A Spoonful of Spring

Spring may be one of my favorite seasons, culinarily speaking, if only because it means that "the race is on." While summer heralds the arrival of a cornucopia of produce so delicious that it barely requires cooking, and fall has it's tasty treats including apples, pears and all manner of gourds, spring has something that no other season does: a very limited growing season for each and every product. Spring's bounty comes and goes in extremely short waves (not unlike the weather of the season itself), usually starting out with asparagus and artichokes in the first few weeks of the season, then transitioning into ramps, spring garlic and all sorts of allium family members, followed by my personal favorite spring fare, beans and legumes. Fresh peas, sugar snap peas, fava beans and garbanzo beans tend to have the shortest presence at the market, available for about two weeks before leaving me wanting sooooo much more.

And so, when they finally make their appearance, I do all that I can to elbow my way into the farmers market tents and fill my bag with whatever I can get my greedy little hands on. Usually I venture towards the fava beans, which are shockingly elusive and tend to be the first thing to go, if they show up at all. The English peas, or shelling peas, foe of many a child, are usually what I look for next. If you've never had fresh peas straight from the pod, I highly encourage you to seek them out. They have a firmness that simply can't be found in frozen (and certainly not canned) peas, and a natural sweetness befitting the season, with a tiny hint of that earthiness found in other spring veggies. They cook super quickly, and in my mind, barely need more than to be blanched for 2-3 minutes.

While I'd love to serve my peas with a simple a swig of olive oil, a touch of mint and a hint of ham, I share my table with a green pea-averse partner, and that means a little more doctoring is required. 

So, I basically made the aforementioned dish and used it as a stuffing for a wonderful (and, if I do say so myself) really beautiful tortellini. Served in a light vegetable broth with a topping of watercress salad, these little pockets of spring would fool anyone into eating their veggies. And with a little help from the grocery store, I managed to make the ravioli in less than 30 minutes (if you don't already have wonton wrappers in your refrigerator, you definitely should—you can even keep them in the freezer until you need them). See below for the recipe, followed by a mini-tutorial on a tortellini folding technique that's super easy to master. And remember, you can make extra tortellini and keep them in the freezer for an even quicker weeknight meal. Just place them on a sheet tray until frozen, then pop them into a zip-top baggy or Tupperware and you're good to go! 

Spring Pea and Prosciutto Tortellini

16-20 wonton skins

1/2 cup shelled English Peas

3 Tbsp finely diced or 3 slices thinly sliced prosciutto

1 1/2 tsp fresh mint, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp ricotta cheese

salt

pepper

1. Place a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a rolling boil. Add peas and cook for 2-3 minutes until just cooked through and bright green. Remove to a bowl using a mesh strainer, and keep the water boiling (you will use it for the tortellini later).

2. Add prosciutto, mint and ricotta to the peas and stir to combine. Taste for salt and pepper, season accordingly, then mash the mixture lightly with a fork. Fill each wonton skin with a teaspoon of filling and fold closed (see illustrated folding technique below). Add to the boiling water and cook about 2 minutes until ravioli are al dente. Serve in broth or tossed with melted butter and topped with grated parmesan. Enjoy!  

How to Fold Tortellini and Wontons

1. Place a teaspoon of filling onto the center of your wonton or ravioli skin.

2. Using a brush or your finger, wet the top and two sides of the wrapper with water.

3. Fold bottom edge over the top of the filling.

4. Seal edges by pressing down on all sides, carefully removing any air from the filling.

5. Fold the top sealed edge back slightly over the filling.

6. Pull the two corners opposite the folded top around towards each other.

7. Wet the corners so they stick.

8. Pinch corners together.

9. Presto! Repeat.

-Laura

Peas and Love

Like so many kids, when I was little I convinced myself that I didn't like certain foods. Lentils were the first to get the axe, despite actually being delicious and eventually becoming one of my favorite ingredients. But as a kid they seemed like a lumpy brown mess that was out to get me and ruin my lunch. Peas suffered a similar fate after spending years as a part of the freezer section's Axis of Evil, along with carrots and lima beans (which by the way, seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth--seriously, when was the last time you saw them?). Every time peas appeared in a meal they became my main focus, distracting me from whatever tasty dish I should have been enjoying. Cast off to the side like the lepers of the vegetable world, I'd carefully roll them to the edge of my plate with a fork and line them in a row. I reasoned that so long as I was polite in my distaste for these shrivly masses I couldn't possibly be chastised for not eating all my food (besides, I saw my dad out of the corner of my eye quietly doing the same thing).

