MetaChat - Let's talk about pasta, too...

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21 January 2010

Let's talk about pasta, too... →[More:]Mostly so I can stop thinking about pizza. I brought pasta for lunch; not pizza.

Here is a yummy pasta recipe:

Pasta with cauliflower

Take one head of cauliflower. Cut into slices about 1/2" thick.

In a hot pan, with olive oil, lay the cauliflower flat and brown it. Once the first side is browned, throw in a chopped onion. Add salt. Flip cauliflower, brown on second side.

Once cauliflower and onions are browned, add chopped garlic, red pepper flakes, fennel seed, and dried thyme or oregano. Add about 2 cups of stock. (Chicken and veggie both work.) Simmer, mashing the cauliflower occasionally. When liquid has reduced to about a 1/2 cup and cauliflower is tender, add a glug of milk, half & half, or cream. Heat for a few minutes more without boiling.

Toss with penne. (You can let the penne finish cooking in the sauce before it's fully reduced. This makes it yummier.)

Remove from heat and add generous amounts of parmesan or asiago and a good grating of lemon zest.

Any good pasta recipes to share?

post by: mudpuppie at: 12:40 | 30 comments

Hey, this sounds great. This might actually get me to enjoy cauliflower.

From a local favorite red-sauce restaurant, I learned that a little dollop of goat cheese swirled into a chunky tomato sauce and tossed with pasta is aMAZing. (The restaurant makes it with pink vodka sauce, but I have trouble making myself use that much cream, so plain tomato for me.)

It's local native shrimp season in Maine. A couple weeks ago we had fresh linguine with shrimp, garlic, and butter. Can't beat that.

posted by Miko 21 January | 12:43

Another.

Pasta Avocado

In a bowl, mash a couple of good, ripe avocados. Throw in finely minced garlic*, minced jalapeno, grated parmesan, the juice of a lemon or lime, and salt. Mix in enough olive oil to make a glossy sauce.

Toss with fettuccine.

So simple, so good!

* Sometimes raw garlic hurts me, so I heat the minced garlic gently in olive oil, let it cool, and add the garlic + oil. It's less burpy that way, but still tastes really good.

posted by mudpuppie 21 January | 12:44

Again with the fruit and nuts, this pasta with figs, brown butter and hazelnuts is one of my very favorites, and so easy. I think I know what I'll have for dinner!

Periodically, I forget how to make my mom's linguine with clam sauce, and she teaches me again. It's delicious, but Guy won't eat meat (or pasta, actually) so I never make it anymore.

posted by crush-onastick 21 January | 12:51

Oh man, crush, that looks incredible. I'd add carmelized onions to make it more savory, but it sounds absolutely delicious..

posted by mudpuppie 21 January | 12:56

We make pasta with broccoli rabe a lot - just oil, garlic, pasta, broccoli rabe, romano cheese, and whatever else you want to add.

I was watching an old tape of The Naked Chef and noticed that Jamie Oliver scoops his cooked pasta right out of the water with a spaghetti fork, and adds it to whatever sauce-type thing he has going in another skillet, and that's what we do now too. The pasta seems much better when it's not drained. Not starchy at all. Easier to quickly toss and cover with sauce - it's smoooooov. I love doing it this way now, less muss and fuss, no colander to clean.

An added bonus is that it drives my MIL nuts.

posted by iconomy 21 January | 13:00

Oh - you add the chopped broccoli rabe to the water the pasta is cooking in - wait until there's about 2 minutes left till the pasta's done cooking, and just throw it in there. We usually use angel hair, so both things can go in at the same time. Then add the cooked pasta and broc to a skillet in which you have oo, garlic, etc. going, toss, and add cheese.

posted by iconomy 21 January | 13:03

Lightly brown garlic slices in olive oil. Toss in some kalamata or similar olives, raisins, and toasted pinenuts. Toss with your choice of stringy pasta.

posted by Stewriffic 21 January | 13:04

The fig pasta does look incredible. Yum. I want to make that.

