Spring is in the Air Pasta

Printable Recipe


Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 2  

Ingredients: 
8oz/225g short pasta ( I used whole wheat penne rigate)8oz/225g light ricotta cheese
1 tbsp fresh lemon basil, chopped
1-2 tbsp baby radish shoots
2 tbsp chives (I even had flowers to add - I do love my local farmers market)
5 roasted asparagus spears, cut into 1" pieces
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped
2-3 tbsp pasta cooking waterfreshly ground black pepper
more lemon juice to taste
  Directions: 

1. Boil and salt a large pot of water and cook your pasta.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water for the sauce. 
2. Drain pasta and return to the pot. 
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss, adding a little pasta water a tbsp at a time,  if you need more "sauce".  
4. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon juice if desired.
5. Toss and serve

Salsa Verde

Adapted from Chatelaine Magazine

Printable Recipe


Prep time  5 minutes

Makes: 1 cup

 Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves
1 anchovy fillet
1/4 cup capers, drained 
zest from 1 lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped, packed flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

1. Whirl garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add anchovy, capers, lemon zest and lemon juice. Pulse in olive oil just until combined. Add parsley and pulse just until slightly chunky, but not puréed. Use immediately or refrigerate in a sealed jar for up to two weeks.

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients:
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
1-3 anchovy fillet
¼ cup capers, drained 
zest from 1 lemon
lemon juice (at least 1/2 lemon)
½ cup olive oil
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped, packed flat-leaf parsley (adding some mint to make up the 1 ½ cups total is another delicious option)

1-2 pinches crushed red chili pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Whirl garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add anchovy, capers, chili pepper flakes, lemon zest and lemon juice. Pulse in olive oil just until combined. Add herbs and pulse just until slightly chunky, but not puréed. 

Use immediately or refrigerate in a sealed jar for up to two weeks.

Perfect tossed with pasta or on grilled or toasted baguette slices as bruscetta.   A dollop of salsa verde brightens up a simple salad or sandwich.   

Cheesy Herb Pasta

From Pasta Et Cetera a la di Stasio

Printable Recipe


Prep time:  5 minutes
Cooking time: as long as it takes to cook the pasta
Serves 4


Ingredients:
¾ cup ricotta or cottage cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan
5 tbsp butter, softened
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
3 tbsp fresh Italian/flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
½ tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 lb/450g short pasta
Freshly ground black pepper

Garnish:  more chopped herbs

Directions:
1. In a food processor, pulse the cheeses, butter, herbs, lemon zest & juice until smooth and set aside.

2.   Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water as the package directs.  Drain and reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid

3. Return the pasta to the pot and add the cheesy herb mixture.  Season with pepper (and salt if you need to) and toss, adding some of the pasta water if the sauce seems too thick.

Garnish with more freshly chopped herbs and serve.

Seared Scallops with Peruvian Parsley Salsa

Seared Scallops with Peruvian Parsley Salsa
Salsa from: Herbs & Spices: The Cook's Reference

Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Marinating time for salsa: 30 minutes
Cooking time: less than 5 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
Salsa:
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh oregano leaves (½ tsp dried if you can’t find any fresh)
Red wine vinegar, just enough to cover the onion & oregano in a small bowl)
3 handfuls of fresh parsley leaves
1 tomato
Salt & pepper to taste

1 lb/500 g sea scallops, rinsed and patted dry
1 tsp or so good olive oil
Arugula leaves (just for yourself as to how much you like per person. Note: some people find this very strong and woodsy, so you might want to do half arugula, half baby spinach leaves)

Directions:
Salsa:
1. Place the chopped onion and the oregano in a small bowl and pour red wine vinegar over the mixture, just enough to cover. Let it sit for 30 minutes or so and then drain off the vinegar. Chop the parsley leaves to a paste in a food processor. Add to the drained onion/oregano mix.

2. The book calls for peeling and grating the tomato into the salsa, or chop fine. I cheated and added coarsely chopped tomato (with the peel) to the pureed parsley and pulsed a couple of times, then adding it all to the onions & oregano. Taste for seasoning and set aside while you cook the scallops.
Scallops:
In a large nonstick skillet over high heat, add the olive oil and once the pan is quite hot, add the scallops so they do not overlap or touch each other. Giving them space will help them sear and get a little golden on each side. Flip after 2-3 minutes, depending on the size of the scallops, and cook for another minute or two. They don’t take very long and if you overcook them, they just get rubbery.

Plating the finished dish:
Place a bed of arugula or arugula, spinach mix on a plate or platter. Place scallops on top and then generously spoon the salsa over the scallops. Toss and serve.

Market Omelette

Market Omelette

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serves 2

Ingredients:
enough extra virgin olive oil to "season" the pan
4 large eggs, well beaten
Filling:
2 leeks,white parts only, cleaned of sand and thinly sliced
2 handfuls of mushrooms, sliced (I used cremini, they're my "always have on hand" mushrooms, shitake, oyster, porcini all make great choices as does a combination
2 heaping handfuls of baby spinach
1-2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
3-4 heaping tbsp goat cheese (I used a garlic & cayenne blend)

Directions:
1. Heat a little extra virgin olive oil in small non-stick saute pans over medium high heat.

2. Saute the leeks for 2 minutes before adding the mushrooms. saute for 5 minutes - the leeks & mushrooms should start to turn golden. Add a couple of handfuls of baby spinach and toss about over the heat until the spinach wilts.

3. Remove from the pan and place in a metal bowl (keeps the heat better), add the fresh thyme and 2-3 tbsp of the seasoned goat cheese. Toss until the cheese is melted and evenly distributed (especially if you're making more than one omelette at a time). Set aside.

4. Cook beaten eggs in small non stick pans, tilting the pan so the egg mixture forms an even "crepe" (I used 2 pans - so we each could have our own perfect half moon delight.

5. Once it's almost dry in the center (just a couple of minutes usually, divide the filling between the two pans, arrange over half the egg "crepe" and fold the other half over it.

Grind some fresh pepper and sprinkle a little salt and serve...bread is optional.