Italian food is delicious. I have been on a bit of an asian kick, trying to broaden my horizons, but it’s about time to get back to the wheelhouse. I recently bought a huge jar of marinated artichokes at Costco, just one of those many ‘have-to-buy-at-this-value’ decisions that add up to a staggering bill on the way out. But today, I am glad for this lack of restraint.
I had my friends Chris and Laura over for dinner last night and prepared a meal inspired by Mario Batali: the shorts wearing, clog clopping, olive oil loving chef, and purveyor of all things Italian. Don’t trust a skinny chef…
Sadly, I didn't think to take a picture until I was half done eating.
Artichoke Pasta
- 1 lb dried farfalle (bowtie) pasta
- 2 cups artichokes (marinated unless you are more ambitious than I)
- 1 8oz pkg baby bella mushrooms
- 1 large onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1-2 cups vegetable stock
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- dried chilies or red chili flakes
- 20 mint leaves
- 1 lemon
- salt and pepper
Cook your pasta, I know you know how to do that.
Dice your onions and garlic, and slice your mushrooms. We want to develop a lot of flavor from the mushrooms so browning them is important. Use a large pan that has enough room to not crowd the mushrooms. Avoid the temptation to stir constantly, browning will take around 5-7 minutes, but slows down the more you fiddle. As the mushrooms are about halfway browned, add the onions and garlic and continue cooking until all 3 of these ingredients have developed some nice color. Add the white wine and use a wooden spatula to scrape up the bottom of the pan. The white wine deglazes the pan and adds the delicious flavor of any burned or brown bits into the sauce.
Now add the vegetable stock, artichokes, half of the mint and the chili flakes. Stir around and then put on medium heat and let it reduce about 2/3 the volume of the liquid. Once the sauce has reduced, remove from heat, add to the the pasta and mix in the remaining mint diced finely, parmesan, salt and pepper and the juice from a lemon to taste. Serve with a few mint sprigs and a bit of freshly grated parmesan as a garnish. Enjoy!
Sauteed Broccoli
- 1 large head of broccoli
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- dried red chilies or red chili flakes
- slivered almonds
- a bit of that white wine from the pasta (optional)
- salt and pepper
Sauteed vegetables in olive oil is a slightly decadent way to enjoy your veggies, but it is much more delicious than boiling or steaming, so let’s stick with taste. Cut the broccoli into florets and then cut those florets into 1/2″ slices so that they have large flat surfaces, and dice your garlic. This recipe is also made a lot easier with a large cooking pan. Start with olive oil and bring it up to temperature, remember, never put anything that will be hot into cold oil. Put the broccoli and the chili flakes into the oil and toss to cover the broccoli in olive oil. Start cooking and about five minutes in, add the garlic.
Depending on how much or little oil you want to use, a little white wine can be splashed over the broccoli every few minutes as a way to stop the burning of the broccoli and add a nice acidity. amount(wine) + amount(oil) = CONSTANT. Finally with a few minutes left, add the slivered almonds, salt and pepper. Continue cooking until the broccoli is tender and you have lots of brown approaching burned bits. Place with your pasta.
~Dave
