Today’s dinner is the meat free meal of the week. Sean Michelle are going totally meat free by having Fettuccine Alfredo. I, on the other hand, not being a fan of pasta or cheese, am making a Crab-Stuffed Trout for myself for dinner with some white rice and cauliflower. First, the fettuccine. If I had the space to do it, I would like to make my own pasta.Unfortunately, our kitchen is the size of a closet and we only have 1 counter to do any work on, so I can’t do it. I did buy some fresh pasta from the store though, so it should taste better than the stuff in a box.
Fettuccine Alfredo
2 cups heavy cream
Salt
1 pound fettuccine
2 tablespoons butter
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (1 cup)
Pinch nutmeg
Pepper
Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot for the fettuccine. Meanwhile, simmer the cream in a large skillet over medium heat until it has thickened slightly and measures roughly 1 1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. Cover and keep warm off the heat.
When the water is boiling, stir in 1 tablespoon of salt and the fettuccine. Cook, stirring often, until the pasta is almost tender but still a little firm to the bite. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the fettuccine and return it to the pot.
Whisk the butter, Parmesan, and nutmeg into the cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the sauce to the pasta and toss to coat. Add the reserved cooking water as needed to loosen the sauce before serving.
Michelle and Sean will be having some crunchy bread with their pasta and some of the cauliflower as well. It’s a simple dinner and only takes 20 minutes to make.
For the trout, I’ll be using a whole trout, with the head and tail cut off. If you’re stuffing the trout yourself, make sure you check the trout for any pin bones on the flesh before you stuff and cook it. I scaled this recipe back since I am only making 1 trout, so adjust it accordingly for your own use.
Crab-Stuffed Trout
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup lump crabmeat
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 fresh trout, cleaned and de-boned
1 lemon, cut in wedges
Parsley, for garnish
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Melt 1/4 cup of the butter in a heavy, non-stick skillet over
medium heat. Sauté celery and onions about 5 minutes or until celery the is soft. Add mushrooms and cook another 5 minutes. Stir in the crabmeat and breadcrumbs. Mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.Remove the mixture from the heat. Using a spoon, fill each trout with the mixture so that both sides of the trout almost come together. Place the trout on a buttered cookie sheet. Dot the top of each trout with the remaining butter. Bake about 20 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with lemon wedges and garnish with the parsley.
As I said before, I am serving this white rice and cauliflower, but this would also go nicely with some wild rice. For tomorrow, it will be fish for all of us for dinner on our fish Friday. I’ll have to check out what looks good at Adam’s Farms to determine what the fish will be, so check back tomorrow to see what I’ll be cooking. Also, I hope to have next week’s menu in place so I can share it on here tomorrow. Until then, enjoy this beautiful, warm day if you are here in New York and for everyone else, just enjoy your day!
onedadskitchen 