Spaghetti with Artichokes and Pancetta, from Mario Batali in Food & Wine, April 2010
1 lemon, halved
8 baby artichokes or 2 large artichokes (about 1 pound)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup dry white wine
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound spaghetti
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving

Fill a large bowl with cold water. Squeeze in the juice from the lemon halves, then add the lemon halves to the water. Working with 1 artichoke at a time, peel off the dark green outer leaves. Cut off the top fourth of the artichoke; peel and trim the stem. Slice the artichoke lengthwise into 1/8 inch thick slices and drop them into the lemon water. Repeat with the remaining artichokes. If you need help figuring out how to trim artichokes, check out this great tutorial.

In a saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion, garlic, and pancetta and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain the artichokes; discard the lemon. Add the artichokes to the saucepan, cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until almost tender, about 10 minutes. Add the white wine, cover and simmer over moderately low heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water. Add the pasta and the reserved cooking water to the artichokes and toss over moderate heat for 1 minute. Remove the pasta from the heat, stir in the Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. Serve the pasta with grated cheese to top.

This recipe by Campanile’s Mark Peel helped change my view on meatballs: By using a mixture of three different kinds of meats, he manages to create the most tender and light meatballs I’ve tasted. The sauce isn’t your average bland marinara either. The flavour of the olive oil and the freshness of the basil make for a bright and tangy tomato sauce that tastes like it has been made from fresh tomatoes. This recipe does take a while to make, but is a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon, especially if you have a good glass of wine in your hand. The meatballs and sauce freeze really well for up to 1 month too if you needed an added incentive. This recipe makes enough spaghetti and meatballs for 8 very generous dinners at $2.56 per serving.

Spaghetti and Meatballs, from Mark Peel’s New Classic Family Dinners
For the Sauce:
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 large garlic cloves, halved and thinly sliced
3 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted
about 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
about 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 large fresh basil sprigs, plus 1/2 cup leaves

For the Meatballs:
about 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces mushrooms, chopped
2 teaspoons cracked fennel seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
About 2/3 cup cold dry white wine, divided
4 ounces crusty bread, crusts removed, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
3/4 pound cold ground pork
3/4 pound cold ground turkey, dark meat
3/4 pound cold ground beef
2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 pounds spaghetti
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

To make the sauce, get a 5- to 6-quart pan and cook the oil and garlic over medium-low heat until the garlic softens, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Cover the sauce and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer it, stirring often, until thick, 45 minutes to 1 hour. If needed, crush the tomatoes with a spoon to break them up. Stir in the basil sprigs and then turn off the heat.

While the sauce is cooking, make the meatballs by heating 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Add the mushrooms, fennel, salt, and pepper. Cook everything until the mushrooms are tender, 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 1/4 cup wine and the bread crumbs until the liquid is absorbed.

Transfer this mixture to a food processor and pulse to finely chop. Scrape everything into a bowl and let it cool. When it has cooled down, add the parsley, meats, and 1/3 cup wine and mix everything together until well blended, 1 to 2 minutes.

Using wet hands, shape the meat into 1 1/2-inch balls. Be sure to use both hands and firmly press the meatballs into shape so they won’t fall apart later. Heat 2 large frying pans over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of oil in each. Brown about a third of the meatballs in each pan, turning once and adding more oil if needed, 6 to 8 minutes per batch. With a slotted spatula, transfer the meatballs to a platter. Repeat with the remaining meatballs and oil.

Scrape all the meat drippings from the pans into 1 pan. Whisk in the flour, then cook it over medium heat until bubbling, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in 2 cups of sauce to loosen up the browned bits then scrape everything into the pan with the rest of the sauce and stir.

