Spaghetti with Arugula Walnut Pesto, Sausage and Tomatoes

Here's an idea for a quick pasta dinner that tastes great and looks pretty. I had a craving for spaghetti and a lot of great ingredients in the house to use up. First - some pesto. I had a full package of arugula that sat around for about a week hoping to get used in a salad but instead was forgotten about. So, I toasted a handful of walnuts and put those, the arugula, 2 cloves of garlic and some parmesan in the food processor. After combining I added in olive oil until I had a good pesto consistency. Next, while I cooked the spaghetti, I combined some Italian sausage with breadcrumbs and formed medium-sized-meatballs. I browned them on all sides, and then poured in about a cup to a cup and half of chicken broth, a handful of cherry tomatoes and put the lid on the skillet. I let these cook on medium low heat about 10 minutes until the sausage was cooked through.

Finally, I drained the pasta, tossed it with the pesto, and topped with the sausage and wilted tomatoes (the broth had cooked almost competely out of the pan at this point). Quick, easy and very tasty.

Cauliflower Risotto

Right up there in my cooking nirvana with cooking a masterpiece that takes several hours and looks AND tastes spectacular is cooking something really good with no menu based on ingredients solely from the kitchen, where I didn't go out and get a single thing. That may sound like nothing to those who keep a better stocked kitchen than myself, but to me its pretty special. The other night we had some chicken with cauliflower risotto. Why make risotto (such a fabulous rich creamy warm dish) with boring odd cauliflower? Because it's what we had in the house. And it was delicious!

I'll start with the chicken. I used the method I usually use when I'm in a hurry. First I browned two chicken breasts in just a little olive oil over medium high heat. Once browned, I set them on a plate to the side, turned the pan heat down to medium and added 2 strips of bacon to the pan. When they were just starting to release their fat, I added two crushed garlic cloves. I cooked these for two minutes, stirring, then added about a cup of white wine, a sprig of fresh thyme, a rib of celery chopped and the chicken breasts. I put the lid on the pan and let cook for about another 20 minutes. This may seem a little weird, but about 3 minutes before the chicken was done, I added a handful of cherry tomatoes. One, I did it for color, two, I was concerned that with the cauliflower risotto and the chicken and the bacon that the dish needed some acidity and something to lighten it up a bit.

OK. While the chicken was cooking I cooked a large head of cauliflower (cut into florets) in a medium pot of boiling water for 3 minutes. I drained the cauliflower in a strainer, and added the cauliflower to another medium pot with a tablespoon of olive oil and, over medium high heat, cooked the cauliflower a few minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the cauliflower to get browned in a few places. Then I added 1 cup of arborio rice and stirred for one minute. Next, I turned down the heat to medium, and added 1 cup of white wine. If you've made risotto before, you know its just a process of adding liquid and constant stirring until its at the consistency you want it at. So, I alternated between white wine and vegetable stock until it was where I wanted it. Then I added 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese, a tbsp of butter and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and serve! I thought it showed off the cauliflower well, with its mellow sweetness contrasting nicely with the cheese and wine flavor. By the way, the risotto would be a perfect veggie main dish also, and we had enough risotto to serve about 4 people.

Linguine with Crab

Do you want to hear about the failures? Or things that just aren't that good? I'm not sure if I should write about them, but this one falls in that category. I started with a Nigella Lawson recipe and tweaked it based on what I had in my fridge, but I honestly don't think my minor change was the reason this dish was fairly unsatisfying. Her recipe is Linguine with Chilli, Crab and Watercress from her Forever Summer cookbook. I replaced the watercress with steamed asparagus pieces (I understand they are completely different) because we had some and I wanted more veggies. I thought it would be light and flavorful, but it was extremely bland. Drew said it was, hmm, ok, but I won't be making it again. I tried to think what would have made it better, and made the flavors come together better. I considered a white wine/butter/lemon sort of reduction, but I just think that would have overpowered the delicate crab. Her original recipe is below. Let me know what you think, if you've tried it, how I might have improved it, etc.

Thanks!

