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Walking Contradiction

13 Oct

Broccoli is one of those veggies that makes a good sidekick, but it’s not much of a star. Sure, it holds up well in stir fry and I do love me some savory sweet broccoli slaw in the summer but even when it is blanched, I find the true essence of broccoli to be woody and just a bit ho hum. And I’m usually of the mind that if the only way I can enjoy a particular veggie is to douse it in cheese, heavy cream, eggs, or butter, then it’s probably not worth keeping in the dinner rotation. However, I’m also of the mind that eating well on a reasonable budget and being a resourceful home cook means working with what’s cheap, seasonal and plentiful. So, since broccoli was 99 cents a pound last week and I do love me some pesto, I decided to make Deb’s broccoli cream pesto pasta. Life’s just more fun when you embrace contradiction, anyway.

If you like broccoli cheese soup, pesto, or broccoli slaw, this pasta hits on all those cravings. The flavour is a little bland as written, but you can add more heat, acid or cheese to your tastes. I added extra garlic, red chilies and a bunch of lemon zest. I also roasted some prawns with lemon zest and red chillies and added those at the end. Next time, I’ll also add a splash of white white. If you object to the use of the term “pesto” without the presence of nuts, I could see toasted finely chopped almonds working well in this dish as well, to complement the woody flavour of the broccoli and add a bit more depth. And with so few components, I would recommend grana padano or parmigiano regianno. I used shredded light parm and it was a sad mistake. So, do as I say and not as a I do ;-) This pasta is creamy and cheesey and yet somehow still light, even for a pasta. As it turns out, contradiction is also delicious.

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Runny Sunny Roasted Tomato Pasta

18 Feb

Please note, this post contains flagrant worship of the runny egg, which I understand makes SOME people squirm. You’ve been warned.

This recipe was inspired by one I found at The Tasty Kitchen called Almost Carbonara because it capitalizes on the lusciousness of runny egg yolk, along with pancetta and grand padano parmesan as critical elements.

The nomenclature of egg production and quality is a little overwhelming but I assume every person has to make a choice based on taste and ethics. Thanks to my mum and Jim, we have access to farm-fresh, free-run, veggie-fed eggs from their farm. Once we tasted, them, there truly was no comparing with those little white golf balls boxed up and sold at our local grocery store. They have remarkable flavour and richness that I can only crudely describe as the true essence of egg-ness. Obviously, you could accuse me of bias because Omnivore Acres is family, but you could also drop by their  stand at the Downtown Winter Market, try your own and just come accept I am right.

Anyway, back to the pasta. If you don’t like fresh tomatoes, try roasting them. Roasting grape or cherry tomatoes mellows the acidity and brings out a tart sweetness. Doing so with a few handfuls of fresh sage, rosemary and thyme makes them irresistible. This, from someone who despised tomatoes in all its forms my entire childhood and teenage years (except of course ketchup!).

In addition to the roasted tomatoes, this dish’s sumptuousness comes from layering each flavour: tossing the pasta with the roasted tomatoes, cooking the eggs in the pancetta drippings, breaking the just-cooked yolks into the pasta. Dishes like this are a perfect example of why my favourite foods are one-pot meals.

Also – Omnivore Acres eggs currently have an uptick of double-yolks. Final plug!

Runny Sunny Roasted Tomato Pasta

Serves 2

1 pint of grape tomatoes

Three sprigs of rosemary and thyme, stripped from their branches

5-10 sage leaves, torn (to taste)

10-12 fresh basil leaves, chiffonnaded (totally a word)

3 cups fresh, washed, spinach leaves

1/2 cup grand padano parmesan cheese, finely grated

Half a 500 gram box of fettucine

4 slices of pancetta, thick cut

2 of the best eggs you can find

Toss the grape tomatoes with the rosemary, thyme, sage, a good splash of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Roast in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes. They will be very delicate when they come out so avoid tossing them about—just set them aside and try not to eat them.

Cook the slices of pancetta over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes per side, then turn down to low and leave on the heat for another 5-10 minutes. This is my trick for rendering out lots of fat without toughening the bacon or over-drying it. Remove it when it reaches your desired doneness, reserving the fat in the pan.

