Is lasagna elegant enough to serve at a dinner party? That is the question that I have been pondering for the past couple weeks. I had invited about six friends over for a Saturday meal, including two, Jocelyn and Devin that we hadn’t seen in months. So I wanted to impress but also not be stuck in the kitchen all evening in order to have time to catch up. Naturally, in these situations, I always think: casserole!

artichoke leek lasagna

My favorite “casserole” from childhood has to be lasagna. I like it even more than macaroni and cheese if you can believe it. (Maybe I’m exaggerating. What do you think, Mom?) But if you’ve read this far, you’re probably already wondering, “He’s talking comfort food here. Where’s the wow-factor?”

I made an absurdly fancy multi-step lasagna from Fields of Greens, a cookbook “from the Celebrated Greens Restaurant” in San Francisco. So there! The dish requires a tomato sauce, a ricotta “custard,” an herb béchamel, fresh artichokes, provolone and of course the lasagna noodles. With all the separate steps, to get the tray ready for the oven took me almost two hours. It smelled and tasted deliciously. But somehow, sadly, the pictures look just like any old lasagna.

I served it family style at the table, so everyone could help themselves and I wouldn’t have to be running around constantly. People loved it and ate almost everything.

The following afternoon, Hegui and I went to see Jocelyn and Devin at their place downtown. We talked about the meal. She said something along the lines of “I’d never thought to serve lasagna at a dinner party. It was really good.”

Hmmm…

So I ask you once again: is lasagna elegant enough to serve at a dinner party?

artichoke leek lasagna

for the veggie filling:

2 leeks, whites only, sliced thin and thoroughly rinsed
4 artichokes, cleaned with hearts and stems sliced (for cleaning instructions, click here)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
Juice from half a lemon
¼ cup dry white wine
3 tbsp chopped fresh herbs: I used lemon thyme, parsley and oregano

for the ricotta custard:

3 to 4 cups ricotta (I doubled the recipe here—naughty)
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup grated parmesan
A few pinches fresh nutmeg
½ tsp salt
Pinch black pepper

for the herb béchamel:

2½ cups whole milk
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
¼ tsp salt
Pinch black pepper
Sprigs of fresh herbs: I used parsley, lemon thyme, sage and oregano

for the tomato sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil
½ onion, chopped fine
¼ tsp dried thyme
6 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup red wine
2 large cans chopped tomatoes with juice
1 bay leaf
Salt and black pepper to taste

for the lasagna:

1 box lasagna noodles (not the no-boil kind—they get too squishy)
1 cup parmesan, grated
1½ cups provolone, grated
…and items prepared above

Start by making the tomato sauce. This is fairly straightforward. Sauté onions in olive oil until they become translucent, then add garlic, herbs, salt and pepper. Sauté a bit longer. Add red wine and cook until liquid evaporates. Add tomatoes, bay leaf, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook at least 20 to 30 minutes. Adjust flavors with salt and pepper as desired.

Prepare the veggies by sautéing leeks in olive oil with salt until they become tender and translucent. Add dried herbs and pepper. Add artichoke slices and garlic. Continue cooking, covered, until artichokes are tender. Add lemon juice then white wine. Fold in fresh herbs. Adjust salt and pepper. Set aside.
Quickly make ricotta custard be mixing all ingredients together.

Prepare béchamel much like any roux. Add butter to a saucepan on high. As it begins to melt, sprinkle with flour and mix together. Once fully absorbed, slowly add milk while stirring constantly. Add sprigs of fresh herbs (tie them together to make fishing them out later easier.) Once it thickens, add salt and black pepper to taste.

the veggie layer for artichoke leek lasagna

Preheat oven to 350F.

Prepare lasagna noodles following package directions. In a large baking dish, scoop some tomato sauce on the bottom then a layer of three noodles side-by-side. Pour some more tomato sauce over the pasta. Then add sautéed veggies. Sprinkle half the cheeses. Add another layer of pasta. Spread ricotta custard over that then more pasta. Add another layer of tomato sauce, the remaining cheese and another layer of pasta. Spread béchamel over that final layer (after removing the herbs). Cover and bake about 20 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 10 to 15 minutes.

