8 minute (or so) Pomodoro Penne with Herb-Garlic Compound Butter

A frantic lunchtime was the inspiration for this recipe today. A lightning-fast, full-flavoured pasta dish that can be made in no time, and it is so delicious!

The base sauce is halved cherry tomatoes (although wedges of regular tomatoes work too), sauteed with olive oil and shallots (or onions and/or minced garlic). The heat quickly breaks down the tomatoes, releasing juices and dainty seeds to make an instant rustic sauce. A dash of pasta water brings it all together, before adding the pasta. The compound butter was a last minute flash of an idea, it adds specks of green and a light garlic aroma (and the richness of butter!). I was able to do a first harvest of my herb garden - chives, tarragon, and parsley, making it even more tasty.

For a spicier sauce, add a dash or two of hot pepper flakes to the hot oil and shallots.

My camera has malfunctioned, so you will be treated to the worst photos in blogging history, courtesy of my Blackberry.

8 Minute (or so) Pomodoro Penne with Herb-Garlic Compound Butter
Serves 2, or more as a side dish

2 cups penne (or other pasta of choice)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small shallot (or half small onion), thinly sliced or minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (larger tomatoes, quarter at least)
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

For the compound butter (makes extra, great for garlic toast; freezes well):

Combine together:

2 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon (or to taste) kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon (or to taste) freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs (chives, tarragon, parsley, etc.)
1 small clove garlic, finely minced

Boil a larger saucepan of salted water, and cook pasta according to directions.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add shallots, a pinch of salt and pepper, and saute for 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes, and saute until tomatoes breakdown to make a sauce, about 5 minutes. Add a 1/4 cup of pasta water (from the currently cooking pasta), and simmer to reduce slightly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Drain pasta and toss with sauce in pan to coat. Throw a nubbin (a tablespoon or more) of herb butter, and toss until it melts. The herbs distribute, and the sauce has a lovely glisten to it. Plate (or dish) and serve with Parmesan.

A delicate sauce in the making

Pre-butter toss - things are about to get real tasty!

Spring Vegetable pasta with Lemon-Saffron butter

Another dish to celebrate spring! It is a simple saute of vegetables, livened with a hit of citrus, and the exotic flavour of saffron.

Saffron derives from the crocus flower, and is worth more than its weight in gold. Don't be put off by its very different scent (said to be like hay). When it is worked into a dish in the right amounts, it is magic. I am loving the wiki on this spice! Check it out for lot of fun chemical information (if that's up your alley).

Saffron was originally cultivated in ancient Greece - like here in Santorini (sigh)

This recipe is inspired by one of my favourites in Fields of Greens, a great vegetarian cookbook. If you can't find saffron, substitutions can include chopped basil, parsley or mint, or just plain butter. The original recipe calls for Orange-Saffron butter (use 1 orange for the recipe), and this is very delicious too (I just don't have oranges!). I think this would make a lovely Easter side dish.

Ps: My camera battery died, so not a lot of visualization here!

Helpful tools: Colander, zester (like a Microplane brand zester)

Spring Vegetable Pasta with Lemon-Saffron Butter
Serves 2-4

4 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 generous pinch of saffron threads, soaked in 1 tablespoon hot water
Salt and pepper
1/2 pound asparagus, woody ends removed, in 2 inch lengths
1/2 pound English peas (shelled, about 3/4 cup), or substitute frozen peas
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 leek, white part only, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup wine or stock
Juice from 2 lemons
Zest of 2 lemons
1/2 pound fresh pasta or dry spaghetti or linguine
Grated parmesan cheese

Set large pot of water to boil on stove (this can be used for both the vegetables and pasta). Cream the butter with the prepared saffron, 1/8 teaspoon salt and a few pinches of pepper. Set aside.

If using fresh peas, boil for 1 minute, scoop from water and rinse with cool water in colander. Boil asparagus for 3 minutes, until tender crisp, and repeat as with peas. Frozen peas can be added to the saute (see below). Keep water boiling for pasta.

