Category: Pasta

Lunch with Friends

July 8, 2010

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.


Category: Beans,Grains,Main Course,Pasta,Vegan
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The Short List

June 13, 2010

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.


Category: Beans,My Favorites,Pasta,Soup,Vegan
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Lighter Fettuccine Alfredo

May 17, 2010

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.


Category: Dana Treat Original,Pasta,Quick and Easy
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Impromptu Pasta

May 4, 2010

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.


Category: Dana Treat Original,Main Course,Pasta,Quick and Easy
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Loving Jamie Oliver

March 22, 2010

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.


Category: Main Course,Pasta
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