Posts filed under 'pasta'
Boston has a neighborhood called the North End. If it was any bigger we’d probably call it Little Italy. There are a gazillion tiny Italian restaurants and pasty shops crammed into a few blocks. There are old men playing bocce ball, people eating gelato, couples toasting with grappa after dinner, and–my favorite–specialty Italian grocery stores.
My sister was in town over the weekend, and she suggested we stop into one of these grocers so she could pick up a few things to take home. I was definitely down with this plan, as specialty food markets make my heart beat a little faster.
In the market I picked up (among other things) a very nice bottle of balsamic vinegar and some imported sundried tomatoes. Much like some wines and cheese, true balsamic vinegar needs to be made in a specific region of Italy using very strict guidelines. I didn’t realize that the vinegar you buy at your regular grocery store is almost certainly not balsamic vinegar, but regular vinegar that has added sugar and food coloring in order approximate balsamic.
That’s not to say that grocery store balsamic is bad. Sometimes it’s quite good. But I didn’t realize how different the two really are until I tried the real thing.
The bottle I bought is made in Italy specifically for this little grocer I visited in the North End. It’s called Rubio, and it’s aceto balsamico di Modena (which is a good thing). I spent $35 for 8.5 ounces, and believe it or not, that’s a really, really good deal for real balsamic. The highest quality vinegars are in the $100-400 dollar range, and that’s for less than four ounces. See what I mean by $35 being a good deal?
Even if it is a good deal, is it worth it? Yes yes yes yes and yes. It’s fabulous. It’s slightly sweet, tangy, and really… deep. Robust. Indescribable. And while eight and a half ounces doesn’t sound like much, a little goes a long, long way. (If you’re interested, you can order it online here.)
When you have a few high quality ingredients, even a 10 minute lunch (it’s really that fast) is a memorable experience. When you have a few high quality ingredients, the simpler the dish the better. This little couscous number is dead easy, ridiculously quick, and so, so tasty.
Sundried Tomato and Basil Couscous with Aceto Balsamico
Serves two
3 tsp Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Chopped Fresh Basil
10-12 Oil Packed Sundried Tomatoes, chopped
1 Cup Couscous
1 Cup Boiling Water
1/4 Cup Pine Nuts, toasted
Aceto Balsamico di Modena
Place 1 1/2 cups of water on the stove or in a kettle to boil. In a bowl, mix the olive oil, salt, basil, tomatoes, and couscous until combined. This is what it will look like before you add the water:
Measure out 1 cup of boiling water and pour over couscous mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a dry skillet over medium heat and add pine nuts. Stir occasionally until toasted, being careful not to burn. (Right before they begin to brown you’ll see that they become shiny. Don’t walk away because they go from toasted to burnt very quickly!) Set toasted pine nuts aside.
Lightly fluff the couscous with a fork, adding toasted pine nuts. Drizzle aceto balsamico over the top. This may be eaten immediately, but it also is very nice as a room temperature dish.
April 15th, 2008
Did anyone make the marmalade? This is the perfect recipe to use it in. If you’re not up for making marmalade from scratch, that’s not a problem. Next time you’re at the store pick up a small jar and use that instead. In fact, using store-bought marmalade makes this dish super-duper easy to prepare.
Marmalade chicken is one of those simple dinner dishes that home cooks have been preparing for themselves or their families for years because it’s not only damn easy, but also damn tasty. There are a ton of different recipes available for it online, some just call for marmalade and chicken (or in our case, tofu or seitan), and some make a more elaborate marinade using the marmalade as a base.
This dish is as easy as you want it to be, super flavorful, and infinitely customizable. You can use a base of rice, couscous, pasta, quinoa, millet, polenta (and so on) and dress it up with any simply prepared greens or veggies you’ve got. If your using a rice cooker for your starch, and the oven for the tofu, you can quickly steam or saute up any other accompaniment without much fuss.
I grilled the tofu after I baked it because I love grill marks. The use of a grill or a grill pan is totally optional, unless you’re like me and like really pretty tofu. If you’re free of my strange tofu vanity issues, don’t worry one bit. However, if you do break out the grill pan, be careful not to burn the ‘fu. All the sugar in the marmalade makes for easily scorched tofu if you’re not careful. I may or may not be speaking from experience. *cough cough*
One last thing before I jump into the recipe. Pearl couscous. Oh my goodness, have you tried this stuff? I love it! It’s also called israeli couscous or maftoul. Like regular coucous, it’s actually a pasta, but it’s like couscous on steroids. It’s really fun and a nice change of pace from rice. You should be able to find it near the regular couscous, either in a package near the pastas or in a bin in the bulk food section of your local grocery store. You can boil/drain it like regular pasta, or cook it in a skillet like risotto. Very cool stuff.
