2 Recipes for These Times

Because most of us will be cooking at home in these times, I thought I’d offer two gratifying recipes that are very simple and can be mostly made with items with long shelf lives.

1. Lucca’s Pasta al Forno
I love this recipe not only because it’s simple and gratifying, but because it can be made with things that most cooks almost always have on hand: pasta, cheese, canned tomatoes, olive oil and basil.

It’s also infinitely adaptable: You don’t have to use rigatoni—honestly, any pasta will work. You don’t have to use provolone; any cheese that melts well will be great. (I’ve made this with cheddar, Gouda, Edam, Havarti, mozzarella, fontina, Comté, Swiss … you get the idea.) And if you’re out of canned crushed tomatoes, you’ll likely have something else that will work: marinara sauce, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes (whir in a blender to sauce-like consistency) or even tomato paste (dilute it to sauce-like consistency). And for heaven’s sake, don’t head to the store just for the fresh basil called for: A half-teaspoon dried basil (or oregano, or Italian herb blend, or nothing at all) will work just great.

2. My Easy Chicken-Macaroni Soup
This is what I make when someone I know is sick or blue. If you don’t have all the vegetables called for, make it anyway with the veggies you do have, just up the quantities a bit.

6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup dried elbow macaroni
1 1/2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken
1 tablespoon snipped fresh flat-leaf parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lemon juice (if you have it)

In a soup pot or Dutch oven, combine the chicken broth, carrot, celery and onion. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the macaroni and cook until the macaroni is tender, about 8 minutes. Add the chicken, parsley, and lemon juice. Heat to boiling. Remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper. Makes 4 light main-dish servings.

Take good care, everyone. And if you have any cooking questions, feel free to reach out to me on my Facebook page at All Things Food DSM – Wini Moranville. I’m happy to help.