One of the things that can be challenging in vegetarian cooking is creating a colorful and interesting dinner plate.  I don’t mean the meal as a whole, I mean what you actually find as your main course.  If you eat meat, your plate is probably something like protein, starch, green vegetable.  In England they call that meat and two veg.  There used to be a vegetarian restaurant in London called Eat and Two Veg which I thought was hilarious.  Anyway.  On our plates, that diversity is harder to accomplish.  You can’t just swap out the steak for tofu.

When I am making a special dinner, I try really hard to come up with a three part main course.  I always have at least one course preceding the main, but I like that main to look really colorful and appetizing.  I found a recipe for this wonderful couscous dish and knew I wanted to make it for my brother’s special dinner.  If I make a starchy side, I try to make a protein-heavy dish along with a clean vegetable.  Galettes are great for dinner parties but in this case, I thought the crust and the couscous would be starch overload.  This time, I made a crustless quiche with kale and zucchini and that amazing blasted broccoli.

This dish was so lovely.  Two kinds of couscous mixed with slow roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions, and fresh herbs makes for a substantial and delicious side.  The recipe instructs you to top it with dollops of homemade labneh – a type of strained yogurt cheese, but I opted out of that easy but time-consuming step.  I could have probably bought some labneh, but I opted out of that time-consuming third stop on my grocery shopping tour and just bought fromage blanc.  Really, after tasting the dish, I would probably use something more pungent next time – like a Montrachet or even feta cheese.

If you make this as written, you will end up with approximately one ton of couscous, so it would be a great addition to your next party or potluck.  Never a bad thing.

Ottolenghi calls the larger couscous mograbiah which apparently is the Lebanese name for what we call Israeli couscous.  It is about half the size of a pea.  Sometimes it is difficult to find so when I see it, I buy it.  I have used a small Italian pasta as a substitute (not acine de pepe or orzo) the name of which, for the life of me, I cannot find.  I liked it in this dish because the color is not so uniform so it had a more rustic look and texture.  Anyone know the name of what I describe?  (Update 7-16-10: Thank you to Mary for reminding me of the name – fregola!  If you can find that type, use it here.)

One Year Ago:  Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars
Two Years Ago:  Leek Frittata

Couscous and Mograbiah with Oven-Dried Tomatoes
Adapted from Ottolenghi, The Cookbook
Makes a lot

I know this seems like a crazy amount of tomatoes, but just make them and use them in other things if you don’t want to add them all to the couscous.  They are delicious.

16 large, ripe plum tomatoes, cut into halves lengthwise
2 tbsp. muscovado sugar (DT: or sub brown sugar)
Olive oil
2 tbsp. good balsamic vinegar
2 onions, thinly sliced
8 oz. Morgrabiah or Israeli couscous
1 2/3 cups vegetable stock
Pinch of saffron threads
8 oz. couscous
2 tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon (DT: basil would be good here too)
4 ounces fromage blanc, Montrachet, or feta cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 300ºF.  Arrange the tomatoes halves on a baking sheet, skin side down, and sprinkle them with the sugar, some olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  Place in the oven and bake for 2 hours, or until the tomatoes have lost most of their moisture.

Meanwhile, place a large skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle in just enough olive oil to coat the bottom.  Add the onions and saute, stirring occasionally, until the onions are a dark golden color – 15 to 20 minutes.  Set aside.

Bring a large saucepan of water to boil.  Add the mograbiah and cook it as you would pasta until tender but not overcooked, about 10 minutes.  Drain and rinse well with cold water.  Drain again.

In a separate pot, bring the stock to boil with the saffron and a little salt.  Add the (small) couscous, give it a stir, then immediately turn cover the pot and turn off the heat.  Let stand for 5 minutes, then use a fork to fluff up the couscous.

In a large bowl, stir together the mograbiah, couscous, tomatoes, tarragon, and onions.  You will most likely need to add olive oil to keep things from sticking together and a couple good pinches of salt.  Turn the whole dish out onto a platter.  Scoop some of the fromage blanc over top or crumble one of the suggested cheeses.

Here is something you probably hear over and over.  Food bloggers are a friendly and fun group.  I live in a city where there are so many good ones and I have had the good fortune to meet some wonderful people locally just through keeping a blog.

Also, just in the last year, I have had lunch with Stacey in New York, Erin in Boston, Allison in San Francisco, and Ele and Hilary in London.  (Is it crazy ridiculous that I have traveled that much this year?  This is not usually my life.)  These are all women who, previous to our lunches, I had never met in person, just through their writing.  In every single case, I was delighted with the women I met and look forward to a chance to see each and every one of them again.

When I mentioned to Ele and Hilary that I was coming to London for one day, they immediately responded that we should go to Ottolenghi for lunch.  The restaurant is named after the owner who is originally from Israel.  He has turned his amazing food and aesthetic into a thriving business with four locations and a weekly column in the Guardian.  He himself is not a vegetarian but his column and his most recent cookbook is.

