold pasta salad is one of my favorite summer recipes. It’s great at a BBQ, or you can even make it in advance to take to a camp-out or picnic. Full of fresh vegetables, this is a healthy and light dish that is sure to get plenty of compliments. Every time I cook this, people rave about how they love it. It’s a big favorite!

Pasta salad is a pretty simple recipe to make. However, rather than just writing this like a typical recipe, I’m going to provide plenty of pictures, so you can see how things are supposed to look. (Click on the images for more detailed versions.) Feel free to experiment with the ingredients. It’s far more important to include high quality fresh ingredients than to follow the recipe exactly. So if something is out of season or looks old, substitute it or leave it out.

Diva’s Famous Pasta Salad

• 1 pound dry tri-color fusilli
• 1 red onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1/2 bunch fresh basil
• 4 stalks asparagus
• 1 cup chopped parsley
• 4 oz crumbled feta cheese
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 10 ripe cherry tomatoes
• 10 crimini mushroms
• 1 portabello mushroom
• 3 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 sm jar pitted kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup dry salami – chopped up
• kosher salt
• pepper grounds

Step 1: Sautée the Mushrooms & Asparagus

In a large or medium skillet, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. You’ll know it’s hot enough if you add a few drops of water and they sizzle. Add 3 tablespoons of minced garlic, sliced crimini mushrooms, the portobello mushroom chopped into 1/2″-1″ squares, and the asparagus chopped up into 1/2″-1″ pieces. Add a little freshly ground pepper and some kosher salt.

Cover it and sautée over medium heat until the vegetables soften up, but take care not to over-cook the mushrooms. It should look like the photo to the right when it’s done.

Now remove it immediately from the heat. This needs to cool completely so dump everything in a large bowl – the more surface area the better. Nest that bowl into a larger filled with ice and water. Leave it alone and proceed to step 2.

Step 2: Boil the Pasta

Get a large stock pot and fill it up about 2/3 the way full of water. Add a dash of salt and bring to a boil.

When the water is boiling rapidly, dump in the pasta. Turn it down to medium-high and stir often. Cook the pasta until it’s al denté, about ten minutes, and then drain.

Step 3: Chop the Veggies

While the pasta is boiling, you can begin chopping the rest of the veggies. Chop them into 1/2″ pieces. The cherry tomatoes should be quartered. The olives should be sliced.

Slice the basil into small strips and chop the parsley finely. Dump it all into a nice big bowl.

Step 4: Put it All Together

Add in the chopped salami, cheese, a pinch of salt, freshly ground pepper, and the cooled vegetable mix. Pour in a cup of extra virgin olive oil and a cup of balsamic vinegar. Now stir it all up.

Step 5: EAT!

This dish is best the next day so you want to let it marinade at least a few hours and wait a day if you can help it. Then serve it cold or at room temperature.

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Because Cat asked me not to forget vegetarians, here’s what I cook when I really want to impress herbivores. I have a meat variation of this, too, but both get big smiles. The big secret is that I use feta cheese rather than ricotta.

1 onion
olive oil
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 portobello mushroom chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
6-8 large crimini mushrooms sliced
6-8 large white mushrooms sliced
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano
salt
pepper
1/4 chopped basil
1 small can tomato paste
1 heirloom tomato chopped up
3 8-oz cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup red wine
4 or 5 small zucchinis (or equiv) –sliced into long 1/8″ ovals (slice round at an angle)
1 lb lasagna noodles – boiled and drained
1 lb fresh spinach
12 oz crumbled feta cheese
1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese
dash dry oregano

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Toss in the onions and then the garlic and sautée over medium for a couple minutes and then add in mushrooms, oregano, salt & pepper. Sautée over medium until the mushrooms begin to soften –but don’t cook them too much. Stir in basil, heirloom tomato, tomato paste, tomato sauce and red wine. Slowly bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer over med-low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a 9×13 baking pan, lay 3 lasagna noodles across the bottom. Scoop on a nice thick layer of suace. Add a layer of spinach leaves & then a layer of lasagna slices. Then sprinkle on a layer of feta. Repeat this until you fill the pan. Cover with a last layer of noodles and then sauce. Then generously pile on the mozzarella. Finally, sprinkle on a little dry oregano.

Bake for 20-30 min or until the cheese is melted and crispy all the way through. Cool just a little bit and dig in!

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