Fresh Tart

You're home from work, starving, standing in front of the fridge with your coat still on. You spy a couple of eggs, a spot of bacon...breakfast for dinner is sounding fast and fine. And it IS fine, of course, given bacon and eggs is one of the best food combinations on the planet. But if you're wanting something a bit more dinner-y, with a hit of carb comfort to chase away the day, remember carbonara, aka bacon-and-egg pasta.

Carbonara purists will be annoyed with the suggestion of bacon over the classic pancetta, but my goal here is a fast, satisfying bowl of pasta with ingredients you're likely to have on hand. If you have pancetta - use it! But if bacon is what you keep on hand, it's perfectly fantastic in this dish.

Your evening will basically play out like this: Set a pot of water on to boil. Hang up your coat. Pour a glass of wine.

Brown some bacon and garlic. Cook the pasta. Grate some cheese. Beat an egg. Toss it all together. That's pretty much it. What emerges is creamy, chewy, decadent heaven, topped with plenty of freshly ground black pepper to balance the richness, ending a long, cold day with a warm, full belly.

Read a book. Go to bed.

Sleep well.

Recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara for One (or More) at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Hello hotness, meet your nemesis: cold soba noodles. Chewy and naturally gluten-free, soba noodles make The Perfect summer pasta salad, robust enough to deliver the heat of chiles, the bite of fresh herbs, and whatever savory tasties you have on hand. (If you notice that I often suggest adding random treasures from your cooler to dishes, it's because that's how I exist and cook. It's the challenge, the satisfaction in repurposing leftovers, of not wasting food, of creating something new. Also, I am lazy.)

There are two tricks when working with soba noodles: do not over cook them, and rinse them very, very well in cold water. As in, rinse and rinse and rinse. Also, while the salad is quite tasty upon completion, it tastes even better after chilling for a couple of hours - the noodles absorb a bit of the dressing and the herbs bloom and meld.

I added fresh mint and basil to this version, but of course cilantro would be delicious. While I topped mine with leftover pork, chicken, shrimp, or tofu would all be lovely additions. Toss in a handful of shredded carrots or cabbage. Top with shelled edamame or fresh peas. Pickled vegetables make everything better and would be particularly delightful here. Make this salad all summer long, changing it up each time. See? Truly The Perfect summer pasta salad.

Recipe for Cold Soba Noodles with Fresh Herbs, Cucumber & Pork at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Most-viewed Fresh Tart recipe in 2011...Pasta Amatriciana from the Muir Glen Vine Dining Tour dinner I attended at Corner Table Restaurant back in February. Chef Scott Pampuch shared his recipe, I made it at home and included it with my post about the event, and kablam.

You all LOVE pasta! And pork! I don't blame you one bit!

Coincidentally (or not!), that was a very special event for me. I met so many new friends, all on the same night, I look back and shake my head at the evil food fun that has spun out of that night. Joy! Dave! Minnesota Food Bloggers! Not kidding.

I didn't realize it then, but 2011 was just starting to simmer. I couldn't possibly have known that it would boil over into the most significant year of my life, short of the year that Nathan was born. (I chat about a few highlights in my recent Twitterview with Joel Carlson for Minnesota Monthly Magazine.) I am in awe of the friends I've met, the relationships that have blossomed, the work that has come my way, the food I've been able to cook/photograph/write about, the opportunities to grow and push and do crazy shit that blow my mind from the moment I open my eyes each morning.

Thank you for reading what I write, cooking my recipes and letting me know (truly, nothing makes me happier, nothing), chatting on Twitter, sharing your pictures and stories on Facebook and your own blogs. We are very lucky here in Minnesota that we've been able to turn our social media connections into real and lasting friendships, good work, delicious food, charitable contributions, and the energy of connecting with people who love what they do.

