Linguine and meatballs with a tomato-cream gorgonzola and marjoram sauce

This came out as a result of an intense craving for a creamy-gorgonzola-y pasta dish a few weeks ago after a run.

I had all meatballs in the freezer I needed to use (click here for a recipe) and pretty much everything else was idly sitting in my pantry and fridge.

Here's what happened in Poupette's kitchen that day.



INGREDIENTS (2 people):
- 1/2 pack of dry linguine
- a large handful of small meatballs (click here for a recipe)
- a handful of fresh cherry tomatoes, reserve a few on the side for decoration
- 1 small basket of fresh cremini mushroom
- 1 medium onion
- 1 splash of olive oil
- 1/3 cup of heavy cream
- 1/4 cup of crumbled gorgonzola
Note: if you can, use gorgonzola dolce (a creamy, soft and almost sweet gorgonzola). I used the super acidic crumbly kind you can find easily in supermarkets here in the US, but it would have been orders of magnitude better with the dolce.
- 2 to 3 sprigs of fresh marjoram (oregano or thyme would work well as substitutes)
- freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving



RECIPE:
- bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the linguine al dente

- while the pasta is cooking, brown the meatballs in the olive oil over medium-high heat until golden but not yet cooked through, about 2-3 minutes

- in the same pan, saute the diced onion and sliced mushrooms over medium-high heat and deglaze the meatballs drippings with the moisture of the mushrooms, cover if necessary to create a steamy environment

- after 4-5 minutes, add the marjoram and fresh tomatoes and cook over medium heat until the tomatoes are soft (about 1-2 minutes). If it gets a little dry and starts to stick to the pan, add a ladleful of pasta cooking water and stir

- add in the cream and crumbled gorgonzola and cook over low heat until the meatballs are cooked through

- drain the pasta and serve hot sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper, a few fresh tomatoes and a healthy dose of parmesan shavings
- bon appetit!

Steamed eggplant pasta salad

At last!! A new recipe!! My apologies to all of you for being such a slacker on the blog for the past month. September has been crazy busy. I've had visitors at home for weeks at a time, and had absolutely zero time to edit any posts.

But this is over now, and I have TONS of recipes in my head for you!

Here is the first recipe of the fall: my steamed eggplant and pasta salad.


INGREDIENTS (4 people):
- 2 cups of dry short pasta (I used orecchiette)
- 2 medium eggplants
- a large handful of cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 cup black olives, pitted
- basil leaves, to taste
- juice of 1 lemon
- 10-15 baby mozzarella balls, in oil
- a pinch of salt


RECIPE:
- rinse and dice the eggplants in bite-sized pieces and salt them lightly while you wait for a huge pot of water to boil
- when the water boils hard, start steaming the eggplants for 10-15 minutes, then pour the pasta in the boiling water underneath the basket and cook until the pasta is al dente and the eggplant is tender

Note: I used my new pasta cooker-steamer combo, but you can absolutely do this in different pots!
- when the pasta is al dente, strain and rinse quickly with cold water, sprinkle a little olive oil and toss around so the pasta does not stick together

- reserve the cooked eggplant on the side until just warm, then add to the cold pasta and toss all the remaining ingredients together, sprinkle with a little lemon juice and shredded basil leaves

- enjoy your super healthy eggplant-pasta salad!

Greenest pasta ever: Kale orecchiette alla primavera

Not much intro needed: let's all celebrate spring by making pasta alla primavera!



INGREDIENTS (2 people for a main dish, 4 people as a side):
- any pasta you like! (I used my homemade kale orecchiette, click here for a recipe)
- a bunch of green asparagus, rinsed and trimmed
- 1 small container of snow peas, rinsed
- 1 cup of frozen peas
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled and bruised
- a few sprigs of fresh tarragon, leaves picked
- Parmesan, shaved
- a splash of olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Note: this recipe can be adapted to a vegan diet by using egg-free pasta


RECIPE:
- bring a pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the asparagus, snow peas and green peas for 2-3 minutes, then transfer into iced water to stop the cooking process. Keep the boiled water hot for cooking the pasta later.

- in a large skillet, add the bruised garlic clove into a splash of cold olive oil and cook over very low heat for a few minutes until the garlic becomes fragrant

Note: you do not want to fry the garlic golden here, you just want to infuse the oil and low heat is perfect for that
- after a few minutes, remove the garlic clove (it has served its purpose), add the cooled and drained blanched veggies to the skillet and cook for 5-7 minutes over medium heat

- meanwhile, bring the water back to a boil (it's ok if it has a green tinge from the blanching step) and cook the pasta until almost done.

Note: I like to under-cook my pasta at this stage, because I like them VERY al dente
Note 2: always reserve a little bit of your pasta water, it usually comes in very handy when making the sauce because it contains all the starch from the pasta and thickens beautifully
- when the pasta is almost cooked through, drain well and transfer into the skillet containing the vegetables. Toss well and add the chopped tarragon, half of the Parmesan and about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of pasta cooking liquid. Cook for another 1 minute over medium-high heat, or until the Parmesan has melted into the sauce and coats the pasta

- serve hot, sprinkled with fresh tarragon and a few shavings of Parmesan cheese
- Buon Appetito!

Homemade Orecchiette

I've been making fresh long pasta (spaghetti, tagliatelle and lasagna sheets) for a long time, but I only recently started making my own short pasta. How fun!!

A few weeks ago, I tried my hand at Orecchiette. Those short pasta are amazing for salads and I just love them with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil in a Caprese salad.

I had mine alla primavera (recipe coming soon) and here's how I made them!



INGREDIENTS:
- fresh pasta dough (click here for a semolina dough recipe, or here for a kale pasta dough recipe)
Note: I used my homemade kale pasta dough recipe because I had some frozen on hand but it was a little too soft and in retrospect I would recommend using a semolina recipe for a firmer dough.

DIRECTIONS:
- shape the dough into slim logs (about, 1/2 inch in diameter), wrap in film and let rest in the freezer for about 20 minutes until very firm

- slice the logs into 1/8 to 1/16 inch thick "coins"

- press the discs between your thumb and index or middle finger and twist, just like you would if you were snapping your fingers together

- dregde in flour as you go and until ready to use in your favorite recipe (click here for a pasta alla primavera recipe)