Alfredo Seafood Sauce with Ham
This is another Frankenstinian creations I made today on the fly. It turned out great... a big hit with the kids.

favorite pasta, enough for 5
olive oil
1 tbs butter
1 tbs flour
1½ cup whole milk
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
1 4-oz salmon filet
10-12 medium-sized shrimp, cooked
½ cup of ham steak, cubed
1 tbs capers
1 tsp lemon juice
salt
pepper

Bring water to boil in 4-quart saucepan and add pasta. Cook until al dente according to instructions. Drain, rinse, and return to pan. Add a bit of olive oil and toss (keeps the noodles from sticking together).

While the water is heating up, add a bit of olive oil to the bottom of a 1-quart saucepan. Melt butter over medium-low heat. Add salmon filet and sauté until filet is medium-rare. Remove filet from pan, break into small chunks, and set aside. Add the butter to the saucepan and melt (again, over medium-low heat). Add flour and a bit of salt and pepper. Stir vigorously until slightly browned and thickened. Add milk and bring just to the edge of a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add Parmesan cheese and stir to melt. Mix in shrimp, capers, lemon juice, ham cubes, and salmon chunks. Return to a very low heat and simmer to keep warm.

You should end up with something like this:

Serve over noodles.

Shrimp Pasta with Garlic
Kristy made this out of Cook's Illustrated today. The kids gobbled it up... they all love shrimp.

1 lb shrimp
1 lb pasta (short stuff such as fusilli or mezze rigatoni)
4 tsp minced garlic
4 cloves garlic, smashed
3 tbs olive oil
¼ red pepper flakes
1 tbs flour
½ cup white wine
¾ cup clam juice
½ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tbs unsalted butter
1 tsp lemon juice
salt
pepper

Combine shrimp, 2 tsp minced garlic, 1 tbs oil, and a bit of salt in a medium bowl. Toss gently and let shrimp marinate for about half an hour.

Begin preparing pasta by bringing water to a boil in a 8-qt stock pot. Add a bit of salt and the pasta and cook until al dente, drain pasta, and transfer back to stock pot to keep warm.

While pasta is cooking, heat 4 smashed garlic cloves and 2 tbs oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Cook garlic until it is a light golden color, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove garlic and discard. Increase to medium heat and add shrimp and shrimp marinade. Cook until about halfway done then use a slotted spoon to remove shrimp from skillet and set aside. Add remaining 2 tsp garlic and red pepper flakes to skillet and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add flour and 1 tbs butter and cook, stirring constantly. Add wine, clam juice, and parsley and cook until sauce has slightly thickened. Add freshly ground pepper to taste. Whisk in remaining 1 tbs butter and lemon juice. Add sauce and shrimp to drained pasta and toss. Serve immediately.

Ham and Pecan Sauce
Using a recipe from my recently reviewed book of sauces as her guide, Kristy improvised a very tasty pasta sauce tonight that is well worth recording.

2 tbs butter
1 tbs peanut oil
1 tbs chopped fresh basil
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup diced ham
1½ cup cream
salt
pepper

Heat butter and oil in 1-quart saucepan over low heat. Add the basil, pecans, and ham and cook until pecans are toasted and the ham is browned. Stir in cream (or half and half) and simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot over noodles of choice.

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce
My mom taught me how to make this sauce. I'm not sure where her original recipe begins and my additions and modifications end. But I'll still give her the credit (where it is rightfully due).

olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 Isernio Italian Sausages, sliced
1 or 2 tbs oregano
1 tbs thyme
1 or 2 tsp chili powder
generous amounts of freshly ground pepper
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 heaping tbs brown sugar

Heat olive oil over medium heat in 4-quart saucepan. Add onions, garlic, sausage, oregano, chili powder, and ground pepper and sauté until onions are translucent. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and bay leaf. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes; stirring occasionally. Add brown sugar. Simmer and stir for 10 more minutes. You should end up with something that looks like this:

Serve over pasta of choice.

Biff's Angel Hair with Parmesan Sauce (for Kids)
I had to whip up something fast and easy for the kids tonight. I didn't just want to throw together some Easy Mac (which Berkeley loves) or nuke a hot dog (Eliana's favorite)... we do that too often I'm afraid. So in about 15 minutes, I improvised the following pasta dish which, much to my surprise, the kids just couldn't seem to get enough of. Eliana, over the course of the evening, had five helpings... so I thought that I should probably write it down so I can reproduce it at a later date.

angel hair pasta, enough for 4
olive oil
1 tbs butter
1 tbs flour
1½ cup whole milk
¼ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup frozen peas
Tabasco sauce
1 slice bacon
1 clove garlic
1 chicken breast, cubed
¼ cup pine nuts
salt
pepper

Bring water to boil in 4-quart saucepan and add angel hair. Cook until al dente, about 4 minutes. Drain, rinse, and return to pan. Add a bit of olive oil and toss (keeps the noodles from sticking together).

While the water is heating up, melt butter in 1-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Add flour and little bit of salt and pepper and stir vigorously until thickened. Add milk and bring just to the edge of a boil on medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add parmesan cheese and stir to melt. Mix in frozen peas and return to very low heat; simmer to keep warm. You can add some Tabasco sauce to taste (I didn't add any tonight for the kids, but I put some Tabasco on my own personal plated serving... yum).

On another burner, cook bacon in medium-sized frying pan. Remove bacon and coarsely chop, then add to the parmesan cheese sauce. Drain all but about 1 tbs of the bacon grease. Mince garlic and sauté in the bacon grease until lightly browned. Add chicken and pine nuts (and some salt and pepper); cook until chicken is tender. Add chicken and pine nuts to cheese sauce.

Add sauce to noodles. Toss to combine. Remove a serving or two for the kids and chop noodles into finger length bites. Serve.