I love asparagus season. And speaking of, this is a great recipe for the end of April/beginning of May. The goat cheese makes an amazingly tasty sauce, no cream needed. Instead of fresh, chopped tomato, you can also use sundried tomatoes, just rinse them first if they are packed in oil or rehydrate if they are dried.

Linguine Primavera with Goat Cheese and Mint
Recipe adapted from Whole Foods Market
2 tbsp olive oil
1 orange, yellow or red bell pepper, cored and diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 ounces thin asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
12 ounces whole wheat or spinach linguine
3/4 cup fresh or frozen shelled peas
4-5 ounces herb-and-garlic flavored goat cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup chopped mint leaves, divided

Heat oil in a large skillet and saute onion and bell pepper until soft. Add garlic and asparagus and cook about 5 more minutes. Turn off heat.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. While water is heating, place peas in a colander in the sink. Cook pasta to desired tenderness; before draining, reserve one cup of cooking water, set aside.

Pour remaining cooking water and pasta over peas in the colander–the hot water will gently cook the peas while the pasta drains; do not rinse. Return pasta and peas to the skillet with the asparagus, onion, bell pepper and garlic.

Turn heat to low and stir in goat cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, tomatoes and half the chopped mint. Add reserved cooking water, a few tablespoons at a time, stirring until you have a creamy sauce.

Taste and salt and pepper as needed. Sprinkle with remaining mint and serve immediately.

Went back to Uwajimaya again and got more wonderful things — like tons of Thai basil and coconut milk (2 cans for $1.50!), assorted frozen dumplings and some white miso paste. Soon we will steam all the dumplings in one sitting and have Janet Reno’s Dance Dumpling Dumpling Dance Party. But for now, there are Spicy Sesame Noodles with tons o’ Thai Basil.

Oh! Also I am entering this contest and I have (I think) perfected my recipe. jwa thinks I should make another test batch though…I think he just wants more chocolate!

Spicy Sesame Noodles with Thai Basil
Adapted from Bon Appétit Magazine
1 tbsp peanut oil
2 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp Asian sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
11/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp hot chili oil
1 tsp salt
12 oz dried noodles (any Asian noodle is fine or even a linguine or spaghetti-type noodle will work)
8 green onions (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced
1 orange bell pepper, sliced into small strips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted peanuts
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh Thai basil leaves
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Heat peanut oil in small skillet over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Transfer to large bowl. Add next 6 ingredients; whisk to blend.

Cook noodles in boiling water. Drain thoroughly and toss with sauce. Add sliced green onions, bell pepper strips and toss to coat noodles.

Let stand at room temperature until noodles have absorbed dressing, tossing occasionally, about 1 hour.

Stir in peanuts and Thai basil; toss again.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.

I recently watched an episode of the Jamie Oliver* show on Food Network and he made this. I was transfixed. And even though jwa is not crazy about zucchini, I knew we would be having this soon. Wow. This was good. I used some diced pancetta from Trader Joe’s and zucchini I got from the farmers market.

Sure there’s cream and egg yolk and pancetta in it. But hey! There’s also zucchini. Eat up.

Zucchini Carbonara for Two
Recipe from Jamie Oliver
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 small - medium green and yellow zucchini
1/2 pound penne (or other tube shaped pasta)
2 large free-range or organic egg yolks
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 good handfuls freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
6 thick slices pancetta or lean bacon, cut into chunky pieces
A small bunch fresh thyme, leaves picked and chopped, flowers reserved (if you can get hold of flowering thyme)
Optional: a few zucchini flowers

Jamie says: “Before you start cooking, it’s important to get yourself a very large pan, or use a high-sided roasting pan so you can give the pasta a good toss.” I agree, a very large pan is awesome. Go get one. We’ll wait.

Okay, boil a large pot of salted water on to boil. Halve and then quarter any larger zucchini lengthwise. Cut out and discard any fluffy middle bits, and slice the zucchini at an angle into pieces roughly the same size and shape as the penne. Smaller zucchini can simply be sliced finely. When the water is boiling, so add the penne to the pot and cook according to the package instructions.

To make your creamy carbonara sauce, put the egg yolks into a bowl, add the cream and half the Parmesan, and mix together with a fork. Season lightly with salt and pepper and set aside.