Marmalade Tofu with Kale and Lemon Pearl Couscous
Serves two with leftover tofu, easily scaled
1 14 oz block of Super Firm Tofu, pressed well (or 4 seitan cutlets)
1 Recipe Marmalade Marinade, below
Couscous, risotto style
1 Cup Pearl Couscous
2 tsp Oil
2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
Zest from 1 Lemon
1/2 tsp Salt (scant)
2 to 2 1/2 Cups Water
Kale
1 bunch Kale (or about 2 cups veg of choice)
2 tsp Oil
2 Tbs Water
1-2 tsp Tamari
1/4 cup Sliced Almonds
Marmalade Marinade
5 Tbs Marmalade
2 Tbs Tamari or Soy Sauce (reduced sodium)
1 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Hot Chili Flakes (optional)
1/4 tsp Ginger (optional)
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Preheat oven to 400º F.
My favorite method for pressing tofu: Pour off all excess water. Wrap the tofu in two paper towels. Then wrap the tofu in a terrycloth kitchen towel. Place a cast-iron skillet on top (or anything else that’s flat and heavy and can get wet) and let sit for 20 minutes or longer. After 20 minutes, the towel should be soaked through and the tofu nice and firm. The paper towel just protects the tofu from any lint or, um, cat hair that might be on the towel. Slice the block into 8 even rectangles.
In a baking dish that will fit all the tofu snuggly, whisk together your marinade. Add the tofu (or seitan) and coat each piece. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway. There should still be a little marinade in the bottom of the dish after baking, just enough to use as a glaze.
When tofu is halfway done, heat oil in a large skillet an add dry couscous. Stir for a few minutes until each pearl is coated and lightly toasted. Add lemon juice, zest and salt. 2 cups of water and let simmer, stirring frequently, and watch as the couscous absorbs the liquid. When all liquid is absorbed, try a pearl to see if it is cooked through. Add more water as necessary. You can also boil the couscous, drain, then mix in the salt, juice and zest with a little oil.
In the last few minutes, heat the oil for the kale in a wok or large skillet. (The tofu will hold nicely in a warm oven if you need more time.) Add washed, torn kale and toss to coat. Add water to the hot pan and quickly cover with any lid that will fit to quick-steam the kale. Remove the lid after a few minutes (admire how tender and green the kale looks) and saute to cook off any remaining liquid. Add almonds and tamari, stirring well, until the almonds are lightly toasted.
Plate the couscous and then the kale. Add the tofu on top, and drizzle any remaining glaze over everything. Garnish with extra almonds if desired.
April 8th, 2008
In Italy, gnocchi doesn’t require potatoes. They can be made from regular pasta flour, or cheese. In fact, pretty much anything that can be rolled into a lump and served like pasta/dumplings can be gnocchi. In the United States, however, gnocchi is usually assumed to be made mostly from potatoes, though you’ll see sweet potato gnocchi and ricotta gnocchi every once in a while.
When it comes to potato gnocchi, there’s a great debate between those who insist on adding eggs to the dough, and those who insist that eggless gnocchi is the best. Begin vegan, this is a problem easily solved. No eggs! There, that was easy, right?
What’s really nice about this is that your vegan gnocchi is just the same as a lot of traditional gnocchis out there. While I love adapting recipes to be vegan, it’s really nice to make time-tested dishes that have always been vegan. Gnocchi is one of those dishes. Don’t let anyone make you put eggs in your gnocchi!
The downside is that eggless gnochhi can be a bit more fussy than the egged version. But don’t despair! I did a bunch of research, and I think I have a solid recipe here that will minimize if not eliminate any problems. These tips will be detailed in the recipe below.
I decided to serve this with two easy sauces. If I’m going to the effort of making fresh pasta, I want sauces that compliment and showcase the pasta–nothing too thick or too heavy that would hide it or mask the flavor of fresh gnocchi. First I made a thyme vinaigrette, but vinaigrette is too strong of a word. It’s simply fresh thyme leaves, mashed in a mortar and pestle with some salt, olive oil, and a tiny splash of white wine vinegar. It’s not nearly as tart as you might expect with a title like “vinaigrette”. It really lets the fresh time flavor stand out, and shows off your beautiful gnocchi.
