Dateline: April 29, 2021 Clams, Shrimp, Linguini what could be better?

Fresh Direct came through again with their delivery, cockles!  What to do with them.  I had frozen shrimp in the freezer and the clams, why not some pasta.

 

 

I made a base of pancetta, garlic (lots of it), a shallot, and some grape tomatoes.  After they burst and the sauce was kind of soupy, I added the scrubbed clams until they opened.  I removed them and took the meat out of the shells.  Any clam juice went back into the pan.  I added some white wine and tasted for seasoning.  

The pasta water was set to boil and I added the frozen shrimp into the broth to cook through.  They were still half frozen.  When the pasta was cooked, I dumped it into the sauce along with some of the pasta water and stirred things around to coat each linguini strand with the sauce.

Dinner was served along with a salad!

Dateline: April 5, 2021 Bottarga, Baby, Bottarga

I was reading on Serious Eats about pasta with bottarga.  I had a jar of bottarga in the pantry that I was aching to try.  The article said it would give the taste of the sea to the pasta.  I looked at the recipe, and decided to take a slightly different tactic but incorporate some of the techniques for dealing with the bottarga in my dish.

For those that don't know what bottarga is, it is the salted and dried roe sacs from mullet fish.  You can buy it in whole lobes, or pre-ground up.  I had a jar of pre-ground, so that is what I used.

For my version, I used short pasta, lots of parsley, a sliced red finger pepper, and A LOT of garlic, sliced into not so thin slices.  

Ingredients

2 oz grated bottarga, divided

5 large cloves garlic, peeled and sliced, not too thinly

1 small bunch curly parsley, chopped

1 small bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped

10 flowering chives, chopped

1 red finger pepper, sliced

1/2 c good, flavorful olive oil

1 lb short pasta

Method

1.  In a pan large enough to hold all the cooked pasta, heat the oil and add in the garlic slices.  Allow the slices to slowly brown and soften in the oil, stirring frequently.  You do not want a dark brown, but a golden brown all over the slices.

2.  Add in all but 1 T of the bottarga and turn off the heat under the pan.  Allow the bottarga to steep in the warm oil along with the garlic for about 10 minutes.  In the meantime, bring a pot of water to a boil, add 1-2 T salt, and cook the pasta 2 minutes short of doneness according to the package directions.  

3.  Add the chopped parsleys, finger pepper to the steeping bottarga and stir to combine.  If the pasta is getting close to done, add about 1/2 c of the pasta water to the bottarga pan.  Stir to emulsify and combine well.  Turn on the flame under the bottarga pan.

4.  When the pasta has reached its 2 minutes short of doneness add to the bottarga along with another 1/2 c of pasta water.  Stir to combine and cook until the pasta has absorbed the liquid in the pan.  If necessary add more pasta water to create the texture you like.  Sprinkle on the remaining 1 T of bottarga.

5.  Serve.

This was sooooooo good.  I am now searching the web for more bottarga!  It really had the flavor of the sea, it was not super salty, not fishy, it was just like the sea.  I know that is a very unsatisfying description, but that is what it added to the pasta, the essence of the sea.  Neither of us could stop eating it, even after we had salad, we were still eyeing the pasta remaining in the pan and contemplating another bowl or few bites!  I actually got up around 2 am and had a bowl cold, it was still delicious!

 

Dateline: March 16, 2021 Pork Ragu Maiallino

 I have been obsessed with no tomato pork ragus lately.  I have been wanting to try Maiallino's version for a long time, so what the heck.

I had some pork shoulder in the freezer and pulled it out to thaw a bit so I could cut out most of the fat on the surface and any pockets hiding within.  I cut each piece that I had into thirds, about the size of the shreds that I wanted at the end of the cooking.

Essentially, the pork is braised in a flavorful liquid until tender, then shredded while the liquid is by half.  There will be a lot of liquid, even after reducing, save about 1.5 - 2 cups for another purpose. Enrich with butter, yup, butter.  Oh boy oh boy did it add something fabulous to the sauce.  Throw in a half handful of grated parm, some dandelion greens (recipe called for rocket, did not have but did have dandelion greens), and parsley.  Slide in the shredded pork, and start the pasta water boiling.  

