Garlic Noodles with Parmesan

I only learned how to make garlic noodles recently after having it out at a restaurant and I was immediately hooked! I could not stop stuffing my face with noodles! The recipe only involves a few ingredients and is so simple to make. Garlic noodles is the perfect weeknight dinner or side dish. And it’s addictive. You won’t be able to stop making it. Sometimes I unintentionally end up making it because I run out of groceries and these ingredients are all I have on hand. Try it and let me know what you think! I have a reel up on Instagram if you want to see the video of the garlic noodles being made.

GARLIC NOODLES WITH PARMESAN (serves 4):

Ingredients:

1 lb thin spaghetti pasta

4 tbsp olive oil

12 cloves of garlic, minced

4 tbsp unsalted butter

4 tsp soy sauce

4 tsp sugar

3½ tbsp oyster sauce

3 cups of sliced scallions

¾ cup Parmesan

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add garlic and butter. Lightly toast. Add sugar and oyster sauce and mix. Lower heat. Throw in sliced scallions and lightly cook. Toss in cooked pasta, coating it with the sauce. Add soy sauce. Turn off heat. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese in layers directly in the pan and toss again. Garnish with additional fresh scallions and more cheese.

Spicy Arrabbiata Sauce

When it comes to pasta, I love tomato sauce and l love my pasta smothered in it. I often make bolognese but it’s definitely very time consuming and can take up to 3 hours to make including prep time. I also like to make a shrimp or clam tomato sauce with my pasta because it’s lighter and doesn’t take as long to cook. But sometimes I don’t have seafood readily available on hand. A great option for a simple pasta sauce is arrabbiata sauce, which is basically a spicy marinara. It’s perfect for those nights when you don’t have a lot of time because it doesn’t require many ingredients. You probably already have everything you need in your pantry. It’s easy to make and so delicious! And you can freeze your leftovers!

Pasta with Spicy Arrabbiata Sauce (Serves 5-6)

Ingredients:

• Linguine-fini or any pasta of your choice

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 sweet yellow onion, diced

• 6 cloves garlic, 4 diced and 2 smashed

• 2 (28 oz) cans of whole tomatoes

• 16 basil leaves, torn

• 1 tsp oregano

• ½ - 1½ tsp red chili pepper flakes, more or less, depending on your spice level (½ tsp=a little spicy, 1 tsp=spicy, 1.5 tsp=very spicy)

• 5 sprigs of thyme

• 2-2½ tsp salt

• ¼ tsp sugar

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 1 cup of water

• burrata or parmesan cheese upon serving (optional)

Directions:

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a 3 quart pot over medium heat. Brown onions. Throw in the garlic and lightly toast.  Pour in canned tomatoes. Add salt, pepper, sugar, red chili pepper flakes, oregano, thyme, and fresh basil. If your tomatoes are whole, you can break it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks.

Simmer for 30 minutes on medium-low. Sauce will thicken and stick to the bottom of the pot. Stir sporadically breaking up the tomatoes and scraping the bottom.

Add 1 cup of water and stir thoroughly. Cook for another 30 minutes-1 hour on medium-low heat. Continue to stir sauce and break up the tomatoes with your wooden spoon.

Lastly, drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil over your finished sauce and stir.

Toss your pasta in the sauce. Serve with fresh basil and a scoop of burrata cheese or grated parmesan. Sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper. I prefer burrata because it helps calm down the spice. Its soft, rich and cool texture is also a nice contrast to the hot and spicy dish. If you choose burrata, drizzle a little bit of EVOO on top. Skip the cheese all together and make this dish vegan. Substitute pasta for zucchini noodles (or use gluten-free pasta) and make this dish gluten free. Or do both, and make this dish vegan AND gluten-free!

When I cook for just me, I like to toss an individual portion of linguine-fini in an individual portion of the sauce in a separate pan, over the stove top. I also prefer my pasta al dente so I undercook my pasta slightly knowing that it will cook a little bit more when I mix it in with the sauce in the pan. Then I freeze the rest of the sauce in small portions to have later, either with pasta or to make shakshouka with for breakfast. But if you are planning on making this dish for a few guests, you can transfer all of your pasta directly into the pot of sauce and toss all together to eat immediately. Another option is to use some of the arrabbiata sauce as the base of another sauce. Just recently, I took out a small portion of the sauce from the freezer and cooked it with wine and butter and added pasta and it was delicious!