Periodically I have mentioned my imaginary Dana Treat restaurant.  You know, the one that is only open from 10-3pm?  The one where there I get to make whatever I want, change it up daily, where everyone loves my food and pays me well for it, and very nice magic fairies appear out of nowhere to do all the clean-up?  That restaurant.  Well, I would love my place to be a little like Ottolenghi.

Imagine.  Clean white space.  Big communal table and lots of little ones.  Huge bowls of the daily sides and salads that the servers come and take from throughout lunch.  Gorgeous and rustic sweets arranged just so – the kind you wish you had time to make yourself.  I could learn a lot from Ottolenghi – we all could.

Fortunately, there is that cookbook!  Actually there are two.  I bought the brand new one, Plenty, while in San Fransisco and then Ele and Hilary bought me the first one at the end of our lunch (so sweet!).  Please don’t ever quote me on this (and Randy! avert your eyes!) but I kind of feel like I could throw away all my other cookbooks and just cook out of these two books for the rest of my life.  They are that good.  Plenty is a wonder to behold.  The look of the book, quality of the paper, and the photographs are enough to justify the price, but then the recipes!  Swoon.  All vegetarian and all sound amazingly delicious.  The first book, Ottolenghi The Cookbook, features some meat and fish recipes but with plenty for the vegetarians and also has breads and sweets.  I’ve started with this book.

I have only been home for nine days, and already I have made three things from it.  All amazing.  This dish isn’t going to win any beauty contests but it was so incredibly tasty.  Thin pasta, rice, caramelized onions, and lentils make for a very brown dish so I would highly recommend making the (very tasty) tomato sauce to top it.  I don’t always like sweet flavors in my savory dishes, but the touch of cinnamon was most welcome here.

One Year Ago: Coconut Bars
Two Years Ago: White Beans with Roasted Tomatoes (still a fave, and yes, I made the same cake this year)

Kosheri
Adapted from Ottolenghi, The Cookbook
Serves 4-6

Being an English cookbook, all his measurements are in grams and milliliters.  In addition to changing that, I also played a bit with the proportions a bit.  I have found the Kitchen Pro app on my iPhone incredibly helpful.  There are lots of components here but the onions and the sauce can be done days ahead of time.

1 cup lentils
1 heaping cup basmati rice
2 oz. angel hair pasta, broken in to 2-inch pieces
1 2/3 cups vegetable stock or water
½ tsp. grated nutmeg
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
4 tbsp. olive oil

Spicy Tomato Sauce
4 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 red hot chiles, seeded and finely diced (I used a jalapeño)
2 14-oz. cans diced tomatoes
1½ cups water
4 tbsp. cider vinegar
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cumin
¼ cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Start with the sauce.  Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the garlic and the chiles and fry for 2 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, water, vinegar, salt, and cumin.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until slightly thickened.  Remove the sauce from the heat, stir in the cilantro and then taste.  See if you want more salt, pepper, or cilantro.  Keep hot or leave to cool; both ways will work with the hot kosheri.

To make the kosheri, place the lentils in a large saucepan and then cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.  The lentils should be tender but far from mushy.  Drain in a colander and set aside.

In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the raw pasta, stir, and continue frying and stirring until the pasta turns golden brown.  Add the rice and mix well until it is coated in the butter.  Now add the stock or water, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, cover, and then reduce the heat to a minimum and simmer for 12 minutes.  Turn off the heat, remove the lid, cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel, and put the lid back on.  Leave like that for about 5 minutes; this helps make the rice light and fluffy.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onions and sauté over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until dark brown.  Transfer to paper towels to drain.

To serve, lightly break up the rice with a fork and then add the lentils and the onions.  Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.  Serve hot with the tomato sauce.

Most people who cook have some kind of short list.  Those go-to recipes that require very little thought, contain ingredients you either have on hand or that can be easily procured from any grocery store, and that taste delicious.  Those are precious recipes indeed and I need a few more in my arsenal.

For now, this Jamie Oliver dish is at the top of my short list which, if I haven’t made it clear, is very short.  No matter – I love this recipe.  I always have onions and garlic plus many cans of chickpeas, almost always have celery, and I have rosemary growing in my yard.  Give me half an hour and I will give you something healthy, appealing to most people, satisfying, and very tasty.  It is also a very forgiving dish so you can either eat it right away or allow it to sit for a bit with the flavor only improving.

The method is simple.  The onions and garlic get sautéed together in a bit of olive oil along with the rosemary, which immediately makes your kitchen smell wonderful.  The chickpeas are next in the pot along with the broth and after those have cooked for a bit, half of the chickpeas are scooped out and reserved while the goodness in the pot gets a quick purée with an immersion blender.  After everything is reunited in the pot, in goes the pasta.  As soon it is tender, you are ready for dinner.  Add some fresh herbs on top (which I always seem to have some remnant of in my crisper drawer) and you have a rich and creamy tasting (but very healthy) meal.

