Tag Archives: best pasta recipe

The Wonder of Miso Brown Butter and Crispy Sage Pasta

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A simple pasta with a big, bold taste. And it's vegetarian.

A simple pasta with a big, bold taste. And it’s vegetarian.

 

When I was a tot, as both my parents went off to work, my older brother would walk me a couple blocks away to the babysitter’s every weekday morning before he trotted off to school.

I didn’t always go gladly.

But what soothed me every time was lunch.

It was the same thing every single day, by my own choice — a bowl of Chinese wheat noodles, boiled until toothsome, then dumped into a bowl before being stirred up with a couple glugs of oyster sauce right out of the bottle.

Even then, a mountain of umami-packed noodles had the power to make everything seem right in the world.

One forkful of “Miso Brown Butter and Crispy Sage Pasta” was all it took to send me back to those childhood days.

Family Cookbook

It’s from the new cookbook “Family: New Vegetarian Comfort Food to Nourish Every Day” (Prestel), of which I received a review copy. Written by food writer and cook Hetty McKinnon, it’s filled with vibrant vegetarian fare that I found a lot more imaginative than many books in this genre.

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Summer’s All Right With Beach House Pasta with Shrimp & Grilled Limes

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A load of grilled shrimp accent this easy pasta dish.

A load of grilled shrimp accent this easy pasta dish.

 

Even if you don’t have a beach house — yeah, that would be me, too — you’ll find yourself kicking back with pleasure when you dig into this dish.

“Beach House Pasta with Shrimp and Grilled Limes” is from the new cookbook, “Food52 Any Night Grilling” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy. It’s by Austin cookbook author Paula Disbrowe and the Food52 team.

As the name implies, the book includes 60 grilling recipes easy enough to make any night of the week. There’s a primer on gas versus charcoal, basic information on setting up your grill, and judging its heat.

Enjoy everything from “Crispy Greek Pies with Dandelion & Feta” and “Grilled Branzino with Thai Basil Butter” to “Smoky Tomato & Red Lentil Soup” to “Tipsy Chicken with Smoky Pan Drippings.”

Food52AnyNightGrilling

With this shrimp pasta, I know what you’re thinking: Why start up the grill just for cooking some shrimp and a few limes when making pasta?

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My New Favorite Spaghetti Vongole

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flavoring addition makes this clam pasta extra delicious.

A last-minute flavoring addition makes this clam pasta extra delicious.

 

There are times when I can be pretty predictable. Case in point? If spaghetti or linguini vongole is on a menu, it’s almost a sure bet that I will order it.

First off, I buck the trend in being an unabashed carb lover. Second, clam pasta is a little lighter than a meaty ragu. Third, there’s just something so appealing about a big bowl of tender clams tossed with toothsome noodles that get coated in all those sweet, briny juices.

I’ve made quite a few versions of it at home over the years. But my new favorite has to be the one I saw in the Wall Street Journal last summer. “Spaghetti Vongole” is by Chef Nina Compton of Compere Lapin in New Orleans. If you’re a “Top Chef” fan, you may remember her as a contestant on Season 11.

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Get Ready to Inhale: Fettuccine With Preserved Lemon and Roasted Garlic

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It only takes a handful of ingredients to make this sensational pasta dish.

It only takes a handful of ingredients to make this sensational pasta dish.

 

How many times do you come home pooped, cranky and starved, only to peer into a half-empty fridge and wonder what in the world you can eat to make you feel a whole lot better fast?

“Fettuccine with Preserved Lemon and Roasted Garlic” will do the trick.

Especially if you keep a handy-dandy jar of home-made preserved lemons in your fridge at all times like me. Which you should.

Particularly if you grow your own little pot of rosemary. Which you ought — because it comes in so handy.

And most readily, if you keep a stash of already roasted garlic in your fridge or freezer. Which you need to promise yourself you’ll do, because you’ll use it for so many things, including the tastiest garlic bread on the fly.

HomemadeKitchen

The pasta recipe is from “The Homemade Kitchen: Recipes For Cooking With Pleasure” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy.

The cookbook is by Alana Chernila, a Massachusetts food writer and cooking teacher who blogs at EatingFromTheGroundUp.

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Battersby’s Rigatoni with Brussels Sprouts, Bacon, and Arugula

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Pasta that's virtuous and naughty at the same time.

Pasta that’s virtuous and naughty at the same time.

 

Who doesn’t love the combo of bacon and Brussels sprouts?

In fact, many a so-called sprouts hater has been turned by that irresistible pairing.

So imagine the two together with rigatoni pasta.

That’s just what you’ll find in this dish, “Rigatoni with Brussels Sprouts, Bacon, and Arugula.”

It’s from the new cookbook, “Battersby: Extraordinary Food From An Ordinary Kitchen” (Grand Central Life & Style) by Joseph Ogrodnek and Walker Stern, co-chefs and co-owners of Battersby restaurant in Brooklyn. It’s co-written with veteran food writer Andrew Friedman.

BattersbyBook

As the title implies, Battersby is all about dishes that can be prepared in any kitchen. That’s because the restaurant’s own kitchen is nothing to brag about. It’s no bigger than a studio apartment’s kitchenette, the chefs write. It is outfitted with only one oven, a six-burner stove and a slim-to-none prep counter. Yet somehow, three cooks manage to make magic every night, turning out as many as 70 meals in just a few hours.

In other words, if they can make the food in this book under those constraints, there’s no reason you can’t do so, too, in your home kitchen.

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