Hippie pasta with pine nuts and kale

Adapted from West Coast Cooking by Greg Atkinson

1 gallon boiling water
2 Tb plus 2 tea salt
1 lb fresh tubular pasta
1/2 cup dried fruit such as currents, cranberries or cherries
1 bunch kale, cut into strips
1/2 c olive oil
1/2 c pine nuts
4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tea pepper
Grated Parmesan

1. Put the water and 2 Tb salt in a large stockpot over high heat, and when the water coves to a full, rolling boil, add the pasta. Cook until the pasta is just tender, about 7 , then drain it, saving 1 c of the cooking water to pour over dried fruit.

2. In a small bowl, pour the reserved cup of pasta water over the dried fruit, let them stand in the water to soften while you prepare the other ingredients.

3. Put the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat and cook the pine nuts in the oil until they are fragrant and just beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the sliced garlic and saute until it is bubbling hot but not browned. Add the kale and saute for 2 minutes, or until it is wilted.

4. Drain the fruit and add them to the sauteed kale mixture, then toss the hot greens with the cooked pasta, season with salt and pepper and serve, passing the Parmesan separately.

Asian Chicken Salad

From Curves Recipes

Serves 2

Ingredients: 1 oz pasta - angel hair
1/2 chicken breast(s) (1 breast is 4 oz)
1/4 cup(s) cabbage - Napa
1/4 cup(s) cabbage - purple
1/4 pepper(s) - bell (red - medium)
1/4 pepper(s) - bell (yellow - medium))
2 tbsp(s) cilantro - fresh
2 tbsp(s) scallions (green onions)
1/4 cucumber(s)
1/2 cup(s) spinach leaves - fresh
2 tbsp(s) bean sprouts
0.5 oz cashews
2 tsp(s) lime(s)
3/4 tsp(s) ginger- fresh
1/2 tsp(s) garlic - minced
1/4 jalapeno pepper(s)
1 tsp(s) cilantro - fresh
3/4 tbsp(s) oil - olive
3/4 tbsp(s) sauce - soy (low sodium)
3/4 tsp(s) oil - sesame
3/4 tsp(s) sugar - brown

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and cool it.
2. Boil or bake chicken breast. Shred chicken breast and set it aside.
3. Slice cabbage and bell peppers and place them in a large bowl.
4. Chop cilantro, scallions, and cucumber and place them in the same large bowl.
5. Add spinach, bean sprouts and cashews to the bowl.
6. Add pasta and chicken to the bowl.
7. For the salad dressing: juice 1/2 lime, mince ginger, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro (coriander). Whisk in the remaining dressing ingredients.
8. Pour the dressing over the salad. Mix well and serve.

Pesto

From our beloved Mark Bittman - How To Cook Everything

2 cups loosely packed basil leaves
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan
Salt to taste

Place in a food processor and process.

Use on fish or pasta or things that you want to taste delicious.

GF Mac and Cheese

From Everyday Food May 2012

3 Tb unsalted butter, plus more for dish
1/2 c GF crisp puffed-rice cereal, slightly crushed
1 oz Parmesan, grated (1/4 c)
1 sm. yellow onion, diced small
2 Tb potato starch
2 c whole milk, warmed
3/4 lb cheddar, shredded (3 c)
1 tea Dijon mustard
coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 lb GF penne, cooked al dente and drained

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter six 8oz ramekins or a 2 Qt baking dish. Microwave 1 Tb butter until melted, then toss with cereal and Parmesan.

2. In a medium saucepan, melt 2 Tb butter over medium. Add onion and cook until softened. Sprinkle with potato starch and cook 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar and mustard until smooth; season with salt and pepper. Add pasta and stir to coat; transfer to ramekins or baking dish. Sprinkle with cereal mixture and bake until sauce is bubbling and topping is golden, 15-20 minutes.

Basic Tomato Sauce

The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver

This sauce can be frozen for a couple of months, or refrigerated for up to a week.
Serves 6-8

1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 Tb olive oil
1 small dried red chilli, crumbled
2 tea dried oregano
three 14 oz cans of Italian plum tomatoes
1Tb red wine vinegar
1 handful of fresh basil or marjoram (or both), roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 Tb olive oil

In a thick-bottomed pan gently cook the garlic with the olive oil, then add the chilli, oregano and tomatoes. Mix gently, but do not break up the tomatoes as this will release the seeds, which will make the sauce slightly bitter - by leaving the tomatoes whole and letting the mixture cook slowly you'll get a nice sweet sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 1 hour. Add the vinegar, then stir and chop up the tomatoes in the sauce. Now add your fresh basil or marjoram (or both), season well to taste, and add 2-3 Tb of your best olive oil.

