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May 4

30 Comments

Mango Cream Tart With Mango Whipped Cream

Mango Cream Tart

The contest on Food52 is all about mango’s and this is my entry. I love that you can use mango in both sweet and savory applications. I chose to highlight a dessert. The mango cream is adapted from the genius recipe for lemon cream from Tartine Bakery. I really love how creamy and thick the curd is and it works beautifully as a filling for tarts or cakes, it is truly genius. When I think of mango, tropical flavors come to mind, so I added coconut to the pastry dough, its filled with mango cream and topped with mango whipped cream. The mango cream stabilizes the whipped cream and gives a subtle mango flavor, it’s not too sweet I just used a tbs of powdered sugar. I suggest serving with julienned fresh mango.
 Mango Cream
2 large ripe mango pureed – Tommy Atkin mango are quite large or use 3 ataulfo mango’s
3 tbs lime juice
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
3 egg yolks + 1 whole egg
8 oz cool but not cold butter cut into tbs size pieces
Set double boiler with a few inches of water to simmer on stovetop. Place all the ingredients in bowl and whisk to combine. Place over simmering water and bring to 175-180 degrees. It will be quite thick when done, remove from heat strain through a sieve and cool to 140 degrees.  Add to blender, with blender running add the butter a tbs at a time making sure each tbs is incorporated before adding the next one. It will be very thick and creamy. Refrigerate at least 4 hours preferably overnight before using.
Coconut Tart Dough
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup shredded coconut (toasted coconut would also be delicious)
8 ounces cold butter chopped into pieces
3 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 egg yolks
2 tbs heavy cream
Pulse the flour, coconut, sugar and salt in food processor, add the butter and pulse until it resembles fine crumbs. Add the egg yolks and cream and pulse until it forms a cohesive dough. Dump onto work surface and form into two discs, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour. You can make this the night before and refrigerate overnight. When you are ready to assemble the tart remove dough from the refrigerator, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Press one dough disc into 9 inch tart pan or tartlet pans, prick bottom with fork. Put back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes you want the dough to be chilled before baking. Bake until golden brown approximately 25 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool before adding the filling.
Mango whipped cream
4 ounces very cold heavy cream
1/4 cup mango cream
1 tbs powdered sugar
Whip cream until it is thick and billowy, add the mango cream, powdered sugar and vanilla and continue beating until thick and soft peaks form. Fill tart shell with mango cream and pipe on the mango whipped cream.

May 3

14 Comments

Flank Steak On Texas Toast With Chimichurri

Flank Steak With Chimichurri Photo by Helen Conroy

This sandwich won last years Food52 flank steak recipe contest and will be published in the second cookbook in October of this year. I was thrilled to win the contest and have my recipe published. With Memorial Day right around the corner, warm weather approaching (or already here) grilling is one of my favorite ways to enjoy both meat and vegetables. For this recipe I made a chimichurri with both parsley and baby arugula and used it both as a marinade for the beef and as a condiment by mixing some of it in with mayonaise. I was given permission to post the beautiful top picture from Helen who made the steak for a Food52 Mozzarella potluck party in California. It really makes my day when my fellow cooks try and really like my recipes, it’s validation and I am pleased and honored.  You can see the gorgeous picture taken by James Ransom on Food52, my less than beautiful picture is posted below.

Serves 4

The chimichurri and flank steak:

1 1/2 to 2-pound flank steak

1 cup flat leaf parsley cleaned and large stems removed, finely chopped (by hand or use food processor)

1/2 cup baby arugula (finely chopped by hand or food processor)

2 cloves garlic, minced (you can add to parsley and arugula in food processor)

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

For chimichurri, place all ingredients except flank steak into a bowl, stir to combine. For the steak, cover both sides of the steak with some of the chimichurri, put in ziplock bag and refrigerate for one or two hours. Cover and refrigerate the rest of the chimichurri.

Searing the Steak and Making the Sandwich


1 brioche pullman loaf or if you prefer a white pullman loaf

1/4 cup  mayonaise

1 beefsteak or heirloom tomato, sliced

Soft butter for bread

salt before you sear and pepper after

2 tablespoons Chimichurri to mix with mayonnaise

Remove steak from refrigerator approximately 45 minutes before you are going to cook it. Scrape off some of the chimichurri, salt the steak and let rest. While steak is resting prepare the other ingredients: slice tomato, slice bread in 1-inch thick slices, mix the mayonnaise and chimichurri.