I change this up a bit from the original recipe by adding some red pepper flakes for a bit of heat, and I also add more pasta and broth.  I always seem to need even more broth as the cooking process happens and you can add even more than that if you want the dish to be more saucy.  I don’t think it is possible to screw up this dish, so do what you like.  You will see my changes in the recipe below.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a food processor instead – just be careful with the hot stuff!

What is on your short list?

One Year Ago: Chilled Avocado Soup
Two Years Ago: Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies

Pasta e Ceci (Pasta with Chickpeas)
Adapted from Jamie’s Italy
Serves 4

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 stick of celery, trimmed and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
Olive oil
1 sprig of rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
2 14-oz. cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3 cups vegetable stock
5 ounces ditalini or other small pasta (such as orzo)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small handful of fresh basil or parsley leaves, picked and torn

Place a large skillet over medium heat and then pour in just enough olive oil to coat the bottom.  Add the onion and celery and sauté just until tender, about 6 minutes.  Add the garlic, rosemary, and red pepper flakes.  Sauté for 2 minutes, then add the chickpeas and the stock.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer and allow to cook just until the chickpeas are heated through, about 5 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, remove half of the chickpeas and set them aside.

Purée the soup in the pan with a handheld immersion blender.  Add the reserved whole chickpeas and the pasta, season the soup with salt and pepper, and simmer gently until the chickpeas are very tender and the pasta is cooked, about 10  minutes.  Add more liquid as necessary.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle with torn basil or parsley.

I have a quick, easy, and delicious pasta to share with you today – Meatless Monday.  But first, I want to announce the winners of my little two year celebration contest.

I was touched by what many of you wrote and I also got so many ideas of how to use my most special sun-dried tomatoes.  I decided that I couldn’t just pick one winner, so I grabbed a couple of extra bags of those beauties and bought a couple extra copies of the book.  With my trusty helper (who, in turn, needed to have his trusty helper – a truck), we picked the commenters numbered #11, #25, and #39.  Ladies, I’ll be sending you an email!

Back to pasta.  When I was a kid, my mom had a couple of standby recipes.  In other words, things she would make when she was low on ingredients or inspiration.  One such dish was Fettuccine Alfredo which was always a home run in our house.  We all loved noodles and those long strands coated in a creamy and cheesy sauce was something that my brothers and I couldn’t get enough of.  It is amazing to me, knowing what I do now, that my mom every made such a concoction.  She is very weight and health conscious and Fettuccine Alfredo about as far from health food as you can get.

Truthfully, I still love the taste of cream sauces but I steer clear of them.  I can’t eat more than a few bites before starting to feel slightly sick – I just can’t digest all richness.  When I found this recipe for a Summery Alfredo in Food and Wine, I was intrigued.  No cream, a little bit of cheese, and the starchy pasta water to bind it all together.  The original recipe called for just basil, salt, and pepper in addition to the pasta and cheese, but I decided to add some goodies I had waiting in my refrigerator.

Last week’s trip to the Pike Place Market brought me some spring onions and English peas, a few of which I had left in my produce drawer.  I blanched the peas and sauteed the spring onions in just a tiny of bit of butter until soft.  Those went into a large bowl with the two cheeses and the basil.  I boiled up some fresh pasta that I had in the freezer and, using tongs, just transferred the strands directly to the bowl.  I ladled in enough pasta water to create the sauce and voilà! dinner on the table in about 15 minutes.

Please let me tell you how unusual it is for me to find delicacies like spring onions (which are larger, sweeter, and more mild than scallions) and English peas in my refrigerator – especially on a Sunday night after I have been gone for the weekend.  Usually in that situation, my refrigerator is a wasteland where I can find some cheese, soy milk, condiments, lots of olives, and that is about it.  Any hope of dinner with a fresh vegetable is a supermarket trip away.  But, I had a bounty and I used it.  You could, of course, substitute scallions and frozen peas in this dish.  Allow the peas to thaw  -  no need to cook them – and just give your scallions a sauté like I did with the spring onions.

One Year Ago:  Raspberry Almond Bars and one of my favorite Graham stories

Fettuccine Alfredo
Inspired by Food and Wine
Serves 4

1 cup shelled fresh peas
½ tbsp. butter
4 small spring onions or 6 scallions, white and pale green part only, sliced
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
½ cup Pecorino Romano cheese
¼ cup basil leaves, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound fresh fettuccine or ¾ pound dried

Fill a small saucepan about half way full of water and bring to a boil.  Add a large pinch of salt and then add the peas.  Cook for 1 minute, then immediately drain and rinse with cold water.  Place peas in a large bowl.