To cut the thyme vinaigrette, I made a simple cashew cream sauce with a hint of lemon. It has a light sweetness and richness that really matches nicely. If you have a high-speed blender (like a Vita-Mix) you’ll have no problems blending the cashews into a smooth sauce. I’m not sure how a regular blender will fare. You could try powdering the nuts in a spice grinder before adding them to your blender, and straining the cream afterwards if it’s still lumpy. It might work fine, though!
Alright, are you ready to make gnocchi? And PS - this recipe is soy free!
Gnocchi with Thyme Vinaigrette and Lemon Cashew Cream
Serves 2-3
For Gnocchi
2 Russet Potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 Scant Cup Bread Flour*
(No salt!)
For Thyme Vinaigrette
2 Tbs Fresh Thyme, leaves only
1-2 Pinches Salt, to taste
4 Tbs Olive Oil
1 tsp White Wine Vinegar
For Lemon Cashew Cream
1 Cup Water
1 1/4 Cups Roasted, Salted Cashews (or raw)
Zest of 1 Lemon
1/2-1 tsp Lemon Juice
*I call for bread flour because of the high-gluten content. This will help the pasta set up while it’s cooking a little better than regular flour would.
Game Plan: The first thing you’re going to do is get the potatoes in the oven. Baked potatoes will be drier than boiled, so even though it takes longer, it makes for better gnocchi. While they’re baking, prepare both sauces, get your workstation ready, and put a large pot of salty water on to boil. (It’s important that you salt the water and not the dough; this will help keep the gnocchi firm. Salt is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water–salt in the dough would make your gnocchi a little mushy). Now you’ll be ready to cook and plate the gnocchi as soon as you’re finished shaping them.
For your workstation, you’ll need the following: 1 knife (a paring knife is ideal), a fork or a gnocchi board, a large plate lightly dusted with flour (for your shaped gnocchi), and a large, flat surface for rolling out your pasta. A potato ricer (or a food mill) is ideal for ricing the potatoes, but a box grater or even just a fork will suffice.
You want to rice your potatoes as soon as possible when they come out of the oven. The hotter the potato, the more steam comes off when you rice it, which reduces the moisture content of the gnocchi. The dryer the gnocchi, the less flour you need, which leads to the lightest, fluffiest, most delicious gnocchi. Use a kitchen towel to hold the potato, unless you feel like burning your fingers!
Near your pot of boiling water, place a bowl with 1/2 of the vinaigrette in the bottom. When the gnocchi are finished cooking, you’ll scoop them out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon and place them directly in this bowl and toss to coat. Then you can plate them and drizzle them with the cream sauce before they cool. Got it?
Preheat oven to 400º F. Stab your potatoes with a fork and wrap them in foil. Bake in a small dish for about 60 minutes, or until tender all the way through.
Sauces
Meanwhile, prepare your sauces. Strip the thyme leaves off their stems into a mortar. Add a pinch or two of salt and grind with the pestle until a rough paste is formed. Add oil and vinegar and mix again. Don’t worry if it’s emulsified, it just needs to be mixed. Taste and adjust salt or vinegar as needed. Set aside.
Place all the ingredients for the cashew cream in a blender and blend on high until thick and smooth. Adjust seasoning if needed (this should be slightly sweet and not as salty as the vinaigrette) and set aside.
Making the Gnocchi
As soon as the potates come out of the oven, remove the foil and then peel them. The photo shows me using a vegetable peeler, but I quickly switched to scraping the skin off with the back of a knife. Much easier.
Put the hot potatoes through a ricer as soon as you can. The hotter the potatoes are during this step, the better the gnocchi will be. Rice them over a wide, flat surface to maximize contact with the air to help them dry out better. You can also grate them or shred them with a fork.
Let the potatoes cool/dry for 10-15 minutes. During this time, make sure you have everything in place you’ll need for shaping, cooking, dressing, and plating the gnocchi. Once they’re shaped you want to be able to cook them and serve them as quickly as possible (unless you’ll be freezing the cooked gnocchi for later).
Gather your cooled potatoes into a flat disc and sprinkle about 1/2 the flour over it.