Return the sauce to a simmer. Gently stir in the meatballs; simmer, covered, until the flavors are blended, about 20 minutes. Discard the basil sprigs, and cut the remaining basil leaves into fine slivers and stir into the sauce. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to the packet directions. Drain the pasta and serve by topping with meatballs and tomato sauce with lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

This past year I’ve discovered just how easy it is to make delicious creamy sauces at home, like these recipes: Orrechiette Carbonara, Zucchini Carbonara, and Pappardelle with Tomato and Pancetta. Not only do homemade sauces have no nasty processed stuff in them, they are also much healthier for you since you can control how much cheese, cream, or butter goes into the recipe. In fact, homemade carbonara tastes pretty light and incredible, unlike the goopy and heavy versions that you see at most chain restaurants or find in a jar. This recipe for Pasta with Creamed Leek and Spinach is the perfect way to indulge your creamy pasta fix this spring. The sauteed leeks lend a silky freshness to the dish, and adding some pasta cooking water to the sauce makes the creamy taste go even further without adding a ton more calories. This recipe makes enough for 4 dinners at $1.77 per serving.

Pasta with Creamed Leeks and Spinach, adapted from Food & Wine, January 2010
3/4 pound pasta, preferably fusilli or any other curly shaped pasta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 large leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
1 cup heavy cream
6 cups packed baby spinach (6 ounces), coarsely chopped
1/2 cup lightly packed basil leaves, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
grated Parmesan cheese to top

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until it is al dente. Reserve some of the cooking water for the sauce, and then drain the pasta.

Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil up over moderate heat. Add the leeks and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the cream and let the sauce simmer over a moderate heat until it slightly thickens, about 5 minutes. Lastly add the spinach to the sauce and cook everything until it wilts, about 2 minutes.

Add the cooked pasta to the skillet and toss over a moderately low heat until the noodles are coated with the leek sauce, about 1 minute. Add some of the pasta cooking water to the skillet to thin the sauce as needed. Remove from the heat, add the chopped basil and toss. Season the pasta with salt and pepper, and serve with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese to top.

We ate and drank our way around the city making sure to check out the incredible food cart phenomenon and some of our favourite microbreweries too. Pretty much everything we ate and drank was excellent, and even better, it was so cheap compared to eating out in Las Vegas.

One thing I loved about Portland was the prevalence of parsnips on many of the menus. I don’t know if parsnips just thrive in the cold and damp winters up there, but I’ve not seen so many parsnips in dishes outside of England! We ate breakfast at the Bijou Cafe downtown one morning and I ordered the roasted parsnip, spinach, bacon, and feta omelet. I never would have thought about putting parsnips in an omelet, but it worked and might have been one of the most flavourful omelets I’ve had in a long time.

This Jamie Oliver recipe for Pasta with Parsnips and Pancetta is another creative combination that just works. The sauteed sweetness of the parsnips contrasts nicely with the smokey pancetta to create a comforting and easy pasta dish. This recipe makes enough for 4 dinners at $1.95 per serving.

Pasta with Parsnips and Pancetta, adapted from Jaime Oliver
6 ounces sliced pancetta or bacon
1 handful of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
4 good knobs of butter
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
3 large parsnips, peeled, halved and finely sliced lengthways
16 ounces dried pasta, preferably tagliatelle, pappardelle or some other thick pasta
3 good handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large, non-stick frying pan, fry the pancetta and rosemary in half of the butter for 2 minutes, and then add the garlic and parsnips. Cook everything for 3 more minutes on a medium heat until the pancetta is slightly golden and the parsnips have softened nicely.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to the packet instructions and then drain, reserving a little of the cooking water. Mix the pasta with the parsnips and pancetta and stir in the rest of the butter and the Parmesan. Add a little of the pasta cooking water to loosen the mixture and make a nice creamy and shiny sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste and then serve with a little more Parmesan cheese grated on top.

Over Christmas, I persuaded Andrew to buy Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian despite his dislike of cookbooks without photos. He has emailed me a couple of times telling me about the different recipes that he has made from the cookbook. Last week he told me that he made this Couscous with Cauliflower and Almonds, which he said made for a great lunch.

On Friday, I was stuck with the dilemma of what to eat for lunch and even though I really wanted a Reuben sandwich, I was unwilling to pay $13 (?!?!) for one at the Jewish deli by our house, nor did I want to go to the store to buy all the ingredients to make one at home. Rustling through my fridge, I saw that I had a head of cauliflower from the farmers’ market, so I thought about the email that Andrew had recently sent me.