To sear the steak: First with a paper towel pat the steak to remove any excess moisture. In a very hot fry pan lay steak, let it sear without disturbing it. Cook approximately 3-4 minutes on each side for a medium rare steak. (You will have to judge exactly how long to sear based on the thickness of the steak.) Remove from pan, lay on cutting board, pepper the steak now, let rest 5-10 minutes.

While steak is resting, heat a fry pan (if you have one with ridges it will make nice grill marks on the bread). Spread butter on each side of bread, place in hot pan and grill, about a minute per side.

When steak has rested, slice thinly, cutting across the grain. To put your sandwich together, spread the chimichurri mayonnaise on each side of bread, lay meat on bread, then add the tomato, put the other slice of bread on top and enjoy.

May 2

8 Comments

Pickles And The Grinding Truck-Brooklyn Small Business

Clinton Hill Pickles

I love where I live, row after row of historic homes, Mom and Pop businesses, a real sense of community and pride in our neighborhood. Brooklyn, NY, specifically the Fort Greene and Clinton Hill neighborhoods were a well kept secret, not so much anymore, people are moving in by the droves, housing prices have skyrocketed and with that many of the small shops we cherish are no longer able to stay in business because of high rent. I decided to feature two small businesses that still hold onto time honored traditions and offer products and services as they did in bygone days.

Pat in her tiny shop, see all the barrels!!

Clinton Hill Pickles is a tiny shop at 431 Classon Avenue. The proprietor, Pat is surrounded by barrel after barrel of pickles, pickled beets, sauerkraut and other wonderful products that she either makes herself or has other artisans make for her. She greets you with a smile, offers you a pickle to taste and remembers who you are. You see, Pat has been in the pickle business almost all of her life, some of you may know about the lower east side of Manhattan and the wonderful array of foods that you can purchase from pickles to bialy’s to knishes. Pat ran the family pickle business, the famous Guss’ Pickles on Orchard Street until she had to close shop, so she decided to make the move to Brooklyn. The pickles and pickled vegetables are in barrels, reminiscent of old times, I always think of the movie “Crossing Delancey” and the pickle man (great movie!). I remember the shop on the lower east side, it was so charming and I was happy to find her so close to where I live. After looking in each barrel, containing sour pickles, half sours, hot pickles, fresh pickles (very crisp), it was hard to decide, but I finally chose some sour pickles, beets, sauerkraut, homemade sweet pickle relish and some real deli mustard. I can’t believe how good it all is, each item home made no additives and everything is made with love and care.

Sour pickles,beets sauerkraut,deli mustard and sweet pickle relish

If you live in Brooklyn or are just visiting stop in and see Pat, you’ll be glad you did!

Love the sign

Every month or two the green grinding truck arrives on my block, ringing a bell, announcing that he is here to sharpen your knives, scissors,or even lawnmowers. Bob’s Grinding Services has been in business, using the same truck for years and years. He rings his bell to let you know he is there and stops mid block so people can bring their items for sharpening. His name isn’t Bob, I actually think it could be Henry, he greets everyone with a smile and happily sharpens whatever you bring to him, you can tell he loves what he does and it makes me smile when I see and hear his truck moving slowly down the street. We are all so busy with our contemporary lives, and seeing these businesses that are basically doing things the same way they were done many, many years ago makes me want to slow down and remember kinder, gentler times. He was here on Saturday and sharpened my chef’s knife and paring knife and did such a great job, I could split a hair!!

Bobs Grinding Service

Apr 26

13 Comments

Featured Recipe: Green Garlic Stuffed Mushrooms

Green Garlic Stuffed Mushrooms photo by In Pat's Kitchen

Who doesn’t love stuffed mushrooms and what an ingenious was to use the bounty of beautiful spring vegetables that we are so fortunate to have this time of year. I think Pat hit the nail on the head with this lovely recipe. What a great appetizer and the flavors are so perfectly balanced and delicious. The bi-weekly contest on Food52 is all about alliums and I saw this submission and instantly fell in love! You can use white or brown for appetizer size but I was thinking how wonderful this would be as a vegetarian main course using big, meaty portobello mushrooms. You can find Pat’s recipes on her wonderful blog, In Pat’s Kitchen or on Food52 where you can see an abundance of delicious recipes. You might want to use some tender celery to make Roasted Celery Soup which just recently won the contest for best celery recipe or her utterly delicious A Tribute To Woody (Homemade Gingerale Float).

