Calling all cooking enthusiasts. Do you love trying new recipes and sharing your cooking experiences, meal ideas or culinary tips with others?
If so then register for the next Fraser Valley Regional Library (FVRL) Cookbook Club and join the Zoom session on Thursday, Sept. 16 from 2 to 3 p.m.
To register, visit the events page at www.fvrl.ca.
This time the focus is on comforting casseroles.
Come prepared to share your favourite one-pan recipes, cookbooks, magazines or websites with the group.
Presenters Natalie and Marcia will also share their favourites too.
Marcia continues to explore a plant-based diet, so she will tempt participants with Vegan Sweet Potato Lentil Shepherd’s Pie, a perfect dish to make as the weather cools.
Natalie is hoping to discuss her family’s favourite, Creamy Broccoli Casserole…if she can wrangle the recipe off her husband.
To get you in a casserole state of mind, check out this tasty Lemon Pasta Casserole recipe, which is a nice transitional pasta dish as summer turns to autumn.
Lemon Pasta Casserole
Ingredients
3/4 pound (3/4 box) spaghetti
Coarse salt
1 lemon
1 cup finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp anchovy paste (optional)
3-5 tablespoons of pasta water, to thin
1 can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Handful fresh basil leaves (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti in boiling water (with a splash of olive oil) until al dente.
Grate the zest from the lemon into a large mixing bowl. Juice the lemon; add to mixing bowl along Parmesan cheese, pepper, a pinch of salt, olive oil, Dijon mustard, garlic clove and anchovy paste and whisk to form a wet paste.
When the spaghetti is al dente, set aside 4 - 5 tablespoons of the cooking water then drain the pasta.
Add 2 – 3 tablespoons of pasta water and the cannellini beans to a food processor and blend until smooth. Incorporate well with the lemon parmesan ingredients in the mixing bowl.
Add the spaghetti to the bowl and toss thoroughly, adding another tablespoon or 2 of pasta water if necessary so that the sauce coats each strand.
Pour spaghetti mixture into an oven safe dish*. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.)
*Don’t have time? This dish can also be eaten immediately without baking!
Serve each portion with a sprinkle of coarse salt, a fresh grind of black pepper, a few gratings of extra Parmesan and some roughly torn basil leaves. Accompany it with a side salad.
