CityMama™

Summer Pasta with Grilled Asparagus, Heirloom Tomatoes, and Avocado

This is one of those easy weeknight dinners for when you want a main dish and the veggie sides all in one. It's also a perfect way to use up half-full packages of pasta. Frozen grilled asparagus is a great veggie to keep stashed in your freezer. I love uncooked pasta sauces of all kinds, but this is one of my favorites. Simple, satisfying, and delicious. Best of all, ready in about 15 minutes.

• 1/2 a package of Tinkyada brown rice pasta spirals (or your favorite pasta)
• 2 heirloom tomatoes, chopped
• 3/4 package of Trader Joe's frozen grilled asparagus, thawed, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 a Mexican avocado*, peeled and diced
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• a hefty drizzle of your fruitiest, grassiest, greenest, most flavorful extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tbsps shredded (not grated) pecorino Romano

Cook pasta in generously salted, rapidly boiling water 2 minutes less than package directions indicate (so it's al dente—we like it crunchy in the middle).

Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, asparagus, avocado, garlic, and olive oil in a large bowl. Salt and pepper to taste, mix gently and set aside. Note: be generous with the oil—it's making the sauce.

When pasta is finished cooking, drain and add to bowl with veggies. Toss gently, sprinkle with cheese and serve.  Also great at room temperature.

Serves 4.

*I was recently sent a basket of Mexican avocados to review (the kind that have the green skin that blackens as they ripen). I love that variety because they are creamy and mild, and because they remind me of Hawaiian avocadoes.

Penne with Sweet Onion Sauce

 

I found this gorgeous pic at fun food blog Definitely Not Martha. Please visit her--her recipes look amazing!

When I first tasted this sauce (at my aunt's house in Rome), it literally blew me away. The sauce was made from one, ordinary, and economical ingredient, and I was hooked at first bite.  When you think about how delicious caramelized onions are, it's not a far stretch to imagine that slow cooked sweet onions combined with pasta and a generous sprinkling of Pecorino Romano (or Parmiggiano) would be a delicious thing.  Now that it's fall, this pasta sauce is back to being a staple in our dinner repertoire.  I hope it makes its way onto your fall menus, too.

PENNE WITH SWEET ONIONS

You can use any short pasta with sauce--penne, rigatoni, farfalle, etc. My Roman aunt always adds a bouillion cube to her vegetable pasta sauces.  It's the secret ingredient to deliciousness. Trust me on this.

This is also a great do-ahead sauce. You can start it in the morning and just let it hang out on the stove all day until you are ready to reheat and serve.

You know what else is good in this? Pancetta or guanciale.  For a non-vegetable version, you can saute 5 ounces of diced pancetta or guanciale with the onions and garlic.

• 4 extra-large Texas Sweet or Vidalia onions (or 8 normal/med-sized yellow onions), peeled, halved, and sliced thinly--they will cook down a lot
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• olive oil
• 1 Knorr chicken (or veggie if you prefer) bouillion cube
• 1/2-3/4 cup dry white wine
• water (if needed)
• a teaspoon of fresh marjoram
• sea salt (my preference these days is Maldon) and freshly ground pepper to taste
• Pecorino Romano, grated
• 1 lb of penne or other short pasta

In a large heavy bottomed pot or Dutch over, heat 5-6 generous glugs of olive oil over medium heat. (Italians use WAY more olive oil that we do in pasta sauces so don't be afraid to really coat your pot and then some.) Add the garlic and onions and bouillion cube and cook stirring often until onions are very wilted and soft.  This should take about 30 minutes. Don't let the onions burn.  If they start to stick, splash in some wine a little at a time until they no longer stick. Then reduce heat to medium-low and let the onions really cook down. They should be golden brown, not deeply caramelized. If they start to get too much color, lower heat. Again, if they start to stick, add a splash or two of water as often as needed, and give them a good stir.  Keep an eye on them--adding water and stirring as needed--for about two hours, then cover and remove from heat.  

Put the pasta on to cook, and while you are doing that, bring the onions to a simmer and add the fresh marjoram. Taste for salt and pepper.  If the sauce needs loosening you can add a little more water or wait until the pasta is boiling and add a ladle of the pasta water.  The recipe isn't meant to make a really saucy-sauce, but you definitely want the onions to be loose, not clumped together.