Work the dough with your hands, adding more flour if needed. You probably won’t need the whole cup of flour. I had about three tablespoons leftover. If in doubt, use less as opposed to more.
Work your dough until just combined. Do not overwork it! It should be soft, not sticky or crumbly. You’re not even going to really knead it, just mix it together. You must shape the dough immediately.
My favorite part! Roll some of the dough out into a long snake, about as thick as your tumb. Cut the snake into little “pillows” and dust them with flour. To shape, simply roll one of the pillows down a ridged gnocchi board (or the tines of a fork!). The gnocchi should curl around your thumb. Once side will be ridged, and the other side will have an indent in it. This helps to catch the sauce.
Place the shaped gnocchi on a plate that has been dusted with flour. At this point you should cook the gnocchi immediately. I tried freezing the raw shaped gnocchi and it was a disaster! You must at least partially cook the gnocchi at this point or all your hard work will be ruined.
Cooking and Serving the Gnocchi
Gently place the gnocchi in to salted, boiling water. After a minute or two, the gnocchi will float to the surface. About 30 seconds after they begin floating, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the water, draining them well.
Place the cooked gnocchi into a large bowl that has 1/2 of the vinaigrette in the bottom. Toss the gnocchi to coat. Drizzle your dinner plates with the other half of the vinaigrette and some of the cream sauce. Pile the gnocchi on the plates and drizzle more cream sauce on top. Garnish with a fresh sprig of thyme and serve immediately.
March 12th, 2008
When my husband goes into the office during the week, I usually eat lunch alone. I have a hard time working up the motivation to cook a whole meal just for myself, so sometimes I end up having a “snack” like chips and hummus until–oops–no need for lunch! Stewart will come home from work and ask if I made anything fun, and it’s then when I realize that toast, or chips, or whatever I had filled myself up with that day probably wasn’t the best idea.
Therefore I’m always trying to come up with recipes that are a little more substantial, but are easy to make and consist of ingredients we always have laying around. Here’s what I decided to work with today:
Fettuccini, lemon, sundried tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and broccoli. For the past couple of days I’ve had the idea of this light, fresh, flavorful pasta floating around in my head. The only ingredients used in the recipe that aren’t pictured here are oil, salt, and black pepper. I love this dish because you can taste everything and it all works really well together. The tanginess of the lemon, the sweetness of the tomatoes, the crisp broccoli, the spicy peppper… it’s really yummy. And hey, any dish that involves broccoli is pretty much an automatic winner in my house.
This dish is written for one, but it should be really easy to scale up if you’re cooking for more. We usually buy whole stalks of broccoli instead of just the crowns because we enjoy eating the stems as much as the florets. While this recipe is for only florets, feel free to add the diced stalk in as well. Just cut 1-2″ off the bottom (the tough, woody part) and you should be good to go. You can peel the stem if you want it even more tender.
The key to this dish is balancing the salt, lemon juice, and oil. You want enough oil to distribute the flavors over the pasta, but not so much it’s greasy. There shouldn’t be any oil pooling in the bottom of the pan or on your plate - you want just enough to coat the pasta and no more. The salt and the lemon juice should even each other out; you should taste both without either being overwhelming. Start with 1 tsp of the lemon juice and then add the salt to taste. You should then have a better idea then if you need more of either.
Spicy Lemon Pepper Pasta with Broccoli
Serves one
Dried Fettucini, enough for one
2 tsp Olive Oil, to start
1 1/2 Cups Fresh Broccoli Florets
1/4 Cup Sliced Sundried Tomatoes (oil packed)
1/2 tsp Hot Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice, or more to taste
1-2 Pinches Kosher Salt, or to taste
Black Pepper, to taste
Lemon Zest, for garnish, optional
While the pasta is cooking in well-salted water, chop the broccoli florets in to small pieces (about the size of a nickel). Slice the sundried tomatoes. When pasta is nearly finished cooking, heat a wok over medium-high heat until it’s quite hot. Add oil and broccoli and toss to coat, adding more oil a little at a time if needed. After 1-2 minutes, add tomatoes and pepper flakes.
Let cook undisturbed for another two minutes, then toss. Repeat this process until broccoli and tomatoes have some color on them, and the broccoli is bright green and becoming tender. Drain pasta very well and add to the wok, adding just enough oil to coat the pasta (if needed). Add lemon juice and salt and taste, adjusting if necessary. Plate and grind fresh black pepper over the top, adding lemon zest if desired. Serve immediately.
