Piccata Style Chicken with Pesto Spaghetti Squash

Picctata is one of my favorite dishes. I love the crispiness of the thinly fried chicken (or fish) accompanied with the tangy lemony caper sauce. I found a recipe for Piccata Style Chicken roasted in the oven after browning in a pan then using the pan juices to create the sauce. I cooked these with bone-in chicken breasts instead of a half a chicken. And since I was switching things up I thought instead of my usual side dish of pesto pasta I used a roasted spaghetti squash with pesto. It was a fun twist on one of my favorite recipes.

Piccata Style Chicken
Adapted from Food and Wine Best of the Best Vol. 12


2 bone-in, with skin chicken breasts
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 lemon, sliced thinly
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp. of butter
1/2 cup of dry white wine
t tbsp. capers

1) Preheat oven to 375 F
2) Heat an oven proof skillet or dutch oven, then add oil
3) Salt and pepper chicken breasts then add, skin side down, to heated oil and cook on both sides until crispy and brown

4) Place pan with chickens in oven and roast until cooked through
5) Remove chicken breasts and cover with foil
6) Heat pan on stove, adding sliced lemon until softened, about 1 minute

7) Add lemon juice and white wine, scraping the bits from the bottom of pan, add butter and reduce, then add capers
8) Pour sauce over chicken and enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash with Pesto
1 spaghetti squash
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Pesto of choice

1) Heat oven to 400 F
2) Slice squash in half, remove seeds, and coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper

3) Place flesh side down and roast in oven until tender, about 35 minutes
4) With a fork, scrape the flesh of the squash. It will take the form of strands of pasta
5) Place in bowl and mix with pesto until combined

Roasted Acorn Squash with Rice Pilaf

Our friends were out of town last week and we were given their CSA basket. In the basket there were 2 little acorn squash that would be perfect for roasting. I had never had acorn squash before so after reading up on how to cook them I decided to roast them and stuff them with a flavorful rice pilaf. The rice pilaf had baby yellow squash from the CSA basket as well, although the other vegetables were from the supermarket. The roasted acorn squash is very easy to make and has mildly sweet flavors and matches well with the savory flavors of the rice pilaf. It was a perfect Autumn meal.

Roasted Acorn Squash
2 acorn squash
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

1) Preheat oven to 425 F
2) Slice acorn squash in half and remove the seeds
3) Coat with olive oil and salt and pepper and place flesh side down on pan

4) Roast for 20-25 minutes until soft
5) Stuff with pilaf and enjoy!

Savory Rice Pilaf
1/2 cup of basmati rice
1 cup water
1 onion
2 stalks of celery
2 baby yellow squash
2 carrots
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp. of thyme
1 tsp. of cayenne
1 tsp. fresh parsley
2 tbsp. sliced almonds
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

1) Saute vegetables in olive oil with spices, salt and pepper
2) Add rice and sliced almonds and brown

3) Cover with water and let cook for 15 minutes
4) Leave covered for 5 minutes, then fluff with fork
5) Serve with roasted acorn squash

Butternut Squash Raviolis

I was at the small campus farmer's market the other day looking for some yummy fresh produce to cook with when I stumbled upon a basket of butternut squash. I had never before made butternut squash anything before, but I had on numerous occasions enjoyed them filled in raviolis. I had some misgivings about preparing butternut squash raviolis after last year's failed attempt at Halloween making pumpkin raviolis. I'm going to blame it on the pre-made wonton wrappers not sticking together.

I had made some fresh pasta the week before, and luckily had decided to make some ravioli wrappers to freeze, just in case. Well, they came in handy. So Sunday morning I woke up, had some coffee, and got started on preparing the raviolis.

They turned out amazing! The filling was smooth and had sweet flavor from roasting in the oven. We served them with browned butter and sage sauce. Nest time I think we'll make a creamier sauce. 

Filling:
Adapted from Tortellini de Zucca (tortellini with pumpkin) recipe in Trattoria Grappolo (my favorite restaurant's cookbook)

1 butternut squash roasted (I peeled and cut them into cubes, I think it must be easier to roast them whole)
Olive oil
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Dash of fresh ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

For the wrappers use either pre-made wonton wrappers, or your own recipe for pasta (mine is from a previous post on pasta making)

1) Preheat oven to 400 F
2) Cut squash into cubes and coat in olive oil and salt and pepper; roast for 45 minutes or until soft

3) Cool slightly then add to food processor and blend until smooth

4) Add cheeses, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and blend until combined
5) Refrigerate until ready to use
6) Place ravioli wrappers on surface and begin stuffing them with a small amount of filling (enough but not too much that they ooze out of the sides when pressed together)

7) Wet edges of wrappers and seal the edges tightly
8) Refrigerate until ready to use

9) Boil water in a large pot and cook raviolis for about 3-5 minutes until cooked
10) Serve with sauce of your choice