Heat the same small saucepan over medium heat and add the butter.  Once the butter has melted, add the spring onions and a pinch of salt.  Sauté, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes.  Do not allow to brown.  Add the spring onions to the bowl with the peas.  Add the two cheeses and the basil to bowl as well.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil and toss in a couple of tablespoons of salt.  Carefully add the pasta and cook until al dente.  Using tongs, scoop the pasta directly into the bowl with the vegetables and cheeses.  Ladle out about ¾ of a cup of cooking water and toss the pasta together until the cheeses have melted and created a sauce.  You may need more water if it seems too dry.  Toss well to incorporate everything together and serve hot.

Today, some weather complaining.

The high in Seattle today reached 52 degrees.  Tomorrow?  51 degrees.  Did you know it is May?  We didn’t.  We thought it was February.

Now, I grew up here so I shouldn’t be surprised.  This is spring weather in the great Northwest.  People always ask how we can stand the winter in Seattle.  So much rain!  But truthfully, winter isn’t all that bad.  The temperature rarely dips below 40 degrees and yes, it does rain, but it is really more of a drizzle.  We get less rain in inches than most of the major cities (even Miami!), we just get more days of it.  So a winter day with driving pouring rain is actually pretty unusual.  Misty somewhat cold days are more like it.  If you dress properly, you can still be outside and not suffer too much.  I run around a nearby lake through the worst of it and do just fine.  My kids’ preschool has them play outside every day.  I prefer that to having to scrape ice off my car every morning or worrying that my children will get frostbite.  (You people in San Diego and Arizona can just keep quiet.)

Spring is another story.  After a long misty dark winter, we really do need to see the sun.  We also need to warm up.  And sometimes that doesn’t happen until June.  Other times warmth and sun don’t come until July 5th, which is when Seattle’s summer starts.  In other words, some years there really is no spring – we just go from winter to summer.  And that is when it feels cruel to live here.  Looking out my window at gray skies and rain in January doesn’t bother me all that much because I know it is so much worse elsewhere.  Looking out my window at gray skies and rain in May, knowing it is better just about everywhere,  that is pretty depressing.

Not only is spring weather tardy around here, but spring produce is behind much of the country as well.  I have hoped to find local asparagus at our markets for the past few weeks and am still just seeing lots of greens and radishes.  Thank you California for sharing your asparagus bounty and not leaving us to wallow in our parsnips.

Last week my parents came over for dinner.  I hadn’t planned to cook but my mom brought over some mushrooms and asparagus that she wasn’t going to be able to use.  I was craving pasta so I improvised this dish.  It’s amazing what some asparagus and lots of fresh herbs can do for your mood.  I liked it so much I made it again tonight for our friends Deb and Jeff in honor of Meatless Monday (which is, of course, always meatless in this house).

One Year Ago:  Rhubarb Streusel Tart (so good!) and Bean Tostadas with Sofrito

Spaghettini with Mushrooms, Asparagus, and Tarragon
Dana Treat Original
Serves 4-6

I used a spaghettini here which is like a cross between angel hair and spaghetti.  I think angel hair would be too thin and delicate for this dish, but spaghetti would be fine.  The first time I made this, I used freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  The second time I used Pecorino which I liked better but either is fine.

Olive oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 pound cremini or white mushrooms, or a combination, quartered
1 tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped
1 pound asparagus, tough stalks trimmed, cut on the diagonal into 1″ pieces
¼ cup heavy cream
½ cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese, plus more for passing at the table
2 tbsp. fresh tarragon, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¾ pound spaghettini or spaghetti

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom, then add the shalltos and a large pinch of salt.  Sauté until starting to brown, about 4 minutes, then add the mushrooms.  Sprinkle in the fresh thyme and allow to cook, stirring very occasionally, until the mushrooms release their liquid, and about half of it has cooked off.  Add the asparagus and fresh tarragon and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the asparagus is cooked through but not too soft.  Turn heat to low.  (At this point, the dish can be made a couple of hours ahead, but I would wait to add the asparagus until just before getting ready to start the pasta.  If it sits too long, it will lose its beautiful color.)

Meanwhile, heat a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the spaghettini and cook until al dente.  Using tongs, transfer the pasta directly to the asparagus/mushroom mixture along with about ½ cup of the cooking liquid and the cream.  Continuing to use the tongs, coat the noodles with the vegetables and the creamy sauce, adding more cooking liquid as necessary if it seems too dry.  Sprinkle in another pinch of salt, a few grinds of black pepper, and the Pecorino cheese and toss to incorporate.

Serve in wide soup bowls with additional Pecorino cheese.

Is there a single person out there who doesn’t like Jamie Oliver?  There may be a few who don’t know who he is but I’m guessing if you do, you love him.

