Arugula Pesto

I'd like to say that this is a recipe that I've been dying to try for months, and the truth is that it's more like I've been avoiding making it. I want to say I saw it at least a year ago in a Mark Bittman article, where he explained that "pesto" needn't apply only to basil, but that it could be make with many other things, including asparagus and arugula.

Now, I love arugula. I love pesto. But I really, really, REALLY love pesto made with basil (no pine nuts, please!). So the thing is, it's hard to break away. It's hard to make the decision to make pesto, and then make it with something other than basil. Plus, I was skeptical about the bitterness of the arugula. Hence, arugula pesto went unmade.

But I got back from Wisconsin (so wonderful - friends, a wedding for a wonderful couple, and meals at both Osteria Papavero and Pizza Brutta) the other night and had a whole mess of arugula in the fridge that needed eatin'. And, it being summer and all, I decided to go for it.

I'm really glad I did. Yes, it's bitter. Yes, I used waaaaay to much garlic, and it was...powerful. And I really liked it. Basil remains my favorite, but that wasn't going to change. Aside from using it in pasta, I could see using it as a sandwich spread, maybe even on pizza. I saw one recipe where the cook added chickpeas to the pesto, ground up with the arugula. So yes, I'd definitely make it again.

For one, with lunch leftovers:
1/2 lb pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large clove garlic (I used two HUGE cloves...too much)
3 handfuls arugula
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated, plus more for serving
Salt to taste

Start your pasta cooking. In the meantime, combine the arugula, garlic, and olive oil in a food processor or blender. Blend into a pasta, scraping down the sides as needed. Pour into a small bowl and add the parmesan, and stir to combine.

When the pasta is ready and drained, stir in the pesto until the pasta is coated. Add salt, if you'd like, and serve with grated parmesan (or Romano!) cheese.

Cooking Lesson!...and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese and Strawberries

Back in April, I auctioned off a La Piccina Cucina cooking lesson to support Yale SOM's summer internship fund. Greg, a good friend of ours, was the "lucky" winner! He and his fiancee Jen came over last week to cash in on their winnings. It was a blast - for me, at least! Greg did great, too.

Greg made the excellent choice of Risotto with Broccoli Rabe and Pancetta. Not only is this delicious, but it's a useful recipe - risotto is a nice, fancy-seeming dish that's actually pretty simple, and really, once you've learned how to make basic risotto, you can really improvise with all kinds of additions. AND, this particular risotto recipe basically also teaches you how to make broccoli rabe as a side.

We also made a quick salad - Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese and Strawberries. Really, the name is the recipe. I wanted to do a salad to show how to make a basic olive oil/balsamic dressing. We used a bag of arugula, about 4-5 strawberries, sliced, and a healthy sprinkling of goat cheese  crumbles. We dressed it with 4 large spoonfuls of olive oil and 2 of balsamic. (2:1 ratio!) If you want the salad to stay pretty, dress the strawberries and arugula first, then just sprinkle with goat cheese. Or, do as we did (after this photo was taken) and dress it all together and mix (it won't look pretty anymore, but the cheese and dressing will coat the salad nicely).

We ended the night with a lesson from Joef on hot fudge (no Indian Ghost Pepper this time, to his chagrin) - probably one of the more fickle recipes we know, but definitely worth the effort.

Thanks to Greg and Jen for bidding on the lesson and for letting me geek out about cooking all night! Can't wait to do it again.

Goat Cheese, Tomato, and Caramelized Onion Omelette

Here we go, another "recipe" whose name pretty much sums things up. But I've never actually successfully made an omelette, so this was an accomplishment for me. Plus, say you have leftover goat cheese from a certain salad, and leftover tomatoes from a certain fish dish...well, there you go.

3 eggs, beaten
Butter
1/4 cup (ish) cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup (ish) white onion, sliced or chopped
A few sprigs arugula
As much goat cheese, crumbled, as you want

First, caramelize the onions: take a frying pan and grease the bottom with butter, then add the onions and cook them on medium until they begin to soften and brown. Put them aside.

Second, do the same with the tomatoes (will take less time).