Combine the drained pasta with the sauce and pass the grated Pecorino Romano.  It's a rich sauce so this pasta makes a nice first course for a fall dinner where everyone can have a little taste.  Serves 4-8 depending on course.

Uncooked spaghetti sauce: Italian tuna, heirloom tomatoes, mint, and orange

This pasta reminds me of all the flavors of the Amalfi coast. It's a simple, uncooked sauce—perfect for summer—which comes together while you are cooking the pasta. The key is to use a really good imported tuna packed in olive oil, sweet summer tomatoes, and the freshest herbs.  Mint and tomatoes go really well together. So do tomatoes and orange. I decided to gild the lily and throw everything together and it worked quite nicely. It was so delicious that Bunny and Wallie ate every speck and were licking their pasta bowls. I think I'll call this one:

Spaghettini Positano

• 1 lb spaghettini or spaghetti
• 1 5 or 6 oz can or jar of imported Italian or Spanish tuna (Genova or Flott) packed in olive oil
• 3-4 glugs of extra virgin olive oil (1/2 cup or so)
• 2 medium heirloom tomatoes (different colors are lovely), seeded and chopped
• 1/3 a bunch of chives, minced (about a handful)
• 1/2 a Vidalia, Texas Sweet or Maui sweet onion, chopped
• 6-8 fresh mint leaves, rough-chopped
• the juice of one orange, if you don't have an orange, a lemon (if you don't have fresh citrus, skip it)
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper
• small dried Tuscan chilis to crumble over your serving (or chili flakes)

Cook pasta for about a minute less than the box indicates in generously salted water.

Place remaining ingredients in a large serving bowl, toss together gently, then season to taste with salt and pepper. When pasta is cooked and drained, dump into the bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve at once. (Cheese is not served with this sauce.)

Here is the sauce hanging out, waiting for its pasta partner.

Potato-Mac Salad [or an ode to my love of Best Foods mayo]

photo: ohioandoakley.com

Hawaii is equally famous for it's macaroni and potato salads (okay, maybe just "island famous") so it only makes sense that two great tastes would taste great together, right?  For those that are skeptical (and I know you are reading), I say, you just have to try it once and you will be a believer. 

By now you probably already know that Hawaii consumes more Spam per capita than any of the other 49 United States, but I would venture to say that Hawaiians also consume more Best Foods mayonnaise.  When making mac or potato salads, there is just no substitute. There just isn't so don't try to argue with any islander. You won't convince her otherwise. Best Foods FTMFW!

This salad was a huge hit at our Memorial Day barbecue where it was made by my sister.  I love tuna in my macaroni potato salad so I include it here (in a recipe adapted from the excellent cookbook, The Island Plate), but you can omit it if you are a purist. Don't balk at the amount of mayo used. You want the salad to be very white and creamy.

POTATO-MAC SALAD

If you don't want to make chili pepper water, you can subsitute Tabasco sauce.  Potato-Mac salad is a plate lunch staple in Hawaii where it is usually served alongside--you guessed it, MORE STARCH--two scoops of rice.

• 1/2 lb macaroni
• 2 white (waxy) potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1.5 cups Best Foods mayo
• Chili pepper water* (recipe follows)
• 1 6-ounce can of tuna, drained and flaked
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/2 carrot, peeled and grated
• 1/2 cup minced celery
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• chopped black or green olives (optional)
• chopped parsley or paprika for garnish (optional)

Cook macaroni in salted water according to package directions. Drain, but do not rinse. Set aside.

Cook potatoes in gently boiling, salted water until just tender, about 7 minutes.  Check at the 5 minute mark to make sure they aren't too soft. Drain.

Place macaroni and potatoes in a large bowl. Sprinkle with chili pepper water, salt, and pepper to taste, and let sit for 10 minutes, then toss with 1 cup of mayonnaise and refrigerate until very cold, at least 1 hour. Add remaining ingredients and refrigerate. Just before serving taste for salt and pepper and toss with remaining half cup of mayonnaise so salad looks creamy and fresh. Garnish as you wish.

Chili Pepper Water

Recipe adapted from The Island Plate.

