Caution: Extremely delicious, briny pasta ahead

I wasn't sure if I should post this recipe, since I just read that 9/10 Americans eat too much salt.  But this pasta is too good, tangy without being overwhelming.  And readers, just go the rest of the day without any salt, ok?

This is a recipe from the Food Network (I think through my friend Jorj), that I have been making for years.  It calls for canned tomatoes, but I thought with all the beautiful little yellow and red tomatoes coming out at the farmers market, I would try it with the fresh things.  This is the perfect pasta for the summertime.  It's eaten cool, it has fresh yummy zucchini in it, and all the briny goodness of olives, capers and lemon juice.  And, it's even better the next day!

 

The vegetables marinate in the lemon juice so that the tomatoes get all soft and juicy and the zucchini has this really nice crunch.

A word of warning, the Mario Batali recipe this is based on is way too salty, he calls for 2 tablespoons of salt, and when I stick to that recipe, it's often a salty disaster.  So even if you make his version with the can of tomatoes (it is also delicious!), keep the salt to the 1/2 tablespoon I have listed below.

Summer Pasta Puttanesca
Adapted from a Mario Batali recipe
Makes 4 servings
Takes 30 minutes (plus a couple of hours of sitting)

2 young zucchinis, sliced thin
2 cups tiny tomatoes, halved

2 cloves garlic, smashed

2 Tbsp. capers, rinsed

10 kalamata olives, pitted and halved

Juice of 1/2 lemon
Leaves from 2 to 3 stems of basil

1/2 Tbsp. salt

Pepper

2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1/2 box of pasta
Red chili pepper flakes

Combine the zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, capers, olives, lemon juice, basil, salt, pepper and olive oil in a large bowl.  Let sit for 2 hours, or up to over night in the refrigerator.  Make pasta according to directions.  Drain and add to sauce with red chili flakes.  Enjoy!

 

Pasta with Morels and Peas

It's morel season!  The markets around Berkeley have had them for the past few weeks, and we've eaten three versions of this simple pasta.  The first time with asparagus, the second time with morels only, and today, with young peas.

What's wonderful about this recipe is that the vegetables cook for the same amount of time as the pasta!  So start the 'sauce' immediately after you put the pasta in the water.

Pasta with Morels and Peas

Makes 2 servings

Takes 1 hour

1/3 pound of pasta

2 cloves garlic sliced

1/4 cup shallot, minced

1.6 ounces of fresh morels (about 1/10 of a pound)

an equal amount of trimmed peas (about 1 cup)

salt

pepper

Heat salted water for pasta.  When it comes to a boil, add pasta.

In a large saute pan on medium high heat, saute garlic and shallot for 1 minute.  Add morels, spread them around the pan, and let sizzle for about 4 minutes.  Stir, and once they are evenly spread around the pan again, let sizzle for 4 minutes more.  Add 5 grinds of pepper and peas, and saute for 2 minutes.  Add 1/4 cup pasta water.

Drain pasta reserving 3/4 cup of pasta water.  Add pasta to the pan, stirring to combine.  Add 3/4 cup pasta water, and let cook a few minutes more.

We ate our pasta with roasted torpedo onions (425 degrees for about 20 minutes).  They were really sweet and delicious (if you cut a small x into one of the ends, they won't burst while cooking).

Hurry while there are still morels to be had!

Eggplant at the end of the Rainbow

Things are going really well in London.  Not only because I've recently returned from what can really only be called a vacation in Copenhagen.  And, as you can see in the photo above, the archives are a veritable treasure at the end of the rainbow...

And yet, I have been very embarrassed because I haven't been taking pictures of food, and I have been hiding from my blog.

There's been visits and reunions

Remembrance

 

The National Front

We shared disapproval with a policeman and another man on the street.  They came actually quite close, and they looked so...apprehensive.  Like they felt a little ashamed and were not sure what they would encounter.  But as the policeman said, I guess this is democracy.

