Tag Archives: bread crumbs

Meatless Pasta with Lemony Breadcrumbs

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What to do for dinner in late-summer/early-fall with an abundance of grape tomatoes and fresh herbs? Well that would be Skillet Burst Grape Tomato Casarecce with Lemony Breadcrumbs. It’s a very simple pan roasted grape tomato pasta with white wine, garlic, fresh herbs, topped with the most crunchy lemony breadcrumbs, and finished with luscious burrata cheese.

Don’t forget to add that luscious dollop of fresh burrata.

This perfect late-summer dinner is ready in under 30 minutes using basic pantry staples and end-of-season garden bounty. If you’ve never used it, Casarecce pasta is a very narrow, twisted, and rolled tube, almost resembling a scroll. If you can’t find it, substitute a similar twisted, tubular pasta like cavatappi, cavatelli, gemelli, or fusilli.

If you have any leftovers, keep the bread crumbs and buratta separate. When ready to eat, reheat the pasta in a microwave for a few minutes, then top with crumbs and cheese.

Skillet Burst Grape Tomato Casarecce with Lemony Breadcrumbs

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup finely torn ciabatta bread
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Crushed red pepper flakes to taste
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 pound casarecce pasta, or other twisted tubular pasta
  • 1 1/4 lbs. red and yellow grape tomatoes
  • 6-8 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
  • 1/3 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 cup manchego cheese, grated
  • 2 cups fresh basil, roughly chopped
  • 2 balls fresh burrata cheese, each ball split in two
  • Crisp bread crumbs until golden
  • Cook until the tomatoes begin to pop
  • Basil and Manchego cheese are added
  • Stir together with some reserved pasta water
  • Top each serving with bread crumbs

Directions

  1. In a large skillet set over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil shimmers, add the bread, a pinch of red pepper flakes and pinch of kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until golden and toasted all over, about 5 minutes.
  2. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest. Slide bread crumbs onto a plate. Wipe the skillet clean. 
  3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente. Just before draining, remove 1 cup of the pasta cooking water. Drain.
  4. Meanwhile, place the same skillet used for the bread over high heat and add the remaining olive oil. When the oil shimmers, add the tomatoes, garlic, thyme, and oregano, and a pinch each of salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the tomatoes begin to pop, about 4-5 minutes. Pour in the wine, cook 1 minute.
  5. Add the pasta and a splash of the pasta cooking water to the skillet, tossing to combine. Remove from the heat and add the manchego cheese and basil, toss to combine. If needed, thin the pasta sauce with a little of the reserved cooking water.
  6. Divide the pasta among shallow bowls, nestle in half a burrata ball, and top with bread crumbs.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Loosely adapted from a recipe found on halfbakedharvest.com

Green Beans with Tomatoes and Crispy Breadcrumbs

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Tomatoes are another summer staple that explodes with a variety of luscious choices by season’s end. In fact, every year in our raised bed herb garden we are fortunate to get several “bonus plants” compliments of seed from our compost.

Fresh, snappy late-summer beans are a fleeting pleasure on their own, but jazz them up with the sweet acidity of grape tomatoes and crackly breadcrumbs, you’ve got a winning combination. The layers of colors (especially if you include yellow wax beans) and crisp and juicy textures effortlessly upgrade any main, such as our herb-marinated grilled bone-in pork chops.

As soon as I eyeballed this recipe in our latest Martha Stewart Living magazine, I knew it was going to make an appearance on our dining table within days. Unfortunately I could not access any yellow wax beans, so instead I used a combination of red and yellow grape tomatoes for that tri-color effect.

A few weeks earlier we made bead crumbs from some leftover crusty bread and put it in the freeze until such time we would need them again. Well this seemed like the perfect occasion, although the crumb was much finer than asked for here, still we went ahead with the recipe and it was great! They were a side dish to those grilled pork chops, but hardly played second fiddle.

