Toasted Garlic, Tomato and Arugula Orecchiette

Tomato season is just about ready to get started around here. Are you ready?

By the end of the summer, we always have piles of tomatoes from the farm sitting around, so I start putting ad hoc tomato sauces on everything. But this dish isn't your run-of-the-mill pasta-and-sauce combo. It's just as easy (if not easier!) than the cherry tomato sauces I usually make, but the flavors are more focused. Toasting the garlic in the oil at the beginning lends a deep garlic flavor to the whole dish. A huge pile of ripe cherry tomatoes makes for a delightfully sweet sauce. Stirring in plenty of arugula at the end adds a peppery zing that makes this dish stand out.

Arugula season may be on the way out (most of mine has bolted by now), but I think this dish would work well with other greens, too. While spinach and chard lack the pepperiness of arugula, they would lend a lovely earthy note to the sweet tomatoes. And you can always add a little zingy black pepper at the end.

Toasted Garlic, Tomato and Arugula Orecchiette
Adapted from Lemon Fire Brigade. 

1/4 c olive oil
6-7 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 c grape tomatoes, halved
3/4 lb orecchiette pasta
1/2 c reserved pasta water
3/4 c Parmesan cheese, shredded
8 c arugula
zest of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions, reserving 1/2 c pasta water.

In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic slices and cook, stirring, until the edges begin to get golden and toasted. 

Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir well, coating the them in the garlicky oil. Add the red pepper flakes and simmer on low for about 5 minutes, until it takes on a loose saucy consistency.

Add the pasta to the pan and stir to coat with the sauce. Add some of the reserved pasta water, if necessary, to loosen the sauce up (I often find that enough water is still clinging to the pasta that I don't need my reserved water at all). Grate Parmesan over the top and stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.

Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest and arugula (my skillet wasn't big enough, so I transferred the whole mixture to a mixing bowl for this part). Enjoy!

Farfalle with Broccoli Rabe, Garlic and Almonds

My summer course started yesterday. So, of course, on Monday I woke up with a bit of a sore throat that has developed into an icky summer cold. Yesterday, after lecturing for two hours, I came home to crash on the couch and then sleep for eleven hours. Hopefully I'll be able to shake this thing soon. I'm not exactly at my most productive right now.

I am being productive today by finally posting this delicious recipe I made last week. When I made my usual stop at the farmer's market on Friday, I visited the ladies at the Cedarville Farms stand. Instead of the spinach I'd hoped to get from them, I found little bouquets of broccoli rabe. While I've had broccoli rabe before, I've never cooked with it myself. Always up for the challenge, I bought a bunch assuming I'd fit it into my weekly menu somehow.

I ended up making it for lunch that day, with some leftover farfalle, some garlic scapes from my freezer and toasted sliced almonds. I know I impressed Jeff, who wasn't expecting to come home to such a gourmet-looking dish. It tasted as great as it looked. The broccoli rabe was a bit on the bitter side, but the blanching and the red wine vinegar balanced it out. If it's still available this week, I'll be sure to grab more for another tasty lunch!

Farfalle with Broccoli Rabe, Garlic and Almonds
Loosely adapted from the Broccoli Rabe with Garlic recipe in Deborah Madison's Vegetable Literacy.

4-5 oz whole wheat farfalle
1 bunch broccoli rabe
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp garlic scapes
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1/3 c sliced almonds, toasted


Cook the pasta according to package directions.

In the same pot, blanch the broccoli rabe for about 5 minutes (nearly all of it remained floating at the top of my pot, so it was easy to scoop out with a slotted spoon without disturbing the pasta below).

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for a minute or two, until fragrant. Add the broccoli rabe and stir to coat with the garlicky oil. Drizzle with vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the pasta and almonds to the pan and stir to combine (you may want to reserve some pasta water to add as well, to make it saucier, but I found the water left clinging to the farfalle was sufficient). Enjoy!

Fettucine with Kale, Green Garlic and Lemon

I can't believe we had a frost last night. I planted all my summer vegetables over the weekend, so I had to frantically put tarps down and carry all my containers to the garage. I actually did all this Sunday night and left it in place until this morning, since yesterday was so cold. I really hope that this was winter's last hurrah - I want to be eating fresh spring veggies from my garden soon!

