Sun-dried Tomato and Brussels Sprouts Carbonara

Hi. This is not a healthy post. In fact, it's a decidedly unhealthy post. But this week I had to get some blood work done, and apparently I've got such great cholesterol levels they warranted an exclamation point in my doctor's notes, so I've decided that for tonight my tastebuds are gonna beat my health sensibilities. Tonight, my friends, we make carbonara.



The first time I remember anybody around me eating carbonara was during my first time in NYC when I was 11. My dad took me along on a business trip. We went to see "Beauty and the Beast" on Broadway, and before that we got dinner at some Italian place, because I was the pickiest eater known to man at that time in my life, and I probably needed to find pasta with butter and parmesan cheese and possibly broccoli. Truth be told, I have no memory of my dinner from that evening, but I do remember my dad looking very pleased as the waiter came over, cracked an egg into a dish, mixed it up, mixed it into a hot pasta concoction, and placed the whole thing in front of my dad. I thought it was disgusting. My dad thought it was delicious.

Well, I'm no longer 11, and although I only experienced authentic, meaty carbonara on a couple of occasions before deciding to be a vegetarian, I know it's good. So's this. The sun-dried tomatoes add a flavor burst that, while not mimicking pancetta in flavor, gives a similar zingy effect. The egg and half-and-half are just as creamy as could be, and once you put parmesan in anything it gets 1000 times better, yeah? The brussels sprouts were more of an afterthought for me. I like putting veggies in my pasta for diversity of texture, and I thought this could be a nice change from the typical spinach and mushrooms.



Ingredients

• 1/2 lb brussels sprouts, washed, ends trimmed off
• 1 tbs butter + 1 tbs oil, or 2 tbs of one or the other
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 6 oz pasta of choice
• 1/4 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes (mine were dry, not oil-packed, but either will work)
• 2/3 cup half and half, cream, whole milk, or a combination (the consistency of the final sauce will be thicker the higher the fat content)
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp mustard
• 1 tsp dried basil
• dash garlic powder (optional)
• 2/3 cup parmesan cheese (fresh is best. if you don't have it, use whatcha got)
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

• Melt the oil and butter together in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for a minute or two until fragrant. 
• Place brussels sprouts into the pan, turn to low, and cover. Let cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sprouts are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. 



before



After

• While the sprouts are cooking, cook your pasta.
• Mix half and half, mustard, egg, and a dash of salt and pepper together
• When the pasta is done, drain (but don't rinse!) and add to the sprouts. Pour in the egg mixture and add in the basil, tomatoes, and cheese. Cook over low heat, stirring, until the mix comes together (about a minute). Eating undercooked eggs is scary. Eating pasta with scrambled eggs is not the goal. Use your best judgement. Taste and add salt and pepper and/or more cheese as needed. Serve and enjoy.

Fairy Tale Eggplant Pasta

Did you know that Fairy Tale eggplants are a thing? Because if you don't, you should.

Fairy Tale Eggplants are not your ordinary eggplants. In addition to being incredibly-over-the-top unspeakable-adorable, they cook up quickly and beautifully, and they are sweeter and creamier than their larger siblings. They're a true treat with a pretty short season, so when I found them at the market this morning I snatched them up.

Fairy Tale Eggplant rock. Here's something to cook with them. Ingredients are pretty approximate. This is quite forgiving. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb pasta-- I used whole wheat spaghetti, but anything would do
• several fairy tale eggplants. I had 8, but depending on how itty bitty they are anywhere from 5-10 could likely work just fine.
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• two generous glugs of olive oil
• 1 sprig fresh basil, minced (stem too!) or 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 14 oz can pureed tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 oz parmesan cheese
• additional freshly grated cheese for the top 

Procedure

• Cut eggplant into quarters, for smaller ones, or 8ths, for larger ones. Throw a glug of oil into a large pan and let it heat, then add the eggplant. Try to do as close to a single layer as possible. If you have too much eggplant, do this in two batches. (I did!) Meanwhile, put up water to boil and cook the pasta once it does.

