vodka-cream-pasta and baby-greens with lemon-dijon-dressing and goat-cheese-cakes

  

vodka-cream-pasta and baby-greens with lemon-dijon-dressing and warm-goat-cheese cakes

so i got home a bit late last night and decided to make one of my favorite go-to meals, vodka cream pasta- i have tried several variations of this meal and racheal ray’s recipe is still my all time favorite, the only deviation i make is a reduction in the heavy whipping cream, i use 1/3 cup instead of ½ cup. i’ve also found that the brand of crushed tomatoes used can make a huge difference in taste- i only use dei fratelli’s.  when i first made this recipe 3 years ago, i followed it exactly and found out that i did not wait long enough to reduce the vodka by half and ended up with some very alcoholic pasta sauce, luckily i gave it another chance and have been enjoying it ever since…

i usually serve this meal with my bruschetta or a salad and i went with salad last night with my all time favorite - fried goat cheese cakes. i first tried goat cheese cakes in hawaii and i craved it for about a year before trying to replicate it – which i found was actually quite easy to do.  i posted my recipe for the salad dressing and goat cheese cake below- enjoy!

lemon-dijon-dressing:

ingredients:

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

5 tablespoons EVOO

1 shallot, minced

salt/pepper to taste

juice of half of one lemon

directions:

first mince the shallot and place in a bowl, then mix with the juice of ½- ¾ of the lemon, 5 tablespoons of EVOO and add salt and pepper to taste, i probably use about a teaspoon of each.  toss the dressing with baby greens immediately before serving.

goat cheese cakes:

ingredients:

1 goat cheese log

2 cups panko

1 egg white

EVOO

directions:

first slice the goat cheese log into 1/8 inch sections using dental floss (it doesn’t matter if all you have is flavored floss- fortunately it doesn’t usually flavor the goat cheese). then whip the egg white in a bowl and place the panko in a separate bowl, dip the goat cheese slices first in the egg white and then in the panko making sure to coat all sides of the goat cheese in the panko. then, put on a plate and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready for dinner.

once you are ready to prepare your salad, heat a small frying pan over medium/high heat with enough EVOO to fully cover the bottom of the pan.  once the oil is hot enough, slowly add the goat cheese cakes using a spatula (the oil will be hot enough when it causes water to splatter when added to it- be cautious if trying this as it can splatter a lot and could  burn you). fry the cakes until the outer edges look light brown, this usually takes about 1-2 minutes and then flip and toast the other side, about 1 minute before removing and placing on top of an already-dressed salad.  serve warm.