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Do you need some tips on stocking your pantry? I'd thought I'd take this moment to offer up a list of some key ingredients to have on hand for when you want to create delicious pasta dishes in a hurry. I'll be offering recipes with these ingredients in the days to come:
1. Several types of pasta such as spaghetti, linguini, orzo, etc...
2. Cans of crushed tomatoes, whole tomatoes, and tomato sauce
3. Garlic cloves, onions, green onions, and/or shallots
4. Fresh and/or dried versions of key herbs such as chives, parsley, oregano, and basil
5. Extras such as capers, olives, artichoke hearts, anchovy paste, sundried tomato paste
6. Hard cheeses such as romano or parmesan
These ingredients can offer a great start when forming a delicious pasta meal. I also like to have ingredients like frozen shrimp, chicken breast, and tinned tuna fish on hand to give my pasta a protein boost.
Also, I've been very conscious of eating healthfully lately and find that I enjoy wheat pastas a lot. I do like to keep both types of pasta on hand, though. Some dishes, such as those that involve clam sauce or Alfredo sauce, just don't taste good when using wheat pasta. However, if you think it tastes fine don't let me stop you from eating it!
I love going out for Italian food because I absolutely love the way restaurants put together their pasta dishes. Some of my favorites are also classics. Spaghetti Tonno (with tuna fish), Linguini with Clams, Spaghetti Puttanesca, Spaghetti Bolognese, and Spaghetti Vongole. I was always in awe of these dishes. I knew they had to be fairly simple to prepare but how could they possibly taste so good if that really were the case?
Well, I've learned how to create my favorites at home. In the posts to come I'll share some recipes for my favorite pasta dishes and then some. But first, I want to share with you some basics on technique.
I find it absolutely terrible when sauce sits on top of the cooked pasta and we're expected to mix it in. No, the absolute best way is to combine the two right in the pan. When I drain off the pasta after it's cooked to al dente I put it back in the pan, set the heat on the lowest setting, add the sauce and toss. At this point you can also add any fresh herbs you might want.
Spaghetti Napoli Recipe (Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce)
I'm not going to share exact measurements for this recipe because truthfully, it doesn't matter what they are. Just use your senses to figure out if it's good or not. Taste it. Smell it. Look at it. This recipe is really hard to mess up.
1. Cook the pasta of your choice to al dente in salted water.
2. Reserve some of the cooking water when it's done and set it aside.
3. Drain the pasta. Let it sit in the strainer for a second.
4. In the same pan, set the heat on medium and add olive oil and a chopped garlic clove or two. Cook for one minute. You can also add a few red pepper flakes if you like.
4. Add the pasta and some crushed tomatoes or plain tomato sauce (the plain unseasoned stuff).
5. Set the heat to low. Toss the pasta until sauce and pasta are well combined.
6. Add chopped, fresh basil and toss until well combined.
7. Serve into plates and top with fresh grated cheese.
Easy, right?
In my next post I'll talk about how to take this recipe and build on it to make your own pasta creations. Trust me, once you know the technique you'll never be stumped for what to make for dinner as long as you have a few staple ingredients in the house.
I don't know if it's because it was a little chilly today or if it's seems like it's been a while since I lasted visited Europe but... I was thinking about Spain today and some of the foods I really loved while there.
One thing that really resonated with me is the concept of "Tapas" - or the little plates that are served in traditional tapas bars. I always ordered a bowl of olives and we always ordered several plates for the table to share. I discovered I like pate which is essentially pureed liver - would I have tried it if I wasn't in Spain? I'm not so sure.
Another memorable dish? Tomato bread. I wasn't sure what to expect when I ordered it. I thought perhaps there'd be bits of sun dried tomatoes baked into a regular loaf of bread. Wrong. Catalan tomato bread is essentially white bread that is soaked in the fresh juice from a tomato (the thin oozy stuff that comes out when the tomato is ripe).
I haven't made that recipe at home either. Why? Not sure. I think it was mainly the sense of place that made such a simple dish taste so wonderful. The wonderfulness of a dish doesn't always transcend continents.
