Tomato, Basil, and Brie Pasta

As part of the Wisconsin Whisk group, I willingly participate in the "All Whisked Up" blog challenge. How this works is that I am sent another Wisconsin Whisk member's blog, spend a little time getting to know them and their style and select a recipe to recreate. You can see my previous challenges here and here.

For February, I was provided the Wisconsin From Scratch blog. Sarah is actually one of the founders of Wisconsin Whisk and I have tried a few of her recipes before. She focuses on using fresh, local ingredients in her recipe creations and she also loves the science behind the food, being an engineer. In her more recent posts, she made many Asian inspired dishes. They look great and I hope to make some of them in the future.

But being an absolute pasta fanatic, I selected Tomato, Basil & Brie Pasta as my recipe to recreate. I love all of these ingredients but have never tried Brie in a dinner. My main experience with the creamy cheese is a Brie en Croute that my sister-in-law makes for holidays.

The recipe seemed simple to prepare, which is perfect for my busy schedule lately. Though it was easy to put together, I knew it was going to have great flavor. I chopped up the basil and tomatoes and got those marinating.

The toughest part of this entire recipe is removing the rind from the cheese. I didn't want to lose too much of the cheese so I had to be careful to slice thin. And then just chop it up and add it to the tomato mixture.

I popped a bottle of Rare Red to enjoy with this meal and took a sip or two while the noodles boiled. It was really good for an under $10 bottle of a red blend.

I purchased a loaf of asiago foccacia bread and warmed that up in the oven to serve with the dish. It smelled heavenly when I pulled it out of the oven.

Once the noodles were done, I added the tomato mixture and stirred until the brie was melted by the heat of the noodles. I realized I should have chopped the cheese a little smaller as it took some time to melt, but soon enough it became nice and creamy.

I served up a plate for both myself and my fiance and we sat down to enjoy. Though the cheese flavor was light at first, the tomatoes slightly blistered in the heat and brought great flavor. The basil added a freshness that I long for in winter. I can't wait to either grow my own plants this summer or pick up fresh ones from the farmers market and make this again. It will be even better!

This will definitely go on my "to cook again" list - it was even better as leftovers when the flavors had a little longer to meld. I didn't realize it at the time, but I did purchase light brie cheese--it was all they had at the store. I'm not sure if that affected the flavor, but it can only get better with full fat brie, right?

Wisconsin From Scratch has provided me another successful meal and I can't wait to try more of her recipes soon.

An InLinkz Link-up

All Whisked Up - November

It's the November edition of the Wisconsin Whisk All Whisked Up Challenge! How this works is that Members of the Wisconsin Whisk group are blindly sent a blogger by the organizers and sent their info via email. We are to wander through their blog, learn about them, and cook one of their recipes.

This month, I was given YummySprout as my blind blog. Tara, from the Madison area, creates her own recipes, with the occasional inspiration from other recipes she finds online. She also teaches cooking classes at Whole Foods in Madison for children and adults. I love that she is getting the kiddos active in cooking at such a young age. This really instills great food choices at a young age.

Tara and her girls have some food allergies and intolerances that put them on a stricter diet -- soy-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free. Tara's blog is filled with amazing recipes that don't lack flavor or fun even with these restrictions.

Because I am a lover of all things pumpkin, when I came across her recipe for Pumpkin Honey Cake. I don't have a gluten intolerance so I used regular all-purpose flour in my recipe but that was my only edit to keep it as true to the original as possible.

The other great thing about this recipe is that I had all the ingredients in my house. My guy just moved in with me on Halloween weekend and that meant an influx of food items. I was very happy to make this cake to help empty my pantry.

I mixed all the wet ingredients together in my "new" bowls. My guy had some really wonderful bowls so I gladly donated my college-era bowls to Goodwill and used these wonderful ceramic bowls.

Cooking with pumpkin makes such a beautiful colored batter, don't you agree?

Something new that I have never done with a recipe before but might do this from here forward, putting some butter in the pan and place the pan in the oven while it preheats. This allows the butter to melt and coat the pan.

