Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs

October 28, 2017

Servings: 4

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 30 min

Total: 50 min

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Mom's classic spaghetti and meatballs (with our own little twist!)

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• Sauce:
• 1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 1 28 oz can San Marazano crushed tomatoes
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• Meatballs:
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

• Step 1 Start the sauce: In a dutch oven, saute the garlic and onion in olive oil over medium-low heat until golden.
• Step 2 Add tomatoes and paste, oregano, basil, pepper, bay leaf and sugar. Simmer for at least 30 minutes while you make the meatballs, stirring occasionally. Do not let the sauce boil.
• Step 3 In a large dish mix the ground meat with all of the dry ingredients up through the breadcrumbs. Add the wet ingredients next and mix until fully incorporated.
• Step 4 Begin shaping into meatballs. Size is personal preference, anywhere from about 1-2 inches in diameter (we like 2!)
• Step 5 Gently place the meatballs into the sauce, stirring carefully as you add. Let the sauce and meatballs simmer over low heat for another 30 minutes,
• Step 6 Serve over pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

My Mom’s spaghetti and meatballs are a legacy in our house, as they should be in any Italian household.  If I’m craving any dish from childhood it’s usually a tie between this recipe (or chicken on the bone).  This meal was always comforting to me in a way that no other pasta dish can ever fully be.  Clearly it then became one of the recipes I was dying to make when I ventured out on my own and the first one that I inscribed into my first recipe book:

As I made this dish more and more over the years, I began putting my own twists on it.  As you know, we love experimenting in the kitchen and Marc actually encouraged me to come up with our own sauce recipe.  Back in the day, my Mom modified her own sauce recipe from the one handed down from my grandmother, because my Dad hates chunks of tomato.  The base for her sauce has always been Hunts (a brand that will forever have a soft spot in my heart), but she uses tomato sauce and paste to create a sauce base that is perfectly smooth.  Unless I’m cooking this for my Dad (in which case, my Mom would probably take the reigns), the sauce in this recipe has become a new tradition for us and something I look forward to passing on to our own kids someday.  It has chunks of tomato (sorry Chef Padre) and fresh basil:

The meatballs on the other hand are a Mom classic and you betcha I plan on keeping ’em that way!

Everything in this recipe is made from scratch – sauce, pasta & meatballs – and I promise, all of those elements are really worth it!  When your house smells like an Italian kitchen on Sunday, you’ll be thanking us!

Welcome to Cooking with Kids, COVID edition.

As you can imagine, now that we’re all stuck home for the immediate future, I’ve been receiving recipe requests left and right this week, especially for those that you can do with the kids. In an effort to organize and streamline what I have available on the blog, I wanted to create this resource that everyone can access and I can update real-time as I post more recipes (we’ve been cooking so much here that I have a backlog right now!).

I am breaking it down by type of recipe you can try, how you can engage your kids in cooking and make it fun, and offer additional resources from some other blogs that I follow. There is a virtual village out there of every resource you can imagine, but there is SO much at our finger tips it’s sometimes hard to know where to find it. Please comment below and let me know your thoughts and what else you’d like to see! Happy cooking, together!

WHAT CAN YOU COOK?

Believe it or not, there are really endless options for what you can cook together, as long as your cool with making a little mess. I honestly let my kids help with almost every recipe, I just find the most kid-friendly steps and let them help with it. For example, I made a pork tenderloin last night and I had them help make the marinade. I measured out the ingredients, let them pour them into the bowl and then let them help stir. My 3 year old is more engaged than my almost-2 year old, but even he can help (with extra supervision).

Here are a few recipe ideas!

COOKING:

Pizza:

• Make your own dough (find my easy recipe here), let the kids help knead it and roll it out. Make individual pizzas in different shapes. Curious George and the Pizza Party is a great book to read while they are cooking.
• Make pita or nan pizzas: just add sauce + toppings and put in the oven (or toaster oven) for 10 minutes (or until cheese melts)
• Make foccacia pizzas. We did this recipe with Fiddleheads Cooking Studio last week. It’s a great way to use up any produce you have in your fridge that you don’t want to waste and the kids can have fun making it “artful” – every pizza is like it’s own canvas, have fun with it!

