orecchiette with arugula-caper pesto, roasted tomatoes and pistachio breadcrumbs

there are times that i

think - even as i'm cooking,

even as i'm taking pictures -

that this is not a recipe worth

sharing with you. it's too

traditional, too thrown together

on a weeknight, too convoluted,

too unphotogenic, too...uninteresting.

but, i continue to cook the ingredients.

i continue to take pictures.

and usually, when it's all over and larry's

doing the dishes, i think yep, that was fine,

but, that was a dinner that was just for us:

no one will ever know about it.

but, other times, i take a bite,

still agreeing with my original

sentiment - that it's boring, simple,

fussy - but, also:

worth sharing.

and still, after all that, i almost

didn't write about this dish.

it's pasta with pesto, after all.

but, it was really good.

the arugula pesto, which should

have been bitter, was rounded out

with briny capers and roasted pistachios.

the kalamata olives added pockets of

saltiness and the roasted tomatoes

were bursting with garlicky sweetness.

they all came together thanks to the

toasted panko, pistachio and lemon zest

topping, which was sprinkled on

before serving.

and, i think, as i'm telling you about it,

that this pasta sounds both

expected and complicated.

but it's neither and it came together

quite quickly.

here's how:

i tossed some pistachios and panko

into the food processor, whirled them

around for a bit and then set them into

a pan over medium heat.

while one eye watched the

breadcrumbs, i pulsed the rest of the

nuts with garlic and cheese, pulsed in

arugula and capers and smoothed the

whole thing out with droplets of olive oil.

and, if we hadn't had a near oven fire - thanks

to a drippy packet of roasted garlic over the weekend -

here's what i would have done first:

i would have placed grape tomatoes in a dish,

with cloves of skin-on garlic,

olive oil, salt and pepper. i would have given

everything a good shake and then popped

them in the oven for about 4o minutes,

until their skins had burst,

the juice at the bottom was bubbly

and the garlic was tender.

but, we did have an incident that involved

a lot of smoke and so, instead, of starting with

that, i waited until larry came home from work

and very kindly gave the oven floor a scrub.

while they cooked, the breadcrumbs sat,

the flavors of the pesto melded together and

the pasta cooked. once they were out of the oven,

everything came together in less than five minutes.

so that was it.

kind of traditional.

kind of seemingly fussy.

kind of enjoyable.

hope you don't mind me sharing.

orecchiette with arugula-caper pesto, roasted tomatoes and pistachio breadcrumbs

there are a couple items of note in this recipe. first, the pistachios that i used were already roasted, so i was pretty careful when i toasted them with the breadcrumbs. however, if they had not been, i would have toasted the 1/3 cup i used for the pesto. secondly, i used the saltiness of the capers to mellow the bitterness of arugula (i didn't want a repeat version of this one). but, because i had a lot of arugula, i tossed some leaves into the pasta before mixing. this definitely ups the bitter quotient, so if that's not for you, don't feel that you need to add the extra arugula. and as with all pestos, feel free to mix and match the nuts or hard cheeses that you use.

2 cups grape tomatoes

5 large cloves garlic, (3 cloves unpeeled), divided

1/4 cup, plus 1/3 cup shelled pistachios, divided

1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 lemon

olive oil (1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon, plus about 1/3 cup for pesto)

1/3 cup grated pecorino romano

2 packed cups baby arugula, plus one or two extra handfuls, divided

3 tablespoons caper brine

3 tablespoons capers

1 box (16 ounces) orecchiette

1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives

heat oven to 375˚f. in small dish (i used an 8 x 8 ceramic dish), combine tomatoes, unpeeled garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and salt and pepper, to taste. shake to coat tomatoes and garlic. bake 35-40 minutes, or until tomato skins have split and garlic is soft. when cool enough to handle, peel garlic (the cloves should slip out of their skin) and coarsely chop or mash; set aside.

in bowl of food processor, combine 1/4 cup pistachios and panko; pulse 10 times, or until pistachios are ground into tiny pebbles. in small skillet over medium heat, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil. add breadcrumb mixture and cook 3-4 minutes, or until golden and fragrant, stirring often. transfer mixture to a bowl; season with salt and pepper. using a grater, zest lemon over breadcrumbs; stir to combine and set aside.

wipe out bowl of food processor. in bowl, combine remaining peeled garlic, pecorino romano cheese and remaining pistachios; pulse 5 times or until coarsely combined. add 2 cups arugula arugula and capers; pulse again to combine. with motor running, very slowly drizzle in oil, until the mixture is a lighter shade of green, smooth and fluid (this usually takes about 1/3 cup, but could take up to 1/2 cup). set aside.