There are no tomatoes and NO Garlic in the sauce.  It is delightful  The suggested pasta is broken lasagna sheets, but I went with calamari pasta rings.  Many broke open so end result was with some wide strips of pasta.

What I would do differently, I would use more stock, I would shred the pork finer and thinner pieces.  Don't get me wrong it was delicious, but less elegant than I would have wanted.  Don't forget to use the lemon juice, it helps cut the richness of the sauce.  Pass the cheese and everything will be very quiet.

Dateline: February 14, 2021 Ravioli with cheese and truffle filling

For my birthday, Bill promised me that he would make me a meal.  Today was the day!

I supervised, but he chopped onions, garlic, salad fixings, stirred the sauce and everything.  The meal was really great.  So great, that we ate all of it!

Sauce

1/4 a large onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic smashed, and chopped

2 t dried sage

1/2 t red pepper flakes

2 oz cream cheese

2 oz butter

2 T olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

truffle oil, for finishing

Method

1.  While pasta boils, melt butter and oil in a pan large enough to hold the cooked pasta.  When melted, add in the onions and sweat for a few minutes, then add in the garlic, sage, and hot pepper flakes.  Add in the cream cheese and stir to incorporate.  If needed, add about 1/4 c of pasta cooking water to emulsify the ingredients.  Taste, and add salt and pepper.

2.  When pasta is finished, drain a bit, and dump into the pan along with any pasta water that is clinging to the pasta.  Mix well to coat the pasta with the sauce, then drizzle truffle oil over top and serve without stirring the oil in.

Nota Bene:  This was SOOOOOO good, I was deeply impressed with Bill and myself for coming up with the sauce recipe.

Dateline: January 14, 2021 Cauliflower Puttanesca

Saw this recipe on Food52 and thought I'd give it a try.

I had all the ingredients and just felt in the mood for pasta.  Didn't want linguine, so I went with gemelle instead.  Bill, who doesn't like olives or anything brined, picked out the oil-cured olives and happily ate.

I decided to add riff a bit and threw in some collards and orange bell pepper and some butternut squash.  I did this for 2 reasons, for color and for disguise factor considering there were olives in the dish.  I also had some nutritional yeast that I threw in for a bit more umami.

The finished product was more than satisfying and down right comforting on a cool winter night.  I would make again with minimal changes.  Those changes being I would double the amount of cauliflower that I used.  I used 1/2 head instead of a whole head, and perhaps less pasta.

Dateline: October 19, 2020 Post Wedding Puttanesca with the Spellbergs

What a weekend, the most glorious wedding and the weather gods smiled on Claire and Jon.  

Dianne, Phil, and Jack were looking for a simple, nothing fancy dinner, so Bill and I went to a local supermarket and picked up supplies for puttanesca sauce.

I love puttanesca sauce, the briny bite of the olives and capers along with the deep umami flavor of the anchovies and garlic.  How can you go wrong!

Ingredients

1 tin or jar of anchovy fillets

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 t hot pepper flakes

olive oil

1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes 

1 28 oz can of pureed tomatoes

1/2 bottle of left over red wine, or white, in a pinch

1 large bunch of parsley, stems chopped separately from leaves

1 T salt packed caper berries, rinsed

1 large handful, at least 20 or more, oil packed olives, pitted and chopped

Method

1.  Heat a large sauce pan and when hot add oil.

2.  When oil is hot add garlic, hot pepper flakes and anchovies.  

3.  Mash up the anchovies so they mix with garlic and pepper flakes

4.  Add tomatoes, rinse cans with the red wine and add that.

5.  Add chopped parsley stems.

6.  Combine well and bring to a simmer.

7.  Add caper berries and olives.

8.  Cook over medium heat until it is the consistency that pleases you.  You want it to coat the pasta without being too loose.

9.  I know this is supposed to be a "quick" pasta sauce, but I like to cook it a longer time, and add more wine if it gets too thick.