While peas never quite made the comeback that lentils did in my book, I did come to like them as an adult. I was won over by a simple and common Spanish preparation of peas with garlic, smoked paprika and serrano ham, but then again, what wouldn't taste great with company like that? It was only in the last couple of years when I familiarized myself with what real, fresh spring peas tasted like that I came to see what I was missing. The key to anything we don't like as children (other than general pickiness) is usually that it hasn't been prepared in a way that appeals to us, or more commonly, that someone unfamiliar with the ingredient cooked it into sunmission. Peas, like brussels sprouts and cabbage before them have suffered from overcooking, which leads to an unappealing texture, bad smell and wrinkly skin. Whether fresh or frozen, peas don't need much cooking and should remain plump and bright green. That way their texture, color and natural flavor are preserved, and we all get to enjoy the sweetness that many cooks value them for.

I like to leave delicious spring peas as untouched as possible when they are the focus of a dish. This week I made great spring pea tortellini using wonton skins, one of my favorite stuffed pasta shortcuts. The filling was a simple puree of blanched peas, ricotta, olive oil and lemon juice, all fairly mellow ingredients that let the peas shine. There are no overpowering herbs, and the lemon juice (and zest) brighten up the flavor ever so slightly. I like using them in soup, with a simple broth, and in this case a light lemon broth made with good chicken stock and lemon juice. It's a great compliment to the filling of the tortellini, and a lovely bright spring dish, but a regular old chicken soup or plain broth would do just fine. If you're not in the mood for soup, these are great just tossed with butter and topped with grated parmesan. I even topped the soup with some parmesan and sprinkled some in the broth. This is a great "intro to peas" for anyone that doesn't like them, and if that fails, just let me know and I'll make sure to get you the recipe that brought me over to the dark side!

Spring Pea Tortellini

1 10 oz package frozen peas (about 2 cups if you're using fresh)
3 heaping Tbsps  ricotta cheese (I like part skim for this)
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
juice and zest of half a lemon
1 package wonton skins

1. Blanche peas in salted, boiling water until done, but still crisp and bright green (only 1-2 minutes if using frozen). Add peas to food processor along with ricotta, olive oil, salt lemon juice and zest. Pulse mixture until coarse and blended.

2. Fill each wonton skin with a scant 1/2 tablespoon of the pea mixture and fold closed (see proper tortellini folding technique here). Boil in salted water, chicken broth or soup until tender, about 2 minutes. Enjoy!

-Laura

The Quest Continues

After a weekend of eating processed and fatty (albeit delicious) food while out of town, it was clear that I needed to do my best to return to my usual eating habits. Since springtime brings out the best in me (spring vegetables + bacon = the best in me) I figured the time had come to make some more spring veggies as a sort of cleanse. I generally run screaming from anything that even sounds like a cleanse, but in this case I actually felt like my body needed it, and that almost never happens. I figured I'd start with something like cabbage, which in my never ending quest to convince the world to try unpopular foods, needs all the support it can get.

Like brussels sprouts and other green things from our childhood, cabbage has long been massacred by mothers across America. For years the culinary heads of our households were braising cabbage for up to an hour, breaking down its every fiber and creating a stench so foul that even the dog pretended not to be hungry. But it's not their fault. As I mentioned in my brussels sprouts post, it had long been held true that certain veggies were to be cooked in in bitter liquids for upwards of 30 minutes. The fact is that not only do most vegetables lose the majority of their nutrients in that kind of preparation, but their flavor is transformed into a smelly mess, and the texture becomes a disaster the likes of which FEMA couldn't fix. So it's no surprise that you rarely hear people say that there's nothing they'd love more than a big bowl of cabbage.

