pasta Archives - Foodology

In pasta

Making Zoodles with Cuisinart Food Spiralizer

January 17, 2018

The fad of making zoodles / zucchinni noodles is all over the internet as a grain-free and healthy alternative to making “pasta”. I got this hand-powered machine – Cuisinart Food Spiralizer to make dinners more exciting and easy to prep my ingredients. With this machine, there is a Safe Blade Lock Design and Sealed storage compartment which makes it easy for kids to get involved in meal prep without getting close to the blade.

There are 3 cutting options:

Thin Julienne
Thick Julienne
Ribbon Slice

Thin or Thick Julienne are best for making veggie noodles, so that what we are going to make today. You can eat them raw, microwaved, sauteed, boiled or baked.

I just my zucchini into 4 sections and removed either ends. There are nobs on either side of the device to adjust the blades so you know what you’re cutting them into.

You swing the handle in a circular motion and it begins slicing up the zucchini effortlessly. If you accidentally cut the zucchini segments in an angular way, the spiralizer will have a hard time gripping onto it, thus some slippage.

Thick Julienne

I refer the thicker julienne zoodles as it holds better when cooking. The longer you cook them, the mushier they get.

Thin Julienne

Depending on what you’re making, you may feel one style is better than the other.

Seared Tuna with Pesto Zoodles

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Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1 Zucchini
80g Pesto
2 Tuna Steaks (170g each)
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Cut the end of the zucchini and cut them into 4 sections.
Use the spiralizer to create your zoodles.
Season tuna steaks with salt and pepper to taste.
In a medium heat pan, sear each side of the tuna steak for 1.5 minutes and let rest.
In another pan, cook zoodles with pesto for 2 minutes.
Plate the your dish with the zoodles and them top it with your slices seared tuna.
Enjoy

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In pasta

Creamy Buffalo Chicken Pasta

October 9, 2017

I love Frank’s Red Hot Sauce as it always reminds me of spicy buffalo wings. When I was cooking dinner one evening, I combined a few items that I already had in the fridge and pantry to create this dish. It’s a quick pasta dish to make under 30 minutes.

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Serves: 4

Ingredients:

12 oz Rotini Pasta
1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
1/4 chicken broth
1/2 cup Shredded Chicken
1/2 cup Blue Cheese Dressing

Direction:

Heat a pot over medium heat
Add plain greek yogurt, Franks Red hot sauce, chicken broth and blue cheese dressing. Mix until well combined.
Add in shredded chicken.
Allow the sauce to simmer for 5 minutes over low heat.
In the meantime, boil a large pot of water and cook the pasta according to package directions, drain, add to the sauce and stir to combine.

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In Italian

Buca Osteria & Enoteca: Pasta, Pizza and Pig Ears

November 7, 2014

After touching down in Toronto, Flo and I went to Buca on King Street for dinner. It’s been a few years since I’ve been here but I will remember they had some pretty damn good Italian food. They have 2 more locations Buca Bar and Buca Yorkville.

Like always, remember to make reservations or else you will be out of luck. We managed to snag a reservation on Open Table at 6pm a day before due to cancellations.

We were seated in their wine room and it was really beautiful seeing all their varieties of wine.

There are lots of tables and seats in the area. It’s much more calm and relaxing here compared to their main dining area.

Peroni is served in a large wine glass. I never felt more sophisticated drinking beer out of this glass. I like Peroni because it’s light with a hint of citrus.

We chose two types of their Salumi Di Buca, which are their daily meat.

Prosciuttini, which is a cured leg of pork with colonata spice.
Coppa, cured pork shoulder with ciociare spice

Then we got 2 of their formaggi, which are their cheeses:

Ricotta Di Bufala, is their whipped water buffalo milk whey cheese
Pecorino Toscano, Tuscan DOP Sheeps milk cheese, aged 8 years

All the the choices were great and they came with their daily preserves. It’s a fun item to pick a few meats and cheeses and enjoy a good chat with friends while picking at the plate.

Gnocco Fritto ($7) are Tuscan spiced crisp dumpling. It is basically a big dumpling that is hollow. It is served with lardo, which is basically fat.

