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00:00Here's what's happening on the ranch. It's pasta all the way. I can never have enough.
00:08First, there's incredible skillet chuckwagon pasta that's a quick and easy favorite.
00:14Second, I'm keeping things cool with a pickle-tastic pasta salad that's a total treat for the taste buds.
00:21Third, I'm taking shortcuts with a green chili chicken ravioli bake that's as easy as it is delicious.
00:27And fourth, putting a new spin on a favorite. It's Drunken Pasta 2.0 and boy is it good.
00:35I'm sharing poetry and pasta love in Always Pasta 4 Ways.
00:41You are looking at a very happy woman because I'm getting ready to make pasta, pasta, pasta and pasta.
00:49All four pasta recipes are really easy and I'm going to start with chuckwagon pasta
00:55and it uses this wagon wheel shaped pasta, also known as Rotel, but around here we call it wagon wheel pasta.
01:04Okay, I'll get the pasta cooking and the idea is to make the sauce in the time it takes the pasta to cook.
01:11And that is not a hard thing to do.
01:13I'm starting with some ground beef and I have some butter and oil in the skillet so it's already hot.
01:20And I'll add some minced red onion along with some really finely minced jalapeno and, of course, garlic.
01:31If there ever was a pasta that was considered cowboy friendly, this is most certainly it,
01:39all the way down to the wagon wheel shaped pasta.
01:42But it really is a great family friendly dish.
01:46It's just kind of a typical beef noodle dish, but so much flavor and those jalapenos add just the right amount of heat.
01:55You know, through the years I have made no bones about the fact that pasta is my life.
02:01And honestly, if I had to pick one food group, it would be pasta.
02:05Since I was a little girl, I can remember just boiling macaroni when I could first learn to cook
02:11and just mixing it with butter and salt and pepper and just eating that and thinking it was the most glorious thing ever.
02:19Of course, I've upped my pasta game through the years and I love pasta whether it's really casual or really fancy.
02:26This chuck wagon pasta is definitely in the casual camp.
02:30All right, now I just need to cook this mixture until the ground beef is brown and the onions are starting to soften.
02:40This is looking good.
02:41I mean, I could take it in a whole other direction and make chili if I wanted to.
02:46Same exact mixture.
02:48But I am not.
02:49I am making chuck wagon pasta.
02:51So I'm going to add some beef broth, just a small amount.
02:55And this is really just to kind of deglaze the pan.
02:57And I'm going to scrape the bottom of the pan and just make sure I get all of those little bits off the pan
03:04because that is where a lot of the flavor is.
03:07All right.
03:08And after you've scraped everything off the bottom, then you can add some tomato sauce.
03:14Or you could just do a jar of marinara if you have that hanging around.
03:18This is a pretty forgiving recipe.
03:20And barbecue sauce.
03:23Just about a third a cup.
03:25Not the typical ingredient for a pasta dish.
03:28But honestly, I would stop short of even calling this pasta.
03:32I'd just call it like a noodle dish or just kind of a big, I'd just call it dinner.
03:38And then a couple of tablespoons of mustard.
03:43You don't want to go too overboard with this.
03:45But you can see that it's kind of a hybrid between pasta and, like, bolognese, but with a cowboy twist.
03:55Mustard and barbecue sauce, that is all cowboy.
03:59That is not an Italian pasta direction at all.
04:02But that's okay because we live in Oklahoma.
04:05All right.
04:05This is already starting to bubble.
04:07I'm going to go ahead and add some salt and pepper.
04:10Give it one more stir.
04:12Oh, my gosh.
04:14How good does this look?
04:15Now the pasta is ready.
04:17That did not take long at all.
04:19I love pastas that don't take very long to cook.
04:22Most of them don't take long anyway, but some are shorter than others.
04:26And you definitely want to add the wagon wheel pasta before it gets to the stage of being, like, fully cooked.
04:33You want it to have a little bit of bite to it.
04:36But look how fun this is.
04:39It's just such a cowboy-friendly pasta shape.
04:43All right.
04:44I'm going to turn this heat down because this is bubbling like crazy.
04:47And then I'll just stir the meat sauce and the pasta together, and little bits of meat are going to get in between those spokes of the wagon wheels.
04:59And it's just, to me, this pasta dish makes perfect sense in the universe, the universe I live in.
05:06Okay, now when the meat sauce is all mixed with the pasta, just grate some cheese.
05:12I'm doing cheddar, but you can use any cheese you like.
