Linguine with Frenched Green Beans and Parsley "Pesto"

Photo by Rachel's Bite, Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 3.0 US licensed.

I just had to make this dish. While flipping through my old copy of On Top of Spaghetti I was struck by the photo of this dish using green beans with the pasta. And it called for a green bean slicer which I had never heard of so of course I ordered up that neat little gadget just so I could play. The beans turned out sliced nicely but it was kind of a pain to push them through one by one.

Never a big pesto fan, I've been won over this past year. A few different things I have made call for making your own pesto and I really like it! It's so simple to just blend up a bunch of herbs and you get some really great flavors.

And this recipe has a bunch of neat tricks! It made me feel really Italian by putting the pesto in the bowl BEFORE the pasta and then tossing it with a cup of the reserved pasta water to complete the sauce right there in the bowl. I also liked the instruction to pour drain the pasta over the beans to re-warm them.

Linguine with Frenched Green Beans and Parsley "Pesto" Serves 6 as a first course 8 ounces fresh green beans, trimmed and sliced lengthwise into thin slivers 2 cups gently packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves 10 large fresh basil leaves 1 small garlic clove, trimmed and peeled 1/2 cup light-flavored extra virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon sea salt Pinch or more of cayenne 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano, plus more to pass at the table 8 ounces dried linquine

Cook the green beans in boiling salted water until tender. They should yield easily under the pressure of your teeth. Drain in a colander and set aside next to the sink to await to pasta.

While the parsley, basil, garlic, olive oil, salt, and cayenne in a blender until you have a chunky puree. Pour into a warmed, but not hot, serving bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano.

Generously salt the pasta water and drop in the linguine. Cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve about 1 cup of the cooking water, then pour the remaining water and pasta into the colander over the beans. This will warm the beans if they have cooled. Transfer the pasta and beans to the serving bowl and toss with the sauce and cheese. Add enough reserved cooking water, a tablespoon at a time, to loosen the pesto. There should be a small puddle of sauce on the bottom of the bowl. Serve right away with extra Pecorino Romano passed at the table.

P.S. Mer Soleil is a super yummy chardonnay that, in my opinion, always goes well with dinner preparations.

Presto Pasta Night #236 is being hosted by HoneyB of The Life & Loves of Grumpy's Honey Bunch. See the full recap of all entries here.

Capellini with Cherry Tomatoes, Olives & Basil

Using up the cherry tomatoes I grow in my own backyard was one of the main reasons I decided to try this recipe for Capellini with Cherry Tomatoes, Olives & Basil I found in The Stinking Rose Restaurant Cookbook. So I used those instead of the "various colors" as described in the recipe and it was a lot of fun to cook with food grown in my yard.

The end result is a bold and flavorful pasta dish. It reminds me quite a bit of pasta puttanesca which I have made several times before. But instead of making a full tomato sauce, the loose tomatoes seemed to make the pasta a bit lighter. Roasting the garlic cloves independently, instead of the whole head, was a fun and new way to do it. We spread the leftovers on some toasted bread topped with salt. Yum! My buddy who ate with me the night I made this doesn't like kalamata olives so he wasn't a big fan. But I ended up with leftovers and this heated up well too.

A few months ago I was in San Francisco and while I didn't eat at The Stinking Rose, we did pass it a few times and it always smelled wonderful. I forgot I owned this cookbook and this is the first recipe I have made from it. Flipping through it, there are a lot of interesting recipes to try.

Capellini with Cherry Tomatoes, Olives & Basil Serves 4 Roasted Garlic 2 cups garlic cloves 1 cup olive oil Pasta 16 ounces fresh capellini pasta, or 12 ounces dried 2 tablespoons olive oil 8 to 10 cloves roasted garlic, from recipe 1 pint cherry tomatoes in various colors, halved ½ cup kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes Salt and freshly ground black pepper 6 to 8 leaves fresh basil, coarsely chopped

For the Roasted Garlic: In a heavy saucepan, combine the garlic and olive oil and cook over low heat for about 40 minutes, stirring once at 20 minutes, until the garlic begins to soften. Preheat the oven to 250° F. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic to a baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cloves are golden brown and slightly wrinkled.

