Some of my favourite foods involve a filling wrapped in something. Potstickers and bacon wrapped dates are just two examples of little parcels of tastiness whose wrappers not only serve to hold everything together, but add complimentary tastes and textures in the process.
Involtini is a southern Italian dish typically made with veal or beef wrapped around a filling. This vegetarian version inspired by Nigella Lawson’s “Soft and Sharp Involtini” is a little more Greek in flavor. Upon actually looking up the recipe in Nigella Bites, I’m realizing it’s actually quite different, so let’s just say it’s inspired in spirit.
The smokey grilled eggplant makes the perfect wrapper for the tart creamy filling. The mint gives it a nice fresh taste and with the quinoa, you’d swear there was some ground meat in it. It looks complicated but it took me a little less than an hour to prep.
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My refrigerator is retarded. Items left on the top shelf spoil because it’s not cool enough up there. Things on either of the bottom two shelves, especially towards the back tend to freeze. I’ve always thought of this as a curse (have you ever seen frozen tofu?), but today it actually ended up working out.
I was digging through the back of the fridge looking for some inspiration and I found a ziplock back with a small fistful of boiled stinging nettles. Those of you that remember my foraging expedition might remember the stinging nettles I picked (and never cooked with). Though it’s been almost a month, the little baggie of boiled nettles made it to the back of the fridge where it froze solid allowing me to resurrect it in this pasta today:-)
Honestly the nettles didn’t really add much flavor to the pasta, but it does make it a nice green color. This was my first time using my newest Kitchen Aid attachment (pasta roller) so the pasta didn’t exactly turn out gorgeous, but I’d have to say this was far better (and easier) than the hand crank contraptions I’ve used in the past. The burly motor in the Kitchen Aid makes short work of the rolling process, and because you don’t have to turn a crank, you have both hands free to feed and catch the pasta on the other end.
Nettle pasta going through the Kitchen Aid powered pasta machine
Finished nettle pasta ready to hit the pot.
I really like to keep pastas very simple highlighting just one or two of the ingredients. In this case I wanted the pasta and fava beans to be the stars since they both take a fare amount of work to prepare. The Pecorino Grand Cru, an aged sheepsmilk cheese gives the fresh pasta some depth and umami while the lemon and pepper brighten it up. Fava beans, when lightly boiled and shelled have a texture a bit like edamame, but they are much sweeter and have a flavor similar to peas.
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Having brought home quite a haul from our little foraging expedition, my head was abuzz with all the possibilities. While foraging I was worried I might not be able to use everything we’d picked. By the time I was done with this meal, I realized I should have gotten more.
This simple pasta dish just tastes like spring. Lightly sauteed, the ramps are sweet with a mild garlicy flavor that goes really well with the smokey bacon. The fiddleheads don’t have a ton of their own flavor but they’re slightly sweet and add a nice texture to the dish. If you want to make this vegetarian, just omit the bacon and use a tablespoon of olive oil instead of a teaspoon.
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 strips thick cut Berkshire bacon chopped
1 large handful of ramps roughly chopped
1/2 C fiddleheads par-boiled
freshly ground pepper
8 oz orecchiette pasta boiled according to package
shaved pecorino romano
Start the pasta while preping the rest of the ingredient, but wait until your pasta is done and drained before you start cooking the rest. I just use the pot the pasta comes out of to make the bacon and veggies.
Add the oil to a hot pan over medium high heat, then add the bacon. Fry until the bacon is slightly brown around the edges (but not crispy)
Add the ramps and fiddleheads and saute lightly, adding a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Add the pasta and toss to coat.
Serve with shaved Pecorino Romano.
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This simple dish was inspired by Mario Batali’s Bavette Cacio & Pepe. The list of ingredients may make it sound like a boring side, but try a bite and you’ll want to turn it into a meal.
I go for a slightly healthier take on Batali’s dish replacing some butter for olive oil and adding some lemon zest for a little bit of sunshine.
This goes nicely with some Ratatouille.
8 oz linguine
1 Tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 C freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 Tbs unsalted butter (optional)
Boil the linguine according to package directions and drain well.
Toss with the rest of the ingredients and serve immediately
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If you’ve never had kabocha, stop reading right now and go buy one. They keep forever and they’re quasi-decorative, so I almost always have a small one sitting on my counter ready to become a side, main course, or desert. Yes, you read that right:-) Its sweet, firm flesh is somewhere between a butternut squash and sweet potato, which makes it very versatile. I’ve even used it successfully in ice creams and custards (I’ll post a recipe one of these days).
This dish is simple (took me 30 minutes start to finish and I was trying to document a recipe) but the nutty browned butter plays nicely with the kabocha and sage and creates a rich flavorful coating for the pasta without being overly greasy or heavy.
On a slightly unrelated note, this blog has been up a few weeks, but I haven’t seen much feedback in the comments. To get things rolling, let’s hear how you like to prepare kabocha!
8 oz pasta cooked al dente
4 Tbs unsalted butter
1 C Kabocha (japanese pumpkin) cut into 1/4″ cubes
1 small shallot minced
2 Tbs chopped sage
freshly grated parmesan cheese
Boil the pasta according to the package directions in salted water.
While the pasta is cooking, put the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat and allow it to foam and start to turn brown while swirling regularly.
Add the kabocha and shallots when the butter is a nice tan color and saute until the kabocha is fork tender. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add the sage and then the well drained pasta and toss to coat the pasta with the butter. Serve immediately with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
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