Since strawberries and radishes and peas aren't ready, I've been contenting myself with cold-hardy greens from the farmer's market (and gorging myself on asparagus - one of those recipes is coming soon). I threw this dish together for lunch the other day. It's fast, fresh and tasty.

If you've never used green garlic before, I recommend trying to get your hands on some. I got mine from the farmers market a few weeks ago. My guess is that the farm was thinning its rows of garlic and decided to sell the thinnings - and why not? They have a delicious fresh garlic flavor - strong, but without the bite of storage garlic cloves. Green garlic looks like a green onion, but should be treated like a leek - strip the old layers off, cut off the roots, and slice up the white and light green portions to use. The leaves go in the compost (or the stock bag!). It added a nice fresh flavor to the kale. If you can't find green garlic, regular garlic cloves or garlic scapes would work well here, too.

Fettucine with Kale, Green Garlic and Lemon
serves 2

6 oz whole wheat fettucine
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 stems green garlic (about 1 - 1 1/2 tbsp)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
3-4 c kale leaves, stripped from stems and ripped into bite-size pieces
zest and juice from 1/2 lemon
2 oz Pecorino-Romano cheese, shredded

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the green garlic and red pepper flakes and saute about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the kale and saute 3-4 minutes, tossing with garlic.

If the kale does not look cooked through at the end of 3-4 minutes, toss 2 tbsp water in the pan and quickly cover. Let the kale steam for a minute or two to finish cooking.

When the pasta is finished, drain (reserving 1/4 c water) and add to the pan with the kale. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir to combine. Add a bit of pasta water if necessary (I only needed a 2-3 tbsps). Serve topped with grated Pecorino-Romano.

Pumpkin Mascarpone Pasta Sauce

This post is not about ravioli.

Ok, this post is tangentially about ravioli.

Let's try again. This post is about how I followed a recipe for ravioli that totally flopped, but ad-libbed a pumpkin mascarpone sauce that was awesome. 

It took me and Jeff two days to make these terrible ravioli. We began on a Sunday afternoon, following a recipe from Cooking Light: Way to Cook Vegetarian. (This is usually a pretty solid cookbook - not sure what happened here.) After spending well over an hour working on the pasta dough - kneading it, letting it rest, realizing it was too sticky, adding flour, kneading again, letting it rest, putting it through the pasta roller, still too sticky, etc. - we gave up. I can't remember ever just giving up on a recipe before. We actually reached the stage of frustration where we tossed the dough and ordered some Indian food.

Meanwhile, I had roasted an entire pumpkin, made puree and began making it into a sauce. I ended up taking the entire pot off the stove and shoving it into the refrigerator where it waited patiently overnight.

The next evening, we tried again using another dough recipe. This one came together the way it was supposed to. When the ravioli were filled and cooked, I stole a taste: not good. We tried to push on, serving them over the pumpkin sauce. The filling was increasingly disgusting to me as I ate - I tried to squeeze it out of the pasta, then just eat around it, and ended up tossing my ravioli in the garbage. Jeff, who pushed on and ate all of his, ended up sick the next day. We have no idea what went wrong (filling undercooked? filling didn't like sitting in the fridge overnight? eggs were bad to begin with?).

The pumpkin sauce is what saved the day. That's basically all I ate for dinner that night. I took the pot out of the fridge, reheated it and finished it off with a little milk and mascarpone cheese. It was delicious. And I invented it. The sauce was inspired by a pumpkin puree we had at Triumph in New Hope on Valentine's Day. Jeff and I asked the waitress what was in it, and she came back with directions from the chef about how to make it ourselves. We didn't try to recreate it exactly, but used the idea as a springboard for the sauce we did create.

It's a beautiful, creamy, thick sauce that was as good on its own as it was with some whole wheat fettucine and peas. I wish I could say it was good with the ravioli - that was the ravioli's fault.