Butter the pan again and pour in the egg (turn up the heat a tad). Lift the pan and shift the eggs until the bottom of the pan is covered; you can lift up the sides a bit and let the egg run under itself a little, too. Cook until the top is nearly not runny, then add the onion, tomatoes, arugula, and cheese to one side. Fold the other side over the filling, then flip. Repeat the flip until the cheese is melty and all the egg is cooked. You could even serve it with a little arugula salad on the side.

Risotto with Arugula and Parmesan

(adapted from Loukie Werle's "Italian Country Cooking")

I love risotto. I just do. It's the ultimate comfort food. And even cooking it is vaguely comforting, as you add the broth ladle by ladle and watch the rice soak it up. Maybe that part's just me. In any case, eating it is good. I really enjoyed the arugula in this (surprise) - the rice is savory, the arugula a little bitter, and it all works out.

The original recipe calls for taleggio rather than parmesan, but seeing as how I not only didn't have taleggio, but had to look up what the heck taleggio is, parmesan worked just fine.

Here we go:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 small/medium onion, chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
6 cups chicken broth, simmering, with a few tablespoons reserved
1-2 handfuls arugula, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Combine the olive oil and onions in a large, deep saute pan, and cook over medium heat until the onion is soft, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and stir one more minute.

Add the rice and stir until all the grains are coated. Then add the wine and stir over medium heat until the wine absorbs into the rice. Then, add a ladle of the simmering chicken broth and stir it in until the broth is absorbed into the rice. Keep doing this until the rice is al dente and the broth is used up. If you run out of broth before the rice is cooked, you can use a ladle or two of simmering water.

When that process is complete, add your cheese, the reserved broth, and the arugula, and stir it into the rice. Reduce the heat to low (or turn it off entirely), cover, and let sit for three minutes. Season with salt as needed, and serve!

Gorgonzola Mac 'n Cheese

(Adapted...nah, just downright stolen from...Mark Bittman/The Minimalist)

And the secret ingredient is...you guessed it, arugula! Hey, I'm actually really proud because I was able to make this all from ingredients we already had in the house, left over from things we had already made! We are terrible grocery shoppers, so this almost never happens. While Joef is "melting" in the "blast furnace" of a lovely 75-degree evening, it's been a good night in that we worked out, Modern Family was on, and we were introduced to a new beer (Gouden Carolus - Cuvee Van De Keizer, 2008), a blond Belgian, which was absolutely fantastic. And we ate this.

So...right, the recipe! Extremely easy and quick:

3/4 lb pasta
1/2 package cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
A few handfuls of (here it is, folks) arugula
1 cup milk (I use skim)
1 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
Ground pepper to taste

Start boiling the water for the pasta. At the same time, in a small saucepan, combine the milk and the gorgonzola and slowly melt together (it's OK if it's a little chunky), at first over medium heat, but then turning to low while you wait for the pasta to cook.

Once the pasta is done and drained, simply add in the halved tomatoes, the arugula, and pour the still-hot melted cheese over all of it. Stir to mix it all together - the arugula will melt. Serve topped with a little ground pepper, to taste.

Salmon Salad

My friend Alexis would be so proud of me - a salad, AND no pork products! Of course, it does have arugula...again. But that's not a bad thing, right?

This is adapted from my dad's recipe. It's great when you've been, er, cooking a lot of delicious things with butter and pork products and are getting a little, er, soft around the edges.

You'll need:
Arugula (a few handfuls)
1 handful cherry or grape tomatoes
Pink salmon (1 package or 1 can)
One avocado, chopped
1/2 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 light squeeze of fresh lemon
3 tsp-ish olive oil
1.5 tsp-ish balsamic vinegar
Fresh dill to taste (optional - we couldn't find any tonight, but we prefer when we do)

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mix, and serve!

"Nicoise" Sandwiches

More tuna tonight. And, somewhat predictably, more arugula and more goat brie. This is another recipe you can really play around with according to taste. For example, Joef always put olives (another theme!) - usually kalmata - on his. Tonight, I added hard-boiled egg. I also used the Hawkwind Heat mustard (see "Cheeseburgers!") - but usually I mix some stone ground mustard together with balsamic vinegar and use that on the sandwich. I like the Hawkwind mustard, but for this meal, I'm going to go back to the balsamic-mustard mix.