10.  Add chopped parsley leaves.

Dateline: September 16, 2020 Pork Puttanesca Sauce in the Instant Pot

 I had a pork shoulder defrosting on the counter.  Yes, it seems I always have a pork shoulder defrosting.  It was too large a hunk for the 2 of us, so I split it into two pieces.  One piece I ground to make hot italian sausages, and the other, I chunked up for this pork puttanesca recipe that I found on NYT Cooking site.

It came out better than I thought it would.  Comparing it to a long simmering ragu, it is not that.  But as a quick-ish nice sauce for pasta or polenta, it works.

What would I do differently next time?  I would use less tomato paste, it made the final product too sweet for my taste.  Comparing it to my regular puttanesca, I would give it an 8.  I really love my puttanesca sauce.  The olives and capers were lost as was the garlicky goodness.  I am supposing that that is a result of the pressure cooking.  So, next time, I would halve the tomato paste, halve the pork, double the garlic, olives, and capers, as well as the vinegar and sub another cup of wine for one of the 2 cups of water. 

As one of the comments stated, perhaps the dish would have benefited from searing the pork prior to cooking.  That may be another option going forward.  

Of course, I have no photos, naturally, because I had a margarita, and that was the end of thinking!  Photo on NYT site is exactly what it looked like, minus the polenta!  Took a picture the next day.  Horrors!  I was eating day old pasta!

Dateline: September 4, 2020 Pasta Norma, Sorta

I had 3 big eggplants that needed to be cooked.  I didn't want babaganoush, or curry, I wanted pasta.  I checked out a couple of recipes on NYT Cooking website, and combined the best aspects of 2 or 3 and came up with a very satisfying dish.

Ingredients

3 eggplants, cut into about 3/4 to 1 inch crosswise slices

1 onion, minced

3 sprigs of thyme

a HUGE mess of cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced

olive oil

salt and pepper

3 cloves of garlic, smashed

4 oz pancetta

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained and juice reserved

1 T calabrian pepper paste, optional

1 lb pasta of your choice, I used farfalle

Large handfuls of mixed herbage, I used basil, parsley, mint and chives

1/4 lb ricotta salata, cut into small cubes

Method

1.  Light a grill and let it get quite hot.

2.  Heat the oven to 300°F and on a sheet pan pile the onions.  Coat with a bit of olive oil, top with salt and pepper and the thyme sprigs.  On top of that pile the halved cherry tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper and if necessary add a little olive oil.  Into the oven they go for about 1 hour.  Check on them, you want them to start to shrivel and give up some of their juices.  Adjust temp accordingly.

3.  While grill is heating, brush, or use your fingers, the eggplant slices with some olive oil.  Hold until grill is hot.

4.  Grill the eggplant until the slices are deep brown on both sides.  Cool them for a bit and then dice into 1/2 cubes and hold.  

5.  In a pan large enough to hold the tomatoes and eggplant comfortable, heat some olive oil and add pancetta.  Saute until the pancetta gives up most of its fat and is just starting to brown.  Add drained cubed tomatoes, pepper paste, and garlic.

6.  Set up a big pot of salted water for the pasta.  Bring to a boil and cook pasta when sauce is just about finished for the recommended al dente time.

7.  When tomatoes have shriveled and the edges browning a bit, dump the entire sheet pan of stuff into the pan with the pancetta.  If more liquid is needed add some, or all, of the reserved tomato juices.

8.  Chop the herbs and hold.

9.  In a bowl large enough to the pasta and the sauce, put 1/2 the sauce, 1/2 the herbs, and 1/2 the ricotta salata, top with the pasta, on top of the pasta add the balance of the sauce, herbs, and diced cheese.

10.  Serve immediately

Of course, guess who forgot to take a photo of the finished product, this gal!  This was very tasty.  The grilling of the eggplant added a nice flavor profile, and the pepper paste a necessary kick.  The layering in the serving bowl works well because this is not a "saucy" dish.  All things are about the same size and blend together nicely.  You could use cubed mozzarella, or grated romano cheese, but the ricotta salata was perfect in its saltiness.  