That’s it! Simple…

Until just this week when the rain finally hit with a vengeance, I’ve been feeling that light joyful mood that I always have in spring-like weather, you know: energetic, hopeful and hungry for something new. That, of course, has inspired me to continue my adventures in the kitchen. So here we are. I made a sun-dried tomato and red bell pepper tapenade as a party dip but had leftovers. The flavor was quite intense, so I thought it would work perfectly as a filling for ravioli.

ravioli filled with sun-dried tomato and red bell pepper tapenade and mozzarella

I know that people shy away from making their own pasta, and I used to be like that, too. Now I love it. Sure it is a bit of a job—mainly the kneading is a pain. But I prefer to think of it as a necessary work-out to get my desired marvelous result. Running the dough through the pasta machine is a snap now that I’ve gotten a replacement clamp to hold the device to my countertop. Plus that part is really quite soothing.

my hand-cranked pasta machine

I made the dough using the same recipe and technique from my last ravioli post, which I’ll copy-and-paste here to make things easier. This time I took pics of the pasta with each run through the machine so you can see how long it gets. This does take some space in the kitchen as the sheets of dough grow ever longer. I moved a lot of stuff out of the way and covered most of my counters with clean dishtowels before I started with the machine.

The filling was just the tapenade, some mozzarella and a bit of parmesan cheese. After I boiled my ravioli for about 5 minutes; I lightly sautéed it in olive oil, garlic and fresh spinach. Mmmm!

ravioli filled with sun-dried tomato and red bell pepper tapenade and mozzarella

for the dough:

2 cups flour (I used all purpose)
3 eggs

for the filling:

2 red bell peppers, stems, seeds and ribs removed, cut into large chunks
3 cloves garlic
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil
2 tbsp olive oil
12 kalamata olives, pits removed
Pinch dried oregano
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/3 pound part-skim mozzarella
2 tbsp parmesan

for the sauté:

3 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch whole spinach leaves, large stems discarded
5 cloves garlic, sliced
Salt and black pepper to taste

to prepare dough for ravioli:

Usually you’re supposed to pour the flour on a work-surface then mix in the egg. Counter space is at a premium in my tiny kitchen so I beat the eggs for a couple minutes in a small bowl, then mixed them with the flour in another. Then I dumped everything onto a floured surface and kneaded it for eight (8) minutes. (I set my kitchen timer.) The kneading is the key step and really it is sort of magical as about seven minutes on, suddenly the flour-egg dough starts to do something amazing! It turns into pasta! You can feel it in your hands literally changing. Sure, that is what you’re making so should not come as a surprise to anyone. Nevertheless, whenever I make pasta, I am always stunned that it actually works!

my lump of dough after eight minutes kneading

Roll dough into a ball then cut it into six equal pieces. With your pasta machine on the widest setting, roll each piece through once. Then fold the edges of each piece together towards the middle and pass it through the machine again, still at the widest setting. Repeat with each piece so that they’ve all been rolled and folded about three times. When not working with a piece, lay it on a clean kitchen towel and be sure not to let it touch any of the other dough.

After that, reduce the width of your pasta maker by one notch and pass each piece through. They will slowly start to get longer. Repeat at next lower notch and so on until you get to the penultimate. By now, your dough should be quite thin and very long. Once you’ve finished set aside.

dough pieces after first setting on machine

dough pieces after second setting of machine

dough pieces after third setting on machine

dough pieces after fourth setting of machine

dough pieces after fifth setting of machine

they're getting big now after the sixth setting

the seventh setting is getting blurry--I must have been more tired than I thought

the dough after the eighth setting--we're ready to go

to prepare filling:

First make tapenade by sautéing red bell peppers and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add to food processor with sun-dried tomatoes, olives, oregano, salt and black pepper. If too thick, add a bit more olive oil. I used about one and a half cups.