Makes 24 stuffed mushrooms

Green Garlic Confit (Molly Wizenburg’s method):

1 1/2 cups quarter inch sliced green garlic stalks (I had about 14 medium)

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup  water

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a small sauce pan with a lid, melt the butter and add the sliced green garlic, water and salt. Cover and gently cook the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring often until the liquid is almost all evaporated. This should take about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool a bit while you prep the mushrooms.

For the mushrooms and stuffing:

24 white or brown button mushrooms, caps about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 ounces softened cream cheese

3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese

The green garlic confit

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Remove the stems from the mushrooms (save for another use) and then clean the mushrooms with either a mushroom brush or wipe them with paper toweling.

Place the mushrooms in a bowl and toss them with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and then place them, cap side up on a baking sheet. In a pre heated 425F oven, roast the mushrooms for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn them over. Lower the oven temp to 350F.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, panko, parmesan and green garlic confit. Distribute the filling into the mushroom caps and then drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over each mushroom.

Roast the filled mushroom caps at the 350F temp for about twenty minutes or until the filling just begins to brown. Let cool for a minute or two before enjoying warm.

Apr 25

6 Comments

Jerk Chicken Kebobs and Caribbean Rice and Peas

Jerk Chicken Kebob

As the weather starts to warm up I’ve got grilling on the mind. I discovered jerk chicken while in Jamaica and it is delicious. When I got home I wanted to try my hand at making it myself so I turned to the internet and found hundreds of different recipes, after pouring over them I took the basic idea and made my own jerk sauce. I love it, its a little sweet, citrusy and spicy. I am the biggest wimp when it comes to heat so I carefully remove the seeds to control the heat. NOTE: Please wear kitchen gloves when working with very hot peppers. I used both chicken breast and thigh meat and instead of grilling on the bone I cut the chicken into chunks and skewered it. The chicken is marinaded in the jerk sauce then brushed with more while its grilling. I like to serve with Caribbean Rice and peas, I totally love this dish. The rice is cooked in coconut milk with whole peppers cooked in with the rice. You can use scotch bonnet if you like and are a lover of heat, I chose to use jalapeno peppers. This is traditionally cooked with pigeon peas, I used cow peas but you can use whatever bean or pea you like.

Serves 4-6 depending on serving size

Jerk Sauce

1 scotch bonnet pepper chopped (for less intense heat remove seeds)

2 jalapeno peppers chopped

1 tbs fresh thyme

4 cloves garlic

2 tsp jamaican allspice (whole)

3 tbs packed brown sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp powdered ginger

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

zest of one lime

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 lbs chicken breast and thigh meat cut into chunks

Chop your peppers (remove seeds if desired) In mortar smash the jamaican allspice. Add everything to blender and blend until everything is incorporated. To a large ziplock bag add the chicken and enough of the jerk sauce to completely cover the chicken. Smash it around in the bag so that the sauce covers every piece of chicken, Refrigerate at least 4 hours, overnight is even better.

To grill the chicken you will need enough skewers, if using bamboo make sure to soak in water for a few hours before using them. Skewer your marinaded chicken and grill,  basting with the remaining jerk sauce while they are grilling. You can grill either outdoors on the BBQ or pan grill (I highly recommend outdoor grilling for these. Serve with Caribbean Rice and Peas and enjoy!

Caribbean Rice and Peas

1 cup  dried pigeon peas, cow peas or whatever bean you like, soaked overnight

2 cups water

1/2  medium onion chopped

2 cups long grain white rice

2 cups  unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup water or unsweetened coconut water I use Zico

1 cup reserved water from cooked beans

2  whole jalepeno peppers

salt and pepper to taste

After beans have soaked over night, drain and pour them into a med saucepan add 2 cups of water and cook until beans are tender.Season the beans with salt and pepper. Set them aside along with 1 cup of the water that the beans cooked in, you will need that to cook the rice.

To a large saucepan add a small amount of olive oil just enough to coat the bottom of the pan when pan is hot put the chopped onion in and saute until onion is soft and translucent, add rice and cooked beans you judge how much of the beans to add to the rice you don’t want too many beans, stir until rice and onion and beans are combined. Add all the liquid, some salt and pepper to taste and the peppers. Bring to a boil on high flame, cover and reduce heat to med/low and let rice cook until all the liquid is absorbed and rice is done it will take 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat, fluff rice with fork and serve, you can garnish with fresh thyme or cilantro.