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan, and add shallots. Saute over medium heat for about 4 minutes, then add leeks (and frozen peas), saute for another 2 minutes. Add garlic, wine or stock and lemon juice, and saute for another minute.

A fragrant saute of leeks, asparagus and peas, hurray for google search (food.rlove.org)

Meanwhile, cook pasta until just tender. Just before adding pasta, reduce heat on saute pan, and add asparagus (and fresh peas), 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the lemon zest. Drain pasta in colander, shake excess water and add to saute pan. Quickly toss the vegetables and pasta, then add the saffron butter. The butter will combine with the pan juices to make a light sauce. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.

Gluten free Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Quite the mouthful! A lovely reader requested this recipe - one I have never tried, but since this is a curious kitchen....

Gnocchi (nee-yo-kee), a soft Italian dumpling made of traditionally flour and potato, can be as delicate as a fluffy pillow, or as heavy and dead as its name implies (nocchio, knot of wood). The key is to have as little flour as possible, enough to hold the dough together, otherwise the gnocchi becomes leaden in the mouth. The wonderful thing about these dumplings is they can be dressed as you like, fried in butter, tossed in pesto, coated in your favourite pasta sauce with any variety of vegetables or meats, even broiled like a gratin. They can be a main course or an appetizer for a party; either way, gnocchi are versatile and delicious!

So what of our friends who must stick to gluten-free diets? Are they left out of the party? No way! With increasing understanding of food allergies, there are more products on the market catering to people afflicted with a gluten allergy. Supermarkets carry a wide variety of flour alternatives that do not contain gluten (Bob's Red Mill have a number of products). If you are making these for a 'GF' friend, check if you need to clean your utensils properly to remove any residual gluten (just in case!).

Here is a recipe I gleaned off the internet, adjusted to my specifications. In place of potatoes, are sweet potatoes (not as starchy and more moist than regular potatoes) - adds an additional sweet flavour and hit up of vitamin A etc. And in place of flour are a 'Gluten-free all purpose baking flour' from Bob's Red Mill, and hazelnut meal. To hold the dough together, whole milk ricotta cheese (do not substitute skim milk ricotta).

Helpful tools:
*food processor or blender
*food mill, or potato ricer, or potato masher


Gluten-free Sweet Potato Gnocchi

2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 2 medium-large)

2/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour, plus generous amount for the work surface
1/4 cup hazelnut flour/meal (can purchase, or make by processing to a fine powder, whole hazelnuts. See below for pictures)

Makes approximately 100 gnocchi.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Slice sweet potatoes in half. Bake the sweet potatoes until tender and fully cooked, between 40 to 55 minutes depending on size. Cool slightly. Cut in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl.

Handy food mill - a potato masher is just as effective

Finished product - any extras can go straight to baby!

I processed the sweet potatoes through a food mill, which is highly effective for drier potatoes, but perhaps for these, may not have made a difference. Measure out 2 cups of sweet potato puree, and place in large bowl.
Add the ricotta cheese, salt, and pepper and fold in until well mixed.

Blend flours together in a separate bowl. Add the flours, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing gently each time. This dough does not become a solid dough like the regular potato-flour gnocchi, so look for the 'dough' to come together, but still quite wet.

A lone hazelnut on a field of his fallen comrades

Ready to go, mise en place

Folding in the flour - it is becoming 'dough-ier'

After becoming alarmed at how wet this dough was, I took a breath. Should I add more flour to this dough? So instead of likely ruining the batch, I generously floured the work surface before beginning the next step. The outer coating of flour helped the dough from sticking and helped with its shape very well.

Scoop out a handful of dough. On the floured surface, roll out each ball into a 1-inch wide rope. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces. Re-flour surface in between each scoop.

Roll dough, moving hands from the center out, taking the dough gently with you

Still sticky! Just sprinkle a bit more flour and keep going

If you like, roll the gnocchi over the tines of a fork. This dough does not handle it very well, but the ridges formed help to hold sauce, and it just looks cute! I tried a few, but left the rest plain.Transfer the formed gnocchi to a large baking sheet. Continue with the remaining gnocchi.

