Imagine my surprise this weekend, when after months of dedication to visiting the farmer's market (despite repeated disappointment), I came across something I'd been looking for all year. For some reason, this winter season was a surprisingly barren one, at least where local produce was concerned, and although I visited the market nearly every week, I never found the hearty winter greens that I'd seen in previous years. This weekend however, well into spring and on the hottest day of the year (at the time), I finally came across what I'd been seeking for five very cold months. Miraculously hidden amongst the new spring vegetation were fall and winter veggies. Like my own culinary "Where's Waldo?", I ran from stall to stall picking apart each box and display until I uncovered the welcome surprise of everything from kale and lettuces to spinach and broccoli rabe. I filled my canvas bag to the brim and happily toted home my long awaited purchases.
It wasn't until I got home that I realized how rusty I was. All these months on the bench had left me without any innovative ideas for my new ingredients. Well, except for the kale which will now and forever be used to make crispy kale chips, the culinary discovery of the year (at least at my house). So, I put my game face on and started doing some serious foodie research. I love simply sauteed broccoli rabe as much as the next girl, but it was time to add some kind of a twist. It turns out people don't seem to actually do much with these little guys but toss them in pasta, so I was in a bit of a quandary. Finally I saw a recipe that included them in a pasta dish with a spicy anchovy sauce, so I decided to eliminate the pasta and apply the sauce directly to the veg. I love salty, bitter goodness, and this recipe was a perfect combination of both--a good heap of bitterness from the broccoli rabe (also called rapini) and delicious salty bite from the anchovies. But don't be afraid, they're not overpowering and are even a bit difficult to identify specifically.
It's actually quite the easy side dish, since all you need to do is blanch the broccoli rabe and dissolve all of the sauce ingredients in a non-stick pan. It's important to remember however that the broccoli rabe needs to be dried thoroughly before it's added to the sauce. My first go round had too much residual moisture and led to a super soggy and watery sauce (there was definitely no identifying the anchovies there). So for my second try, I made sure to dry them and let the bunches sit on a bed of paper towels to catch any extra water that may have been clinging on to the greens. As for the sauce's flavor, it's easy to up the heat ante, or leave it out entirely. I like spicy, garlicky broccoli rabe, so I put in a good helping of both garlic and red pepper flake. This would be great with butter as well, but I'm trying to eat on the slightly lighter side, so I went with only extra virgin olive oil, but a nice olive oil/butter combination would be super tasty, and definitely something I'd consider if I were to cook for company. I also added a few tablespoons of capers for an extra hit of sour pucker. Again, it'd be just as tasty without this, so if you want a slightly milder flavor, leaving these out would be a perfectly justifiable move. Here's my final recipe, alter it at your own will.
Broccoli Rabe With Spicy Anchovy Caper Sauce
1 bunch (about a pound) broccoli rabe
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tin anchovies (rinsed and drained)
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp red pepper flake (or more for very spicy)
3 tsp capers
freshly cracked pepper
1. Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil and blanch broccoli rabe until tender-crisp (about 5 minutes). Remove from water and dry well. Place on a bed of paper towels to remove any excess moisture.
2. Meanwhile, combine olive oil, garlic, anchovies and red pepper flake in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook until anchovies are dissolved and garlic is fragrant. Add capers and dried broccoli rabe and toss to coat. Cook together for 1 minute and serve. Enjoy!
-Laura
I'm still not sure how some dishes come together. There are some weeks filled with planning, trips to the farmers market and endless stops at the spice market. Food for the whole week is planned and my fridge is covered with layer upon layer of post-its and recipe ideas that I'll be testing Monday through Friday, trying to figure out exactly what to do to make them perfect. Other meals come about from surveying what I have in the fridge and flipping through a cookbook for inspiration (thanks for doing the real work Martha!). But after weeks of effort and meticulous meal planning, sometimes all I want to do to pull dinner together is throw a few things in a pot and pray that they work.
Last night's meal came together exactly in that way. I'd been craving a few truly random ingredients (anchovies, spaghetti, and buttered breadcrumbs), and wondered aloud if perhaps I could mold these cravings into something tasty and easy that might help me clean out my fridge and pantry before a big supermarket shopping trip later in the week. So, after some research I found a few recipes that contained such ingredients, including a baked pasta and one topped with buttered breadcrumbs. Then I noticed an olive-caper-anchovies sauce and thought that perhaps I could combine some of those ingredients with the breadcrumbs to make a crunchy and super simple sauce. I didn't have any olives, but I always have capers and anchovies in my fridge, so I decided to take a tip from another recipe and smash the anchovies and capers in my mortar and pestle. This created a paste that I could dissolve in some hot olive oil with shallots and garlic.
