Category: Pasta

TBH, I just never liked raw tomatoes. 

Yes, I know this is not a popular opinion.

Tomatoes were the highlight of my Dad’s huge garden. My folks would pore over the annual seed catalogs, weighing the supposed pros and cons of each heirloom or hybrid tomato before ordering seed packets. The progress of the plants and their fruits were monitored with great anticipation, with any potential problems promptly addressed. The tomatoes begin to set and next thing you know, Dad is eating the darn things warm, right off the vine. Most times, they were served at table simply sliced with salt and pepper. I passed, much to my parents’ chagrin.

And all these years later? Still not a fan. I’ll eat a few bites in a salad, then promptly push the remainder to the side of the plate, where my husband rescues their little hides. I make summer salads, heaping his with tomatoes and limiting mine to the smallest amount that appears somewhat respectable. There are coping mechanisms that allow me to eat them- dowsed in olive oil with copious amounts of fresh basil and pepper; even better dowsed in olive oil with basil and fresh mozzarella cheese. As a bruschetta topping, dowsed in olive oil and chopped basil. I believe I detect a theme here…

Fresh, room temperature pasta sauce is the most likely dish one will find me eating and actually enjoying fresh tomatoes. You guessed it: diced tomatoes, basil, fresh mozz and olive oil, tossed with pasta! Occasionally there might be a few cooked chilled shrimp chopped into it, but the theme endures. Until this summer…

Basically, tomatoes need distraction; when one dilutes that tomato flavor with more favorable vegetables, herbs and spices, they become downright tasty. Which is what happens in this fresh Mediterranean sauce.  The tomatoes of choice for this sauce are not the weirdly misshapen yet beautiful heirlooms; no, I need a meaty tomato with very little inner seedy goo. (Can’t deal with the goo.) When all the eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, herbs, olives, pine nuts and yes-olive oil go in, why, those tomatoes become downright delicious.  Toss in some al dente pasta, a bit of diced fresh mozzarella and I’m all in. 

This is typically served mixed with whole grain einkorn penne, which adds some protein. Often I top it with a handful of crispy baked chickpeas, both for crunch and to increase the protein a bit more. One could certainly up the protein with a legume-based pasta, too. Need some meat? A package of small dice pancetta would fit just fine into the skillet with the mushrooms and eggplant. This has become a summer go-to meal for us with no heating of the oven required.

Would it have my parents’ approval? I suspect my mom would be okay with it. Dad?  Probably not. Not enough tomato, y’know?

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Fresh Mediterranean Pasta

Room temperature pasta sauce, combining sauteed and fresh raw vegetables, served atop whole grain pasta.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: fresh, pasta, vegetables, vegetarian

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

Cooked Vegetables

• 2 tbsp olive oil I use garlic infused
• 1 small eggplant, peeled and cut to 1/4-inch dice
• 1/2 lb mushrooms,cut to 1/4-inch dice
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, 1/4-inch dice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp chili flake or to taste
• 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/4 tsp fennel seed, ground lightly

Raw Vegetables

• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1/2 lb Roma tomatoes, 1/4-inch dice
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
• 1/4 cup sliced Kalamata olives
• 3 tbsp pine nuts I use toasted pine nuts
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8 oz penne pasta cooked according to package directions
• 4 oz fresh mozzarella, 1/4-inch dice
• 1/2 cup bagged crunchy chickpeas optional

Instructions

• Heat the 2 tablespoons garlic infused olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Saute the vegetables to be cooked lightly, then cover and cook til tender, about 10 minutes.

  Stir in the seasonings and set aside to cool.
• Stir the tomatoes, raw green onion, herbs, olives, nuts, oil, vinegar and salt into the cooled cooked vegetable mixture. Toss with the cooked pasta. Cool to room temperature, then fold in the diced mozzarella. Top servings with crunchy chickpeas if desired. 