Spicy Shrimp Linguine-Fini

One of my favorite pasta dishes to make is Shrimp Linguine in a light tomato sauce made w frozen @traderjoes shrimp. It’s so simple to make and only requires a few ingredients. This has been a popular dish on my Love in My Belly Instagram but I hadn’t thought to post it on the blog until now after I had gotten multiple requests for the recipe. So here it is below. Happy Eating!

SHRIMP LINGUINI (serves about 3 depending on how saucy you like your pasta)

Ingredients:

• EVOO

• 1 sweet yellow onion, diced

• 5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

• 1 tbsp butter

• lemon juice from 1/2-1 lemon

• 1/2 cup of white wine

• 1 can of diced tomatoes

• 1-1.5 tsp salt

• 1 tsp ground black pepper

• 2 tsp red chili flakes

• 5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme

• linguine fini (or regular linguine or spaghetti is fine too)

• parsley, chopped

• 12-15 raw, deveined, w tail on shrimp (I always have @traderjoes shrimp in my freezer. Make a shallow cut along the back so that it butterlies beautifully when cooked)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and slightly undercook the linguine and set aside. Add EVOO to a large, deep pan. Sauté onions till brown. Throw in garlic and lightly toast. Mix in butter and cook for a minute. Pour in wine. Let it reduce for a couple minutes. Add canned tomatoes. Sprinkle w salt + pepper + red chili flakes. Throw in fresh sprigs of thyme. Let the sauce simmer for a couple minutes. Lower heat. Add shrimp and squeeze in half of the lemon juice, tossing and turning the shrimp in the sauce until it’s cooked which doesn’t take long. Toss in the linguini and cook briefly. You can also remove shrimp and add back in after you toss the linguine so that you don’t overcook the shrimp. Squeeze in the rest of the lemon juice if you like. Drizzle some more EVOO. Toss again. Sprinkle w chopped parsley & enjoy!

Creamy Wild Mushrooms & Asparagus Spaghetti

I know you’re not supposed to be going to the grocery store often or even at all during this pandemic, but I can’t help it. It’s my one simple pleasure during the lockdown and I need it for my mental health. I don’t like grocery delivery apps and I just find it challenging to buy groceries for 2 weeks. How do you know what you want to eat for 2 weeks? Plus, fresh produce doesn’t last that long and you can’t find everything at one store. I know that I’m fortunate to have the luxury of having food to eat (and getting to choose what I want to eat) and the health (and money) to buy my own groceries and for that, I am truly grateful. I take precaution when going to the grocery store. I get my walk in and I wear gloves and a mask.

I’ve been cooking almost every single meal and I had been getting kind of tired of it. This past weekend, I indulged and ordered delivery TWICE. Indonesian noodles with fried morning glory and Lebanese shrimp with rice and tabbouleh, in case you’re wondering. It was so nice to take a break from cooking and washing dishes. As you all may know, I have a tiny kitchen and I don’t have a dishwasher or a microwave. And somehow, I create so many dirty dishes throughout the course of the day at home. How does this happen?!

I decided to try a new dish this week. Normally, I’m a tomato sauce type of pasta girl. I often make a bolognese sauce or a light tomato sauce with shrimp or clams (ohhh, I need to to post that recipe). But I don’t ever make a creamy sauce. It’s just not my thing. I don’t usually order creamy pastas at restaurants. Anyway, I love mushrooms and wanted to do something with a mixture of mushrooms but also with a little green so I came up with this Creamy Wild Mushrooms & Asparagus Spaghetti recipe. I used four different types of mushrooms—maitake, cremini, shiitake, and oyster—but you don’t have to use that many. I did use butter but I skipped the cream and opted for coconut milk. You could probably skip the butter and the parmesan, and make this vegetarian dish entirely vegan if you want. And if you really want meat, I think this dish would taste great with chicken or even better, pancetta or bacon bits. Adding this new recipe to my rotation and sharing it with you below!

