Cajun Spaghettini with Walnut-Garlic Sauce

Technically, this pasta isn't Cajun cuisine. It includes neither bell pepper, onion nor celery. In fact, the only Cajun ingredient it does have is Cajun spice mix. And the pasta is really Italian in origin. However, it was the cajun spice mix that brought this walnut-garlic pesto, a variation of salsa di noce from the pedestrian to the delicious. In fact, the Vegetarian hasn't stopped cooking with it since we got it!

This is a truly delightfully easy recipe, which we served with sparkling wine and Pear, Feta and Lettuce Salad. Enjoy!

Cajun Spaghettini with Walnut-Garlic Sauce

• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 bunch Italian parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup + 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 4 teaspoons Cajun spice mix
• 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel
• 1 pound spaghettini

Preheat oven to 350F. Place walnuts in one layer on an ungreased, light-colored baking pan and bake 5 minutes, until fragrant. Be careful not to burn them. Remove and allow to come to room temperature.

Place walnuts, olive oil, parsley, 1/4 cup broth, garlic, Cajun spice mix, breadcrumbs and salt in food processor. Pulse until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.

Cook spaghettini in boiling salted water according to package directions. Drain, return to pot and toss with remaining 1/4 cup broth and sauce. Serve and enjoy.

Links to other cajun noshes:

• Dirty Rice from Simply Recipes
• Gumbo z'Herbes with Cajun Tempeh Bacon from FatFree Vegan Kitchen
• Killer Cajun Shrimp or Crawfish from Steamy Kitchen

Ravioli d'epinards et de ricotta

There are some nights, especially during the winter, when all you want is a big bowl of comforting pasta. I'm back in New York for a month, so I finally have a right to complain about the cold. The Boy is in the midst of his first set of law school exams, so the house has been very quiet, leaving him space to study and me to catch up on reading cookbooks and to do some research on Proust as well.

On Monday, the Boy reached the halfway mark in his exams and wanted to go out for a nice meal, which we haven't yet been able to do. We picked a restaurant and were all set to go, but, after having had some mediocre chopped liver for lunch, I wasn't really feeling up to it. What I really wanted was a nice bowl of spinach ravioli with melted butter--nothing fancy, not too heavy and with vegetables, which I've been craving.

So the Boy braved the cold to go out to Whole Foods and returned with two different kinds of ravioli: Spinach and Ricotta from Raffetto's and Double Spinach from a company I'd never had before. Raffetto's fresh pasta is famous in the city. It's a little Italian goods store on Houston Street that really deserves its own post. Their pasta is made with all good ingredients and always tastes exactly like the flavor it promises. For instance, the Spinach-Ricotta really had the flavor of both and the Ravioli outside was fantastic as well. The Double Spinach were also good, though the Boy preferred Raffetto's. First of all, they were huge! And green! Unfortunately, though, the Spinach filling wasn't as tasty as I might have hoped. It needed just a little bit of Olive Oil or Pepper.

We boiled these in Salted Water for about 8 minutes, then tossed them with two knobs of Butter and several pinches of Salt and Fennel Seeds. The Fennel Seeds were my surprised ingredient at the end and they were delicious! They really made the pasta taste refreshing. All in all, a perfectly comforting meal.

Whole Foods Market
4 Union Square South
New York, NY 10003


Food and Ravioli and Pasta and Vegetarian and Prepared Foods

Spaghetti with clams

One of my favorite parts of cooking is basing a meal on one ingredient that's been hanging around for a bit too long. One night, I had several gorgeous tomatoes sitting around, "on their way out," as Mom would say. So I envisioned a simple but hearty pasta sauce to use up all five of my up-until-then forgotten tomatoes.

I considered a ragu or bolognese-type sauce, but then realized I'd been eating plenty of meat lately and not that much seafood. A spaghetti with clams therefore seemed like the perfect solution.

I didn't follow a recipe to make this, so many measurements are approximate. However, it was so good I definitely plan on making it again and, hence, thought I should share it.

Spaghetti with clams

1/2 lb. Spaghetti
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
1 lb. Littleneck Clams, scrubbed clean
Salt and Red Pepper Flakes
1/3 cup Clam Juice
5 Tomatoes, diced
Parsley Leaves

Set a pot of salted water to boil. When it has, add the Spaghetti and cook according to package instructions. Meanwhile, make the Sauce:

Heat Oil in a skillet. Add Garlic, Clams, Salt and Red Pepper Flakes to taste. Saute about 1 minute, add Clam Juice and stir. Cook about 1 minute, add Tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 2 minutes.

