the zingiest pasta of summer

hey peeps. just devoured a pasta like this at cuoco.  i'm all about lemon, garlic & spice and have been all over this since i figured out how to replicate it at home.

Dan isn't big into carbs so it's my go-to when he's not home.

SPICY LEMON, GARLIC & PARM SPAGHETTI
If you're eating for 1, here's what you'll need (multiply accordingly if there are other guests in your party, or extra hunger in your belly):

8 garlic cloves (thinly sliced)
1/2 cup parsley (finely chopped)
1 tbsp butter
splash of olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano (use your microplane)
zest of half a lemon (or zest of a full small lemon, use your microplane again)
spaghetti for one, can be quinoa or regular gluten pasta (cooked al dente in heavily salted water)

cook your spaghetti in heavily salted water (i heard somewhere that pasta water should taste like the ocean). drain and set cooked pasta aside. add butter, olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes to your pan. cook about 5 minutes on low heat, until garlic is cooked and not brown and the spice of the flakes begins to develop. add in lemon zest. add in your pasta. toss. remove from heat and add in your finely grated parm.

get that pasta into a bowl and slurp it up.    

Keep Clam and Carry On

for a little Labor Day celebration we headed to Anacortes to relax with friends and keep up with the tradition of "living off the land". It was a great time, and we ate almost exclusively stuff that we foraged: crabs, clams, crawfish and berries (blackberry pie recipe to come), and it was fantastic. The first night we had a 15-crab feast, which we ate almost all of, we used the leftovers for crab dip the next day. The second night, after cleaning buckets and buckets of clams, we had a clam linguine with tomatoes, basil and lemon. Here are some labor of love recipes. 

crab feast and laughter.

cooking the crawfish.

linguine with clams and other goodness.

Crab Dip
5 garlic cloves chopped, and cooked in a little olive oil
1/2-1 cup crab
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup cheese (we used Brie and mozzarella)
Paprika for sprinkling on top


Mix all ingredients, minus the paprika, in an oven-safe bowl or baking dish.  Bake for 25 minutes in a in a 350 degree oven. Serve with French bread or crackers.


Linguine with Clams, Lemon and Tomatoes
Salt
1 pound linguine (I used Trader Joes chive and another cracked pepper flavor)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1-2 cups heirloom cherry tomatoes (halved or quartered)
1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup (10 or 12 leaves) fresh basil, very thinly sliced
1 cup of cleaned clams, cut into bite-sized pieces

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and drop the pasta into the pot. Heat a large deep skillet over low heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and garlic and crushed red pepper flakes.

When the pasta has been cooking about 5 minutes, add lemon juice, a ladle of the cooking water from the pasta and the wine to the garlic and oil. Raise heat a bit to bring sauce to a bubble, and cook until wine has reduced a bit.  Add clams.

Drain pasta when it still has a good bite to it, al dente. Add lemon zest and half of the cheese to the sauce. Season the sauce with salt, to taste. Add pasta to pan and turn off heat. Toss the pasta with sauce a minute or 2, allowing it time to soak up the sauce. Add the herbs and toss.

Top the plates of pasta or platter with remaining cheese.

butter noodles

this pasta is tasty, but it feels like an item you'd find on the kid's menu in an Italian restaurant. that's not to say an adult wouldn't enjoy it, sometimes eating like a kid is just what you need, and sometimes it's just the only option.  like last night at 9, when I hadn't eaten dinner and the only ingredients I had were 4 different kinds of pasta, half a stick of butter and some Parmesan-Romano from Trader Joe's.  I remembered this Mark Bittman article I'd read a while back about a favorite pasta of his with those ingredients, it sounded perfect. I would recommend it for anytime you need a quick meal and are running low on food supplies.

Here's what you'll need:

SPAGHETTI WITH BUTTER & PARMESAN
From Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound of any pasta (he uses spaghetti, I used bow ties)
1/2 to 3/4 stick butter
1 cup fresh Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the pasta until tender, but not mushy and drain it.  Reserve some of the pasta water for later.  Toss the pasta with butter, add a little of the water to thin the sauce.  Toss with the Parmesan.  Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Serve with more Parmesan at the table.

the original souse king

Just as there are two types of people in this world: those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don't...there are two types of pasta sauces: those that you buy in a jar, and those that you make from scratch. Don't get me wrong, I love popping open a jar of ragu as much as the next guy, but if you want to make an easy, freezy sauce to have on hand AT ALL TIMES, this is the one. It will not let you down. It’s rich, it’s meaty, it's perfect for spaghetti, for lasagna or for eating by the cup full (some people are into that, for reals).

It takes about half an hour to cook all of the ingredients, but then you can just “Set it, and forget it!” (that’s right, Ron Popeil style). The longer you forget it, the more delicious it becomes. It’s pretty much magic. Or maybe it is science. Who can really tell the difference these days?

After cooking and enjoying, bolognese freezes well and thaws quickly for saucy meals on the go.