Apr 19

32 Comments

Bake Together- Thai Inspired Angel Food Cake With Coconut Lime Whipped Cream

This months Bake Together with the always fabulous Abby Dodge is angel food cake. This cake is inspired by the flavors of Thailand using thai basil, coconut, lemongrass and lime. I used Abby’s cake recipe as the base and added my own touches. For the cake I infused the sugar with lemon grass,  and add the lime zest and thai basil to the batter,  the cake has lovely green flecks from the basil and lime and a subtle lemongrass flavor. The whipped cream is also inspired by many of the same flavors, in the food processor I ground confectioners sugar and coconut flakes and let the sugar infuse with the coconut, I then sifted it before adding to the whipped cream so it would be smooth and creamy  (you don’t have to sift if you want a little texture) and whipped in some coconut cream and a little lime zest. I put the can of coconut milk in the refrigerator the night before making the cake, when you open the can use the thick coconut cream on the top don’t mix it with the liquid beneath.
The Cake:

1 cup  (4 ounces)cake flour

1 1/4 cup (5 ounces) confectioners’sugar

1/4  teaspoon table salt

11 large (1 1/3 cups) egg whites, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
1 1/2 tsp lime zest
2 tsp tender inner stalk of lemongrass (chopped)
4 stalks thai basil, leaves removed and very finely chopped
  • Heat oven to 350 degrees. Add 1 cup sugar to food processor with the lemongrass, process until fully combined and there are no large pieces of the lemongrass. Sift before adding to the egg whites.
  • Sift flour, confectioners sugar and salt three times and set aside.
  • Using either a stand or hand held mixer fitted with whisk attachment beat egg whites on med/low until they become foamy. Add the cream of tartar and increase speed to medium speed. Beat until the egg whites form soft peaks, now sift (to remove any pieces of the lemongrass) and add the infused sugar a tbs at a time, add the lime zest and increase speed to med/high and beat until the whites are thick and shiny and form medium firm peaks (Be careful not to over beat)

  • Sift 1/4 of the flour mixture over the beaten whites. Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold the dry ingredients into the whites. Repeat with remaining flour mixture, one quarter at a time. With the last installment of flour add the chopped basil.
  • Using the spatula to gently coax the batter, pour evenly into the prepared pan.  Smooth the top. Bake until the cake is light golden brown and the cake is springy when touched, about 40 minutes. Immediately invert the pan onto the counter if the pan has feet or if it doesn’t, invert the pan sliding the center tube onto the neck of the bottle. Let cool completely.
  • To remove the cake, rotate the pan, gently tapping the bottom edge of the cake pan on the counter as you turn it until the cake loosens from the pan. If necessary, run a long, thin knife between the cake and the pan and around the inside of the tube to loosen the cake. Slip the cake from the pan and gently lift it up from the center of the pan and arrange on a flat serving plate.
Coconut Lime Whipped Cream
1/2 tsp lime zest
1/4 cup sweetened or unsweetened (your choice) coconut flakes
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 cups very cold heavy cream
3 tbs full fat cold coconut cream (skimmed from the can of milk)
Chilled bowl and beaters
  • While the cake is cooling infuse the sugar with the coconut. Add 1/2 cup confectioners sugar to bowl of food processor,  and 1/4 cup coconut flakes and pulse until combined and very fine. Place in covered container and let sit until you are ready to whip the cream.
  • Sift the confectioners sugar to removed any pieces of coconut. In mixing bowl pour the very cold heavy cream into a chilled bowl, Using either hand held mixer or stand mixer whip until it starts to thicken, add the cold coconut milk (NOTE: Scoop the cream from the top don’t mix it up), lime zest and infused confectioners sugar (taste to test for sweetness you may not need to use all of the infused sugar) and whip until billowy and soft peaks form. Serve with the cake.

