Normally I can take or leave pasta, but for some reason, I usually make an exception for spaghetti. I wanted to make a more seasonally appropriate stand in for the usual spaghetti with marinara, and this is what I came up with.

With absolutely BEAUTIFUL tomatoes and basil all over the place at the farmers markets right now, I wanted to make a pasta that would feature them prominently, and this simple dish definitely does.  I drew inspiration from caprese salad, but left out the cheese to keep it light (and vegan).  I’m sure, though, if you wanted to put some fresh mozzarella in here, it would be really good.

Mashing up garlic with salt is a technique I learned from a friend who makes the best salads I’ve ever had.  Now it forms the base of pretty much any salad dressing I make.  Here, I just add olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper.  That gets tossed with some cooked, drained whole wheat pasta and fresh tomatoes and basil  making this a light, fresh dinner in under 20 minutes!

Recipe:

8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti (or whatever pasta you choose)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
black pepper
1/4 cup basil, cut into thin ribbons
3 ripe tomatoes, diced

Boil the pasta as directed.

While the pasta is cooking, make the dressing: smash the salt and garlic into a smooth paste with a mortar and pestle. Combine with oil, balsamic, and a pinch or two of black pepper and whisk to make a dressing.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and rinse it. Put in a large bowl and toss with the tomatoes, basil, and dressing to taste.

I realize that what I did to this recipe is pretty sacrelig, and if Judy Rogers ever stumbles upon this blog, I know she’ll be highly disappointed. I used regular old button mushrooms and frozen peas when the recipe called for wild mushrooms and freshly shelled peas. And although I’m sure using what she suggests would have made this even better, it was still HIGHLY delicious with the lowly, ordinary mushrooms and peas from the freezer.

Fideus is basically risotto made with pasta instead of rice. I found thin, 1 inch long noodles in the Mexican food section, but if you can’t find them, just take the thinnest pasta you can find, and break it up into short pieces. You may want to spread the preparation of this dish out over several days. The onion base is time consuming (but SO worth it), and keeps well in the fridge for a few days. Once that’s ready, the actual cooking of this dish is pretty quick.

Recipe:
(adapted from Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers)

onion base
3 cups finely diced yellow onion
3 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
salt
1 diced roma tomato
2 small dried chilis, broken in half

noodles
10 ounces fideo pasta (or cappellini broken into short pieces)
2 tsp olive oil

6 ounces assorted mushrooms, cleaned and sliced 1/4″ thick
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup fresh peas (or frozen, rinsed with warm water and drained)
chopped parsley for garnish

To make the onion jam:
Put the onions and olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and stir well. Heat until the onions begin to brown on the bottom, then turn down the heat and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until they are all golden and very soft. Add a few pinches of salt, then stir in the tomato, garlic, and chilis. Continue cooking over low for about an hour until it has the consistency of jam, adding a little water if it gets too dry. Transfer to a small bowl, cover, and keep in the fridge until ready to use (it will keep for about a week).

To toast the noodles:
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Toss the noodles with the oil in a large bowl, and spread onto two baking sheets so the noodles are in a single layer. Heat in the oven until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Remove from the oven, let cool, and turn the oven up to 475 to finish the dish.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt and cook until they’re soft, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, onion base, noodles, and about 1 1/2 cups of broth. Simmer and stir until almost all the liquid is absorbed. Add another 1 1/2 cups broth, and cook until absorbed. Add the peas and remaining broth, and turn the heat up to high, cooking until the liquid is absorbed.

Transfer the dish to the oven and bake for 10 minutes, then remove and garnish with fresh parsley to serve.

I never really thought meatballs were anything special. It might be because my mom used to serve spaghetti with Italian sausages, so meatballs seemed bland in comparison. Obviously, when I gave up meat, I didn’t really think about a future without meatballs. That is, until I saw a post about a vegetarian version on No Meat Athlete. For some reason, those seemed far more appealing to me than the original variety ever did.

