Tag: pasta

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pasta with creme fraiche, kale and mushrooms

Each year, we have what we’ve come to call the “pasta of the year”.  The pasta of the year is a pasta dish that we turn to for a reliably tasty and soul-satisfying dinner every other week or so. It quickly becomes part of our regular weeknight dinner repertoire, dominates for nearly a year, and then mysteriously fades away, only to be rediscovered occasionally by browsing our own blog archives. It’s a strange phenomenon, but we’ve come to accept it’s benevolent presence in our lives.

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The pasta that started it all was a marinated tomato and ricotta pasta. You’d let some peak of summer tomatoes hang around with fresh herbs, olive oil and lemon juice for 20 minutes or so. Then toss your pasta with an excess of ricotta cheese and top that with the marinated tomatoes. Heaven from June through September.

There was the pasta carbonara kick, which featured an incredibly poetic post from Jordan about his love for the dish. And then there was orzo topped with burrata cheese. My spicy soba noodle salad was certainly a contender in 2014.

And now, though the soba noodle salad is making an honorable attempt to defend the title in 2015, we have our new favorite pasta equation. Pasta + creme fraiche + sautéed shallot + wilted green, and it’s sister pasta, pasta + creme fraiche + shallot + al dente veg. Creme fraiche is a genius way to arrive at a solidly sauced pasta with nearly no effort, and we’ve already established that shallots are good on everything. Toss in whatever green or quick-cooking veggie (mushrooms, asparagus, green beans, favas, peas) you have around and you’ve got yourself a supremely delicious, decently well-balanced meal. If you happen to live at our house in the winter/spring of 2015, you have this pasta every 10 days.

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Pasta with Creme Fraiche, Kale and Mushrooms
1 lb pasta
1 shallot, diced
2 cups (8 oz) cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 cups kale, sliced
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1/2 cup creme fraiche
salt and pepper

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Dice your shallot and slice your kale and mushrooms. Throw your pasta into the pot of boiling water to cook.

Meanwhile, in a sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter, and sauté the mushrooms. When the mushrooms are nearly done, add the shallot and sauté just a few minutes more. Taste your mushrooms and season them with salt. Then add the kale. Turn the heat off and just let the kale wilt a bit.

Drain your pasta and add it back into the pot. Throw the mushroom mixture into the pasta pot, along with a generous dollop of creme fraiche. Stir to distribute the creme fraiche. Season with bit more salt and pepper, and serve. Feel free to embellish with parmesan cheese and herbs, though it isn’t necessary.

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-Emily

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Recipes

bucatini with fava beans and creme fraiche

Last Tuesday, our friend Katie came to visit. Katie and I were roommates in college and it’s accurate to say that during our first year at Georgetown we subsisted on a diet of Thomas bagels, Zatarain’s instant red beans and rice and Haribo gummy bears, and usually all of them in one sitting. Thankfully, we’ve gotten past those horrifying dietary habits, and somehow I write a food blog and Katie cooks for a restaurant.

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These days, Katie lives up in Boonville, CA and cooks for the Boonville Hotel. Boonville is just two hours North of San Francisco in Medocino County, but we’re not able to get together as often as the short distance would suggest. And so it’s a real good thing when I get an out-of-the-blue text from Katie saying that she’ll be in San Francisco for the day and would I be around?

There is nothing I like more than having someone over for dinner, and even more someone who’s happy to just sit down, shell some beans and chat about all matter of things while I sauté up a shallot. Not everyone can dig into big and important life questions while the other person flits from stove to sink, stirring this and washing that, but Katie doesn’t seem to struggle. We’re a good match.

Which brings me to pasta. This pasta comes together gracefully. You can carry on a conversation and still put a meal on the table in about thirty minutes. There’s nothing fussy about it, but looks and tastes like you did a whole lot more work. In case your market doesn’t have fava beans, you also could swap them for spring peas or asparagus cut into bite-sized pieces. I’m planning to do just that later this week. This recipe makes enough for three people as a main course.

