Penne with zucchini, ricotta and basil

Homemade or fresh locally-made ricotta will handily make its own sauce for summer pasta, thinned with pasta-cooking water. Here’s the start of this summer season, with local zucchini, summer squash and basil.

Ingredients:

Zucchini and summer squash, 1/2 # (2 small), cut into 1/4” slices, and if large, cut into half moons

Penne or ziti, 4 oz for 2 people

Onion, 1/2 small, diced finely

Garlic clove, minced

Ricotta, 3 T

Basil, good amount, ~1/2+ c.

Crushed red pepper, a good pinch

Lemon zest from 2/3 lemon

Parmesan and/or pecorino

Directions:

Soak zucchini and squash in water for 1/2 hour to discourage any grit, if time allows.

Prep:

Cut up onion

Slice zucchini

Mince garlic

Zest lemon

1. Put up pot of water to boil for pasta. Cook until al dente; drain reserving 1/2 c cooking water.
2. In large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 T olive oil and cook onions until softened, 5 minutes, keeping heat down to prevent browning. Add zucchini, S&P, and continue cooking for 10 minutes until soft, stirring occasionally. 
3. At end of cooking time, add tomatoes (if using) and garlic 1 minute before done. Turn off heat if pasta is not yet done.
4. Add cooked pasta to zucchini pan, and turn up heat to medium high. Add 1/4 c pasta water, ricotta, red pepper and lemon zest, stirring. Cook for a minute or so. 
5. Mix in basil and cheese. 

Options:

Add toasted pine nuts at end of cooking zucchini

Add cherry tomatoes and cook two minutes in zucchini pan

Use more herbs — e.g., parsley, and experiment with different red peppers and/or spices (harissa, perhaps?)

Make with roasted peppers instead.

Source: David Tanis, NY Times

Bucatini with Maitake mushrooms

I have been enjoying branching out in the world of mushrooms. I have long passed white mushrooms, dwelling in the land of crimini which is always a superior mushroom because it has flavor, unlike white, and also shiitake. 

I was poking around the packaged mushroom display at Honest Weight Food Coop and have tried several interesting varieties, and there’s really no going back. Roasted exotic mushrooms are superbly delicious and very healthy as a bonus. Maitake — or hen of the woods — are a current fave. Delicious plus they lack the sometimes objectionable quality of squeakiness that many mushrooms have. Just cut off the base and separate the stems into chunks and roast. I also like beech (Shimeji). I want to try King Trumpet (Eryngii).

Here’s a good recipe to showcase roasted maitake mushrooms:

Preheat oven to 425-450 degrees.

Put prepared mushrooms on baking pan, drizzle with olive oil and add S&P. Roast for about 15 minutes to get slight char. 

Remove from oven and sprinkle with sherry vinegar. Set aside.

Put up pot of water to boil.

Put a couple T butter and 1 T miso on counter to soften, and then mix up.

Sauté: 

Shallot, chopped

Fresh thyme

Pancetta

Garlic, chopped

Whatever greens you have on hand, even par-cooked frozen spinach will do.

Cook bucatini until al dente or slightly less. Reserve cooking water.

Drain pasta. Put miso butter mixture into sauté pan. Dump in pasta and mix with contents of pan, with a bit of reserved pasta cooking water to make a sauce. 

That’s it! 

Butternut squash pasta

When I taught cooking, I regularly spent many free hours in the kitchen developing recipes for classes, as well as baking treats for customers, guests and staff. One day I made a butternut squash lasagna puréeing squash with heavy cream, and chard, ricotta, fontina, egg and an aromatic béchamel sauce. It was heavenly; like you would want to swim in it. It was probably about 2000+ calories per serving. This recipe is like that, with smooth creaminess of butternut squash and dairy, just slimmed down a tad, e..g, instead of creating a sauce of squash with heavy cream, pasta water makes it silky; ricotta and sage butter add welcome richness yet not over the top. The flavor components are all there but the guilt factor is refreshingly low. Crispy bacon adds an enticing contrast in flavor and texture.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, 1#, peeled and cut into 3/4” cubes

Red onion, 1/2, cut into 1/4” dice

Pinch red pepper flakes

Short Pasta — mezze rigatoni, campanelle (horn-shaped), or cavatappi, 4 oz for 2 people

Ricotta, 2 T

Sage butter — 2+ T butter heated until golden, then 6 fresh sage leaves, turn until aromatic and butter is golden.