Ragu Alla Bolognese

INGREDIENTS

½ lb. hot Italian sausages

1 lb. leanest ground beef

1 chopped onion

2 chopped carrots

2 chopped celery sticks

8-10 cloves garlic, minced or put through a garlic press

1 tbsp. oregano

1 tbsp. basil

1 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. ground black pepper

2 tsp. fennel seeds

3 tsp. salt (salt monkeys, do it to taste)

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

1 bay leaf

½ cup dry white or red wine (both work well)

¼ cup tomato paste (mix with ¼ cup water)

2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes, peeled and crushed in heavy puree

Remove sausage from casings and slowly brown in a skillet along with the ground beef, a large sauce or soup pan works well. Break up the sausage as it cooks. Once meats are browned to your liking, drain the fat. Add vegetables and all spices to meat pan, sauté until onions begin to cook, and be careful not to brown the garlic. Add the tomato sauce, water and wine. Simmer for 5 minutes and add canned tomatoes. Simmer over medium-low heat, for 1-2 hours. Serve with the pasta of your choice.

More substantial noodles such as linguini, spaghetti or pappardelle, work nicely with this sauce.

grey gardens & green soba

i finished watching grey gardens and made this pasta dish for dinner.there's nothing like a little kale and soba noodles to help you stomach these ladies. wash down all of their outrageous cat talk and singing with a dish that is cleansing for the mind and body. better yet, just make this and skip the grey gardens part, you won't be disappointed. consider renting a different movie for your dinnertime entertainment. although grey gardens is said to be a classic, i discovered that it is extremely difficult to sustain any sort of an appetite while watching this documentary.

my favorite quote of the movie, "I'm not going to do anything for anybody anymore. Well, except for mother and the cats of course."

Buckwheat Pasta With Kale

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (or omit butter and use 2 tablespoons olive oil)
2 large leeks, white and light green parts only, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced and cleaned
10 fresh sage leaves, cut in thin slivers
6 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt, preferably kosher salt, to taste
3/4 pound kale, stemmed, washed thoroughly, and cut crosswise in strips
Freshly ground pepper
2 ounces Parmesan, grated (1/2 cup)
2 ounces fontina, Gruyère cheese or another stronger white cheese(I used Irish Kerrygold Swiss) cut in 1/4 inch dice
3/4 pound buckwheat pasta (pizzoccheri or soba) or whole wheat fettuccine

1. Begin heating a large pot of water. Meanwhile, heat the butter and oil in a large, heavy nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add the leeks, garlic and sage, and cook, stirring often, until the leeks begin to soften, about three minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, and continue to cook, stirring often, until the leeks are tender, about five minutes. Remove from the heat.

2. When the water comes to a boil, add a generous spoonful of salt and the kale. Boil for four minutes, until tender but still bright. Using a slotted spoon or a skimmer, transfer to the pan with the leeks and stir together. Keep warm over low heat.

3. Bring the water back to a boil, and add the pasta. Cook al dente (soba will cook quickly, usually in under five minutes, while pizzoccheri and whole wheat fettuccine will take longer). When the pasta is al dente, add 1/2 cup of the cooking water to the pan with the kale, garlic and leeks, then drain the pasta and toss in the pan or in a warm pasta bowl with the leeks, kale and the cheeses. Serve at once.

Yield: Serves four to six

Amy Comes to Town...Pasta Comes to the Table

When Amy comes to visit, we make some delicious foods,and sometimes we even take requests for any family favorites she has(and let's be honest, we have)been craving. This visit the requests were at the mercy of the ingredients we had on hand: fresh peaches, bing cherries, heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil. There was also a little roll of mom's homemade galette crust in the fridge. She'd made it a few days earlier and decided it was too hot to take a stab at baking, and risk turning the whole house into an oven. It's hard to turn down the opportunity to cook with so much fresh produce on hand, and no one was complaining at the prospect of the meal we could prepare with these ingredients, so we got to work! And here is what we created...

Pasta alla Checca (a fresh and light family favorite, perfect for warm summer evenings). This is one of the first meals I learned to make myself, a recipe my mom learned while assisting chef Giuliano Hazan when he came to Seattle on his book tour for the Classic Pasta Cookbook. Over the years, the recipe has undergone many adaptations from its original form which included thyme, marjoram, and oregano,in addition to basil. A point of contention in the Massar Pfleiger household...Amy and I bet on this over dinner. We changed the recipe so long ago that I had absolutely no recognition of the dish ever including more than just the lone basil herb. She won the bet. But we all won dinner with happy bellies filled with tasty pastas.

PASTA ALLA CHECCA

1 lb. spaghetti or linguini

1/2 lb - 1 lb. heirloom or roma tomoatoes, cut into 1/4 inch pieces or cubes (we used mini heirlooms from Trader Joe's this time - fantastic!)

8 oz. fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4 inch pieces or cubes

1 cup basil leaves, sliced into thin strands

2-3 tbsp. olive oil

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

3-4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper

Salt pasta water liberally and bring to a boil. While that's heating up, prepare tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. Pieces should be no larger than a dime, in order to be easily incorporated with the noodles. Mix chopped tomatoes, basil and mozzarella in a large bowl and set aside. Heat olive oil in a small skillet, adding garlic and the red pepper flakes. Once the garlic has started to sizzle and bubble around the sides, remove from heat and set aside for a minute or two. The garlic will continue to cook and the heat from the red pepper will continue to develop. Pour the heated oil, garlic and red pepper mixture over the tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, and toss to mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook noodles al dente, drain and pour over other ingredients, toss again and cover with a lid, plate or cookie sheet to help the cheese melt before serving. If you'd like, serve with freshly grated parmesan at the table.