Shred mozzarella. Mix cheeses with tapenade.

to assemble ravioli:

placing the filling on the pasta

finished glider-shaped raviolis

Place about a teaspoon full of filling along prepared dough strips, roughly three inches apart from one another. To seal, dab your finger in some water, rub water along edges of dough and between mounds of filling. Carefully fold dough over filling, press down to remove air pockets. Cut between mounds of filling to create individual ravioli. I folded mine into triangular shapes, thinking of our recent adventure with hang-gliders. Set aside but be sure not to let them touch one another. Makes about three dozen.

to make final dish:

Boil ravioli in salted water about 5 minutes. Meanwhile sauté garlic in olive oil for about a minute. Add spinach, salt and black pepper. Drain ravioli and toss into wilted spinach. Fold together and serve.

I’m really excited about this dish because the pasta I’m using is made of corn! Can you believe it?!?

corn penne with tempeh in black pepper sauce

While I’m a huge fan of corn, I was just skeptical about it as pasta. Is it even possible to make good pasta with grains other than wheat? Okay, that’s a little dramatic as I’ve had wonderful Chinese noodles made of either rice flour or various kinds of bean. But we’re talking Italian here. Would corn produce something with similar texture and flavors to the “regular” semolina pasta that we’re all used to? I just couldn’t fathom the idea.

I had always thought using corn to make plastic was the final frontier for this New World grain, but after this marvelous corn penne, all I can say is that the Italians have taken this humble grain to a new dimension. So next time you spot corn pasta at your supermarket, don’t be afraid. Just go for it. You’ll be doing yourselves a huge favor.

To add a bit more excitement and protein to the dish, I used tempeh to it make it my favorite East meets West sort of dish.

key ingredients for corn penne with tempeh in black pepper sauce

Oh, yes, and for a health note: if you happen to have a friend who’s allergic to gluten (i.e. someone with celiac disease) this would be an excellent way to treat them right for a memorable dinner.

corn penne with tempeh in black pepper sauce

9 oz corn penne rigate cooked al dente per package instructions
1½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 tbsp good quality arbequina extra virgin olive oil
½ cup finely grated Grana Padano cheese (or more!)
8oz piece garden veggie tempeh, cubed
1 tbsp canola oil
Kosher salt

Place canola oil in a non-stick skillet, add tempeh, bring temperature to high and cook tempeh on various sides until golden yellow. Remove from pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm.

Wipe remaining canola oil off the pan. Next add 3 tbsp olive oil, pepper and cook in low temperature for about a minute or so. Let oil get infused with the black pepper deliciousness. Add garlic, salt and cook for another minute or so without burning it. Toss in pasta and give it a good stir to coat. Transfer to a warm serving bowl, sprinkle ½ of the cheese over and delicately mix it in. Fold in tempeh. Garnish with the rest of the cheese and serve with a good red Tuscan or perhaps a Côtes du Rhône.

Have some extra cheese and olive oil on the table in case you or your guests want to splurge like I always do.

black pepper fettuccine in chardonnay cashew nut sauce with asparagus, red bell pepper and spinach

I spotted this recipe in the latest edition of Vegetarian Times magazine. The recipe is part of a funny article inviting loving couples to come spend their time and money at the Stanford Inn by the Sea for Valentine’s Day. The Inn’s renowned vegetarian restaurant, Raven’s, is run by Chefs Sally Owens and Merlyn Alvarado. I’ve checked both the hotel and restaurant (on-line) and they look sublime! These two local “celebrity” chefs have paired together to create vegetarian recipes with aphrodisiac properties just for the holiday. Everything uses locally and organically grown vegetables from Mendocino.

Among the several recipes, I was particularly excited by the creamy fettuccine with raw cashew nut sauce. It is completely vegan: no dairy at all! However, the name of the recipe in Vegetarian Times (“Black pepper fettuccine with chardonnay sauce and grilled asparagus”) omits the cashews, which is a major component here. I wonder why? We all know that black pepper for the most part comes from India and it’s been part of our culinary experience for so long that we don’t even think of it as a foreign ingredient. So why mention it and leave out the somewhat more exotic cashew? In Indian cooking cashew nuts have been used to thicken soups forever, or at least since the cashew plant made its journey from South America to India a few hundred years ago… And why praise the grilled asparagus over the more commonplace red bell pepper and humble baby spinach? Hmmm. Certainly it isn’t because the name becomes crazy long, as they’ve plenty of room for that in VT. So to prevent hard feelings among the lovely ingredients, I have renamed this dish accordingly. lol