Did I like paella? Not all of it. In some versions I had in restaurants the rice was crunchy and the flavors were a little bland. But I remember eating a version in a restaurant in the sand near the sugar cane that featured fresh caught seafood which was delicately complimented by the flavor of the traditional saffron seasoning. A good paella, I realized, is about more than making sure the rice isn't crunchy. It's about expressing your pride about where you are and letting your guests in on a little secret - that you love where you live and the food that you're privileged to serve.
This was originally posted on my Greek Cooking Blog
Kourabiedes, or Greek Butter Cookies are my all time favorite Greek dessert cookies. They are known as the “celebration” cooking and are on the table whenever there is a special event such as a wedding or Christmas. I personally like to make them whenever I want! (But never, ever serve them at a funeral - my mom learned this one the hard way
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Growing up, we never had bread stuffing with our turkey. I didn't even know that there was another name for it until my early twenties. When my husband and I moved to Ohio, my coworkers at the local bank were talking about their delicious turkey dressing. I thought it was another name for gravy. But when they referred to gravy in the same sentence, I was genuinely perplexed.
No, I wasn't sheltered. No, I am not allergic to gluten which would have made eating bread stuffing impossible. I am of Greek decent, and the notion of stuffing a turkey with bread is odd to the likes of us. Instead, my mother would serve a dish that is comprised of rice, hamburg, and chestnuts. The Greek name for it escapes me
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A few weeks ago I prepared a multi-course French dinner. I was inspired by a cookbook I am reading by an author who has a French style bistro restaurant. I realized by reading that book that there are many things that make sense to me about French cooking.
One that I most appreciate is their unbridled passion for food and taking pleasure from it. Food is meant to satiate us, yes. But that doesn't mean that the food needs to be boring and uninteresting. Researching how to go about preparing that dinner whet my curiosity and appetite for the French way of eating
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A few weeks ago I prepared a multi-course French dinner. I was inspired by a cookbook I am reading by an author who has a French style bistro restaurant. I realized by reading that book that there are many things that make sense to me about French cooking.
One that I most appreciate is their unbridled passion for food and taking pleasure from it. Food is meant to satiate us, yes. But that doesn't mean that the food needs to be boring and uninteresting. Researching how to go about preparing that dinner whet my curiosity and appetite for the French way of eating
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September 28th 2008 04:41
As you know, my ancestors came from Greece and Asia Minor (a story for another day). Much of my cooking heritage has been shaped by my heritage. So to celebrate that, I have started a blog about Greek Cooking. In it I will share recipes, tips, and musings. But don't worry, I won't stop sharing Greek and Mediterranean recipes with you here. That blog is merely an extension of my writings here.
As a child, my world revolved around certain recipes. Keftedes, Avgolemono, Spanakopita, Tiropita, Baklava, etc. As an adult, I've realized that there is a lot more to the Greek food culture than that. I've had several great modern meals in Greece since then such as Tomato Keftedes in Santorini - a recipe I will figure out how to make and share with all of you in the near future
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Here in the United States, Greek salads contain a lot of lettuce and only a little bit of tomato and cucumber. That's why I was a little confused when going to Greece - the salads contain no lettuce and a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers. And then I realized - lettuce does not grow well in that climate.
So now, when I want to make a Greek salad, I stick to the kind that I ate while in Greece. Here's my recipe. It serves 2-4 people depending on the size of the portions
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I went through a phase of collecting cookbooks and cooking magazines but I found I never really opened them. Instead, I tend to log online and search for recipes to cook. I often have something in mind to cook and I love how you can search online and find exactly what you need.
There are a few sites that I consider my go-to resources. These include
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Comments (2)
Comment by Katherine Huether
on German sense of "fashion"
Mangia Mediterranean
And no, I'm not German - I was an expat. There were cuffing their jeans in that trendy over the boot way in 2002 when we first arrived in Germany. In 2004 when we left I was just starting to see the trend pick up in the US. I went on a trip only to notice that the "leggings and a mini skirt" look was all the rage. What happened in Boston two years later? Suddenly it was a trend there.
My perception about German fashion is the complete opposite of yours. Then again, it could be where I lived.