• You can easily make bake “fried” chicken, healthier because it’s baked. Use a variety of different coatings (whatever you have on hand panko, breadcrumbs, crushed cornflakes) and set up an assembly line for dredging. Have one bowl of whisked eggs, one bowl of your coating. Have the kids help with dipping and rolling the chicken in the coating, just make sure they wash your hands!
• My favorite from the blog actually uses matzah: check it out here.
• Here are some other easy, kid friendly recipes:
  • Cornflake Chicken
  • Panko Crusted Chicken

• • • Here’s my favorite meatball recipe from the blog (with my Mom’s homemade sauce also)
    • Also, my Stuffed Meatballs.
    • Also recommend this recipe from Yummy Toddler Food.Another fun thing to make with the kids are baked meatballs. My kids love helping me make the meatball mix and it’s a good opportunity to sneak in some “hidden” veggies. Another recipe courtesy of Fiddleheads! Just throw a bunch of vegetables in a food processor (think carrots, celery, onion), process until finely minced, and add this right to your meat. Then just bake for 20 minutes and add to sauce once they’re cooked through.

• Pancake Loaf
• Brown Sugar Banana Bread
• Pumpkin Banana Bread
• Cast-iron Focaccia 

• There are legitimately endless opportunities to jazz up your breakfast. I of course have you covered on the classic pancake and waffle recipes, but you can also add different fruits and vegetables in the waffle batter, OR add them before you flip. I’m sure you know some of the standard recipes (blueberry, banana, chocolate chip) but have you ever considered pesto waffles? Or butternut squash pancakes? Or Bacon Pancakes? So many ways to get creative and use what you’ve got on hand!

Why? Engaging your kids and letting them join you in the kitchen empowers them in so many ways:

• It teaches them about new ingredients
• It builds their confidence and inspires their work ethic
• It teaches them the importance of contributing to the household
• PLUS, and most importantly, it’s something you can do together. Right now, I’m balancing the new norm of WFH and for many hours a day I’m locked in my office doing work and participating on conference calls. But once I log off, it’s still time to do the work of the house, making dinner being the most immediate one. So why not take advantage of this time to spend it together. It makes it fun for them and fun for you.

So how do I engage them?

• Get acquainted: I take out all of the ingredients before we cook and I quickly highlight some of them, especially the new ingredients. After washing our hands, I let the kids touch the produce, smell the herbs and spices and really get a chance to “meet” the ingredients. Do the same with your tools.
• Delegate:
  • Depending on what we’re making, I will let my older son combine and stir ingredients. (I pre-measure and he dumps them into the bowl). If we’re using a kitchen gadget, like a food processor, I also let them press the buttons.
  • If you have slightly older kids, you can also have them help chop vegetables. I highly recommend these kid safe Curious Knives.
• Make it fun and silly! Let them “name” the produce, draw a silly face on it (if you’re peeling something like a potato or squash). Turn on the music and dance and sing while you cook.
• Make them feel a sense of accomplishment: If you have a printed recipe, let them check off the ingredients as you use them and the steps as you do them. They’ll keep you accountable too!. My son reminded me i forgot to put on the timer the other day.
• While you wait: If you have downtime while things are cooking, let them help set the table. Have them decorate napkins or place mats as a craft. You can also find a variety of different books (at all age levels) that you can read while you’re cooking.

Questions? Comments? Or have you totally hit a wall and need my help? Message me:

Brown Sugar Banana Bread

March 17, 2020

Servings: 12

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 50 min

Total: 1 hr 10 min

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This banana bread is so moist and delicious, it lasts for days on end. Adding the chocolate chips gives you a good excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast ... or enjoy this for dessert!

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat oven to 350º. Generously grease one 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with butter and dust with flour.
• Step 2 Cream together butter and sugar. It’s essential that your butter is softened for this step, so try to take it out well before you start baking, or soften it up quickly in your microwave. (Our microwave actually has “soften” as its own setting!)
• Step 3 Add eggs and banana and combine well.
• Step 4 Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Add to creamed mixture with vanilla. Add chocolate chips and mix once more just until combined. Do not overmix.
• Step 5 Pour batter into your greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Cool and then remove from pan before serving.

Welcome to the new norm, quarantine day 4, where we bake our troubles away! In all seriousness though – as I try to pass the time (without a real end in sight) and keep the kids in engaged in something other than screen time, I’ve found that cooking is one of the best activities we’ve done together. Last night we even did a Zoom cooking class, organized by Renana from our local Fiddleheads Cooking Studio. We had just signed up for the spring semester and only had one in-person class so far. While we definitely wish we were in her studio cooking together with our friends, zooming in to the little red barn to make spaghetti and meatballs is not a bad solution. We made baked meatballs with “hidden” veggies and our own homemade tomato sauce too. Gryffin helped every step of the way and was so proud of what we made! We had fun and dinner was done, a win-win for everyone!