• Let the eggplant caramelize over medium-high heat, turning as needed and adding a touch more oil if it sticks. When they're nice and soft (this shouldn't take more than 4 or 5 minutes), add the garlic, oregano, a little salt, and the tomatoes. 
  
• Turn heat to medium low, or all the way to low if it won't stop sputtering at you. 
• Let the mix come together gently, adding the fresh basil after a minute or two. 
• Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan, adjusting salt and pepper to taste.
• 
  
• Serve with additional cheese. Yum yum!
  

Pasta with Summer

Yes, I will claim that the dish I'm about to post here is the quintessential summer spaghetti dish. I adore my pesto, and I enjoy many other summer pastas, but for a true summer pasta you gotta embrace the tomato, and it's gotta be quick.

So, I started with this (because it was just for me--if you're cooking for a crowd, double/triple/octuple appropriately):

A handful of chopped fresh tomatoes (mini-heirlooms from Trader Joe's in this case--if you've got fresh, use them!!), a handful of chopped basil from the garden, and a thinly sliced clove of garlic from the CSA. 

If I'd chopped the garlic smaller, I honestly could have had this sauce raw, but I like to cook just a little bit to mellow out the garlic, and my grandma has a habit of refrigerating tomatoes, which meant that cooking them could give them more flavor. Still, a light touch is important.

Put water up to boil and cook your pasta--I chose about 1/4 lb of straight up spaghetti (which made dinner and lunch-- 2 bowls like the size of the one pictured below), but feel free to use whatever shape you like, and adjust amounts accordingly. 

While your pasta's cooking (and do wait until the water's boiled and the pasta's in it, because you really don't need much time for this), throw a glug of olive oil into a small frying pan over medium-low heat. For me, a glug is about a TBS. Swish it around a bit and then add your garlic. You want it slowly sizzling so that it will cook but not burn. Toss in a couple strips of basil as well, to season the oil. 

When the garlic is getting really nicely aromatic, about 5 minutes into cooking, toss in your basil and tomatoes and cook just for a couple of minutes, stirring so everything blends. Season with salt and pepper, and perhaps a bit more oil if things start to stick. When the tomatoes are slightly softened, pull the sauce from the heat.

Drain the pasta and mix with the sauce. At this point, I threw in a bit of crumbled feta, but that's definitely optional. 

Sprinkle with parmesan, drizzle with oil, and smell the summer. 

Pizza!

Pizza's a big deal for me. I eat Papa John's and Pizza Hut on occasion, it's true, but in general I am indeed a pizza snob. The crust has to be appropriately thin, the toppings fresh, the cheese plentiful but not overwhelming. My go-to crust comes from the NYT and can be found here. The good news about the NYT recipe is that it makes a crust like no other-- very easy to stretch into shape and wonderfully crisp and golden once cooked. The bad news is that it requires a 24 hour+ rising period. So, when I'm planning on pizza, I go for that recipe. When I'm not, I hunt for another. I have yet to find my perfect "in-a-pinch" pizza dough. Yesterday, I decided to give Jamie Oliver's a try. Jamie's awesome, but the man loves his meat, so when I encounter a recipe of his that doesn't require flesh, I tend to jump on it.

My grandma absolutely loved the crust; she called it rich. I wasn't a huge fan. The dough tasted a bit sweet and was breadier than I like my pizza to be. It's not bad, but it's not fantastic either. The reason I'm blogging this pizza isn't so much for the crust as for the toppings, which I definitely intend to replicate on future pizzas. The crust recipe is here; I found halving it to be enough for 2 medium/largeish pies

For toppings, I went in two directions, opting for one traditional pizza with tomatoes, cheese, and veggies; and another with a white sauce, caramelized onions, and arugula. The traditional pizza doesn't require much prep work at all; the white pizza, due to the caramelized onions, needs to be thought up at least an hour before baking.