• Water (or some use gin or vodka or a combination of gin or vodka and water)
• generous pinch of coarse sea salt, Hawaiian preferred
• 2-3 small, hot, red chili peppers, stemmed and sliced in half. Since Hawaiian (nioi) peppers are virtually impossible to find outside of Hawaii use small Thai chilis instead.(Available at any Thai or Vietnamese grocer.)
• 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and smashed

Fill an old, cleaned glass 8 oz. bottle (i.e. ketchup bottle) 3/4 full of water then pour water into a pot along with Hawaiian salt. Heat water until just boiling; turn off heat and throw in chilis and garlic. Allow to cool and pour into ketchup bottle. Keeps for 3 months in the fridge and gets hotter as it ages.

The beginning of so many great things

In this case, arrabiata sauce for penne. Wish you could smell my kitchen now...

Sicilian-style broccoli sauce for pasta

Broccoli, garlic, onions, raisins, anchovies (omit if desired), white wine, double-concentrated tomato paste (from a tube), and a pinch of saffron. Came together in about 10 minutes.Try it. You'll like it.

Penne with slow-cooked red pepper sauce

This is another one of those unusual pasta sauces that I learned from my aunt who lives in Rome. I fantasize about publishing a book with her pasta sauce recipes in them because they are so unique and delicious. You just don't find them in American Italian restaurants. 

Oftentimes her sauces only contain one main ingredient, usually a vegetable and usually not tomatoes. This is one example. The red bell peppers are cooked slowly until they take on a stewed consistency. By the time you toss the sauce with the penne they coat the pasta with mellow, melty pepperiness. Think roasted red peppers, but not as assertive, tossed with pasta and lots of luscious cheese.  Here's how you do it.

PASTA WITH SLOW-COOKED RED PEPPER SAUCE

• 4-5 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3-4 generous glugs of olive oil
• 1 chicken bouillon cube* (or my preference, an equivalent amount of chicken base)
• 1/2 to 1 cup of water
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 box of penne
• pecorino romano cheese

*my aunt's secret weapon

Penne with raw tomato-pepper sauce

This sauce is completely raw and probably not like anything you've ever had on pasta. I first had it when I was visiting my family in Rome. My aunt made a version of it (I hope I am doing it justice) and it blew me away. I had never tasted anything like it and as soon as the explosion of flavors hit my mouth, I knew I had to learn to make it.  Thankfully, it's easy.  Easy but tastes hard. And sometimes that's what it's all about, right?

I've never seen this on any menu in any Italian restaurant in the States, or even in Italy for that matter. It also doesn't appear in my numerous Italian (as in, written in Italian) cookbooks.  I hope you enjoy it.

Here is our cast of characters, and aside from olive oil, basil, salt and pepper, this is pretty much it:

Very Green Veggie Stir-Fry with Soba

This is one of those meals, I swear, that's ready in about five minutes.  There is no excuse for heating anything up in the microwave or toaster oven when you can make this. Trust me, trust you, you can make this.

I used to think that my stir-fries needed to contain a colorful array of vegetables, but not so anymore. I love every green vegetable and love to make all green stir-fries, pizzas, frittatas...you get the idea. And green veggies are usually what I have on hand. Plus, they are usually the cheapest.

I started the prep for this at lunch time.  Since I was already tied up in the kitchen making lunches, I took and extra 5 minutes to cut up the veggies for our dinner.  They sat on a bowl in the counter all afternoon mainly because I forgot to stick them back in the fridge. They were fine, and in hindsight, probably helped the stir-fry to cook faster since they were at room temperature.

I make a very simple sauce for my stir-fries because I prefer to let the flavor of the vegetables shine through.

Here's the recipe:

Tutorial: Basic Tomato Sauce

This is my recipe for the most basic tomato sauce in my pasta-making repertoire. Sometimes called marinara, this is a simple sauce of tomatoes, wine,  garlic, and onions, with a hint of basil flavor.  The only thing missing from above is the salt. No pepper goes into this until it's served , but you could add a dried red chili. Once made it can go straight onto pasta or—if you look at the end of the recipe—can be used for any number of things.

Since the recipe is already linked, I'll now bring it to life with photos. My special helper pretty much made the sauce her help with just a little help from me.