At this rate, with all of the cooking and eating we’ve done for the last few days, my pants are starting to feel noticeably tighter, but if the kids are happy and busy, I’ll take it! I’m totally going for the “corona 15” now, but I’m not ashamed in the least. At least I’ve balanced some of the excessive calorie intake with a daily Peloton class. My bike literally came two weeks ago, not a day too soon. If there’s one stock you should be buying right now, it’s probably Peloton. It has literally saved my sanity this week. Endorphins for the win!

Today’s recipe originally came about because I’ve reached the point where I’m not willing to let any produce go to waste. My bananas were getting mushy, so I was determined to use them, either for a smoothie… or banana bread. I asked Gryffin what he’d prefer to make and you can guess which one won. I modified this recipe from one of my favorite blog banana bread recipes, Pumpkin Banana Bread. We already ran out of sugar (oy!) – the one thing I didn’t remember to stock up on, but I substituted brown sugar and you would honestly never know the difference. I can’t wait to hear what you (and your kids!) think of this recipe so comment below. Follow our lead and make it a whole family activity!

How can you engage your kids?

• Measure out the ingredients but let them pour them in. Then have them do the stirring.
• My kids love eggs so I even let my 3 year old crack the egg, but I definitely supervise this! You don’t want eggshells in your bread!
• Talk about each ingredient as you add it. Let them smell the spices and touch the produce. You could even have them draw a face on the banana before you peel it! Get silly!
• While the bread is baking, read a story about baking! Or bananas! Or Daniel Tiger’s Sweet Trip to the Bakery – they make banana bread for his Mom. You can draw pictures about baking or what you baked also.
• So many fun ways to get the little ones excited about cooking. Stay tuned for more tips!

Sending love and strength to you all during this unbelievably scary time.

xoxo, Amanda

I have a backlog of recipe posts I’ve been trying to get to lately (including last night’s pork tenderloin roulade – soon!), but this recipe was so good and SO simple that I had to make time to post it for you tonight. You can be fairly certain if I’m posting something with squash that Marc had nothing to do with it – don’t ask me why, but he hates all the squash. He’s traveling tonight and tomorrow, so I was originally planning to have some impromptu “me” time and curl up a good book and some wine. But testing and posting a new squash recipe was just too tempting… and clearly the wine was in the picture no matter what, so I think I still made out okay (see below). And hey, if I post this fast enough, I might still have a chance to squeeze in a chapter – who knows!

This recipe was actually inspired by a good friend of mine who was looking for an easy weeknight meal. She shared a creamy butternut squash spaghetti she made last week (courtesy of Two Peas & their Pod) and she even got her kids to eat it! My kids were already sleeping by the time I whipped this up (and I say whipped because I mean it – so quick!) but maybe I’ll try out the leftovers on them. My sauce is a little different that Two Peas’ sauce but still so creamy and sweet. I roasted the butternut squash to give it a bit more earthy, depth of flavor (hack: you can roast it while you give the kids a bath and then prep the sauce later!) and then just threw it a food processor with the rest of the ingredients. You can go all out and add the fried sage (optional – but tots worth it!), or just sprinkle with some dried sage like I did in these photos.

I should also mention that I totally cheated and bought the squash pre-cut (don’t judge me!) but there is a super simple way to peel and cut butternut squash yourself. Just check out Gimme Some Oven’s tutorial.

Bottom line – it’s a deliciously easy weeknight recipe that won’t add any stress to your plate (or bowl, in this case) and bonus, your kids might actually like it. If you’re not sold yet, then you may as well make it and find out for yourself!

I’ve been SO behind on posting this year (not keeping up with my New Year’s resolutions, sorry!), so I figured I’d make it up for it with this post, since it is actually 3 recipes in one. You can make just one pasta, make two, or make all three for an out of this world pasta feast. If you decide to dig in deep and cook all three (good for you!), I’ve broken down the steps below so you’ll know the best way to tackle them all at once.

The all-you-can-eat approach was actually inspired by a local restaurant called Stonefire that offers this special on Tuesday nights. You get a massive bowl – I’m talking so big you can barely reach your arms around it – and it’s filled with 3 pastas of the day. If you actually finish the first bowl you can order a second, but you can’t bring leftovers home (we learned that the hard way!) so the objective really is to eat ALL you can eat. By all means, you should do the same with these recipes – go big or go home is the Italian way! – but we had plenty of pasta to go around and had leftovers too, which I was just as psyched about.