Also, sorry I don't have a lot of prep pictures. We were having company, and it was kinda awkward to play with the iPhone while chatting with guests. :)


Ingredients (Traditional)
-a sprinkling of salt and olive oil
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-about 6 oz diced tomatoes, preferably fresh but canned will work too
-a handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
-8 oz of sliced mushrooms, sauteed in a little butter with a few torn basil leaves and a minced clove of garlic
-several sun-dried tomatoes, julienned or minced.
-7 oz of grated mozzarella
-1 oz feta cheese, crumbled
-black pepper to taste


Procedure
1) Pre-heat the oven as hot as it'll go. For me, that's 500°F. If your oven gets hotter, all the more power to you. If you're fortunate enough to have a pizza stone, make sure it's in the oven on the lowest shelf, so it can get nice and hot. If not, grease a baking sheet and stick it on the middle rack. Your pizza will be good--just not as good. On that note, I highly recommend investing in a stone. Even the cheapest ones (I think mine was $25 or so) make a big difference in quality, and they can be used to bake bread as well.
2) I find (clean) hands to be the best way to prep the pizza. Roll out half of the dough (if using Jamie's recipe) to a 1/4 inch circle, or whatever size necessary to fit your pizza stone or baking tray. Use your fingers to pinch the edges all around the dough, creating a ridged side the better to keep the toppings/sauce in place. Put the entire crust on top of a piece of parchment paper, unless of course you have a pizza peel. The parchment paper will ease the process of getting the dough in and out of the hot oven.
3) Start with the olive oil, sprinkling a bit on the dough and using your hand to rub it around. Add more oil if you can't get a little sheen all the way to the edges. Sprinkle on a dash of salt, followed by the minced garlic, the basil, and the tomatoes, trying to get even coverage.
4) Spread a thin layer of mozzarella over the dough, then add the mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, feta, and the rest of the mozzarella. Grind black pepper over the top.
5) Bake for about 10 minutes. The best way I've found to get the pizza into the oven is to put the pizza, on top of the parchment paper, onto a large cutting board, pulling the rack with the pizza stone or baking tray as far out of the oven as you can, and carefully tugging the paper onto the stone/sheet. Of course, you want to do this as quickly as possible to preserve the heat, but don't touch the stone or the oven or do anything else that will burn your hands! The crust will grow golden and the cheeses will bubble and perhaps even start to brown in spots.
6) Remove from the oven, let cool for just a moment, slice, and serve.

Ingredients (White)
-White Sauce:
      -1 TB butter
      -1 TB flour
      -1/2 cup milk (I used skim--use whatever you have)
      -2 cloves minced garlic
      -dashes of salt, pepper, and marjoram
-1 tsp lemon juice
-1 large onion, sliced thinly
-8 oz grated mozzarella
-1/4 cup parmesan cheese
-1 cup baby arugula, tossed in 1 tsp balsamic vinegar


Procedure (White)
1) Prep the caramelized onions. Essentially, you're allowing them to cook slowly enough to really release and celebrate the sugars inside. Take as wide-bottomed a pan or pot as you have and coat with about a TBS of olive oil or butter. When the oil shimmers, add your onions, stirring gently for a few moments, trying to get as many onions to retain surface contact with the bottom as possible. Allow the onions to cook on medium-low heat, stirring often enough to keep them from burning and seldom enough to let them brown. That turned out to be about every 5 minutes, on my stove. After the first 10 minutes, sprinkle the onions with a bit of salt and just the tiniest dash of sugar. The entire process should take at least 30 minutes and up to an hour. Just be patient, and when they look wonderfully brown, remove them from the heat.