There's so much more coming! Amazing. Cheers to 2012, much love, Stephanie

Inspired by a recent David Tanis/New York Times column about the beauty of having a quick, satisfying pasta in your repertoire, I thought I'd share my recipe - if you can even call it that - for the pasta I make for my son at least once a week. Like the Tanis recipe, this dish comes together quickly, with ingredients easy to keep on hand, and delivers fast, filling comfort on a cold, busy day.

Or night! I was so taken by the idea of having a go-to dish to make after a sparkly night out, when it's very possible that you were offered a lowball glass of Cheetos, but not actual real food to absorb the perfect cocktails you sipped for too many hours. (I love you Marvel Bar, but I am ready to eat my hat by the time I get home from a lovely evening in your presence.)

(If you're gluten-free, you can substitute gluten-free pasta. Or, just make yourself a fried egg, with loads of hot sauce, which is what I often do. But that's a different post...)

Recipe for Quick Pasta with Cream & Garlic at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

This pillowy gnocchi is so easy to make! And delicious tossed with brown butter and crispy sage.

Recipe for Winter Squash Snocchi with Brown Butter & Sage at Food & Wine Magazine/Andrew Zimmern's Kitchen Adventures.

The calendar says May, but the temperature reads February, with mean little snow flurries icing our not-spring cake.

It pretty much sucks.

But there are ramps!  Lovely, garlicky-grassy ramps, which taste like spring, and that means something.

I actually prefer them just gently warmed, so they keep their garlicky bite, which makes them perfect for pesto.  We're eating ramp pesto on everything - tossed with the pasta above, dabbed on the pot roast below, stirred into mayo and then generously smeared on sandwiches and swiped through with steamed artichoke leaves.

In case you're wondering what on earth is sitting atop the pot roast, those are...ramps!  That I put on the grill, forgot about, and burned the heck out of.  They were still delicious, crispy with the tender beef, set off by the fresh pesto.

When spring gives you winter....eat spring.  Yeah.

[For two more versions, delicious uses, and lovely pics, check out my friends Laurie and Angharad's ramp pesto posts on their blogs Relish It and Eating for England.  We Minnesota girls love our ramp pesto!]

Ramp Pesto
Makes about 1 cup

2 bunches ramps, washed, ends trimmed
1/2 c. Italian parsley
1/2 c. toasted nuts (I used cashews)
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
squeeze of fresh lemon
extra-virgin olive oil
salt & pepper

Puree ramps, parsely, nuts, cheese, and lemon in the bowl of a food processor.  With the processor running, slowly pour in enough oil to create a loose paste.  Taste the pesto and add salt & pepper as needed, another squirt of lemon if you like, perhaps a bit more oil.  Store covered, chilled, for up to one week.

It's no secret that Corner Table Restaurant is one of my favorite spots in town - I wouldn't have chosen to spend my birthday dinner there several weeks ago if it weren't.  So when I received an invitation for a promotional cooking demonstration and dinner at Corner Table, for the Muir Glen Tomato Vine Dining Tour, I was happy to accept.

I suspect that local foods advocate and chef/owner Scott Pampuch was well aware that he'd raise a few eyebrows when he signed on for the tour.  Even though Muir Glen - a division of General Mills - is locally owned, the tomatoes are grown in California.

For those of you who pay attention to where your food comes from, buy the highest quality food you can afford, shop farmers markets and local co-ops when you can, and happily eat canned organic California tomatoes in the middle of a Minnesota winter - I'm with you.  I received a few cans of tomatoes as a parting gift after the dinner, but it's not like I don't have a cupboard full of - as it turns out - Muir Glen tomatoes anyhow.

I do not have, however, the Muir Glen Reserve tomatoes, a limited-edition variety available only online, which The Vine Dining Tour specifically promotes.  Pampuch and four other national chefs toured the 3-acre field where the tomatoes are grown, picked at peak ripeness, and canned within hours.