So grab a fork and bring your appetite, this is an epic meal you’re not going to forget! Post your all-you-can-eat pasta bowls and make sure to tag us @awholesomenewworld so we can see what you made!

Pasta Primavera 

This pasta recipe is a fave for a few reasons that I just had to highlight:

• This is a one-pot recipe, so super easy and minimal clean-up is required!
• It is also so versatile! Truly a “clean out your fridge” kind of pasta. We suggest chef’s choice of winter and spring vegetables that add variety in texture, color, and flavor, but really it’s all up to you. Toss in any variety that catches your eye during your weekly market shop, especially if it’s on sale. The key to pasta primavera is using the freshest most vibrant vegetables available.

Pasta Primavera

January 21, 2020

Servings: 6

Prep: 5 min

Total: 20 min

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Think light, fresh, and green - a guiltless pasta special that will make you feel good, inside and out.

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided 6 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
• 1 TBSP finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 12 ounces dried long pasta like spaghetti or linguine, I chose Trader Joe's Spinach and Chive Linguine Pasta - go green or go home!
• 4 cups hot water
• A variety of fresh veggies, here is a sampling:
• 6 asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 1 1/4 cups broccoli (about 3 ounces), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup sugar snap peas, strings removed and halved on the diagonal (about 2 ounces)
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• 2 TBSP fresh basil leaves
• Pinch red pepper flakes

Directions

• Step 1  Make the garlic-lemon butter – the base of your sauce: Mince and mash the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt together to make a paste. Transfer to a small bowl, add 4 tablespoons of the butter and the lemon zest, and mash together until combined
• Step 2 set aside.
• Step 3 Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and sauté until softened and beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Step 4 Add the pasta, hot water, and remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat back to medium-high, uncover, and cook until the pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes. Stir the pasta occasionally, loosening noodles that stick to the bottom or sides of the pot.
• Step 5 Add all of your vegetables except for the tomatoes. Stir and cook uncovered until the vegetables are crisp-tender and the cooking liquid has reduced into a starchy sauce, about 2 minutes.
• Step 6 Stir in the tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and garlic-lemon butter. Once the cheese and butter is melted, the cooking liquid should be significantly reduced, leaving only a silky, buttery sauce. Serve in bowls garnished with red pepper flakes, basil, and more Parmesan cheese.

Pasta Bolognese

A feel good cozy winter pasta. My other favorite way to cook it is in the slow cooker, check it out here.

Pasta Bolognese

January 21, 2020

Servings: 6

Prep: 20 min

Total: 20 min

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This is such a dreamy bolognese sauce. The longer you allow it to simmer, the more it enhances the rich meatiness and irresistible texture of this sauce. Such a great compliment to the light fresh Primavera.

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 4 oz thick center-cut bacon, chopped coarsely
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, minced
• 2 celery stalks, minced
• 2 carrots, minced
• A handful of baby bella mushrooms,minced
• 2 lb ground beef (or a tri-mix of different meats - beef/veal/pork
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes (look for vine ripened)
• 1 can tomato paste
• Salt & Pepper
• 1/2 cup half & half cream
• 12 ounces dried short pasta, such as penne rigate, fusilli, or orecchiette

Directions

• Step 1 In a large pan, sauté the bacon over low heat about 4-5 minutes. Add olive oil to the pan, along with the onions, celery, mushrooms, and carrots and cook over medium-low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.
• Step 2 Add the ground meat and raise the heat to medium-high. Season with salt and pepper and sauté until the meat is browned, breaking it up with a spatula. Add the white wine and cook until it reduces down, about 4 minutes.
• Step 3 Add the tomato paste and crushed tomatoes. Cover and simmer over low, while you cook pasta in a small sauce pan
• Step 4 Once slow cooking is complete, adjust salt and pepper to taste and stir in the cream. Serve over your cooked pasta.

Linguine Carbonara

There are not enough words to describe how amazing this pasta is. If you want to indulge, this is the pasta for you. This is a traditional preparation, but saw it on a menu the other night with peas and shrimp. Next time around I’m taking it up another notch and totally posting it that way. Stay tuned!

Linguine Carbonara

January 21, 2020

Servings: 6

Prep: 20 min

Total: 20 min

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This is the hat trick of the whole pasta feast and I'm telling you, it's worth. every. calorie. Fork yeah!

