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.

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.