05:16And I'm just going to grate enough to sprinkle over the top, but you can also grate some and stir it into the pasta and put it on top.
05:25So you kind of have a double whammy with the cheese there.
05:28Okay, I think that should be good.
05:30Let's see here.
05:32Yep.
05:32And the idea is just to sprinkle this over the top.
05:37You don't have to put it under the broiler or in the oven.
05:41You just put it on top, and by the time you serve it, it'll be starting to melt.
05:46And speaking of those little wagon wheel holes, they sort of collect that cheese.
05:52I don't think pasta has to be, like, fancy and gourmet to be delicious, and this pasta is the perfect example of this.
06:03Nothing fancy about this at all.
06:05Okay, that is pretty much it, guys.
06:08Chuck wagon pasta.
06:10And what I like to do is just keep it on the stove, put a stack of bowls next to the stove and spoons,
06:16and then everybody can just come and grab a couple of spoonfuls, depending on how hungry they are.
06:22I happen to be a little bit hungry right now.
06:25It smells very good in here.
06:26So I'm going to load up a bowl.
06:29Yeah, it's about a resize portion.
06:32Okay, that's also a resize portion.
06:36Well, Chuck wagon pasta, totally family-friendly, totally easy.
06:41You've got to make this soon.
06:46I love pickles.
06:47I've loved them all my life.
06:49And I seem to love them more and more with each year of my life.
06:53They're just the best.
06:55So I'm going to use my little puckery pals to make a pickle-tastic pasta salad.
07:01I love pasta, whether it's hot, warm, or cold.
07:05And this is actually my new favorite version of pasta salad on earth.
07:09It's amazing.
07:10So I'm going to make the dressing first.
07:12And it starts with about three-quarters of a cup of mayonnaise.
07:17And I'm just going to add about a fourth a cup of bottled ranch.
07:21Now, I don't usually use bottled ranch for the entire dressing story for a pasta salad.
07:28But if you use mayonnaise and just mix in a little bit of ranch, then it's really, really nice.
07:33It adds that flavor without being overwhelming.
07:36So I've got my jar of pickles, one of 70 jars I currently have in my house.
07:42And I'm going to add about three or four spoonfuls of the pickle juice.
07:47Okay, I'm going with one more.
07:50Why not?
07:51And I'll stir this around and get it mixed.
07:55I'll tell you something funny.
07:56As much as I love pickles, that's how much my dear husband lad dislikes pickles.
08:02Isn't that a weird thing not to like?
08:05And he passed it on to one of our children.
08:07Alex doesn't like pickles either.
08:09I don't understand it.
08:10I think they're almost the perfect food.
08:13They just give everything such a great zip.
08:16And if you put pickles and pasta together, it's like almost too good to be true.
08:22Okay, that's the base for the dressing.
08:25And now I'm going to chop up some herbs.
08:26I'm going to do chives, which are going to be in the dressing and on top of the pasta salad.
08:35Pasta salad is one of those things that I think really exploded in the 1980s.
08:39I can remember my mom and her friends always making pasta salad.
08:44Just one day it went from like mac and cheese to pasta salad everywhere.
08:49I just think it's always a great thing to include on barbecue tables or picnic baskets.
08:56And there's no limit to what you can put in them.
08:59I usually take like a kind of an Italian approach with olives and parmesan and basil and tomatoes.
09:06But this pickle version is kind of hilarious.
09:10And I love it so much.
09:12Now I'm also going to add some dill because it kind of plays off of the dill in the pickles.
09:19And let's face it, it's really a big dill.
09:22I'm really a big dill.
09:25Sorry.
09:26Okay.
09:27Haven't said a pun today.
09:28I had to get it over with.
09:30All right.
09:30Now I'll get the dressing back and I'll add the dill to the dressing and most of the chives.
09:37And then you wind up with this real speckly, herby dressing.
09:41And it looks like something super special.
09:44All it is, is mayonnaise, ranch dressing, and a couple of herbs.
09:48And I'm going to chop some pickles.
09:52If you think I was just going to add pickle juice to this pickle-tastic pasta salad, no way.
09:59I got to really get the pickles in there.
10:01So I'll just cut these pickles into quarters, kind of long spears.
10:06And then I'm going to chop them pretty fine.
10:10You can chop them big or you can slice them if you prefer.
10:13I kind of like to make them small little bits so they show up all over the pasta.
10:19Okay.
10:20Now all these pickles go into the bowl.
10:24Now I did elbow macaroni for this pasta salad, but you can absolutely do any kind of pasta you like.
