It’s the season for cauliflower and I am a big fan, so it always makes me happy to prepare some.
Until recently I would either eat it raw, steam it to melty-crunchy, or make a puree or a soup for some classic recipes. Or use Indian inspiration and cook it with spices.
Yet this year I started to make a sauce for pasta with it, like you would with broccoli. My first attempt was good but needed a bit more elaboration. My attempt today reached the perfection I was expecting. So here is my recipe. Simple but so delicious.
Cauliflower pasta (for 2 servings)
120g of dry short pasta (I used farfalle, but penne, macaroni etc… would work very well)
1/2 cauliflower
2tbs of olive oil
Salt, pepper, turmeric, paprika
Boil the pasta. Steam the cauliflower until very mushy.
In a pan, puree the cauliflower and add the olive oil and the salt, pepper, turmeric and paprika, a pinch of each. Stir well. Add the cooked and drained pasta, stir to obtain a well mixed mix. Serve.
You can add grated parmesan on top if you like it.
The summer is slowly reaching its end and the end of summer vegetables start to arrive such as butternut squash and kabocha, but before the summer ends for real, let’s enjoy a little more the summer vegetables: eggplants, cucumber, edamame and jute mallow…
I am not necessarily a big fan of prawns, for three main reasons: (1) because they usually are grown and from far away places, (2) because when they are local they are often sold alive, like the blue prawns from Okinawa, (3) because they come as whole (understand with the head), and I must say, that fishes or others that come as whole, I am OK cooking them, but they disgust me when they are cooked. For example, fresh snapper, or sanma (which are in season now) I don’t cook them anymore because I can’t eat them after.
Anyway… the other day when shopping in Ohara there was fresh prawns, and rare enough to mention, they were coming from Choshi, a fishing port 60km north of Ohara. So I thought I would give them a try, after so long…
When the time for cooking came… hum… things got a bit complicated. As expected, looking at the whole prawns started to disgust me (really, these eyes!!!), so I tossed them in the wok, grilled them and called A. to remove the shell etc… because if I did it I wouldn’t eat them, then I chopped them, and things were ok again, or almost. I gave a good scrub to the wok before using it again for the rest of the preparation … you know eyes juice…
I am not vegetarian though we eat little animal meat, but honestly if I had to fish to eat fish and hunt to eat meat I would. The day there will be no more fish mongers and butcher to prepare the filets, I’ll turn vegetarian. I think it is one of my major weaknesses in the kitchen, my impossibility to prepare some ingredients. But I’ll live with it, be assured!!!!
Back to our prawns… I hadn’t cook some for so long that I wasn’t sure which recipe would be good, and after a little of thinking I come up with a simple pasta recipe with saffron, red bell pepper, lime, pasta and prawns if course. I was simple, fragrant and delicious. Here is my recipe.
Saffron prawns pasta
2 portion of pasta
1 red bell pepper
8 prawns
1/2 lime
A few saffron pistils
Olive oil, salt and pepper
Boil your pasta and reserve.
In a pan grill the prawns, shell them and chop them in 1cm long pieces. In the pan heat some olive oil. Wash the red bell pepper and chop very thinly, add to the pan, add the prawns, the saffron, salt and pepper and a bit of water, just a but. Cook a few minutes while stirring, add the pasta, stir well and serve!
As I was reading the Japan times the other day I discovered they have a monthly column called Japanese kitchenwith some cooking tips and recipes and found an old recipe of natto and umeboshi pasta. Neither A. nor I are fans of natto but it was time to prepare lunch and I was planning to make tagliatelle but I wanted to eat umeboshi, so wafu pasta naturally, and the recently read recipe made me create this super simple version: replacing natto by seasonal vegetables, and using some soya sauce for dressing the pasta. As I mentioned in my earlier post on the topic, wafu pasta are something of their own kind that may be ignominious to the purists but once you have tried them they are quite exquisite and the mariage of flavors can be exceptional. I loved the one of this recipe. I hope you will too.