Parmesan, grated, 1/2 c

Parsley 

Chard, blanched 2-3 minutes in salted water, then into ice water, drained and squeezed dry — optional

Lemon juice

Bacon, 2 thick slices, baked in oven at 400 degrees until crispy. Cooled and broken up.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut up squash, put on baking sheet, drizzle w/ olive oil, S&P and small pinch red pepper flakes. Roast for 15 minutes, turning midway. 

Put up pot of water, bring to boil, and blanch chard for a couple minutes. Then scoop out and plunge into ice water to stop cooking. Wring out and wrap in towel. 

Take out ricotta to come to room temp. 

Prepare parsley, sage butter and parmesan.

Add onions to baking pan, drizzle with olive oil, stir and roast another 15-30 minutes. Turn temperature up to 400 degrees and cook bacon in sheet pan next to onions — in same pan as squash if you are not using sage butter. Set aside bacon when crisp, and then crumble.

Hold for garnish: < 1/2 parmesan, 1/2 bacon, parsley

Put chard in bottom of food bowl and squeeze on lemon juice.

Cook pasta and reserve 1/2 c water. Drain and return to pot. 

Add in: squash and onions, ricotta, butter or bacon fat, 1/2 of the grated parmesan, 1/2 reserved water. Stir to create sauce as squash breaks down, adding more reserved water. 

Stir in 1/2 bacon. Put in bowl atop chard.

Top with: parsley, parmesan and bacon.

Source: NY Times

Fresh, raw tomato sauce for pasta on a summer eve

When you are hungry at dinner time in late summer and don’t feel like making a big production of cooking dinner, here is a super idea: Raw tomato sauce. Yes indeed. All you do is cut up some ripe tomatoes, pour on a good amount of olive oil, some sea salt, a grated or minced garlic clove and some torn-up basil. Stir and let it sit. For about 20 minutes to an hour. 

Cook some pasta; I like cavatappi. Cut up some good eating cheese into small cubes, such as Comté, or else perhaps mozzarella, and grate some parmesan. 

When the pasta is cooked, drain and top with cheese and stir to help melt. Then top with tomato sauce and stir around perhaps with some fresh olive oil atop. 

Superb and  . . . no sweat!

Spaghetti with tomato sauce

Dinner time rolls around in mid-summer and you’re not feeling like making a big effort and not keen on meat what with the (wonderful!) heat . . . Here’s a super-simple dish. Tomato sauce cooked on the stove in 22 minutes with lots of simmering garlic and olive oil to flavor it, while you boil some water and cook spaghetti. That’s it. It’s best for July when basil is available but not yet summer fresh tomatoes. Has me wondering why folks lay in a supply of marinara jars, and why such a huge expanse of the supermarket shelf is devoted to that. I buy some good quality Italian chopped tomatoes, some decent spaghetti and I’m good to go and it’s delicious. 

Ingredients:

Chopped tomatoes, 14 oz can. I like La Fede brand

Garlic, 5 cloves, chopped fine

Olive oil, 3+ T

Basil, torn before using — caution! Don’t do as I did mistakenly first time of putting into tomato sauce to cook!

Directions:

Put up pot of water for spaghetti.

In small saucepan, put in tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, S&P. Cook at medium temp boiling/robust simmer for 20-24 minutes. Add in some basil off heat. 

Cook spaghetti in usual way and drain.

Top with some tomato sauce and some basil. Toss. Eat and enjoy. 

Goes great with Roasted eggplant or perhaps some super fresh broccoli, steamed.

Source: Marcella Hazan, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking: Tomato Sauce with Garlic and Basil (p. 156)

Pasta with spinach, arugula and ricotta

If you find yourself with some good quality ricotta and some spring greens, this is a delightful dinner to make. Best with spinach and arugula, but if greenhouse-grown mustard greens are all you have on hand, that’s a fine thing too. Just maybe don’t add a lot of extra heat/spiciness from red pepper flakes since those mustard greens have a bite to ‘em. Or chard would be fine. A pleasant spring tonic.

