Red Pesto Linguine

Bright in color and flavor, this red pesto linguine is a spicy bowl of deliciousness made with anchovies and Fresno peppers. It’s even great as leftovers so make the whole recipe. 

I keep a lot of pantry staples on hand but one of my favorites is anchovies. That little can adds so much flavor and salt to almost any savory dish from a classic Caesar dressing to a simple caramelized shallot tart. If you have olives and peppers as well, which I almost always do, you can make gildas, which are a Spanish appetizer that goes great with a glass of something chilled. 

I’ve also been known to add anchovies to Dauphinoise potatoes, turning those creamy spuds into a Swedish dish called Jansson’s Frestelse and I have used them, along with bacon and olives, to top a traditional Liguria pissaladière. In short, if I can work some anchovies into a recipe, I'm going to try! 

Today, anchovies are the star ingredient of this red pesto. 

Red Pesto Linguine

This recipe is adapted from one on the Bon Appetit website where they used a scant six anchovies and, it would seem, none of the good and flavorful olive oil the anchovies were packed in. This is a missed opportunity which I have rectified. You can, of course, use whatever pasta shape you prefer but in my book, linguine is the best. 

Ingredients

1 can (2 oz or 56g) olive oil-packed anchovy fillets 

4 garlic cloves

About 1/2 cup or 120ml extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup or 60g walnut pieces

3 tablespoons double-concentrated tomato paste

2 fresh Fresno peppers

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 oz or 85g freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

1 lb or 450g linguine or your favorite pasta shape

Sea salt for the pasta water

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Method

Tip your can of anchovies into a measuring vessel and top up with good quality olive oil until you reach 2/3 cup. Use the side of your knife to smash the garlic and then chop it roughly. 

In a small pot, cook the anchovies, oil, garlic and walnuts over a medium heat, stirring often. 

Take it off the heat as the garlic is just beginning to turn golden. This takes several minutes but don’t walk off and leave it because you do not want the garlic to burn. 

Add tomato paste.

Cook, stirring often, until the anchovies have completely broken down, if they hadn’t already, and the mixture is a deep red. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool. 

Cut the stems ends off of the peppers and then cut them in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to remove the seeds, then cut the peppers into smaller pieces. 

Transfer walnut mixture to a food processor. Add chili peppers and lemon juice. Process until completely smooth. 

Add in the grated Parmesan and process again until you have a thick paste. If it’s too thick for your processor, add a tablespoon or two of warm water and process again. 

Meanwhile, cook your linguine according to package instructions until al dente, lightly salting the water. Remove and reserve 1 1/2 cups or 355ml of the pasta water with a ladle. Drain the pasta in a colander. 

Scrape the pesto into the warm pot and add the butter. 

Pour the drained linguine back in along with a 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Use tongs or two wooden spoons to toss the linguine in the pesto until the butter is melted and the linguine is covered in sauce. Add more pasta water as needed. 

Serve the linguine topped with extra Parmesan. Because the more cheese, the better. 

Enjoy! 

It’s the third Friday of the month, the day my Fish Friday Foodie friends share seafood recipes. Many thanks our host, Sid of Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking who challenged us to use canned, frozen or pouched seafood to make appetizers or a meal for a theme she named Shortcut Seafood. Special thanks to Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for stepping up to help with behind the scenes work. Check out the links below. 

• Culinary Adventures with Camilla is plating an Ensalada de Atún y Pimientos
• A Day in the Life on the Farm is serving up Linguini with White Beans and Tuna 
• Sneha's Recipe cooked up Prawn and Onion Stir Fry
• Food Lust People Love made some Red Pesto Linguine 
• Palatable Pastime is giving us a Tea Room Tuna Salad Plate
• Karen's Kitchen Stories is ladling out a Smoked Salmon Bisque 
• Making Miracles shares her recipe for Tuna Patties

Are you a food blogger who would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas. 

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Beef and Mushroom Bourguignon (Instant Pot)

Beef and Mushroom Bourguignon is rich and flavorful, a hearty comforting meal for cold winter nights, made quicker than usual in an Instant Pot. 

Normally beef bourguignon requires a long slow braise to tenderize the meat, which is all very fine and well if you have the time. If I’m being honest, these days I mostly do. That said, ever since our kitchen renovation early in 2020 when I was cooking in my Instant Pot in the laundry room, I’ve been enamored with that small appliance. Why not use it? 

