Bambino’s Inspired, “The Momma”

 

There are a lot of steps for this, but they're all exceedingly easy. It can be a nice meditation, if you're into that sort of thing. Since this is a good recipe for meal planning - Serves 8, generously - it'll allow you to skip cooking for a while. 

This is good with tofu and garlic mustard aioli. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Penne pasta. 
• 2 cans (6 oz) tomato paste. 
• 1 stick of butter. 
• 2 cups of milk. 
• 1 pint heavy cream. 
• 2 Tbsp. EVOO. 
• 1 Tbsp. dried oregano. 
• 2 Tbsp. dried basil. 
• 1 Tbsp. dried thyme. 
• 1 Tbsp. garlic powder. 
• 1 Tbsp. onion powder. 
• 1 Tbsp. salt. (This sounds like a lot, but it only ends up being about 1/3 tsp per serving). 
• 2 tsp black pepper. 
• 1/2 cup Framboise Lambic (or, if you need it to be nonalcoholic, use 1/2 cup sparkling water and 1 Tbsp. frozen concentrated grape juice.
•  4 zucchini's. 
• 2 heads of broccoli. 
• 4 red bell peppers. 
• 1 pound white button mushrooms. 

Directions:

1. In a large pot, cook the Penne according to package instructions. Drain. Rinse well with cold water. Return to pot and add 2 Tbsp. EVOO. Stir well. 
2. Transfer pasta to a storage container with lid. 
3. Rinse the mushrooms under the tap, one by one, until all of the dirt is off of them. 
4. Pop all of the stems off of them. 
5. Then, using a cutting board, and a serrated knife, slice the stems into thirds, cross-wise. And cut the caps into 1/2-inch slices. 
6. Transfer the mushrooms to a cookie sheet lined with nonstick foil. I like to use half of a large cookie sheet for the mushrooms, and the other half for the bell peppers, which are coming up next. 
7. Rinse the bell peppers, and cut the tops off. Pop the stems out of the tops, then trim off any pith (still talking about the tops) and cut the tops into 2-inch pieces. 
8. Pop out the seeds from the rest of the bell peppers. Cut them in half (lengthwise); trim out any pithy bits. Then, cut each half into quarters (lengthwise), and cut each quarter into halves (crosswise). If this sounds too complicated, just dice them the way you normally would.
9. Transfer these to the other half of the cookie sheet with the mushrooms. 
10. Line another cookie sheet with nonstick foil. This will be used for the zucchini's, which are coming up next. 
11. Rinse the zucchini's well. Trim off the ends, and cut them in half (lengthwise). Lay the halves cut-side down, and cut them in half again (crosswise). This just makes them easier to handle. 
12. Place each quarter cut-side down, and slice them (crosswise) into 1-inch half moons. Repeat for all zukes, and transfer them to the cookie sheet. 
13. Bake all of the vegetables at the same time at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Allow the mushrooms and peppers to cool for about 10 minutes. Then use tongs to transfer them to a storage container with lid. 
14. Pour the mushroom and pepper stock into a storage jar. This will be used later for the sauce. It makes about 1/2 cup. 
15. Meanwhile, gently flip or stir the zucchini around. Raise the temperature on the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the zukes for 15 more minutes. Stir them again, then bake again for 15 minutes. 
16. Allow zukes to cool for 10 minutes or so. Transfer them to a storage container with lid.
17. Using the same pot that you cooked the pasta in, fill it with 4 quarts of water and bring it to a boil. 
18. Trim the woody stem off the broccoli (about 2 inches off the bottom). Then cut off the florets and trim the stems into bite-sized pieces. 
19. After the water is boiling, add the broccoli to the water and cook until the broccoli is crisp-tender (about 7 minutes). 
20. Drain the broccoli, then rinse it well with cold water. Transfer it to a storage container with lid. 
21. Grate all of the parmesan cheese by hand, or by using a food processor. 
22. Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, and melt 1 stick of butter. 
23. Add all spices and stir. Cool down pretty quickly with Framboise, and stir again. 
24. Add cream. 
25. Add all cheese and stir well. 
26. Add tomato paste, and stir well. 
27. Once cheese is melted, add milk and stir well. 
28. Add mushroom/pepper stock. Stir. 
29. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Transfer sauce to a storage container with lid. 

Meal-Planning tip: If you have a container that's large enough (I don't), you can just combine everything together, that way you don't have to fish out 6 containers every time you want to reheat a meal. Or you can try to combine everything evenly into multiple freezer bags. Then you can just microwave one serving at a time when ready to eat. This will keep for 1 week in the fridge. It does not freeze well.  

Plating and Portioning: To make 8 even servings (if you're not storing it all together), you'll need 1 cup of pasta per person, along with the equivalent of 1/2 bell pepper, 1/2 zucchini, 1/4 cup of mushrooms, 1/3 cup of broccoli, and 1 cup of sauce. Microwave for 1.5 - 2.5 minutes when ready to serve.