PASTA BAKE

Ah, the Pasta Bake. Pure simplicity, once figured out. I tried it HERE and we know how that went... When I was in Whitefish, Montana over the summer my friend Katie made an amazing pasta bake and I was so impressed to see how easy it was. I tried many pasta bakes, all disasters, and only posted one and I still managed to almost slice my thumb off. While attempting I still had to put a call into Katie just to make sure. But, I think I got it. Super tasty. I am still trying to figure out why I didn't get it; it all made perfect sense... I find that I say this with just about everything in life.

Ingredients...

Roma Tomatoes
Eggplant
White Onion
Chives
Garlic
Olive Oil
White Wine
Mozzarella

Red Sauce
Perciatelli Pasta

Preheat oven to 450.
I first cooked down the sliced eggplant, Roma's, white onion, chives and garlic in white wine with sprinkles of salt and pepper on a low heat. Once the white wine was completely cooked down, I added a cup of tomato sauce in with the vegetables. Start your pasta, I happened to use Perciatelli pasta. It is a thicker type of spaghetti and has a hollow middle. Cook pasta till Al dente. When pasta is done- so is your vegetable sauce. Mix together in a large bowl. Place in a round glass dish and top with about 1 inch high of mozzarella cheese. Cook until the cheese is golden brown.

IF THIS DISH WERE AN OUTFIT

Manish Arora

WHY DON'T YOU...

Inspired by Diana Vreeland

WHY DON'T YOU... SCRAMBLE 2 EGGS IN HEAVY CREAM

Diana Vreeland was Bazaar's fashion editor from 1936 till 1962. She was most famous for her eccentric style and sharp words. She had a column called, "Why Don't You..." One of my favorites: "Why Don't You... Rinse your blond child's hair with dead champagne, like they do in France."

EGGPLANT LASAGNA WITH A WHITE WINE CREAM SAUCE

Ingredients...

Lasagna Noodles
Eggplant
Ricotta
Mozzarella

THE SAUCE
1 Can of Aunt Penny's White Sauce
1 Cup of White Wine
Big Pinch of Sugar
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Garlic Powder
Pinch of Basil

Still a work in progress. Layering started with noodles, then ricotta, next eggplant, followed by sauce and topped with mozzarella. Emilie gave me a few pointers: mix and egg with the ricotta for binding and start with sauce and then noodles. The sauce was good. I have talked about Aunt Penny's sauce that you can get at 17th St. Market here.

I finally used the last can. If I have learned anything from cooking it's that anything can taste decent when adding white wine.

IF THIS DISH WERE AN OUTFIT

Marios Schwab

BUTTERNUT BANANA BISQUE

Ingredients...

2 Medium Sized Butternut Squash
1/2 of a Banana
1/2 Cup of Chives
4 oz of Heavy Cream
1 Cup of Milk
2 Cloves of Garlic
2 Tablespoons of Salt
1 Tablespoon of Sugar
2 Big pinches of Pepper
3 Bay Leaves for GOOD LUCK

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice the squash in half and put the opened side face down on a sheet pan. Once the squash is soft, scoop out the seeds and scoop out the squash. Place in a blender with a half of a cup of milk and puree.

In a large stock pot on low heat, pour in the butternut puree and the heavy cream. Let cook for awhile with additional stirring with a whisk. After about 20 minutes I added the rest of the ingredients and let it cook for an hour. I often used the whisk, especially so there would be no banana chunks.

Super good, healthy and easy. Soup is nice to cook because it allows you to have extra time to do other things you might need to get done around the house while it is simmering. Plus it makes your kitchen smell lovely.

IF THIS DISH WERE AN OUTFIT

Roberta Scarpa