Apr 16

11 Comments

Warm Salad With Cherry Tomatoes, Haricot Vert and Pancetta

Cherry Tomatoes, Haricot Vert and Pancetta

This is one of my favorite salads, it incorporates 3 ingredients that I love, green beans, tomatoes and pancetta, it’s easy to put together, the vegetables are sauteed in the dressing so they really absorb all the flavors. It’s wonderful when tomatoes are in season but I have been able to get some really good tomatoes from the grocer so this can be made any time. This salad is served warm or room temperature, you don’t have to worry about anything wilting and the colors are so beautiful. I used heirloom cherry tomatoes for this, be sure to have some bread ready to soak up the juices. You do not have to use pancetta to make this vegetarian, add whatever you like as a substitute, I think mushrooms would be delicious.

Serves 4-6

12 mixed color heirloom cherry tomatoes cut in half

1/2 pound haricot vert cleaned and stem side only removed

1  shallot minced

1  clove garlic minced

1/4 pound pancetta cut into cubes (2 1 inch thick slices)

1 tablespoon salt (to add to water to cook haricot vert)

Blanch the haricot vert in a large pot of salted water. Bring water to a boil add at least a tablespoon of salt and add the beans, cook for 5 minutes. While beans are cooking prepare an ice bath you want to add the beans to the ice bath to shock them, remove beans from boiling water and place directly into ice water, this will stop the cooking process and they will retain that beautiful green color. Let your beans get cold then remove to paper towels lay them out in a single layer and pat dry.

Cut your tomatoes in half, mince the shallot and garlic and chop the panceltta into small cube size pieces.

Making the salad:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Heat skillet with the 2 tbs of olive oil, add the shallot cook until just starting to soften, add the garlic and continue cooking for another minute. Remove from pan and set aside. In the same pan add the pancetta and brown, add the shallot and garlic back into the pan and add the 2 tbs of vinegar. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook just until the tomatoes start to soften and release some of their juices. Now add the haricot vert stir together and let cook for 3-5 more minutes. Adjust seasoning. I found I didn’t need additional salt for my taste, but I did add pepper. Serve and enjoy.

Apr 13

11 Comments

Portable Pork Sandwich

Roast Pork, slaw and sauce

The Brooklyn Flea is not just a flea market it has some of the best street food in Brooklyn. Every time I go I run to this food stand, there are two guys there who always have a huge pork roast, its juicy and tender, fragrent with herbs and oh so delicious. They slice it off right in front of you, lay it on a crusty ciabatta roll and you are in pork heaven. My recipe is honoring them and their tasty pork sandwiches. I have made a few changes to how they serve their sandwich. Instead of ciabatta I am serving on warm flatbread and they don’t put any sauce I have made a recipe for a simple but very tasty sauce that you drizzle over the meat. I am also adding a simple slaw that is equally delicious on the sandwich.

The pork roast is marinated with garlic, rosemary and olive oil  for at least 2 hours preferably overnight, I blast it in a 450 degree oven then roast at 350 degrees for at least 4 hours or until the meat literally falls off the bone. I use a graniteware pan for this, if you don’t have one of those black and white speckled roasters you should get one. Whether it’s chicken, pork, lamb, beef or turkey your meat comes out tender and juicy and perfectly roasted and I have to add that it takes less time in these pans, the lid fits tightly and the meat actually browns in the pan without uncovering it.

Serves 8 or more

The Pork roast:

1 Pork Shoulder Roast approx 5- 8 pounds bone in

4-6 Large Cloves garlic a larger roast use more garlic

1 stem rosemary (should yield 2 generous tbs of chopped rosemary)

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

  1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
  2. Peel and crush garlic, remove rosemary from stem and give a rough chop, smash with some salt in mortar. Add the olive oil and smash it all together.
  3. Place your pork shoulder in roasting pan preferably one with a lid ( I use those black and white speckled ones,made by graniteware) if you don’t have a roasting pan with a lid just cover tightly with aluminum foil)
  4. Massage the garlic,rosemary olive oil paste into the roast. Give it a good rub down you want it to really penetrate the roast.Salt and pepper your preference how much. Refrigerate. (RECOMMENDATION:Its best to marinade 2 hours even better overnight so the pork really takes on the flavors). An hour before roasting take out of refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Cover with lid or aluminum foil and place in the oven at 450 for 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for at least 4 hours. You want that roast to be so tender it literally falls apart when you place the fork in.