There isn’t too much prep work involved in these – chop up a few things and measure a few others, then process them all together in the food processor and fry in a skillet. They don’t have exactly the same texture as meatballs would, but the flavor is great, and they’re definitely healthier than ground beef! I tossed mine with some marinara and served them over whole wheat spaghetti, and with a green salad it was a perfect, satisfying Sunday night dinner.

Recipe:
(adapted from Vegan on the Cheap via No Meat Athlete)

makes about 20

1 1/2 cups cooked or 1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup chopped white button mushrooms
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for cooking
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

whole wheat spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
marinara sauce

To make the wheat balls:
Combine the chickpeas, mushrooms, garlic, and parsley in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse to combine. Transfer everything to a large bowl and mix with your hands for a minute or two.
Heat about 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Roll about 2 tbsp of the chickpea-mushroom mixture between your hands to make a ball and place in the skillet. Repeat with the rest of the mixture, and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until browned all over (5-7 minutes).

Toss with a little marinara and serve over cooked pasta.

Our Jamie Oliver cookbooks have been getting a lot of use lately, and with good reason. He’s got such a great approach to food, particularly pasta! I used to think I was tired of Italian food, but his recipes just keep proving me wrong. Sometimes he can be a little heavy-handed with the butter and cream, but it’s easy to scale those back a little bit.

I was a little skeptical about baking ricotta cheese, but it makes it firm and creamy and a little more solid than it is right out of the container. I made fresh pasta for this because I’m now completely obsessed with it, but of course you can use dried if you want to. Taste your sauce before you add any sugar, because some brands of canned tomatoes already taste pretty sweet.

Recipe:
1 15-ounce container ricotta (I used part-skim), drained in a cheesecloth-lined strainer for a few hours
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
salt and pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes in juice
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar (if needed)
1 pound wide pasta, such as pappardelle
a handful of fresh basil, torn
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan

After you’ve drained the ricotta, preheat the oven to 400F. Put a piece of parchment on a baking sheet and put the ricotta in the center. Flatten it so you have a 1″ thick disk.
Rub all over with 1 tbsp olive oil, then sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper. Bake for about 15 minutes, then remove and set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil to cook the pasta.
Heat the other tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook over medium until soft, 3 or 4 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 15 minutes, then crush the tomatoes with a spoon. Taste and add sugar (optional), salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar.
When the pasta is cooked, drain and reserve some of the pasta water.
Toss the cooked with the sauce and a tablespoon or two of pasta water and the tomato sauce, and basil. Crumble up the ricotta and add to the pasta with the parmesan cheese.

Discovering that I could make fresh pasta will probably remain one of the highlights of 2010, even though it happened on the third day of the year. I don’t know if you regularly eat fresh pasta, but it is so much better than dried (and it cooks much faster!) that I think there’s absolutely no reason not to try it.

Although I’m not particularly well-versed on all the Italian pasta terminology (is that a pile of fettuccine? linguinei? unclassifiable because there’s no consistency in the widths?) I do know that those noodles you see right there were GOOD. Yes, they were uneven, but lets be real, I cut them up with a pizza cutter, and I really didn’t care how even the widths were, I just wanted a vehicle for some pesto I had recently made.

Pesto and fresh pasta are both divine, this is true, but I upped the ante a little with some roasted cherry tomatoes, because for me the only way to eat cherry tomatoes (other than straight off the plant) is to toss them with some olive oil and sea salt and roast them for about 20 minutes in a 375 F oven. Then of course the whole thing needed to be sprinkled with some freshly grated parmesan cheese.

I’m going to go ahead and give you the fresh pasta recipe (adapted from Jamie’s Italy by Jamie Oliver), even though I posted it recently, because it’s just easier that way.