I thought it was an average dish. It looks beautiful, but I didn’t like the idea of eating fat and deep fried hollow dumplings.

Orecchio Di Maiale ($8) is a great dish to share. It is crisp pig’s ears with wild fennel and sale di cervia. It is so crispy and is music to my ears. It was good for the first few pieces, but it did get quite salty after a while.

Fungi Pizza ($24) has sauteed seasonal mushrooms, marscarpone, gorgonzola and marjoram. This pizza was quite rich and heavy. The mushrooms didn’t shine through as it was overpowered by the various cheeses.

Bigoli ($18) has torchio-cranked duck egg pasta, duck offal ragu, venetian spices, mascarpone, and basil . The portion was small for the price, but it tasted good.

Their food is pretty good but you have to choose the dishes carefully. Here is my last visit from 2012. I do like the atmosphere of Buca and it is quite lively.

We Rate Buca:

Address:
602 King Street W.
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://buca.ca/

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In Downtown/Ryerson University

Scaddabush: Italian Kitchen and Bar in Toronto

May 20, 2014

An Easter Long Weekend in Toronto means a lot of people leave town, but M and I came to visit some friends, but realized a lot of restaurants were closed or fully booked with reservations. Looking at Open Table to see what was available, we got curious about Scaddabush on Younge Street. They also have a another location in Mississauga.

The are an Italian restaurant serving up meatballs, pasta, fresh mozzarella, and pizza.

The interior looked pretty cool. It’s also great for large groups because we saw a huge group come here for a birthday party. Maybe about 25 people.

They make all their Mozzarella in-house from 5pm – 11pm. They even tell you exactly who made it. It’s a nice personal touch. There is also a window where you can watch them make it.

Buratta ($11.98) is infused with honey and truffle cream, comes with focaccia crostini.

Straight Up Meatball comes shareable on focaccia crostini, cheese sauce, garlic chips, and fresh basil.It is about half a pound.

You have two choices to choose from:

Straight-Up Meatball (Classic) $12.28
Straight-Up Meatball (Stuffed) $12.68

Straight-Up Stuffed Meatball ($12.68) it is stuffed with pepperoni and mozzarella. Theres a good amount of pepperoni inside.

Italian Burger ($14.92) has certified Angus Beef, bruschetta, baby arugula, fried fresh mozzarella, balsamic reduction, pesto aïoli, and served on artisanal bread. You get your choice of side and Fabo chose fries.

Bolognese (Small: $11.97) has fresh fettuccine, classic Northern Italian meat sauce, and lemon herbed ricotta. There are two more additional sizes – Large ($14.97) and Social ($26.20).

The bolognese was ok, a decent amount of meat, but it’s not overflowing with sauce. The server warned me about this dish because a few people have complained saying there wasn’t enough sauce. I found there was a perfect amount of sauce.

Veal Parmesan ($18.92) is panko breadcrumb crusted, melted fresh mozzarella, special spices, served with spaghetti with tomato basil sauce. You can also get chicken parmesan for $18.24.

This dish was quite expensive for what you get and the quality was ok.

Pesto Pollo (Small – $13.97) has fresh fettuccine, sautéed chicken, baby spinach, semi sun-dried tomatoes, and basil pesto cream sauce. There are also two sizes available too – Large ($17.77) and Social ($31.10).

Overall, fun atmosphere with friends, but food and service was average.

We Rate Scaddabush:

Address:
382 Yonge St Unit #7
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.scaddabush.com/

In Kid Friendly

Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria and Cucina: Pizza and Pasta in Vegas

April 13, 2014

Inside the The Shops at Crystals right beside Aria is Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria and Cucina. My parents were raving about this place and how addictive their pasta was the day before. I was intrigued and I wanted to come here to see what they were talking about.

It has a warm and inviting atmosphere. Perfect for families. We came right when it opened and by 1pm, there was a good amount of people dining.

The other side of the restaurant, you can get a view of all the shops. Plus its great for people watching.

Shirley Temple was what my mom was craving. It is made using a mix of Grenadine syrup and soda. We were sad they didn’t use the recipe with orange juice.