CREAMY WILD MUSHROOMS & ASPARAGUS (Makes about 3 servings)

Ingredients:

• spaghetti

• 12 oz of mixed sliced mushrooms (maitake, cremini, shiitake, oyster)

• 8-10 asparagus spears, thinly and diagonally sliced

• 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced

• 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

• EVOO

• 2 tbsp butter (optional)

• 1/2 lemon

• 1/2 cup of white wine

• 1/2 cup of coconut milk

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pepper

• 1/4 cup of Parmesan, plus more for serving (optional)

• parsley, chopped for garnishing

• 1/4 cup of pasta water

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and slightly undercook the spaghetti and then set aside. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan w olive oil. Sauté onions until lightly brown. Throw in sliced garlic and lightly toast. Pour in mixed mushrooms and let them cook down for a minute. Sprinkle w salt and pepper. Add butter and stir. Let it melt into the mushrooms. Pour in white wine and let it simmer for a bit. Throw in asparagus. Stir in coconut milk and let it cook for a couple minutes. Lower heat. Using tongs, transfer cooked spaghetti into the frying pan. Add pasta water and mix pasta thoroughly into the sauce. Add parmesan and lemon juice . Top w more salt and pepper and toss again. The sauce may seem a little liquidy at first but it will thicken as it cools down. If you want it thicker, you can add more parmesan and maybe a little more coconut milk. If your sauce is too thick, add more pasta water. And that’s it! Upon serving, sprinkle w chopped parsley, a little EVOO, more parmesan, more salt + pepper, or more lemon juice—whichever flavor you fancy most!

Batches of Bolognese

The world has changed so much over the last couple of weeks with the coronavirus pandemic, mandated quarantines, and social distancing. Restaurants and bars are closed, public parks and trails are off limits, nonessential businesses have shutdown, employees are either out of work or instructed to work from home, schools are closed, and grocery stores are low on stock or sold out of basic items. It feels like life has drastically changed overnight. While all of this has definitely been challenging in so many ways, it has forced me to take a moment to be still, slow down, self-reflect, learn something new, check off things from my to-do list, and connect with people virtually. It has also given me time to appreciate the simple pleasures in life like taking walks outside to enjoy nature and fresh air or cooking my favorite meals at home.

One of my favorite things to make is spaghetti bolognese because I love pasta! Plus, you can make batches of it and freeze it to eat later when you’re feeling too lazy to cook or when you’re craving a midnight snack. This weekend, I was finally able to find all of the ingredients I needed to make my old Dairy-Free Bolognese recipe. What made my evening even better is that I got to open a new bottle of wine that I ordered from Vivino, an online marketplace and community for wine lovers like myself. You can search by wine type, grape, region, food pairings, and price ranges. You can read detailed reviews and descriptions, look at ratings, and then have your favorite wines delivered directly to your door. Vivino sponsored my lovely evening cooking at home by providing me with a nice wine to pair with my meal. Now my belly and my freezer are both full. And my heart is happy!

Porcini Mushroom Bolognese

I love mushrooms. All mushrooms. Mushrooms just taste great in everything. And it’s the perfect substitute for meat. One of my favorite specialty mushrooms is porcini. I love its meaty texture and earthy flavor. I thought it would be fun (and delicious) to create a vegetarian and vegan version of my bolognese sauce with porcini mushrooms.

To create my dish, I used a variety of Alessi Food products, including their extra virgin olive oil, dried porcini mushrooms, linguine, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sea salt, and black peppercorn. Alessi products are fresh, high-quality, and authentically Italian. They are family owned and operated for the last 72 years! You can find their products at most local grocers or you can buy them online with free shipping on all orders over $20. If you love Italian food and cooking, definitely check out Alessi Foods and use code BELLY for a 15% discount. They offer a variety of amazing products. One thing I particularly like about their organic pasta is that it is made with bronze dies, which means it is coarser than most pastas and allows sauce to stick to it more.