Onions pre-caramelization

Onions 15 minutes into cooking

Caramelized Onions

2) Prep the sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir in the flour quickly, trying to avoid lumps. After a moment, pour in the milk, stirring well. Add a bit of salt and pepper and marjoram, along with the basil and garlic. Let the milk heat gently, stirring often. When it begins to bubble around the sides and thicken, cut the heat.
3) Prep the crust as described above.
4) Spoon the white sauce over the crust, spreading it evenly over the surface. Top with the onions and mozzarella, then sprinkle with black pepper.
5) Bake for about 9 minutes, then pull out of the oven, top with the arugula, and bake for one minute more before pulling out, letting cool very briefly, and serving.

Leek, Potato, and Mushroom Soufflé

Yes, I know. Soufflés are crazy. They fall. They don't rise to begin with. They don't taste better than quiche and are so much harder to get right! And yet, there is so very much satisfaction to be gained from pulling a soufflé out of the oven with the knowledge that you, little old you, have attained such clichéd kitchen mastery.

Here's a secret: the potatoes help! They create starchy structure that make this particular dish much more likely to stand tall. So, especially if this is your first soufflé adventure, this is a great recipe to use. I based my recipe very closely off of one in last week's NYT: Leek and Potato Soufflé with Ham and Fontina. If you're a meat-eater, by all means try the original recipe; it's probably delicious! Being a vegetarian, I opted to mess around a bit with the ingredients and ended up very happy with the result. Also, I was cooking for two, and in retrospect I think I would have tried to more or less halve the recipe and use a 1 qt. soufflé dish so as to avoid leftovers. The leftovers weren't bad, but it was best fresh.

For this recipe, you'll need two things: a 2 qt. soufflé dish (although a deep casserole dish might work?), and some form of hand beaters (see above) or a mixer to work with the egg whites. I've tried whisking egg whites to stiff peaks before. Believe me, it ain't pretty. I almost never go for working with electronic cooking implements, because I so enjoy the process of doing everything by hand, but if you haven't got one of those handheld beaters (my new favorite kitchen implement, by the way), put the egg whites in the mixer and plug it in.

Ingredients

Oh Trader Joe's. You are just the cutest thing.
Even your potatoes are friendly.

-1.5 lbs preferably yellow-fleshed potatoes, chopped and peeled (if you like)
-about 1 c milk and 1/4 cup cream. Or all milk, or half-and-half, or cream
-salt and pepper to taste
-2 TB butter, divided
-1.5 leeks, split down the center and chopped relatively thinly. 
-1/2 tsp. dried thyme 
-1/2 tsp. dried oregano
-3 minced cloves of garlic
-cayenne to taste
-1/2 red pepper, diced
-3 oz mushrooms, diced
-4 oz. grated cheese (we used a gruyere-cheddar hybrid, but a fontina or swiss could also be nice)
-3 eggs, separated
-a couple TB of grated parmesan


Procedure
1. Boil the potatoes and mash them with the milk or cream and a bit of salt and pepper. Cool slightly
2. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F, coat a 2 qt. soufflé dish with butter and sprinkle the bottom and sides with parmesan.









3. Heat 1.5 TB butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the leaks, along with some salt and pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes until softened but still very green. Add in the garlic, red pepper, thyme, and oregano and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the leeks mix to the potato mix. 

4. Add the other half TB of butter to the skillet, and saute the mushrooms over medium high heat until they release their liquid and are nicely brown, then stir into the potato mix along with the cheese and a bit of cayenne. Adjust the seasonings, making it a little stronger than you think it should be to make up for the eggs. 

5. Separate the eggs, placing the whites into a medium bowl and mixing the yolks into the potato mixture.  Use your hand beater or electric mixer to peat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Stir 1/3 of the egg whites into the potato mix, and then quickly and gently fold in the other 2/3s. 

                                       soft peaks

stiff peaks

6. Scrape the batter into the soufflé dish and top with grated parmesan.
7. Bake for about 40-50 minutes until nicely browned. Check with a toothpick or skewer, but keep in mind that the potatoes add some moisture that will leave the toothpick looking a bit damp even when it's done--don't assume it's raw egg!

8. Remove carefully from the oven and serve.