The Instant Pot makes short work of a long braise (35 minutes!) and best of all, there’s only one pot to clean. Whenever my mom sees me taking it out, she wonders what my grandmother would have thought of such a thing. As a working woman still expected to put a meal on the table every day, I think she would have been intrigued. I know she used her pressure cooker and this is just a more efficient one. 

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, by all means fry the bacon, brown the beef and sauté the onions and celery in a skillet on the stove, then transfer the whole lot into a slow cooker. Add the stock, wine, carrots and mushrooms and cook on high for 6-8 hours, or until the beef is tender. 

Beef and Mushroom Bourguignon

A traditional beef bourguignon does include mushrooms but they are definitely a supporting player for the star beef. In this recipe, I’ve significantly upped the amount of mushrooms and used “beefier” baby bellas instead of the standard white mushrooms, cutting larger ones in quarters and halving smaller ones. This is a great way to both stretch your beef budget and make this a healthier meal. 

Ingredients

1 lbs 10oz or 740g top sirloin beef

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup or 31g all-purpose flour

Olive oil

3 slices thick-cut bacon, (about 4 oz or 115g) 

2 large carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 7 1/4 oz or 205g)

3 celery stalks (about 3 1/2 oz or 100g)

1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 9 1/3 oz or 265g)

1 lb or 450g fresh baby bella mushrooms, cleaned

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 cup or 240ml dry red wine plus extra for the cook

2 cups or 480ml beef broth

For a slurry to thicken the sauce:

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons cold water

Fine sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Method

Trim the fat and gristle off of the beef and discard. Cut the meat into small chunks. Sprinkle the chunks liberally with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Peel the onion and carrots. Finely chop the onion and celery stalks. Cut the carrot into chunks. 

Trim any hard stems off of the mushrooms and quarter the larger ones. Halve the smaller ones.

Sprinkle the seasoned beef with some of the flour. I have a small sieve I use for this purpose and it works really well to get even coverage. Toss the beef pieces around a little and keep sprinkling the flour on until the beef is evenly coated. 

Set your Instant Pot to sauté mode adjusted to medium heat (the middle light). Fry the bacon in the pot until it is crisp. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked bacon to a plate and set aside.

Add the cubed chuck to your Instant pot in batches so that you don't overcrowd the pot, and sear it for 3-4 minutes, using tongs to turn the meat and sear all sides.

When the brown crust is formed, it will release from the Instant Pot so just be patient. Remove each batch of beef once seared. Set aside. I piled mine up on top of the bacon. 

Turn the Instant Pot off and add in the onions and celery. 

Let them sit without stirring for a few minutes. The residual heat from the sauté function will continue to cook them and when you do start stirring, you will be able to use a wooden spoon or spatula to free all the browned goodness from the bottom of the Instant Pot. 

Now turn the sauté function back on and set it to low. Continue to cook the celery and onion until they are softened, about five minutes. Add the beef chunks and the bacon back into the pot. Stir well to mix the vegetables and the beef. 

Pour in the stock and red wine. 

Add in the fresh thyme then the carrots. 

Now pile in the mushrooms. Do not stir! For optimum tenderness, we want to be sure the beef is completely covered by the stock and wine.

Cook on the stew setting under pressure for 35 minutes. When time is up, turn the Instant Pot off. Use a towel to cover the steam lever and carefully release the pressure. 

Remove the lid. Use a slotted spoon to remove the beef, carrots and mushrooms and put them in a large bowl. 

According the markings on the inside of the Instant Pot, you should have about 3 cups of liquid left in the pot. Cook on the sauté high setting for about 15-20 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by one third, that is to say you will have two cups left. 

Make a slurry of the cornstarch and cold water. Turn the Instant Pot off and whisk constantly as you pour the slurry in. Since the pot is still very hot, it should thicken right up. 

Add the beef, mushrooms and carrots back in and stir gently to coat them with the sauce. Have a taste and add a little fine sea salt and black pepper as needed. 

Serve with some extra thyme leaves for garnish, if desired. This is great over white rice or mashed potatoes. 

Enjoy!

It's MultiCooker Monday! Check out all the small appliance cooked dishes my friends are sharing today. Many thanks to our group leader and host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Air Fryer Salmon from Making Miracles
• Air Fryer Taquitos from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Beef and Mushroom Bourguignon - Instant Pot from Food Lust People Love
• Game Day Crockpot Frozen Chicken Breasts from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Nepali Style Vegetable Pulao-Pressure Cooker from Sneha's Recipe
• Port Braised Short Ribs (Instant Pot) from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pumpkin Pie Spiced Vegan Pumpkin and Green Gram Curry from Magical Ingredients
• Southern Style Green Beans (Instant Pot) from Palatable Pastime

Multicooker Monday is a blogger group created by Sue of Palatable Pastime for all of us who need encouragement to make better use of our small appliances like slow cookers, Instant Pots, Air Fryers, rice cookers and sous vide machines. We get together every third Monday of the month to share our recipes. If you are a food blogger who would like to post with us, please request to join our Facebook group. 