Even Bill, who really does not like eggplant, enjoyed it and grew to like the contrast of the charred thicker skin on the eggplant cubes.  It was given 2 thumbs up!

Dateline: August 14, 2020 Lemon Chicken Pasta with Garden Greens

My friend Rich gave me some preserved lemon marinade and some chimichurri that he made.  I marinaded some chicken thighs in the lemon on along with some olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Ingredients 

Boneless skinless chicken thighs, about 1 - 1.5 lbs  cut into bite sized pieces                                                 Preserved Lemon Marinade                                                                                                                            Olive oil                                                                                                                                                            1/2 lb penne pasta                                                                                                                                           1/2 Sweet Onion cut into half moons about 1/8 inch thick                                                                              1/2 hot pepper, sliced thinly                                                                                                                             3 fat cloves of garlic, smashed                                                                                                                   About 10 yellow pear tomatoes cut in half                                                                                                    Splash of vodka                                                                                                                                               Mixed herbs, I used parsley, mint, basil, and rosemary

Method

1.  In a plastic bag marinate chicken thighs in about 1/3 c of lemon marinade with some olive oil for a couple of hours.

2.  Cook pasta according to package instruction in well salted boiling water.  Cook 1 minute less than suggested time.

3.  While pasta is cooking, heat up a pan large enough to hold sauce AND pasta, add olive oil and marinated chicken thighs and saute until cooked through.  Add onions, peppers, garlic and tomatoes.

4.  While pasta and sauce cooks, chop herbs up, and add to chicken and sauce.

5.  Add pasta and 2/3 - 1 cup pasta cooking water to sauce and cook until thickened and the pasta is cooked through.  Serve.

Sauce ready for pasta

Pasta added in and stirred in the sauce.

Dateline: August 2, 2020 Had a Hankering for Pasta, Found the Perfect Recipe

I had a bunch of cherry tomatoes, gobs of mint and a hankering for pasta.  As I was perusing the NYT Cooking App, I saw Melissa Clark's "Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomatoes"

This is a gem of pasta dish.  Everything was on hand or in the freezer, pasta, pancetta, tomatoes, ricotta, scallions, garlic, and mint.  The dish is easy, quick and so tasty.  Strangely enough, I did not vary from the written recipe.  So glad I did not.  Both Bill and I were very pleased with the results and it will go into regular rotation.

Here the sauce is being created, after the pancetta has rendered its fat, remove to a dish lined with paper towels.  Then add garlic, hot pepper flakes, salt, and pepper and cook until fragrant.  Add tomatoes and cook until they are collapsing.  I threw in the largest slices of scallion after the tomatoes had burst.  Drain and add pasta, some pasta cooking water, if it looks dry, I used about 3 T, and finish cooking the pasta.  Add the mint and scallions.  Lower the heat, mixing until the mint has wilted.  

Dress with a drizzle more of oil, and flaky salt.  Plate and add a dollop of ricotta on top.  

Enjoy!  It really is a true winner!  I could see swapping out the mint for basil but the mint was not overpowering, it was just a slight hint in the background.  Yummers!

Dateline: July 1, 2020 Pasta with Clams

I have been recycling recipes lately, that is why there has not been a new post in over a week.  There is only so many times you can look at, read, etc the same basic recipe.  So I choose to not bore you!

Tonight, I decided I wanted seafood, and I wanted pasta.  Perfect, pasta with clams.  I did a mash up of Nigella Lawson and Mark Bittman's recipes.  I put my own twist on it by adding some clam juice that I had in the freezer as well as vermouth and white wine.

Pasta with Clams

2 lbs fresh cockles or small clams

2 cloves of garlic, thinly slivered

1/2 t red chili flakes

1 T chopped garlic scapes

1/2 box whole grain thin spaghetti

2/3 c Noilly Prat dry vermouth

1.5 c clam juice

1 c dry white wine

olive oil

1 c fresh English Peas

1 T chopped parsley stems

2 T chopped parsley

Method

1.  Choose a pan with a tight fitting lid that can also hold the pasta lying down in it.  You will be cooking the pasta in the pan with the steaming liquid from the clams.

