This dish was such a big hit, we didn’t mind eating it for three days! It can definitely serve 6-8, or 2 of you for a few days. Ground lamb wasn’t as expensive as I expected and I didn’t put quite as much ricotta as the recipe called for. Using the jarred marinara also makes a pretty quick un-fussy dish. The egg yolks make the ricotta so fluffy and you could save the egg whites for an omlette in the morning. This would be great for a large family dinner with a nice salad. Enjoy!

I think this is a great dish when you’re thinking of spring, of primavera. This dish is adapated from Serious Eats, and besides the bit of cream it was very healthy. I’d also recommend using wheat pasta although you don’t get quite this bright almost neon green sauce. Johnathan hates peas but ate this disguised dish gladly. Here’s how it goes:

Serves 2

1/2 pound of pasta, any kind you have

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 medium onion diced

1 package of frozen green peas

3/4 cup of cream

3 slices of Canadian Bacon cut into bite sized pieces, browned

salt, pepper, parm for finishing

1. Bring pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the box - al dente is best.

2. Meanwhile, heat a teaspoon of butter, or olive oil, or I like Smart Balance in a medium skillet. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 2 minutes until they sweat. Add the frozen peas and cook another 2-3 minutes until they’re cooked through.

3. Transfer peas to a food processor or blender. Blend and add the cream until it’s thick and pulverized. Place a sieve over a small saucepan. Pour the pea purée into the sieve, pushing it through with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Discard solids. Over a low flame, warm the purée through. Remove from heat and season well with salt and freshly ground pepper. Optional: a pinch of ground nutmeg will accentuate the sweetness of the peas.

4. Toss the pea sauce, pasta and Canadian bacon together in a large bowl and serve with freshly grated parm.

When I started this site, I was so excited about cooking. I wanted to try everything, especially if it was a classic and required technique and presented the greatest challenge. I enjoyed cooking dishes from my childhood, Jamie Oliver and Julia Child. But 6 months of cream, butter, creme fraiche, and homemade pasta have caught up with Johnathan and I. Alas, it is a new season for my cooking, but I promise to keep it interesting. There will be a lot less butter, if any at all, and I’m learning the miracle of fewer ingredients, frozen vegetables and canned tomatoes. In the article previous to this, theres a great recipe for veggie chili that’s chock full of good things. Here I’ve also created a warm comforting tortellini soup that blows Rachel Ray’s 30 minutes out of the water. This is something I’ll take to work and reheat and feel a lot better about rather than joining my boss in her BLT binge to cope with the economy. Here’s to a happy and healthier new year!

Quick Tortellini Soup

Serves 4-6

3 Cloves of garlic minced

1 carton of Chicken Stock (32oz, about 4 cups)

1 package of frozen tortellini - mine was 14oz

1 package of frozen spinach, thawed

1 can diced or stewed tomatoes (14.5oz)

Dash of fresh oregano

the usual suspects - Olive Oil, Salt and Fresh ground pepper

1. In a large saucepan or stock pot, heat about one teaspoon of olive oil on medium heat. Add the garlic and brown. Add the chicken stock and frozen tortellini. Cover and wait for it to boil. Uncover and simmer for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes, oregano, and spinach and simmer uncovered for about 5 more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

This week I’m going to have to do my grocery shopping in batches, so I’m going to break down the prices by meal, referring to various receipts. You’ll see the totals below each meal. This is one of my favorite easy sauces - carbonara. Not so healthy, but oh so delicious. Bacon is the only meat I’m buying this week. My sister-in-law had carbonara at a restaurant last night, so I thought I’d try to be remotely healthy by adding some broccoli. I used frozen chopped broccoli - it was on sale for $.99 and didn’t have anything added to it, so I did it. I’m not familiar with using frozen veggies but this worked great. We also made our own pasta since we had all the ingredients and didn’t want to buy any. This is quick classic that feeds a lot - warning - it doesn’t reheat that well, so try to eat it in one day or one sitting. Here’s how it goes:

Serves 4

Pasta Recipe

8 Slices of Bacon, coursely chopped

1 package of frozen chopped broccoli - or fresh, or any other veggie that suits you, maybe zucchini?

4 egg yolks - you can save the egg whites for an omlette!

1/2 cup of heavy cream

Couple handfuls of Parm

Fresh Thyme - I didn’t have any, so I just used my dried stuff.

Fresh ground pepper, salt

1. Bring a salted pot of water to a boil (or put it on the stove and just wait, ours takes forever). In a small bowl combine egg yolks, cream, and one handful of Parm. Don’t mix too much, just enough to combine everything. Set mixture aside.

2. In the largest fry pan you have - 14 inches is great - heat over medium heat and add a couple turns of olive oil. Add chopped bacon and fry until crispy and brown. Defrost broccoli, and add to the bacon and oil. Let is soak up the bacon oil and fry just a little bit. Season generously with pepper - you want it to have a bit of a kick. Add thyme to taste - about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon.

