Cinnamon squash and tomatoes for pasta

About two weeks ago I had a hankering for something different, some type of comfort food. I wasn't sure what I wanted. I looked around the kitchen and I could see some tomatoes left from the garden, I figured I would cook up something different with them, but I wasn't certain what. Then I recalled the butternut squash I picked up at the market a few days earlier. In in the last couple of years I have been using squash a great deal more when I cook, then I had in the past, and I have found it quite versatile as it mixes so well with many different things.

Taking stock

So it had been decided, I would start with chopping the elongated part of the butternut squash I had on hand. First I cut off the long end. Sometimes I use a vegetable peeler to peel my squash but I was feeling like using my knife yesterday, so I cut off the upper piece of the squash were there are no seeds of the bottom part for starters. Then I cut it up in slices so I ended up with little discs of squash. With the discs having a flat side it made it easy to keep them still on the cutting board and trim off the tough outer skin.

Once I had done that I sliced those discs into thin strips no more than a quarter of an inch thick, in most cases I tried to cute them thing, size has everything to do with cooking time. Once I had my squash cut up, I measured it and I found hat I had about three cups. I put this chopped up butternut squash in a bowl and liberally sprinkled it with ground cinnamon, I added a dash of cayenne or two and about a quarter teaspoon of turmeric. Then I mixed it all up so every single slice of squash was coated with a fine layer of the three magical ingredients.

That done I measured out three portions of linguine. I usually measure this long type of pasta as one serving being measured between my forefinger and thumb formed into a circle at about the size of a beer bottle cap.

I then cleaned three cloves of garlic and chopped it up as fine as I could, as it would be going in to cook with my thin pieces of squash. I threw this into my big frying pan with about a table spoon of olive oil, Cinnamon adds such an interesting taste to squash and things like pumpkin, not to mention the other spices I decided to add in as you will soon see.

Ingredients – about 350 calories per serving

Butternut squash – three cups

Cayenne pepper – to taste

Cinnamon – about a tablespoon

Garlic – three cloves

Cherry Tomatoes – quartered – three cups

Turmeric – quarter teaspoon

Cooking mediums

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 1 tablespoon

Water – as you would for any portion of pasta

Enriching flavour

One thing I learnt many years ago that there are many spices that seem to let out their flavours when heated. Over the years I began to understand that there is an actual term for this his. It's called blooming, and usually involves a liquid medium of hot oil. What happens when you heat these spices they release their essential oils and in turn it bursts into a bouquet of flavours that you will find it hard to imagine. I also learnt that often ground spices can often be mixed with a bit of liquid and mixed into a paste before doing so but given that my squash has a bit of natural moisture in it, the cinnamon, cayenne and turmeric will nicely stick to all those pieces of squash! As the spices are bloomed and the squash lightly cooked, you end up with something that is quite magical in taste.

Later after my tomatoes were in and when everything was just about cooked I would add my more gentle spices like oregano and parsley, if you put these in two early their flavour simply disappears.

I decided that I would only cut up about three cups of tomatoes, so after each cup was filled I tried to make estimates of which size tomatoes I should pick out in order that I come to three cups of tomatoes as well. After each cup of tomatoes I would toss them in to join the pool party with the squash, and always sure to mix it all up. Once all my tomatoes were in with the squash I cooked them and mixed them on medium high heat for about 6-10 minutes more, making sure that the squash was cooked and that the tomatoes had released much of their fluids and the saucy mixture had reduced.

By the time my linguine was ready, al dente, I knew that I would have something that was a little out of the ordinary in terms of flavours and tastes, but whatever I make I eat. There is simply no reason to throw food out unless it is rotten, though if it is compostable, it goes on the compost pile and not in the garbage. Besides there hasn't been anything that I have made since the time I was in my early twenties and in university that I would consider inedible. With my linguine drained I threw it into into the frying pan tossed it with my admixture of tomatoes squash and various spices. I had cooked enough for three good servings or two very large servings, so I plated my serving and enjoyed the labours in the kitchen. I had my second part for dinner, after having returned from a bit of a walk on a miserable day – I enjoyed those leftovers reheated. 

What's in it for you?

I realized that unless I contributed some value to the recipes I think up, very often at a whim, there really would be no reason to be putting in the effort to even records these recipes, with the exception it allows me to go back to the ones I like for inspiration. Hopefully in providing the values below, you will become more informed about different foods. As you may have noticed in the past, when I introduce some type of new ingredients I try to include addition sources in order that those visiting this blog can better understand what it is they are eating.

The values below are approximations based on each ingredients included in the recipe. The last four values are estimations of my recommended daily allowance based on my own personal dietary needs, and are here only to serve as a guide.

 

Calories	343
Carbohydrates	67.9 g
Fat	6.3 g
Saturated	0.7 g
Polyunsaturated	0.8 g
Monounsaturated	3.4 g
Trans	0 g
Cholesterol	0 g
Sodium	13.6 mg
Potassium	530.9 mg
Dietary Fibre	8.4 g
Sugar(s)	9.2 g
Protein	9.8 g
Vitamin A	327 %
Vitamin C	83.2 %
Calcium	10.9 %
Iron	19.7 %

While I love to cook, I don't claim to be a chef, nor do I have an formal food preparation training or education, my personal experience of cooking for myself and friends over the years has been my teacher and has taught me the following: if you like to try new things it makes it very easy to take up cooking. You must be willing to be your own guinea pig quite often, if something doesn't work out live with it. I grew up in an environment that was void of many spices that we have available to us if we are not intimidated on trying something new.