Pumpkin Mascarpone Pasta Sauce

8-10 lb pumpkin (I used a 9 lb cheese pumpkin - any good puree pumpkin will do. You could also sub in 3-4 c pre-made pumpkin puree.)
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp fresh thyme
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
2-4 tbsp milk
1/2 c mascarpone cheese

First, make your pumpkin puree. Preheat oven to 400° F. Cut the top off and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits (just like you're preparing to carve a jack o'lantern). Drizzle olive oil inside and rub it over the pumpkin flesh. Put the lid back on, place the entire pumpkin in a large baking dish and bake for about an hour, until softened and browning in spots. Remove the lid (carefully - there will be steam!) and set aside to cool.

When the pumpkin is cool, separate the skin from the flesh and discard (it should peel off very easily). Put the pumpkin flesh in a food processor and process until smooth (you'll probably need to divide it into two or three batches). Remove the pumpkin puree to a strainer placed over a large bowl. Set aside for 20-30 min, letting some of the excess liquid drain off.

When you're ready to make the sauce, put the pumpkin puree in a covered medium saucepan over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, until heated (keep a close eye on it - it could bubble up and splatter). Stir in salt, pepper, thyme and Parmesan until cheese begins to melt. Add milk to thin out the sauce slightly (you want it thick enough to coat your pasta well, but not quite as thick as the original puree). Finally, stir in mascarpone until melted and well combined. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is heated through, about 3-4 minutes. Serve with pasta.

Mini Shell Pasta with Smoked Bacon and Peas

We've passed the middle of winter and fresh, local food is becoming thin on the ground. (Ok, I did manage to buy onions and turnips and cabbage and sweet potatoes and honey at the farmer's market the other day - I even passed on the apples and kale - so we haven't hit rock bottom just yet.) Still, it's time to start feeding ourselves from our own larder.

If you look back at my October canning round-up, you can see some of the food Jeff and I managed to put up this year. We also have a freezer stocked with asparagus, edamame, frozen greens, pumpkin puree, roasted peppers, oven-dried tomatoes, and other goodies. We're starting to arrange our menus around these items, trying to enjoy the bounty we worked hard to preserve. This recipe used up our frozen peas and a few handfuls of leftover baby spinach. Frozen greens would work really nicely in here, too - I just had some fresh stuff on hand that needed a job.

This is a great dinner for a weeknight because it came together so quickly and effortlessly. I was shocked at how little work went into it - the ingredients were prepped and my kitchen was cleaned up in no time at all. It's not the healthiest dish, but it's hearty and satisfying - and what is life without a creamy bacon sauce once in awhile?

Mini Shell Pasta with a Creamy Smoked Bacon and Pea Sauce
Slightly adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution.

3 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
1 lb mini shell pasta
1 tbsp olive oil (optional)
2 c frozen peas
1 c baby spinach (or 1/2 c frozen greens)
2 tbsp creme fraiche
1/2 lemon
6 oz Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Heat a large, high-sided pan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy. Add the peas and cook a minute or two, until heated through.

 

 Add the spinach and stir until slightly wilted. Add the creme fraiche, stirring well, then add salt and pepper to taste. 

Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 c of the cooking water. Return the pasta to its pot, then pour the bacon mixture over it, stirring well to coat the pasta in the sauce. If the sauce needs to be thinned out, add some of the pasta water. When the pasta is coated, squeeze the lemon half onto it and sprinkle with Parmesan. Toss well to combine and serve.

Bacon and Butternut Pasta Bake

Are you holed up in your house waiting for the blizzard to start? Maybe it's time for a warm and tasty winter pasta dish!

I'm not going to lie to you - we made this a few weeks ago already, but I think it would be great for a cozy snowy evening. Bacon and Gruyere may not be good for the body, but they're totally good for the soul! And the kale and squash bump up the health factor a bit, don't they?

Ok, maybe not. It's not the healthiest dish, but it is tasty. And you'll probably burn those calories off with all the shoveling you'll have to do tomorrow.

Happy blizzard.

Bacon and Butternut Pasta
From Cooking Light January/February 2012.

5 c butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
12 oz ziti
4 c kale, chopped
2 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
2 c onion, sliced vertically
1 tsp salt, divided
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 c chicken broth, divided
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 c creme fraiche
1/3 c Gruyere, shredded

Preheat oven to 400° F. Put on a pot of boiling salted water for the pasta.

In a large bowl, toss squash with oil. Transfer squash to a foil-lined baking sheet and roast for 30 min, until tender.