before tomatoes are finished roasting, bring a large pot of water to a boil; cook pasta according to the directions on the box, reserving 1 1/2 cups hot pasta water 2 minutes before draining pasta.

place the same pot you cooked the pasta in over medium heat; add about half the water and half the pesto. stir to combine. if the sauce seems overly watery, add a bit more pesto. if using, add the arugula leaves. add the pasta, the kalamata olives, the cooked tomatoes, the roasted garlic and any juices from the baking dish; toss gently to combine, adding additional pesto, if desired, and more of the pasta cooking water if the mixture seems too dry.

divide pasta among plates or bowls; sprinkle with breadcrumb mixture.

farmer's market find: garlic scapes

last weekend,

we woke up on sunday morning

crossing our fingers that

it wasn't raining.

it was.

yet, we must have mustered up

all of our determination

because within 10 minutes,

it was only drizzling,

and 10 minutes after that,

it had stopped.

too worried to tempt fate,

we quickly tossed on

jeans

zip-ups,

flip-flops,

grabbed our reusable bags

and hopped in the car.

we had spent all week

talking about the newly

opened tenafly farmer's market

and we were going, come...

well, come wet weather or not.

we spent the first five minutes

looking, scoping everything out,

and the next 15 shopping for

freshly shelled peas

icicle radishes

teeny baby carrots

and baby red onions.

we turned to leave, nearly missing

a new crate at the table

we had visited first.

i was so excited to see garlic scapes.

i've heard about them,

know that they're the stalks that grow

from the garlic plant itself and

are certainly garlicky, but a mild

cousin of its cloves.

but i had never before tried them and

didn't really know what to do with them.

regardless, i grabbed a large handful.

once home, i ran to my

cookbooks

and

the internet,

learning that the most common

use was pesto. i didn't really want

to use them that way -

i had just made a pesto

two weeks before

and i have issues,

always feeling like i need

to step outside the box.

but, after a little while,

i decided not to fight

it and just make a batch myself.

every time i thought about

the pesto, however,

i worried that

the garlic would be too strong,

leading me to the decision to

cut the scapes into 1-inch(ish) lengths

and quickly saute the pieces first.

this taught me two things:

sauteed scapes are amazing,

and could pass for garlicky asparagus.

the second, is that cooking significantly

minimizes the garlic level.

so much so,

that when i tossed them

into the food processor with

toasted almonds

and grated parm,

i also added two raw scapes

to give the mixture more punch.

and, yes, i tend not to use nearly

enough olive oil in my pestos,

but still, i thought the blend

was lacking flavor.

so i tossed in more parm,

some lemon juice,

another scape

and finally, relentingly,

basil.

i didn't want to use the basil.

this was supposed to be

a garlic scape pesto.

i wanted the pesto to maintain

the beautiful peridot green

it was busy boasting,

not turn a deep emerald.

but after a 1/4 cup,

and another

and another,

it was clear that i had

made the right decision.

the basil simply heightened

the other ingredients,

while adding an herbal touch

that made a big difference,

overall.

that first night, i tossed

a big spoonful with

adorable mini gnocchi,

more toasted almonds and a

significant splash of the pasta's

cooking water.

fast and delicious - and the hot

water more than made up for

not using a huge amount of olive

oil (by pesto's standards).

a couple nights later,

i dolloped the leftovers over

pizza dough along with

shrimp

mozzarella

red pepper flakes

finely chopped preserved meyer lemon

and a couple whole

raw garlic scapes.

both ways, very good.

both ways, very fresh.

if i stumble across another crate

at a future farmer's market,

i will buy them.

but because they

were so remarkable both

sauteed

and

roasted,

those would probably be my go to dishes.

or maybe, this, which i'm regretting

i didn't see earlier (and wouldn't have

been able to tell you about if i had actually

posted this entry according to my planned

timetable, yesterday). turn anything

into a hummus-like dip,

and i'm curious.

add these curly cue stalks,

and i'm sold.

garlic scape pesto

this pesto is absolutely saucier when first made - it firms up significantly after a stay in the fridge. if you want a mixture with more olive oil, drizzle in extra, stopping when the blended veggies no longer absorb the oil.