Cauliflower Sauce with Garlic, Oil and Chili Pepper

From Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazen

serves 4-6

1 head cauliflower, about 1 1/2 lbs.
1/2 c olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
6 flat anchovy fillets chopped fine
red chili pepper to taste
salt
2 Tb parsley chopped
1 lb penne

1. Strip the cauliflower of all its leaves except for a few of the very tender inner ones. Rinse it in cold water and cut it in two.

2. Bring 4-5 quarts of water to boil, put in the cauliflower, and cook it until it is tender, but not mushy, about 25-30 minutes. Prod it with a fork to test doneness. When cooked, drain and set aside.

3. Put water in a saucepan, and bring it to a lively simmer.

4. Put the oil and garlic in a medium saute pan, turn on the heat to medium, and cook until the garlic becomes colored a light, golden brown. Remove the pan from the burner, place it over the saucepan of simmering water, and add to it the chopped anchovies. Cook, stirring and mashing the anchovies with the back of a wooden spoon against the sides of the pan to dissolve them as much as possible into a paste. Return the saute pan to the burner over medium heat and cook for another half minute, stirring frequently.

5. Add the drained, boiled cauliflower, breaking it up quickly with a fork into pieces not bigger than a small nut. Turn it thoroughly in the oil to coat it well, mashing some of it to a pulp with the back of the spoon.

6. Add the chopped chili pepper and salt. Turn up the heat, and cook for a few minutes more, stirring frequently.

7. Toss with cooked drained pasta. Add the chopped parsley, toss once or twice again, then serve immediately.

Fried Zucchini Sauce with Garlic and Basil

by Marcella Hazen

1 1/2 lbs fresh, young zucchini
salt
10-12 fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup flour
Vegetable Oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled
4 Tb butter
1/2 c freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
1 lb pasta (best with fettuccine)

1. Soak the zucchini for 20 minutes in cold water, them wash free of all grit. Drain, trim away both ends and cut zucchini into sticks 2 1/2 inches long and 1/4 inch thick.
2. Put zucchini in a colander and sprinkle liberally with salt. Toss the zucchini 2 or 3 times to distribute the salt evenly, and let stand for at least 2 hours.
3. Remove the zucchini and pat dry with paper towels. Rinse and dry the colander, which you will need again.
4. Rinse the basil in cold water. Pat dry with paper towels and tear the leaves by hand into small pieces. Set aside.
5. When you are ready to fry, set the colander over a platter, and put the zucchini back in it. Dust the zucchini with the flour, shaking the colander to coat them evenly and shed excess flour.
6. Put enough veggie oil in a frying pan to come 1/4 to 1/2 inch up its sides. Add the garlic and turn the heat on high. When the oil is quite hot, put in as many zucchini sticks at one tiem as will fit loosely in the pan. Check the garlic and as soon as it begins to turn brown, remove it and discard it. Turn the zucchini sticks, cooking them until they become colored a golden brown all over, then transfer them to a cooling rack to drain or to a platter lined with paper towels. Continue adding zucchini to the pan in as many batches as necessary until it is all done.
7. Cook and drain pasta. Add butter to pot that pasta was cooked in and let it start to melt. Add zucchini, basil and cheese and mix together. Add pasta and toss thorouhghly. Serve at once.

Spaghetti with Sicilian Meatballs

Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
4 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flake (if desired)

Meatballs
2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 large egg
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound sweet Italian sausages, casings removed
1 pound ground beef (not lean)
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted



1 pound spaghetti

For Sauce:
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-low heat. Add onion; sauté until golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juices and 2 tablespoons basil; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until sauce thickens, breaking up tomatoes with fork, about 1 hour. Mix in basil, oregano, and pepperflake (if desired). Season with salt and pepper. Set sauce aside.

For Meatballs:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil baking sheet. Mix crumbs and milk in medium bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Mix in Parmesan, onion, basil, egg, garlic and pepper. Add sausage, and pine nuts; blend well. Using wet hands, form mixture into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place on baking sheet. Bake until meatballs are light brown and cooked through, about 30 minutes. Add to sauce.

Cook spaghetti in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Mound in dish. Bring sauce and meatballs to simmer. Spoon over spaghetti.