I promise there will be more pictures of food soon.  I have plans to make something with mushrooms and farro for dinner tonight, and there are not one, but two Thanksgiving meals coming up!  In the meantime, here's a picture-less recipe for my dinner from a couple nights ago.

Simple and Saucy Eggplant Pasta

Takes 30 minutes

Makes 3-4 servings

a slice of butter

2 cloves garlic, smashed

2 Italian eggplants, chopped into 1 inch cubes

1 can tomatoes (28 oz.)

pepper

salt

1/2 package penne

optional

parmesan

1 medium size ball of fresh mozzarella

herbs

olives

In a large skillet, heat about 2 tbsp. olive oil and the little bit of butter on medium heat.  When the butter is melted, add the garlic, and saute until fragrant.  Add the eggplant, and saute for 10-15 minutes.  You don't have to keep stirring.  Make sure there is enough oil, and let them brown but not burn.   When they appear soft and take up much less room in the pan, add the tomatoes and pepper to taste.  Crushed red pepper is good too if you like spicy.    Turn the heat down to low, and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes until thickened.  Towards the end, begin stirring to make sure it doesn't burn on the bottom.  Check for salt.

Meanwhile, once you've added the tomatoes, you can start water for pasta.  Cook according to package directions.  When the pasta is almost finished, add to the sauce pan, and finish cooking in the pan.  You can add some of the pasta water too if your sauce is looking thicker than you'd like.

If you'd like, chop up the mozzarella into 1/2 inch cubes and add once the pasta is done and you've turned off the heat.  Top with more pepper and parmesan if you'd like.  But really, the pasta is good without any cheese at all.

This would also be delicious with fresh herbs, basil or parsley.  Or olives!  Add a 1/4 cup chopped kalamata or oil cured olives when you add the eggplant, for super olive flavor.  Yum.

Ok, here's something I do have a picture for: poached eggs and polenta!  I had such a craving on Sunday, and so I just went for it.  They were misshapen and delicious!

I ate them with a really simple tomato salad (salt, pepper, olive oil), and some Punjabi Pickles I picked up at the local market.

Ragu it's in there

It is cold here in halifax.  On Monday, I made this really fragrant and satisfying sauce with vegetables from the farmer's market.  The carrots were particularly beautiful, moist and crisp!  I think these will be the last fresh tomatoes for the season.  Some of them were a little mealy, and I was very sad.

I used the tomatoes we canned in August for this ragu, and they were so delicious!  Definitely worth the ordeal.

Ragu it's in there!

Takes 2 hours

Makes 4 servings

1 large onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1/2 tsp. fennel seeds

1 pint mushrooms, sliced

1/3 cup sherry

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 500ml jar tomatoes

8 roma tomatoes, diced

1 package linguine

Heat oil in a large skillet on high heat.  When hot, add fennel seeds.  Toast for a few seconds, add onions and carrots and smoked paprika.  When it smells smoky and the onions are translucent, add the garlic and the mushrooms.  Cook until the water from the mushrooms is released, evaporates, and the mushrooms begin to brown.  It will take awhile, especially if like me you don't have a big enough pan.  It took my mushrooms about 15 minutes.

They weren't done yet in that picture.

Add sherry, and cook until it evaporates.  Add the bayleaf, salt (you might not want as much as I have here, add 1/2 tsp. now, and you can add the rest later), pepper, and both kind of tomatoes.  Reduce heat to simmer, and continue to cook for 45 minutes to an hour, until it is thick and the oil shimmers on the surface.

Meanwhile, heat a large pot of water for the pasta.  I add salt to my water.   Cook according to package directions.  I made linguine.  I like to under-cook mine in the pasta water, drain and finish it in the sauce, an extra 3 to 4 minutes

Sprinkle with basil/parsley/parmesan.  Whatever you want!

We ate ours with some sauteed spinach.  Unfortunately, I am still figuring out the picture taking, and I don't have any of the final sauce.  Just imagine, thick tomato-ey, mushroom-y goodness.