Umeboshi, nanohana and shiitake tagliatelle (serves 2)
180g of fresh tagliatelle
5 nanohana
3-5 shiitake depending on size
3 plain umeboshi medium size
1tbs of soya sauce
A ponch of sesame seeds
Wash and slice the shiitake. Wash and cut the nanohana in 3. In a large pan slightly greased (I used sesame oil, but anything works) start cooking the vegetables under cover at low heat. In the meantime boil the pasta. Drain the pasta and add to the pan. Stir well. Add the soya sauce, the sesame seeds, the flesh of one umeboshi, stir again and serve. Top each plate with an umeboshi, enjoy!
I have a principle that I apply for pretty much anything and even more when I cook or think about cooking, it’s to be always flexible and opened to opportunities, or see change in plans as one. Nothing is definite. A recipe evolves and comes to life as ingredients are mixed together, taking the mood and the time into consideration… This is exactly how this wafu pasta recipe was created. It all started with a bicycle ride to go diy shopping. On the way back, if we take this road, I like to stop at the little stall that sells local fresh vegetables grown right on the spot. Sometimes the shelves are empty, and sometimes they have little treasures. They just had many little treasures this day. In particular a big bundle of tiny sweet leeks appealed me. I just picked it, slid a 100yen coin in the box and off we went.
But what to do with them… I had no plan… until a few days later when time for dinner came and it was decided we would eat pasta. Tagliatelle. A bit of sesame oil was remaining in the pan from some little rice crackers I made, so I decided to use it. Chopped the little sweet leeks, coated them in sesame oil, added a very ripe large tomato (that can easily be replaced by a good tomato sauce or preserved tomatoes), and cooked at low heat until I obtained a creamy tomato sauce with the delicious flavor of the fragrant sesame oil, slightly confit. Added the boiled pasta, stirred well and added a bit of sesame seeds before serving. A new version of the wafu pasta…
How do eat your pasta Japanese-style? Have you ever tried???
If you’ve been following me for a bit you are no stranger to the fact that I LOVE pasta. All kind!!!
Wafu pasta are a common thing on our table, even if for Italian people I reckon this is a terrible thing. But honestly… it is delicious, and since it mainly involves spaghetti or capellini, one could almost consider them as noodles… sorry if I make a big leap here!!!
Wafu pasta to me are a mix of Japanese vegetables, soya sauce, sesame oil, sesame or nori topping etc… this time my recipe is super simple and really tasty: leek, mizuna, sesame oil, sesame seeds and a good doze of soya sauce, with half whole wheat spaghetti. That’s how much simple lunch can be!!
There are culinary rules I grew up with that are long lived… Such that we don’t eat bread with pasta, potatoes or rice, or we don’t potatoes with pasta or rice, or rice with pasta… basically one and only one source of carbs is enough for one meal. A. would confirm that pasta and rice are definitely not a good mix, despite the famous dish called Turk(o) rice from Nagasaki, that to be honest seems more like a terrible mix… Indeed, a long long time ago, I was working on the weekend and really busy and I didn’t have much time to prepare A. a lunch. At that time, probably the last time after the incident, I was using a bit the freezer to freeze some leftovers to use in cases of emergency, and I was sure I had a bit of pork ground meat there, so I told him to boil himself some pasta, add the meat and enjoy! But the meat wasn’t meat, it was brown rice, and apparently spaghetti with brown rice was a terrible mix (more so when you’re a meat eater and you think you will have pork…!!!)
Sorry mum, but there are rules that I discovered can be broken and lead to delicious preparations such as having potatoes in curry rice, or sweet potato rice, or potato ravioli. And that’s how mixing chickpeas and pasta came to my mind… But not all pasta would work the same and I found that Orecchiette would be great for their little cup shape would be the perfect size for that of chickpeas. I knew they would made a great pair and they did. Perfect for a nutritious lunch after 2 hours in the ocean surfing and body boarding and before another 2-3 hours in the garden trimming trees. Yes, weekend in the country are very active and warm and comforting food is much necessary to face the elements.