10:31I think my second favorite kind of pasta to use for pasta salad is radiatore.
10:36It's just kind of ruffly, I think it means radiator in Italian.
10:42But it's really delicious for pasta salad.
10:45Now before I add the dressing, I'm going to add some diced Colby Jack cheese.
10:51Get all that in there.
10:52I think you should always have some kind of cubed cheese in your pasta salad.
10:57When I do my Italian versions, I have like cubed fresh mozzarella and sometimes I'll do pepperoni and salami.
11:06It's like if you can add it to a cold cut sandwich or something, you can add it to pasta salad.
11:13So now I'm going in with my spoon.
11:16And ideally, if you mix this pasta salad, you can give it like at least a couple of hours to sit and kind of let the flavors meld and combine.
11:29Sometimes I'll make pasta salad the day before I need it and keep it in the fridge.
11:33And then I just take it out of the fridge like an hour before I'm going to serve it so it won't be quite so cold and stuck together.
11:41How much dressing you use is kind of personal.
11:44I really like to see the dressing on the noodles, but I don't want the noodles to be swimming and dressing.
11:52So not that I'm picky or anything.
11:54I have very exact specifications for my pasta salad.
11:59Okay.
12:00I usually like to serve these in a shallow serving bowl and then just mound the pasta salad.
12:09You can kind of call this macaroni salad too, though.
12:11It's like a cross between pasta salad and macaroni salad.
12:15Both names are accepted in American English.
12:20And then I'm going to grab some pepper because I always think a little sprinkling of pepper on any kind of pasta salad is really great.
12:30And as I promised, a very generous sprinkling of chives.
12:36All right.
12:38My pickle-loving and pasta-loving friends, this pasta salad is for you.
12:44You have got to make this soon.
12:46Trust me, you're going to fall in love.
12:48Just like I'm about to fall in love all over again.
12:51Oh, this is a perfect individual serving size for me.
12:58Mmm.
12:59Ooh.
12:59Two little bites of pickles in that bite.
13:05This next recipe is a winner of a pasta dinner.
13:09It's green chili ravioli baked.
13:12I love a pasta bake, one of my favorite things.
13:15And this one uses store-bought ravioli, which makes it a cinch to make.
13:22All right.
13:22I just drained the ravioli, and it's just a really nice spinach ravioli.
13:28And I just cooked it for about two minutes because this bake is going to go into the oven.
13:32I don't want it to overcook.
13:34So, while that hangs out, I'm going to assemble the bake, and you aren't going to believe how easy it is.
13:39I cracked open a can of green enchilada sauce, and I'll just add a very small layer to the very bottom.
13:47It's really just to get a little bit of sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.
13:52Now for the ravioli.
13:54When you buy ravioli for a bake like this, really, you can use any kind you like.
13:59But this one happens to be really delicious.
14:02It has spinach and ricotta cheese, and it's just one of those really delicious ravioli varieties.
14:10But you could even use tortellini for this if you wanted to.
14:13So, let's see.
14:14Three, six, nine, twelve.
14:16I want twelve in the first layer because I cooked twenty-four ravioli.
14:20And then I have some rotisserie chicken, and you can cook this just for this casserole,
14:26or you can use store-bought rotisserie chicken.
14:30And then I'm going to add half of the remaining green enchilada sauce.
14:36Just kind of get it all over the chicken.
14:38I'm going to save the rest for the last layer.
14:42And then cheese.
14:44Now since this is a green chili chicken vibe, it's kind of got that Santa Fe vibe about it,
14:49I'm using pepper jack.
14:50But as you can imagine, any cheese works for this.
14:54And then I just do an exact same layer that I just did.
15:00So the rest of the ravioli.
15:03And you don't have to line them up or be very precise,
15:06but you just kind of want the ravioli to cover all of the surface area as much as possible.
15:12And chicken.
15:16There's really no rules about what order you put these layers in.
15:21Okie doke.
15:22And then the rest of the sauce.
15:25But this is such a comfort food, honestly.
15:29And it has really great flavor.
15:31And then finally, the cheese.
15:33That was so easy to throw together, and it's going to be even easier to bake.
15:37I'm going to put it into a 425-degree oven for about 15 minutes,
15:42and I can't wait to show it to you.
15:47Oh, this looks incredible.
15:50Oh, and it smells good.
15:52It actually smells like enchiladas.
15:55I guess that's because I used enchilada sauce.
15:57But boy, oh boy, that's delicious.