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Bucatini with Fava Beans and Creme Fraiche
12 oz fresh pasta, bucatini if you can find it, but any long noodley one will do
2 lbs fava beans, shelled
1 shallot, diced
2 tablespoons butter
3 oz creme fraiche
salt and pepper
parmesan, for grating on top

Put a pot of salted water to boil. Take the fava beans out of their pods. When the water is boiling, blanche the favas for a minute or two, until they turn bright green. Scoop them out of the hot water and into a bowl. Then peel off their outer skin. Keep the water boiling to cook the pasta in later.

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the shallot and sauté for a few minutes to soften. When the shallot is soft, add the favas and sauté a minute or two more. Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water. Cook the pasta 2 – 5 minutes, depending on its shape.

When the pasta is cooked al dente, scoop it from the water and add it to the sauté pan with the fava beans and shallot. Still over low heat, add the creme fraiche and stir to distribute. Easiest sauce ever. When it’s looking all saucy and delicious, scoop onto plates and garnish with a little grated parmesan.

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-Emily

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Recipes

pesto pasta salad

Last week I was lucky to attend an awesome blogging conference Alt Design Summit. It was fun and inspiring and I’m buried under a mountain of insanely cute business cards from all of my new bloggy friends. I’ll share more soon, but since I know you’re hungry, here is a recipe for a quick, easy and delicious pesto pasta salad.

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Pesto pasta is an old standby here. I make it about every other week in the summer when basil is in season and readily available. We usually have it for lunch over the course of a few days. It is fresh, flavorful and cheap. Plus you can through a little of whatever you’ve got lying around in it and it still turns out pretty good. I guess pesto just works miracles like that.

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Pesto Pasta Salad
For the pesto
1 bunch basil (we used a small bunch of basil and some arrugula which was a day or two past its prime)
1 lemon, zest and juice
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup nuts (pine nuts are the standard, but we’ve used pecans and walnuts also)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 olive oil
salt and pepper

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In the bowl of a food processor combine basil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic nuts and parmesan. Pulse until you’ve got a coarse paste. Now turn the food processor on and drizzle olive oil in through the top hole until the pesto comes together and everything is chopped uniformly. Season with salt and pepper.

For the pasta salad
1 lb dry pasta
1 can whole pitted olives
8 oz mini mozzarella balls
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 batch of pesto

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Bring a pot of water to boil. Salt it until it tastes like sea water. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and rinse for a minute or two with cold water. Combine pasta, olives, mozzarella, tomatoes and pesto in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Serve at room temperature or cold.

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This pasta salad recipe is super flexible. You can add more veggies—blanched green beans are great, kidney beans or chick peas are a good way to make it heartier, marinated artichokes would be lovely too! Just remember that more sauce is better when you’re making a pasta that you’ll refrigerate and eat over a few days. Without enough sauce, the pasta will seem dry, bland and rather sad.

-Emily

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Recipes

creamy pasta with dill and smoked salmon

I never used to eat fish. I basically avoided it, except for the very occasional piece of grilled salmon at a family party. Until I met Jordan. Jordan is a lover of fish. He was quick to introduce me to sushi, moules frites and smoked salmon. And, since I was very eager for him to like me, I ate them, lifelong avoidance set aside. Turns out he was right, all those fish, they deserve my love.

This particular pasta is a Jordan dish. He never failed to make it when he’d come to visit me at school or when I was home over the summer. It’s lovely all year round. One Valentine’s Day when Jordan was visiting me in D.C., we took the Metro to Eastern Market, wandered into a cooking store, splurged on our first All-Clad saute plan, and then went home to christen it with this dish. Really any pan that gets hot will do, and it’s pretty silly to buy All-Clad when you live in student housing, but that’s the story. Obviously, we still have the pan; those things are rock solid.

