Double-Post Tuesday

Besides being Taco Tuesday, it's also Double-Post Tuesday, since not everyone loves tacos. Today's offerings include Kung Pao Tofu and All-Purpose Biscuits. Enjoy!

PASTA ALLA TRAPANESE (SICILIAN TOMATO PESTO)

This is from John Mitzewich (aka Chef John) at AllRecipes.

For this recipe, John wrote, "I'm excited to share my version of pasta alla Trapanese, featuring Sicily's amazing tomato pesto. I love the green Genovese-style pesto, but when super-sweet cherry tomatoes are in season, I really believe this is the best pesto."

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 35 minutes; Yield: 8 servings

To view this yumminess online, go to https://www.allrecipes.com/pasta-alla-trapanese-sicilian-tomato-pesto-recipe-7571415.

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole roasted almonds

4 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese, plus more to taste

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves

4 mint leaves (optional)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 pound red cherry tomatoes or red grape tomatoes

1 pound busiate pasta, or other curly shaped pasta, such as fusilli

Directions

Bring about 2 cups of water to a boil, remove from the heat, and stir in almonds; let sit for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain, and once cool enough to handle, rub skins off with your hands; alternately; transfer drained almonds to a kitchen towel, then fold up the towel and rub almonds until skins come off.

Crush sliced garlic with kosher salt in a mortar and pestle into a smooth paste. Alternately, place garlic on a board and sprinkle kosher salt on top; use the flat side of the knife to flatten, mash, and scrape the garlic and salt mixture until it is a smooth paste.

Add peeled almonds to the jar of a blender, followed by the cheese, basil, mint, garlic paste, oil, and tomatoes. Add the ingredients in this order, so that the almonds and cheese have a chance to grind before the wetter ingredients mix in.

Begin to pulse blender on and off until almonds and cheese are ground, then continue to pulse until remaining ingredients are incorporated. Blend on high until the pesto is as coarse or smooth as you like.

Taste for salt, and adjust. Set aside while pasta is cooking.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook busiate pasta in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Transfer pasta into a bowl with a strainer. Reserve starchy cooking liquid.

Add about 1/3 cup of the pasta water into the bowl, and then transfer in the pesto, along with a large pinch of salt, and toss to coat. More pasta water can be added to adjust the texture. Once mixed, add another optional handful of cheese, and toss one last time. Serve immediately.

KUNG PAO TOFU

This yumminess is from Ham El-Waylly in The New York Times cooking enewsletter. For this recipe, Ham wrote, "Fiery from dried chiles, tingling with Sichuan peppercorns and studded with peanuts, this kung pao tofu recipe is a vegetarian take on kung pao chicken, the classic Chinese American restaurant staple. Though variations on this dish abound, this version swaps in tofu for chicken, treating the tofu similarly. Pressing the tofu removes excess moisture, leaving more room for flavor to penetrate and giving it a denser, chewy texture. The cornstarch coating helps the tofu brown, makes it crisp and acts as a sponge for the savory, spicy, tingly sauce."

Prep Time: 30 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour; Yield: 3 to 4 servings

To view this online, go to https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1025397-kung-pao-tofu.

Ingredients

1 (14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine or sake

1 tablespoon black vinegar (or rice wine vinegar)

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper or 1/4 teaspoon finely ground white pepper

3 garlic cloves, finely grated

1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

2 teaspoons cornstarch (for the sauce) plus 1/4 cup (for the tofu)

Salt

Grapeseed or other neutral oil, as needed

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch squares

2 celery stalks, cut into 1/4-inch slices

4 scallions, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns (optional)

4 whole Tianjin chiles or chiles de árbol, crushed

1/3 cup roasted peanuts

1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems

White rice, for serving

Preparation

Drain the tofu, wrap in a clean kitchen towel, set on a plate and put a cast-iron skillet or other weighty object on top. Let it press for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour.

While the tofu is pressed, prepare the sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk the soy sauce, brown sugar, hoisin, rice wine, vinegar, sesame oil, white pepper, garlic, ginger, 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1/3 cup water until combined.

After the tofu has been pressed, unwrap it and cut into 3/4-inch cubes. Transfer tofu to a medium bowl, season with salt and coat in 1/4 cup cornstarch; set aside.

In a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, add enough neutral oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When it starts shimmering, add the tofu. Cook until one side is golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes, then flip. Cook until the other side is crisp and golden brown, another 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate.

Add the red bell pepper, celery and scallions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the red bell pepper starts to soften while maintaining some bite and the vegetables char, about 4 minutes. Add the Sichuan peppercorns and chiles and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tofu and sauce, and stir to coat; make sure the sauce simmers and thickens, about 2 minutes. Finish with the peanuts and cilantro, stir again, then serve immediately with rice.

BROCCOLI NOODLES AND CHEESE CASSEROLE

This is from allrecipes and submitted by "MessyChef", who wrote, "This is a quick and easy recipe if you are in a hurry – just noodles, broccoli, cottage cheese and Cheddar. My daughter loves it. It's always a hit."

Cook Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 30 minutes; Servings: 8

To view this online, go to https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20004/broccoli-noodles-and-cheese-casserole/.

Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) package egg noodles

1 head broccoli, cut into florets

2 cups cottage cheese

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

Steam broccoli until bright green and tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Combine broccoli, pasta and cottage cheese in 2 quart baking dish; mix well.

Sprinkle pasta mixture with Cheddar cheese and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.

BLACK BEAN AND SALSA SOUP

This is from allrecipes, and was submitted by someone named Maryanne. Maryanne wrote, "This soup is one of those last minute things I tossed together one night. It's very simple and it takes about 5 minutes to put together."

Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 10 minutes; Total Time: 20 minutes; Servings: 4; Yield: 4 servings

To view this online, go to https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/14132/black-bean-and-salsa-soup/.

Ingredients

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1-1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 cup chunky salsa

1 teaspoon ground cumin

4 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion

Directions

In an electric food processor or blender, combine beans, broth, salsa, and cumin. Blend until fairly smooth.

Heat the bean mixture in a saucepan over medium heat until thoroughly heated.

Ladle soup into 4 individual bowls, and top each bowl with 1 tablespoon of the sour cream and 1/2 tablespoon green onion.

HERBED CARROT SOUPALL-PURPOSE BISCUITS

This is from Sam Sifton at The New York Times cooking enewsletter. For this recipe, Sam wrote, "Homemade biscuits are what take us into the kitchen today to cook: fat, flaky mounds of quick bread, golden brown, with a significant crumb. Composed of flour, baking powder, fat and a liquid, then baked in a hot oven, they are an excellent sop for syrup, molasses or honey. They are marvelous layered with country ham or smothered in white sausage gravy, with eggs, with grits. They make a great Thanksgiving side. And if you've never made them before, you'll be delighted to know that biscuits are easy to make. Really. Discover more ideas for the big day in our best Thanksgiving recipes collection."

Prep Time: 5 minutes; Cook Time: 45 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour; Yield: 6 to 8 servings

This was featured in "A Quest for New York’s Perfect Biscuit," and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013741-all-purpose-biscuits. While you're at it, sign up for The New York Times cooking enewsletter. I highly recommend doing so, if you haven't already. Great recipes, guides, and more.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 scant tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, preferably European style

1 cup whole milk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Transfer to a food processor. Cut butter into pats and add to flour, then pulse 5 or 6 times until the mixture resembles rough crumbs. (Alternatively, cut butter into flour in the mixing bowl using a fork or a pastry cutter.) Return dough to bowl, add milk and stir with a fork until it forms a rough ball.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and pat it down into a rough rectangle, about an inch thick. Fold it over and gently pat it down again. Repeat two more times. Cover the dough loosely with a kitchen towel and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.

Gently pat out the dough some more, so that the rectangle is roughly 10 inches by 6 inches. Cut dough into biscuits using a floured biscuit cutter (or even a glass, though its duller edge may result in slightly less tall biscuits). Do not twist cutter when cutting; this crimps the edges of the biscuit and impedes its rise.

Place biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake until golden brown, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

EASY WHOLE WHEAT VEGETARIAN SPINACH LASAGNA

This is from Jolinda Hackett on The Spruce Eats. Jolinda wrote, “Easy whole wheat vegetarian lasagna with spinach baked in the oven with three kinds of cheeses. What's not to love? This is the perfect classic spinach lasagna recipe for the whole family!

“Make your vegetarian lasagna just a bit healthier by using this recipe, which calls for whole wheat lasagna noodles and spinach. Even though it uses whole wheat noodles, this Italian spinach lasagna is incredibly rich and creamy as it uses plenty of mozzarella, Parmesan, and low-fat cottage cheese. Of course, you don't have to use whole wheat lasagna noodles if you prefer the regular kind.

“This spinach lasagna recipe is courtesy of the Wheat Foods Council.”

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 75 minutes; Total Time: 90 minutes; Yield: 10 servings

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 8-ounce package whole wheat lasagne noodles, cooked slightly (al dente)

1 9-ounce package frozen raw spinach (well thawed and drained)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 eggs

3 cups low-fat cottage cheese

3 cups pre-made or store-bought pasta sauce

3 cups grated low-moisture part skim mozzarella cheese

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs then add the cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese. Spray a 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray or a homemade olive oil spray.

Put one layer of the slightly cooked lasagna noodles flat across the bottom of the baking dish. Add about half of the spinach, pressing down lightly and evenly over the noodles. Top with another layer of lasagna noodles. Top this layer of noodles with the cottage cheese mixture then add the remaining spinach. Then add the last of the lasagna noodles laid evenly on top of spinach.

Once you've layered everything, spread the pasta sauce evenly over the top and sprinkle the whole thing with mozzarella cheese. Press down lightly.

Cover baking dish with foil, using foil sprayed with cooking spray and keeping foil off the center of the lasagna. Secure sides tightly over baking dish.

Bake about 1 hour 15 minutes in oven. To lightly brown the top, remove foil for a few minutes at the end of baking time.

Allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Nutritional Guidelines (per serving): 282 Calories; 12g Fat; 23g Carbs; 19g Protein