a new kind of pasta sunday

in ,

Yesterday when we awoke at 5:45am, we learned that our pasta sunday date with the Gessers was cancelled and thus there were 18 hours left in the day to spend alone with the kids. We quickly rescheduled pasta sunday -- with the Remis. Pasta Sunday actually made a lot more sense with these guys since 1. they can cook and 2. Bev was our inspiration for our new pasta attachment maker which I've just started to practice with--more on that later. And she is a Pasta Master so she demoed her technique for me.

 

For my part I made a sauce using what was in the fridge (leftover from the fish I made last week) and also highly influenced from that dish.

Ma Pa Broccoli Rabe

  • 1 bunch broccoli rabe, washed and chopped
  • 1/2 lb ground pork
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup wine
  • 1/2 lb firm silken tofu cut into 1/4 inch squares
  • 2 cups broth
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 lemon squeezed
  • 1 tbsp cream
  • 1 cup parm cheese
  1. Blanch broccoli in salted boiling water for 5 minutes then shock in ice bath.
  2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil over low heat and cook garlic for 3 minutes. Add pork and cook over med-high until cooked. Add wine to deglaze.
  3. Add tofu and mash until creamy.
  4. Add tomatoes, broth, lemon juice, salt and pepper
  5. Cook for 45 minutes, stirring. Then add cream and cheese.

genius?

in

Michael was in the Berkshires on a boy's weekend (read drinking Tequila and sleeping late) until Sunday. Alone, I ate bagels with cream cheese, pickles and nachos and whatever the boys didn't finish. Michael got home Sunday, hungover, and took the boys for a couple hours so I could do something that didn't involve legos.

Even though Pasta Sunday had been cancelled I decided to make pasta. Crazy, I know. I wanted to try  this recipe from Food52. I had been thinking about it because it was this week's "genius pasta." The word genius is very compelling. I don’t think I’d be sucked in by ‘best” or “greatest” or “number one” but genius speaks to me because there can be more than one genius pastas and I'll respect them all. 

The most exciting part was caramelizing the onions. I love watching how they transform over time.

I also added small broccoli florets (frozen) and canned mushrooms, making it a super easy dish and kinda of healthy dish.

Verdict: I thought it was good, not genius. The sauce -- consisting of greek/strained yogurt and pasta water-- wasn't quite rich enough to carry the dish. (I like the idea of using greek yogurt as a creaminess enhancer-- ie in place of cream-- and mixing it with starchy liquid. I guess that's the genius part,) But it needed a lot of cheese and salt and even then seemed missing something. Butter, probably. 

farmer's market pasta

in ,

This picture is misleading.

The tomatoes don't figure prominently in this dish. But they are what I am most proud of about this recipe because they were entirely my invention.

This is how I usually decide what to make: 1. Have a general idea in my head 2. Do a lot of research on sites/books I trust. Like a lot. Probably too much. 3.Think about it for awhile. 4. Look in my fridge. 5. Put all materials away and make my version.

So for this one, I read several recipes about broccoli rabe sausage pasta and then made this one up based on what I bought at the farmer’s market (turkey sausage, mustard greens, kale) and the fact that Mack somehow put two boxes of cherry tomatoes in our grocery cart without me seeing them. (He obviously thought they were balls. He loves balls so much! It's almost weird. )

Anyway, since tomatoes aren’t even in season I knew I had to do something to concentrate their flavor which is why I crushed the hell out of them, reducing them to a sticky, quite tasty, pulp.

Farmers Market Pasta

  • I pint cherry tomatos
  • ! tbsp oliveoOil
  • ¾ lb sweet turkey sausage
  • 1 head mustard greens
  • 1 small head kale
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 small yellow onion
  • 1 lb Rigatoni
  • 1 c parmesan
  • ¼ c cream
  1. Heat olive oil in pan over med-high heat. Add tomatoes, cook for 10-15 minutes to soften. If they start to burn, turn down head. Use a wooden spoon to squash them down and release their juices. Turn to low and let them for another 10 minutes. Mash and scrape them some more until you have a loose paste.
  2. Blanch greens for 4 minutes then shock them in ice water.
  3. Cook sausage (out of casing) until almost brown (5-10 minutes). Add onion, cook for 5 minutes, and then add garlic. Cook for 10 minutes adding some water if dry. Add greens. Cook for a while adding water if needed.
  4. Cook pasta reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Add pasta to sausage mixture along with water (1/4 cup at a time) to make it saucy. Add ¼ cup cream and one cup cheese. Serve.

early morning beans

in

It’s not even 8am and I’m eating spicy cilantro and jalapeño humus with a baby spoon straight from the container. Mack decided to preempt daylight savings time and get up at 4am. Michael’s instinct when we hear these early (middle of the night?) cries from the boys’ room is not to run in and separate the two so Nate will at least sleep until a normal time, but to debate the matter. “Why is Mack doing this to us?!” “It’s 4 fucking fifteen in the morning…unacceptable.” So it’s mostly me doing the running, saving, changing of diapers, baba making and entertaining of our 1 year old with a vocabulary (so far) of “boat” and “cheese.”

It’s been a long morning. I’ve watched multiple movies, made cauliflower soup, done laundry, cleaned the house, run the dishwasher, gotten both boys dressed, broken up many fights, punished Mack, woken up Michael and now with everyone finally out of the house (where? dunno. playground maybe...) I’m alone with my humus, looking for recipes for dips for tonight’s pasta Sunday.

And I’m thinking…White bean dip, a close cousin to humus. It’s not a hard thing to make. In fact it is almost too easy (even Rachel Ray promises a 2 minute version which comes out fine.) So how to make this a little more exciting? And do I even bother since I’m feeding the Moshan-Gesser clan who think any cooking is “magic.” 

A little research and I found some inspiration. Mark Bittman said Marcella Hazan told him that grated lemon peel is this dish’s the secret; David Lebowitz who I now adore suggested using the bulk of the oil on the top rather than blended in to maximize it’s contribution. Also, I’m feeling a bit lustful towards the huge rustic garlic cloves from yesterday’s lovely fall farmer’s market; and I have a whole lot of fresh Thyme about to depart for a better world. So here goes:

My White Bean Dip

  • 2 cans white beans
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp chopped thyme
  • ¼-1/2 cup olive oil
  • salt/pepper; sea salt
  1. Blend beans, lemon juice, garlic and thyme in blender (or Vitamix). Slowly add olive oil until it’s creamy, reserving some for garnish.
  2. Grate zest of entire lemon and add to dip. Adjust with salt/pepper to taste. Top with olive oil and sea salt for a little crunch. Serve with crudite or pita chips.