Pepperoni pasta

This was easy, fast, and incredibly good. :)



I came across this Cavatappi with Pepperoni recipe in foodandwine.com's "Quick Pasta" slideshow. Pasta, tomatoes, garlic, onion, bell pepper, and a very respectable amount of pepperoni to give it a bit of heat. I followed the recipe pretty closely. However, instead of dumping all the grease from the pepperoni, I kept a bit of it in the pan and used that to sauté the onion and pepper. I also used a couple of 8 oz cans of plain no-salt-added tomato sauce instead of the whole tomatoes in the recipe.



This was filling, but not heavy. Nice mild heat from the pepperoni, balanced by the sweet onions and peppers. It was done in under half an hour, not much cleanup... gotta love that.

Two thumbs up!

Lime and Basil Pasta Salad

We've had a couple of hot, humid days here, and it just seemed like the perfect opportunity to make a summery pasta salad. It was inspired by Orzo with Grilled Shrimp, Summer Vegetables, and Pesto Vinaigrette by Sara Foster. Lovely recipe, except for two main ingredients that I can't eat: shrimp and pesto (which usually has nuts in it). This has the same underlying idea as the original: pasta, grilled summer vegetables, lime vinaigrette, fresh basil. Light, refreshing, and perfect for a warm night.

I have a countertop grill, so there was no chance that the green beans would fall through the grate. For a regular grill, you could wrap the green beans up in foil and grill them in a packet.



Lime and Basil Pasta Salad
serves 4 as a main dish, 6 as a side

8 ounces orzo or other small pasta
Juice of one lime
4 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 red or yellow bell pepper, quartered
1/4 to 1/2 lb green beans, ends trimmed
1 pound cooked chicken, cut into 1" cubes
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm, stirring occasionally. Drain. Rinse with cold water; drain well. Transfer to large bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon oil.

In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, 3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat grill to medium-high heat. Brush the grill with olive oil, then grill pepper until softened and lightly browned, about 5-7 minutes. Remove pepper to cool. Grill green beans until they develop grill marks, about 5 minutes (they should still have a nice crunch to them). Remove green beans to cool.

Once cooled, chop green beans into 1" pieces and chop bell pepper into bite-size pieces or smaller. Add cooked chicken, green beans, and bell pepper to bowl with pasta. Add lime vinaigrette and sliced basil; toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Fusilli Carbonara

Pasta + bacon + egg + leeks + 15 minutes = happy me.

And really, can you blame me for that? A bowl of hearty, filling comfort food (did I mention the bacon and eggs?) in about as much time as it takes to cook a pot of pasta. I even splurged a bit and got some Niman Ranch uncured applewood smoked bacon for this... out of this world. The leeks add a mild sweet onion flavor that complements the saltiness of the bacon very well.



Recipe: Orrechiette Carbonara (Bon Appétit, April 2008)

Grilled cheese with onion jam, Emmentaler, and escarole

Got this recipe out of February's issue of Gourmet, and I have to say, it's a nice way to make grilled cheese into something a bit out of the ordinary.

I didn't see Taleggio cheese at Fresh Market, so I got a little brick of French Emmentaler instead. It doesn't have as strong of a flavor as the Taleggio would have had, so I tried to go light on the onion jam so the cheese wouldn't be completely overpowered. Of course, I'm addicted to the jam anyway, so there could have been no cheese at all and I probably still would have been happy (Stonewall Kitchen Roasted Garlic Onion Jam, for those who are curious). The sweetness of the jam, the nuttiness of the cheese, the bitterness from the escarole, the slight tang from the sourdough bread... everything balanced well.

Recipe: Grilled Cheese with Onion Jam, Taleggio, and Escarole (Gourmet magazine, February 2008)

"Irish" meatloaf with holiday potatoes

I collect meatloaf recipes, ideally ones with an off-the-wall ingredient or something unexpected. When I came across this cheddar meatloaf recipe on The Fresh Market website, I was drawn to the use of quick-cooking oats as a binder, instead of the standard breadcrumbs. And as I was making it, it occurred to me that there were two very "Irish" ingredients in it: oats and cheddar. I didn't bother with mini-meatloaves, as you can see. Nor did I "finely chop" the onion, because I like larger chunks of onion. It ended up moist but not greasy, and held together pretty well even though I cut into it the second it came out of the oven. This is one of those "nobody would guess the secret ingredient" recipes; it certainly doesn't taste like oatmeal.

And since it's meatloaf, there's a law that it has to be served with mashed potatoes... another thing that people associate with Ireland. These here aren't normal mashed potatoes. They are the single most unhealthy potato preparation I've ever made; as you can imagine, they are also absolutely delicious. I guess in the interests of eating healthy, one could use low-fat cream cheese and leave out the butter. For special occasions, though, these potatoes (also from Fresh Market) should get the full shebang. I left the skins on mine, since these were just for me and I like potato skins.

In keeping with the theme, you could certainly bring color into it and have a green vegetable or salad on the side. For me, this was one of those meat-and-potatoes moments where I just wanted comfort food and didn't want to fuss with anything else for the sake of a "complete" meal. Broccoli would be nice, maybe roasted alongside the meatloaf and potatoes (bonus: both dishes cook for the same time at the same oven temperature).

Recipes:
Lil Cheddar Meatloaves (The Fresh Market)
Holiday Potatoes (The Fresh Market)