For the Pasta: In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the fresh pasta for 1 to 2 minutes, until al dente. If using dried pasta, cook according to the package directions, until al dente. Drain well.

In a large cast-iron skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the garlic, tomatoes, olives and red pepper flakes. Stir once or twice to heat the ingredients through, then add the pasta, tossing to coat completely. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat. Scoop the pasta into a serving bowl and sprinkle with the basil. Serve immediately.

Roasted Vegetable Linguine with Torn Fresh Basil

I love roasted vegetables and usually just eat them plain. So even though this is probably the most common combination that exists, I found the concept of using my roasted vegetables as a topping for pasta somewhat novel. Also, using wine to de-glaze the roasting pan and turn into a "sauce" for the pasta was new to me. So even though it's simple, I enjoyed trying out this super healthy meal.

Oh, and you can probably tell from the photo that I forgot to add the basil... it was good anyways!

Roasted Vegetable Linguine with Torn Fresh Basil Serves 6 2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms ½ lb. fresh or frozen asparagus, cut into 1½-inch pieces 1 small onion, coarsely chopped (1 cup) 2 Tbsp. olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.) ½ tsp. red pepper flakes 2 cups cherry tomatoes ½ cup white wine ½ 13.25-0z. pkg. whole-wheat or white linguine ½ cup torn fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss together mushrooms, asparagus, onion, oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in large roasting pan. Roast 20 minutes, or until mushrooms and onions begin to brown, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Add tomatoes to pan, and roast 7 to 10 minutes more, or until tomatoes shrivel and soften. Transfer vegetables to bowl. Add wine to roasting pan, stirring to scrape off any stuck-on bits from bottom of pan. Place roasting pan on burner over medium heat, and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, or until wine has evaporated by half; or return roasting pan to oven 5 minutes, and let wine cook off.

Meanwhile, prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta, and reserve ½ cup cooking water. Stir reserved cooking water into reduced wine in roasting pan.

Return pasta to pot. Add wine mixture and vegetables, and toss over medium-low heat until heated through. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Stir in torn fresh basil leaves, and serve immediately.

Fat Noodles with Crab, Buttered Artichokes, and Mint

I found a recipe that is not "the ultimate" in Tyler's Ultimate. The Fat Noodles with Crab, Buttered Artichokes, and Mint. The name is promising but I found it to be a little be bland. It was good, but not great and not ultimate. I usually like really strong flavors with my pasta. I could see this being a nice pasta to be served as part of a buffet because I can see alot of people liking it and it also tastes okay at room temperature. But when I spend the money to cook with crab I really want to taste it and I didn't get that with this recipe.

The one problem I had was I could not find pappardelle at my grocery store. So I went with fettuccine which were the widest noodles that I could find.

Fat Noodles with Crab, Buttered Artichokes, and Mint (serves 4) Ingredients: Kosher salt 1 pound pappardelle 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter) 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 can (about 16 ounces) artichokes, drained, rinsed and halved Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes 1/2 pint (8 ounces) lump crabmeat Freshly ground black pepper Handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus extra for serving

Instructions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pappardelle, stir to separate, and cook for 8 to 9 minutes, until al dente. Drain and dump the pasta into a serving bowl. (You'll need to use 1 cup of the pasta cooking water for the sauce.)

While the pasta is cooking, combine the butter and olive oil in a medium skillet and put it over medium heat. Scoop out 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, add it to the skillet, and reduce the whole thing for 5 minutes to thicken. Then add the artichoke halves, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, crabmeat, and salt and pepper and toss to warm everything through. Add that to the bowl with the cooked drained pasta. Add the mint and Parmigiano and season with salt and lots of black pepper. Toss and serve with extra Parmigiano.

Orecchiette with Cool Chickpeas

This recipe for Orecchiette with Cool Chickpeas is my favorite so far from the On Top of Spaghetti cookbook. I think it is my favorite because it surprised me. I'm always surprised when recipes are quick and simple to prepare and yet they end up having very complex flavors.

I wanted to try this recipe because of its use of chickpeas. I am trying to add more legumes in my diet as a form of protein. And lets face it, pasta and chickpeas by themselves do not seem to be too tasty. Not bad, but nothing special. However MARINATING the chickpeas as suggested by the authors Johanne Killeen and George Germon is an absolutely brilliant concept.

Would you believe me if I told you my chickpeas were sweet? Well, they were. And notice that there isn't even any sugar in this recipe. The sweetness comes from the sweet natural flavors of the mint and red onion. And on my first bite I was so surprised by the sweetness that I forgot about the hot pepper that I added. The heat poked through surprising me twice! If you like it spicy, make sure to keep the seeds and add them into the marinade.

I made a few modifications to the written recipe. I used a very high quality Greek olive oil. I knew this would not be cooked and the oil ended up providing flavor but also not being too thick or sticky. I omitted the parsley in the marinade and the lemon wedges for garnish. I also added a bit of extra mint for garnish. I hope you all try this for yourselves!

Orecchiette with Cool Chickpeas (serves 2 to 3) Ingredients: 1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped red onion 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon or more finely chopped fresh hot pepper 1 cup cooked chickpeas 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 1 1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice 5 large fresh mint leaves 8 ounces dried orecchiette or pasta shells Lemon wedges (optional)

Instructions:
In a large bowl, combine the onion, olive oil, hot pepper, chickpeas, parsley and lemon juice. Slice the mint into a fine chiffonade and stir into the chickpeas. Allow to marinate at room temperature for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a generous amount of salt and drop in the pasta. Cook, stirring often, until al dente.

Drain the pasta and toss in the bowl with the chickpeas. Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the pasta to absorb the flavors. Serve with a crusty loaf of bread to dip into the sauce and lemon wedges to spritz each serving, if you like.

Rigatoni with Caper and Almond "Pesto"

I know, I know. Another pasta recipe from On Top of Spaghetti. But they are all just so simple and fun to make that I can't help myself. For the Rigatoni with Caper and Almond "Pesto" I didn't even have to cut anything up. Just throw a bunch of things in the blender to make the pesto while the water was boiling for the pasta. Perfect for a Friday night after a long work week.

Even though the recipe is very simple, I somehow messed it all up. The first problem was that I had a hard time finding the capers. This recipe calls for salted capers and I could only find regular capers. I soaked them anyways.

Then, I screwed up and only added 1/4 cup of capers instead of 3/4 cups as the recipe calls for. Of course I didn't even notice that until now. Proof I'm at that point where I need to get glasses.

My mint leaves were very tiny and I was not sure what size mint leaves are supposed to be. So even thought the recipe calls for 6 to 8, I'm not sure I added the correct amount. I would have liked more mint in the pesto. Especially since I chose mint to be my herb of choice for Weekend Herb Blogging.

Look for the roundup of Weekend Herb Blogging at Anna's Cool Finds who is hosting this week.

But even with my screw ups I am happy I tried this recipe. Many people probably won't try this it because it has anchovies in it. On top of that it has capers which many people also don't like. I didn't even taste any anchovies. They got pureed and mixed in with all sorts of flavors.

While I'm glad I made this recipe I probably will not make it again. Only because I am not a big fan of any kind of pesto. I prefer a tomato or cheese based sauce with my pasta. But that's why I like this book so much, it gives me ideas to change it up now and then.

Rigatoni with Caper and Almond "Pesto" (serves 4 to 6) Ingredients: 1/4 salted capers, soaked for 15 to 20 minutes in cold water 6 anchovy fillets 1 1/2 ounces (1 cup) ground blanched almonds 2 tablespoons fin unflavored bread crumbs 1 plump garlic clove, peeled and trimmed 6 to 8 large fresh mint leaves 3 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves only 1 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 pound dried rigatoni

Instructions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.

Drain the capers and dry on paper towels.

Combine all the ingredients except the pasta in a blender jar. Blend until you obtain a chunky puree. Set aside. (You may cover and refrigerate the pesto for a day or two. Be sure to bring it to room temperature before you cook the rigatoni.)

Salt the boiling water and drop in the pasta. Cook, stirring often, until al dente. Drain the rigatoni reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Transfer the pasta to a heated serving bowl. Toss with enough pesto to coat the rigatoni. Add a little pasta water, a tablespoon at a time, if the sauce seem too thick. Server right away, passing any remaining sauce at the table.

Spaghetti and Potatoes

Tonight was a movie night for me. I really needed some rest time after my hectic week. I was thinking about ordering a pizza, but that just seem right. I decided to check out On Top of Spaghetti to see if there was something simple I could throw together, and I found a whole bunch of options. I settled on Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Potatoes, Sage, and Gorgonzola since I had some sage leftover from the chicken I made the other night and some Gorgonzola left over from a different pasta I made from this same book.

Pasta and potatoes is something I have had before, but not with Italian seasonings. I've mixed noodles with potato curry a few times. I thought I came up with potatoes and pasta together! But this recipe is a new way for me and it is just as easy. The end result is a nice creamy pasta. The Gorgonzola is stronger in this pasta dish then the other recipe. I think the spinach in the other balanced it out. This one seemed to be missing something . . . maybe some pancetta. That would make it perfect!

Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Potatoes, Sage, and Gorgonzola (serves 6 or 8) Ingredients: 4 small Red Bliss potatoes (8 ounces total), peeled and cut inti 1/2 inch cubes 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 4 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons finely minced fresh sage (do not substitute dried sage) 1 pound dried spaghetti alla chitarra or spaghettini 10 to 12 turns of a pepper mill

Instructions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.

Combines the cubed potatoes and at least 6 quarts of water in a large pot. Bring to a rapid boil and cook the potatoes for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, with a fork, mash the butter, Gorgonzola, and sage together in a serving bowl large enough to accommodate the cooked pasta. Set aside in a warm place.

After the potatoes have boiled 5 minutes, add a generous amount of salt to the boiling water and drop in the spaghetti. Cook at a full rolling boil until the pasta is al dente. Drain the pasta and potatoes in a colander, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking water.

Transfer the potato cubes and pasta to the serving bowl. Gently toss the Gorgonzola and butter. Grind the pepper over, add 1/4 cup of the pasta water, and toss again. Add more water if necessary. The sauce should be glossy, with the consistency of heavy cream. Serve immediately.

Spaghetti with Fresh Spinach and Gorgonzola

I love pasta. Love it, love it, love it! I had pasta at least once a week while growing up. Probably even twice a week. Each Sunday my mom would make a big pot of gravy with homemade meatballs and sausage. And she'd also make 6 loaves of homemade bread. You can imagine the wonderful smells I got to grow up with. . .

Consequently, I am very picky about pasta. I do not make the same gravy that my mother makes. I keep that in my heart as coming from her and I like to eat it at her house in her kitchen and bring back all my happy memories of childhood. I play with the more gourmet aspect of pasta. My standards are Pasta Puttanesca, Pasta with Vodka Cream Sauce and Spaghetti con Pomodoro e Tonno (Pasta with Tuna). I make those three very well and usually make one of these when I need my pasta fix. Besides those, I lean towards using Asian and Thai seasonings when working with noodles.

I feel that most Italian cookbooks are quite pretentious about their pasta recipes. The importance of fresh pasta is always discussed. And I'd love to make fresh pasta, but that will be a special occasion for when I have alot of time. My normal life calls for dried pasta. And I finally found a book that acknowledges the ease of use and even celebrates dried pasta. On Top of Spaghetti is written by Johanne Killeen and George German, owners of the famous Al Forno restaurant in Rhode Island. These are two chefs who work in the kitchen making high quality gourmet food all day. But at night, they come home, often late and tired, and throw together quick pasta dishes for themselves. They call it "Midnight Spaghetti". The two of them started challenging each other to come up with the most unique pasta dishes created from items they already had around the house. Night after night as each took their turn, they would try to think up something new. And with this book they introduce us to many of those great creations.

The first 200 pages are dedicated to dried pasta ideas. That is a lot of different pasta recipes for dried pasta! And you won't find any "classic" Italian recipes in this book. Pasta is featured with so many different things that you may not normally think of adding to it. The chapters are separated into making pasta with vegetables, legumes, and herbs; tomato sauces; seafood, poultry, meat, and rabbit; and eggs and cheeses. Another 50 pages are dedicated to fresh pasta recipes including ravioli and lasagne. So there is something for every kind of pasta lover (and preparer) in this book.

The name is cutesy, but don't let that turn you away from the quality in this book. I am in love with this book and it has sparked my creativity for all things spaghetti (including macaroni, linguine, penne, and pasta of every kind). I haven't gotten very far . . . I only got to the 6th recipe before I had to stop reading and start cooking. I can't wait to turn the page and see what I'm going to try next!

I did change it up a tiny bit. I halved the recipe since there was no way I wanted to make an entire pound of pasta just for myself. And after I had a few bits I decided to try crushing up some Peperoni Cruschi imported from Italy to sprinkle on top.

Spaghetti with Fresh Spinach and Gorgonzola (serves 6 or 8) Ingredients: 4 ounces Gorgonzola, at room temperature 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 8 cups firmly packed trimmed young, fresh spinach 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 teaspoons sea salt 1 pound dried spaghetti or spaghettini 10 to 12 large fresh basil leaves (optional>

Instructions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.

In a small bowl, mush together the Gorgonzola and butter until you have a smooth paste. Set aside but do not refrigerate.

Wash the spinach in plenty of cold water. Drain in a colander, leaving the water clinging to the leaves.

Heat the olive oil in a large straight-sided skillet over moderately high heat. Add the spinach and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Toss the spinach with tongs until it has wilted. Taste it to add more salt if necessary. Turn off the heat, but keep the spinach warm on the side of the stove.

Generously salt the pasta water and drop in the spaghetti. Cook at a rolling boil, stirring until al dents. Drain the pasta, reserving about up of the cooking water. Transfer the spaghetti to the skillet and toss with the spinach. Add the Gorgonzola-butter mixture and toss to coat each strand of spaghetti. If the pasta seems dry, add a bit of cooking water and toss again. Add as much of the cooking water as you need to make a creamy consistency. If you have fresh basil, tear the leaves and toss into the spaghetti. Serve right away.

Indian Noodles (the cheating way)

Some nights I just can't make dinner. I either don't feel like it or don't have time. Or am just busy wanting to do other things like tonight when I was busy waiting for my Vosges Exotic Ice Creams to soften up so I could try them. So I made one of my favorite throw-togethers.

I discovered the combination quite by accident one day at work. I brought regular old spaghetti with some type of tomato sauce I had made the night before as leftovers for my lunch. But the sauce had kind of disintegrated somehow and had no taste. One of the gals I was working with had whipped up some amazing potato curry the night before which she was heating up for her rice. She offered me some so I dumped it on top of my bland pasta. I was looking for some spice but I got so much more. The heat of the curry and the texture of the noodles introduced me to a new meal! And the soft Indian potatoes were so tasty in there as well. I never in a million years would have thought to mix potatoes in with my pasta. Two starches!

That began me on my quest for curry. I really would like to make curry but I have not mastered that yet. Maybe because I have some over-complicated Indian cookbooks, but I am still intimidated by the curry. Not the spice, the recipe. But lucky for me the American grocery stores now carry several ready made curry-like sauces. All you have to do is heat and serve.


Tonight I used lentils in cream sauce. The cream added some thickness that sometimes gets thinned out when combining ready-made curry with noodles. For the pasta, I used the other half of the elbow macaroni box leftover from when I made "Healthy" Four Cheese Macaroni last week. I usually make this with angel hair because i like the lightness of the noodle, but the elbows worked well too. They kept the lightness because the noodle itself is small and yet its shape allows some of the sauce to stick to it.

To make it, all you have to do is heat up the lentils in the microwave for two minutes and mix together! The only hard part to the recipe is to make sure you don't have too much pasta and not enough sauce. So instead of mixing the sauce into the pasta, I mix the pasta into the sauce a few ladels at a time. Then I give the leftover pasta to the dogs.


note* one cup of pasta plus one serving of the lentils in tomato cream sauce is 7 Weight Watchers points.