2.  Scrub clams and discard any that will not shut when tapped.  Hold the clams to the side until pan is ready.

3.  Film the bottom of the pan with a generous amount of olive oil to taste.  Add chili flakes, garlic slivers, garlic scapes and parsley stems.  When garlic is fragrant, but not brown, add clam juice, Noilly Prat, and bring to a boil.  

4.  Add clams  in a single layer and cover pan tightly.  Set timer for 2 minutes.  After 2 minutes the clams should all have opened.  Remove clams to a bowl and hold to the side.  Any clams that do not open, after another minute of cooking, discard.

after the clam steam bath

                                                    

5.  Remove clams from shells and reserve with any juices that have accumulated in the bowl.

6.  Into the pan that held the clams, add the white wine and bring to a boil.  Add the pasta and swish it around in the pan to get it all under the juices.  Cover the pan and set timer for 2 minutes.  Peek into the pan and add more wine if pasta is sticking to the bottom of the pan.

7.  Stir the pasta around and scrape up any of it that has stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Add back in the clams and also the peas.  Stir well and get any pasta unclumped that may be sticking together.  Cook for another minute to 90 seconds.

Add water or more wine, if necessary.  Add the parsley and mix well.  The pasta will give off quite a bit of starch which will thicken up the sauce nicely.  You should not need any salt or pepper in the dish, but this is where you would add it if you needed to.

8.  Serve immediately.

Dateline: May 28, 2020. Lamb Ragu in the Instant Pot

I had one pound of ground lamb that I needed to cook.  I could have made lamb burgers, or some other ground meat ball or patty, but that just did not do it for me today.  I wanted pasta.

So my trusty lamb ragu recipe came out.   This actually came out to be vegetable and lamb ragu.  Usually I will use 2 lbs of ground lamb.  

Lamb Ragu

1 lb ground lamb

olive oil

1/2 t baking soda

3 stalks celery, cut into bite sized chunks

2 carrots, cut into bite sized chunks

2 leeks, cut into bite sized chunks

1 onion, cut into bite sized chunks

4 cloves of garlic, peeled

handful of parsley

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

salt and pepper

2 28 oz cans of crushed or ground tomatoes

2 C chicken stock

2 bay leaves

pinch of red pepper flakes

red wine

Method

1.  Put the celery, carrots, leeks, onion, garlic, and parsley into a food processor or ninja.  Do not use a blender as you will get a puree, which is what you do not want.  You want the veggies broken down, but not liquified.  Stop and scrape down as needed.  This is your sofrito.

evaporating off the water from the meat

2.  Into the Instant Pot put the olive and set to saute.  When hot, add lamb, broken into about 5 chunks.  Sprinkle the lamb with 2 pinches of salt and pepper and 1/2 t of baking soda.  (The soda helps the meat retain water by changing it's pH).  Brown the meat thoroughly.  The meat should be well browned and scrap up the brown bits that form on the bottom of the pan periodically as there is your flavor.  You will be able to hear by ear when the water has evaporated and when the lamb is cooking in the olive oil and its own fat.  It's a very distinct sound.  At this point, pull the leaves off of the rosemary sprig and add them to the pot.  It should take about 20 minutes for the browning to happen fully.

meat cooking in the released fat

3.  Add in the sofrito after it is ground up.  You may be tempted to add more fat to the pan.  Resist at this point.    Keep stirring the sofrito around until it is well browned as well.  Add another 2 pinches of salt and a little more pepper.

This is about half way to browned

The sofrito will also take about 20 minutes to brown up fully.  Do not cheat on this, this is where the magic happens and your flavors at build up.

4.  At the bottom of the pot a brown layer will form, this is your fond.  This is culinary gold.  Push the stuff to the side of the pot and ddd 1-2 T of red wine at a time.  Adding a little bit at a time will not overwhelm the evaporation process the ragu is undergoing.  To much wine, and you have now set yourself back at a minimum 10 minutes of cooking time.