Last night I made this Chicken Tetrazzini for dinner. It is incredibly fattening and rich, with plenty of butter, whole milk, and cream. I love the combination of butter olive oil, mushrooms, garlic, onion, herbs, and white wine with pasta. It's good with or without the cream. Actually, I think I like it better without the cream.

I have never made pasta carbonara. I'll have to try it one of these days.

posted by LoriFLA 21 January | 13:07

Stew, that's my basic "what do I cook for lunch" plan.

posted by The Whelk 21 January | 13:29

I like to make a sort of stir-fried mess of veggies - cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, peppers, onions etc, then I throw in some tomatoes - sometimes canned, sometimes fresh. I let that warm up some, then, toss a big handful of fresh spinach on top, and add maybe 3/4 of a cup of red wine, and toss a lid on it REAL fast.

This way, the wine steams the spinach and mixes nicely with the tomatoes.

I usually serve it on some rotini or penne. Something short.

posted by richat 21 January | 13:35

I learned that trick in restaurants, ico. It really is good. I've read that the starch remaining in the water clinging to the pasta helps the sauce cohere, which makes total sense. Also, the pasta remains hot. I also learned to take the pasta out when it's just a hair short of al dente, because it'll finish cooking in the saucepan.

We have a plan to try carbonara one night, too, LoriFLA. We'll make a big production out of it and get really good pancetta and stuff. I love it in restaurants but have never made it.

posted by Miko 21 January | 13:55

Pasta carbonara is my go to recipe, it's the one I can reliably produce over and over again successfully. My secret? Instead of cream, I toss in an extra egg yolk or two, and use a touch of white wine and chicken broth. Don't forget to finish with some finely chopped Italian parsley!

posted by msali 21 January | 13:56

I may have to try that cauliflower one. I've only made cauliflower once--and it destroyed a pan in the process, so I'm a bit wary.

I'm so uninspired with pasta. I make a box, toss on some Prego, maybe throw in some chicken--and I'm good. I made pasta carbonara once but I was disappointed with the ickiness that was reheating it.

posted by sperose 21 January | 14:13

Extra egg yolk, good trick. I never have cream around.

posted by Miko 21 January | 14:20

The pasta seems much better when it's not drained. Not starchy at all.

Yes! This is a short-cut-y way to get your pasta in the sauce with some pasta water, too. Pasta water, which is slightly thickened with starch, will loosen up your sauce but still allow it to cling to the pasta nicely. Even when I drain the pasta fully, I first scoop out a coffee cup of pasta water and set it aside in case I need to loosen up the sauce.

The extra yolk idea is genius. Fantastic tip, thanks!

posted by Elsa 21 January | 14:45

Speaking of pasta what do you all do with leftover pasta? I tend to make pasta salad but I've got some leftover angle hair pasta that I don't think would be too amenable to that. So any other ideas?

On the topic at hand one of my favorite dead easy ways to eat pasta is with grilled vegies. I grill whatever I have on hand, zucchini, bell peppers, eggplant, onions etc. on tinfoil with a lot of olive oil and whatever spice might sound good (often just pepper and light salt).Just toss with whatever pasta I've got often spinach fettuccine. The key is to grill the vegies with enough olive oil that it coats the pasta as well.

posted by kodama 21 January | 15:09

Two dead-simple treatments I use for leftover pasta:
- drizzle it with a little of that saved pasta water and reheat it, in the microwave or in a skillet over low heat. This works surprisingly well, though the pasta softens a bit.
- toss it with a highly seasoned bechamel and blanched or sauteed vegetables, a little cheese if you want. Ladle the whole mess into a flat casserole, top with crumbs or ground nuts, and bake until bubbly. This, which originally was a strategy for using leftovers, has become a favorite dinner in our house. I always make a double batch of suitable pastas just to have the leftovers for this gratin the next day. Obviously, you can add whatever suits you: poultry or bacon or cheese or whatever.

posted by Elsa 21 January | 15:30

If I have more angel hair leftover than sauce, I loosen it a little under warm water, drain it really well, and then fry it into a cake with some olive oil. Usually serve with sambal or hot sauce, but you could pretty much go in any direction.

posted by mudpuppie 21 January | 15:30

Oh, doy: mudpuppie's right, of course.