I left the extras on the tray - pop them in the freezer , bag when solid. Instant supper!

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

Salting the water after it has boiled gives the gnocchi a hit of flavour

Add the gnocchi in 3 batches and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain the gnocchi using a slotted spoon onto a baking sheet. Tent with foil to keep warm and continue with the remaining gnocchi.

From here: you can do any number of methods to finish the gnocchi. I fried these darlings in butter (over medium-low heat) until crispy and browned, turning occasionally (about 5-7 minutes), and tossed with a Parsley-nut pesto. This browning caramelized the sugars in the sweet potato and gave that 'extra' something. The resulting gnocchi went as follows: bite, crispy-sweet-savoury, soft-gentle-light texture, smile.

Fresh pasta

One luxury in this world, in relation to the mouth, is fresh pasta. In fact, it is a relatively cheap and simple luxury, and well worth the time, if you are so inclined.

Your Italian ancestors (or any ancestor with noodles in their cuisine) would say that you can do this by hand, and they are correct. But if you are going to get this process done efficiently (especially for beginners), a pasta maker is a good tool to invest in. It may collect dust for the first 3 years (looking in my direction), but if you can find a good go-to recipe, it will become an important kitchen tool. I use an Imperia brand hand crank machine, but there are many others on the market that work great. Stand mixers also come with this as an attachment too. Think of this as the talking piece to a fun pasta party night, glasses of red wine, and good cheese.

I have recently found an excellent recipe that produces a strong, resilient egg dough, which produces silky noodles, perfect for an infinite number of recipes. The basis of most egg noodles is eggs and flour, sometimes water, sometimes oil. Traditional recipes call for durum wheat, but if this can't be found, all-purpose flour is good too. A mixture of different grain flours can also be incorporated for textured noodles with interesting flavours. Vegetable purees (spinach, squash etc.) can be incorporated into the eggs before mixing to make a colorful noodle. But here is the basic recipe that is sure to please, from The Art of Simple Food, by Alice Waters (of Chez Panisse, Berkeley). This dough will be the basis for any shape and form of pasta, so have fun!

Fresh Pasta
For 4 servings

Measure into a bowl 2 cups flour
Measure into another bowl 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks.

• Make a well in the flour and pour in eggs. Mix with a fork, as if scrambling eggs, incorporating flour bit by bit. If using a stand mixer, combine with paddle attachment, pouring eggs in at low speed.
• When flour is too stiff to mix with a fork, finish mixing by hand. If crumbly, add water dropwise, mixing until dough starts to come together.
• Turn out onto floured surface and knead lightly (for both hand and stand mixer method).
• Shape dough into a disk and wrap in plastic to rest for at least an hour. The dough can be put in the fridge overnight, allowing to come to room temperature before using.

To roll by machine:

• For ease of rolling, cut a quarter of the dough (wrap the remaining to prevent drying).
• Roll pasta through widest setting. Fold dough into thirds, and pass through machine again. Repeat two more times.

Folding dough into thirds, like an envelope, circa 1810 (just need a wax seal!)

This also kneads the dough, so multiple passes through is important

• Roll, decreasing settings each time until pasta is of desired thickness. I did the pasta to the thinest setting ('6'). The dough is now quite long, and if you would like a specific length of noodles, divide sheet appropriately.

Before and after

• Run pasta sheet through desired noodle cutting attachment. My machine comes with a fettuccine cutter, but other options are available. It is also fun to cut the noodle sheets by hand, so get creative with widths and shapes.
• Toss noodles lightly with flour to keep from sticking. 

To prepare:

• Boil a large pot of water, salting once boiling. Keep at a rapid boil.
• Add pasta (stir to keep from sticking), cook for 3-6 minutes, depending on the thickness of noodle. The pasta is done when the noodles are cooked through, but still have a good bite (al dente).

For a super easy, comforting pasta for one, mash 1 tablespoon of butter, pinch of salt, pepper and quarter of garlic, minced. Toss with cooked pasta (1/4 of the dough), and you are ready! Fresh herbs, lemon zest, and parmesan cheese would fit in nicely too!