Pastica "Pasta De Jamon" - Ham Spread - "Pasta De Bocaditos" - Finger Sandwich Spread

Pastica is a collection of "Spreadable Ideas". Pastica's story goes back to when I was a young boy. My mother would always have some sort of snack ready for me when I came home from school, whether it was a quick blt, a hot dog, hamburger or my favorite Pastica!. Like most immigrants to this great United States, our families always looked for simple, inexpensive, yet delicious snacks. Many of these snacks today may fall under the heading "comfort food", but let's face it we all love the comfort food.

My favorite pastica (also known as "dip") was a quick fill of deviled ham and philly cream cheese. Whip this up with a fork, put it between to slices of white Wonder bread - and my god....what a treat. Sometimes the deviled ham was not available, so my mother always found an alternative: put a couple of hot dogs in the blender and whip them up, open a can of Vienna Sausage (or as we call them "salchichas") and whip those up or possibly even a few slices of ham, from time to time Spam was used...not my favorite for pastica. In the end you had a great snack from Pastica.

By now you are wondering what the recipe is, well, as with most moms in our hispanic culture, many of the recipes are not written down. I learned how to make Pastica my looking at my mother, what I saw was to combination of a can of deviled ham, block of cream cheese then it got real interesting - it was a spoonful of this and a pinch of that....and then a quick test....and then another pinch of that and this....and then another taste, Perfect!

So the founding of Pastica for me can go back to 1966 when I was four years old and my first recollection of eating Pastica. Over the years I have continued to enjoy Pastica in many ways - from using it in a sandwhich, serving it as a party dip or simply keeping some in the frig for those days you want some comfort food with a nice bag of chips and a good movie to settle in for the night. Of course, lets not forget a nice beverage to accompany the Pastica: I'll leave the choice of beverage to individual taste.

Over the years I have perfected what I consider to be the ultimate Pastica: smooth, tasty, spreadable, not too heavy, not too lite, just right...enjoyable as a dip or finger sandwhich. The recipe is complete!

2010 is the birth of Pastica! We are currently working on a full product line that will tantalize all the taste buds. For those who desire to be more health conscious, we are working on the same greate taste but with less calories and fat....our goal is for everyone to enjoy Pastica, but we will not compromise taste or add artificial stuff - that would be worse than the fat or calories.

While we continue to develop Pastica, we hope you all enjoy our blog. Please share your ideas, recipes, books, whatever you like to talk about, if it's about food - I'm listening.  If you see any changes you would like to make, let me know...want to become a publisher, let me know...just let me know.

Pastica's mission is to provide delicious ideas for anything that can be dipped, spread or savoured with a bread, cracker, vegetable, chip or other delectable food dipping tool (Yep, a new utensil "delectable food dipping tool").  Pastica has been developed from a great spread idea to a community of spreadable ideas that travel the web without limits reaching out to each individual's ideas, taste buds, imagination, cravings, thoughts, wishes and dreams.

    

Spicy Bean Salsa Recipe

Photo by: Cookin' Mama

Spicy Bean Salsa

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can black-eyed peas
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced jalapeno peppers
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup
• Italian-style salad dressing1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine black-eyed peas, black beans, corn, onion, green bell pepper, jalapeno peppers and tomatoes. Season with Italian-style salad dressing and garlic salt; mix well. Cover, and refrigerate overnight to blend flavors.

   

Raspberry Deviled Ham Recipe - How to make dips and spreads recipes

Courtesy About.com

© 2009 Peggy Trowbridge Filippone


Deviled ham gets a spicy sweet kick from raspberry chipotle sauce. It makes a delightfully different appetizer as a dip or spread and goes together fast in the food processor. If you are unable to find raspberry chipotle sauce, you can make your own or simply use a mixture of raspberry jam and hot sauce.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound diced ham
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 6 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 2 Tablespoons raspberry chipotle sauce (seedless recommended or see Notes below)
• 1 Tablespoon sweet relish
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup chopped chives
• Chopped egg and grape tomatoes for garnish, optional
• Crackers of choice, toasted baguettes or melba toasts, etc.

Preparation:

Place ham in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse until the ham is finely chopped.

Add onion, cream cheese, Cheddar cheese, raspberry chipotle sauce, relish, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard. Process until well-combined and almost smooth. Remove to a bowl and stir in chives.

Refrigerate raspberry deviled ham spread at least 2 hours for flavors to meld. Garnish with optional chopped egg and cherry tomatoes. Serve with crackers, bread, or toasts.

Yield: about 2 cups

   

Mexican Style Dip

By: Lynn  "This Tex-Mex recipe was a big hit when I brought it to work. My shift starts at 7 AM the dip was gone by 8 AM. With many requests for the recipe!"

Photo by GodivaGirl

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 pound extra-lean ground beef

1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup salsa

1/4 cup chopped jalapeno pepper

2 cups shredded Mexican-style cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 9 inch pie plate with vegetable oil spray.

2. Press cream cheese evenly onto the bottom of the pie plate.

3. In a large skillet, brown the hamburger. Drain excess fat. Mix in the taco seasoning and water. Cook and stir 2 to 4 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat before mixing in salsa and jalapenos. Pour the beef mixture over the cream cheese in the pie plate. Sprinkle the Mexican-style cheese over the entire dish.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until the cheese has melted.

Bloody Fingers "Holloween Goblin Dish"

Courtesy of Prego Italian Sauces 
Invite your Halloween goblins in for an especially ghoulish treat before they head out to trick-or-treat.

Ingredients

 

24 sliced blanched almonds

-   Red liquid or paste food coloring

2 pkg.  (about 9 ounces each) refrigerated fully cooked breaded chicken strips (about 24)

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 jar  (24 ounces) Prego® Traditional Italian Sauce

Directions

 

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush the almonds with the food coloring to coat. Set them aside to dry for about 10 minutes

2. Place the chicken strips on a baking sheet. Brush the narrow end of the chicken strips with egg and press almonds on the egg wash to attach. Bake for 5 minutes or until hot.

3. Pour the sauce in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Cook until it's hot and bubbling, stirring occasionally. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter. Serve with the sauce for dipping.

 

Tip:
Easy Substitution: Substitute frozen fully cooked breaded chicken strips for the refrigerated chicken strips. Increase the bake time to 10 minutes.