Complimentary bread arrived at the table before the rest of the meal came. It is delicious rustic bread with a few pieces of butter on the side. The bread was really soft in the centre and crispy on the outside.

Prime Beef Carpaccio has roasted garlic aioli, crispy artichokes, goat cheese, and arugula. Oh man, this was addictive. Highly recommended.

Veal Ravioli has porcini mushrooms in a brown butter sauce and crisp sage on top. My sister thought it was a bit salty for her liking but the first few bites were good.

Rigatoncini is smothered in piemontese meat sauce, garlic, and parmesan reggiano. The sauce gets into the inside of the pasta so you get a good amount of sauce in each bite.

Spaghetti has tomatoes, basil, garlic with housemade meatballs. Very classic and simple dish. The meatballs were huge and it is very filling. My sister and my dad really liked this.

Wild Mushroom pizza has bechamel, fontina, thyme, and arugula on top. It has a thin crust and perfectly crisp all the way through.

Overall, the food was done pretty well and no complaints.

We Rate Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria & Cucina:

Address:
3720 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV

Website:
http://www.wolfgangpuck.com/restaurants/fine-dining/53877

In Four Beakers

Ask for Luigi: Yummy Pasta in Gastown

March 15, 2014

Ask for Luigi is a casual Italian-inspired restaurant serving up fresh handmade pasta. It is located in Railtown where the old 2 Chefs a Table until they closed the location. There is some free parking in the area.

The way you order is family-style, so all dishes are meant to be shared among the table. The appetizers arrive first and then the pasta dishes quickly follow. They have some gluten-free option available each day. They also do take-out too.

FoodQueen and I tried making a reservation on a Wednesday for a Sunday dinner and all their reservations were all gone. But, they said to come at 5:30pm and we would have a high chance at getting a spot.

It was 5:29pm and there were already people inside with 70% of the tables occupied. By 5:45pm, this place was packed! Not a single seat was left. People are crazy about their pasta. Some people have indicated that they had to wait over an hour for a table. Best to come early or attempt to make a reservation.

Fried Cauliflower & Aioli ($10) is their most popular appetizer. It reminded me of Nuba’s Najib’s Special. Really good!

Bocconcini Fritti ($9) is a vegetarian dish and its is essentially deep-fried cheese balls.

Oh boy, was it ooey and gooey with the cheese super stringy and dripping out.

Beef Carpaccio ($14) is topped was many different ingredients and sauces. It was our favourite appetizer. It’s a bit hard to taste the real flavour of the beef with all the fragrant toppings, but it was still very enjoyable.

Pappardelle & Duck Ragu ($19) was the pasta that we ordered. The thick pasta they used was perfect and it latched onto the sauce. The shreds of duck was yummy and tender.

Overall, FoodQueen and I enjoyed our dinner. The service was good and the food came quite quickly. We were all done within an hour. We were glad we came early so we didn’t have to wait in line.

We Rate Ask for Luigi:

Address:
305 Alexander Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.askforluigi.com/

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In Insadong

Pomodoro 뽀모도로: Spaghetti in Insadong

December 10, 2013

Our last night in Seoul, we headed to the Insadong area to have some pasta at Pomodoro. M’s sister recommended that we come have some delicious pasta here. She came here a few years ago and recall that it was good.

The space inside is small, so there isn’t a large amount of seats.

Below is their full menu. There’s English, so you won’t have a hard time ordering at all.

Complimentary Pickles and Jalapeños arrive at the table before the meal. It’s customary in Korean meals to have side dishes free of charge. These items were nothing special, but it’s something you can munch on while waiting for your meal.

Insalta mista di stagione (6,500 won) was a strange salad. It had sprouts at the top, greens, cherry tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and corn.

Spaghetti alla carbonara (14,500 won) has bacon and cream sauce.

Penne alla Fiesolana e Melanzane (13,000 won) has mozzarella cheese, eggplant and a tomato basil sauce.

Risotto alla Funghi (15,500 won) is Italian style rice with mushrooms and cream sauce. This dish was quite large and very very rich. I had a hard time eating it as it was quite salty.