15 garlic scapes, divided

3/4 cup fresh basil

1/3 cup almonds, toasted

1/2 cup grated parm

1/2 large juicy lemon, juiced

kosher salt

cracked black pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

cut 12 scapes into 1" lengths. over medium-high heat, warm large skillet coated with cooking spray or olive oil. when hot, add garlic scapes and cook 1 to 2 minutes, or until crisp tender (try one - the garlic level should not overwhelm you). let cool. meanwhile, cut remaining scapes into 1" lengths (or, cut all at one time and separate the 12 from the 3 immediately).

in bowl of food processor, combine cooked and uncooked garlic scapes, basil, toasted almonds and grated parm. pulse several times or until finely chopped and combined. add lemon juice; season with salt and pepper to taste. pulse twice. while motor is running, slowly drizzle in olive oil until emulsified, adding more if necessary or desired. use immediately or cover and refrigerate. you can also freeze pesto.

we're ok, we're fine

for me, it is very hard

to look at food and to see

it just as food.

i really do associate different

dishes with different parts of

my life or memories.

i never have a bite of 

carrot cake without thinking

of all of our family birthdays

(or the fact that, believe it or not,

back in the day, Friday's,

made the best carrot cake ever

and my mom tried to get their

recipe but they said no. or the fact

that years later, at our monthly

birthday party at the magazine, 

a co-worker's mom

had baked a carrot cake that tasted

just like the one from Friday's and I 

thought, finally. but then, her mother

refused to give up the recipe. and the 

coworker said she didn't blame her.

what's that about?)

or pastina, which i recently made

for larry when he wasn't feeling

well because when i was growing

up, my mom made pastina.

yes, this time around it tasted

a bit like baby food, but,

i think we were both comforted

even now.

or pizza with vinegar,

which is almost always how i eat

pizza, once lauren and i finally

drizzled it on. we had spent years

watching other customers drizzle

red wine vinegar onto 

their ultra thin crust pie at 

pete & elda's,

a restaurant that gives you 

a T-shirt if you eat an 18"

round on your own.

finally, while sharing a smaller

pie, we cracked and loved it.

and whenever, i make this 

artichoke soup,

i will think about our wedding

and honeymoon, or more

appropriately,

our first day back to work,

following the madness.

we were engaged for 

one year and one month

when i started my new job.

our wedding was 5 months away

and we had yet to fully confirm

our honeymoon. up until this point,

i had been holding tight to my 

croatia fantasy, but hadn't cemented 

the plans.

so, when i gave my new boss the days

that i needed off, i panicked and 

gave a return date much sooner 

than i should have, 

worrying that i would disappoint 

everyone too quickly. 

we were marrying on a sunday,

i imagined leaving for the honeymoon

on tuesday, and i told them, 

sure, no problem, i'll be back 

the following thursday.

the second i said it, i regretted it, 

knowing that not only were we no 

longer going overseas, but also

that there would be little to any

downtime between returning home

and heading back to work.

so, we booked a trip to barbados

(actually to curacao first, but

that didn't work out), for

tuesday to tuesday.

then, about a three and a half months

later, a position -

a promotion - opened up 

and i was encouraged to go for it.

i spent the next few weeks heavily

preparing and about 3 weeks

before the wedding, got the job.

start date? immediately.

while on our honeymoon,

i tried not to, but i worried that

we would rush back and go

to work and that it would feel

like we never went away. 

i sat in our gorgeous private

pool thinking about the fact

that in 5-4-3-2 days we

would be back and at night,

i dreamt about things that

i forgot to take care of before

i left.

we still had a good time

and i worked hard to

get over myself.

i woke up wednesday morning, 

knowing that the 

next day, 

not only would i be at work,

but that it would be the beginning

of a 9 day-straight stretch.

it really, honestly, hurt.

thursday came, 

i went to work

and everyone was lovely, 

welcoming me back, 

acting like they had known

me for longer than 5 months,

asking for wedding pictures,

honeymoon stories, 

to see my wedding band.

but, still i had 400 e-mails,

which meant 

my inbox was full, which meant

that i couldn't reply to any until

i deleted at least half. 

i was now officially into my job

and rightfully expected to jump

back in and take responsibility

for myself as a professional,

not a planning-a-wedding-learning-

a-job quasi employee.

we were back. 

which, to me, meant

back to everything. i searched for 

a recipe to make for dinner that night, 

found this quick soup, 

shopped for the ingredients and

drove home, teary.

it wasn't that the wedding was over.