Linguine with Chilli, Crab and Watercress

2 cloves garlic
1 scant tbsp Maldon or other sea salt
1 large red chilli
2 lbs 11 ounces undressed crab, to give you 7 ounces white meat and 4 ounces darker meat
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 lb linguine
handful of fresh parsley, chopped
handful of watercress leaves, roughly torn

Put a large pan of water on to boil for the pasta.

In a large pestle and mortar pulverize the peeled garlic cloves with the salt, so that it make a smooth paste. Then add the chopped and seeded chilli and crush again until you have a gloriously red-tinged mixture. Tip in the crabmeat, breaking it up gently with a fork, and pour in the oil. Zest the lemon into the mortar and then add the juice.

Using a fork, beat well to mix, and then you are ready to cook your pasta. So do so, and then drain the pasta and tip into a warmed serving bowl. Immediately pour over the crab sauce and toss the pasta about in it, then throw in the parsley and watercress and toss again.

Serves 6 as a starter; 4 as a main course.

The End of the Lamb

So, I finally finished off the lamb from the leg I cooked, making a slow-simmered lamb ragu served over rigatoni. It was rich, filling and the lamb melted in your mouth. This is a perfect dinner for a cold night - just needs a nice green salad with a tart vinaigrette. Here's the recipe, based on a Bon Appetit recipe, but altered since my lamb was already cooked:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb white mushrooms, quartered
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tspn fresh rosemary
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1 lb cooked lamb, cut into large bite-sized pieces
3/4 white wine
3 cups beef stock
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 lb rigatoni
grated parmesan cheese

Saute onion, mushroom, garlic, rosemary and basil until vegetables are soft. Add lamb, wine, stock and tomatoes. Stir, cover and cook over medium low heat for 1 hour. While sauce is cooking, cook rigatoni until al dente. Spoon sauce over pasta, and pass cheese.

Serves 6.

Asian Noodles with Chicken

We had a great dinner tonight - it was quick and very tasty. The recipe is from the December 2006 Gourmet, and I've also pasted it below. Only downside, I thought it was just a little bit salty. There's no added salt, but the oyster sauce clearly had a lot of salt. I might use a little less next time, or a little more cooking water to tone it down. Anyway, tasty tasty.

ASIAN NOODLES WITH CHICKEN AND SCALLIONS

Take a tip from Asian home cooks and use bottled sauces to your advantage.

1 lb chicken tenders (not coated or cooked)

1 lb fresh or frozen broccoli florets
1 lb dried udon (thick wheat noodles)
1/2 cup premium oyster sauce (preferably Lee Kum Kee)
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce (preferably Lee Kum Kee or Koon Chun)
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
2 teaspoons Chinese chile garlic paste (preferably Lan Chi), or to taste
1/2 cup chopped scallions (from 1 bunch)
2 teaspoons roasted sesame seeds (optional)

Cook chicken in a 6-quart pot of boiling unsalted water, covered, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl with a slotted spoon.

Add broccoli to boiling water and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer with slotted spoon to a colander to drain, then transfer to another bowl. Return water to a boil and cook noodles until tender (check often; cooking time on package may not be accurate). Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain noodles in colander and rinse under hot water.

While noodles cook, tear chicken into chunks.

Add oyster and hoisin sauces, sesame oil, chile garlic paste, half of scallions, and 1/3 cup cooking water to chicken and stir to combine.

Divide noodles, broccoli, and chicken mixture among 4 bowls and sprinkle with sesame seeds and remaining scallions. Serve immediately, stirring just before eating. If noodles become dry, moisten with some of cooking water.

Cooks' note: If you have to substitute an Asian chile paste without garlic for the chile garlic paste, start with 1/2 teaspoon and add to taste.

Makes 4 servings.

Woohoo! More Shrimp!

Still using up this shrimp I was given. Yay! Last night we had quick and easy spicy shrimp with spaghetti in a chunky tomato sauce, along with some garlic bread.

olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tspn red pepper flakes
2 medium cans diced tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tspn dried oregano
salt

1/2 lb dried spaghetti

10 medium shrimp, fresh or frozen, peeled and deveined

In a large skillet, heat 1-2 tbsp oil. Saute garlic, onion and pepper flakes over medium to medium low heat - don't burn the garlic! Cook until onion is soft. Add tomatoes, herbs and black pepper. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for approximately 30-35 minutes, stirring occassionally.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in boiling salted water.