Why?  He’s adorable (in that men-don’t-have-to-be-gorgeous-for-women-to-think-they-are-sexy way), a brilliant cook, approachable, funny, and he wants to try and save the world with food.  I always think of him when two ingredients go so well together, as in “potatoes and chives – best friends”.  (If you have seen his show on the Food Network, you know what I am talking about.)

I’m not sure why I only have one of his cookbooks in my collection but I do and it is Jamie’s Italy.  I love this book.  I love the paper, I love the candid-looking and kind of messy photos.  I love the simple and approachable food.  And I love the recipes I have made from it.

Sometimes Randy and I have weeks where one or both of us is out almost every night.  Last week was like that and I decided to make this hearty and tasty pasta so our boys and whichever parent was home could snack on it throughout the week.  It kept very well, the boys liked, it, and the babysitter thought I was a hero for making dinner in advance.

One Year Ago: (what do you know, another baked pasta!) Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Parsley Pesto

Baked Pasta with Tomatoes and Mozzarella
Adapted from Jamie’s Italy
Serves 4-6

My adaptions were to use a different shape pasta and to use much less cheese than he calls for.  If you want it Jamie’s way use “4 big handfuls” of Parmesan cheese and 3 5-oz. balls of mozzarella.  He also says this dish serves 4 but people ate this all week.

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
1 white onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 or 2 dried red chilies, crumbled
3 14-oz. cans of good-quality plum tomatoes
Large handful of fresh basil leaves, plus additional for garnish
Optional:  1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 lb. orecchiette (DT: I used radiatore)
1 – 2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 8-oz. container fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Preheat your oven to 400°F and put a large pot of salted water on to boil.  Heat a couple of glugs of olive oil in an appropriately sized pan.  Add your onion, garlic, and chili and slowly fry for about 10 minutes on a medium to low heat until softened but without any color.  Add the canned tomatoes with a small glass of water.  Bring to a boil and simmer for around 20 minutes.  Now put them through a food processor or blender to make a loose sauce.  Tear your basil leaves into the sauce and correct the seasoning with salt, pepper, and a little red wine vinegar.

When the sauce tastes perfect, bring the water back to a boil.  Add the pasta to the water and cook until it is just shy of al dente (it will continue to cook in the oven).  Drain and toss with half of the tomato sauce and a handful of Parmesan.  Get yourself an appropriately sized baking pan or earthenware dish and rub it with a little olive oil.  Layer a little pasta in the pan, followed by some tomato sauce, a sprinkle of Parmesan, and some mozzarella slices, then repeat these layers until you have used up all the ingredients, ending with a good layer of cheese on top.  Pop the dish into the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden, crisp, and bubbling.  Garnish with additional basil leaves, if desired.

Have you read the book Cooking for Mr. Latte?  It is by Amanda Hesser who used to be a food critic for the New York Times.  She has also written a cookbook and is working on an intriguing project called Food 52.  Cooking for Mr. Latte is the story of how she met her now husband (the author Tad Friend) and recipes for the food she cooked along the way.  Sound like a familiar premise?  I know, these food-memoirs-with-recipes seem to be everywhere these days.  I just talked about another one in my last post.  But Hesser’s book is from 2003 – before blogs made a big splash and everyone got a book deal.  It’s my favorite of the food memoirs I have read.

Because she was a food critic, her descriptions of food are expert.  You want to be sitting along side her eating.  And her recipes are terrific.  So much so that I keep this little book on my heavy rotation cookbook shelf.  I love the things I have made from this book.  And this is my favorite of the bunch.

Hesser is the first person who told me about Meyer lemons.  The way she talked about them made me go on a mission to seek them out.  These days they are easy to find in Seattle, but just a few years ago it took a lot more investigative work.  They have become one of those “shoulds” in the cooking world.  You know, you “should” eat seasonally, you “should” always use fresh herbs, you “should” make your own salad dressing, and you “should” always use Meyer lemons if you can find them.  Well, I agree with the first three in that list.  And now that I have used Meyer lemons many many times, I have to say that I’m not sure I agree with that last one.  I love lemons.  Meyer lemons are more orange-y tasting and I don’t love oranges.  So, I’m going against the grain and saying no, in general you “should” use whatever lemons you like.

Except in this recipe.  For me, the Meyer lemons work amazingly well here and regular lemons are too mild.  This is a very simple recipe.  Simple in that “simple is sometimes better” way.  I love making this for dinner when recent meals have been complicated or overly spiced or really rich.  It is such a clean dish but not too spare.  Not to be a food snob, but fresh pasta is practically a must here.  You will taste the pasta and you want that pasta to taste good.  (One of these days, I will make my own and when I do, I’m making this one to go with this dish.)

I should have garnished this dish differently for the photo.  I know it looks like white on white.  But trust me.  It is so delicious in that wonderful simple way.  And it takes next to no time to make.  I can’t wait for spring so I can add some blanched asparagus to this bowl.