Drain pasta and toss with Clams and Tomato Sauce. Sprinkle Parsley on top. Serve.

recipe and Main Dish and Seafood

Tagliatelle aux petits pois, asperges et lardons

Tagliatelle with fresh peas, asparagus and lardons, smothered in freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Whenever I don't know what to make for dinner, I make pasta. It's usually a one-dish meal and, as long as I make sure to throw fresh veggies in, a reasonably healthy one at that. Asparagus has been beautiful lately and the fresh peas looked fresh as well. When I found out that Davey (a.k.a. Best Friend and Brother) had never shelled peas before, I knew he'd have fun doing so and that convinced me to buy some. He insisted on onions as peas and onions are a favorite combination of his. And we also added a package of lardons, one of his favorite French foods which apparently don't exist in the States. They're basically little strips of bacon, but they're full of flavor and, if heated up in a pan, add a delightful layer to an otherwise vegetarian meal. And if you're wondering why the bit of onion in the photo looks florescent, it's because of my favorite secret ingredient--saffron.

Tagliatelle aux petits pois, asperges et lardons

1 bunch Asparagus, ends removed
500 g Tagliatelle
.1 g powdered Saffron
3 tablespoons Butter
1 medium Onion
250 g shelled Garden Peas
1 package Lardons (substitute bacon bits or small pieces of ham)
1/4 cup Chicken Stock
Salt, to taste
Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated

Cut Asparagus into 1-inch chunks. Roughly chop Onion. Bring large pot of Salted water to a boil over high heat. Add Asparagus and cook 3 minutes. It should still be quite crisp. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out asparagus and set aside in a bowl. Add Tagliatelle to boiling water and cook according to package directions, approximately 7 minutes.

While Tagliatelle cooks, place medium skillet over medium heat. Add Saffron, then Butter. Cook until Butter melts, moving it around so the Saffron is evenly distributed. Add the Onion and cook until translucent. Stir in Peas and cook another 2 minutes. Add Lardons and cook 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Add Chicken Stock and Asparagus, cook another 5 minutes, until Asparagus is heated through and peas and asparagus are tender. Add salt to taste.

When Tagliatelle is ready, drain it and toss with the Asparagus mixture. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.

Housewarming Puttanesca

Last Saturday night, the Boy and I finally threw our belated housewarming party. We invited my crazy acting school friends and Jess from college came in for the weekend from Cambridge where she's studying. As usual, we made way too much food, but it was fun and everyone likes left-overs.

Normally at my friends' parties, everyone brings a little something and the host makes something like a quiche (or several) and cuts them up in little pieces. Or else we have an International party, which means everyone makes something from there country. In the past, I've done Chopped Eggs and Onions (Jewish) and Mac and Cheese (American), but neither of those choices appealed to me. And I'm scared of making Chinese food for the Boy. So on to our adopted culture--Italian.

After poring over recipes and decided I should probably do something vegetarian-friendly (though not technically vegetarian), I decided on a Puttanesca sauce, borrowing the recipe from Jen at Roast Chicken Reasoning.

The puttanesca was great, spicier than I usually make it, and even permitted me to make a trip to the awesome spice store to buy chilies. Kym the Canadian brought smoked salmon and oysters and with several bottles of wine and one of bubbly, we had a delightful dinner.

Puttanesca
Adapted from Roast Chicken Reasoning.

We had a ton of pasta left over, so I would say this serves about 8 people. I recommend it over spaghetti.

1/2 Olive Oil
8 cloves Garlic, smashed + 6 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dry Cayenne Peppers
4 cans Diced Tomatoes
100 g Black Olives, sliced
4 heaping teaspoons Capers
1 bunch Curly Parsley
2 canned Sardine fillets
1 handful Celery greens

Heat the oil over high heat in a frying pan. When it is hot enough that it sizzles when some water is flicked in, add the smashed Garlic. Fry them until golden and crunchy but not burnt.

Remove the garlic "chips" and save them. Add the Peppers and chopped Garlic. Fry for 2 minutes. Add the cans of Tomatoes, lower heat to medium-high and let come to a boil.

Gently stir in the Sardines, Olives, Capers and Parsley. Allow the sauce to reduce and thicken, cooking it for about 35 minutes over medium heat.

Add the Celery Greens and salt to taste. Spoon it onto freshly made spaghetti. Add parmesan cheese as desired.