Recipe of the Month: Spaghetti & Breadcrumbs

Time for an Italian tradition

Welcome to our Food Adventure recipe of the month.  This month we feature a secret, closely guarded family recipe that is dear to our hearts.

Jackie Scanlan from our Food Adventure Crew is an Italian mom.  Today she shares not only an Italian Family secret, but a favorite you would typically find in New York and Jersey in Italian households.

Today’s recipe feature : SPAGHETTI with BREAD CRUMBS

Jackie aka “Hungry Jax” explains the origins and importance of this dish in her life.

Hello fellow Dayton area foodies !!

Spaghetti with Breadcrumbs

It’s finally warm out! Don’t get me wrong, I am a winter child. I love snow, hoodies and warm boots. But when the sun starts shining, and the weather warms up, I can’t help but feel more energized and ready to be outside with the kids anytime that we can! And with the change in the season, my appetite changes as well!

Pasta is truly my soul food. If I was only allowed to eat one thing for the rest of my life, spaghetti would be the choice. It is so versatile and fun to eat! The recipe I am sharing today is a lightened up spaghetti dish that is fresh and lighter for these warmer days but still fulfills as a comfort food.

Spaghetti with breadcrumbs was a go-to easy dish that my mother would make when I was a child. I loved it. Quick, simple, and satisfying! My version is pretty close to my mothers, but a few tweaks that enhance this dish to the next level.  This dish makes a

It all starts with GARLIC !

great main dish or can be a light side. Grill up some chicken and you’ve got a complete meal.  I added broccoli to brighten it up even more. My trick is to toss the broccoli florets in with the pasta during the last minute to cook them. This produces a crisp and brilliant colored broccoli without it being mushy. And it makes for one less pan to clean!

Give it a shot! It’s so easy and very tasty! Not that I am biased or anything…

Mangia!

• Jax

SPAGHETTI WITH BREADCRUMBS

You’ll need:

• ¼ cup olive oil
  

  Monthly Recipe

• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 tbls dried parsley
• 1 tbls crushed red pepper
• 1 clove garlic chopped
• 1 lb spaghetti
• 2 cups broccoli chopped
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• zest from one lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• **reserve ½ cup pasta water**
• Breath mints/gum for after if you’re on a date. This is a garlicky one!

Warning – this recipe makes kids happy

DIRECTIONS:

Boil water and cook pasta as instructed. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat the olive oil and red crushed pepper till warm on medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute).  Add in bread crumbs and cook until lightly browned. Remove from heat and add parsley.

During the last minute of your pasta cooking, add in broccoli. Once done, drain but reserve ½ cup pasta water. Return pasta and broccoli to the pot. Add ¼ cup of  the reserved water and cook on low heat. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Pasta should be moist but not swimming in pasta water. So only add more if you feel it’s too dry.

Remove from heat, dish out and top with the breadcrumbs and romano and/or parmesan cheese.  Mangia!

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About Jackie :

Jackie moved to the Dayton area in 2006. This Italian mom from Upstate New York, found herself in a very different culinary atmosphere that what she was used to in Utica, NY. However, different proved to be good and she fell in love with not only this “gem” of a city, but also the food and foodies within it. Cooking is a passion of Jackie’s.

Cook breadcrumbs until lightly browned

She loves to use her husband John, and 2 daughters Coraline and Ashlyn as her lab rats to test recipes out. Some of her recipes have been published in National Food Magazines! She has also won food competitions including best “Chicken Riggies.”

As much as she loves to cook, she loves to take a night off from her kitchen and enjoy eating out and letting someone else do all the work (and the cleanup)! Other foodie interests include years of volunteering at the Dorothy Lane Market School of Cooking, and recently has hosted her own Food Adventure classes with the crew at the culinary center.  She has been re-tweeted a few times by Food Network’s Alton Brown, whom she has been a fan of his since way back when he wore bowling shirts.

Jackie takes the lead at the Food Adventure cooking classes at Spicy Olive. She hosts cooking demos at Dayton’s Garlic Fest and has appeared for Food Adventures on Living Dayton TV.  Jackie is always excited to be a part of the Food Adventure team and this “always hungry girl” is looking forward to experiencing some new eats.  Her positive attitude and passion for food ads fun to all of our events.

The finished product !