Meanwhile, cook pasta about 7 min, until almost al dente (you want it underdone because it will continue to cook in the oven later). When the pasta has 2 minutes to go, add the kale to the water and cook with the pasta.

In a large nonstick skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel. Add onion to the pan with the bacon drippings and cook for about 6 minutes. Add 1/2 tsp salt and garlic and cook another minute, stirring.

Meanwhile, bring 1 3/4 c broth to a boil in a small saucepan. In a small bowl, whisk remaining 1/4 c broth with flour. Add flour mixture, remaining 1/2 tsp salt and red pepper to the broth. Cook 2 minutes, until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the creme fraiche.

Combine the squash, pasta, kale, bacon, onion mixture and sauce in a large bowl and toss to combine.

Transfer to a 13 x 9 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top. Bake for 25 minutes, until bubbly and beginning to brown.

Farm Fridays: Pasta and Chickpeas with Parsley, Garlic and Lemon

Today has been crazy hectic, what with my farm pick-up, grocery shopping, errands and our garage sale tomorrow. I've decided to forgo delighting you with a picture of my CSA share. Sorry about that.

Let it be known, though, that fall vegetables are in the house! I got a gorgeous bunch of carrots, a huge celery root with stems and leaves attached (a little too pungent for eating, in my opinion, but I'm going to dry the leaves and use them like an herb!), and a vibrant orange-red winter squash. The fall lettuce is looking gorgeous as well. And as if that weren't enough, I picked up an enormous cauliflower at the farmers market. I just couldn't resist.

What I have for you today is the perfect, healthy, quick dish for a hectic day: whole wheat pasta and chickpeas with delicious fresh parsley, garlic and lemon. The farm is overflowing with parsley right now and this is a great way to use a lot of it at once. Besides being pretty and green and fresh-tasting, parsley is full of antioxidants (most herbs are) and vitamins to help stave off fall head colds (I know I always get mine when the temperature drops, and it's going to drop tonight!). The whole dish comes together in less than half an hour, including chopping, so there's still plenty of time to make a batch for dinner tonight!

Pasta and Chickpeas with Parsley, Garlic and Lemon
Adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Suppers.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
pinch red pepper flakes
1 1/2 c cooked chickpeas (a 15 oz can will do)
two big handfuls flat-leaf parsley leaves
3 cloves garlic
small sprig sage
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
3/4 lb whole wheat pasta shells
shredded Pecorino-Romano, for serving

Combine the parsley, garlic, sage and lemon zest in a small food processor and mince. 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and red pepper flakes and cook 3-4 minutes, until translucent. Add the chickpeas, lemon juice, and a third of the herb mixture to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and cook until heated through.

When the pasta is finished, drain it in a colander and then return it to the pot. Add the chickpea mixture and the rest of the herb mixture and stir well to combine. Top with shredded cheese to serve.

Farm Fridays: Tortellini Pesto Salad

I am back in the country and it is Farm Friday! After spending several weeks in pursuit of vegetables on foreign shores, I have found the mother lode in Pennington. My CSA share today was epic. Behold the glory: 

Blackberries, watermelon, summer squash, tomatoes, green beans, jalapenos, potatoes, chard, basil, parsley, shallots, bell peppers and eggplant, along with a lovely large bouquet of flowers. There was so much going on that it was difficult for me to decide on a menu for the week. Normally, I give top priority in my planning to things that are very perishable and any leftovers from the previous week. Today, overwhelmed with options (and feeling the jet lag), I was a bit more haphazard. Hopefully we will get through a good portion of this pile without it spoiling! I may have to make a ton of pesto this weekend to use up my half pound of basil.

Pesto was on the menu for today, but instead of making some fresh, I felt obliged to try and use up the last of my frozen pesto from last summer. Last July, to be precise. It's quite a bit past its peak (which was technically in December), but it tastes fine and I can't countenance wasting it. So fresh pesto will have to wait another day or two. Until then, old pesto or not, I will be enjoying this delicious tortellini salad, packed with summer vegetables. If it pleases you, feel free to make yours with fresher stuff.

Since I'm finally back home, expect to see more recipes on the site soon!  