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Cheesy Eggplant Pork Roast Rolls

These cheesy eggplant pork roast rolls are filled with pork, eggplant and mozzarella, baked in a fresh tomato sauce, then topped with more cheese.

When you are just two people in a household, leftovers are a fact of life. This recipe is one I cooked quite a while back when it was just my husband and I alone in our empty nest. First we enjoyed a pork roast that I prepared with my sous vide precision cooker. It was fabulous but clearly too big for two. 

That’s when I had this idea. What if I rolled slices of pork with slices of eggplant and stuffed them with cheese? I couldn’t wait to try it and I was not disappointed. The rolls are tender and flavorful, especially cooked in a fresh garlicky tomato sauce.  

Cheesy Eggplant Pork Roast Rolls

I call these pork roast rolls because, as mentioned above, I used leftover pork roast from this sous vide recipe, but you can also substitute roast pork or beef from your nearby delicatessen or deli counter at the grocery store. I think they’d also be tasty with ham. 

Ingredients

For the rolls:

15 thin slices from the middle of two large eggplants

1 cup or 85g chopped eggplant

15 thin slices pork roast (about 1 1/2 lbs or 700g) 

1 cup or 135g roast pork, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped 

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne

3 1/2 oz or 100g mozzarella cheese, finely grated

8-10 leaves fresh basil, chiffonade (rolled and cut into thin strips)

For the fresh tomato sauce:

1 3/4 cups or 500g canned crushed tomatoes (+ 1/3 cup or water)

1 large clove garlic, chopped into slivers

8-10 leaves fresh basil, chiffonade (rolled and cut into thin strips)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

For the topping:

3 1/2 oz or 100g mozzarella, finely grated

1 3/4 oz or 50g Parmesan, finely grated

1/2 cup or 40g fresh bread crumbs

fresh ground black pepper

Note: You will have plenty of sliced eggplant leftover since only the best and biggest middle slices are suitable for this dish. Store them in an airtight container for another recipe. I’d like to suggest my mashup (in the musical sense) of pizza and Arabic flatbread: Manousah or my easy eggplant parmigiana. 

Method

Combine all of the ingredients for the fresh tomato sauce together in a mixing bowl.

Thinly slice your eggplant on a mandolin. 

When you get to the bottom of the eggplant, where it’s too hard to continue slicing, remove the peel with a sharp knife and chop the flesh into small cubes. As mentioned in the ingredients, you’ll need 1 cup or about 85g of chopped eggplant. Some of the narrower slices can also be used for this. 

In a saucepan with the olive oil, sauté the onions and garlic until they soften. Add in the chopped eggplant and chopped pork. 

Cook the mixture for about 10 minutes or until the eggplant has softened. Sprinkle on the cayenne. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Once it’s cooled, add in the basil and mozzarella and stir to combine.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and spoon in enough fresh tomato sauce to cover the bottom of your casserole dish.

Choose the best and biggest 15 slices of eggplant. 

Put one slice of pork roast on top of one slice of eggplant. Add about 2 tablespoons of the filling. 

Roll the eggplant and pork roast up, tucking the filling in as you go. Lay the roll end side down in the casserole dish. 

Continue stacking, filling and rolling until all of your eggplant pork roast rolls are assembled, adding them to the casserole dish as you go. 

Spoon the rest of the fresh tomato sauce over the top of the rolls. 

Cover the casserole with foil. Bake in your preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, put your topping ingredients together in a small bowl and grind in some black pepper. Mix well. 

Remove the casserole from the oven. Sprinkle the topping on evenly and return the casserole to the oven, uncovered, for an additional 15 minutes or until the topping is golden and bubbling. 

Garnish the casserole with extra basil leaves.

Serve with a Parmesan wedge and grater on the side, in case anyone wants to add more.  

Enjoy! 

Today’s Sunday FunDay theme celebrates dairy so you’ll find lots of wonderful sweet and savory recipes below. Many thanks to our host Rebekah of Making Miracles. 

