Leeks & Papardelle

From Jamie Oliver At Home, braised leeks and pappardelle.

Drunken Spaghetti

Spaghetti all'ubriaco. I bookmarked this recipe when I first saw it and finally had the occasion (of too much leftover wine) to use it.

Papardelle With Peas

Papardelle with English peas, radicchio and some lemon.

Hello, Spring!

Finding time to cook or even eat at home has been tough lately. What's great about this one bowl meal is that I can make a big batch for an easy take-to-work lunch the next day. This atypical pasta salad is just tossed together orzo, radicchio, parmesan, kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley and lemon juice with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Poached Salmon

I adapted this recipe for a main course last night. I subbed in morels for truffles and unfortunately skipped out the shrimp and shrimp butter. I used truffle salt and brown butter whenever I could, didn't bother with the cognac, and added a side of linguine liberally tossed in the very delectable sauce. Next time though, I'm definitely going for the shrimp.

Quick Pasta

Prawn linguine with a rose sauce.

Arugula: Weeknight Spaghetti

I think this week will arugula week, all because I bought a box of baby arugula and I'm trying to use it all up. Dinner tonight was a simple spaghetti with pesto, garlic and wilted arugula. Some butter while sauteing the garlic, and some parmesan to top it all off in the end. I also tend to use a pinch of nutmeg in non-tomato-based sauces, which I did here.

Harissa Spaghetti

One of the first meals I made this year was Heidi's Harissa Spaghettini recipe at 101 Cookbooks. This recipe is perfect for using your whole wheat pasta (I used a #5 whole wheat spaghetti here), because the denser texture holds up well with the pine nuts and olives, and the darker color doesn't interfere with the color of your sauce. Very satisfying, but this was one spicy dish--the brand of harissa I used had a lot of kick. It's great especially if you've got a cold and are in need of a hearty meal on a cold, rainy night.

Chili Pasta

Leftover chili con carne from yesterday now becomes spicy pasta for today, when I add some whole wheat spaghetti.

Easy Pasta

What to do with that remaining capicollo I had in the fridge...I decided to throw together a pasta for dinner and the leftovers went to today's lunch. A roasted red pepper, portobello mushroom, garlic, onions and cream on linguine. That's it.

Ciopinno

Success! I braved the Canada Day crowds at Granville Island today and picked up a few pounds of fresh mussels for dinner. I adapted this easy Cioppino recipe, subbing in salmon, prosciutto, and used leftover cabernet. Few meals of mine are wholly without carbs, so I just had to throw in some capellini as well to soak up the thick stew. And buttered bread on the side, too.

Mussels Linguine

Mussels linguine with a garlic butter sauce. Bell peppers, onion, cream, basil. I picked up the fresh mussels at T&T's seafood section, which also had some jaw-droppingly large lobsters. The size of cats, I tells ya!


We stuffed ourselves and the mussels didn't last long. Next time I'll try to make some pomme frites to go with them.

Easy Pasta on a Thursday Night

Pasta is probably the easiest thing to make and take to the office as lunch. I hastily put together a dinner and lunch for tomorrow from scrounging around my fridge. Pizza night yielded some leftover ingredients I had to get rid of: some chopped tomatos and mushrooms. I also had a random pack of turkey sausage, which I broke up into ground meat. I played it by ear and came up with rotini with turkey sausage, mushroom, tomato, basil, sun-dried tomato and capers.