This also makes a nice room-temperature pasta salad, so it’d be great for picnics, work lunches, or potlucks.
January 25th, 2008
I’m forever combining kale and tofu. I always seem to have both on hand, probably because I love both ingredients. Today, Christmas day, we wanted lunch but certainly couldn’t make a trip to our little (very closed) grocery store. Time to play with kale and tofu again.
I’ve been trying to perfect pan-fried tofu. It doesn’t sound like something that would be all that hard, and really, it’s not. It’s a simple concept. But like all simple things, small changes can make a huge difference in the final result. I like my tofu a little crispy on the outside, and chewy and flavorful on the inside. There are three things I’ve discovered to help me achieve this: a cast-iron pan, a decently long cooking period, and a rest period afterwards.
Have you ever noticed that your baked tofu firms up a bit when it cools? Just out of the pan or the oven, it can still be a little floppy, a little mushy, a little… bleh. Let it sit out on your cutting board for a few minutes and it’ll firm right up, giving a chewier texture. I’ll give more details in the actual recipe on how to get your pan-fried tofu to turn out like the picture shows.
These noodles are stir fried and only lightly flavored - I made a dipping sauce to go with this dish inspired by the one P.F. Changs makes when you sit down. I’s a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, mustard, and chili sauce–well, at least that’s what my mixture is. I have no idea what P.F. Changs actually uses.
The marinade for the tofu is similar for the dipping sauce, but the resulting baked tofu is complimented by the sauce, instead of tasting like more of the same. I love pouring a bit of the dipping sauce over the noodles and tofu while I’m eating for a little extra zing.
Pan Fried Tofu, Kale, and Stir-Fried Noodles
Serves Two
1 Package Extra/Super Firm Tofu
1 Head Kale, deveined and torn
5 oz. Dried, Wide Rice Noodles (Mine come in 10 oz packages)
Sugar
Soy Sauce
Tofu Marinade
1/4 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce or Tamari
1 Tbs Thinly Sliced Ginger (or minced)
1 Tbs Maple Syrup
1 Tbs Oil
1 Tbs Seasoned Rice Vinegar
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1/2 tsp Mustard
1/4 tsp Sriracha or Hot Chili Sauce
Black Pepper, to taste
Dipping Sauce
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce or Tamari
1/4 Cup Water
1 Tbs Seasoned Rice Vinegar
1 tsp Mustard
1 tsp Sriracha
Begin by pressing the tofu. I wrap my tofu in a single paper towel, then in a bar towel, and place a cast iron pan on top for 15 or so minutes. The paper towel prevents bar towel fuzz from getting on the tofu, while the terry cloth bar towel sucks out a ton of water.
While the tofu is pressing, whisk together the marinade. I used a mandoline to cut the ginger into paper-thin slices: that way some cooks with the tofu and you get mild bits of ginger on the finished tofu. You can mince the ginger if you don’t have a mandoline available.
Cut the tofu into 8 equal sized rectangles and let it sit in the marinade for about 30 minutes, turning halfway through. Meanwhile, boil the rice noodles and cook for 6 minutes, until just tender. Rinse in cold water and drain as well as you can, set aside. I also cut my noodles with scissors to prevent them from being too long.
Whisk together the dipping sauce, and set aside.
Heat a large cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Lightly oil the pan, just enough so the it’s shiny. Once the pan is very hot, add the tofu. If your pan is seasoned, you shouldn’t have any issues with the tofu sticking. Brown the tofu on one side, flip, and brown on the other side. I then spoon extra marinade over the tofu and flip every few minutes. In all, I cook the tofu for around 10 minutes, until it looks like the tofu will be burnt if I leave it on any longer. Remove tofu from the pan and let it rest while finishing the dish.
Heat a little more oil in your pan, add the kale. Once softened, add the noodles and toss. If they stick, that’s okay. Use a metal spatula to remove them; the crispy bits are tasty. Add more oil, enough to coat the noodles, if needed.
Flavor the noodles lightly with a sprinkle of soy sauce and a pinch of sugar. Plate the noodles and kale. Slice the now firmed (but still warm) tofu and place on top. Serve with dipping sauce.
Leftover tofu is wonderful in sandwiches. Happy holidays!
December 25th, 2007
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