Heat a very large frying pan (you know, the one you just got), add a good splash of olive oil and fry the pancetta or bacon until dark brown and crisp.

Add the zucchini slices and 2 big pinches of black pepper, not just to season but to give it a bit of a kick. Sprinkle in the thyme leaves, give everything a stir, so the zucchini is coated with all the pancetta-flavored oil, and fry until they start to turn lightly golden and have softened slightly.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving a little of the cooking water. Immediately, toss the pasta in the pan with the zucchini, bacon and lovely flavors, then remove from the heat. Drizzle the reserved cooking water to the creamy sauce, whisking together quickly.

Now, take that sauce and add it to the big pan of pasta and zucchini. Toss and serve.

* I think I need to pre-order Jamie at Home. But, probably at amazon, as it’s cheaper.

Sometimes I come across a recipe and I am so intrigued that I just have to try it. Cinnamon and Tuna. Hmm…Yes, this is one of those recipes.

But, since it involved fish, I decided to get jwa’s opinion on it before making it. He’s somewhat picky about fish and I didn’t want to be left with 20 meatballs to eat all by my lonesome if he decided he didn’t think he’d like it. Not a fish meal, but try having to eat a whole pot of veggie chili by yourself and you will learn to gauge another person’s interest in a meal while it is still hypothetical. For the tuna meatballs, he was a little skeptical but then I mentioned it was a Jamie Oliver recipe and he was all, “Oh, okay then!”

That’s almost exactly how I felt. It’s what convinced me that it would probably be good too. All of the recipes of Jamie’s I have tried have been awesome and Jamie at Home is one of the only Food Network shows I watch anymore (Sandra Lee does not count. Semi Homemade is like a sitcom). But I digress.

You might approach this tuna meatball recipe a bit tentatively but seriously, it is so good! And it’s a great vehicle for frozen ahi tuna. It won’t work with canned and honestly, I wouldn’t waste beautiful, fresh, just begging to be pan seared and nom-nom-nomed tuna here, but frozen tuna is perfect. Perfect, I say! And economical too, making this a Cheap Fish Project post. Hooray!

Printable recipe pdf!

Tuna Meatballs or Le Migliori Polpette di Tonno
Adapted from Jamie’s Italy by Jamie Oliver
for the tomato sauce
olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 14-oz. cans of good-quality plum tomatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
red wine vinegar
a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped
Optional: 1 tbsp honey

for the meatballs
14 oz. tuna (defrosted if frozen, I used ahi but albacore would probably work too)
olive oil
1/4 cup pinenuts
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 3/4 cups stale breadcrumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 eggs
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Chop the tuna up into 1-inch or so cubes. Pour a good couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a large frying pan and place on the heat. Add the tuna to the pan with the pinenuts and cinnamon. Season lightly with salt and pepper and fry for a minute or so to cook the tuna on all sides and toast the pinenuts. The fish will probably still be a bit raw in the center, that’s fine.

Remove from the heat and put the mixture into a bowl. Allow to cool down for 5 minutes, then add the oregano, parsley, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, eggs, lemon zest, and juice to the bowl. Using your hands, really scrunch and mix the flavors into the tuna. The consistency should be like a regular meatball mixture. Divide the mixture and squeeze it into meatballs slightly smaller than a golf ball. If you dip one of your hands in water while shaping, you’ll get a nice smooth surface on the meatball. If the mixture’s very sticky, add a few more breadcrumbs. Keep the meatballs around the same size and place them on an oiled tray, then put them in the fridge for an hour to let them rest.

Now make your sauce. Place a large pan on the heat, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, the onion and garlic, and fry slowly for 5-7 minutes or so, until soft. Add the oregano, the tomatoes, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or so, then blend until smooth. Taste - it might need a tiny swig of red wine vinegar or some extra seasoning. I opted here to add about a tablespoon of honey. Let it simmer while you finish up the meatballs.

Oh and start boiling your pasta here.

Put the pan you fried the tuna in back on the heat with a little olive oil. Add your meatballs to the pan and jiggle them about until they’re golden brown all over.

You might want to do them in batches — when they’re done, add them to the tomato sauce, simmer for about 5 minutes. Plate up your pasta and ladle with meatballs and sauce. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, and drizzle with good olive oil.