Anyway, that's a lot of preamble for a simple recipe:
French bread
Sliced tomato
Arugula
Goat cheese brie
Tuna in olive oil
Balsamic vinegar + stone-ground mustard
Kalmata olives, optional
Hard-boiled egg, sliced, optional

Sandwich it up and enjoy!

Cheeseburgers!

Well, it's April 1 and in the 70s in Madison - definitely time for the first grill of the season.

I have to say, Joef and I make a pretty mean burger. I mean, these things are really good. I think the onion salt is the key. Maybe it's just the joy of being able to be outside for sustained periods of time at 9pm at night without catching frostbite. Maybe it's listening to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings on record as we prep the meat. Heck, maybe it's just the beer.

In any case, it's definitely:

PATTIES:
1 lb ground beef, lean
Onion salt to taste
Minced garlic to taste
Minced jalapeno to taste

TOPPINGS, in this particular case:
Prosciutto
Goat brie (me), or cheddar (Joef)
Arugula
Sliced tomato
Hawkwind HEAT mustard (made locally, in Baraboo!)

And, of course, the bun.

We mix the onion salt, minced garlic, and jalapeno together in the patty. Then throw it on the grill. Best if you can melt the cheese on the burger while it's still on the grill, at the same time as you're lightly grilling the buns. Joef gets full credit for all the grilling.

What a wonderful way to start the spring.

Lambchops with Couscous and Arugula Salad

Something a little different tonight.

In high school, whenever my dad was out of town on business trips, my mom and I made it a tradition to make lamb chops. Not that we couldn't have - or didn't - have lamb chops when my dad was home, too, but there was something about quickly cooking up a chop after school and plopping down in front of the TV to enjoy it. So, tonight, when Joef was out of town on business, I went back to the tradition.

Lamb Chops
2 lamb shoulder chops (at room temperature)
Garlic, sliced
Rosemary
Salt and pepper

Heat the broiler. While it heats up, trim the chops of some of their fat. Take the garlic and push it into a few key places on the chops - in between meat and bone, if you can; do this on both sides. Do the same with a couple of rosemary leaves. Salt and pepper to taste, and put a couple of droplets of olive oil on top if you want. Cook about five minutes on each side, or until done to your liking.

Couscous
OK, I just used the stuff from the box - Near East. Done.

Arugula Salad
Take a handful of arugula, two parts olive oil (say, 1 tbsp) to one part balsamic vinegar (say, 1/2 tbsp), mix it together. (In general, go for more oil and less vinegar.)

Mussels; Aglio e Olio; Arugula Salad

My best friend was in town for the weekend, so I decided to actually prepare a full-out meal, with sides and salad and everything. Mussels are a great way to go - they're delicious, truly easy, and significantly less expensive than clams. Plus, I'll eat seafood any chance I get.

1. Mussel with White Wine, Shallots, and Thyme (from www.cookthink.com)
Black mussels (scrubbed, de-bearded), 2 pounds
Butter, 2 tbsp
Small shallots (minced), 3
Garlic (minced), 2
Fresh thyme, 3 sprigs
White wine, 1/2 cup
Chopped fresh parsley, 1/2 cup

Put the mussels in a large pot of cold water; scrub each one clean and remove the beard and any grime on the shells. Drain them in a collander.

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. When it's hot and foaming, add the shallots and cook 2-3 minutes, until they just begin to soften. Stir in the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the thyme, wine and mussels. Stir, then cover the pot and turn the heat up to medium-high. Steam the mussels until they open. (Throw them out if they don't.) Sprinkle over the parsley and stir to combine the mussels with the sauce.

2. Aglio e Olio
Garlic (minced), 3 cloves
Olive oil
Salt
Red pepper flakes
Pasta

Start heating the olive oil (a generous amount, since it makes up most of the sauce) over medium heat. Add the garlic and let it simmer - don't let it burn. It should get nice and golden. Depending on the level of heat you want, add the red pepper flakes either early, with the oil, or late. Once the garlic is golden, mix the sauce into the spaghetti. Add a little fresh parsley if ya have it.

3. Arugula Salad
Arugula
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Put arugula in a bowl, drizzle some olive oil over it, and add less balsamic vinegar. Mix it up.