The One in Which I Owe Recipes

**images and recipes taken from Everyday Food (aka Martha Stewart).... comments are my own. ;)

Southern Mac and Cheese

Serves 4

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted, plus more for ramekins (I actually just put it in a 8x8 dish, since I don't have ramekins)
  
• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar (8 ounces)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 2 slices white sandwich bread, torn

Directions

1. Set a large pot of salted water to boil. Preheat oven to 350. Butter four 10-ounce ramekins. Cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups cheddar, eggs, half-and-half, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Add pasta, and stir to combine; divide among ramekins.
3. In a food processor, pulse bread and melted butter until coarse crumbs form; season with salt and pepper. Dividing evenly, top pasta mixture with 1/2 cup cheddar, then sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until mac and cheese is golden and bubbling, about 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Comments

It was okay.... I mean, I liked it and it was a good first effort on my first completely homemade mac and cheese. However, I'm really partial to my moms (btw, mom can you email me that recipe)... so even though I enjoyed it I was wishing it was my mom's recipe.

Also, I didn't have a food processor, but did have "bread crumbs", which were more powder-like. That could have contributed to the overall ranking... but overall I thought it was lacking something... Hmm.

Fettucine with Parsley Pesto and Walnuts

Ingredients

Serves 4

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3/4 pound fettuccine
• 2 cups packed fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup walnuts, plus more chopped for serving
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 5 ounces baby spinach

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta, and return to pot.
2. In a food processor, puree parsley, walnuts, Parmesan, garlic, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons water until a paste forms. With machine running, add oil in a thin stream; process until very smooth, about 1 minute. Season pesto with salt and pepper.
3. To pasta in pot, add pesto, 1/4 cup pasta water, and spinach; toss to combine. Thin with pasta water as needed. Serve sprinkled with walnuts and Parmesan.

Comments

Umm, yum... I'm the type of person that likes a pesto on pasta (I don't need tomato/thick sauces). Luckily, I found a friend who had a food processor... and I loved making my own pesto. So much fun. I'd reduce the spinach leaves just a bit... it seemed a little overwhelming (at least at first)... and I'd mix the pasta and some of the pesto before adding the spinach and the rest of the pesto... But overall it's a keeper.