I have been getting into Spanish food lately, well, over the past couple of years. I really like the flavors and, although most that I have made have been served hot, they really seem to go great with Summer weather.

Now, this dish is pasta but it is also pretty much one pan pasta dish (okay, and a pot, but just for a few minutes). It’s relatively quick and you can be out of the kitchen before it even gets too hot in there. Get yourself a glass of wine and you’ll be eating in no time. Plus, damn, it’s just so good.

Chorizo, Chorizo, Makes the World Go Round:
For the sausage, I used a mix of ground, uncased, hot & spicy chorizo and regular Italian ground pork sausage (removed from the casing). This is because when I first made the dish, I decided to use up some Italian sweet sausage that I had in the freezer. Tasty.

But, with the leftovers, I got some ground pork chorizo, cooked it up, and reheated all the pasta in the pan with the new sausage. Mmm! If you can find authentic, Spanish chorizo links where you are, I would go ahead and use that for all of your sausage needs. But, I liked the mix of half sweet sausage and half ground, really spicy, chorizo. Oh, I actually saw some Spanish-style chorizo links at the Hillsdale Farmers Market last Sunday and I’m planning to grab some the next time I’m there!

Anyway, I also added orange zest, manchego cheese and just a bit of fennel seed and chopped rosemary to the finished dish.

New: Printable recipe pdf!

Spaghetti with Chorizo and Almonds
Recipe from Gourmet Magazine, with tweaks by me!
1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 tsp crumbled saffron threads
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzlin’
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 ounces Spanish chorizo (cured spiced pork sausage; not hot), cut into 1/2-inch pieces (or a mix of ground chorizo and sweet pork sausage)
1 tbsp unsalted butter (oh, you’re already eating a bunch of sausage, just use the butter)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
9 ounces fideos (dried coiled vermicelli noodles) or angel-hair pasta or thin spaghetti, broken into 2-inch lengths
1 tsp orange zest
1/4 tsp fresh, chopped rosemary
1 (14- to 19-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup sliced almonds with skins, toasted (bonus points for marcona almonds)
1/2 cup Manchego (or other Spanish cheese), grated or shaved

Bring broth, water, wine, saffron, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a small saucepan, then reduce heat and keep at a bare simmer.

Heat oil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then sauté garlic until pale golden, about 1 minute. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Add chorizo and sauté until golden brown, about 3 minutes. If using uncooked, ground sausage, cook until both browned and cooked through.

Transfer with slotted spoon to paper towels with garlic. Add butter to pot and sauté onion until golden, about 5 minutes, then add fennel seeds and pasta. Sauté, breaking up fideos with a wooden spoon, until golden, about 4 minutes. (Be careful here or you will have little pasta shards all over your stovetop. Use a high-walled pot, not a big skillet for this — I learned the hard way).

Add broth mixture and cook, covered, until all liquid is absorbed, about 6 minutes. Stir in chickpeas, tomatoes, orange zest, rosemary, cooked garlic and sausage, parsley, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve pasta sprinkled with almonds, cheese and drizzled with oil.

Awww….Petrozza.

This is super simple pasta. I first came across the recipe in like, 1997 or 1998 on, of all places, the 4AD mailing list. I know, wacky! I couldn’t find the original recipe when I set out to recreate it but what I could remember was: cottage cheese, milk, diced tomatoes, hazelnuts and tarragon. And I remembered thinking, huh, cottage cheese and pasta? But, it was quite tasty. You could also, of course, probably use ricotta.

So, here’s how I have been recreating this around the house lately. This dish also works excellently as a work lunch. In fact, that has been its purpose for us. I just pop it into containers and when it’s reheated in the microwave at work, the sauce is all creamy and good.

To eat right away, you probably want to toss the cottage cheese and everything in the hot pan, after you’ve drained the pasta, and then all the pasta back in. Heat gently over low heat.

Oh and if you see this and this was basically your idea and you posted the recipe to 4AD-L about 10 years ago, let me know and I’ll give you credit! So, everyone dig out your Cocteau Twins 12-inches and make some pasta!