My sauce is not only vegetarian but it’s also vegan. I used coconut milk as a dairy substitute to make the sauce creamy. However, I like to top my pasta with a little parmesan but you don’t have to. Happy cooking and eating!

Porcini Mushroom Bolognese (serves 6)

Dry Ingredients:

1 package (1 lb) of Alessi organic linguine or spaghetti pasta

3 packages (1.5 oz) of Alessi porcini mushrooms

Liquid Ingredients:

1 can (28 oz) of Alessi crushed Italian tomatoes

1-1½ cup tomato sauce

½ cup of dry red or white wine

½ cup of coconut milk

½ cup of porcini mushroom water

½-¾ cup of pasta water

Fresh Vegetables:

½ lb mixed mushrooms (cremini and shiitake), coarsely chopped

1 whole eggplant, roasted, peeled and mashed (optional)

1 whole sweet yellow onion, diced

1 cup of carrots, diced

1 cup of celery, diced

½ cup of fresh parsley, chopped

Herbs, Spices, & Seasoning:

2 tbsp Alessi extra virgin olive oil

2-2½ tsp Alessi coarse ground sea salt

1 tsp Alessi ground black peppercorn

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp oregano

6 sprigs of fresh thyme

6 cloves of garlic, 3 thinly sliced and 3 crushed

½ tsp red chili flakes (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Wash eggplant and trim ends.  Cut thick round slices and lay flat on a baking sheet.  Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the eggplant and season with salt and pepper.  Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, flipping the eggplant slices over half way through.  When the eggplant has finished baking, allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.  Peel the skin off the round slices and discard. Mash up the eggplant with a knife and set aside.

Soak dried porcini mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes.  Rinse and drain.  Keep ½ cup of the porcini mushroom water to use in the sauce.

Clean, trim, peel, and dice carrots, celery and onions.  Wash and coarsely chop the mixed mushrooms.  Thinly slice 3 of the garlic cloves and crush the other cloves.

Heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat in a large braising pan.  Sautee the onions until they turn a light golden brown.  Then add garlic, celery, and carrots to the pan.  Add 2 tbsp water.  Cook for a few minutes until they have softened. 

Add porcini and mixed mushrooms.  Sprinkle 2 tsp sea salt and 1 tsp ground black pepper.  Cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms have shrunken.  Pour in roasted eggplant.  Add 1 tsp sugar.  Mix thoroughly and allow to cook for a couple of minutes.

Add ½ cup of dry red or white wine.  Lower heat to medium.  Stir the vegetables, scraping any bits stuck to the pan.  Cook for a few minutes. 

Pour in crushed tomatoes and 1 cup tomato sauce (you can add more if you prefer your bolognese saucier).  Sprinkle in remaining ½ tsp sea salt, ½ tsp red chili flakes, and 1 tsp oregano.  Throw in 6 sprigs of fresh thyme.  Add ½ cup of the porcini mushroom water.  Mix the vegetarian bolognese.

Lower heat to medium low.  Partially cover the pan with a lid and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. 

In the meantime, bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta until it’s al dente.  Save ½ cup of the pasta water.  Drain pasta and set aside.

After the bolognese has been simmering for 30 minutes, pour in ½ cup of coconut milk.  Add ½-¾ cup of the pasta water or more, depending on how much your sauce has thickened or your preference.  Mix thoroughly.  Allow to simmer for another 30 minutes partially covered.

Remove the thyme sprigs from the sauce.  Serve sauce over pasta.  Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over your dish.  Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley.  Top with shaved parmesan.

Tomato Confit

Tomato Confit has been my recent obsession. I’ve made it at least 4 times in the last month. It’s such an easy and versatile recipe. You can mix it with pasta, spread it on top of a crostini or in a sandwich, use as a dip, or drizzle over meat or fish. I made it for my family over the holidays with spaghetti and a side of garlic shrimp. This week, I mixed it with zucchini noodles for a lighter, carb-free meal and it was still so yummy! Try it!