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 12 ounces linguine
• 1 TBSP salt
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus 1/4 cup extra for garnish
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 8 ounces bacon or pancetta, cut into cubes

Directions

• Step 1 Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and the linguine and cook according to package directions.
• Step 2 While the pasta is cooking, add the egg yolks and egg to a medium bowl and whisk until well combined. Add the parmesan cheese to the eggs and mix. Set aside.
• Step 3 Add the olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta or bacon and cook until crisp, turn off the heat and set aside.
• Step 4 Once the linguine is cooked, reserve 1 cup of the liquid and drain. Add the pasta to the pancetta and toss with half of the reserved pasta water, mix well over low heat.
• Step 5 Turn off the heat and add the egg mixture and mix well until the linguine is coated and sauce is creamy. If the sauce is too thick, add a little of the reserved water until the desired consistency is achieved. Serve warm topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

The All You Can Eat “Timeline” – note, you will need 1 large pot, 2 saucepans, and 2 large skillets. My 6-burner stovetop has never come more in handy! 

1. Make the garlic butter for the pasta Primavera.
2. Whisk together egg and egg yolks for the Carbonara.
3. Chop all of your veggies for the Bolognese sauce. I actually added them all to my mini processor and pulsed which saved me so much time! Start cooking the minced veggies in a pan over medium low heat.
4. Bring two medium saucepans of water to a boil for the linguine (Carbonara) and the short pasta (Bolognese). Cook according to package instructions.
5. In a large pot, sauté the shallot for the Primavera. Add the pasta, hot water, and remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat back to medium-high, uncover, and cook until the pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes.
6. Add olive oil to another skillet and cook the bacon/pancetta for the Carbonara. Set aside.
7. Back in your Bolognese pan, add the ground meat to the veggies. Sauté until the meat is browned, breaking it up with a spatula. Add the white wine and cook until it reduces down, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste and crushed tomatoes. Cover and simmer over low, while you finalize everything else.
8. Add the Primavera vegetables right in to the same pot with the al dente pasta from Step 5. Stir and cook uncovered until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and garlic-lemon butter from Step 1. Simmer over low heat while you complete the Carbonara.
9. Add the linguine pasta to the skillet with the cooked bacon/pancetta and toss with half of the reserved pasta water, mix well over low heat. Turn off the heat, add the egg mixture and mix well until the linguine is coated and sauce is creamy. Add more pasta water if necessary to thin it out.

Pancake Loaf

January 20, 2019

Servings: 8

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 50 min

Total: 1 hr

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What's not to love about a fluffy stack of pancakes, elevated in loaf form. The second best part of this recipe? Your house will smell like fresh pancakes for hours to come!

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar + more for dusting
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2 TBSP maple syrup
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon + more for dusting
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 8×4 loaf pan with nonstick spray. Sprinkle with sugar and extra cinnamon to coat the pan.
• Step 2 In a large mixing bowl, whisk together milk, sugars, egg, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Set aside.
• Step 3 In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Using a wooden spoon, slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
• Step 4 Stir in the vegetable oil until evenly distributed, but do not overmix.
• Step 5 Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 50 minutes. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
• Step 6 Remove load from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Flip pan upside down and carefully shake to remove. Dust with powdered sugar, slice and serve warm.

Is there anything better than a fresh stack of fluffy pancakes in the morning? Almost nothing… except maybe this delicious Pancake Loaf. What better way to elevate this morning staple than by elevating it into a delicious fresh baked loaf. It is simple, versatile and downright delicious and a great recipe to include in your next brunch lineup.

Today was the first really wintry day we’ve seen of 2019. A mix of snow, sleet and frigid temps have descended onto Westchester which means I don’t plan on going anywhere -unless we have to! – until at least Tuesday. We had plenty of warning for this storm so our fridge is fully stocked and we’ve been hunkered down at home just waiting it out. Hence the opportunity to log some serious hours in the kitchen. Friday was Mom’s spaghetti, last night we made a cozy bowl of butter & thyme mussels (a riff on Laylita’s recipe) and today I’ve been working up the details for this delicious loaf.

I experimented with the ingredients but ultimately I went with almond milk vs. regular milk so as a side bonus, this recipe is also dairy free. By the time I perfected it, it was more like a lunch loaf than a brunch loaf but that just meant we had all the more appetite to enjoy it. If you want to shake it up, you can also opt into making pancake mini muffins OR even pancake donuts, you just need to adjust the bake time. I recommend 15-20 minutes for mini muffins, 15 minutes for donuts. Whatever form you serve this recipe in, it is such a creative way to get your pancake fix on and such a treat for those at your breakfast table!