Impressed with the operation as well as with the quality of the Reserve tomatoes, he returned to Minnesota, dug his can opener out of the basement, and developed recipes for Muir Glen to distribute with the tomatoes (one of which is the Fire-Roasted Tomato Burger with Aioli recipe I posted a few days ago at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine), as well as for the promotional dinner at Corner Table.

As the restaurant filled with guests, happy bread-eaters (of which I am no longer, sigh) dunked golden little grilled cheese sandwiches into cups of creamy tomato soup.  I enjoyed watching everyone angle for seconds...and perhaps thirds?

Perhaps.

The silky-rich Amatriciana sauce, however, was all mine.  CT kindly served the sauce (recipe below) over fried polenta, while the gluten-eating majority enjoyed theirs over pillows of sofrito-stuffed fresh pasta. (Honestly, I've always preferred polenta over pasta anyhow, so major score for me.)

And so began the collective raving and sighing.  Man, there are few things as truly fun as sharing a meal with a room full of food lovers.  We all enjoyed the same courses, at the same time, in effect a big, cozy, dinner party.  The wine flowed, the room grew loud, there was happiness.

Good food with friends new and old: Do that, as often as you can.

The main course lamb terrine - served alongside fried potato crisps, a smear of tomato gastrique (homemade ketchup!), a dash of pretty-in-pink tomato salt, and a crunchy, housemade pickle relish - came off as a fabulously deconstructed, sophisticated burger-n-fries.  I briefly considered a wine-enhanced request for a wax-paper lined basket of the potatoes with a squeeze bottle of gastrique and a shaker of tomato salt...but I successfully resisted.

I had to skip the olive oil cake and fennel tuille cookie (both so pretty), but I dug the nod-to-summer tomato and strawberry-basil sorbets together, especially with the bacon granola - bacon granola! - that I was kindly offered in lieu of the cake.

Pre-dinner, Joy Summers from CityPages Hot Dish blog, James Norton and Katie Cannon from The Heavy Table, and I chatted with Pampuch (and snapped pics) while he talked about his decision to participate in the Vine Dining Tour and demonstrated the preparation of the sofrito and Amatriciana sauce featured in the first-course pasta.  (Check out both of their posts for their takes on the dinner and to admire Katie Cannon's lovely photos.)

Pampuch kindly shared the recipes for the sofrito and Amatriciana sauce (the pasta pics up top and directly above are those I snapped at home after prepping the sauces).

Sofrito
Recipe by Scott Pampuch, Corner Table Restaurant
Makes 2 cups

2 medium carrots
1 medium onion
1 medium parsnip
1 1/2 c. olive oil
1 Tbsp. Muir Glen Fire Roasted organic tomatoes, slow simmered to a chunky paste consistency
2 cloves garlic, minced

Peel and grate the onions, carrots, and parsnips.  In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat.  Stir in grated vegetables, tomatoes, and garlic, and simmer gently for 45-60 minutes.  Note: At first, olive oil will appear cloudy, the result of water evaporating from the vegetables.  When the olive oil appears to be clear again (vegetables will be very tender) the sofrito is done.  Be patient: "Good things come to those who wait."

Remove from heat and strain vegetables from oil.  Stir tomatoes into vegetables.  Reserve oil for garnish or to roast garlic.

Use a teaspoon or two of sofrito when making pasta dishes, as a base for a simple pan sauce with a steak or chop, in soup, or as a topping for bruschetta.  Store covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Pasta Amatriciana
Recipe by Scott Pampuch, Corner Table Restaurant
Serves 4

Note: Corner Table sells housemade pancetta - and bacon, lardo, pork rilletes - from their meatcase during regular restaurant hours.  In addition, you can order fresh pork belly to make your own (do it!).  Tel: 612.823.0011

1 lb. dry spaghetti
6 oz. thinly sliced pancetta (cut on bias so when rendered, the pieces will curl up; do not use smoked bacon)
1 clove garlic, sliced paper thin to melt
1 14.5-oz. can Muir Glen Meridian Ruby tomatoes
salt & pepper
dry-aged cheese for grating
2 oz. toasted, seasoned breadcrumbs (toasted in a dry pan, whirred in processor with fresh herbs and salt to taste)

Set a large pot of cold water on to boil.  When the water boils, add enough salt for the water to taste salty.  Add the pasta and cook over medium heat, stirring once or twice.