VT has adapted the recipe from the original and I have done the same, readapting it to my tastes. The proportion of each ingredient didn’t seem right to me so I modified them a bit. I have made dishes from VT in the past and have found that sometimes things are a bit off. I wonder if they have a test-kitchen? VT here’s a suggestion from me: test before you publish, like we do.

fettuccine in black pepper chardonnay cashew nut sauce with asparagus, red bell pepper and spinach

2 cups raw cashew nuts
2 cups chardonnay
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
Juice of a large lemon (~ 3 tbsp)
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1 lb fettuccine cooked per package instructions
2 cups baby spinach
1 bunch asparagus bottom tips peeled
½ red bell pepper cut into fine strips
Kosher salt

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Pre-heat oven to 400F.

Add enough water to cashews to barely cover them in a small bowl. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Remove and let rest a bit. Transfer cashew nuts and water to food processor and whiz until nuts have turned into a smooth paste. Do not skip the microwaving part otherwise the paste will not become smooth and glossy.

Place the wine in a saucepan and bring to near boil, turn temperature to low and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add cashew nut paste, lemon juice, black pepper, kosher salt and whisk to combine, taste and adjust flavors. It should be creamy, tangy and a bit peppery. Add more warm water if too thick.

Place asparagus and red bell pepper on two different baking trays, sprinkle with a tiny amount of salt and black pepper and tiny drizzle of olive oil. Roast in the oven for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and keep warm.

Meanwhile cook pasta following cooking instructions from package, put spinach leaves in toward the last 30 seconds. Drain.

Transfer pasta with spinach to a bowl. Toss with half of the sauce, scatter asparagus spears and red pepper slices over and serve.

sesame and onion seed crusted sword fish with buckwheat soba and chard sauté

I know eating swordfish is supposed to be naughty. But per our fish monger, this one was line caught off the coast of California. So that’s good. It looked super fresh with that beautiful seafood aroma and so after listening to his explanation he convinced me. I lost my guilt and purchased 3 steaks for our dinner party. The whole dinner had a Japanese, South East Asian flair to it. It is pretty easy to make and delicious.

sesame and onion seed crusted sword fish with buckwheat soba and chard sauté

for the fish:

3 swordfish steaks or other similar fish steaks of your preference
1 tbsp sesame seeds (or more)
¾ tbsp black onion seeds (or more)
Lime juice
Nori strips (edible seaweed strips)
Olive oil

the noodles:

buckwheat soba noodles for 4 people cooked per package instructions, rinsed and kept warm

for the veggies:

1 bunch Swiss chard, leaves roughly torn
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil

for the sauce:

1 clove garlic grated into paste
1 tsp fresh ginger grated into paste
1 tsp chile garlic paste
3 tbsp soy sauce (or more)
¾ tbsp rice vinegar
¼ tsp sugar
¾ tbsp toasted sesame oil
3 whole scallions, sliced

Prepare the sauce mixing all the ingredients together, except for the scallions. Taste it and adjust flavors. It should be bold a bit salty, tangy, smoky, sweet and spicy. Drop in scallions then set aside.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Put chard in and cook for about three minutes. Drain and squeeze as much water as possible from it. Add olive oil to a skillet, then garlic and cook until garlic is aromatic. Add chard and cook for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle with some salt and black pepper. Transfer to a bowl, keeping it warm.

Rinse and pat dry fish steaks with a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. Mix seeds together and sprinkle on both sides of steaks. Using the same skillet, add a tad of olive oil, bring temperature to medium high, add sword fish steaks and cook for 3 minutes on each side (if your pan is too small do it in batches). Remove from pan and let rest for a couple of minutes, keeping it warm. Cut into bit size strips. Squeeze a few drops of lime juice over the fish.

Place soba noodles on a serving platter. Toss with sauce. Top with sautéed chard, then the fish, nori and serve.