The sauce

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup Chopped flat leaf parsley

1 pinch crushed hot pepper flakes

1 lemon juiced

salt and pepper to taste

The Slaw

1/2 Large head green cabbage (Or 1 whole small head of cabbage)

8 radishes

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/2 teaspoon salt

A few turns of the pepper mill (3-4)

Flat Bread

  1. Mince the garlic finely, fine chop the parsley, add the hot pepper flakes and salt and pepper and add all to a mixing bowl, whisk to combine. Cover and let stand so the flavors will incorporate. NOTE: You can use food processor for the parsley and garlic 2 pulses.
  2. When the pork roast is done let sit for 30-60 minutes. Warm your flat bread. I use my tongs and heat directly on my gas burner flipping it so that each side is heated. Pull some of that delicious pork (you can dip the pork in the pan juices and place in the warm flat bread and drizzle with the sauce. Either fold or wrap your sandwich and enjoy
  3. The radish and cabbage slaw: For a large cabbage Cut in half then in quarters and slice into strips and for a small cabbage cut in half (use both halves) then slice into strips place into a bowl, julienne the radishes add to bowl. Toss to combine. For the dressing in a mixing bowl add the vinegar,olive oil, sugar and celery seed and salt and pepper whisk to combine and pour over your cabbage and radishes. Put a nice handful on top of the pork sandwich. Making in advance and letting the slaw sit in the refrigerator is best all the flavors will meld together.

Apr 12

4 Comments

A Bowl Of Pasta

A Bowl of Pasta

I had a very busy day, no time to cook and I really wanted pasta for dinner, but I wanted a quick fix. This bowl of pasta took me 25 minutes to put together and is satisfying and delicious. I had some really interesting pasta called Calamarata in the pantry, it’s a dried semolina pasta, almost a full pint of grape tomatoes, some Italian parsley and some mascarpone and that’s what went into this dish, I also added a generous grating of pecorino romano cheese. My pasta craving was satisfied and all in less than 30 minutes. I would normally put ricotta on this and that would be delicious, I was out of ricotta but had the mascarpone that needed to be used and when combined with romano cheese it was just the right amount of creamy sharpness. You can use whatever kind of pasta you happen to love and have in your pantry, I think this dish lends itself to the substantial pasta like rigatoni or even penne. This is a dish for one, and really there is no wrong way to make it, you can add as much or as little of each ingredient. I used parsley, because I happen to like it but spinach would also be a lovely addition.

1/3 pound pasta (I used calamarata)

Pint of grape tomatoes cut in half

generous splash of olive oil for cooking

1 clove garlic thinly sliced

generous handful of parsley chopped

mascarpone (A generous dollop)

Pecorino romano grated

Put large pot with a generous amount of well salted water on to boil.

In saute pan add the olive oil, when its hot add the garlic and cook until you can smell it, don’t let it brown, Add the tomatoes and cook until they soften and release some of their juices. Remove from heat and set aside until the pasta is done,

When water boils add the pasta and cook until its just softened for a substantial pasta like calamarata it took approximately 5 minutes, you don’t want it to be cooked so that its soft. Place the tomatoes back on med/high flame and with spyder or slotted spoon add the pasta to the tomatoes, cook stirring frequently adding a little of the pasta water to create a sauce. When pasta and tomatoes are beautifully cooked add the parsley, cook another minute or two. Grate some of the romano on top and toss to combine. Serve in a bowl with a nice dollop of mascarpone and another grating of romano cheese.

Apr 9

8 Comments

Re-purposing Leftovers- Spicy Merguez Hand Pies

Spicy Merguez Hand Pies

I hate wasting or throwing away food, I freeze when its feasible, and try to come up with creative ways to use scraps and leftovers to create something new. I made a pie yesterday, the double crust lemon pie posted here and the other day I made a spicy merguez filling for a food52 contest to go with semolina pancakes. So I thought I would roll out the pie dough, cut into circles and fill with the merguez filling. The result is delicious and a wonderful lunch with a crisp salad, and you would never know its leftovers. This is not meatless (Meatless Monday) but using food rather than wasting it should apply any day of the week. These would be great filled with vegetables or cheese or both also. Here is the link to Semolina Pancakes With Spicy Merguez Filling. So if you have leftover dough from your pie, don’t throw it away, re-invent it.

Rolled out left over pie dough cut into circles, I was able to make 5 good size pies, I added a heaping tablespoon of filling closed into half moon shape, crimped edges with fork and baked at 375 degrees until golden brown. I served with a salad with yogurt, lemon and herb dressing.

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