Sicilian Sardine Sauce

From Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazen

4-6 Servings

8 oz, net weight, drained choice canned sardines packed in olive oil
2 c finocchio leaf tops or 1 3/4 cups fresh wild fennel
salt
1 Tb black raisins
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
2 Tb chopped onion
4 flat anchovy fillets, chopped fine
1/3 c pignoli (pine nuts)
1 1/2 Tb tomato paste, dissolved in 1 c luke-warm water together with a large pinch of powdered saffron or 1/2 tea crumbled saffron threads
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1 to 1 1/2 lbs pasta (best with bucatini or perciatelli, but thick, hollow tubes work)
1/2 c dry, unflavored bread crumbs, lightly toasted in the oven or in a skillet

Wash the finocchio tops or the wild fennel in cold water. Bring 4-5 quarts of water to a boil, add salt, and as the water resumes boiling put in the greens. Cook for 10 minutes with a cover set on askew. Off heat, retrieve the cooked fennel greens using a colander spoon, but do not pour out the water in the pot. Save it for cooking the pasta later.

When cool enough to handle, squeeze the greens gently in your hand to force moisture out, then chop them.

Soak the raisins in several changes of cold water for no less than 15 minutes, then drain them and chop them.

Put water in a saucepan and bring it to a lively simmer.

Choose a saute pan that can subsequently accommodate all the ingredients except the pasta. Put in the olive oil and chopped oniion, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook the onion, stirring, until it becomes translucent. Place the saute pan over the pot with simmering water, add the anchovies, and stir them constantly with a wooden spoon, mashing them from time to tiem with the back of the spoon.

When the anchovies are nearly dissolved to a paste, return the pan to the burner over medium heat, add the greens, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add the pignoli, the chopped raisins, the tomato paste and saffron solution, salt and a few grindings of black pepper, and turn over all ingredients to season them evenly. Continue to cook at medium heat, letting all the liquid in the pan bubble away. (The sauce can be prepared several hours in advance up to this point.) Add sardines, turning them over in the sacue two or three times, then remove from heat.

Bring the water in which you cooked the fennel greens to a boil, add a little salt, and in it cook the pasta.

Toss the sardine sauce with the cooked drained pasta. Add the bread crumbs and toss again. Allow the pasta to settle several minutes before serving.

Pasta with Sausage, Basil and Mustard

From Food & Wine magazine, September 2008

4 servings

1 lb medium shells
1 Tb olive oil
1 1/2 lbs hot Italian sausages - casings removed, meat crumbled
3/4 c dry white wine
3/4 c heavy cream
3 Tb grainy mustard
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1 c thinly sliced basil

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente; drain
2. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet. Add the sausage meat and brown over moderately high heat. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add the cream, mustard and red pepper adn simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in the pasta and basil and serve.

Amatriciana - Tomato Sauce with Pancetta and Chili Pepper

From Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazen

2 T veggie oil
1 T butter
1 med onion, chopped fine
1/4 inch thick slice of pancetta, cut into strips 1/2 inch wide and 1 inch long
1 1/2 c canned whole peeled tomatoes, drained and cut up
Chopped hot red chili pepper, to taste
Salt
3 T freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
2 T freshly grated romano cheese
1 lb pasta

Complements Bucatini, penne, rigatoni or conchiglie

1. Put the oil, butter and onion in a saucepan and turn on the heat to medium. Saute the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold, then add the pancetta. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring once or twice. Add the tomatoes, the chili pepper, and salt, and cook in the uncovered pan at a steady, gentle simmer for 25 minutes. Taste and correct for salt and hot pepper.

2. Toss the pasta with the sauce, then add both cheeses, adn toss thoroughly again.

Tomato Sauce with Olive Oil and Chopped Vegetables

From Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazen

2 c canned whole peeled tomatoes, cut up with their juice
2/3 c chopped carrot
2/3 c chopped celery
2/3 c chopped onion
salt
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 lbs pasta

This is an all-purpose sauce for most cuts of factory-made pasta, particularly spaghetti and penne.

1. Put carrot, celery, onion, and salt in a with a touch of oil and cook for 5-10 minutes until onions begin to turn clear.

2. Add tomatoes and cook at slow simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Stir from time to time.

3. Add the olive oil, raise heat slightly to bring to a stronger simmer, and stir occasionally, while reducing the tomato to as much of a pulp as you can with the back of a spoon. Cook for 15 minutes, then taste adn correct for salt.

Variation with Marjoram and Two Cheeses

The above sauce cooked through to the end, plus the following:

Marjoram, 2 tea if fresh, 1 if dried
2 T freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
2 T freshly grated romano cheese
2 tea extra virgin olive oil

1. While the sauce is simmering, add the marjoram, stir thoroughly, and simmer for another 5 minutes.

2. Off heat, swirl in the grated cheese, then the 2 tea olive oil. Toss immediately with the pasta.