• Blackberry Peach Overnight Oats by Palatable Pastime
• Cheesy Eggplant Pork Roast Rolls by Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Pots de Creme by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Creamy Asparagus Soup with Ham Stock by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Creamy Steak Fettuccine by Making Miracles
• Doodh Poha/Rice Flakes In Milk by Sneha's Recipe
• Fresh Turmeric Chaas by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Homemade Chocolate Pudding by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Kesar Lassi (Saffron Lassi) by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Peanut Butter & Banana Ice Cream by Cooking With Carlee

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Cheesy Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers

These cheesy shrimp stuffed poblano peppers are wrapped in bacon and roasted till the bacon is crispy and the cheese is soft and melted. They make a fabulous starter or even a good main course, served with sides. 

Pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before but my meals each week are often predicated on whatever catches my eye in the market or grocery store. (These days mostly just the grocery store since I am limiting my forays into the public to once a week.) 

These shiny green poblano peppers jumped out at me and I suddenly remembered a recipe I made years and years ago around this time, from a post on my friend Christine’s blog, where she used cornbread dressing to stuff poblanos. Girl after my own Texas heart. 

When she first posted it, I had never come across poblano peppers in Dubai but then, suddenly, my supermarket had some! You’ve never seen anyone so excited over a vegetable since, honestly, I don’t know when. I know, I'm sad, but here we are. 

Meanwhile, I'm back in Texas where poblanos abound. I didn’t have any cornbread stuffing on hand but I did have queso fresco or farmer’s cheese, shrimp and bacon and who can resist those? If you are looking for a non-traditional Thanksgiving dish, try these stuffed peppers. We loved them!

Cheesy Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers

For this dish I used jalapeño bacon but any smoked bacon would be just as lovely. We happen to be chili pepper freaks in our house so our motto is the more heat the better. It’s also hard to tell from the photos but my poblano peppers were about 6-7 in or 15-18cm long. The cheese is a fresh, soft, dry curd cheese highly prized for many recipes in Mexico and South America. If you can’t get a similar cheese, perhaps try a fresh goat cheese instead. The flavor will be different but still delicious. We are looking for something that will melt without melting out of the pepper. In a pinch you could use grated cheddar mixed through with well-drained cottage cheese or ricotta so it doesn’t completely melt and drip out of the peppers because no one wants that. 

Ingredients

4 fresh poblano peppers (480g total)

10 1/2 oz or 300g raw, peeled, cleaned shrimp

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons butter

5 oz or 142g queso fresco

8 slices smoked bacon 

Optional to serve: your favorite salsa

Method

Heat your broiler to high, move your oven rack up to the top position and put the peppers on a big sheet of aluminum foil on a large baking pan. 

Roast the peppers for several minutes on each side, making sure to keep a close eye on them so they just pop and char a little but don’t completely burn. 

When they are nice and scorched on all sides, remove the pan from the oven and wrap the foil loosely around the peppers, closing the steam in by crimping the sides.  Set aside for 10 minutes. 

Open the foil and gentle remove the outer peelings. Cut a slit up the middle of each pepper. Save the foil for use later. 

Sauté the garlic in the butter for a few minutes, being careful not to let it color or, God forbid, burn. Add in the shrimp and cook till they release their water, then cook a few more minutes, until the pan is almost, but not quite, dry again. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. 

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C. 

Slice the cheese into slim sticks and fill the bottom of the pepper with a little of them, tucking cheese right up under the seeded core at the stem end.

Add in one quarter of the shrimp with garlic.

 Top with more cheese. 

As best you can, try to gently pull up the sides of the pepper to close the slit. Stick a toothpick in, if that helps. Use two slices of bacon to wrap around and around the pepper to hold it closed.

Repeat until all four peppers are stuffed and bacon-wrapped. 

Return the peppers to the foil and put it back on the baking pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the bacon is cooked and golden. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about five minutes. 

Serve with your favorite salsa for a generous first course or with a side salad and veggies as a main course. 

Enjoy! 

This month my Fish Friday Foodie friends are sharing recipes to serve for Thanksgiving. Many thanks to our founder and host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out the recipes below.

• Cheesy Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers from Food Lust People Love
• Crab Stuffed Deviled Eggs from Palatable Pastime
• Cracked Crab with Lemongrass, Black Pepper, and Basil from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Shrimp Mini Quiche Appetizers from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Shrimp Turkey Centerpiece from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Crispy Brussels Sprouts Salad with Seared Scallops from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pumpkin and Shrimp Bisque from Making Miracles
• Thai Noodles With Shrimps from Sneha's Recipe

Are you a food blogger who would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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