I didn’t make this recipe in the summertime, which was a mistake. It comes from David Rocco’s Made in Italy cookbook. I was completely attracted to the dish because of its delightful combination of many colorful veggies and the fact that it isn’t cooked. You just mix everything together and let it sit in the refrigerator for several hours. So this is “raw cooking” so far as I can tell. That’s unusual for weirdcombinations.

chilled summer couscous

That said, the amount of couscous was a bit daunting for two people. I’d cut it in half or even in quarters next time. Plus, since it was chilled, it wasn’t quite right for our cooler weather. But this would be perfect to throw together the night before a summertime wine country excursion, so I’m going to file it away for then.

chilled summer couscous

2 cups couscous
½ cup olive oil
24oz can chopped tomatoes with juice
Juice of one lemon
1 red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
About a dozen cherry tomatoes, in halves
12 kalamata olives in halves
1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste

Mix everything together except half of the basil. Wrap and refrigerate for several hours. Stir at least once. When it is time to serve, add remaining basil. You can have this family style or mold and plate it for a more elegant presentation.

I haven’t made this dish in ages! It is so satisfying and good, yet, for some reason orzo seems to have fallen out of fashion in our household. Now I am determined to make that right again. I only wish we could find more varieties here in SF. I remember in the Big Apple orzo came in many different colors, brands, sizes and shapes. Clearly I need to shop, maybe in North Beach.

orzo with spinach

You can serve this as a side or main dish. We had ours with poached salmon in lemon sauce.

orzo with spinach

1 lb orzo
2 lb organic spinach leaves: try the curly type (Bloomsdale) they are more flavorful
6 cloves of garlic, cut into thin slivers
5 tbsp grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt to taste
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp pine nuts

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add orzo and cook per instruction in the package. Drain.

Dry roast pine nuts in a skillet for about a minute, remove from heat and set aside.

Return skillet back to burner. Add 3 tbsp of olive oil. Toss in garlic and sauté until aromatic. Add spinach in three batches and cook until wilted (it is okay if some leaves don’t wilt fully, they will in the dish). Toss in orzo, season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Add cheese, remaining olive oil and pine nuts. Adjust flavors with more salt, pepper!

Makes about six servings.

Kabocha is one of my favorite types of pumpkin. It has a nutty, sweet flavor with an intense, beautiful yellow color. It is perfect served as a side dish. The classic Brazilian way to prepare it is one of the simplest: sautéed with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, and a bit of water, until tender. We enjoy kabocha that way at home very often. I’ve made it in risotto, too, which is another fabulous savory pumpkin dish.

kabocha pumpkin gnocchi with walnut pesto with a side of mache salad

Americans don’t seem to be very in-the-know about kabocha. I wonder if that’s because the exterior is so gnarled and dark green to brown? It is a bit ugly, really. Kabocha isn’t anything like those cheery but flavorless orange monsters that make wonderful jack-o-lanterns but nothing else. Acorn and butternut squash are the cooking favorites here as far as I can tell, and I’ve no complaints about them, but to me, kabocha remains the unsung queen of the pumpkin patch.

vibrant orange interior of kabocha pumpkin

I saw a gorgeous recipe for pumpkin gnocchi in this book, The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein. Normally, I like gnocchi with loads of cheese, but this recipe challenged all that with its no-animal-products stance. A complete vegan dish, how exciting… It turned out really good, despite being healthy. And since it was a bit messy to make, we had a lot of fun both in the kitchen and at table.

kabocha pumpkin gnocchi with walnut pesto

For the gnocchi:

4 small russet potatoes, ~ 1¼ lbs, peeled and halved
1 lb kabocha pumpkin, seeds and stringy parts removed; cut into wedges
1 tbsp olive oil
Pinch nutmeg
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2+ cups of flour

For the walnut pesto:

¾ cup walnuts
1½ cups Italian parsley
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp sundried tomato packed in oil, drained
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt to taste

steaming kabocha and potatoes

Steam potato and kabocha until fully cooked and tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a colander and let them cool down slightly.

Meanwhile place pesto ingredients in the food processor and whiz until turned into a smooth thick paste. Transfer to a small bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil. Set aside.

Pre heat oven to 350F.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add a teaspoon of olive oil.

Remove kabocha rinds and discard. Place steamed pumpkin and potatoes in a large bowl. Add olive oil, nutmeg, salt then mash with a fork until relatively smooth and combined. Add flour and mix to incorporate. Place dough on a floured surface and knead it for about 4 minutes. Add more flour if too sticky.

