Recipe: Lemon Chili Pasta with Arugula and Capers

Because summer is coming to an end I'm in the mood for heartier, spicier foods. For me crisp weather heralds comfort food, soups, curries, and all together heavier meals. However, the heat index is still in the hundreds here. So I've come up with another pasta dish which can be served hot or at room temperature or cold, my current favorite. These sort of meals will carry me over until I can break out my soup pot.

This lemon chili pasta is one of my favorites. It's zesty, a little peppery, and yet still light and easy. At the end of a work day in the kitchen I don't feel like preparing a complicated meal. Pasta seems to be a recurring theme around here, and it's likely that if the saying "you are what you eat" holds true, I will one day soon turn into a noodle. But, it's a quick vehicle for flavor. So bear with me until this pasta (and arugula) phase passes.

Use fresh red chilies if available. The farmers market did not have any this morning so I substituted chili flakes. Adjust the amount to your preference.

Lemon chili pasta with arugula and capers

1 pound fresh angel hair pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon chili pepper flakes OR 3 long red chilies, seeded and diced

1/3 cup capers (if using salted capers, then wash and rinse them)

3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

4 cups fresh arugula

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot until al dente. Drain and return to sauce pan and keep warm.

2. Heat the oil in a large sautee pan over medium-high heat. Sautee the chilies and capers until crisp. Add the lemon zest and garlic and cook until golden.

3. Toss with the pasta, arugula, lemon juice and salt and pepper and serve.

Recipe: Fresh Fettucini with Basil

I am very enamored with my basil bush right now. It is August; temperatures are in the upper nineties and heat indexes are topping 100 degrees. Unlike me, basil thrives in this weather. There is just enough rain to keep it moist and because it's in a shady spot it hasn't gone to seed. This is the first time I have actually planted basil directly in the ground and not in a pot; I had no idea what a difference that would make.

With this plethora of basil I was craving something simple and herby. The dish is basically pasta with a rough chop pesto. Instead of emulsifying the basil with oil, cheese, garlic, and pine nuts I rough chop everything and toss it together. To bring out a more intense flavor I always toast pine nuts before adding them in. I also make this with pistachios and walnuts as a substitute.

Fresh Fettucini with Basil

1 pound fresh pasta noodles

3 cups (approximately) fresh basil, cut into chiffonade

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/4 cup olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Boil the pasta and drain. Place pasta in a serving dish and add remaining ingredients. Toss until well combined. Serve hot or cold.

RECIPE: Goat Cheese and Arugula Ravioli with Pine Nuts

I am certifiably obsessed! I can't stop making and eating ravioli. I am waking up in the middle of the night and pondering new fillings. Really, there is something wrong with this- but I truly don't care. I will work out extra hard just so I can eat these guilt free to my heart's content. Last night I made arugula and goat cheese ravioli for dinner again, the second time around was considerably easier (not making pasta from scratch obviously makes a big difference). I think they even tasted better, I ditched the original recipe and improvised with pre-made pasta. (As with all non-baking recipes, use the recipe as a guideline).

I was eating dinner with my girlfriends and I was so absurdly happy I sort of laughed to myself. The company was delightful, but the true source of my joy at that moment was the food. Dinner was sort of an impromptu thing, I had spent the better part of the day recouping from the night before. I had a wedding cake to finish and deliver that morning, it had been a very long day. I cancelled dinner plans that evening because I just simply did not think I would make a very good dinner companion in the state I was in. But, after a nap and bath I was surprisingly ready to go again and what I craved as my hang over cure was this concoction. The pre-made pasta sheets are a life saver, making ravioli from scratch is a lovely idea- but I do have other things to attend to, napping so spending 3 hours in the kitchen rolling out pasta was not in the repertoire.

Oh, and almost forgot, for dessert we had a very large dollop of Argentine Cajeta doused with Bailey's Irish cream. Frangelico or Amaretto would have been a better option, but I was out. So so easy and oh my god, it made for three very blissfully happy women.

Okay, so about the ravioli... that is why you're reading this, after all. The pasta sheets are actually labeled lasagna sheets. (yes, whole foods). I remove them from the package and wrap them in a moistened kitchen towel for about 10 minutes. I found that doing this rehydrates them a bit and helps keep them from cracking when folding them over. I cut them into perfect squares and then fold over into a triangle and seal with the tines of a fork. Depending on how moist the pasta sheets are, I will usually wet the edges with my fingers. Soggy ravioli is nasty, so be sure to seal well so water does not leak in while cooking.

I am generous with the filling, place a dollop (about 1.5 - 2 tablespoons) in the center of the square. Then fold over, squeezing out any air pockets as you go. (Another culprit for allowing water to get in- clearly, I dislike it when that happens!) I did not have enough Arugula to make the sauce, so I used the same amount of basil and chopped it into a chiffonade instead.