I got How to Cook Everything Vegetarian off the cookbook shelf and turned to the recipe. Turns out that I had everything else that I needed in the pantry, so I made this for lunch. While it was no meaty Reuben sandwich, I completely agree with Andrew that this makes a tasty, filling, and quick lunch. Even Carlo, who was hesitant about the almonds in the dish, agreed! So it was a successful lunchtime save and saved us a ton of money since we ended up eating at home–Thanks Andrew! This recipe makes enough for 4 lunches at 87 cents per serving.

Couscous with Cauliflower and Almonds, from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
1/2 cup whole almonds
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, minced
1 small cauliflower, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup couscous
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock or water
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
freshly grated Manchego or Parmesan cheese as a garnish (optional)

Place a dry deep skillet with a tight fitting lid over medium-high heat. Once it is hot, add the almonds and dry cook them, stirring constantly, until they are toasted and fragrant, about a couple of minutes. Remove them from the pan and set them aside to cool.

Add the olive oil to the pan and then cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until soft and it begins to colour, around 2 minutes. Add the finely chopped cauliflower and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until all the cauliflower pieces are coated in the oil and start to pop and stutter in the pan, around 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the couscous and keep stirring until it too is coated in oil and begins to toast, about another 3 to 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the mixture with the smoked paprika and stir everything together. Stir in the stock or water and bring to a boil. Cover the pan with the lid and turn down the heat to very low. Let the couscous cook for 5 minutes (15 minutes if you are using whole wheat couscous).

While the couscous is cooking, chop the almonds as fine as you can get them. Once cooked, add the almonds and chopped parsley to the couscous and gently fluff it with a fork. Return the lid to the pan and turn off the heat. Let the couscous rest for a minute or so, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve immediately topped with a little bit of grated cheese, although this couscous tastes just as good the next day cold out of the fridge.

Manchego definitely gives a slightly different flavor than your regular fluorescent orange mac ‘n’ cheese sauce, it’s a bit more subtle and a lot deeper. The chorizo’s oil and paprika adds a nice kick, and the sweet piquillo peppers round things out quite well. Adding in some extra paprika (pimenton is the Spanish kind) gives some nice color and intensifies the flavor from the chorizo. This is a great version of mac ‘n’ cheese that delivers the cheesy, homey comfort you want from the dish, but with some slightly more adult and complex flavors. Enjoy!

Manchego and Chorizo Mac and Cheese
olive oil
4 ounces Spanish chorizo, thinly diced
8 green onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 piquillo peppers or roasted red peppers
16 ounces dried macaroni pasta
6 cups grated Manchego cheese
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups whole or skim milk
1/4 teaspoon hot paprika
1/2 teaspoon dulce paprika
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 baguette, thinly sliced

Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan and saute the sliced chorizo. Remove the chorizo and saute the green onions and garlic in the chorizo oil. Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water until the pasta is just tender. Once it is cooked, drain the pasta and then add the chorizo, green onions, garlic, and the piquillo peppers and mix everything together.

To make the cheese sauce, melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and let the roux cook for a few minutes while continuing to whisk it together. Slowly whisk in the milk until the sauce thickens. Season the sauce base with the paprika and let it gently simmer, stirring often, for 15 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in 4 cups of Manchego cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni and mix everything together. Add a bit of olive oil to a frying pan. Once it has heated up, place the thinly sliced baguette slices in the pan and gently fry them until they are crisp and lightly golden. Remove the bread from the pan and let them drain on some kitchen roll.

Grab a large baking dish greased with olive oil spray and pour half of the macaroni mixture into the bottom. Sprinkle 1 cup of Manchego cheese over the top, and then add the rest of the macaroni. Top with the rest of the Manchego and arrange the crouton slices over the top.

Bake the macaroni and cheese in a 350 F degree oven until the croutons are browned and the cheesy top is bubbling. You can put the broiler on for the last few minutes to really crisp up the top.