Boil salted water and cook the fettuccine. This was the first time ever that I tasted my water before cooking my pasta and it make a huge impact to the final taste of the noodles. Chef Michael Smith told me through the television that it should taste like a day at the beach.

Chop the cooked pancetta and slice the basil thinly while the pasta cooks. Piling and rolling the basil leaves and then slicing vertically is the fastest way to create thin strip: a chiffonade if you’re fancy and/or enjoy jargon.

When the pasta is done, reserve about 1/2 a cup of the pasta water before draining it. Immediately toss the pasta with the roasting pan contents, the chopped pancetta and basil slices, half the parmesan cheese, and the fresh spinach. As you mix these together, add a few splashes of pasta water to keep everything moist. The residual heat will cook the spinach and help the pasta to suck up the flavours of everything else in the bowl.

Put the frypan of pancetta fat back on the heat at medium and crack your eggs into the pan. As the whites begin to set, cover the pan, checking after 1 minute. You need the egg to be barely set.

Plate the pasta and top each portion with an egg, some fresh cracked pepper, and the rest of the grated cheese. Stab, stir, devour.

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In praise of the casserole

11 Dec

It’s rare to find a casserole that isn’t a blow to the arteries: bound by cheese or sprinkled with breadcrumbs and a few pats of butter. They’ve also become OVER-convenienced, calling for a Stouffer’s stuffing topping or the dreaded Campbell’s condensed soup binding technique. Ick.

But casseroles CAN be healthy and they can be a balanced, one-dish meal. Before you turn your nose up at the potato-chip crusted, repressed housewifing legacy of the casserole, I want to remind you of its lasting virtue. Casseroles are time-bendingly efficient. They don’t just save you time by making nice with the oven, they allow you to reorganize your food prep time. On a rushed Monday night, I put this together before going to spin class and Mr. ST put it in the oven while I was out.

After ninety minutes of leg-pumping, heart-pounding, sweating in way too close proximity of other strangers, coming home to this bubbling delight was a single moment of joy that no one could take from me. Coming home to Mr. ST is pretty sweet too, I guess. After all, he’ll hug me without hesitation pre-shower. That’s love.

This is a perfect fall/winter seasonal casserole and a great way to fit a meatless meal into your week. On different occasions I’ve used greek yogurt or light sour cream and both work just as well. Truth be told, I usually crumble a bit MORE cheese directly into the sauce, slightly violating the name, but I promise it’s great both ways (albeit less salty without the added cheese).

The feta crumbled on top transforms into salty little cheese croutons. The lemon zest in the base of the pan balances out the saltiness of the olives and cheese. And the kale and squash can be whatever variety is on sale that week. I’ve made this with kale and acorn squash, chard and butternut, and even spinach and delicata.

A good squeeze of lemon and some fresh mint on top just make the dish complete.

June Cleaver—take note, no potato chips needed.

Almost Cheeseless Pasta Casserole

From 101 Cookbooks

zest of one large lemon

8 ounces dried whole wheat pasta (penne or something comparable in size)

1 1/2 cups butternut squash, peeled and sliced into quarter sized pieces

3 handfuls kale, chard, and/or spinach, loosely chopped

2 cups plain Greek yogurt (I use 2% here)

2 egg yolks

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and torn into pieces

scant 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped

Preheat oven to 400F degrees, with a rack in the middle. Butter or oil an 8×12-inch baking dish, or two smaller gratin dishes. Sprinkle with lemon zest and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it generously, and cook the pasta until al dente. Just 10 seconds before you are done cooking the pasta, stir in the butternut squash and kale – for the quickest possible swim. Quickly (but carefully) drain. Now run cold water over the pasta, squash, and kale (just enough to stop it from cooking). Shake off any extra water and set aside.

While you are waiting for the pasta water to boil, whisk together the yogurt, eggs, garlic, and salt in a large mixing bowl – set aside until the pasta is boiled. Then. when ready, add the pasta-squash-kale mixture to the yogurt mixture and stir in half of the almonds. Scoop everything into the prepared baking dish(es), sprinkle with olives and feta, and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and serve sprinkled with a bit of the chopped fresh mint and remaining almonds.

