Cooking
This dish does NOT taste of anchovies.
Just thought I'd get that out of the way. So - this week, Cathy and I am focusing on pasta. That versatile backdrop for sauces rich or light, chunky or smooth. You can have it fresh, or you can have it dried. While I at first thought this a golden opportunity to actually try using the pasta machine I got this Christmas, time ran away from me, and heck, on a daily basis, I guess most of us need recipes for dressing up the dried kind, rather than the fresh kind. The fresh is sort of a feast in itself anyways, stuffed it with goodies or as smooth, silky strands of home made tagliatelle or the likes.
This dish does NOT taste of anchovies.
And what better to try than Debbie of Words to Eat By's Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Figs & Mint. I was so intrigued by the combination of sweet figs and savory (admittedly, tiny bit of) anchovy paste, and the ahem - somewhat "windy" smelling cauliflower - if you know what I mean?;-) - that I had to try it.
This dish does NOT taste of anchovies.
The cauliflower smelled magnificent when it came out of the oven - I roasted it for a little less time than Debbie stated, but my oven was on a bit higher heat, so that makes sense. The rosemary and chili goes great with it, and I'm sure I'll use this method for other purposes too, in a salad for example.
The rest is simple and easy - fry garlic, anchovy paste, figs that has been soaked, mint - add cooked pasta, et presto! Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Figs and Mint. Mmmmm - 'twas yummy. Boyfriend added a couple of slices of protein (fried bacon) and the smokiness with the figs wasn't off the mark, but the dish was as perfect as could be without it too. Next time, I'll take Debbie's advise of adding the soaking liquid and pasta-water in note, to make more of a sauce in the dish. I'm actually thinking that if it's left dry-ish, it might work wonders as a cold pasta salad...
And really, you can't taste the anchovies. I'm pretty sure I cut even add a tad more and get away with it.
Cathy's leaving for Sicily (that lucky girl!) but has cooked up TWO pasta dishes before leaving - BRAVA!
- Spaghetti With Walnuts And Anchovies: Recipe
Conventional wisdom says a good cookbook is one that allows you to reproduce a given recipe with consistently successful results. Another opinion is that the recipes should be really special, not run-of-the-mill or the best versions of classics. I may...
- Al Dente Pasta: Favorite Things
It's no secret that I'm crazy about pasta. I could eat it everyday. Something about the texture of noodles is so appealing to me. I like glutinous chewy noodles, egg noodles, tiny little types like orzo, soup noodles, crispy noodles. I like them...
- Spaghetti Alla Carbonara:recipe
Bacon and eggs are breakfast food, right? In the United States they are. Eggs especially. Served all kinds of ways--fried, scrambled, baked, boiled, you name it. But a couple of my favorite ways to eat "bacon and eggs" are French or Italian style and...
- Comfort Food/italian Food Names
Lee's got a cold. That means comfort food from all around the world. We started the week with a big pot of home made chicken matzo ball soup. The matzo ball recipe I use is on the back of the Streit's brand matzo meal box. It calls for 1 cup...
- Until It Looks Right
I was speaking with a friend of mine last week who wanted ideas for a dinner party. She’s in New York now (*sniff*), and she told me what was in season there: She was still seeing lots of springtime produce. I suggested a strawberry-asparagus salad...
Cooking
Dining with the Bloggers - April 27th
This dish does NOT taste of anchovies.
Just thought I'd get that out of the way. So - this week, Cathy and I am focusing on pasta. That versatile backdrop for sauces rich or light, chunky or smooth. You can have it fresh, or you can have it dried. While I at first thought this a golden opportunity to actually try using the pasta machine I got this Christmas, time ran away from me, and heck, on a daily basis, I guess most of us need recipes for dressing up the dried kind, rather than the fresh kind. The fresh is sort of a feast in itself anyways, stuffed it with goodies or as smooth, silky strands of home made tagliatelle or the likes.
This dish does NOT taste of anchovies.
And what better to try than Debbie of Words to Eat By's Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Figs & Mint. I was so intrigued by the combination of sweet figs and savory (admittedly, tiny bit of) anchovy paste, and the ahem - somewhat "windy" smelling cauliflower - if you know what I mean?;-) - that I had to try it.
This dish does NOT taste of anchovies.
The cauliflower smelled magnificent when it came out of the oven - I roasted it for a little less time than Debbie stated, but my oven was on a bit higher heat, so that makes sense. The rosemary and chili goes great with it, and I'm sure I'll use this method for other purposes too, in a salad for example.
The rest is simple and easy - fry garlic, anchovy paste, figs that has been soaked, mint - add cooked pasta, et presto! Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Figs and Mint. Mmmmm - 'twas yummy. Boyfriend added a couple of slices of protein (fried bacon) and the smokiness with the figs wasn't off the mark, but the dish was as perfect as could be without it too. Next time, I'll take Debbie's advise of adding the soaking liquid and pasta-water in note, to make more of a sauce in the dish. I'm actually thinking that if it's left dry-ish, it might work wonders as a cold pasta salad...
And really, you can't taste the anchovies. I'm pretty sure I cut even add a tad more and get away with it.
Cathy's leaving for Sicily (that lucky girl!) but has cooked up TWO pasta dishes before leaving - BRAVA!
- Spaghetti With Walnuts And Anchovies: Recipe
Conventional wisdom says a good cookbook is one that allows you to reproduce a given recipe with consistently successful results. Another opinion is that the recipes should be really special, not run-of-the-mill or the best versions of classics. I may...
- Al Dente Pasta: Favorite Things
It's no secret that I'm crazy about pasta. I could eat it everyday. Something about the texture of noodles is so appealing to me. I like glutinous chewy noodles, egg noodles, tiny little types like orzo, soup noodles, crispy noodles. I like them...
- Spaghetti Alla Carbonara:recipe
Bacon and eggs are breakfast food, right? In the United States they are. Eggs especially. Served all kinds of ways--fried, scrambled, baked, boiled, you name it. But a couple of my favorite ways to eat "bacon and eggs" are French or Italian style and...
- Comfort Food/italian Food Names
Lee's got a cold. That means comfort food from all around the world. We started the week with a big pot of home made chicken matzo ball soup. The matzo ball recipe I use is on the back of the Streit's brand matzo meal box. It calls for 1 cup...
- Until It Looks Right
I was speaking with a friend of mine last week who wanted ideas for a dinner party. She’s in New York now (*sniff*), and she told me what was in season there: She was still seeing lots of springtime produce. I suggested a strawberry-asparagus salad...