Tomato Confit

Ingredients:

·      1 lb mixed cherry tomatoes

·      ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil

·      5-6 cloves of garlic, 2 smashed and 3 thinly sliced

·      6 sprigs of fresh thyme

·      ½ tsp salt

·      ½ tsp pepper

·      ½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a baking dish, spread out your tomatoes and smother with olive oil.  Throw in garlic and thyme.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chili flakes.  Bake for 60 minutes.  In about 45 minutes, check to see if the tomatoes have blistered and popped open. If not, puncture them slightly with a fork so that the juices ooze into the olive oil. And that’s it!

If you want to try this recipe with zoodles, spiralize 3 zucchinis. 3 zucchinis should be enough for the entire above-mentioned amount of tomato confit and should serve about 3 people. However, you don’t have to use all of the tomato confit for zoodles. You may want to make 1 serving of zoodles (1 zucchini) and then save the rest of the confit for other uses. Simply store the rest of the tomato confit in a glass jar and refrigerate. To make the zoodles, lightly sautee the zucchini noodles in a pan over medium heat with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with black pepper and salt. Drizzle a tablespoon of lemon juice. Stir thoroughly. This will only take a minute or two. Be careful not to overcook the zucchini noodles because it can get mushy. Mix the tomato confit into the zoodles.

I prefer to top these zoodles with roasted corn. Since I don’t have a grill, I char 1 corn on the cob in a frying pan with olive oil and then bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Allow corn to cool and then shave off the kernels and mix into your tomato confit zoodles.

My Favorite Bolognese!

I love bolognese. It’s my go-to Italian dish in LA. I used to like it super chunky but after having so many different variations here, I discovered that bolognese is actually really good when it’s a little creamy. Not too creamy though. I’ve made many versions of bolognese, never keeping track of measurements until now. I have always just tasted as I cooked and added whatever was needed in the moment. Earlier this year, I dated someone who believed he had Celiac and was also allergic to dairy. I wanted to make him a diary-free bolognese and I experimented with coconut milk. Surprisingly, it was delicious! While the relationship did not work out, my creamy bolognese did and I am grateful for that! It’s now one of my favorite things to make! And this time, I have it all written out so that I can recreate it whenever I want. I always have some in my freezer to eat later! Here is my slightly creamy but still chunky bolognese recipe. Keep in mind, I tend to go heavier on veggies because I love vegetables. Feel free to cut down on the vegetables. I hope you like it!

Davy’s Bolognese (Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1½ cups of carrots, diced (You can cut down to only 1 cup. I generally prefer lots of veggies.)

1½ cups of celery, diced (You can cut down to only 1 cup. I generally prefer lots of veggies.)

¾ lb or 12 oz of cremini or white button mushrooms, chopped up/diced (optional —mushrooms aren’t typically included in bolognese recipes but I love them and had to have!)

1 small sweet onion, diced

1.75 lb (large) can of unsalted crushed tomatoes

1 cup of tomato sauce

½ - ¾ cup canned coconut milk

½ cup white or red wine (white preferred)

½ - 1 cup of water (or pasta water or chicken broth)

6 garlic cloves, diced

6 sprigs of thyme

3 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp black pepper

½ tbsp red chili flakes (optional-I like it a little spicy!)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup of shredded parmesan (optional)

1½ cup of chopped parsley (optional)

Directions:

In a large pan, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium to high heat. Add onions and cook until they have lightly browned. Add garlic, carrots, and celery. Add a tbsp water. When carrots have softened, add mushrooms. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper. When mushrooms are mostly cooked, turn heat down to medium. Add meat and season with 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp sugar. Break up the ground meat into smaller pieces, lightly browning it. Add wine and stir, cooking for a few minutes longer until some of the wine has evaporated. Then pour in crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce and add chili flakes, remaining 1 tsp salt, and sprigs of thyme. Turn heat down to medium-low and let simmer for about 2 hours, with lid slightly ajar. Stir periodically. Add water (or pasta water or chicken broth) halfway through after the sauce has thickened.

After 2 hours, taste the sauce. Add additional salt or pepper, if needed. Pour in coconut milk. Simmer for another hour on low heat. Don’t worry if there is a lot of juice. Sauce will thicken as it cooks and once it sets. If it is too thick at the end, add some more water.

Serve over pasta and sprinkle with fresh parsley and parmesan.