When pasta is just shy of al dente, add shrimp to tomato sauce. Stir gently and cook until shrimp is pink - about 5 minutes. Add salt to taste.

When pasta is cooked through, drain and transfer to large bowl. Pour sauce over top of pasta and toss. Serves about 3, or 2 with leftovers.

Pasta carbonara

I thought I loved carbonara but had just never found the perfect recipe. My attempts were either too dry, too greasy or too heavy. The latest Food and Wine edition has a recipe I thought looked simple, and even better, I had almost all the ingredients in my kitchen.

It was very easy and only took about 30-40 minutes to make. I made only two changes: I used a combo of linguine and fettucine (what I had in the pantry), and I used half and half instead of heavy cream (same reason).

The results? Well, it was very tasty, not dry, not greasy, but still heavy. I guess that's just the nature of carbonara. Next time I might do something blasphemous and add some cherry tomatoes at the end to lighten it up.

Frugalicious!

You can make so many meals out of just one chicken. Last week, I had to cook a whole chicken for a catering job, but I still had about half of the meat and the carcass left over. So, tonight I made some chicken noodle soup. I covered the carcass with 5 cups of water, a chopped-up onion, two celery sticks chopped, 4-5 peppercorns, a bay leaf, a tspn of thyme and a tspn of salt. I brought this to a boil, then reduced it to a simmer and covered it. I cooked it for another hour, skimming scum (that white frothy stuff) off it every once in a while. Then I strained it into another cooking pot, added two more chopped celery sticks and about a cup and a half of shredded cooked chicken. Last time I made this, we found it to be a little too sweet, so instead of adding diced carrot, this time I just put in two carrots peeled and cut in half, to get just a little of the flavor. Also, normally I would add in some parsley, but the chicken was originally cooked with a lot of parsley so I already had plenty of that floating around. If you want to add some, add about 2 tbspn chopped parsley at this point. I cooked the soup, covered, about 20 minutes, or until the celery was soft. While the soup was cooking, I boiled some salted water and cooked about a cup of pasta I had on hand. Once cooked, I strained the pasta and add it to soup. Finally, I adjusted the salt and pepper seasoning. This made 2 tasty large portions.

Tomorrow - chicken salad!

Spending in order to save

In an effort to use up food we already have I sometimes find myself spending more than I should. Well, it wasn't crazy, but lamb is probably an expense that wasn't necessary. But it's just so damn good. Last night, in an effort to use up some tomatoes and feta, I made a lamb, feta, and tomato baked pasta dish. Also, any chance to use some of the mint that just grows and grows in the garden is an opportunity I can't pass up. Drew made a roux, then added crumbled feta. In a lasagna dish, I tossed the creamy mixture with halved red and yellow cherry tomatoes, small pasta shells, minced fresh mint, and some homemade lamb meatballs (1 lb ground lamb, 1/2 tspn each of allspice, ground clove, cayenne pepper, salty and black pepper, and 1/4 cup bread crumbs, 3 minced garlic cloves). I baked the dish at 425F for about 30 minutes, when the pasta started to brown a little on top. It tasted very good. I would have liked it a little bit creamier, and may next time add some mozzerella to the creamy mixture, but Drew said he wouldn't change a thing.

I'm tired

So, after a long day at work yesterday I am too tired to try and be clever. And I didn't cook at all last night, just laid on the couch with a gin and tonic and ..can't even remember what I ate. Oh ya, leftovers from work. BUT, the night before I made a yummy pasta dish we like from the Epicurious website - Campanelle with Sausage and Beans. Lots of roasted garlic, beans, a little grated cheese and cooking it for quite a while give it a nice thick flavorful sauce. I use a bit more sausage than they called for, and next time I might make it half mild Italian, half hot italian, just for a little more heat. But it was very yummy and we're still munching on those leftovers.