Truffled Ricotta Risotto with Pan-Seared Scallops

May 17, 2018

Servings: 2

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 35 min

Total: 50 min

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Just about any dish we make with scallops has a special place in my heart, but the pairing of scallops with our truffled ricotta risotto was downright brilliant. A great date night dish and easy enough to throw together on a weeknight too - if you're ambitious that is!

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 6 TBSP unsalted butter (5 TBSP for the risotto, 1 TBSP for the scallops)
• 1 shallot, finely diced
• 10 ounces frozen spinach thawed
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 ½ cup Arborio rice
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ¾ cup dry white wine
• 3 cups vegetable stock (see below hack to make your own!)
• 1/4 cup fresh whipped ricotta
• 1 TBSP white truffle oil
• 3/4 lb fresh sea scallops, about a dozen, patted dry
• 1-2 TBSP olive oil
• Kosher salt and ground pepper for seasoning

Directions

• Step 1 Prepare your risotto. Melt 5 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the shallot and garlic and cook until golden, approximately 3-5 minutes. Stir in rice and cook until toasted and golden, about 5 minutes.
• Step 2 Stir in the white wine and cook until absorbed, about 3 minutes. Next, slowly stir in your stock, about 1/2 cup at a time. Reduce your heat to medium low. Let the rice soak up the stock and stir every so often, until the stock has been fully absorbed and the rice is cooked through but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Cook your scallops during this step.
• Step 3 Season your scallops generously with salt and pepper on one side. Heat a large non-stick frying pan, add olive oil to coat the pan. Add the scallops when the pan is hot, but not smoking.
• Step 4 Place the scallops seasoned side down, arranging clockwise around the pan. When you put the first scallop down, start a timer for 2 minutes. Avoid overcrowding the pan if you can – you may have to cook them in batches, but I had just enough room for 12 scallops. Season the unseasoned side of the scallop (facing up) while the scallops are cooking.
• Step 5 After two minutes, flip the scallops (they should have a golden crust) and cook for 2 minutes on the other side. During this step, add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the pan and spoon the melted butter over the scallops. Transfer scallops to a plate and keep warm in oven, if making in batches.
• Step 6 Now finish the risotto – the liquid should now be fully absorbed. Turn off the heat and stir in the spinach and the ricotta until fully incorporated. Taste and add more salt, if needed. Drizzle with truffle oil and serve immediately, topping with the scallops.

We often get asked, how do you create a new recipe around one single ingredient? Where do you get your inspiration? While I will say it can depend on a lot of different factors (my mood, what we ate last night, what we actually have in our pantry…), it really comes down to being creative and keeping an open mind. The beauty of the “winging it” approach is that you never know what you’ll discover along the way!

Not every meal we wing is a success (don’t even get me started on my first time making falafel), but this is one of those recipes that exceeded my wildest expectations. These gorgeous scallops were on sale at Whole Foods, so that was clearly my starting ingredient (I can’t resist a good scallop when I see one!), but the rest of it truly didn’t come together until 10 minutes before I started cooking. I had this vision at first of doing scallops with a creamy spaghetti, but when I got home I realized we actually had no pasta besides fusilli.  So back to the drawing board…

Marc pulled the arborio rice out of left field, but I knew I needed vegetable or chicken stock to make a risotto and we were also lacking in that department. (This was a pretty pathetic day in our pantry!) When Marc suggested looking up vegetable stock hacks, I wasn’t really buying it at first, but then I decided – why not? A quick google search proved to me that making your own vegetable stock is a whole lot easier than I ever would have imagined. How did I do it? I literally scraped the bottom of our vegetable drawer (which sadly only consisted of one yellow onion, chives and ginger – I warned you we were low on pretty much everything!) into a pot with 4 cups of water, brought it to a boil and let it simmer for about 30 minutes while I started on the risotto. Clearly you don’t have to make your own vegetable stock, but it was actually a lot of fun – I’d recommend it!

Adding the ricotta to the risotto was definitely my spin on it (I’ve been going through a big ricotta phase lately!), the truffle oil was another brilliant contribution from Marc, and the spinach was really more for a pop of color than anything else – but it really does pair well. All in all, I was pretty thrilled with the final result and the final photos, so it was a win-win on all fronts. Hopefully you’ll agree with me! Comment below and let us know what you think.