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Creamy Pasta with Dill and Smoked Salmon 
1 lb bow tie pasta
2 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups cream
1/4 cup dill, chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
6 oz smoked salmon, cut into 1″ pieces

Put a pot of salted water to boil. In a large saute pan over medium-low, heat the butter. Saute the shallot in butter for a few minutes, until softened but not brown. Deglaze with the wine. Let the wine reduce slightly, about 3 minutes. Add the cream and turn the heat to low. Let the sauce come to a boil and thicken, stirring often.

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Cook the pasta until al dente and drain. Turn the heat off on the sauce, add the dill and lemon juice. Toss the pasta with the sauce. Top with smoked salmon to serve.

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If you’re only cooking for two, you might want to cut this recipe in half. Sadly, this pasta does not reheat well. The cream gets absorbed by the pasta and the smoked salmon is overcooked by the time the pasta is heated through. Microwaved cream sauces really are a travesty.

-Emily

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Recipes

pasta bolognese

I’d never made pasta bolognese. We weren’t sure if we’d ever even eaten a true pasta bolognese. The closest we’d ever gotten was marinara sauce with ground beef, which as we found out in our recipe research, is not even close to a pasta bolognese.

This recipe is from the Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook and was cross-referenced with a Mario Batali recipe so we’ve got on pretty good authority we’re approaching authentic with this one. We had to make a few minor modifications (bacon in place of pancetta), but good golly pasta bolognese is good! Meaty comfort in a stock pot, real pasta bolognese kicks Ragu‘s ass.

Pasta Bolognese, adapted from the Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook
4 oz bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
salt
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1 cup dry white wine
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
2 cups chicken or beef stock
1 1/2 cups milk
3 T tomato paste
1/4 cup cream
pepper
parsley and parmesan for serving

In a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat, add the bacon. Once the bacon has released some of its fat, add the vegetables. Saute the vegetables until they have softened and add the garlic. Remove the vegetables and bacon from the pan and set aside.

Brown the beef and pork in the same pan. Cook 10 – 15 minutes, until the meat is browned. Add the wine, herbs and vegetables to the meat. Adjust the heat to maintain a simmer and let the liquid evaporate.

Once most of the liquid has evaporated, deglaze with the stock and milk. Add the tomato paste. Simmer until the sauce is thickened, 30 minutes to an hour. Season with salt and pepper.

Before serving, add the cream and simmer for a few minutes.

Serve over pasta garnished with parmesan and parsley.

-Emily

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Recipes

pasta with ricotta and marinated tomatoes

This is one of my absolute favorite summer dinners. I’ve shared the recipe before, but recently made a few improvements and thought I’d share it again. It is quick, light and you don’t need to turn on the oven—beneficial pretty much everywhere except San Francisco. It also features one of my favorite summer ingredients—tomatoes.

Like all simple dishes, the better the ingredients you put into the dish the better it will turn out. I recommend using a decent fresh ricotta over your typical dairy section fare and cherry tomatoes because they are more flavorful and less watery than other varieties.

Pasta with Ricotta and Marinated Tomatoes
1 basket cherry tomatoes, halved
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 T olive oil
2 T each of fresh parsley, basil or chives, chopped (use any combination of herbs you have on hand)
1/2 T fresh thyme, removed from the sprig
1 lb pasta (shells or tubes are prefered)
1 clove garlic, grated
2 T olive oil
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup grated parmesan
salt and pepper

Slice the tomatoes and put them in a medium bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. The longer you let this sit and marinate, the better.

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Just before you drain the pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and return to the pot. Add the olive oil and grated garlic clove. Stir. Add the ricotta and parmesan. Stir just to combine. Plate a mound of pasta and top with the tomato-herb mixture. Enjoy!

-Emily

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fettucini with tomatoes, onions and thyme

I made this pasta for Jordan and I about two weeks ago. It was so good I decide to make it again for my birthday dinner with friends last weekend. Because it is so simple, the quality of the ingredients can really shine. If you’ve got fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes, this is the dish for them. We sadly don’t have a garden, so heirloom tomatoes from Bi-Rite had to substitute—tough life.