The filling and ravioli can be made ahead. You can put the ravioli together up to a day ahead of time, just make sure to wrap the pan with a damp towel before refrigerating. From start to finish, the recipe takes about 30 minutes to prepare.

Goat Cheese and Arugula Ravioli

Lasagna Fresh Pasta Sheets (1 package RP pasta)

3 cups fresh arugula

3/4 cup fresh ricotta (preferably whole milk)

1/4 cup softened goat cheese

1/3 cup pine nuts

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3 tablespoons butter

Sauce:

3 cups fresh arugula

1/3 cup pine nuts

4 tablespoons butter

2 thinly sliced garlic cloves

juice of 1 lemon

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large heavy skillet over medium high heat melt the butter and cook until all the foam is gone. (this clarifies the butter, removing the water and allows the butter to brown giving it a nutty flavor). Add the pine nuts, garlic and saute until lightly golden, (the pine nuts burn quickly- this is not the time to multi-task). Add the arugula and lemon zest season generously with salt and pepper.

2. In a small bowl, combine the goat cheese and ricotta, add the arugula mixture and set aside.

3. Assemble ravioli (instructions above). Set prepared ravioli on a sheet pan and either cover with a towel and refrigerate until ready to use or proceed to step 4.

4. In a large pot, bring water to a boil. While the water comes to a boil, start the sauce. In a large heavy skillet, heat butter until foaming, add pine nuts, garlic and lemon juice. Lightly brown, add arugula and season with salt and pepper. Remove skillet from heat and set aside.

5. When water comes to a rolling boil, gently drop ravioli in and cook until they float to the top, about 5-7 minutes. Remove ravioli from water with a strainer or slotted spoon and drop directly into skillet. Gently toss ravioli in sauce and serve. Makes 12 large ravioli.

Recipe: Tortellini Pasta Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes and Basil

I'm not even going to make up excuses to explain my absence, nor say I'm back permanently (I will try though). Thank you for all your kind emails. Thank you for continuing to sign up for the newsletter. No, the subscriber service is not broken, it's the newsletter writer- she took a hiatus- a long one. But, I have so much more to say, still. There are about a dozen unfinished posts in the edit posts section, hopefully I'll get to most of them soon. Be on the lookout for my grandmother's home-made tortellini, it's one of the unfinished posts and my very favorite. I just need a little motivation. A new camera would help- until then, we have Arthur and his camera. Recently, my friend A said to me, "Your blog should not be about food!" She said this in reference to all the shenanigans that go on in my life, maybe I'll incorporate both- it will certainly be much more amusing around here. It's a good thing I have the ability to laugh at myself! For now though, lets focus on food...

Living in south Louisiana with the temperature rising over 110 degrees makes staying cool while cooking a challenge. I moved to a new house not too long ago and my beast of a range does not have an adequate hood system. (Yes, I moved the range with me... we're attached to one another- mostly me). Turning the oven on is not so ideal right now, when it reaches 350- so does the kitchen. Since food is constantly on my mind, being both my livelihood and my hobby, I am constantly thinking up new concoctions. At present, it's any type of salad, cold soup or pretty much anything which does not require turning the oven on. This may not be one of my most creative meals, but it's great hot or cold, I find it is easy to make and the ingredients are typically at hand. When fresh tortellini is not available, dry pappardelle is a great substitute.

Even in this unbearable heat, my garden is bustling with basil. I can't seem to use it fast enough, soon it will be as tall as me (that, not being much of a challenge). I found a great high quality fresh pre-made tortellini at Whole Foods, the brand is RP Pastas. Mostly I like it because it just simply tastes good; when comparing it with other pre-made fresh pastas I think it is exceptional because the individual raviolis or tortellini are well sealed and don't fill up with cooking water while they boil. (it's a pet peeve of mine when the filling leaks out or water gets in, which makes for squishy ricotta inside and dilutes all the flavors).

I like to shave the parmesan cheese with a vegetable peeler as opposed to grating it so it remains in larger pieces (have I mentioned how much I love cheese?). When sauteing the garlic and pine nuts, make sure to keep heat moderate so as to not burn either- don't get distracted--I've burnt many a pine nut this way. Sometimes I saute half the basil in with the pine nuts- it fries up and turns crunchy which gives the dish added texture. Adding Boiled shrimp or shredded rotisserie chicken would be an easy way to make the salad a little more substantial.

From start to finish, you can prepare the dish in about 20 minutes or less. Serves 4 side servings or 2 entrees.

Tortellini Pasta Salad with Heirloom tomatoes and Basil

1 large ripe Creole or heirloom tomato, 1" dice

1 cup basil chiffonade

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup shaved Parmegiano Regianno

1/2 lb. container fresh cheese tortellini

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

olive oil

freshly ground black pepper and coarse sea salt

1. Boil pasta until cooked through, approximately 10 minutes. Drain and cool with running water. Set aside in a serving bowl.