But that could all change if we give this delicious veggie a chance. Whether in a salad preparation, pickled or stir-fried, cabbage is quick to cook up, good for you, and actually really tasty. And like anything in my repertoire, it's great when paired with bacon or other pork products. This time I paired a mild napa cabbage (also known as Chinese cabbage) with some sweet and plump spring peas (which I prefer frozen because they're picked and frozen at their peak), spring onions and honey ham. For a bit of zing and a bit of freshness I added a good helping of lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon to brighten up the flavor. The dish takes only about 15 minutes to prepares and makes an excellent side dish. Here's the recipe:

Napa Cabbage with Peas and Ham

1/2 a large Napa cabbage, shredded
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 cup honey ham, cut into strips
1 cup frozen peas
6 Tbsp olive oil
Juice and zest of half a lemon
Grated Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

1.Heat oil, garlic and spring onion in a large skillet. Cook until just before garlic starts to brown and add cabbage, ham and lemon zest.

2. When the cabbage starts to wilt (about 5 minutes), add the peas and cook until cabbage is done, about 1-2 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add lemon juice. Toss to coat and serve topped with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

-Laura

Onions And Peppers And Peas..Oh My.

When I first started this blog, I spoke a lot about inspiration. I'm still fascinated by what inspires each and every one of us to cook (or not cook) certain foods. These days I seem to be inspired by pretty much anything, and rightfully so, since I can't very well write about the same dish every day. But sometimes just the mention of an ingredient, color, or an idea gets something going in my mind. Last week, for example, I saw a beautiful photo of linguine with onions and peppers and thought, "Wow, that looks really good, someone's really going to enjoy it. But not me, because I hate peppers and onions in my pasta." I'm not quite sure why I never liked these two ingredients in pasta, but something about their cooked texture turns me off and I never really consider them as ingredients worth adding to noodles. But, the lovely photo got the best of me and the idea of using those flavors as a way to cook out of my comfort zone was embedded in my mind for the rest of the week.

So, I had to figure out a way to bring these two flavors into a pasta dish. I was having some trouble working out a recipe and after a week of blank stares into my recipe notebook I decided I'd try making something else. Finally settling on branching out by using sausage in the dish, I set off for the supermarket to do the month's food shopping (I usually plan way ahead). It was just my luck that as I went to pick up a few packages of chorizo I came across some lovely fresh sausage made right there in my supermarket. What was even more surprising was that they made their own flavored sausages, including...a pepper and onion sausage(!). It was the one solution I hadn't thought of, but it was perfect. I decided to add some peas and a few of the spices that I love for added flavor. I went with sage and fennel to echo some of the flavors already in the sausage, and made sure to toast the fennel seeds and leave them whole.

I didn't want to mask all of the lovely onion and pepper flavor that I'd been searching for with a heavy sauce, so I simply deglazed the pan with a splash of white wine and added a couple tablespoons of butter and a big ladleful of starchy pasta water. It was a nice and simple way to finish off the dish and give every flavor equal time. And best of all, the whole dish came together in about 20 minutes, and left me with plenty of food for lunch the next day. You can definitely use any type of noodle or pasta you'd like, but I wanted to experiment with something new for me, like pappardelle. Here's how to do it for yourself:

Pappardelle with Onion-Pepper Sausage and Peas

3 fresh onion and pepper sausages, cases removed
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 Tbsp sage
1/4 Tbsp fennel seed, toasted
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 package pappardelle
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
salt
pepper

1. Heat oil in a large pan and add sausage, breaking it up into smaller pieces. When it's half cooked, add garlic, fennel and sage.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and cook pasta.

3. When the sausage is fully cooked, add the wine to deglaze and scrape browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the peas.