Rigatoni with Hazelnuts, Tarragon and Tomatoes
1 lb rigatoni (more than rigatoni will work here)
1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped roughly (I add to a plastic bag and beat with a rolling pin)
1 container (16 oz) cottage cheese (either low fat or regular fat — no fat free)
1/2 cup low fat milk (I have used both fat-free and 2% here)
1 1/2 - 2 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
1/3 - 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tomatoes, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 shakes green Tabasco sauce
Salt & Pepper

Combine the hazelnuts through the Tabasco. Mix to combine. Add salt & pepper to taste. Cook your pasta in boiling, salted water. Drain and combine with the sauce. Pack up for lunches during the week, or warm gently on the stovetop for supper.

Awesome!

I have been lazy. No other excuse. With that out of the way — Oh, little big head. You have such big teeth but you usually have such tasty recipes. Coincidence? I dunno.

If you can score some salmon, this is what you should do with it. I picked some up on sale! at Whole Foods. It was Alaskan salmon that was frozen on the boat and only $10.99 a pound. And it was very good here. I added pasta to the recipe to make it more of a one bowl meal. Also, I like pasta.

Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree
Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
Lemon Brodetto:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, diced (you can also use a green onion, if you don’t have a shallot)
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 lemon, zested (use the lemon you’ll be juicing — so you only need one lemon total)
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves

Pea Puree:
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 tbsp fresh mint leaves
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and Pepper to taste

Salmon:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 (6 - 8 ounce) salmon filets
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lb pasta of your choice (orecchiette, rigatoni and penne would all work great)

To make the Lemon Brodetto, warm the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute until tender, about 7 minutes. Add the lemon juice, zest, and broth. Bring to a simmer, and keep warm, covered, over low heat. You can also easily make this ahead of time and just refrigerate until needed. Then rewarm.

To make the Pea Puree, combine the peas, mint, garlic, salt, and pepper in a food processor and puree. With the machine running, add the olive oil in a steady drizzle. Transfer the pea puree to a small bowl and stir in the Parmesan. Set aside. You will want to warm this before you put it on top of the salmon. In the Spring, you may want to warm this before serving. Not hot, just warm. What I did was pop it in the microwave for about 20 seconds. When it’s all hot and Summery out, I can see using this room temperature or slightly chilled.

To make the Salmon, warm the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over high heat. Season the salmon pieces with salt and pepper. Sear the salmon until a golden crust forms, about 4 to 5 minutes on the first side. This is also a good point to add your pasta to your boiling water and get that cooked.

Flip the fish and continue cooking for about 4 more minutes more depending on the thickness of the fish, and how you like it cooked. Remove fish from pan and cover with foil until you are ready for it.

To assemble the dish, add the tablespoon chopped mint to the Lemon Brodetto and divide between 2 shallow dishes.

Add some pasta to each dish. Don’t pile it on like a big bowl of pasta but more like the little pasta - broth bed for the salmon that it will be. Place a salmon piece in each bowl and add a generous spoonful of pea puree. A mint leaf makes a great garnish. Serve immediately.

So, so good.

This is a great winter meal! It’s still Winter, right? The brussels sprouts are plentiful and the pasta is, well, always a good idea when it’s cold out. I found this recipe on Epicurious a couple of months ago and we just got around to trying it recently. I changed a few things — added garlic, lemon and red pepper flakes.

Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts and Pine Nuts
Recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine

3/4 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed
1/2 lb dried egg fettuccine
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp pine nuts
1-3 cloves garlic, minced (if they’re huge, use 1 or 2, normal sized, use 2 or 3 — of course, adjust this to your taste, we love garlic, we used 3)
Zest from 1 lemon
Grated Parmesan cheese
Optional: red pepper flakes

Slice Brussels sprouts in a food processor fitted with slicing disk. Or, just slice them manually, with a knife and a cutting board. I opted for that technique. Mostly because I was too lazy to find my slicer disc.

Cook fettuccine in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat butter and oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until foam subsides, then cook pine nuts, stirring, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add Brussels sprouts, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, then sauté over medium-high heat until tender and lightly browned, about 4 minutes.

Reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta and add to skillet, tossing with enough reserved water to moisten. Sprinkle with some Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper. Taste and adjust any seasonings. Serve with extra Parmesan cheese on the side.