Tortellini Pesto Salad
Adapted from a recipe found in the Wegman's circular a few summers ago.

1 package cheese tortellini (I used tricolor because it looks pretty)
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced (red might be nice, but green's what's available)
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 small bunch asparagus, cut into 2" pieces (I know what you're thinking - asparagus is not in season. But, if you remember, I froze some back when it was, to have it available for recipes just like this! Feel free to leave it out if there isn't any available locally.)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 zucchini, sliced into half moons or quarters
3 tbsp pine nuts
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
3-4 oz basil pesto
15 basil leaves, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Cook the tortellini according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Season the pepper, shallot, asparagus and zucchini with salt and pepper, then drizzle with olive oil. Transfer to a foil-lined baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. Roast for 10-12 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the vegetables are cooked through and soft, though not yet browned. Remove and set aside.

Meanwhile, toast pine nuts in a small pan on the stove top for 2-3 minutes, shaking frequently, until they begin to brown. Remove from pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine tortellini, vegetables, pine nuts, pesto and sliced tomatoes. Gently stir to distribute the pesto. Season with salt and pepper, if needed. Serve room temperature or chilled, as either a main course or a side dish.

Pasta with Swiss Chard, Bacon and Parmesan

I'm really getting into these quick pasta dishes. We first put this on the menu two weeks ago, and it kept getting bumped back: too many leftovers, going out to eat, no time to cook. Jeff finally made it on a day that I was teaching and getting home late. I walked in the door to a steamy, bacony, earthy smell. When the dish was ready, we absolutely devoured it. I think there should have been leftovers, but all the extra bites we snuck out of the pan took care of those. When I got another bunch of chard from the farm a few days later, I knew there was no other option. And I knew all of you had to hear about it.

This time we only made half the recipe, since it was a small bunch of chard, but I'm giving you the whole thing here. As you can see in the pictures, half the recipe filled my pan pretty well. When we did the whole thing, Jeff needed a separate bowl to toss the pasta and fixings in.

This dish is full of flavors I love: earthy chard (you may remember that my initial reaction to chard was ambivalent, but I've since hopped on the bandwagon), meaty bacon, zingy lemon and salty Parmesan. The original recipe assumes you are using thin, packaged supermarket bacon. We use thick-cut butcher bacon, so we reduced the number of strips. This means that it produces a bit more fat, reducing the need for oil, and doesn't crisp up quite like thinner bacon would. On the other hand, it has a rich, meaty flavor that thin bacon can't match. Combined with the chard, which is almost meaty in its own right, it produces a wonderfully hearty, but not heavy, dish, perfect for a low-meat, vitamin-rich meal!

Pasta with Swiss Chard, Bacon and Parmesan
Adapted from Rachel Ray's 365: No Repeats.

1 lb chunky pasta (I used tricolor rotini, because I had it in the pantry)

2 tsp olive oil (add more if you need to, but if you have nice fatty bacon, this should be plenty)

3 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 small onion, roughly chopped (I used red onion for some extra flavor and vitamins - purple vegetables are good for you!)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 bunch Swiss chard, cleaned, de-ribbed and roughly chopped
1 c vegetable stock (we used homemade stock)
juice of 1 lemon
1 c grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste (the original recipe did not call for salt, but since we used homemade stock which has no salt in it, we needed to add quite a bit)
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve one cup of pasta water.

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil and bacon and cook about 3 minutes, until the bacon begins to crisp. Add the garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes. Cook about 5 minutes, until the onions are lightly caramelized.

Add chard, toss to coat, and allow to wilt down. Salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat up to high, add the chicken stock and about one cup of starchy pasta water. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer 6-7 minutes.

Add lemon juice to the chard mixture. Turn off the heat. Drain the pasta well (if you haven't already), then add it and the Parmesan cheese to the greens and toss well (you may need to do this in another bowl). Serve immediately!

Snap Pea Stir Fry over Parsley Orzo

My CSA finally started last week! The harvest on the East Coast seems to have gotten off to a slow start, but I don't mind because I was away when my vegetables should have started to roll in. Now that I'm home, I don't get to miss out on any bit of it!