2. In a small skillet over medium-high heat, heat about 4 tablespoons olive oil until almost smoking. Add garlic and pine nuts, cook until lightly browned. Remove from heat and toss with pasta. Add tomatoes, basil, and cheese. Season generously with salt and pepper and serve.

Asian Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce

I have been craving this salad for some time now. I have seen various versions of it in cookbooks, but the peanut dressing recipes I have seen have not appealed to me. I finally got my peanut sauce down and could not wait to make the noodle salad. I like linguini for this recipe, but regular spaghetti or fettuccini noodles would work fine as well. In the summer, I would probably replace the baby corn with fresh corn, but canned baby corn works fine in the winter. I made a generous chiffonade of mint and cilantro and basil, I needed lots of green in my salad. To make a chiffonade, roll your herbs as if you were rolling a cigar then with a sharp knife slice the "cigar".

Toss a little sesame or vegetable oil (a teaspoon or less), into the noodles after they drain, it will keep them from clumping together. Shredded rotisserie chicken would be a great addition to add some protein. I also seasoned them at the table with Siracha sauce- I like spicy. When thinning the peanut sauce for the noodles, add the water a little at a time until it's the consistency of honey.

This past weekend I went to the farmers market and found the most beautiful purple carrots, I used them here. Almost any vegetable will work well in this salad, other good additions are celery, zuchinni, squash, broccoli and spinach. I like slicing the vegetables in different shapes to add texture.

Asian Noodle Salad with Spicy peanut Sauce

1 lb. linguini, cooked al dente in salted water
1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
2 carrots (I used orange and purple), julienned
1 can water chestnuts, sliced
1 cup canned baby corn
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup mixed herbs (basil, cilantro, and mint) chopped (read about chiffonade above)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1 recipe peanut sauce found here
1/4 cup chopped salted peanuts for sprinkling on top

1. Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk 2 cups peanut sauce with up to 3 tablespoons of water to thin it out a little bit. Add peanut sauce to noodles and vegetables and toss together until evenly coated. Garnish with chopped peanuts and herbs. Serve warm, cold or at room temperature.

Rigatoni with Italian Sausage and Peppers

This is a great pasta dish, the Italian sausage gives the dish a lot of flavor. The rigatoni is robust and rustic, I finish cooking the pasta in the tomato sauce to impart more flavor to it. The dish is a little spicy, which I love, the heat can be adjusted to your taste by the amount of red pepper flakes and freshly ground black pepper added.

When sauteing, keep the vegetables moving by stirring and scraping the pot. Undercook the pasta by a couple of minutes and add it to the simmering sauce, it will finish cooking there and take on all the flavors of the dish. This is good dish for a weeknight meal, specially when short on time- it comes togther in 20-30 minutes.



Rigatoni with Italian Turkey Sausage and Peppers

1 lb. box Rigatoni Pasta
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
2 Italian sausage links, sliced
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup chopped fresh Basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh Oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (about 1 teaspoon pepper)
1/3 cup Marsala
1/4 cup sugar

1. Cook rigatoni in boiling water until almost al dente. ( if you start boiling the water at the time you start the sauce, the pasta will be ready at the same time the sauce is- drain the pasta and place it in the sauce to finish off).

2. In a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat, heat olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the onions and bell peppers and saute until onions start to brown around the edges. Add sausage, black pepper, and red pepper flakes, continue cooking and stirring until sausage is lightly browned.

3. Add crushed tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes longer, scraping the sides of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add remaining ingredients and continue to cook over low heat. When pasta is ready, drain and add to the sauce. Turn heat to simmer, and continue to cook for an additonal 5 minutes. Serve with fresh Basil and shaved Parmesan cheese.

Pappardelle with Baby Cauliflower, Pine Nuts, Bacon and Parmesan

This is what comfort food is all about for me. This dish was born out of my craving for these beautiful little baby cauliflower. I spotted them at the market about a week ago and because I was rushed they didn't make it into my cart. I had been thinking about them for a week (yes, I know... it's a sickness), so when I went back to do my shopping today the baby cauliflower quickly made it into my cart. The challenge now was to prepare a dish in which they would not get lost- or mushy. I used dry Pappardelle pasta, but any shape would work fine. I could have left the bacon out, but the thought of frying the pine nuts and cauliflower in the bacon fat was too good to pass up- gotta love that bacon! baby cauliflower are a bit milder and more tender than the mature variety, but those could be easily substituted instead.