Crispy Kale Pasta with Avocado and Shrimp

March 21, 2018

Servings: 3-4

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 30 min

Total: 40 min

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If you like to mix and match textures, this is the perfect pasta dish for you! Our creamy avocado sauce is a delicious compliment to the crispy kale and succulent cherry tomatoes. There are so many delicious bursts of flavor in each bite!

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 3 large bunches kale about 1½ pounds
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1 ripe avocado (+ additional ingredients for sauce, see link in the instructions)
• Kosher salt and pepper for seasoning
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 2 TBSP butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound large shrimp
• 12 ounces spaghetti, bucatini (what we used!), or linguine
• Parmesan, red pepper flakes for serving

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare your avocado sauce.
• Step 2 Drizzle the cherry tomatoes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange in one layer on a baking pan/sheet and bake until the tomatoes wilt, about 20 minutes.
• Step 3 Tear the kale leaves into small pieces and drizzle them with a generous amount of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer on another baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, until crispy. They burn easily so make sure you check on them!
• Step 4 Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil. Cook the pasta in boiling water according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
• Step 5 Using the same pot, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the shrimp and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the shrimp start to turn pink and curl, about 2-3 minutes.
• Step 6 Add the pasta back to the pot, toss with the shrimp. Stir in the avocado sauce, I used about half of the prepared sauce.
• Step 7 Remove from the heat and toss in the tomatoes and crispy kale. Reserve some of the kale chips as a crunchy topping. Top each plate with a bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes and more crispy kale.

This is the perfect example of a recipe I dreamed up around one ingredient – crispy kale! I don’t know where I got inspired to make it the star of a pasta dish, but I ran with it. Luckily, this dish turned out so well, I didn’t even need to look back!  I was in such a funk last night (a case of the Mondays) I didn’t even want to cook, so tonight I felt like I owed it to myself (and to you of course!) to come back with a bang! Mission accomplished.

This dish was really a play on textures, as I decided to pair the crispy kale with soft & squishy cherry tomatoes, a dreamy creamy avocado sauce and fresh succulent shrimp. Where did I get the inspiration? Why, let me enlighten you… 😉

When it comes to healthy food pairings, kale and avocado are the dream team. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, making pairs like sweet potatoes with olive oil and avocado, married with kale (vitamin K), perfect for nutrient absorption. You can read more about that here. So it didn’t take me long to decide this pasta would be dressed in one of my favorite sauces from the blog.

The roasted cherry tomatoes were delightfully sweet contrast to the saltiness of the kale and creaminess of the avocado, and just made the whole dish pop.

Last but not least, shrimp and avocado is another pairing I love – especially in the height of summer. But the blending of all of these incredible textures and flavors truly makes this a dish that can transcend the seasons. We enjoyed it on a pre-blizzard wintry night (yes, blizzarding in March – ugh) but it could easily be transformed into a light summer pasta or a rustic fall dish. Chef’s choice!

Skillet Pasta with Spinach and Burrata

March 3, 2018

Servings: 8

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 10 min

Total: 20 min

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This skillet pasta is sure to be something you'll be talking about for months, if not years, to come! The melted burrata on top is key, but you can get as creative as you want to with this one-pot pasta dish and add your own touch!

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups torn spinach leaves
• 4 cups cooked pasta
• 2 cups tomato sauce of choice, warmed
• 1/2 cup burrata cheese, sliced
• A dozen or so basil leaves

Directions

• Step 1 Cook your pasta in boiling salted water to al dente, as directed on the box. Drain and then coat with olive oil. Return to the pot and toss with pasta sauce.
• Step 2 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a large cast-iron skillet on the stove, over medium heat. Add olive oil and garlic. Sauté the garlic until golden, 2-3 minutes.
• Step 3 Add cooked pasta, sauce and spinach leaves to the skillet. Stir to combine until spinach is wilted.
• Step 4 Top the pasta with sliced burrata cheese and basil leaves, then place in the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes, ideally until the cheese starts to bubble.
• Step 5 Serve warm with Parmesan cheese and extra sauce. We also love to add a dash of red chili flakes to ours!

Believe it or not, this is a recipe I totally and completely winged. Aren’t those the best?! It was the middle of our epic March Nor’easter and I knew that whatever I was going to make that night had to be sourced from my very own pantry (braving the roads was not an option!). Thankfully, we always keep a good stockpile of pasta on hand, so no matter what – we’ll never go hungry. Even if the power goes out, you can still boil water for pasta!