The main effect the book had on me was to create an intense craving for pasta — real pasta, with real sauce, not some oversalted red concoction out of a jar. Buford spends several pages talking about his experiences working the pasta station on the line at Babbo, and it put me over the top when he went into great detail about how they get the ingredients to come together into a glorious combination to make their awesome sauces. So I looked over Babbo’s web site, where they kindly post lots of recipes, but I ended up with this recipe, out of the Italian Two Easy: Simple Recipes from the London River Cafe book, which itself is full of great dishes that simply capture the elegance and beauty of Italian cooking.

The end result was a decadent, creamy dish with great flavor from the pancetta and tomatoes that, while forcing me to do a few extra sit-ups, definitely satisfied my craving. This pasta recipe makes enough for 4 meals at $2.06 per serving.

Pappardelle with Tomato and Pancetta, adapted from Italian Two Easy: Simple Recipes from the London River Cafe
6 plum tomatoes
5 ounces pancetta slices
2 dried hot chiles
3 1/2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 to 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup heavy cream
16 ounces egg pappardelle
salt and pepper

To easily peel the tomatoes, make a slit in the side of each tomato, and place them in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave the tomatoes for 30 seconds or so, and then remove them into cold water. Once the tomatoes are cool enough to touch, peel them and remove the seeds and roughly chop the flesh. Cut the pancetta into 3/4-inch slices and crumble the chiles.

Melt the butter in a thick-bottomed pan and add the pancetta and chile. Gently cook them until the pancetta begins to colour. Add the tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Let the tomatoes gently cook for 10 minutes, and then add the cream and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Cook the pappardelle in boiling salted water according to the package instructions, or until al dente. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Stir in half of the grated Parmesan while tossing the pasta to make sure each piece is nicely coated in sauce.

Serve the dish with a little extra Parmesan on top.

Carlo was in the mood for some noodles the other day, so we dusted off The Wagamama Cookbook from our cookbook shelf and looked for something tasty to make. Carlo decided on this Chili-Marinated Vegetable Ramen. We kind of tweaked the recipe so it was more veggies and less noodles, but feel free to change up the recipe if you want more of a heavy noodle dish.

The chili-marinated veggies are quite subtle like much of Japanese cuisine, so if you want an extra kick, add tons of extra garlic and chili, or even add a few tablespoons of garlic chili sauce. These vegetable noodles make enough for 4 people at $1.67 per serving.

Chili-Marinated Vegetable Ramen, adapted from The Wagamama Cookbook
2 small eggplants, trimmed and sliced
vegetable oil
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 zucchini, sliced
8 medium mushrooms, halved
8 baby sweetcorn, halved lengthways
8 green onions, trimmed and cut into 1-inch slices
4 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
2 red chilis, trimmed, deseeded, and finely chopped
10 ounces wholemeal ramen noodles
1 quart vegetable stock

Heat a griddle or bbq grill until smoking. Brush the eggplant slices with oil, and put all the other veggies in a large bowl and toss them with a couple tablespoons of oil until everything is coated.

Cook the eggplant first, around 4 minutes on each side, or until tender. Then cook the sweet potato, mushrooms, and zucchini, all of which should take about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Finally cook the sweetcorn and green onions for 1 minute on each side.

Transfer the veggies to a large bowl, and pour over the soy sauce, garlic, and chili. You can get as crazy as you want with the spices here, so add as much heat as you can handle. You can also use some spicy garlic chili paste too for a bit more flavour as well.

Cover the marinating veggies with clingfilm. It is important to let the vegetables marinate while they are hot so that they absorb the most flavours, and they will soften up a bit more too. Let the veggies sit in the marinade for at least 20 minutes.

Cook the noodles in a large pan of boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they are just tender. Drain thoroughly and divide between 4 bowls. Bring the vegetable stock to a boil. Once it is hot, pour the stock over the noodles and top with the marinated veggies.