I decided to take all of those ingredients and create an anchovy-caper breadcrumb that I could quickly toss with some olive oil coated spaghetti. I added some red pepper flake for a little heat, which went really well with the anchovies, which mellow out when cooked and dissolved in the olive oil. The capers gave the crumble and nice tartness to cut through the slight sweetness of the other ingredients. It didn't even need any salt because of the salinity of all the other ingredients. It all came together super fast, in fact it was done before the pasta was done cooking. It satisfied all of my cravings and tasted great. Not to mention, it gave me another go-to lazy dinner dish for those days when I haven't planned anything at all but still want something tasty. And don't fear the anchovies, their flavor is greatly transformed, so much so that you wouldn't even identify them from the flavor of the final dish. Here's the final recipe.
Spaghetti with Anchovy-Caper Breadcrumbs
1/2 package dried spaghetti (enough for 2 people)
1/4 cup capers, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp drained anchovies (that's 3/4 of the contents of a 2 oz anchovy tin)
1 medium shallot (or small onion), diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
extra virgin olive oil
1. Cook pasta according to package directions in salted, boiling water. Meanwhile, mash anchovies and capers in a mortar and pestle (or on a plate with a fork) and set aside.
2. In a non-stick skillet, cook shallot and garlic in olive oil until soft. Mash with a fork or potato masher, then lower the heat and add the red pepper flakes along with anchovy-caper mixture, stirring often until incorporated, about 3 minutes.
3. Add breadcrumbs and increase heat to medium. Toss mixture often until breadcrumbs are toasted and browned. Add drained pasta and drizzle with more olive oil. Toss to coat and serve. Enjoy!
-Laura
Well folks, I'm back with a recipe and back in the kitchen. While my knees are still incredibly wonky, I just couldn't go another day without making a real home cooked meal for myself. In my continued effort to cook with new ingredients I brought home some nice grey sole fillets earlier in the week. Grey sole is in the same family as flounder, halibut, and turbot, all of which are flatfish. They're generally darker on their top side and lighter on the bottom, and known for having both eyes on one side of their body. Grey sole is the smallest of these fish and therefore has the most delicate flavor. It's also super lean and the fillets are fairly thin, so it's perfect for a quick and healthy meal. I couldn't wait to make them for the first time, especially since I love having fish on hand for quick meals (they also hold up really well in the freezer).
I had two recipe ideas floating around in my head that I was hoping to test this week. The first was a tart, citrus carpaccio, and the second was some kind of fish picatta in honor of last week's episode of Top Chef. As I tried to decide what I should make, it occurred to me that a picatta would be similar to the salmon dish I'd made recently, and I didn't have the right kind of fish for the carpaccio. So I decided to combine the two dishes into one new dish and see if it would fly. I started out by coating the fish in flour (not breadcrumbs, like our dear, confused friend on Top Chef), pan fried it, then created a butter, wine and caper sauce that incorporated some of the citrus elements of my carpaccio dish. I happen to really love tart and sour flavors so this was an excellent way to work them into yet another dish.
The dish turned out great, even better than I expected. I didn't want to go totally overboard with the lemon juice since the fish was quite delicate, so I added a bit of orange juice to the sauce, which added just the right amount of sweetness, while continuing the citrus theme. It balanced out the lemon and the capers and tied everything together perfectly, along with some fresh parsley and a few spring onions. I topped the whole thing off with lemon segments for that extra sour bite, and a few julienned spring onions for color. Hopefully I'll be fully able to stand and cook something a bit more complex in the coming days, but in the meantime, this dish is delicious and bright, and I think you'll really like it.
Citrus-Grey Sole with Capers
3-4 grey sole fillets
All purpose flour
2 Tbsp olive oil (not extra virgin)
1/2 cup white wine
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
Juice of half a lemon
1 lemon, peeled and cut into segments
3 Tbsp orange juice
1 Tbsp capers, drained (or rinsed if salt packed)
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1/2 tsp parsley
salt
pepper
1. Salt and pepper sole fillets and lightly dust with flour. Heat oil in a skillet on medium heat and cook fish until opaque, about 2 minutes on each side. Remove fish from pan and set aside.
2. Add wine, scrapping browned bits from bottom of the pan. Give it a minute to reduce, then add the lemon and orange juice, butter, capers and spring onions. Cook together about 5 minutes, add the parsley, then taste for seasoning.
3. Spoon sauce over fillets and top with lemon segments. Enjoy!
-Laura