16:00And as you can imagine, you could make as big a pan or as many pans as you need to.
16:05It's one of those recipes that's really easy to double.
16:09So I'm just going to slice some green onions just to kind of put over the top.
16:15Oh my gosh, that smells so good.
16:17And it made the kitchen smell so good, too.
16:20All right, I think that's enough.
16:21So I'll just sprinkle these over just for a little extra pop of flavor.
16:25You know, you could have some fun with this
16:27and kind of put some toppings on there as you would, like, tacos.
16:32You could do a little dollop of sour cream and some hot sauce and salsa.
16:36Kind of embrace the enchilada side of things.
16:39So I do want to show you how this looks when it comes out of the pan.
16:45It's kind of a miracle.
16:47It would be so easy to just whip up on a moment's notice.
16:52You just crack open the can of enchilada sauce and cook the ravioli for, like, two minutes
16:57and grate the cheese.
16:59You're home free.
17:01Okay, I've made chuckwagon pasta, pickle-tastic pasta salad,
17:05and now this green chili chicken ravioli bake.
17:10I have to say, if I could marry a pasta dish, this would be it.
17:14Mmm, oh, my gosh, it tastes like enchiladas.
17:20Mmm, I think we'll be very happy together.
17:27I think I may have mentioned a few times that I sort of love pasta.
17:32Seriously, I've eaten noodles all my life, and they never, ever get old.
17:37In fact, I love pasta so much that I once wrote a poem about it.
17:42Yes, it's true.
17:43It was over 10 years ago, and I thought it'd be fun to write a pasta poem,
17:49recite it, and illustrate it with little shots of pasta here and there.
17:53The thing is, it never saw the light of day.
17:56I've never had the courage to share it until now.
18:00So here is my ode to pasta.
18:03You may look at me in a whole new light after this.
18:06Pasta, pasta, pasta, my love for you is great.
18:11I daydream and imagine you heaped upon my plate.
18:16From angel hair's light noodles, to pinne short and neat,
18:21to robust rigatoni and bow ties cute and sweet.
18:26You have my heart, dear pasta.
18:29You never fail to please.
18:30And so I'll say in closing, will someone pass the cheese?
18:35Okay, so be honest.
18:38What did you think?
18:40You want to know what I think?
18:42I think I'm not going to quit my day job anytime soon.
18:45Okay, it's time for me to share the fourth and final pasta recipe.
18:49I'm just coming back from town where I got some wine,
18:52and that is going to feature very prominently in this dish.
18:55It's Drunken Pasta 2.0,
18:58and it's a little bit of a new version of a very fantastic dish.
19:03So for the Drunken Pasta,
19:06I'll add a bottle of deep red wine to a pan
19:09and bring it to a gentle boil.
19:11Then I'll drop 12 ounces of spaghetti
19:13into a separate pan of boiling salted water
19:16and give it about four minutes just to slightly cook it.
19:20Then I'll add a small sliced yellow onion to a skillet
19:24with two tablespoons each of olive oil and butter.
19:28Then I'll throw in three sliced garlic cloves,
19:31a sliced Fresno chili,
19:34give them a stir,
19:35and cook them for three minutes.
19:37Then when they're softened,
19:39I'll add the cooked spaghetti.
19:41Since it's just barely par-cooked,
19:43it won't be overdone at the end.
19:45Then I'll start to ladle in some of the hot red wine mixture
19:49and give the spaghetti a stir.
19:51Then I'll keep going,
19:53adding a ladle of wine at a time
19:55until the spaghetti has absorbed it all
19:58and is cooked through.
20:00It's sort of like making risotto,
20:02but with spaghetti.
20:03It takes about six minutes for the pasta to fully cook.
20:07That pasta is the most incredible color,
20:10and just wait till you taste it.
20:12It is fantastic.
20:13So to serve it up,
20:16I just take a nice helping
20:17of the glorious whiny purple noodles
20:20and pile them onto a plate.
20:23Oh my gosh, it is just incredible.
20:26Then I sprinkle over grated Parmesan
20:28and some finely minced parsley,
20:31and that right there is my dream pasta dish.
20:35Well, lucky for me,
20:36that's exactly what we're having for dinner tonight.
20:38Well, friends,
20:40I hope you have enjoyed being part
20:42of my pasta world today.
20:44And on that note,
20:45pasta is my world.
20:47You know what?
20:48I think I feel another poem coming on.
20:51Be afraid.
20:52Be very afraid.
20:54Enjoy the pasta dishes, friends.
20:55Bye.
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