Fettuccine with Tomatoes, Onions and Thyme
10 oz fresh fettuccine (dried will work just fine too, but save some of the pasta water to add into the sauce)
1 basket cherry tomatoes, whole or sliced in half
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 t fresh thyme
1/4 cup parmesan
2 T butter
olive oil, salt, pepper
1 t basil, sliced thinly
1 ball of burrata

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Dice the onion and garlic. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil over low heat. Saute the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and saute for two more minutes. Add the tomatoes.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook about two minutes. Drain and put back into the pot. Add the butter and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.

Plate the pasta and top with the tomato mixture. Top with half of the burrata and fresh basil if you’ve got it around. Enjoy!

-Emily

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orzo with spring peas and burrata

Jordan surprised me with this delicious meal a while back. It is light but still flavorful—a perfect summer dish.

Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell of the cheese is mozzarella and the inside is a mixture of  mozzarella and cream. It is amazing—sweet, milky and soft—perfect for topping pastas or salads. If you can’t find burrata, use fresh mozzarella instead. A poached egg would also be lovely with this pasta.

Orzo with Spring Peas and Burrata 
1/2 lb orzo pasta
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
2 T mint, sliced thinly
1 lemon, juiced
olive oil, salt, pepper
1 cup spring peas
2 T butter

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, shell the peas. Cook the pasta until al dente and drain. Rinse with cold water to cool the pasta. Once cool, toss with olive oil, lemon juice, parmesan, salt, pepper and mint.

In a saute pan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Cook the peas until cooked through, but still quite fresh tasting, about 5 minutes. Pour over the pasta mixture and toss to combine. Top with half of a ball of burrata and serve.

This pasta dish can be a main course or a side dish. We had ours with a fennel sausage and sautéed Russian red kale.

-Emily

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fettuccine alfredo with asparagus

Yay! Asparagus season is officially upon us! I love asparagus and happen to think it goes just wonderfully with cheese. Exhibit A: Grilled Cheese with Asparagus and Preserved Lemons. Exhibit B: Fettuccine Alfredo with Asparagus.

Fettuccine Alfredo with Asparagus
1 bunch asparagus
2/3 lb fettuccine
2 T butter
1 cup cream
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 cups parmesan, grated
salt and pepper

Put a large pot of salted water to boil. Slice the asparagus into one inch slices. In a small saucepan over low heat, heat the cream, butter and garlic. Once simmering, whisk in the parmesan. Season well with salt and pepper.

Add the pasta to the boiling water. After the pasta has cooked for 10 minutes, add the asparagus to the boiling water. Cook another 2 – 3 minutes and drain. Pour the sauce over the hot pasta. Toss and enjoy!

This is a real crowd pleaser and super easy to make, plus the asparagus addition makes it seem slightly less indulgent. Just do it. Your friends and lovers will be thrilled. And there’s few things better than being happy and full.

-Emily

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Randomness

daikon soup?

Jordan wanted to pickle daikon radishes, which is a great and delicious idea, and so he procured some lovely young little daikons. They sat happily in our fridge awaiting their future pickling—until I accidentally turned them into soup.  Daikons are not parsnips, as it turns out. In fact, they are much more watery, much more radishy and very little like parsnips at all, except for their looks.

I was in the middle of making my potato and ‘parsnip’ soup when Jordan came home from work. The soup had just entered into a mysteriously watery state when he walked through the door asking what was for dinner. Potato and parsnip soup was my cheery reply. Where did you get the parsnips, he wondered out loud. The fridge was my matter-of-fact answer. And that is when the ‘a daikon is not a parsnip’ bomb dropped and the reason behind my very watery soup became clear.

Well, when your soup is the consistency of broth because of an ingredient snafu and you still need to somehow turn that mess into a dinner, add half a pound of dry pasta and it will soak the excess water right up. Your potato soup will become a sort of pasta sauce and you’ll now be able to enjoy a carbtastic meal. I won’t torture you will the recipe, but keep the pasta trick in mind.

-Emily