The greatest thing since beer in cans –- Kicking up stuffed pasta

The first real chef I ever dealt with was Bradford Hendrix at the now defunct Bert's Seafood Grille in Greensboro, NC and he did things I had never seen before: he prepared sauces in the sauté pan on top of the stove. The technique was described as "ala minute". Essentially what he did was build a sauce in the pan after whatever was cooked, is cooked. At Bert's, it was all manner of fish and shellfish.

It was explained to me that this was traditional French technique. Typically, Brad would take shallots or something similar and throw that into a hot skillet in which he had just sautéed the main dish (scallops, say). Once those got sort of brown and sort of happy, he would quickly de-glaze the pan with white wine and add the rest of the ingredients. Sometimes mustard and half and half (dijonnaise); sometimes peaches and half and half (peche). The result was always marvelous and got the necessary "ooh and aahs" from the guests, which in turn would earn me the tips I needed to fund my graduate school lifestyle.

The same things can be done with stuffed pastas to wonderful effect. Here, we have some stuffed pasta from Trader Joe's and am pairing it with a simple shallot and spinach cream sauce.

Ingredients

• Some sort of stuffed pasta – I used Trader Joe's goat cheese and tomato. You can use anything.
  
• I diced shallot
  
• 1 handful washed and dried spinach, coarsely chopped
  
• ¼ cup white wine or stock – I used white wine here but you can use anything appropriate
  
• ¼ half and half
  
• A couple of turns of olive oil for sautéing the shallot
  
• 1 teaspoon Cantanzaro herb Blend or something similarly Italian
  
• ¼ Parmesan Cheese
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Technique

Cook the pasta according to the directions. Here, you really do want it al dente, since you're going to essentially cook it again in the sauce. In a sauté skillet, heat the oil until it shimmers, then add the shallot. Cooked for a few minutes or until it starts to brown. Add the spinach and cook until it's just wilted, about three minutes. Deglaze the pan with wine or stock, scraping the burnt bits off the bottom with a spoon or tongs. Next, add the half and half and reduce for about a minute or until thickened. Then add the cooked pasta, Parmesan Cheese and herb mixed, stirring lightly to coat. Turn off the heat and cover for a minute or two. Plate and serve with additional parmesan cheese.

Its looks like you took all day, but it's really quick and super easy ("super easy" – am I channeling Rachel Ray
instead of Brad Hendrix?). Serve with a salad and what you have a simple weekday meal.

Bon appétit!