Ingredients:

Walnuts, toasted and broken up into pieces

Garlic cloves, 2, sliced thin

Bunch greens — arugula and spinach, or chard, mustard greens, etc, rinsed and torn or rough chopped

Ricotta, 2-3 T

Romano cheese, grated

Dash nutmeg

Cavatappi pasta or other interesting shape

Directions:

Toast walnuts in 400 degree oven for 7 minutes or until fragrant. Let cool and if in large halves, break up with your hands. 

Heat up a pot of water for pasta. Can cook greens at same time as pasta because greens cook quickly. You can also cook greens and let sit waiting for pasta to finish, and then you can get out ricotta and romano.

Heat large sauté pan and add 2 T olive oil and garlic (and red pepper flakes if using). Cook for about 2 minutes and add greens, salt, and a bit of pasta water, cover and stew for a bit. Toss to help cook evenly. Takes just a few minutes up to 5 or 6. 

Measure out some ricotta into small bowl. Grate romano onto plate.

When pasta is almost done, drain and add to pan with greens. Toss with ricotta. 

Place into bowl and toss with romano. Sprinkle walnuts and finishing salt on top and serve. Eat happily. 

Shrimp and ‘Nduja over pasta

If you have shrimp in the freezer, there is always dinner. Especially if njuda is on hand!

A favorite of mine is shrimp with pasta. Here’s one for winter when you’re going to use canned tomatoes. 

Put up pot of water for pasta.

Orecchiette is good. So is campanelle. Something to catch the tomatoes.

Shrimp, defrosted (running water for a few minutes over shrimp in colander does the trick), peeled and deveined.

Mix together:

Breadcrumbs homemade (or stale bread torn in food processor and toasted in pan w/ oil)

Lemon zest

Parsley, chopped

Salt

Ingredients:

Garlic, 2 cloves, minced

Shallot, 1, sliced

Red pepper flakes

Nduja, 1 oz

Canned chopped tomatoes, 1/2 small can

Liquid for pasta sauce: vegetable stock or pasta water

Chard (or broccoli rabe, chopped)

Directions:

In sauté pan heat 1-2 T olive oil over medium heat. Add in shallot and cook about 1-2 minutes until soft, then add garlic and cook and stir for a minute or so. Add nduja and red pepper flakes, and cook stirring and breaking up nduja about 3 minutes. 

Add tomatoes and stock or pasta water to make sauce and cook tomatoes for about 6 minutes, adding in chard. Taste and add salt. Maybe add lemon juice at end if it seems it could use it.

Turn off heat to wait for pasta to cook, if needed. Two minutes before pasta will be ready, add in shrimp and cook (they will cook more with pasta).

When pasta is just short of al dente, drain and add to pasta sauce and cook for about 2 minutes.

Serve with breadcrumbs mixture on top.

Here is its summer cousin.

Pasta with roasted eggplant and fresh tomato sauce — a riff on Pasta alla Norma

If eggplant is still available you may want to do as I did and snag the last ones at a farmers market and make a superb pasta dish with roasted eggplant and the last of the tomatoes as well. This is a riff on Pasta Alla Norma. Also I am here to say that cutting eggplant into cubes and roasting is a revelation. The texture and flavor are off the charts. Roast first and set aside for a non-stress cooking experience. Then make a Uber-delicious tomato sauce with fresh and canned crushed tomatoes. (You can even make tomato sauce 2 days ahead.) 

Mix the sauce and eggplant together at the last minute over penne or mezzi rigatoni with some parmesan or ricotta salata and perhaps some mozzarella if you have it. I only had parmesan so topped the dish with that along with toasted (homemade) breadcrumbs and parsley. So very delicious!

Eggplant:

Eggplant, cut into 1/2 dice, about 1-1/2 # or three small-ish

Toss with olive oil and S&P on roasting pan, adding more oil to coat pan surface. 

Roasted at 400 degrees for 20+ minutes. Turn halfway. If not done at 20 minutes, check every couple minutes and remove — can leave on pan — when starting to brown a bit. 