While the water boils and pasta cooks, puree tomatoes in a blender until smooth.  Heat a saucepan over medium heat.  Add the pancetta to the pan.  Once a little bit of the fat has rendered from the pancetta, add the garlic.  Stir in 1 teaspoon of the sofrito, then the pureed tomatoes.  Simmer over low heat until sauce begins to coat the back of a spoon.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.

When the pasta is done, drain and add to the sauce, gently stirring until coated.

Serve pasta with grated cheese and a small pinch of bread crumbs.

As you might have noticed, I'll eat eggs with pretty much anything.  Polenta, potatoes, bread, bread crumbs, salad, tomatoes, soup, on and on.  Take it from a former egg hater - eggs elevate all of these dishes from something ordinary to sublime.

For pennies.

For around 75 calories.

So lovely.

This dish is a sort-of take on spaghetti carbonara, the classic bacon-n-egg pasta.  Instead of tossing the pasta with raw eggs, cream, and lots of bacon, this version is instead tossed with a little bacon, garlic, herbs, and Parmesan cheese, then topped with a poached egg.  Yeah.  Gorgeous and delicious.  Salty, chewy, creamy. (Without cream.)

In other words, completely party worthy.  Or quick weeknight dinner worthy.  You decide.

Sort-Of Spaghetti Carbonara
Serves 2

2 slices bacon, chopped
1 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
8 oz. dried spaghetti
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Set a large pot of salted water on to boil.  Set a small saucepan of salted water on to boil. 

Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Add bacon, saute until just crisp, then stir in garlic and fresh herbs.  Remove from heat and set aside.

When the large pot of water boils, add pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente.  Before draining, reserve 1/3 c. of the pasta cooking water.  Drain pasta and return to the pot.  Add the bacon, herbs, pan drippings, cheese, and pasta cooking water to the pasta.  Add a generous sprinkle of salt and freshly ground black pepper, and toss to coat.  Divide between two plates.

Turn heat down on the small saucepan of boiling water so that the water is barely simmering - small bubbles should barely break the surface.  Crack one egg into a small dish and slide into the water.  Quickly do the same with the second egg.  Set the timer for 3 minutes.  The eggs whites will look shredded, but that's OK.  When the timer goes off, use a slotted spoon to scoop one egg out of the water.  Tilt the spoon so the water drains completely off, then place the egg on top of one of the plates of pasta.  Repeat with the second egg and second plate of pasta.  Top eggs with a sprinkle of salt and a few grinds of black pepper each.  Serve immediately.

If mint over-runneth your garden - chives too, for that matter - then this pesto is for you.  It's surprisingly mild, luscious with toasted almonds and olive oil (no cheese).  It makes a quick, lovely dinner, especially tossed with fresh tomatoes (as written) or a handful or two of your favorite lightly sauteed vegetables.  (My tomatoes were just meh, so I added English peas, asparagus, and spinach instead.  Very un-meh, as in tasty.)

This recipe hails from Lynn Rosetto Kasper's The Italian Country Table, one of my favorite cookbooks.  She suggests a combination of toasted almonds, pistachios, and pine nuts for maximum nuttiness.  But if you're pinched for time (and ingredients), almonds alone are fabulous too.  I used garlic scapes in place of garlic, because I had them, but I'll print the original recipe below and you can riff away.  Seriously, if you do have tons of chives, throw some in.  And if you like, add more olive oil than called for.  This pesto is less oily than others, which works because you toss it into the pasta with plenty of pasta cooking water (a great trick for getting by with less oil).  But if you like an oilier pesto, then add it.  That's the cool thing about pesto (other than being completely delicious) - it's pretty hard to screw up.

