justpigs

More than justpigs, really.

My ambition as it pertains to cooking is simply to make great food and share it with my family and friends. This blog is just another way to do that. Welcome to my table!

"You have to love either what you are going to eat, or the person you are cooking for. Then you have to give yourself up to cooking. Cuisine is an act of love."--Alain Chapel

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pasta

May 23, 2010

Easy Peasy: Mac & Cheese with Peas & Bacon

A few years ago I decided to come up with my own version of macaroni and cheese and stopped using the boxed stuff. I came up with something that is just as easy to make as the processed version, but much tastier. We eat this fairly regularly. You can make it with just the two cheeses and some salt and pepper or you can add all--or some--of the extras. We had fresh peas and scallions this week and we love both so I used them. We also love bacon, but you knew that already.

Mac & Cheese with Peas & Bacon

4 servings

1 lb of tubular pasta

2 TBS unsalted butter

3 striped of bacon, diced

1 lb fresh peas, shelled

2 scallions, including green tops, chopped

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan

salt & pepper to taste

Set a pot of salted water to boil. Put 1 TBS of butter in the water. Boil pasta according to package instructions.

Put the diced bacon into a sautee pan and cook over medium heat until some of the fat has rendered. Add the peas and scallions and cook for about 5 minutes.

Drain pasta, then return it to the warm pot. Toss the pasta with the other TBS of butter. Add the bacon, pea, and scallion mixture. Add the ricotta and the parmesan. Sprinkle in a small amount of salt and a bit more pepper. Mix well. Serve.

Filed under // bacon can be vegetarian easy peasy pasta

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February 12, 2010

Easy-Peasy: Crab & Sour Orange Spaghetti

My pal Stephanie just set me up with a wealth of crab. I spent the better part of Wednesday evening cracking it all and was left with 2-1/2 lbs of beautiful lump crab meat.

I searched and searched through recipes trying to decide what to make with this marvelous bounty. Mostly, I was uninspired. There were two recipes I ran across that completely challenged my culinary imagination: Mushroom and Crab Chowder from the San Francisco Chronicle and Crab Cakes with Wasabi-Caper Sauce from the new Gourmet Today. I will probably have to make both of these, but right then I couldn't be bothered trying something crazy that I couldn't even get my brain around. I wanted to make a dish that was easy, quick, and tasty.

I thought about what I had on hand. At first I considered crab and lemon risotto and I probably would have made it if I had had the time. But alas, no time to stand over a pot for 45 minutes that night. I decided to fall back on our quick dinner mainstay: pasta. I was thinking a lemon, garlic butter, crab thing would be good. Then I had a flash of inspiration. What about those sour Seville oranges hanging out in the pantry? Oh, yes. Oh. Yes.

This recipe needs a little bit of spice to pull the flavors together, so even if you don't like the hot stuff, drop in just a pinch. It takes all of about 15 minutes to make.

Crab & Sour Orange Spaghetti

(feeds 2 big people and 2 little people)

1 lb spaghetti

6 TBS butter

5 cloves garlic, chopped

Zest of 2 Seville (sour) oranges (*substitute lemons if you can't get sour oranges)

Juice of 1 Seville orange

1-1/3 cups lump crab meat

Salt

Crushed Red Pepper to taste

Bring buttered, salted water to a boil. When the water is ready add the pasta.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and sauté a couple of minutes. Add orange zest. (Butter will foam up.) Sauté for a couple of minutes more. Keep warm over low heat.

Before draining pasta reserve 2 cups pasta water.

Drain pasta and put in a large bowl. Pour garlic orange butter over the noodles. Add crab. Squeeze the juice of one Seville orange over the pasta and slowly add pasta water until the noodles are moist and ever-so-slightly saucy. Mix well. Salt to taste and add crushed red pepper.

I just finished off the leftovers from last night and the unique flavor of the orange with the spice is terrific. mmmm.

Filed under // Seville oranges crab easy peasy lemons pasta

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January 9, 2010

Easy Peasy: Spaghetti Amatriciana

This week I read a little factoid (in the LA Times, maybe, I can't remember) that people today spend about 15 minutes making dinner. Soon it will be 10 minutes. To me this means reheating prepared foods is becoming the norm.

I cook 5-6 nights per week. But contrary to popular belief, I promise, I don't make rabbit sausage every night. Everyone needs to have some easy stuff in their repertoire. Here's one of my favorites. What's your easy-peasy dish?

Spaghetti Amatriciana

A 1-lb. box of spaghetti

Bacon

Onion

Canned Whole Peeled Tomatoes

Crushed red pepped (optional)

Salt

Put some salted water with a dribble of olive oil on to boil.

Dice some bacon (oh, I'd say 3 strips, more or less to your taste), or pancetta, or (my favorite) guanciale. Put it in a sauté pan over med. to med. high heat and let the fat melt a little.

Dice one small yellow onion (or if you shop where I do and they only carry enormous yellow onions, half of one.) Add these to your bacon and sauté until they get some color on them (or not if you don't have the time).

If you wish, add some crushed red pepper for spice.

Drain a large (28-32 oz) can of whole peeled tomatoes*. Dice them. Add them to your onions and bacon. Salt, to taste. Turn the heat down to medium and cook for 10-15 minutes.

Boil your spaghetti, then drain it and return it to the pasta pot. Pour the sauce over it and mix it up. Plate it and grate some parmesan over it if that sounds good to you.

And there you go! Dinner.

*NOTE: I like my pasta sauce not too sauce-y. If you prefer it saucier, drain the tomato juice from the can into your onions and bacon, then chop the whole tomatoes, etc.