Recipe
2 cups flour
3 whole eggs
sea salt
1 1/2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup (give or take, depending on your preferences) pesto
parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 F.
First, make the pasta.
Whisk together the flour and a few pinches of salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and crack the eggs into it. Using the fork, whisk the eggs without mixing in any flour until they’re smooth and yellow.
Once the eggs are beaten, mix them with the flour. When it becomes too thick to stir, turn the whole thing out onto the counter and knead for about 8 minutes, or until the dough is very smooth.
Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for about half an hour.
(This can be done up to two days ahead of time – just knead the dough until it’s smooth, then wrap tightly and store in the fridge until you’re ready to roll it out. Flour your work surface and a rolling pin.)

While the pasta is resting, make the tomatoes. Toss the tomato halves with olive oil and a few big pinches of sea salt. Place them on a rimmed baking sheet and put them into the oven, checking after 15 minutes (the total time will depend on their size). You want really wrinkly skins that are beginning to look very dark in places. Pull the tray out of the oven and set aside.

Roll the pasta dough out into a large rectangle so it’s less than 1/8″ thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut it into long thin strips (how thick is up to you) and set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (you should have at least a gallon of water going). Drop the pasta in a few strands at a time, stirring so they don’t stick together. Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until al dente. Drain but do not rinse, then return them to the pan (off the heat) and toss with some pesto.

Divide into pasta bowls, and sprinkle some of the roasted tomatoes and grated parmesan on top.

Prepare to have your world rocked: this is the simplest macaroni and cheese recipe I’ve ever made and it is REALLY good!

Last year, I made a really easy mac and cheese that I was really happy with, but I think this recipe might top that one as my new favorite.

So why is it revolutionary?  You cook the pasta in milk, then stir in grated cheese, which means you skip the boiling and draining step.  I stirred in a can of tuna and baked it to make a tuna casserole, but you can also eat it just off the stove-top and it’s creamy and perfect.

My kitchen here is pretty bare-bones so I don’t even have a cheese grater.  I just chopped the cheese into small dice and it worked really well.

Recipe:
(adapted from White on Rice)

2 cups dried pasta (I used bowties)
2 cups 2% milk
1 cup loosely packed shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 can tuna (optional)

Combine the pasta and milk in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring, with the heat low for about 20 minutes (until the pasta is soft). Make sure the milk doesn’t boil!
Stir in the mustard, salt, and cheese (if you’re going to bake it, reserve about 1/4 cup of the cheese for sprinkling over the top).
Cover and let stand for about 5 minutes, then stir well to serve.

If baking: put the pasta in an 8″ round pan and sprinkle with remaining cheese. (If you’re using tuna, stir that in before sprinkling with cheese).

Put in 375 degree oven and bake about 10-15 minutes, or until cheese on top is nicely melted.

But you know how it goes. Something catches your eye and you start thinking about using these ingredients this way, and adapting the recipe that way, and before you know it, you’re elbows deep in a culinary experiment that you hope will actually be as appealing on the plate as it was in your brain.

In this case, I was inspired, once again, by Orangette. In particular, her post on salsa verde for potatoes. I love potatoes, but I’ve been eating them a lot, so I wanted to come up with some other starch to serve as a vehicle for the delicious-sounding salsa verde. Pasta salad seemed like a natural choice, and I figured it may be the perfect opportunity to give it another chance.

I added some roasted Japanese eggplant for textural contrast and because eggplant has that admirable quality of absorbing flavors and making them taste richer.

The end result was a pasta salad I actually like, and will definitely be making again!

Recipe:
(adapted from Orangette)
3 medium Japanese eggplants
salt
2 tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 cups dried fusili pasta
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp capers, chopped
3 tbsp chopped parsley

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, lemon zest and juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, capers, parsley, and a pinch of salt. Set aside to allow the flavors to blend.
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Cut the eggplants into bite-sized cubes and sprinkle with a few pinches of salt.
Let stand for about 30 minutes, or until you see droplets of water all over the eggplant pieces.
Blot dry, then toss with 2 tbsp olive oil.
Bake on a baking sheet for about 30 minutes, or until soft and golden.
Set aside to cool.
Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain, and toss with the eggplant and salsa verde.