I have been in love with the farmer's market for several years now. It's wonderful to go and pick out produce that you know is fresh, in season and local. I like knowing where my food comes from. But the CSA is an even more fulfilling experience: not only do I get vegetables that were picked that very morning (usually), but I get to pick some myself as well. Besides knowing that my produce is as fresh and delicious as it can get, I have seen several other benefits to this arrangement. First of all, I have an increasing respect for farm workers of all sorts. Now, I understand how difficult farming can be - one of my favorite books is Little House on the Prairie - but that intellectual understanding is totally different than the one I have gained by spending an hour in 90 degree heat bent over strawberry plants and snap pea vines. Second, I feel like I have made an investment in something worthwhile. I find it very soul-less to invest in stocks and commodities, making a profit off of companies that I will never see, that will never care about me in the least. This investment comes with a return that I have anticipated for months, and will look forward to week after week until the season ends. And besides that, I feel a sense of pride in walking onto the farm, knowing that I am a part of this effort to coax sustenance from the bare soil.

After spending yet another hour under the blazing sun this afternoon, plucking three pounds of snow and snap peas from their vines, I knew I had to do them justice by using them as soon as possible. These delicate beauties are best right away - storage in the refrigerator converts some of their sugar to starch, taking away from the flavor. I found an appropriate recipe in one of my produce cookbooks that used not only the snap peas, but the first slender zucchini of the season, fresh spring onions, and a handful of parsley from my garden. I wouldn't say this is the best vegetable dish I've ever had - it didn't blow me away - but it does justice to the vegetables by celebrating their individual flavors, which makes it an excellent early summer dish, in my opinion. Now if only the temperature would drop a bit so I could enjoy this outside . .

Snap Pea Stir Fry over Parsley Orzo
From the Rolling Prairie Cookbook. I'm already finding this book indispensable - it was originally done for a CSA, so the recipes are organized by the name of the fruit or vegetable, with two to four recipes each, so when you come home one day up to your ears in bok choy, you can more easily figure out what to do with it.

1 tbsp sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced

6 green onions, sliced into 1" pieces (I used some leftover spring onions I had lying around, both whites and stalks)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 bell pepper, sliced into slivers (red or yellow would be best, for added sweetness)

2 small summer squash (I think the recipe wanted something yellow, for contrast, but I had green zucchini on hand), cut into slices 1/4" thick (I went even thinner, using the food processor, because I'm not a big fan of zucchini and the thinner rounds muted its flavor a bit)

4 c snap peas, ends trimmed

1 tbsp soy sauce

black pepper, to taste

1 c orzo

1 tsp butter

1/4 c parsley, finely chopped

1/4 tsp salt

For the Parsley Orzo:

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Cook orzo until just tender, according to package directions (if it has them - mine were not very explicit). Drain well. While still hot, toss with butter. Add parsley and salt and toss until well distributed.

For the Snap Pea Stir Fry:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, green onions and red pepper flakes and stir fry for 1 minute.

Add bell pepper, squash and snap peas and stir fry for 3-4 more minutes, until vegetables are hot and crisp-tender. Season with soy sauce and black pepper. Serve immediately on a bed of the orzo.

Farfalle with Asparagus, Sun-Dried Tomato and Boursin

Is this the perfect light pasta dish? I think so! Am I obsessed with asparagus? Absolutely!

I don't really think of asparagus as something that has a whole lot of flavor on its own. It's flavor isn't even something I really remember afterward (I can sit here and imagine what a fresh floret of broccoli tastes like, or a carrot, but asparagus eludes me). What it does have going for it is a beautiful fresh crispness. I love the texture - substantial, yet delicate. That is what keeps me coming back for more.

I think asparagus is great in this dish because it doesn't compete with all of the other strong flavors, but its texture complements the whole. This dish has tangy, chewy sun-dried tomatoes, creamy, garlicy boursin cheese, crisp, toasty pine nuts and fresh-tasting parsley and dill. Each one of these flavors is wonderful on its own, but I think they harmonize even more beautifully. I know this is a dish I'll be coming back to again and again, for its deliciousness as well as its simplicity.

Farfalle with Asparagus, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Boursin
From Bride and Groom: First and Forever cookbook.