I couldn't help but watch this cake rise while baking in the oven. There was no need to burn my pumpkin candles while this was in the oven. My house smelt like absolute heaven!

I pulled it out at exactly 40 minutes and my toothpicks came out clean. The cracks on the top also let me know it was done.

I let it cool just a bit on the stove before sneaking a piece. I drizzled some honey over and dug in. This was excellent. It wasn't as sweet as a typical cake, but I didn't mind. The honey added extra sweetness to it.

My guy and the girls had a piece before school this morning and they too liked it. My guy told me it was more of a savory and not overly sweet treat but he liked it. I liked that there wasn't processed white sugar and instead used honey for sweetness. We did think that cream cheese frosting or a powder sugar drizzle would be awesome on top of this cake. This will definitely go on my list of fall treats!

I love being paired up with other Wisconsin blogs. It opens my eyes and belly to other's cooking styles and let's my kitchen adventures continue. So far, I am two for two on recipes that were enjoyable. Last month's Loaded Cauliflower Casserole will be added to the Thanksgiving table this year!

An InLinkz Link-up

All Whisked Up Challenge!

Earlier this year, I was invited to join a group of bloggers called Wisconsin Whisk. I felt extremely privileged to be asked and joined instantly. I haven't been able to attend the meetup in Madison or the virtual meetup to find out more about the other bloggers, but the Facebook group is providing me some great recipes and new blogs to follow. 


One of the things that I have been able to be a part of is the All Whisked Up Challenge. Members of the Wisconsin Whisk group are blindly sent a blogger by the organizers and sent their info via email. We are to wander through their blog, learn about them, and cook one of their recipes. 


I was given Edesia's Notebook, a blogger based out of Kenosha. No her name is not Edesia, as that is the Roman goddess of feast. Lesa, is a mom of two girls and wife of a pastor, and she enjoys cooking for her family and church. Like myself and most Wisconsinites, she is a fan of cheese!  I won't hold it against her that she is a St. Louis Cardinals fan (Go Brewers!) because she has lived in other states before making Wisconsin her home. 

Her recipes are easy to follow and don't involve too many ingredients--this is the perfect pairing for me. I am not an overly complicated cook myself and quite a few of her recipes sounded amazing. I also love the style of her blog, she has her recipes indexed and that has been a goal of mine for a few years and I just haven't gotten around to it. Goal for 2016!

I talked with my guy and asked him to help me slim it down to which recipe I was going to make as it was just too hard to do on my own, and we decided upon Loaded Cauliflower Casserole. I had most of the ingredients already at home and only made a few simple changes to the recipe to reduce the calorie and fat count. 

I bought a fresh head of cauliflower and got to chopping. In just about 10 minutes it was tender from the microwave. 

I mixed up the rest of the ingredients that included Lite French Onion Dip, 1/3 less fat cream cheese, and turkey bacon. I also didn't have fresh chives so I used my dried ones. 

Then it was as simple as mixing the rest of it up together and getting it into the casserole dish. 

I topped it with some 4-cheese blend and more turkey bacon and popped it in the oven. 

And in just 30 minutes, it was done and bubbly. I let it rest for about five minutes and then scooped myself a decent portion out and took my first bite.

This recipe is  AH-MAZING!!!! The French Onion Dip is what really puts it over the top. I think that all my party potato recipes are going to include French Onion Dip from here forward. It adds a level of flavor depth that is so good, but not overpowering. I could actually eat this casserole as a meal and I love that it is low carb.

It has for sure become a favorite of mine. 

I urge all my readers to check out Wisconsin Whisk and see what other bloggers from around the state are sharing. I am so happy to be apart of this group and can't wait to see what the future holds! I am already a huge fan of Edesia's Notebook and saw a recipe for Crispy Orange Terriyaki Wings - maybe I'll be the next Wings Around Waukesha post! 

Check out all the other members of the Wisconsin Whisk - All Whisked Up Challenge at the link below.

An InLinkz Link-up