For the recipe I used a Mediterranean variation of flavors, I used some greens (I used turnip tops, but it can be anything green and leafy: spinach, chard…), a fragrant Italian olive oil and a few chopped Maltese dried tomatoes, ample pepper. So here is the detailed recipe, I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Orecchiette and chickpeas (for 2 servings)
125g of dried orecchiette, boiled
70-90g of boiled chickpeas (a small cup)
a nice bundle of green of your choice and in season: spinach, radish tops, turnip tops, chard or whatever you like
2-4 dried tomatoes depending on the size. Mine are giant sun dried tomatoes I brought back from Malta
deliciously fragrant olive oil as much as you like
black pepper freshly ground
Prepare you chickpeas the day before if they are dry. and boil them until tender. If your pasta aren’t boiled yet boil them.
Wash and chop roughly the green. In a large pan or wok, put a bit of olive oil, and at low to medium heat soften the greens in the oil. when soft enough and brightly colored, add the pasta and the peas and stir well. to obtain a well balance mix of all the ingredients. Chop the dry tomatoes, and stir again, still cooking at medium heat. Add a last splash of olive oil, ground black pepper and serve. That’s it! Simple isn’t it?
Whether on weekdays, when we have little time to have lunch or on the weekends when we are busy with surfing/bodyboarding, playing tennis or gardening, having a good lunch easily ready is important. Moreover, if that can be prepared in advance it is even better! Fresh pasta have been quite a good candidate as they can be accommodated easily, be eaten warm or cold… and since it it is the end of the summer we want to continue enjoying the summer vegetables a little longer, in particular, enjoy the last edamame of the season. I know that we will have eggplants and tomatoes for quite a few weeks or even months but they add a real summer touch to a dish. So I came up with a recipe of edamame pasta with eggplant that is all creamy and divine and I couldn’t wait sharing that recipe with you, as if you want to try you’ll have to hurry!
Edamame, fava beans, and similar are a good match with eggplants and are traditionally used together in Japanese cuisine. I revisited this classic combination in a more western style.
Edamame and eggplant creamy pasta (2 servings)
a handful of edamame
2 eggplants
fresh pasta
olive oil
salt and pepper
grated Parmigiano (optional)
Boil the edamame, grill the eggplants to be able to peel them. Once the edamame have cooled down peel them completely and in a mortar puree them. Add a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Peel the eggplant and add to the mix and pure roughly. Boil the fresh pasta, once drained add the mix, stir well ad serve. Add grated Parmigiano if you like.
Yes! that’s it! Isn’t that simple? And you’ll see it is truly delicious!
When I make pasta for ravioli I always end up with a significant amount of pasta that has been floured and roll and is unsuitable for making ravioli again. It has become to dry. Usually I would just keep it that way, cut in squares and boil it or fry it as a little bonus or for finger food with a drink. But recently I have been really attracted to making shorter pasta like troffie, orecchiette, gnochetti… and seeing video of Scusatema on IG really inspired me to make the step and test… the ravioli rolled pasta is a lot drier and hard than the original pasta and I thought it would be perfect for the test. I have little cooking equipment, and thought my little gnocchi board would be good for that.
So I assembled all the remaining pasta in a ball, rolled it in a long stick.
Cut the stick in small pieces, and started rolling them on the board. That went just perfectly. No meed for additional flour, no sticky parts and beautifully shaped gnochetti came out one after the other. Bonus it is super relaxing to do this little gesture to roll the pasta on the board and see them pilling in front of me.
Since I made only a small amount instead of boiling them I cooked them in a little pan with olive oil and a bit of water, and waited for the water to go before lightly frying them, and served them as a little snack.
For sure I will make short pasta again soon! That was so nice!!