Shape the dough into a rectangle. Using a knife, cut it into 6 segments. Cut each segment in half. With floured hands and surfaces, roll each piece into about a ¾ inch-thick tube. Cut each tube in ½ inch wide pillows. Using your thumb and the tines of a fork, gently press each little pillow to flatten them a bit while at the same time making indentations in one side.

shaping the gnocchi

Cook in batches to prevent sticking. To cook, add a batch of fresh gnocchi to the boiling water. Wait for them to rise to the surface. Turn temperature to medium and cook for 4-5 minutes. Don’t be tempted to remove the gnocchi earlier, it will taste bad! Using a slotted spoon, transfer gnocchi to a colander. Let drain for a minute or so. Meanwhile, bring water back to a full boil and repeat process with remaining batches. Reserve 2+ cups of cooking water.

Add one tablespoon olive oil to a large glass baking dish. Spread gnocchi in a single layer in the dish (use a second baking dish if needed). Add enough reserved water to walnut pesto to thin it into a somewhat runny sauce. Pour over gnocchi and bake for about 12 minutes to warm through.

We served this with a simple mache salad in vinaigrette. It was a feast! And it is so healthy that you won’t feel a bit of remorse having two slices of cheesecake.

Cheesecake challenge: The glamorous Heavenly from donuts to delirium and we at weirdcombos want to invite any interested food blogging folk to join us in a cheesecake cooking challenge. All you have to do is contact us for the basic recipe, come up with a creative version of your own, and publish it with links to all the other participants for the challenge on Monday August 8, 2011. This was incredibly fun when we did the chocolate truffle challenge in May and the tagliatelle challenge in March. So get your thinking caps on and your sweet… teeth(?) ready for some delicious fun in August!

This recipe comes from another Mary Taylor Simeti book, SICILIAN FOOD: Recipes from Italy’s Abundant Isle. I’m fascinated by Sicily right now and have gotten more into making food that hales from there. Torta Paradiso from her book, Bitter Almonds, was just the beginning.  (For the chocolate truffle challenge, see the end of this post.)

This pasta recipe caught my attention because it uses copious amounts of anchovies in a single dish. I was skeptical about it since they can be so powerful, but I wanted to give it a try anyway, since we love anchovies: even when they’re too fishy.

spaghetti con acciuche e mollica AKA spaghetti with anchovies and breadcrumbs

The recipe also calls for ‘strattu (tomato extract), which in Sicily they make directly under their scalding summer sun with nothing but ultra ripe tomatoes, salt and basil. The tomatoes are chopped small, passed through a food mill to remove skin and seeds then the salt and basil are added. The mixture is spread on a wooden surface under the sun. You’re supposed to keep stirring it with a wood spatula until the water has evaporated and the mass becomes a thick paste. Mary writes that it might take a couple of days to get the desired consistency depending on how much sun you have in your area. That is a lot of work! Wow! I keep thinking how fun it would be to make my own ‘strattu. I wonder if my porch would work… Maybe in late Summer? For now, I’m using canned tomato paste and saving that adventure for another time.

This turned out wonderfully. Despite my initial apprehensions, the anchovies lent a mellow, earthy, briny, delicate layer of flavor to the dish. It was not overwhelming at all. Love it!

spaghetti con acciuche e mollica AKA spaghetti with anchovies and breadcrumbs

1lb spaghetti
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
4 tbsp tomato paste
6 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled, partially crushed
crushed red pepper
black pepper
10 anchovy fillets, drained (1 small can)
2 tbsp Italian fresh parsley, chopped fine
1 cup plain water
1 to ½ cups water from cooked pasta

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a skillet on high. Add breadcrumbs and toast until golden. Transfer to a bowl and set a side.

Wipe pan with a paper towel. Add remaining olive oil and garlic to the pan and cook until aromatic. Add tomato paste, salt and peppers then cook for a couple of minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Add one cup of water. Stir to completely dissolve paste then simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring every now and then.

Add anchovies plus 1 tbsp of olive oil to a glass measuring cup (Pyrex) and half submerge the cup in the pot of boiling water (where past will be cooked). Cook anchovies in bain marie stirring until they become a thick sauce. Add anchovies to tomato sauce. Stir to combine. Set aside but keep warm.

