Friday, September 17, 2010

Linguine with Triple-Pepper Sauce

Sometimes you have little time and less money, so a simple, meatless pasta dish is in order. This was also appreciated by the whole family. I got the recipe from a little booklet put out by Bon Appetit (free with a subscription!) called "Fast and Easy." Yes and yes.


Linguine with Triple-Red Pepper Sauce

Serves 4, but not very generously


About 1/2 lb. linguine

2 T. olive oil

1 large red pepper, diced

1 small onion, sliced (optional)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes ("pizza pepper")

Salt and pepper

1 7-oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained and diced (if they're packed in olive oil, use it for sautéeing)

1/4 c. chopped parsley

Grated Parmesan


Before you do anything, put your (well salted) pasta water on to boil. Put a glass measuring cup next to the pasta pot to remind yourself that you'll want some pasta water later. In a medium sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Sauté the pepper and onion until they are both soft, then add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté that for about a minute, and then add the roasted peppers. Let that simmer for about 5 minutes or until the pasta is cooked. Add the parsley, and then scoop out about half a cup of pasta water and add that to the sauce. With a giant slotted spoon or tongs, pull the pasta out of the water and straight into the pan with the sauce. Stir that around, adding more pasta water if the mixture seems dry. Serve with grated Parmesan.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Fried Red Tomatoes

It’s early September, which means it’s time to go one last round with tomatoes. At the market this week, they had gigantic, gorgeous, but not too perfect tomatoes, and I brought 4 of them home. Two of them went into the tomato and blue cheese salad, and two of them got fried up as a side dish.
This recipe, which comes from Mollie Katzen’s Still Life with Menu, has some strengths and weaknesses. The strength is the taste: it reminded me of eggplant Parmesan, sauce and all. The weakness is the execution: it was really hard for me to bread and fry the tomato slices nicely. My solutions would be to be generous both with the “breading” (really just seasoned flour) and with the fat—I didn’t use enough to get a good sauté. Also you want to use good-tasting tomatoes that are still firm enough to hold up to all this. It is indeed a tricky thing: but worth trying out.

Gratinéed Tomatoes
4 medium (or 2 large) tomatoes
1/2 c. flour
4 T. grated Parmesan
1 T. dried tarragon
1 T. dried basil
1 t. dried thyme
Salt and pepper
2 T. butter
2 T. olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered

Core the tomatoes and slice them in 1/2 inch slices. In a pie plate, mix together the flour, Parmesan, tarragon, basil, thyme, and some salt and pepper (note: I cheated and used Herbes de Provence because I couldn't find some of my other herbs). In a large skillet, put the butter, olive oil, and garlic in to heat. When the butter has melted and the garlic has started sizzling, fish it out and put in a layer of tomatoes--don't crowd them. Ms. Katzen wants you to cook these 10 minutes per side, but that seems a bit excessive to me--I think 5 minutes a side is enough. Keep the heat regulated so that the slices are browning but not burning. Keep frying until all the tomatoes are cooked. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes because a cooked tomato is a very hot thing indeed. Enjoy--perhaps with some bacon and lettuce!


Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Tomato, Arugula, and Blue Cheese Salad

Here's a recipe from the August 2001 Bon Appetit, not available on Epicurious. It's a good recipe--I made it just with big tomatoes from the marked and regular lettuce since the family doesn't really like arugula. Still, I'm posting it more or less as written so that it's out there for you to adapt at will. It's a simple recipe, but not an obvious combination, and the blue cheese really does accent the tomatoes nicely. Make it quick, while tomatoes are still ripe and delicious!

Tomato, Arugula, and Blue Cheese Salad

Serves 6-8

6 T. olive oil
3 T. sherry vinegar
3 T. minced shallots (1 medium-large shallot)

3 large tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 basket cherry tomatoes, halved
1 basket yellow pear tomatoes, halved
6 oz. arugula, washed and dried
4 oz. blue cheese, crumbled

Whisk together the oil, vinegar, and shallots; season to taste with salt and pepper. If you have time, put the cut-up tomatoes in the dressing to marinate for a while. When you're ready to serve, pour a bit of the dressing on the arugula in a large bowl and toss. Then scatter the marinated tomatoes and blue cheese over.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Fettucine with Salami and Mushrooms

After half a year of living in France and depending on the Internet for my recipes, I determined to put some of my older recipes that are not out there in Cyberland in the blog. So this is the first of what will hopefully be a series, mostly from 80s cookbooks and cooking magazines.

This recipe is adapted from one in a Sunset pasta cookbook that I picked up in Israel in the 80s--the same time and place I got my sideways haircut. Good times.

You can leave out the salami--I just sautéed it first and then set it aside for the meat eaters, creating a mushroom and leek pasta for my vegetarian daughter.


Fettuccine with Salami and Mushrooms


8 oz. dried (or fresh) fettuccine

1 T. olive oil

4 oz. dry salami, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced

2 leeks, cleaned and sliced thin (white and light green parts only)

Salt and pepper

1/4 c. white wine or vermouth

2/3 c. half and half

1 c. (3 oz.) freshly grated Parmesan (you may not need as much since the salami is so flavorful)


Put your (well-salted) pasta water on to boil before you start with the sauce. In a large skillet, sauté the salami with the mushrooms and leeks over medium-high heat until the vegetables are tender and the salami has rendered some fat. Season with salt and pepper, but go easy on the salt since salami is very salty. Add the wine and turn up the heat a bit; cook until the liquid has just about evaporated. Then add the cream and cook that down a bit as well. Hopefully by this point, you will have cooked and drained your fettuccine--add that to the pan along with half of the Parmesan and toss well. Serve with the remaining Parmesan and a pepper grinder. Serves 4.