Posts Tagged ‘pasta’

Monday, April 9, 2012

Making Homemade Pasta with America’s Test Kitchen Cooking School (and a Giveaway!)

I’m pretty excited about today. Why? Instead of having a full post for you here, I’m going to tell you to head over to America’s Test Kitchen’s blog, The Feed, and check out my post there! You might remember I won a scholarship to the Test Kitchen’s Cooking School about a month ago. Part of that scholarship entailed the opportunity to write a blog post for The Feed. I was assigned to blog about my experience with the homemade pasta lessons at the Cooking School. I can’t even begin to explain how much I learned and how fun it was… Well actually, I did try to explain it, so head to my post and check it out!

A little side note on me: When I was in grad school, I was writing a paper on the magazine publishing industry and decided to try to interview Chris Kimball of America’s Test Kitchen fame for the paper, though I knew my chances of even getting an editor to answer my emailed questions were slim. I sent an email to the only contact I could find and the next day, I actually received a response with a thread from his assistant forwarding my email to Chris and asking if he could chat with me. Before long, I was on the phone with Chris Kimball himself chit chatting about all things magazine publishing, cooking, and brand building. It was incredible and I became even more of a fan (that was 6 years ago… gosh, I’m old!). Also, one of the first recipes I made myself was Cook’s Illustrated‘s blueberry clafoutis back when I was in college (8 years ago!). I’m a big supporter of all things America’s Test Kitchen and SO thrilled I had a chance to blog for them.

I’m also incredibly excited about the Cooking School they recently launched and am very happy to share my experience with you. And trust me, I will be making lots and lots more pasta in my home… So, who wants to have a pasta party??

ATK Cooking School Giveaway!

Now, I want you guys to have a chance to experience the Cooking School for yourself! I’m giving away a 60-day trial of America’s Test Kitchen Cooking School to one lucky reader!

All you have to do is head over to my Homemade Pasta post on The Feed and then check out the other courses the Cooking School offers. Comment on this post and let me know which course you would try first. While you’re at it, let me know which course I should tackle next :) Comment by Friday, April 13 at 11:59 p.m. for a chance to win!

For extra entries, (1) follow us on Twitter at @WearenotMartha and (2) Tweet about this giveaway, tagging @WearenotMartha and @TestKitchen (leave a separate comment for each way you enter). Good luck and get ready to get your learn on!

[Sues]

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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Roasted Vegetable Pasta with Creamy Lemon Sauce

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Summer weather lasted a grand total of 2.5 days here in Boston. Seriously. Last week it was 80 degrees. This week? 30-something. My body is confused and angry. But it is only March and that 80 degree weather was far too good to be true. Since winter is back, I decided to do something I didn’t do nearly enough of this winter: roast vegetables. I’ve been craving them. I’ve also been craving roasted fennel. And pasta. But when am I not craving pasta? I figured a nice creamy sauce wouldn’t hurt either. Does it ever?

Don’t be intimidated by the long ingredient list. I made this after working all day and getting home at 7:30 p.m and it was actually quite speedy. Seriously! The reason it’s so simple is because the vegetables don’t require much chopping or prep. You basically toss them in some olive oil and salt and pepper and put them in the oven. Then you boil water for pasta, crisp your pancetta, and whip up a quick sauce. Plus, you can totally customize the recipe to you and use whatever vegetables you want. Or use no vegetables. And just have pasta with pancetta and creamy sauce. Trust me, no one here is judging.

Roasted Vegetable Pasta with Creamy Lemon Sauce (serves about 6):
Print this recipe!

  • 1 fennel bulb, chopped (about 2 cups)
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 C kalamata olives
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 10 leaves kale leaves
  • 8 oz. mushrooms
  • 1 C cherry tomatoes
  • 3 oz. chopped pancetta
  • 1 lb. whole wheat pasta
  • 2 T butter
  • 2.5 T flour
  • 1/2 C dry white wine
  • 1 C milk
  • 1 lemon, zest and juice
  • 3 T chopped parsley
  • 1/4 C grated parmesan

(pre-heat oven to 400 degrees)

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You can really start wherever you want, but I opted to start with the fennel. I chopped it all up and tossed it in a bowl with some extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

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Then I put the kalamata olives in a bowl with the garlic and tossed those around.

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I placed them on a foil covered baking sheet. I opted to keep all my veggies separate on the baking sheets just because I wasn’t sure how long they’d all take to roast and wanted to be able to easily remove one veggie if they were done.

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I washed the kale, tossed it in some olive oil and salt and pepper, and gave it a baking sheet of its own.

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Then I tossed both the mushrooms and the tomatoes in a bit more olive oil and more salt and pepper and placed them on a foil covered baking sheet as well.

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I popped all three baking sheets in the oven at 400 degrees and roasted away. My kale definitely finished first at around 15 minutes. Then came the fennel at 20. I gave the olives, tomatoes, and mushrooms about 25 minutes. But use your judgment and cook the vegetables to your liking.

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When the vegetables were almost done roasting, I started boiling my water for the pasta, too. I cooked the pasta until al dente and then drained.

Then I put my pancetta in a pan and cooked it on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until it started crisping up.

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Onto the sauce! Melt your butter over medium-low heat (I used the same frying pan as I cooked my pancetta in). Then whisk the flour in until smooth.

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Add the milk and the wine whisking vigorously the whole time. Whisk until the mixture thickens up, which should only take a couple minutes. Whisk in 1-2 T zest from the lemon and squeeze the entire lemon into the mix.

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Then stir in the parsley and parmesan cheese.

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Now, in a giant bowl (much bigger than the one I used), toss together the pasta, vegetables, and pancetta.

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Then toss the sauce in as well.

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Serve with a bit more parmesan cheese if you desire. And when wouldn’t you desire?

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The sauce makes this feel like a total indulgence, but really it’s not that much sauce for an entire pot of pasta. Plus, check out all those healthy and delicious vegetables. Kale immediately makes anything healthy. I believe that if you ate an entire ice cream sundae, it would be healthy so long as it was covered in kale. But maybe that’s just me.

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Just to be safe, I’d add a little kale to everything you eat.

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My favorite part of this dish? Too tough to decide and totally dependent on my current mood. Luckily, this recipe makes a bunch of leftovers. I can never get enough of the sharp taste of kalamara olives, but the burst from the cherry tomatoes and lemony notes from the sauce reminded me that summer isn’t so far away, despite what the thermometer is telling me. Oh wait, I almost forgot about the pancetta. Pancetta packs a ton of flavor into everything it touches.

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Next time I make a dish like this, I hope it’s because I’m grilling the vegetables instead of putting them in my oven. Grilling season is so close I can taste it (no, it doesn’t taste like charcoal or propane) and I’m planning on making the most of every second of it.

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I hope you’re all having happy hump days! Just a couple more before a glorious weekend, during which I’ll be trying my wedding dress on for the first time in 7 months (in a size that actually fits me). I’m hoping I’ll still love it… considering I haven’t seen anything I like more in the past 7 months, I’m pretty sure I will! Tonight? Heading back to Chels’s to finish the invites. So excited!

Are you dreaming about the weekend already?

[Sues]

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