Thursday, December 1, 2011

Stocking the Freezer & Prep for Pasta

Squirrels and bears do their own prep for long cold winters.  I do mine a little differently... although munching on nuts and salmon and then sleeping right through winter does appeal to me.  The photo above  is not the prettiest you've ever seen, but trust me, when I add the chicken broth (this time made with roasted chicken bones - and very tasty indeed) or the roasted vegetable broth to a dish, it will be transformed.

I make a huge batch of each, using my giant stock pot and then bag the broth in two cup portions in freezer proof zip lock bags.  After removing as much air as possible before sealing, I lay them flat on large rimmed cookie sheets (6 bags to a sheet) and flash freeze them (or as close to flash as a home freezer can get) and then store them like you would files in a filing cabinet.  Better than bouillon cubes or store bought broth and right at your fingertips.  

Next project is making and freezing the two pasta sauces I talked about on Presto Pasta Nights the other day.  Hopefully that will happen this weekend.   But in the meantime, tomorrow is Presto Pasta Night and I'm hosting this week.
And because I know today is going to be crazy busy, I've already filled the pot with water for the pasta, peeled the shrimp, chopped the mushrooms and chorizo, and have the sherry vinegar, avocado oil, garlic, onion and red pepper flakes handy so I don't even have to think. The only decision will be - arugula or cilantro.  In fact, since I'll probably be too tired to write... here's a similar recipe I've made in the past.  Shrimp, chorizo, mushrooms and pasta are my little black dress of deliciousness when I wish I had a personal chef to whip up something spectacular without any effort on my part. .

If you have a pasta dish to share with Presto Pasta Nights this week, just cook something up, write about it, mention Presto Pasta Nights  with a link and send your URL  to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com by midnight tonight - no matter what your time zone, and then check back for the roundup tomorrow.

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