I probably never used raw ginger in cooking until I was away from home for a few years. I even went as far as having my own batch of sourdough starter in the fridge that I would have to feed regularly and to have on hand to whip up home made cresent rolls to serve to friends who had dropped by for tea or coffee. I figure if you can read instructions, have an idea of what your own tastes are, you can cook up anything that is tasty.

Pasta Tomato and Sardine Bake

Today is UN International Food Day, and with that being so, why not share something simple I whipped up yesterday after being out for my second walk of the day.

I was feeling a little peckish and I wanted to make sure I was going to be getting my protein that along with other nutrients are important during any lifestyle change. During this last year I have been doing a great deal of reading and re-educating myself regarding the foods I eat. While I will not be giving you everything I will be including links to things I believe you should know about, because I know that in understanding them, it has helped me change. Yesterday, I wanted something relatively quick and something I could make with what ingredients I had on hand.

Ingredients:
For one very filling serving of about 850 calories total or it could easily be split in half

Cherry tomatoes – 1 cup halved
Yellow onion – 1 medium diced
Garlic – 1 clove finely chopped
Extra virgin cold pressed Olive Oil – one table spoon
Pasta – 1 cup cooked
1 medium egg
1 can sardines in water
Turmeric – 1/2 teaspoon
Oregano – 1/2 teaspoon
Ground Flax Seed – one or two tablespoons
Butter – unsalted 1 tablespoon

While it may be nearly 850 calories, it is a complete meal! And if you take the time to read on you will understand why!

The first thing that I saw was a bowl full of cherry tomatoes on the counter. Well a cup of those would clearly give me a greater part of my daily requirements of vitamins C, A, K, E; potassium from the potassium citrate, lycopene,lutein and zeaxanthin. Sure a lot of small things and big words but all good for you, and that was just the first of things that were going to be cooked up together.

I never balk at using garlic and onions in anything I cook and today was going to be a multistage process, though still child's play regarding how it is all put together. Those two ingredients would also provide me with a number of good things for my body. Including allicin vitamins B6 and C, dietary fibre, manganese, molybdenum, potassium, selenium and calcium. There there are plenty of other good things in those to ingredients to this dish, but I though I would give you a few of the primary ones.

I figure, I could do my garlic, onions and tomatoes in a pan with about at table spoon of extra virgin olive oil as my my cooking medium, and while was doing this nice and slowly, I would set my water to boil for my pasta, and pre-heat my oven to about 375 degrees Fahrenheit or about 190 degrees Celsius. As my finely diced onions and chopped softened up in the hot olive oil I turned my attention to cutting the cherry tomatoes into halves until I was able to fill a cup with them. By the time I had this done, my water was just about boiling and ready for the pasta. So I mixed my halved cherry tomatoes in with my onions and garlic which were starting to take on a golden tint to them and they smelt divine.

Once my the water for my pasta came to a boil I figured I had enough pasta left for it to come to one cup ready pasta once it was cooked ale dente. So that went into the boiling water and I continued to stir my tomatoes while adding half a teaspoon of oregano flakes, and half a teaspoon of turmeric a spice used quite widely in Southeast Asian cuisine. Personally I have always loved the bright yellow it would provide to foods, and if you like ball park mustard that goes with hotdogs at the baseball game, you can thank turmeric for the brightness of the yellow in that mustard.

By the time your pasta is cooked your oven should be at the desired temperature, and your cherry tomatoes will have nicely mingled with your garlic, onions and spices. I have an affinity for using cast iron cookware quite a bit, and having lightly fried my onions, garlic and tomatoes in a six inch cast iron skillet, a greater portion of it would remain in there. However, before draining my pasta and giving it a quick rinse, I opened up the can of sardines and gave them a good mashing with the tines of a fork. Upon completion, the last mentioned task came next and the vessel in which I cooked my pasta was to become something to mix a few prime ingredients in before tossing everything in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Mixing it all up for baking

After draining my pasta, I placed into the pot in which I cooked the pasta, the following: the drained pasta, the mashed sardines, one medium raw egg, and two thirds of my cooked garlic, onions and tomatoes. I gave this all a heck of a mixing to make sure everything was well distributed. I wanted to make sure all the flavour of the spices had coated every last noodle, and there was a fairly homogenous mix of the ingredients, including the egg.

Once I had this all mixed, emptied the ingredients into the six inch cast iron skillet in which everything had so carefully been blended in. On top of that I added sprinkled my flax seed and topped that off with three dollops of butter from my one tablespoon of it. The butter is there to add some flavour and also to percolate throught the flax seed and add a little bit of a crunch to your meal. Food should not only taste good, it should have texture in your mouth!

After the twenty minutes in the oven to ensure that the egg was cooked and holding all the other ingredients to the pasta, it was time for lunch.

I enjoyed in immensely. A tasty combination of many different flavours. This is something that you should never fear in experiencing. Trying new food is like trying new music. You may not like it at the beginning, but it is much better than being addicted to garbage.