  • Boil green beans in salted water for 4-6 minutes
  • Place drained beans on platter, drizzle with olive oil
  • Brown the bread crumbs in olive oil
  • Sauté the tomatoes halves in olive oil
  • Mix bread crumbs with cooked tomatoes

Green Beans with Tomatoes and Crispy Breadcrumbs

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 12 oz. green beans and/or yellow wax beans, trimmed
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • 4 slices rustic bread (5 ounces), crusts removed, torn into large pieces
  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 10 oz. cocktail tomatoes or large cherry tomatoes, or a combination, halved
  • 1 oz. Manchego cheese, finely grated (1/4 cup)
Pour tomato/bread crumb mixture over plated green beans
and top with grated Manchego cheese.

Directions

  1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add beans and cook until bright green and crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Drain and transfer to a serving platter; lightly drizzle with oil.
  2. Pulse bread in a food processor until coarse crumbs form (you should have 2 cups). In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil and butter over medium. Add breadcrumbs and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring, until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
  3. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in skillet over medium-high. Add tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in breadcrumbs. Top beans with warm tomato mixture. Sprinkle with cheese; serve.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Adapted by a recipe from Sarah Copeland

Orecchiette with Broccolini

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There’s been numerous indications, due to the COVID-19 spread and the shutdown of meat processing plants, we’ll likely see meat and poultry shortages in the near future. With foresight, we are starting to compile a reservoir of meatless dishes that could come in handy. For those of you who follow a plant-based diet, you are already ahead of the curve.

Taken from the MilkStreet.com website, it is noted orecchiette with broccoli rabe (orecchiette con cime di rapa) is a signature pasta dish from the Puglia region of southern Italy. The bitterness of rabe is challenging for some palates, so using sweeter, milder broccolini addresses that. However, if you like the assertiveness of rabe, it can easily be used in place of the broccolini, though rabe will cook a little more quickly.

The pasta gets boiled in a minimal amount of water, then the starchy liquid that remains becomes the base for the sauce that marries the orecchiette and broccolini. A finishing sprinkle of toasted seasoned breadcrumbs adds a crisp texture. But don’t use fine dried breadcrumbs in place of panko. Their sandy, powdery texture doesn’t offer the light, delicate crispness of panko.

I decided to adjust the ratio of pasta versus the other ingredients by only using 2/3 the amount of orecchiette, 8 ounces instead of 12. Of course this decision necessitated that the amount of water be reduced also, from 5 cups to 3 cups + 2 ounces. (The original recipe amounts are listed below.) As an additional topper, we sprinkled on some grated Pecorino Romano cheese along with those fabulous bread crumbs. In the end, we loved this dish. There was so much flavor with so few ingredients!

Orecchiette with Broccolini

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 8 Medium garlic cloves, 4 minced, 4 thinly sliced
  • 8 Oil-packed anchovy fillets, minced
  • ¾ Cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1½ Lbs. broccolini, trimmed and cut crosswise into ¼-inch pieces
  • ½-1 tsp. red pepper flakes
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • 12 Oz. orecchiette pasta
  • 5 1/2 cups water
  • Grated cheese for garnish (optional)

Directions

  1. In a large Dutch oven over medium-high, heat 2 tablespoons of oil until shimmering. Add the minced garlic and half the anchovies, then cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 45 seconds.
  2. Add the panko and cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside; wipe out the pot.
  3. In the same pot over medium-high, heat 2 tablespoons of the remaining oil until shimmering. Add the broccolini, pepper flakes, sliced garlic, 1½ teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the broccolini is crisp-tender and the garlic is golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes.
  4. Add ½ cup water and continue to cook, stirring, until most of the moisture has evaporated and the broccolini is fully tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
  5. In the same pot over medium-high, boil 5 cups water. Add 2 teaspoons salt and the pasta, then cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente.
  6. Stir in the broccolini mixture, the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and the remaining anchovies. Continue to cook over medium-high, stirring constantly, until the liquid has thickened enough to cling lightly to the pasta and broccolini, about 1 minute.
  7. Remove from the heat, then taste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and grated parmesan if desired.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Adapted from a recipe by Milk Street