4. When the peas have warmed through, add the cooked pasta to the pan, along with a ladleful of pasta water (about 1/2 cup). Remove from the heat and stir in butter until melted. If the dish looks a bit dry, add more pasta water. Enjoy!

-Laura

A Mother of A Sauce

I didn't know why at the time, but all last week I got home from work craving comfort food (obviously, I was experiencing the beginnings of the massive cold that has kept me out of commission until today). Fortunately, I was able to get a few dishes out before my fever took hold completely. One of my favorite dishes to make when I'm feeling less than stellar is not surprisingly, a riff on something my mother used to make for me when I was little. She'd make a big batch of spaghetti and bathe it in a creamy béchamel sauce topped with small pieces of Spanish ham. Then she'd bake it in the oven until a light brown crust formed on the top. Back then, just hearing the serving spoon crack through the golden crust was enough cure any illness.

Because my oven should really have the words "easy bake" printed on the side, I decided to forgo the baking part and simply toss the sauce with the pasta. Spanish ham is sadly, way out of my budget, so I went with pancetta and peas (for a bit of sweetness) instead. As for the sauce, I did stick to béchamel, one of the five classic French "mother" sauces, along with Espagnole, Hollandaise, tomato, and velouté. It starts out with a roux, which is nothing more than warm butter thickened with flour. Then you slowly add in milk and whisk until you get exactly the thickness you're looking for. You would use exactly the same method to make mac and cheese from scratch, only you'd add in handfuls of cheese. Or you could substitute the milk with broth and make a mean gravy (which, p.s., you should always make from scratch--the stuff in the packets and jars is chock full of sodium).

The nice thing about béchamel is that it welcomes pretty much any flavor you throw at it, sweet or savory. I generally find that mixing a little bit of both gives you the best, most complex flavor. A little bit of nutmeg, a pinch of cayenne, and several grinds of pepper lend just the right amount of piquancy to what would otherwise be a smooth but bland sauce. You do want to be careful when salting though, since it takes a while for flavors to develop and distribute in creamy sauces. And speaking of creaminess, it has to be said that this sauce does not work with reduced fat milk. You must use whole milk or it just won't get the right body and consistency, and will ultimately fall flat. Also, I will personally show up at your house and give you an earful. Now, with that out of the way, here's how to make it for yourself:

Spaghetti with Béchamel, Pancetta and Peas

1/2 package spaghetti or capellini
1/2 cup pancetta (you can use bacon as a substitute)
2 1/2 Tbsp butter
2 1/2 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk (you may not need all of it)
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup frozen peas
salt

1. In a medium sauté pan, cook pancetta until crispy. Remove from pan and set aside. Add butter to pan (you can leave the pancetta drippings) and melt on medium low heat.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta.

3. While the pasta cooks, add flour to sauté pan with butter and whisk until it thickens and browns a bit, about 2-3 minutes (make sure it does not burn). Once the flour smells nutty and loses it's raw flavor, slowly whisk in the milk, a half a cup at a time until you reach your desired thickness. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne pepper. Cook for a minute so flavors develop.

4. Add peas, pancetta and pasta to pan and cook until everything is combined and warmed through. Enjoy!

-Laura

Rice Rice Baby

It seems like this week nothing that I plan on cooking ever happens. Evidently, squid is in short supply in Murray Hill, the raging fires in California make it difficult to buy iceberg lettuce, and my local supermarket no longer carries Yukon gold potatoes. So, what's a cook to do? Adapt, I guess. Luckily, I had a few back-ups when I took to food shopping yesterday afternoon. I'd narrowed down today's dish to three options, and settled on a French style chicken liver dish (vetoed by nearly everyone I mentioned it to) that I make about twice a month. But, once again the fates conspired against me and my supermarket did not have all of the ingredients necessary to make the refreshing salad that tops the dish. This time I was less annoyed. By the time I got home I wasn't really in the mood for liver anyway, so I took advantage of my stocked fridge and made another back-up meal-- risotto.