I finished the dish off with a nice nutty Parmegiano-Regianno, I love good cheese. This is my favorite kind of food, simple, quick and satisfying, you can prepare this dish in under 30 minutes. For the bread crumbs, make your own by chopping some day old French bread, place on a cookie sheet and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. After the bread toasts I crush it up with my hands, but you could also give it a quick run through the food processor. The recipe is cooked in parts, I keep the cookie sheet used to bake the bread out and put my cooked ingredients on it while they wait to go back in the pan. When everything is cooked I place the pasta in a large heavy pot, combine all ingredients, shave the parmesan with a vegetable peeler and top the dish with the reserved bread crumbs and cheese. I use a large pot instead of the skillet because I like to have plenty off room to toss the ingredients together.


Pappardelle with Baby Cauliflower, Pine Nuts and Bacon

1/2 lb. dry pappardelle pasta
8 baby cauliflower
1/4 cup pine nuts
4 strips of bacon, chopped
2 cups fresh bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling over pasta
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
1 teaspoon fresh Thyme leaves
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup grated parmesan, plus extra for sprinkling on top
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste



1. Bring a large pot of salted boiling water to a boil. Drop the cauliflower in and cook for 2 minutes, pull them out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Bring the water back to a boil and drop the pasta in, cook until al dente, drain and set aside.

2. In a large skillet, over medium heat, heat olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add breadcrumbs and cook, stirring occasionally for a few minutes or until lightly browned.
Remove from heat and set aside.

3. In the same skillet, over medium high heat fry bacon until crispy. Remove bacon and set aside. Add onions, season with salt and pepper and saute until they begin to caramelize. Reduce heat to medium, add pine nuts, cauliflower, thyme and garlic to skillet and cook until golden about 5-8 minutes. Place the cooked pasta in a large heavy pot, drizzle a little olive oil over the pasta, just enough to coat it and add half of the bread crumbs, chopped parsley, 1/2 cup grated cheese and bacon and saute over medium-low heat until everything is heated through. Check for seasoning and serve hot, topping with reserved bread crumbs and shaved parmesan cheese.

One last note, this is my favorite Le Creuset pot- I use it almost daily!

Orecchiette with Shrimp, fresh-water Mozzarella, Tomatoes, Olives, and Basil

During the week for a variety of reasons, which you don't really want to know, (I would not want to bore you) I am sometimes short on time and 6 o'clock is here before I can blink twice and click my ruby red shoes home. This is a great dish to put together in a flash- the best part is...it wont taste like you put it together in a flash! One very important note though, it will only be as good as what you put in it; the wine, the cheese, the olives, the pasta, and most of all-- the tomatoes. I live in the south, so for me good fresh home-grown tomatoes are available almost year round...after all, I should get some perk for living in 100% humidity! In the event good tomatoes are scarce, a 14 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes (whole, then roughly chopped) will work well.

Notes: I have never found Cerignola Olives which are already pitted, but because they are so large I just slice the meat off the pit with a paring knife. (Cerignolas are my favorite olive, but any good quality black or green olive will work). I try to always use fresh pasta for this dish, fresh Orecchiette it is available at Whole Foods. If Orecchiette is not available at your market, I would substitute with another shape of fresh pasta. Boil the pasta until al dente or a little before, this should take about three minutes over a rolling boil. Finish cooking the pasta in the the pan with the sauce, this will allow it to soak up all the flavors in the dish. There will not be much sauce left when the dish is finished, it should have almost all been soaked up by the Orecchiette. Adding the cheese in stages allows for some of the cheese to melt and some of it to remain whole.

Orecchiette with Shrimp, Fresh-water Mozzarella, Tomatoes, Olives and Basil

1 lb. fresh shrimp
1 1lb. package fresh Orecchiette pasta (the type I get is actually 500 grams, 17 oz.)
1 pint fresh cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup fresh basil, plus additional basil for garnish
1/4 cup black Cerignola olives, pitted
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup salted capers
1/4 cup white wine
1 pt. fresh-water mozzarella, roughly chopped
salt to taste

1. In a large stock pot bring water for pasta to a rolling boil. Add fresh pasta and cook for about 3 minutes or until barely al dente. Drain and set aside.

2. In a large pan heat olive oil over medium heat, add shrimp, season with salt and pepper. Cook shrimp until opaque in color. With a slotted spoon, remove shrimp from pot and set aside.

3. In the same pot with the olive oil, add garlic, black pepper, red pepper flakes, capers, olives and tomatoes. Saute over medium heat until garlic is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add 1/3 cup white wine and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

4. Add pasta, and basil and cook for 3 minutes longer. Turn off the heat, add half the mozzarella and shrimp. Cover the pot and allow the dish to sit for about 10-15 minutes, this will allow the pasta to soak up most of the sauce and the mozzarella will melt. Add reserved mozzarella, garnish with reserved basil, taste for salt and pepper and serve.