Scrape up the brown bits as you go along the bottom of the pan.  You may need to add 1 - 2 T of wine at various point along the bottom.  The wine will evaporate, and the loosened fond will come up easily after a while.  Do not give up!

5.  Add chicken stock, tomatoes, bay leaves, and red pepper flakes.  Taste, does it need salt, pepper, water, stock?  Adjust and then select pressure cook, low temp, 1.5 hours, stir well and close lid.  If you have the luck that I did, you will keep getting the burn message.  After twice getting that, I changed it to slow cook for 4 hours.  Seems to be doing alright at this moment.  Some pressure has built and I am sure it will be tasty.

We enjoyed with with romano or parmesan cheese.  The watermelon summer salad was a lovely counterpoint to the heaviness of the pasta and sauce.

Dateline: May 6, 2020 Lasagna!!!

I had ordered some ricotta cheese that was to be used to make lasagna, today was as good a day as any. 

I love the instant pot recipe for sausage lasagna by Ivy Manning.  I thought about making marinara sauce and then rooted thru the freezer and found some puttanesca sauce in there.  Perfect. 

pan removed

I used an 8 qt instant pot, so I had to increase the ingredients to fit a 8 inch spring form pan.  I used 3 eggs to be sure that it would set up as well as 2 cups of ricotta.  I also had to hack the pasta part because I ran out of no boil pasta sheets after 2 layers and used shells for the top layer.  They worked, but for appearances I would use them in the middle in the future.  I pressure cooked on high for 32 minutes, and when I peeked into it, the shells where a bit crunchy and starchy still.  Back into the instant pot for another 8 minutes, with natural release.

Topped it with more mozzarella and used the broil setting with the duo crisp for 10 minutes.  Perfect!
After taking it out of the instant pot, I let the lasagna cool a bit so that it would (hopefully) firm up and not run all over the plate when I removed the pan. 

The spring form pan came off easily and the lasagna was perfect!

dinner is served

rounded out with a nice salad

A lovely bottle of red

Dateline: March 30, 2020 Instant pot lasagna

In these strange, strange times of pandemic and other weird stuff, I have re-found my blog and am going to try to get back into this.

With home self-isolation, I now have time to post things up with photos and commentary.

Let's start with March 30, 2020.

We were going to have a zoom lunch with Anna and Andy and their posse.  They live in England, so it was the only way to see them and get to talk to them and their friends.  The proposed menu was italian.

I have a couple of new toys, 2 instant pots, which I really like.  I decided to make lasagna in the 8 qt pot so I could use the air-fryer lid to brown the top after it cooked.

I used Ivy Manning's instant pot lasagna recipe and it worked out perfectly.  The recipe is available on line or in the cookbook, Instant Pot Italian.

The recipe is a good one.  I did have a bit of leakage of the tomato sauce that was easily stopped by a double layer of paper towels under a layer of foil on the bottom.  The top was layered with foil as well.  Pressure cooked for the recommended time, actually, a bit longer as it was a bigger spring form pan.

The texture was excellent and it held together really well.  It made a tremendous amount for 2 people, but we managed to eat it all over a couple of days.  

Dateline: March 28, 2020 Marinara and Turkish Pizza

I can't recall why I made marinara, perhaps it was in anticipation of a Wegman's order that was scheduled to arrive this day!  I was browsing through the fridge and decided to use the half onions, shredded carrots, dying celery and canned tomatoes and make a marinara sauce that could stand up to pizza or pasta.  I followed up this by making Turkish pizza, lahmacun.  A new taste treat for me.

                                               

Lahmacun is easy and very tasty.  The dough was very forgiving and crisped up nicely on a pizza stone.  The dough was rolled very thin, perhaps too thin as it made it very difficult to manipulate on a peel and on the stone.  Had to resort to parchment paper and a giant spatula.

I made these with lamb as I had ordered 2 lbs of ground lamb earlier and needed to use it up. I didn't have any onions so I cut some chives from the 2 bunches that survived the winter on the terrace.  It was worthy of additional attempts at making the dough behave better.