Add pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente about 1 to 2 minutes before doneness indicated on the package. Drain reserving about 2 cups from cooking liquid.

To assemble the dish, reheat sauce. Add pasta, ½ of the toasted breadcrumbs, cooking water then toss together. Transfer to a serving platter. Garnish with parsley and more breadcrumbs. Use remaining breadcrumbs at table for each diner to add to his or her own dish as they choose.

Chocolate truffle food blogging challenge:  The glamorous Heavenly from donuts to delirium and we at weirdcombos want to invite any interested food blogging folk to join us in a chocolate truffle cooking challenge.  All you have to do is contact us for the basic recipe, come up with a creative version of your own, and publish it with links to all the other participants for the challenge on Monday May 30, 2011.  This was incredibly fun when we did the tagliatelle challenge in March. So get your thinking caps on and your sweet… teeth(?) ready for some delicious fun in May!

We’ve been following Devaki’s eclectic, always satisfying, food blog, Weave a Thousand Flavors, for a while now. Like us, she takes a multinational approach to food. Her recipes come from everywhere, so you will always find something that suits your palate. If you haven’t been already, we highly recommend her site. Click here to check it out.

rigatoni alla Norma alla Devaki

The other week she published a Sicilian recipe, Pasta alla Norma, which calls for a cheese with which I was unfamiliar: ricotta salata. That caught my attention, as I like to try new things. Actually, Devaki makes a wry comment in her story about this cheese in particular, not to be confused with America’s darling Italian cheese, parmesan.

Anyway, when I mentioned it to Steven, he vaguely remembered having it sometime in the distant past. Neither of us really had much recollection. All the better!

Another plus for this recipe seemed to be its ease of preparation. Perfect for mid-week fatigue when you’re tired, hungry, want to eat something delicious without much wait or fuss.

We had pretty much everything at home already, except for the ricotta salata. Easily fixed at our local Whole Paycheck.

First thing, I tried the cheese. Devaki was right in her description. Ricotta salata does taste like a mild version of feta, goat cheese or a ricotta or farmers cheese: fresh nutty and slightly salty flavors with a sort of mealy/crumbly texture. In my oh-so humble opinion it is tastier than regular ricotta or farmer’s cheese.

I had to make some changes from her recipe to accommodate what we had on hand. Steven had roasted some fresh tomatoes the day before, so I used these with canned. I like a lot of tomato. Also I used rigatoni instead of the original maccheroni or the strozzapreti that Devaki had. It came out just as deliciously as she described in her post!

I am going to cook it for our Sicilian friend, Fabiola, sometime. She’s from Catania, Bellini’s birthplace. I want to hear what she knows about the connection between the dish, the opera, Norma, and Bellini. I think it’ll be a fun dinner!

rigatoni alla Norma alla Devaki

1 lb rigatoni
2 medium eggplant
½ lb ricotta salata, crumbled
15 roasted tomatoes, recipe here
5 fresh basil leaves, shredded just before serving
5 garlic cloves minced
1 white onion chopped into small cubes
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
½ tsp crushed red pepper
½ tsp black pepper
olive oil for brushing eggplant
3 tbsp olive oil for sauce
Kosher salt

Cut eggplants into ¾ inch pieces. Place them in a colander, sprinkle with salt and let sweat for ½ hour. Rinse and pat dry with a paper towels.

Pre-heat oven to 450F towards end of the sweat.

Brush eggplant liberally with olive oil on both sides and lay them single layer on a tray lined with parchment pepper. Roast eggplant for about 10-14 minutes, turning half way through cooking. Remove from oven, let cool, then cut into strips. Set aside.

To prepare the sauce, sauté onion in a few tablespoons olive oil and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook a minute more just until aromatic. Add roasted and crushed tomatoes, peppers and salt. Simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile cook pasta al dente per package instructions. Drain, add to the tomato sauce with half of the eggplant and cheese. Toss to combine. Add remaining eggplant, cheese and bits of basil to the top and voilá you have a simple, delicious and elegant dish that will leave you agog!