Make tomato sauce:

tomatoes, 3 or more fresh, cut and squeezed to remove seeds and cut into large chunks

Canned tomatoes, crushed, to come to 4 c tomatoes, total

Onion, 1 small, sliced into half moons

Shallot, 1, large mince or thin slices cut into rings

Garlic, 3 cloves, thinly sliced

Hot pepper, diced

Red pepper flakes

Prosciutto, 3 oz, cut into 1”+ pieces, optional

Directions:

Get out sauce pan and heat and add olive oil. Sauté prosciutto for 2-3 minutes until starting to crisp up. Remove to plate and set aside. 

Sauté onion with salt. 

Add shallot, then hot pepper and red pepper flakes. Then add garlic and cook for a minute or so. 

Add tomatoes, bring to a simmer and cook on low heat simmering gently for 20 minutes. Set aside. 

Toast some breadcrumbs if you have some homemade on hand. 

Grate parmesan. If you have ricotta salata, 1 c grated would be traditional, or cut up mozzarella.

Cut up some parsley.

Cook penne. 

In large bowl, mix together: Penne, tomato sauce, cheese (other than parmesan) and eggplant. Top with breadcrumbs, parmesan and parsley.

Good accompaniments:

Garlic bread (cultured butter, garlic, grated parmesan, minced parsley and good sea salt — slathered onto bread loaf and is cut almost all the way down into slices)

Salad: lettuce, roasted beets, sliced salad turnips and carrots, toasted walnuts in shallot mustard vinaigrette.

To assemble: Put some dressing in bottom of salad bowl and place lettuce on top. When ready to head to the table, toss with lettuce, carrots and turnips. Plate nicely, and top with beets and walnuts. A delight to eat!

Sources:

Classic Pasta alla Norma, from David Tanis

Pasta alla Norma Sorta by Colu Henry

Peanut sesame noodles

Ingredients:

Peanuts, 1/4 c, roasted, cooled, and then crushed slightly

Spaghetti or some other noodles such as udon or fresh Chinese

optional: bean sprouts, tofu, cilantro, sesame seeds, and/or scallions 

Sauce:

Soy sauce, <4 T

Rice vinegar, 2 T

Toasted sesame oil, 1 T

Peanut butter, 2 T

sugar, 1 T

Ginger, 1 T finely grated

Garlic, 2 T grated or minced

Sambal olek, 1 T or other Chile paste

Miso, 1 T optional

Directions:

Heat water for noodles. 

Toast peanuts, cool and then crush with heavy rolling pin. Wrap/cover nuts with parchment paper to prevent scattering as you hit them with rolling pin. Put on dish and set aside.

Whisk together sauce ingredients. Can dilute with 1-2 T water if you like. 

Cut up peeled and seeded cucumbers into small batons. Additional options include: Bean sprouts, tofu, cilantro, sesame seeds, and/or scallions would be welcome accompaniments to top noodles for serving. 

Cook noodles. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drizzle with sesame oil and stir around to cover — to prevent noodles from sticking.

Mix in some of the sauce and coat. This is a good way to store for another day. 

Add in more sauce when ready to serve. Top with cucumbers, and whatever else you have in mind. 

Yum!

To serve with baked tofu:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Press tofu, and cut into slices.

Stop making sauce before adding peanut butter. Dip both sides of tofu slices in and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Roast for 15+ minutes, turning once. 

Source: NYT Sam Sifton’s Takeout Style Sesame Noodles

 

Pesto! With spaghetti, new potatoes and green beans

This is Marcella Hazan’s Pesto presentation with “the full Genoese treatment” of adding potatoes and green beans. Perfect in August with basil, new potatoes and green beans freshly harvested!

Make pesto in the usual way. My usual way is to put basil leaves in a mini-chopper with some rough chopped garlic, sea salt (Maldon), olive oil and pine nuts. Process and add more oil if needed. Put into bowl and mix in 1 T softened butter and a few T water from pasta water later.

Ingredients:

Pesto

Grated cheese

Small new potatoes, washed

Green beans, tipped and tailed

Spaghetti

Directions:

1. Put up a big pot of water to boil. 

2. Boil potatoes until just tender. Remove and let cool. Then rub off skins with kitchen towel. Slice thinly.

3. Add salt to water. Boil green beans until tender. Remove.

4. Cook spaghetti al dente. Scoop out 1/4 or so of water. Drain when cooked.

5. Mix together: Spaghetti, potatoes, green beans, pesto, cheese and a bit of reserved pasta water.

Thanks Marcella!