Risotto seems to have a bad rap, mostly because it has a rep for being complicated and time consuming. Not so! Even the simplest risotto, say, a saffron scented one with no extra add ins takes only 22 minutes, and it's just a matter of stirring. Pop in your favorite Cd, grab a wooden spoon, and before your Cd's done playing, you've got risotto. The one thing to keep in mind is that you use the correct type of rice. Arborio is a short grain rice. The shorter the grain, the starchier it is. And it's that starch in the rice that creates risotto's creamy texture. If you have to add cream or milk, well...you're doing it wrong. So long as you routinely stir the risotto as it cooks, each grain of rice will be encouraged to release it's starch, leaving you with a super creamy final product. I went with a mushroom, green pea and prosciutto risotto and it turned out great! That's not being pompous, trust me, I've seriously massacred many a risotto recipe in the not so distant past. But if I can master it, I'm sure you can, so give it a go. It's a great thing to have in your cooking repertoire for using up leftover ingredients. Here's how this one went:

Mushroom Risotto with Green Peas and Prosciutto

Olive oil
3 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 cup arborio rice
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock, warmed (I just heat it in the microwave)
1/4 cup frozen peas
2 sheets prosciutto, sliced
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

1. Sauté mushrooms in olive oil along with garlic, thyme and red pepper flake. Salt and pepper to taste. When mushrooms are a quarter of the way cooked through, add the rice and more salt, and sauté until opaque, about 2 minutes.

2. Add a half a cup of stock (I used chicken) and stir until absorbed. Repeat until risotto is cooked through (about 22 minutes). Right before it's done stir in the green peas, Parmesan, and prosciutto. Enjoy!

-Laura

The Antidote To Mushy Peas

It's funny to think about where someone's inspiration comes from. The above recipe was inspired by a photo I saw while flipping through 'food' tagged photos on flickr. It was basically just an island of bright green mushy peas amid a sea of beautiful canary broth. The colors alone drew me to the picture, with no description, no title, nothing. I had no way of knowing what ingredients were used to make the dish, or if it was even edible for that matter, but I continued to be drawn to it. After creepily viewing the photo for about a year (hey, I never said I wasn't crazy), and wondering what was used to make the dish, I finally decided that I should stop obsessing and try making my own version with some of my favorite ingredients.

I decided to stick with peas, which I love in any form, and based the puree on a combination of two recipes I already use. For the broth I went with a clean and crisp lemon brodo, and finally, unlike my inspirational photo, I topped the whole thing off with a thin fillet of tilapia. Like most of the completely untested recipes that come to fruition in my head, I expected this one to fail miserably. But, much to my surprise it was one of the best meals to come out of my minuscule kitchen. That's not to say it didn't come without it's difficult moments, but in the end I worked out the kinks. If you want to see the inspiration for this recipe, here it is: http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=443883726&size=l. And below is the recipe for my version. I know it looks like a lot of ingredients, but it's mostly a matter of mixing and blitzing, minimal effort is involved, really. Enjoy!


Tilapia and Pea Puree in Lemon Brodo

1 fillet tilapia (or your favorite fish)
salt (to taste)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp butter

Pea Puree
3/4 cup frozen peas
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp salt
pepper (to taste)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
juice of half a lemon

Lemon Brodo
1/4 cup chicken broth (or broth of your choosing)
juice of 1 small lemon
2 tablespoons water


1. Heat broth, lemon juice and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, in a small pan, sauté peas, garlic, red pepper flake, salt, pepper and thyme in a tbsp of olive oil until just warmed through. Transfer to a food processor. Add cheese, and slowly stream in remaining olive oil while processing. Process until coarse.

3. Heat oil and butter in a small frying pan. Cook tilapia on both sides until cooked through.

4. Build a mound of puree in the center of a bowl. Carefully pour the brodo around it. Place fish fillet on top at an angle and top with lemon zest.

-Laura