1/3 c pine nuts
8 oz farfalle pasta (any pasta will work, of course, but I prefer a bite-sized shape here)
1 1b asparagus spears, cut into 1 1/2" pieces (make sure you trim or peel the ends!)
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (if you use oil-packed ones, be sure to drain them)
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
2 oz garlic and fines herbes Boursin
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
3/4 tsp lemon pepper
fresh parsley for garnishing

Add the pine nuts to a dry skillet over medium heat. Toast, shaking frequently, for 2-3 minutes.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water for about 8-10 minutes. Add the asparagus to the pot and cook 1-2 minutes more, until crisp-tender. Drain the pasta and asparagus, reserving 3/4 c cooking water.

In the same pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat (make sure the pot is dry or the oil might splatter!). Add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds, until fragrant and beginning to brown. Return the pasta and asparagus to the pan, along with the reserved cooking water. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine. Season with kosher salt and more lemon pepper, to taste, and a garnish of parsley.

This dish is best if served immediately. The recipe says it makes two servings, though I thought it was more like three. Be warned that the leftovers don't reheat very well - the cheese doesn't take well to the microwave. I ate the leftovers and lived, but the dish was not nearly so enjoyable as the first day, so plan your portions accordingly!

Broccoli and Pesto Tagliatelle

We had the most delicious (and fast!) dinner on Thursday: lemony chicken saltimbocca with broccoli and pesto tagliatelle. That chicken recipe will certainly turn up here some day. Today we're going to focus on the side dish.

This pasta recipe comes from my newest cookbook, Jamie's Food Revolution. I got it for Christmas, marked a slew of recipes that I wanted to make, and ignored it until last week. Now I've made two recipes from it: braised bacon cabbage (which I'll be redoing this coming Tuesday and hopefully posting) and this. The cabbage was very quick, quite simply, and incredibly tasty. Oh, and the whole house smelled like garlic and pancetta (I didn't have any bacon). This dish was equally quick, light and yet very satisfying. Since Jamie Oliver is clearly a brilliant man, I have to wonder why I left this book sitting for so long. Perhaps it's the pictures. While there are plenty of them, they are a bit . . . messy-looking? out of focus? I'm not sure. Whatever it is, though, I am sure that it was on purpose. This book is intended to teach cooking to people who really don't know how, so I think the pictures are meant to make everything feel real, like something the average person could do at home.

The simplicity of this recipe made it enjoyable to cook, despite my being sick and miserable at the time. Everything goes into one pot, drains, and then goes back in the pot to be tossed with the dressing. Very little mess. The hardest part was peeling the potato so thin - I don't have the right sort of peeler, so it was a bit of a chore. The most fun part was playing with the tagliatelle, which came in little nests. I'm not sure if it's the variety of pasta or the brand I bought, but it cooked incredibly quickly, too - just four minutes!

A few notes: I did not have any fresh basil so I just left it out. While this was definitely a solid pasta dish without it, I did feel like it was missing something. I think it would be killer with the basil. Next time I'll be sure to secure some. Also, I left out the broccoli stems. I love broccoli, but am not a fan of stems. However, I did feel like the recipe was a bit light on broccoli (this was particularly true of the leftovers, since I took a generous amount of broccoli the first night). Next time, I think I'll try including the stems to even out the proportions.

Broccoli and Pesto Tagliatelle

Adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution.

1 medium potato

1 head of broccoli

handful fresh basil

sea salt

1/2 lb dried tagliatelle

1/4 c green pesto

3 oz grated Parmesan

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Wash and peel the potato. Use the peeler to slice the potato into very thin shavings (as thin as you can manage - they need to cook quickly). Cut off the broccoli florets and set them aside. Cut off the base of the stem and discard. Halve the stem the long way, then slice thinly (not quite so thin as the potato- 1/4" would be fine).

When the water is boiling, add the tagliatelle and broccoli stem and cook according to the directions on the pasta package. 2 minutes before the pasta is finished, add the broccoli florets and potato shavings to the water. When done (check the potato to make sure it cooked through), drain into a colander and return the pot to the stove.

Roughly chop half the basil leaves and add them to the pot. Combine with pesto and half the Parmesan. Return the pasta mixture to the pan and toss to combine with dressing. Serve garnished with remaining Parmesan and basil.