I assumed that your pasta was already sauced. If it isn't, then you can loosen the clumped-up pasta by rinsing it in hot water or plunging it --- just for a second or two! --- into boiling water and draining it.

posted by Elsa 21 January | 15:34

You know, I get why Guy doesn't like pasta: he was a vegetarian in Wisconsin for a long time and that means when your go out to eat with folks, you're stuck with the usually bad pasta option, that's probably topped with ham strips, cause "vegetarian" just means "meat is only the garnish", but dammit pasta is good and this thread makes me want to cook it all up yum for the next month. Which I guess I can do, cause Guy is still in Tahoe skiing.

posted by crush-onastick 21 January | 15:38

Tahoe web cams.

That weather would make ME want pasta.

posted by mudpuppie 21 January | 15:57

Leftover pasta in my house generally just becomes lunch the next day.

If I'm making a big pasta casserole, like penne w/cheese/broccoli/bechamel or what have you, I usually make the whole pound of pasta and divide the recipe into two dishes. One I bake and eat, the other I freeze unbaked for some future busy night.

posted by Miko 21 January | 16:02

I know this may sound slightly redundant, but for me, when posed with the question of what to do with leftover pasta, the answer is always EGGS! I make a pasta frittata with whatever I have in my fridge, usually for breakfast the next morning.

posted by msali 21 January | 16:02

pasta frittata

THANK YOU! I keep hearing this idea, but then I keep forgetting it because of my chronic case of dumb. I WILL NOT FORGET THIS TIME. I AM YELLING.

posted by Elsa 21 January | 16:07

mudpuppie: Guy's solution to that sort of weather is old fashioneds in the hot tub, which I can totally support, but a little pasta wouldn't hurt.

posted by crush-onastick 21 January | 16:15

I don't have enough leftover for the more casserole type things but I'm going to try that fried pasta cake. Thanks for the all the suggestions!

posted by kodama 21 January | 16:42

noodle nonsense:

Sauté slices of an onion and bell pepper, dump in a large can of diced tomatoes, drained, until hot. Then add in 8oz shredded Monterey Jack chees and a pound of bow tie pasta. Stir to combine until cheese is super gooey.

posted by rhapsodie 21 January | 23:13

All this pasta talk helped me to figure out what I was going to have for dinner.

I sauteed some mushrooms, and set them aside. Then, I sliced up for or five cloves of garlic (I'd've done more if I could have; we love garlic) and lightly browned it in olive oil. Added some spinach and wilted it, tossed the mushrooms back in. Gave it a good stir, splashed some wine I was drinking in it, added some feta and spaghetti and called it done. Although I also added freshly ground pepper and some fresh Italian parm.

I tried the tip of grabbing the pasta directly out of the boiling water with the pasta fork and adding it to the sauce - it worked beautifully, and I can't see going back to using a colander for that every again.

Didn't have time to go get a baguette, so I made some of my grandmother's yeast rolls and was pretty happy about such a quick dinner!

posted by Sil 21 January | 23:31

Mmmmm. Pasta. My usual go-to recipe is to saute whatever veggies are in the fridge - usually mushrooms, spinach, red bell pepper, and olives - and add them to my (well-salted!) boiled pasta. Throw in some EVOO, herbs, and feta or parm if we have it, and there's dinner.

I have been making good soba lately, though, with cilantro (optional if you're opposed), green onions, spinach, and broccoli, with a soy sauce/honey/white wine vinegar/sesame oil dressing and some toasted sesame seeds on top. I wilt the spinach separately. The broccoli gets thrown into the water with the soba for the last 25 or so seconds, and both get rinsed with cold water because soba is better cold.

posted by unsurprising 22 January | 03:26

Didn't have time to go get a baguette, so I made some of my grandmother's yeast rolls and was pretty happy about such a quick dinner!

There is something backwards going on here. Exactly how far is the baguette store?

posted by mudpuppie 22 January | 12:05

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