For most folk, the image of a kid in a candy shop would not be a child in a big ol’ farm kitchen, festooned with oodles of noodles. But it fits my story as a young kid on the farm. Homemade hand cut egg noodles, which my mother had hung to dry over every free surface in the room-counters, tables and chair backs.  Now this just happened to leave the neatly cut ends of the l-o-n-g noodles at about the height of a small farm girl… While I’m sure she cautioned me to leave them alone, inevitably I’d manage to sneak in unseen to tweak off the yummy ends of that soft dough, leaving a row of ragged edges like a set of snaggle teeth. Was I in trouble? Probably. But not so much so that I recall ending the error of my ways…

Noodles were a staple on the Midwestern dinner table, usually served as part of “something and noodles,” such as chicken and noodles or beef and noodles. I never learned to make them; by the time I was old enough, Mom was too busy on the farm or had returned to full-time work. She simply didn’t make them any longer. And what was never mentioned was the fact that egg noodles are actually pasta.

Italian American food was not a particularly familiar cuisine on the farm. My mom did make a basic spaghetti sauce, but it was always served on the long dried strands of pasta found in a box on the grocery store shelf.  But after leaving the farm for the wider world, and as that world began to offer a broader selection of cuisines, I came to know fresh pasta as a highly desirable commodity. I simply never connected the simple egg noodles of my childhood with fresh pasta, because we didn’t eat it that way. And the idea of making it at home seemed quite daunting…

The fact that my husband had spent his early childhood in the south of Italy only multiplied the intimidation factor. His nickname as a kid was “the spaghetti boy.”  We acquired an Italian pasta machine years ago and he would on occasion make fresh pasta. That seemed to suffice until several months ago when I saw a class being offered at Hayden Flour Mills https://www.haydenflourmills.com where I purchase many of my grain products. The company mills an ancient variety of wheat known as Sonoran white wheat, originally brought to the area by the Spaniards as they moved north through Mexico to claim land and establish missions. Highly digestible, I use it in many of my baked goods.

A life-long need to make pasta suddenly bloomed, so I registered for the class. Picture a gaggle of multi-aged women around a big wooden baking station. Gab and flour were both flying freely; eggs were breaking and dough was kneaded. We took turns learning how to thin and cut the dough, feeding through the pasta machine.  We cut and stamped tortellini and used a cavarola board to make cavatelli. My fear melted away, as I discovered this process was actually pretty easy, particularly for someone who has baked for years.  I was also reminded that camaraderie makes learning reinforcing. Many kudos to Emma and Jill, our instructors at the mill, for making the afternoon both fun and functional.  

I drove home with a pound of various shapes of pasta, including half a pound of yes; you guessed it, egg noodles. Checked out the pantry, finding the ingredients to turn those scrumptious strands of dough into this recipe. So as we head into a new year, do I think you should make this pasta dish or even make your own pasta? Sure if either of those appeal to you. You can certainly make the dish with convenient fresh pasta from the refrigerated section of the grocery, or even dried pasta. But more importantly, try something you’ve always wanted to do, but thought you couldn’t. Accomplishment feels pretty satisfying.

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Pasta with Butternut and Bacon

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Entree

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Mary Kay Allen

Ingredients

• 1 poblano pepper
• 2 cups diced butternut squash
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon dried rosemary crushed
• 5 slices bacon
• 8 ounces fresh or dried pasta of choice
• 1 tablespoon flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• pinch pepper
• 1 cup milk or alt milk
• ¼ cup grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

• Turn the oven on to broil. Place the poblano pepper on a baking pan and broil until blackened, turning to broil all sides. Remove from the heat and place in a paper bag to steam. Once cooled, scrape off the blackened skin, remove seeds and dice the flesh. Set aside.
• Heat the oven to 425° F. Toss the butternut squash with olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano, cayenne, cumin and rosemary. Spread out on a baking pan either sprayed with cooking spray or covered with parchment. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring once, or until browned and tender. Set aside.
• Begin heating a large pot of water with 2 to 3 quarts of generously salted water. Slice the bacon in ½ inch strips and sauté in a medium skillet until browned and crisp. Remove to a paper towel to drain. Pour off the bacon fat, leaving one tablespoon in the skillet. When ready to make the sauce, heat the bacon fat over medium high heat until sizzling, then stir in the flour until smooth. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until it comes to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer sauce for 1 minute. Add the grated cheese and season to taste. Stir in the diced poblano.
• When the water is boiling, cook the pasta according to the recipe or package directions. When al dente drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup starchy cooking water. Toss pasta with the sauce, butternut squash and bacon slices, adding starchy cooking water as needed to thin the sauce.