One Year Ago:  Tome Yum Soup with Tofu and Mushrooms

Paparadelle with Lemon, Herbs, and Ricotta Salata
Adapted from Cooking for Mr. Latte
Serves 4

I’ve used all different combinations of herbs in this dish – use what you have.  I would keep the amount roughly the same and definitely use the mint.

2 cups vegetable broth
1 clove garlic, peeled and lightly smashed with a  knife
Grated zest of 1 lemon (use a Meyer if possible)
Juice of 1 lemon (ditto)
Sea salt
1 pound paparadelle, broken (or cut) into 2-inch pieces
3 tbsp. chopped mint
2 tbsp. chopped marjoram
1 tbsp. chopped fennel fronds, or tarragon, or chervil
Olive oil
6 ounces ricotta salata, crumbled or shaved
Coarsely ground black pepper

1.  Fill a large pot with water and add enough salt so that you can taste it.  Bring to a boil.  Pour the vegetable broth into a small saucepan, drop in the garlic and bring to a boil.  Reduce by half.  Remove the garlic and shut off the heat.  Stir in the lemon zest and juice.  Season and taste.  It should be full flavored because this will be the sauce for the pasta.  Keep warm.

2.  When the water comes to a boil, add the pasta and cook until soft on the edges but still firm under the tooth.  After a few minutes, ladle out about 1 cup of the cooking liquid and reserve.  Drain the pasta, shake it lightly, then return it to the pot.  Put it over low heat and pour in the broth.  Sprinkle in the mint and other herbs and a little olive oil.  Add some of the reserved cooking liquid and more lemon juice if needed.  Season to taste with salt (keeping in mind that the cheese will add some salt).

3.  Spoon into bowls so that the pasta is lying in a bit of broth.  Scatter the ricotta salata over it, drizzle with a bit more olive oil (DT: I skipped the oil), and grind pepper over the top.

How do you feel about lasagne?  (And do you spell it lasagna?)  I ask because my husband said something surprising the other night when I told him I was making it for a dinner party.  First he made a face and then he said, “It’s kind of like making spaghetti.”  Coming from him, that is basically an insult.  For reasons that aren’t totally clear to me, Randy hates spaghetti.  Give him some kind of delicious sauce on spaghetti and he won’t like it.  Give him the same sauce on fettucine and he will love it.  I don’t understand but I accept and don’t make spaghetti.

When pressed, he explained that he is used to me making really interesting and unusual things for dinner parties and that lasagne seemed boring and maybe even easy.  I’m sure there are easy ways to make lasagne but for me, it has always been a fairly long and involved process.  Making sauce, making various fillings, roasting vegetables.  Lasagne is not a throw together meal in my world.

What’s more, we were having some friends over for dinner who I don’t know all that well.  Actually, I know the wives well, but I have only met the husbands a handful of times.  I didn’t want to make something really out there (aggressively vegetarian, as I like to call it) and have people not eat it.  I also wanted to make something satisfying so that, if they are used to eating a lot of meat, they didn’t feel like they needed to stop for a hamburger on the way home.  Everyone likes lasagne, right?

In my many cookbooks, I found a number of recipes that looked inticing.  But I decided against a béchamel sauce and that ruled out many of them.  I wanted something filling but I didn’t want a gut bomb and besides, Randy doesn’t do well with cream sauces.  I settled on this one from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and I was very happy with how it turned out.  Hearty and flavorful but not too heavy or cheesy.  Eggplant and I are not the best of friends and I thought Madison’s idea to bake it and then chop it was genius.  Trying to saw through an eggplant round in a lasagne is difficult – pieces of eggplant are easy.  Finally, the greens in the ricotta filling are very welcome.  She calls for chard, I used red kale because I had some.  Their texture is welcome, the color makes it more interesting, and the “green” taste keeps it from being too rich.

Here is a silly little story.  I used to make a very good (but very time consuming) lasagne that featured two different vegetable fillings.  Whenever I made it, I would stress about the sauce.  The amount that the recipe yielded was on the skimpy side and I would fret about it all coming out right.  Not once did it occur to me to increase the amount of sauce I made.  I just stuck to the rules and stressed.  Now that I am older and wiser, I do things my way with lasagne.  I like mine saucy so I make extra sauce.  If the worst thing in the world is having too much homemade tomato sauce, then that is a pretty good world.  You can use it another night on another kind of pasta (not spaghetti!) or you can freeze it with beautiful results.  I give my recipe below, you will use ½ – ¾ of it for the recipe.  And if you would like to just use jarred sauce, I won’t tell anyone.