Winter Minestrone, adapted from Gourmet, January 2009
1/3 pound sliced bacon or pancetta, chopped
3 medium red onions, chopped
4 celery ribs, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch Swiss chard
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes in juice
3 quarts hot water
5 cups coarsely chopped cored Savoy cabbage, about 6 ounces
5 cups coarsely chopped escarole, about 1/2 pound
1 piece Parmesan rind, about 3 by 1 1/2 inches
1 14-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
4 ounces dried macaroni pasta

Brown the bacon or pancetta in oil in a 7-to 9-quart heavy pot over medium heat. It is best to get the bacon as crispy as possible so that the majority of the fat renders and you aren’t left with flimsy and fatty pieces of bacon in your finished soup. Add the onions, celery, and carrots, and stir occasionally, while preparing the chard.

Cut out the tough stems from the chard and then chop them up, reserving the leaves for later. Stir the chard stems into the bacon and veggie mixture with garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until all of the vegetables are very tender and begin to stick to bottom of pot, about 45 minutes total.

Push the vegetables to one side of pot, and add the tomato paste to the cleared area and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste begins to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Stir the paste into the vegetables and let everything cook for another 2 minutes while continuing to stir.

Stir in the canned tomatoes with their juice, and use a spoon to break them up into smaller pieces. Add 3 quarts of hot water and scrape up any brown bits from bottom of pot.

Bring everything to a simmer, and then stir in the cabbage, escarole, and Parmesan rind. Let the soup continue to simmer, covered, until the greens are tender, about 40 minutes.

Coarsely chop up the chard leaves and stir them into the soup along with cannellini beans and pasta. Simmer, partially covered, for another 10 minutes. Remove the Parmesan rind from the soup and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Instead, I’m craving crisp nights where I can put the oven on and not have to worry about the house turning into a sauna. The new food magazine issues arriving in our mailbox aren’t helping either as they are filled with stick-to-your-rib comfort foods that I want to make, even though it is still far too hot to consider cooking a chili.

All of these feelings gave me total cooker’s block and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what to make for the rest of the week. Yesterday I decided to go to the Farmers’ Market and hope that I would find some food inspiration. There were tons of great looking tomatoes at the Farmers’ Market and I was reminded of Barbara Kingsolver’s beautiful and intelligent book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

In this book, Kingsolver and her family decide to spend a year eating only what they can grow in their garden or can source locally. She eloquently describes the passing of each growing season and the anticipation of spring and summer vegetables after a long cold winter with little fresh produce. Thinking about this book made me turn my focus from wishing for the fall crop to arrive to focusing on enjoying the remaining fruits of summer. There are only a few more weeks left to enjoy top notch tomatoes and I know that in a few months, I will be craving for those kind of tomatoes that only summertime can produce.

To celebrate the last days of summer, I made a really simple Spaghetti with Red and Yellow Tomatoes for dinner last night. The tomatoes are the stars in this dish and reminded me that I can handle a few more weeks of summer for sure, even if it is for the sole purpose of eating good tomatoes. This pasta recipe feeds 4 people at $1.62 per serving.

Spaghetti with Red and Yellow Tomatoes
12 ounces spaghetti
1/4 cup olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
4 cups red and yellow cherry tomatoes (about 2 pounds)
1 tablespoon white balsamic or white wine vinegar
1 large bunch watercress, trimmed
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving

Good looking tomatoes have finally come back to our Farmers’ Market now that the weather has “cooled” down a tiny bit and the tomato plants are no longer being fried by 110+ degree weather. If you can’t find yellow cherry tomatoes, you can just use some extra red tomatoes. Or if you live in a place where you get tons of different kinds of cherry tomatoes, add as many different kinds as you can.

Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the package directions until the pasta is al dente.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper, and stir for around 30 seconds. Add all of the tomatoes, and saut?© just until they are heated through, about 2 minutes. Add the vinegar and season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta and save some of the cooking water to thin down the sauce.

Add the pasta to the spaghetti and stir in the watercress and 1 cup of Parmesan cheese. Toss everything together until the watercress wilts and the tomato sauce coats pasta. If you need some extra liquid in the sauce or need to thin it out, pour in a little bit of the reserved cooking water.

Serve the spaghetti with a sprinkle of fresh grated Parmesan.