***

I think I like Jamie Oliver’s new show. I saw the winter vegetables one the other day and although I am not a big cabbage fan, I wanted to make everything, even though two of the three dishes were mainly cabbage-based. But he’s very, uh, rustic on this one. The first time I caught it (a couple of weeks ago), he seemed like a cooking woodchuck, dressed like Adam from Northern Exposure… and I like his little theme song at the end too!

And then, right afterwards…it’s Sandra Lee. How is that back-to-back combination even possible without the world imploding upon itself?

Okay, I am turning over a new leaf. I am going to try really, really hard to get back into posting at least 3 times per week. Really!

Here’s a super-good pasta recipe. When we were in Ashland last October, I caught some of Lidia’s Family Table on PBS and fell in love with the recipe. I made it almost immediately when we got back. I loved it. jwa thought the flavors were a little strong, but still liked it. So, this is one of those recipes where half the people think it’s the cat’s pajamas and the other half thing it’s good but not pajama-worthy. Of course, this was a sample size of two, so you know…ymmv.

Linguine with Black Olives, Pine Nuts and Raisins
Recipe from From Lidia’s Family Table,’ by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich
1 pound uncooked capellini OR other thin dry pasta such as spaghettini or linguine (I used wheat linguine)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 plump garlic cloves, sliced (about 1/3 cup)
1 1/2 cups oil-cured black olives, pitted and chopped into 1/3-inch pieces
1/2 cup golden raisins
3 tbsp fine long threads of orange zest
2/3 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 cup pine nuts, toasted in a dry pan
Hot water from pasta cooking pot
Salt
1 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
Optional: chopped arugula for a garnish — my addition

Heat a large pot of salted water to boiling. Five minutes before starting sauce, plunge pasta into boiling water. Pour 1/3 cup olive oil into a large skillet, add garlic slices and place over medium-high heat. Cook about 1 1/2 minutes, shaking pan, until garlic starts to color.

Add olives and stir with garlic. Cook another 1 1/2 minutes, shaking pan occasionally, as olives sizzle and caramelize. Add raisins and cook, stirring, 1/2 minute. Stir in orange zest, and cook, stirring, 30 seconds or more, until sizzling.

Carefully pour in orange juice (it will sizzle). Stir to moisten everything. After 20 seconds or so, stir in toasted pine nuts; stir to moisten. When orange juice has nearly evaporated, ladle in 2 cups boiling pasta water. Boil and stir sauce 3 minutes or more (while pasta is cooking). When sauce is reduced by half, stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt. Taste; add more salt if necessary. Stir in another tablespoon olive oil. Reduce heat to keep sauce hot until pasta is ready.

When the pasta is just shy of done, pull it out and add it to the pan with the sauce. Finish the sauce and pasta together in skillet, adding a little more pasta water or reducing it as necessary. Stir in parsley. Remove from heat; toss in a final tablespoon of olive oil. Makes 3 to 4 servings. Top with a little arugula if desired. I liked the green color on top and thought the greens helped lighten the flavor up a bit.

Okay. Coming up next week: Fruitcake update, December’s WCC post and lima bean-tarragon soup.

This is really, really easy and super good. Who doesn’t have a bag or half bag of frozen peas in the house? With that and a few more items you could have an excellent dinner and even a lunch or two for later in the week. What a deal!

Aside from that, we had a great time in Ashland. The leaves were changing — it was very pretty and scenic. We ate at Dragonfly, Morning Glory and the Winchester Inn. More on that later in the week. For now — let’s get to the pasta!

Rustic Green Pea Pesto with Whole Wheat Spaghetti
Adapted from a recipe on the Whole Foods Market Web site
1 pound whole wheat linguine
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/4 cup packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/2 cup packed basil leaves (you could also use mint — that sounds great for a Spring version of this dish)
1 tbsp capers, drained
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until it is al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta-cooking water. Drain the pasta, then transfer it to a large bowl.

Meanwhile, combine the peas, parsley, basil, Parmesan, capers, garlic and lemon juice in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the oil in a steady stream while pulsing. Add salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasoning.

Toss the hot pasta with the reserved pasta-cooking water and pesto. Top with toasted walnuts and serve immediately. Oh fine. Add some more Parmesan cheese to the top as well.