I will admit that the inspiration for this dish did actually start a few weeks back when I picked up a box of this incredible Campanelle (aka gigli) pasta, at TJ Maxx of all places! The rainbow colors caught my eye immediately and I just knew I had to do something truly spectacular with this pasta. So I decided this dish would be centered around the pasta and the rest I had to create on the fly.

I wanted to keep it as easy as possible, since I didn’t really know what the night held in store. Almost all of my other friends had already lost power, so I felt like I was cooking on borrowed time here. So I turned to my trusty cast-iron skillet, knowing a “one-pot” meal was the way to go.

You can be as creative – or as simple – as you want to with this dish; I’ve left it up to you for that very reason!! Pick any “short” pasta you want (think ziti, penne, or farfalle) and pair it with any jar of pasta sauce (unless you want to make your own, or make mine!). On this particular occasion, since I had still had some of my incredible Slow Cooker Pork Bolognese left over, I figured that would be a great sauce to substitute. But, this step is totally up to you. You can use any pasta sauce that strikes your fancy – vodka, marinara, even Alfredo!

I encourage you to get as creative as you want with this dish. Once you’ve picked the pasta and sauce, just toss it with some spinach, top with some burrata and bake. When you think about it, that’s actually only 4 ingredients! Talk about a lifesaver!

Stuffed Meatballs

December 15, 2017

Servings: 4

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 30 min

Total: 50 min

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Our classic meatballs - with a cheesy little twist!

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground meat (we like to buy a mix of 1/3 veal, 1/3 pork, 1/3 beef)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/2 lb mozzarella cut into small 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 16 oz jar tomato sauce (or make your own!)

Directions

• Step 1 Start heating tomato sauce over low heat in a large sauce pan or dutch oven. In a large dish mix the ground meat with all of the dry ingredients up through the breadcrumbs. Add the wet ingredients next and mix until fully incorporated.
• Step 2 Scoop out about a tablespoon of beef into one hand and flatten it out sightly. Then, with your thumb, make a little indent (see instructional photos below).
• Step 3 Place a mozzarella cube into the indent and push in lightly. Scoop up another tablespoon of beef and flatten to the same size. Bring the two halves of the meatball together and then roll into a ball.
• Step 4 Meatball size is personal preference, anywhere from about 1-2 inches in diameter (we like 2!)
• Step 5 Gently place the meatballs into the sauce, stirring carefully as you add. Let the sauce and meatballs simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes.
• Step 6 Serve over pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

A few weeks back, I posted my Mom’s family spaghetti and meatball recipe and now that the weather has turned, this cozy dish is going to be making a lot of recurring appearances at our table. But you know us, we’re ever-experimenting in the kitchen, so this weekend we decided to put a twist on our meatballs and… wait for it…stuff them with mozzarella cheese! What could be better than cutting into a soft, gooey, cheesy center of a meatball?! It’s like meatballs on steroids! We’ve made these in the past, and if I recall, we used ricotta – which is a great stuffer in its own right – but nothing melts quite like mozzarella.

I used the same tried and true meatball recipe from our spaghetti recipe, and just before rolling it into meatball formation, I added a little cube of mozzarella to the center.  Simple as that!  You cook them for the same amount of time and can even cook them in our favorite spaghetti sauce if you’d like, although this time we used store-bought. We have this great Italian grocery store in town and they have the best homemade sauces. When I don’t have all the ingredients (or more often, the time) to make our sauce, I just pick up a quart of their homemade sauce and whip up a quick bowl of pasta for dinner. Whatever sauce you go with, these meatballs are the star and something the whole family will enjoy. Whip up a batch for your Sunday supper this weekend – you won’t regret it!

Meatball “assembly” steps as follows: 

STEP 1: Choose your meat!  We love this 3-meat blend of veal, pork and beef.

STEP 2: Add your ingredients to a mixing dish and mix together.

STEP 3: Scoop out about a tablespoon of meat, roll out and then flatten into a small disc. Make an indent in the center with your thumb.

STEP 4: Push one cube of mozzarella gently into the indent. You don’t want it to burst through to the other side.

STEP 5: Take another tablespoon of meat in your other hand, roll and flatten like you did with the first half. Then “smoosh” the halves together and shape into a ball. Make sure the meatball is fully sealed off, you don’t want your mozzarella to burst through and explode your meatball!

STEP 6: Carefully place your meatball into the sauce and then simmer for 30 minutes over low heat until the meatballs are cooked through.  Watch out for exploding meatballs (this probably means you didn’t seal the meatball well enough in step 5) – we had a few!

STEP 7: Stuff your face!