3. Cook pasta and reserve about 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and transfer to the fry pan. NOW, TURN THE HEAT OFF. Add about half of your cooking water and the egg and cream mixture. You can even let the pan cool for a few minutes, you just want to make sure you don’t scramble your eggs - they will cook through, but you want them silky not scrambled. Mix everything together and add more water so the sauce is silky and loose. Add the other handful of Parm and serve immediately with fresh ground pepper. You probably won’t need more salt because of the bacon, Parm, and salted pasta water. Bon Appétit!

Grocery Totals:

Eggs, Semolina Flour, Thyme, Salt, Pepper, Oil, Parm - Already had, some carried over from last week.

Frozen Chopped Broccoli - $.99

Heavy Cream - $2.29 (used only 1/2 cup)

Bacon - $4.99 (used half of package)

We had a full house last night for dinner and results watching. My favorite person, Adrienne made some awesome donkey cookies to celebrate. There was much champagne and cheesy pasta - plenty for 6 people. This is an easy dish for a night like this - comfy celebratory food you can eat while watching the tube for electoral results. My mom has made this recipe for years and everytime it tastes better and better. The blue cheese is great - even if you’re not a fan, don’t leave it out - it’s not super strong but balances the saltiness nicely. Here’s how to make it:

Serves 6

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk (try to use whole, but skim works also)

28 oz can of whole Italian tomatoes, drained, reserving 1 1/4 cup juice, chopped fine

1 lb bow-tie pasta

1 1/2 cups coarsely grated mozzarella cheese (about 6oz)

1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (about 2 oz)

1/2 cup diced Italian Fontina cheese (about 2 oz)
1 1/3 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (about 4 oz)

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Butter a 3-4 quart gratin dish or a 13×9 baking dish

2. In a heavy saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add milk and reserved tomato juice in a stream, whisking, and bring to a boil, whisking. Stir in tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste and simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes.

3. In a large pot bring salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions, until just al dente.

4. In a bowl stir together pasta, sauce, mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Fontina, 1 cup Romano, and parsley and transfer to prepared dish. Sprinkle pasta with remaining 1/3 cup Romano. Bake bow ties in middle of oven 30-35 minutes, or until golden and bubbling, let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Winning Donkey Cookies

I probably won’t recommend making a whole week of pumpkin dishes, but by me doing this, you can pick and choose, and what better week to do this experiment. Johnathan’s enthusiasm might wane a bit by the end of the week, but I hope to make these dishes interesting enough that even if you did do a whole week of them you won’t hate pumpkins forever. Friday we’re having some close friends over for Halloween, as we all have an equal disinterest in Halloween celebrations. However I am making a festive dish using butternut squash and black fettuccine, and the pumpkin will be in the dessert. Here’s what I’m thinking for this week:

Monday - a Rachael Ray pasta I saw this weekend - Penne with a pumpkin cream sauce

Tuesday - Pumpkin Crab Cakes

Wednesday - Warm Pumpkin Salad with Polenta

Thursday - Pumpkin Risotto

Friday - Black Fettuccine with Shrimp and Butternut Squash with Pumpkin Crumb Cake for dessert.

Jamie Oliver does it again! This is the best tomato sauce I’ve ever made - and now I know the secret I haven’t seen from Giada - Balsamic vinegar and sugar. After I added these two ingredients, it was WOW!! I actually forgot to add the parm to the sauce, and I think it’s great without it, but if you’re a huge parmesan fan like me, you might want to add it, or sprinkle plenty on top. The recipe calls for plum tomatoes, but I had diced tomatoes - organic which I think helped because a lot of canned tomatoes that are already chopped can be bitter. So try to use plum tomatoes and smash them yourself in the sauce. This is an easy sauce you can make over and over, I count this better than Newman’s Own too. Here’s how it’s done:

Serves 4

1lb piece of ricotta cheese (I had a 15oz tub of it from TJ’s - I think it’s a bit different but still works)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 a dried chili, crumbled - I just used chili pepper flakes

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

knob of unsalted butter

2 14oz cans of good plum tomatoes

3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1lb pappardelle or fettuccine - whatever you want to use

handful of fresh basil, torn into pieces

2 handfuls of freshly grated parm cheese (optional in my opinion)

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Rub the ricotta with the olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano and chilli and place on a baking tray. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden and firm. In a pan, slowly fry the onion and garlic in the butter and a good drizzle of olive oil. Cook for 4 minutes until sweet and softened. Add the tomatoes, simmer gently for about 15 minutes, then mash the tomatoes with a spoon. Add the balsamic vinegar and the sugar and stir until you have a nice tomato sauce.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted boiling water (NEVER EVER put oil in your pasta water - it makes the pasta slick and it won’t hold the sauce) cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve a glassful of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Toss the pasta with the tomato sauce and add a little of the reserved water to loosen, if necessary. correct the seasoning carefully to taste, then working quickly, add most of the basil and parm cheese. Place in a warmed bowl, rip over some extra basil and crumble the baked ricotta over the pasta.