Serves 6 -8 as a side.

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Spot On: Cowichan Pasta

6 Dec

The best impulse purchase we made at the Downtown Winter Market in November was this stuff:

These babies were pillowy soft and you’d never know they were cooked from frozen in just three minutes.

Our only complaint was a bit of inconsistency in the filling. Some of the raviolis had a few bits of prawn while others had nearly whole ones. Even despite this, they were worth every penny of the $12 they cost and we can’t wait to try some of the other flavours. As either an appetizer or a dinner for two, it’s about as fancy as you can get in less than ten minutes.

I served ours with my curried corn sauce, which I’ll share with you now because it’s incredibly versatile. I must confess, however, that it wasn’t the best compliment to the raviolis. It kind of stole the show from the delicate, subtle flavour of West Coast spot prawns. Next time, I’ll take the advice Cowichan Pasta gave me on Twitter and serve their goods with just a good olive oil, a few thin slices of parmegiano reggiano and a good crack of black pepper.

This sauce is great as a stew based with chicken and veggies or drizzled over scallops, tilapia or snapper on some greens. My instincts were good–corn and seafood are usually a winning combination. I think it was the curry factor.

Curried Corn Sauce

2T olive oil

3/4 cup red onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups corn kernels, raw

1 cup light coconut milk

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 T yellow curry powder (or more to taste)

1 t cumin

1 – 2 t honey, to taste

1/2 t salt

Fresh chopped herbs (we like cilantro and Italian parsley)

Puree 1 cup of corn kernels in food processor. Reserve half a cup of kernels.

Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and onion and saute until softened and transculent. Stir in curry powder and cumin and continue to cook for 1 minute. Spices will become fragrant.

Add chicken broth and scrape up any bits from the pan. Add coconut milk, honey, and salt and bring to a simmer. Turn down to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened. Add the reserved corn kernels and simmer until they are heated through.

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Pumpkin Delights from Around the Web

25 Nov

Pumpkin is the youngest child of the veggie patch. It wants to entertain you—it shows up for all the fun holidays. It always wants to play—it sits lackadaisical in rows, shiny and bright, just waiting for a mom to plop her baby down among its bounty and take 451 photos for her facebook wall. It charms you into letting it get away with things you’d never let any other veggie do—I’m sorry, is there another other veggie you order as a latte flavour? Hmmm, carmelized onion latte, anyone? Actually, I take that back. There’s probably a chef in Chicago who’s already making those.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from these past few weeks between Canadian and American Thanksgiving, it’s that no matter what your indulgence of choice, there is a pumpkin recipe on the internet waiting to convince you of this nutrient-dense veg’s versatility. I wasn’t kidding when I said pumpkin makes everything better. It’s chock full of antioxidants like beta carotene and vitamin A, it’s got all those good B vitamins, calcium, iron. It also stands in well as a flavour base and a healthier alternative in recipes. Cancer-fighting, immune-boosting, energizing—what other pudding on the internet can make that claim?

After I posted my pumpkin snack bar recipe, my Mum mentioned that the farm is burrrrsting with them. Squash of all kinds can take over a garden rather aggressively, as they seem to have done to the blogosphere. There seem to be two types of people in the world: those who take advantage of pumpkin as a decorative and edible holiday gimmick, and those who go completely apeshit for it and think it elevates all recipes from September-January to the cannon of seasonal delights. I think you can tell from the list below which type of person I am. Here are some of the drool-worthy goodies I’ve recently bookmarked.

Smitten Kitchen Baked Pumpkin and Sour Cream Pudding

Savoury Simple’s Pumpkin Bagels

Simply Recipes Pumpkin Gingerbread

The 80/20 Blog Rustic Pumpkin Tiramisu

Eat Live Run’s Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

How Sweet It Is Pumpkin Pie Fudge Brownies

So Good So Tasty Pumpkin Hazelnut Bread

Soup Addict’s Pumpkin Cream Cheese Torte

Of course, if you’re shocked and horrified that none of these have bacon (I know, I know), make my Pancetta Pumpkin Penne.

If you have a favourite pumpkin recipe—or you’ve tried one of these—please share!

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