While you contemplate your pesto ingredients and wait for your water to boil, crush several mint leaves in a glass with a wooden spoon, then fill the glass with ice, add a shot of gin (or vodka), and a shot of grapefruit juice.  Top it all off with tonic water and give a little stir.

So pretty, right?  Pure summer.

Ahhhh...

Linguine with Pistachio-Almond Pesto
Adapted from The Italian Country Table by Lynne Rosetto Kasper
Serves 8 as a first course; 4-6 as a main dish

Note: I added 1/2 c. of shelled peas, 1/2 c. of chopped asparagus, and 1 c. of chopped spinach to the version in the photo.  While the pasta cooks, saute the vegetables in 1 Tbsp. of olive oil, with a sprinkle of salt, for a few minutes until spinach is wilted and peas and asparagus are just tender-crisp.  Add to the serving bowl along with the pesto, tomatoes, and olive oil, per below.

1/2 c. unblanched whole almonds, toasted
1/2 c. shelled salted pistachio nuts, toasted
1/3 c. pine nuts, toasted
1 large clove garlic
pinch of hot red pepper flakes
1/4 c. fruity extra-virgin olive oil, or more to taste, plus extra for drizzling
40 large mint leaves
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. linguine, spaghetti, bucatini, or other string pasta
1 lb. good cherry tomatoes, quartered

Mix the cooled toasted nuts.  Coarsely chop about one quarter of them and set aside.  Add the garlic, hot pepper flakes, olive oil, remaining whole nuts, and 2/3 of the mint leaves to the bowl of a food processor.  Process until the mixture looks like very coarse meal.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Tear up the remaining mint leaves.

Cook the pasta in fiercely boiling water, stirring often, until tender yet firm to the bite.

As the pasta cooks, gently blend the pesto, tomatoes, and a drizzle of the oil in a deep pasta bowl.  Skim off 1/2 to 3/4 c. of the pasta cooking water just before draining, and drain the pasta in a colander.  Add the pasta water to the bowl.  Add the sauce, pasta, chopped nuts, and salt and pepper to taste and toss.  Then toss in the reserved torn mint.  Taste for seasoning, adding extra oil, mint, salt, and/or pepper if needed.  Serve hot or warm.  No cheese is used here.

My son is a big fettucine alfredo fan.  Restaurant versions are terrifyingly caloric, unnecessarily soaked in cups of cream and cheese, some even enriched with egg yolks. I've come up with a not-so-over-the-top version for him that I actually prefer.  I use real cream, but not too much.  A little goes a long way.

Nathan likes his as pictured, but if I were making this for myself I'd saute a handful or two of spinach leaves with the garlic.  Or a handful of peas would be pretty too (and a bit of diced ham?  That's a classic, for good reason, yum.)  Fresh herbs are always a delicious finish, or a pinch of truffle salt.  Lots of options, all good.

Nathan's Fettucine Alfredo
Serves 2-4

1/2 lb. dried fettucine (or spaghetti, good with cappelini too)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. heavy cream
salt
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
freshly ground black pepper

Cook pasta in salted water according to package instructions.  While the pasta cooks, heat a small skillet over medium-low heat.  Add olive oil, then garlic, and gently saute until garlic is tender and about to brown at the edges (do not fully brown the garlic, it will be bitter).  Stir in the cream and a generous sprinkle of salt.  Simmer for 1-2 minutes, stirring a few times, then remove from heat and set aside.  When pasta is done, before draining it, remove 1/3 c. of the pasta cooking water.  Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and add the cream, Parmesan cheese, pasta cooking water, a sprinkle of salt, and a few grinds of black pepper.  Toss until sauce is creamy and pasta is coated.  Serve immediately.