it was just that we were back,

from the vacation, the getaway,

the everything we had planned

for so long, but really,

we hadn't planned for this.

i had to work like crazy now,

but plan-wise, i was free for

the foreseeable future.

it felt scary.

when i walked in, larry greeted me,

arms out, asked me how my day was 

and i burst out crying,

saying (and, really i'm not proud

of this): hard, it was hard. 

we're back.

and now we're just married people

who work.

i set to work chopping the onion,

a good excuse to pretend that's why 

i was crying.

then i tossed garlic and 

artichokes into the pan

with broth and simmered them 

together. i did puree it, 

but decided that i was too cranky

to strain the smooth mixture, 

considering that i 

had already cheated terribly

by buying pesto (after growing

up in a pesto-making household),

instead of making it.

a handful of grated romano cheese,

a few big squeezes of lemon

and a splash of milk

turned the creamy soup

from so-so to very good.

the jalapeno-pecan pesto that i had

picked up was fantastic,

and together with cornbread,

they made the night so much

easier to swallow.

we looked at our honeymoon

pictures again, talked to 

friends and family,

spent a crazy amount

of time staring at our rings

(which we had left behind,

lest losing our new pieces

of jewelry at the beach),

and i finally realized it would

be ok. 

married,

working,

non-stop running around.

whatever.

this soup, made from

not so much, kind of snapped

me out of it, made me deal

with life and made me 

grateful for the fact that

we even had a honeymoon,

seven uninterrupted days 

together and

and that my typically pale

arms were actually tan.

when i re-made the soup

last week, it wasn't quite

so magical, but it was still

quick and comforting.

this time, i blended together my own

pesto - trying to recreate

the one that i bought 9

months before. 

i used arugula instead of

parsley and truth be told,

it tasted nothing like

the other, but still, i believe,

it is a pesto that could stand up

against others.

and when i dropped a dollop

in, it kind of made me forget

that on the walk over to the table, 

the soup had sloshed around,

messing up its edges

and was no longer pretty.

so, i took a breath, 

took a picture,

took a spoonful,

remembered the first

taste last september,

and settled down.

lemon artichoke soup

the first time i made this soup, i evened it all out with about 1/4 cup of milk. the second time i didn't - i think the milk mellows the mixture nicely, but it's certainly not necessary. this recipe is pretty different at this point than the original - one major change: i still haven't strained the mixture after pureeing. i'm fine with the texture, but if you want it ultra silky smooth, add the step back in.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large white onion, peeled and chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

2 cans (16 ounces each) artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed

3 cups (or more) fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth

1/3 cup grated romano cheese

1 large juicy lemon, juiced

in saucepot over medium heat, warm oil 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until hot. add onion; season with salt and pepper. cook 8 minutes, or until soft and translucent. add garlic and cook 1 minute. add artichoke hearts and chicken broth. bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 8-10 minutes, or until artichokes are very soft. using immersion blender, puree mixture. 

(if you do not have an immersion blender, transfer mixture to blender, in batches and very carefully blend, putting a towel over the lid and pressing down tightly. hot mixtures live to blow the tops off of blenders, so again, be careful.)

if necessary, thin mixture out using additional broth or milk. stir in cheese and lemon juice. season with salt and pepper. adjust flavorings adding more salt, pepper, cheese or lemon, if necessary. top with pesto.

arugula, jalapeno and pecan pesto

i wanted a spicy pesto and i was fortunate enough to pick one jalapeno that packed a lot of heat. otherwise, i would have thrown a second one in. use your judgement. and, keep in mind that arugula is a bitter green, so this pesto boasts a bit of bitterness. this pesto is not as loose and oily as they usually are. i stopped drizzling it in once the mixture came together into a smooth cohesive mixture, if you want something less firm, keep drizzling in until it reaches your desired consistency. 

oh, and the leftovers were so good smeared on toast, topped with pickled onions and a sunny side up egg.

3 cups packed arugula

3 cloves garlic, halved

1/3 cup, plus 2 tablespoons, chopped toasted pecans, divided

1/3 cup grated romano cheese

1-2 jalapenos, seeded and quartered

1/2 lemon, juiced

3 tablespoons (or more) olive oil

in bowl of food processor, combine arugula, garlic, 1/3 cup pecans, cheese, jalapenos and lemon juice. pulse 5-8 times, or until chopped and combined. with motor running, very slowly drizzle in olive oil to emulsify mixture. transfer mixture to bowl; stir in remaining pecans. cover; chill in fridge until ready to use.