I don’t think this sauce was supposed to be as rustic as it turned out. I used diced tomatoes rather than crushed and I think that made the difference. But Johnathan and I enjoyed it none the less and have lunch ready for today. If you need something homemade fast, this is great and super easy, with ingredients you probably already have. Unfortunately time didn’t allow me to make my own pasta. The chef from the Astor Center class I took said if you’re going to use dried pasta, chef’s prefer DeCecco which is luckily readily available at most stores. Just make sure you don’t over cook even dried pasta. Enjoy another homey fall meal!

I was so inspired by my pasta class last weekend, I couldn’t let a week go by without testing out my new handmade pasta knowledge. One of my favorite pastas we made was with semolina flour ( I had always used all purpose) and translated into English, is badly cut pasta, or irregular pasta. It’s chunky, hearty, organic, and has a great hand touch feel and look. If I were making pasta for a party I wouldn’t send it through the perfect pasta press, I’d hand cut it, it’s like making each person their own dish of pasta by hand. I also tried my hand at Swiss Chard, which I’d never used before. I bought the pretty multicolored bunch, and it was a bit limp when I bought it, but I blanched it, then cooked it in a sauce for a bit, and it was fine. I wouldn’t buy this every week this season, but it was a nice colorful change. When cooking chard, cut the stalks from the leaves, as they cook for different times. Here’s my recipe for a hearty homemade fall dinner:

Pasta:

1 egg to 1 cup semolina flour ( I use the Jamie Oliver rule of 1 egg/person - so I made 2 servings)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Mix flour and salt together in a large bowl. Then make a well in the center to drop the eggs in.

2. Break egg(s) into the bowl and begin mixing with a fork. Keep working in the eggs, and if you need, add some water if the dough is not coming together or is too mealy. Once its doughy, turn it onto a floured surface and continue kneading until the dough is soft and has elasticity. The more you knead, the more gluten is released and the stronger your pasta is, and can withstand boiling and tossing.

3. Roll the dough into a sheet with a rolling pin (I like my old school wooden rolling pin - and it doesn’t stick). Make sure you keep the dough floured (with semolina) so it doesn’t stick to the work surface. Roll it out until it’s even, about 2 quarters thick. Cut length ways into 1/4 -1/2 inch noodles, or however you like. Set aside, and sprinkle with plenty of flour so they don’t stick together.

4. Bring large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook pasta for about 4-5 minutes, but make sure it’s al dente. Reserve a mug of pasta water. Drain and return to pot. Add a little pasta water so they don’t stick while you’re making the sauce.

Swiss Chard:

1. Cut stalks from leaves, removing any browned stems or leaves. Soak both in a cold water bath to remove any dirt or grit.

2. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil, and drop in stalks first for about 3 minutes, then cook with leaves for an additional minute. Drain.

Sauce:

4 Tablespoons butter

1 clove of garlic minced

1 glass white wine (I used a sweet German Riesling)

olive oil

1. In same saucepan as the chard, heat oil and butter, then add garlic over medium low heat. Let the garlic sauté for a couple minutes, but don’t brown it.

2. Add chard and sauté for a couple minutes. Add wine and let simmer and the alcohol cook off for a few minutes. It’s going to smell great.

3. Season with salt and pepper, and add sauce with chard to pasta pot. Toss and add more reserved pasta water if desired (I felt there was plenty of sauce with the wine added)

Serve with grated parm on top. Buon Appetito!

Astor Center Instructor, Mark Bello

If you live in the NYC area, I would highly recommend taking a class at The Astor Center. You can know a lot or a little, it doesn’t matter. It’s not fussy, and the people at the center, including the instructors are great and friendly. I was really pleasantly surprised. The class was full, but put a bunch of people in a kitchen who love food and wine and it made for a great afternoon of homemade pasta, wine, and conversation. We exchanged restaurant favorites, tips, and of course Mark (our fearless instructor) taught us basic pasta making, with some simple, truly Italian dishes. So as my first foray into the world of “formal” cooking, I give it two thumbs up, and this is what’s going to inspire me, and the menu this week.

The first part of the class was touring the Farmer’s Market in Union Square, on a Saturday…. cue scary music. But the amount of choices and volume of produce was awesome. I had not been to the Saturday market in a long time, and was jarred by the amount of people, but realized how much I was missing going on Mondays. I’m missing a lot of the dairy - fresh, local cheeses, butters (which we used in the class - phenomenal), and family raised meats. Next week, I’m going to change the shopping day, and go either on Friday or Saturday, and attempt to do a budget week of food just from the Farmer’s Market - time to take a hike Whole Foods.

Ok, on to the menu. I’m doing a couple African dishes this week, for something different, and for Jamati.com. I”m also going to use my new pasta skills, and only buy produce from the Farmer’s Market and make my own sauces and dishes based on the veggies. Here’s a rough outline:

Monday: French Pumpkin Soup

Tuesday: Some sort of Baby Artichoke dish, probably with pasta

Wednesday: South African Spiced Chicken Skewers

Thursday: Swiss Chard something - I’ve never used it, so we’ll see….

Friday: Peanut Butter Stew - Senegal