One Year Ago: Pea Salad with Radishes and Feta Cheese

Lasagne with Eggplant and Chard
Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
Serves 6-8

1½ pounds fresh pasta sheets, or 1 box dried
Tomato sauce (about 2 cups, recipe follows)
1½ pounds eggplant, sliced crosswise ¼-inch thick
Olive oil
½ onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch green chard, leaves removed from the stems
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 dry white wine
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Prepare the sauce.  If you are using dried pasta, parboil it for a few minutes then drain it and lay out on a sheet pan so it doesn’t stick together.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.  Brush both sides of the eggplant lightly with oil.  Place the slices on a sheet pan and bake, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 30 minutes in all.  Chop coarsely and set aside.  (DT: This step can be done one day ahead.  Cool completely, then cover and refrigerate.)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom, then add the onion and garlic.  Stir frequently for 3 minutes.  Add the chard, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper, and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes.  Add the wine, cover and cook until the chard is tender and the pan is dry, about 10 minutes.  Turn the mixture out onto a cutting board and finely chop.  In a bowl, mix together the ricotta and the egg, then stir in the chard mixture.  Season with salt and pepper.  (DT: This step can be done one day ahead.  Cover and refrigerate.)

Oil a 9- x 13-inch baking dish.  Coat the bottom lightly with sauce and then cover with a layer of pasta.  Scatter a quarter of the Pecorino over the top and add a quarter of the eggplant, ricotta mixture, and mozzarella.  Follow with another layer of pasta and repeat for three more layers.  End with a layer of pasta and top with sauce.  (Sprinkle with more Pecorino if you like.)  Cover with foil.  (DT: The whole lasagne can be made one day ahead.  Keep covered and refrigerate.  It will need another 10 minutes or so of baking time.)

Preheat the oven to 400°F.  Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until heated through.  Remove the foil and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Dana’s Tomato Sauce
Makes a lot

Of course you can halve this recipe.

1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 cup good red wine
2- 28 ounce cans whole tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Pinch of sugar (optional)

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom, then add the onion along with a pinch of salt, and sauté until softened, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, stir for another 2 minutes, then add the herbs.  Stir well to combine, then pour in the wine.

Cook, uncovered, until the wine is almost evaporated, then carefully add the two cans of tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.  Cook until the sauce has thickened, periodically crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a spoon, about 30 minutes.  Taste, adding salt and pepper as necessary and a pinch of sugar if the taste is metallic.  (In my experience, the better the tomatoes, the less of a need for sugar.)  If you prefer a smoother sauce, you can purée it with an immersion blender, or in a stand blender or food processor.  Let the sauce cool before you use a stand machine.

Along with just about everyone else in the food blogging world, I was sad to hear about the demise of Gourmet.  I had been getting the magazine for 16 years when it went away.  Truth be told, I actually always preferred the recipes in Bon Appétit and Food and Wine, but I still looked forward to receiving my issue each month.  In my four notebooks where I have years of cut-out recipes, there are countless ones with the Gourmet font.  Including this one.

This recipe is on the second page of my “pasta” section which means I cut it out way back in 1993 or so.  Grunge.  Living in a crappy one-bedroom apartment in a crappy building in a great neighborhood.  Just learning to cook for myself.  Working as a singing-dancing waitress on a dinner cruise ship.  Oh yes, I did.  Yes I did.  I did “The Electric Slide” with strangers and got paid for it.

These many years later, I still make this dish and it is one of Randy’s favorites.  If you are a vegetarian, you probably often get the “Do you eat a lot of pasta?” question.  (Or my other favorite, “Do you eat a lot of salad?”)  The truth is that I don’t eat a lot of pasta.  It is often my only choice in a restaurant so I eat it out, but I don’t make a lot of it at home.  Not for any good reason, I love pasta, I just find there are a lot of other interesting things to eat in the vegetarian world.

Here are some really good things I can say about this one.  It’s fast.  The sauce is done in the time it takes to cook the noodles.  It is dead easy – no sautéing – just putting all the ingredients together in a pot and cooking them down a bit.  It is made with pantry staples, you always have Kalamata olives, tomato paste, and garlic on hand, right?  And it’s really tasty.  Kind of like a poor man’s puttanesca (and a vegetarian one at that.)  Lastly, this is a very low-fat and low-calorie dish.  The only fat comes from the olives and that is good fat, the heart-healthy kind.  OK, yes, there is a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top, but that is optional and besides, it’s just a sprinkle.  I have changed the recipe quite a bit in the years I have been making it.  It was originally called Bruce’s Pasta Sauce but I’m changing it to Bruce and Dana’s Pasta Sauce.

One Year Ago:  Curried Red Lentil Stew with Vegetables

Bruce and Dana’s Pasta Sauce
Loosely adapted from Gourmet
3-4 servings

This is the kind of sauce that really hugs the noodles so it is best with something short and ridgey, like radiattore.  In this dish, I like it pretty dry, so I usually make one pound of pasta with this much sauce.  This last time, I made 3/4 of a pound and you can see it is a little saucier.  Do what you like best.  Also, if you don’t sprinkle with Parmesan, this dish is vegan.