Spaghetti ca carni capuliata (15,500 won) has chicken and vegetables in a tomato sauce.

Overall, all the pastas were ok. The food here was pretty expensive and you can get a lot better Korean food with that money. Perhaps something changed over the years because M’s sister also said it wasn’t as good as before.

We Rate Pomodoro:

Address:
6 Gwanhun-dong (28-1 Insadong-gil)
Jongno-gu, Seoul
South Korea

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In Italian

Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria: Italian Restaurant in North Burnaby

October 1, 2012

Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria is a new restaurant located in North Burnaby. Anducci’s used to be in the same location. They serve italian cuisine with authentic Neapolitan pizza and classic Italian dishes. It’s a nice change to have more restaurant like these in the area. There is available parking in front and around the adjacent streets.

I came with Lensflaaare and Flo to chill after a long day.

I ordered a beer as it was a nice day out on the patio. What better way to de-stress with some beer.

Limoncello was very tiny like a shot. We thought it would be more like a cocktail type of drink since it was a bit expensive. Lensflaaare really tried to savour this drink.

Calamari Fritto ($11) is crispy fried squid with roasted roma tomato and salsa verde. It was crispy on the outside with alight batter. The squid was tender and delicious.

Gnocchi Patata (Small -$12) has fried potato gnocchi, Sloping Hill pancetta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, arugula, and herb oil. I really liked this dish because it was a different way the gnocchi was prepared. I’ve never had fried gnocchi before.

Papardelle Carbonara (Small-$12) has Two Rivers guanciale, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, roast garlic, and a 63 degree egg in the center. The egg really pulled the dish together nicely. The crunchy guanciale is really yummy!

Pizza Carne ($16) has guanciale, pancetta, sopressata, coppa, Grana Padano, and San Marzano tomato. I love meat, especially cured meats. The dough had bits where it was burnt and the center could have been more crunchy.

It didn’t come with olive oil or chilli oil, so we had to ask them to bring some over.

Overall, the food was good, but a bit pricey. My favorite items were definitely the pasta. It’s a great new addition to the neighbourhood!

We Rate Cotto Enoteca Pizzeria:

Address:
6011 Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.cotto.ca/

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In Italian

Anton’s Pasta Bar

March 23, 2011

Anton’s Pasta Bar is near my hood. When I go, I always avoid peak hours! During dinnertime, you can see a large line up outside. I’ve only lined up once many years ago, and I will never do that again.

Located in North Burnaby, Anton’s Pasta is a hot spot for pasta. The reason why people crave Anton’s pasta is for their ridiculously humongous portions for a decent price.

On their menu, they have tons of different pastas.. specialty pasta, cream sauce, red sauce, clear sauce….etc.

They make each dish individually in a pan. What I noticed in their cooking area is that all the cooks seem very young, and then there was only one middle aged asian woman washing the dishes.

M and I both got Sanpellegrino Limonata ($3.75). We both really love their sodas! Plus, the peel off top is so ingenious!

You also get served with a piece of bread for each person. It is about the size of a shoe. Despite it’s looks, it is very very soft on the inside. If you are determined to finish all your pasta, you may want to pass up on the bread to save room for your pasta.

I ordered one of their specialty pastas – Penne Antonio ( $15.50). It contains mushrooms, chicken, fresh tomatoes, feta cheese, and dill pesto cream sauce. The dinner size is HUGE! I usually order the Penne Antonio because of the creamy rich dill sauce. The chicken was nice and tender.

I didn’t try really hard to finish it because I never ever do. I probably had 3/5 left over. What I love abou Anton’s is that there is so much food that you can take it home to become tomorrows lunch and dinner. hahaha,

M ordered the Penna Alla Pastora ( $15.50), a clear sauce dish. It has italian sausage & bacon in a white wine, egg & cheese sauce. He said the sausage with a bit spicy and he loved it!

M tried super hard to finish it but he stil had about 1/4 left on his plate.

I am not really sure why anyone would want to suffer lining up in the winter. The quality of the pasta is decent but not the best. People generally come here to get their moneys worth and attempt to finish their entire plate to win an Anton’s pen.

Words of Wisdom: