Pasta Emily

This recipe comes from a Sunset Magazine Recipe Annual cookbook from the 1989. I won't lie - a lot of 80's cookbooks give me the willies. Weird arrangements, odd garnishes, remnants of 'haute cuisine' elements from the 50's, like aspics. Pasta Emily and its variations, however, are simple, tasty gems.

The recipe is found in the March section of the annual, with the heading Pasta for Breakfast because they include, you guessed it, eggs. I've never had it for breakfast, but I don't think it'd take much convincing for me to try it. I make this regularly for lunch or dinner because I usually have all the ingredients on hand, it's a one pot meal and it's very fast. It always hits the spot. The Man and I split a recipe with a little leftover (if he's not completely ravenous that day).

I grew up with this recipe and only recently looked at the actual printed directions in the book. I've never seen a more adorable set of recipe variations; there's a Pasta alla Mama on which the others are based, Pasta Papa, Pasta Maxwell and Pasta Emily- a whole pasta family! My father and I just recently made one of the other members of the family, Pasta Papa, and it was different, but equally delicious. I'll include some of the other variations' ingredients below... just to keep the whole family together. 

 Enjoy!

Pasta Emily

from Sunset Magazine's Sunset Recipe Annual: 1989 Edition

Ingredients:

3/4 pound spaghetti (I love it with linguini)

3 tbsp butter or olive oil (or a mix)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium-large red or yellow onion, chopped

2-3 eggs, beaten (I generally do 2)

3-5 tbsp grated parmesan cheese (optional, and delicious)

1 or 2 tomatoes, diced

1 avocado, diced

a bunch of cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Put large pot of salted water on to boil and cook pasta until al dente. Drain.

2. In the same pot, melt butter or add oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion and saute until soft, about 1 minute. 

3. Add drained pasta and mix well, aiming to coat the pasta with your hot butter or oil.

4. Add eggs and cheese if using, stir to coat pasta and cook until eggs are set, about 1-2 minutes. (Don't over cook the egg, ew.)

5. Add tomato, avocado and cilantro and stir quickly, then take pan off of heat. Season with salt and pepper and eat!

I eat mine with lots of pepper flakes on top and extra cilantro. Yum!

Bonus Variations:

Pasta alla Mama includes everything in Pasta Emily up to the parmesan cheese, then adds parsley.

Pasta Papa is a heart-clenchingly delicious concoction of 2 links hot italian sausage crumbled, 3 slices bacon chopped into pieces, 3 garlic cloves, 2 tbsp chopped green onion, 3 eggs, chopped parsley and parmesan. It's amazing!

Pasta Maxwell includes everything in Pasta alla Mama, then adds chopped smoked salmon and thinly sliced green onion. Mmm!

Italian Garlic Chicken

Here is a quick post for a weekday dinner. When I was young, I refered to this chicken simply as 'crispy chicken' for years. From that name, it sounds like it'd be fried chicken, which it is not. It's not breaded at all, but still delivers that satisfying, salty crunch in each bite. The skin turns golden brown and translucent, and yet each mouthful is succulent and moist. I love this chicken and, as with many things I've posted so far, it is one of the dishes I made frequently in college. It's cheap, it works on any cut of chicken with skin, but is especially delicious on thighs and drumsticks. It is composed entirely of things you should have in your kitchen already and is baked, making it an easy dish to throw together and then go about doing your laundry or watching that movie. For a real college throwback, serve with rice-a-roni. Or, have a nice salad and some crusty bread for a nicer, easy meal.

Ingredients:
4-6 chicken legs, thighs or breasts, skin on
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup of olive oil
3 tablespoons Italian seasoning
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Put everything in a gallon sized plastic, ziplock bag and shake it around. Use your hands through the bag to make sure each piece of chicken is thoroughly coated. Allow to marinate in the refridgerator for 15 minutes to 1 hour.

2.  Line a baking sheet with foil,  place each chicken piece on the baking pan as even spaced as possible.

3. Bake in the oven until crispy, golden on the outside and juices run clear when one piece is pierced with a knife. About 30-45 minutes.

Note: I find that ovens can actually vary a lot regardless of exact temperatures set. Your goal here is to cook the chicken all the way through at about the same rate the skin needs to crisp. To do this, you'll need to have it at a medium-low enough temperature for a little bit to cook it through. Once cooked through, feel free to turn your oven up to crisp up the skin.

Enjoy!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

When I was growing up, I was the kid in the lunchroom pulling out liverwurst and cream cheese sandwiches. Leftover pate and crackers from a picnic dinner. Large sandwiches with munster cheese. Yoplait yogurts (the height of yogurt fashion then) and little Babybell cheeses. I loved it, and I wasn't sure what the big deal was when friends would make gagging noises and react with melodramatic squeals of 'Eww!'. It was just what we ate at home, didn't everybody eat this stuff? Didn't they all eat olives and capers and anchovies? Caesar salad with 1 minute eggs?

Apparently not. As I'm getting older, I'm appreciating more and more the rich food culture my parents passed on to me. Really, it made for a very balanced diet as a child. I didn't like cake. I didn't like PB & Js, fish sticks or corn dogs. I hated Kraft macaroni and cheese. But, I loved brussel sprouts, sauerkraut, hot salsas, mustard, cheeses, pickles, tomatoes with pepper and blue cheese. I like garden fresh peas and blackberries. I liked eating chives from the garden. 

One day, though, I was staying late at the babysitter's. My parents had some meetings to go to, so my brother and I had dinner with Miss Karen. She made tuna noodle casserole. And let me tell you, it was a revelation. I have no idea why this comfort food won out over the others, but it did, in a big way. I already loved tuna salad, but what was this. Hot tuna? With...bread crumbs and.... noodles! Mmm!

Her version was likely made with Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup, which was my go to recipe throughout college. I loved the Stouffer's microwavable tuna noodle casserole, too. But, now that I live in China, there is no Campbell's soup or Stouffer's. All I have are the raw ingredients. I've tried many recipes, but they never had the right umami level that the likely MSG laden pre-made versions had. Finally, in desperation I made this improv version one night. It is rich in umami, and captures the pre-made versions' balance of flavors, but goes beyond it. Now it's the only version I'll make. It is not as fast to put together as the Stouffer's or Campbell's versions, but if you are limiting your intake of preservatives and artificial ingredients, this will give you the taste you crave, without the extra unknowns.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Serves 2-4

For the casserole:

3 thin stalks of Chinese celery, or 1 ½ large stalks, diced

½ a medium red onion, diced

3 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 ½ cups rough chopped mushrooms

2 cans of oil packed tuna

 1 ¾ cups green peas, cooked

1 ½  tablespoons of cooking wine/sherry

½ tsp dark soy sauce

¹/₃ lb or 160 grams of egg noodles, cooked

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter
Seasoning or Celery Salt (this is important, I mean it)

Salt and pepper

For the white sauce:

1 clove garlic minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 ½ cups milk

Seasoning salt

For the topping:

2 pieces of bread toasted until dry and made into crumbs

1 tsp dried thyme

   3 tablespoons finely grated parmesan

2 tablespoons butter

Pepper

Celery leaves chiffonaded

Directions:

        Prep all ingredients into their appropriate forms, meaning do some rinsing, dicing, chopping and mincing. Cook your peas by either boiling them until bright green and juicy or microwaving as per instructions on the bag. Put your cooked peas into a large bowl.

      COOK THE VEGETABLES. In a medium sized pan, melt a ½ tbsp of the butter and add a little splash of olive oil so it doesn’t burn. Heat over medium until the butter is melted, then add your onion and celery. You want to sweat them, not fry, so keep the heat lowish and wait until just before they become translucent to add 2 of your minced garlic cloves. Stir until things are translucent and fragrant (these are aromatics, after all). Salt and pepper them, mix, then add to the bowl with the peas.


In the same pan, melt the other ½ tablespoon of butter and your olive oil. Mushrooms are notoriously moisture hungry, so once the butter is melted and you add the mushrooms, stir vigorously to coat. Continue cooking over medium heat until they start to release some of their water. Now add 1 minced garlic clove, cook for another minute or two, then add your soy sauce and cooking wine. Turn the heat up a little and wait for some of that moisture to cook off. Continue to watch and stir. You don’t want your mushrooms to be dry, you just don’t want all the liquid loose either. You want it in the mushrooms. Once mushrooms are cooked tender and some of the excess moisture has cooked off, transfer mushrooms and any left over juices to the bowl of the other vegetables. 

      Open and drain your cans of tuna, break up any large chunks and add to the vegetable mixture. Lightly seasoning or celery salt the whole shebang…. LIGHTLY!

      Cook your noodles in salted water until al dente. Drain, and add to the vegetable bowl. 

      MAKE THE SAUCE. In the same pan and over medium-low heat, add the olive oil and butter for the sauce. Allow butter to melt and lightly foam, don’t let it get too hot though, or it’ll burn your garlic...which is gross. Add your 1 clove of minced garlic and stir. Turn the heat down if it looks too hot, let it become fragrant. Now, add the flour SLOWLY, mixing all the while. We’re making a classic roux here, and you don’t want lumps, nor do you want it to brown at all, so make sure you watch the heat. Continuously stir as you add the flour. If it looks too dry add a tiny amount of olive oil. Once fully incorporated, stir for another minute to make sure it’s all warm. 

Slowly pour in the milk, stirring continuously and attempting to fully incorporate the liquid. The roux will …seize a little, it’ll look like a failure for the first few minutes. Keep stirring and keep slowly adding the milk and eventually the sauce will set up. If it still looks too dry after you’ve add all the milk, go ahead and add a little more. Once it’s a liquid, cook it for 2-3 minutes over medium-low to thicken it up. Don’t burn it though, be calm. Add seasoning or celery salt to taste and some pepper. Turn off the heat and add about 1 ½ cups of the sauce to the vegetables/noodle/ tuna bowl you have already. 

      PREHEAT your oven to 375F~150C.

      MAKE THE TOPPING. Toast two pieces of whatever kind of bread you have around until they are lightly browned and very dry. Take them out and let them cool down. Transfer to a small ziplock bag, and crush them into crumbs. Now add your parmesan, thyme and pepper, shake to combine. Melt the butter. Chiffonade the celery leaves, but do not add them to the bread crumbs.

      CONSTRUCT THE CASSEROLE.  Put the veggie/tuna/noodle/sauce mixture into an ungreased, oven-proof dish. Glass is nice for this. Top with an even layer of the breadcrumb  mixture, drizzle the butter over the top. I apologize for not having a legitimately sized oven/baking dish size to tell you. I cooked this in two small pie pans. The recipe makes enough to feed 2 pretty hungry people dinner and have a small portion left for lunch the next day. It would probably feed 4 normal people for dinner with sides and no leftovers. I will hazard a guess and say that an 8x8 baking dish would probably suffice as long as it’s a little deep… but I’m not one to say you can’t use cake pans, loaf pans or whatever floats your boat to cook this. Use whatever you have that’s at least about 1 1/2  inches deep and will fit the amount of casserole. I trust you.

      BAKE the casserole for about 10 minutes, you really just want to heat it through, all your ingredients are already fully cooked. When you think it’s warmed through, turn the oven to broil and broil the top until lightly golden brown.

      Take it out, sprinkle with celery chiffonade, and serve piping hot. I like this topped with a good amount of pepper flakes with a mixed green salad that includes more celery leaves, cherry tomatoes, some blue cheese and balsamic dressing on the side. But that’s just me. Enjoy!

Sardine Pasta Puttanesca

The boyfriend is away this weekend, which means everything is my pace all the time. We've had a fair amount of long distance in our time together, so it's only strange for the first few hours he's gone. And though I do miss him, even if it's just for 3 days, I do like to luxuriate in my time while he's off traipsing through the mountains. I like that the Man is active, but sometimes I just need a low key day... or 3.

Last night, I went out with some friends for sangria. Came home to my empty apartment, where I'd left a small light on for myself, and played some music while I got ready for bed. I did an olive oil, honey, sugar scrub on my face and let it soak in while I did the dishes. I'd cleaned the kitchen spotless earlier, and I much prefer doing  dishes in an otherwise clean kitchen.

I woke up early today, made a pot of tea, and then read for a while in bed with the window and curtains open. I could see 4 mountains deep today, which is unheard of. The rained washed away the mists last night.When I got up, I made the bed. It rained hard last night, so I checked on my flowers and plants on the balcony. Hung some clothes out to dry. Put more clothes in the laundry, and then made a very small, meatless version of Eggs Florence for brunch.

Then, for a while I planned my evening baking plan on King Arthur Flour's website, as a friend has a birthday tomorrow and I'll be making her a surprise something. But at some point, 5 o'clock rolled around. And then 5:30. And then it was 6 and I was faintly hungry. I didn't want to go to the store just for me, so I scanned the pantry and threw together a Pasta Puttanesca-esque dish. This was insanely delicious, and a rare treat for me, as the Man is an avid olive/caper/canned fish hater. It's really quick to put together, and it's light but also very satisfying. I'd say make it for a date, because it tastes special (at least to me) but... the ingredient list will give you a good idea about your breath situation post consumption.

Whenever you serve it, know that it's not only tasty, but healthy, as sardines are rich in protein and nutrients like vitamins A and D, and are one of the most concentrated sources of omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which are very heart healthy! They are low in calories, but keep you feeling full, so are very diet friendly. Plus, because they're on the bottom of the seafood chain, they don't concentrate heavy metals, and they're one of the cheapest, most eco-friendly seafood purchases you make since sardines are plentiful and sustainable! Enjoy!

Sardine Pasta Puttanesca
serves 2 for a light dinner


Ingredients:
300 grams of pasta, any shape, spaghetti or fettuccine are traditional, but I made mine with spirals
2-3 slices of thick sliced, raw bacon, chopped
1/2 a medium red onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can of sardines packed in oil
1/2 cup or about 20 green olives, pitted and smashed
2 tbsp tomato paste

Directions:
1. Put some salted water on to boil. Turn on some music you like, I prefer something Spanish. Once al dente, drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the water.

2. In a medium sized pan, saute your chopped bacon over medium high heat. Once some fat has rendered, add your onions and cook until almost translucent.

3.Add the garlic, olives and 2-3 sardines with their oil, and cook for about 3 minutes to heat through and meld flavors, breaking up the fish as you go. Add the tomato paste and enough water to make a light sauce, not too wet, just not dry. Thrown your cooked pasta into the pan and stir to coat. Serve!

This would be equally delicious with:
-spinach added near the end to just wilt it
-a tsp to a tbsp of capers
-kalamata olives instead of green
-parsley added at the end.

Mix it up and try some combinations!

I had mine with a side salad dressed with peppered tomatoes, red onions, feta cheese and drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice, plus some slices of baguette with some extra sardine I had leftover.

Spinach Ravioli with Garlic Herb Olive Oil

Tuesday is my long day. I start work at 8 and finish at 5:30.  I know, that's a normal 8 hour job. I know that 8 hours should not be a big deal. I used to regularly have a couple of jobs at a time, but now I am a working wussy. China has 2 hour lunch breaks, early closing times, week and month long national vacations.... it's kinda of awesome.

But seriously, teaching can be a tiring job!

Often times, I love it. I'm especially enjoying teaching art this year and having that creativity back in my life. Sometimes, though, trying to get teenagers to understand the basics of oil painting 5 times in one day is enough to make you want to eat the fake still life fruit, just so it can end! Enough is enough! To top it off, Tuesdays, I have a meeting at 4 o'clock that could last anywhere between 1 and 2 hours. The meetings are often fruitless and circular and by the time I get out of there I need to go do something I want to do.

Last Tuesday, I wanted flowers, so I bought some.  I wanted to eat spinach for dinner, so I bought some. I wanted rose tea when I got home, so I had some. When I got home, I rummaged in my fridge to figure out what to make. You see, for some reason, it's rare for me to actually have a totally thought out plan for dinner. This often results in my boyfriend worriedly asking me if we're ever going to eat dinner, or what exactly it is that I'm making. So last Tuesday, I had spinach and then I saw mushrooms and  jiaozi wrappers and immediately thought, ravioli. I made mushroom ravioli with thyme and breadcrumbs, and I made spinach ravioli and egg. I was a little worried that the egg would be weird or the the combo too boring. It was anything but.

These ravioli are delicious.  They are garlicky, earthy and truly rich tasting despite having zero cheese or dairy  whatsoever. I think they'd be great with Pasta Pomodoro, but I just ate them with a drizzle of some herb garlic olive oil and a sprinkle of parmesan.

Spinach Ravioli with Herb Garlic Olive Oil

Ingredients:
For the Ravioli:
A pack of potsticker wrappers, the thickest you can find, or fresh sheets of pasta dough (I used about 40)
A ton of spinach
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 a medium red onion, finely diced
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten

For the Oil:
1/2 cup olive oil, fruity is okay
a large pinch of rosemary
a large pinch of oregano (or italian herb mix)
a medium pinch of red pepper flakes
a medium pinch of kosher salt
a tiny pinch of cinnamon
3 black peppercorns
1 clove of garlic, minced

Directions:

1. Grab all your ingredients. Trim off some of the spinach stems and rinse thoroughly. Chop finely. (Finer than I did, please!)

2. Prepare the Herb Oil: In a mortar and pestle, add all of the dry ingredients (meaning, not the olive oil or the garlic). Crush until very fine. Mince the garlic. Combine the ingredients in a small bowl to allow the flavors to meld.

3. Prepare the Filling: Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a pan and heat over medium. Add onions and cook for 1-2 minutes to soften. Add garlic. Be careful to adjust according to your particular stove's heating, you don't want to burn the garlic! Season with salt and fresh ground pepper, maybe even a little nutmeg if you want to be interesting.

4. Set the spinach aside to cool just a bit, about 8 minutes. In a bowl, beat the egg. Add a small amount of the spinach mixture and stir to make sure the egg won't curdle when you add it all. Then, gradually add more and more of the spinach to the egg until all combined.




5. Fill the Ravioli: Set yourself with a little ravioli assembly line. You'll need your wrappers, a spoon, a fork, a little bowl of water and a little bowl of flour. Here are the steps:

Form a small bowl shape with the wrapper in your fingers. Brush just a tiny bit of water on the edge of the wrapper.

With a spoon add just a small amount, about a teaspoon, of the filling to the middle of the wrapper.






Fold the wrapper in half and squeeze at the top middle. Make sure the two sides actually meld, the water should help. Then, move along the edge squeezing until the entire edge has been sealed shut.








Lay the ravioli onto a dry place on a cutting board or plate. Dip the fork tines into the small bowl of flour, then gently press the tines into the sealed edge of the ravioli to give it that happy little ruffled edge. This is optional, but I think makes it look so nice.

Repeat until you either run out of filling or wrappers.***




6. Cook the Ravioli: Fill a large pot with water and salt it. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, you may add up to about 10 ravioli to your pot. The ravioli are cooked when they float to the top of the water and stay there.

7.Scoop cooked ravioli out with a slotted spoon as they finish. Split into bowls or onto plates. Drizzle the garlic herb oil  on top. Sprinkle some Parmesan if desired (you do) and eat! Excellent with a side salad and some white wine, or by themselves for a light lunch. You could even serve these ON TOP of salad and use the herb oil and a little red wine vinegar as the dressing. Enjoy!

*** These ravioli freeze really well. Dust a baking sheet with some flour and arrange the ravioli on it as you fill them. Make sure they aren't touching! Put the ravioli on the sheet into the freezer overnight. The next day, pop the ravioli off the sheet and into freezer bags, and enjoy in the next few weeks!