Vegetarian Dinner

Dru came over to Blake's house the other night so we made him a vegetarian dinner. I decided to make a tart after looking at some of the vegetable dishes on the closet cooking blog. I decided to make a pasta I'd seen on foodgawker. It was good but Blake would prefer pastas with sauce in the future. The mushroom tart was good, but the dough was a little raw in the middle. Next time I will cover it after the pastry is browned so that it can stay in the oven cooking a little longer.

Rigatoni Pepperonata

Ingredients:
1 box of rigatoni
3 peppers, red, yellow, and orange
2 tbsp chopped capers
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
basil
parsley
pine nuts, toasted
olive oil
crushed red pepper, salt, black pepper
pecorino romano or parmesan

Directions:
Heat oven to 400. Spread the pine nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast, tossing occasionally, until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the capers, vinegar, crushed red pepper, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until heated though, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the pasta and pine nuts to the skillet and cook, tossing, for 1 minute. Add parsley, basil and Parmesan cheese.

Mushroom Tart

Ingredients:
1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted
1 bag baby portobellos, sliced
1 onion, halved and sliced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp thyme
1/4 cup white wine
handful parsley
1/2 cup grated gruyere

Directions:
Heat oil in a pan over medium low heat. Sautee onions until soft and carmelized, about 20 minutes. Add butter and let it melt. Then sautee mushrooms and cook down about another 15 minutes. Add in thyme and garlic. Stir in and season with salt and pepper. Deglaze pan with wine. Heat oven to 400. Meanwhile, roll out puff pastry dough and score a border about an inch from the edge all the way around. Spread mushroom and onion mix into the center rectangle. Top with grated gruyere. Brush the outside dough crust with oil and bake about 15-25 minutes. When crust gets browned, cover the tart with foil and continue baking. Remove from oven and garnish with parsley. Cut into squares and serve.