1/2 cup dry sherry
1/2 cup water
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (less if you don’t like heat)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. dry red wine
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

Put all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Cook, uncovered, until thickened, about 20 minutes.  Boil pasta (3/4 to 1 pound) until al dente.  Scoop the pasta directly into the sauce pan and stir well to combine.  Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

A couple of months ago, I got a call from a guy speaking in a hushed voice.  He said he had locked himself in the bathroom and wanted to arrange something with me.  His name was Gregg and he is the husband of one of my close friends.

Now, you may be thinking something naughty but what Gregg wanted to arrange with me was a surprise lunch for his lovely bride.  Kelly’s birthday is December 31st – a New Year’s Eve baby – and this year she turns 40.  He wanted to do something special for her and first he asked me if I was free to come to the lunch.  Once I said yes, he sheepishly asked me if I would cater it.  I laughed out loud and said of course.

I have known Kelly since 3rd grade but we really became friends our freshman year in high school.  We have taken road trips together, thrown parties, done lots of laughing, and even lived together for a year.  She has two boys as well and we have enjoyed getting our kids together, although not as often as either of us would like.  Kelly is a quality person, a class act as my dad likes to say.  She deserved to find happiness with a wonderful man and that she did.  Not only did Gregg invite 15 people to their house for lunch, but he is sending her out for some spa treatment so that I can set everything up without being detected.  Can we all stand up and give Gregg a hand?

So, what’s for lunch?  Well, the birthday cake will be this one.  I am making two galettes – the Butternut Squash one and the Roasted Tomato one.  I’m making a Mediterranean chick pea salad.  I plan to have veggies and Buttermilk dip on hand for people to snack on.  And I made this pasta salad.

One of my least favorite words for food is gloppy.  In my book, anything with mayonnaise is gloppy and for some reason most pasta salad, even if it doesn’t star mayo, is gloppy.  Over-dressed, over-cooked pasta, under-seasoned.  If you agree with me, you might want to try this recipe.  It is far from gloppy.  In fact, it is light and bright and very tasty.  Golden beets, almonds, fennel, and radicchio mix together with Orecchiette in a lemony dressing.  It’s one of those wonderful recipes that looks and tastes great.  Happy birthday, Kell!

My little family and I are going to be heading out of town right after lunch for 2 nights away with wonderful friends.  If I could, I would personally wish each and every one of you amazing people who read this blog a Happy New Year, but my super powers only extend so far.  I hope your 2009 was filled with life, love, and good food and I wish you more of the same in 2010!

One Year Ago:  Vegetable Couscous Paella and Manchego Skewers

Orecchiette Salad with Roasted Beets, Fennel, & Toasted Almonds
Adapted from Macrina Bakery and Café Cookbook
Serves 4-6

Do yourself a favor and serve this (and every) pasta salad at room temperature.  It needs some warmth for the flavors to bloom.  Also, don’t be afraid of salt here.  Add enough to make the flavors pop.

2 medium golden beets, washed
4 tbsp. olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup whole almonds
2 cups dry orecchiette pasta
1 cup thinly sliced radicchio
½ cup thinly sliced fennel bulb
¼ cup chopped fennel fronds
½ cup sliced scallions
¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/3 cup Lemon Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place washed beets in the center of a large piece of aluminum foil.  Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with a bit of salt and pepper.  Gather up the edges of the foil and seal the beets inside a pouch.  Bake on center rack of oven for about 1 hour, or until beets are tender when poked with a fork.  Let cool, then peel the beets and chop to a medium dice.  Set aside.  Leave oven on.

Spread almonds on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.  (This can be done while the beets are roasting.)  Let almonds cool, then coarsely chop and set aside.

Fill a large saucepan with water.  Add a pinch of kosher salt and bring to a boil.  Drop in pasta and simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until tender.  Drain in a colander, shaking off excess water.  Toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil to keep pasta from sticking.

Add the diced beets, toasted almonds, radicchio, fennel bulb and fronds, scallions, and parsley.  Drizzle in Lemon Vinaigrette and toss all ingredients together.  Season to taste with kosher salt and pepper.  Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Lemon Vinaigrette
Makes approximately 1¼ cups

This dressing makes more than you need for the pasta salad, but it’s also delicious used as a green salad dressing.  Go ahead and make the whole amount and use it over the course of a week.

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. honey
1 tbsp. freshly grated lemon zest
1 garlic clove, finely chopped or pressed
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. freshly ground pepper
¾ cup olive oil

Combine mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, honey, lemon zest, garlic, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.  Mix well with a whisk.  Add olive oil in a slow stream, whisking as you pour in the oil.  Continue whisking until dressing has emulsified, then cover and store in the refrigerator.