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.

herbed olive and walnut spread

about four and a half years ago,

i was preparing to host friends

for the weekend.

for most people,

that means

cleaning a bit,

making restaurant reservations

and maybe,

planning a meal or two

to make for their guests.

for me,

living in a studio apartment -

a place in which

i made a big production when

showing people around: this is

the living room, and then this

(pulling them two feet

closer to me) is the bedroom,

right there to the left of your foot,

that piece of floor is the

dining room -

overnight guests meant

a complete overhaul.

i mean, really. when your

guests are going to spend

the night sleeping on the floor,

an arms-length away,

there is not a space to even

hide anything.

and making dinner?

that's really out of the question.

while it may have been fine for

me to make a mess - because there

was no other choice, in my surprisingly

spacious kitchen (it's relative, you see) -

and then for larry and i to eat dinner

on the floor, it's not really the kind

of behavior you can

impose on people nice enough to point

out that you're hosting them

in shoebox.

so instead,

when i had guests, i opted

to make reservations and start

the night with appetizers that could

be made ahead of time -

four people could comfortably

sit on the love seat and two

small chairs i kept hidden

in the corner for such occasions.

and i did have a little side table.

so when our friends were

coming to stay,

i took a familiar route.

make delicious nibbles of things

so that people were so

overcome by the food,

they forgot to focus on the

fact that my mixer sat

next to the couch, like pretend art

and, that my television was

on the dresser.

it sounds silly now, but i really

did think i could distract with food.

i settled on two

spreads:

blue cheese with caramelized shallots,

and

olive and walnut.

both good, i took a particular liking

to the slightly spicy, mustardy and

herb-infused olives.

i couldn't wait

to serve them the next night.

the next night.

i got an extremely

good lesson in knowing your audience.

i set the dips out and found out that

one of them despised

both blue cheese and olives.

i didn't blame her -

if someone put a plate

of fennel in front of me,

i don't think all the

trying and politeness

in the world would help me finish,

let alone start in on it.

but, i was still bummed.

that week, i used the spread a lot

in other dishes,

deciding that even though it hadn't

been a hit with everyone,

i had still stumbled upon

something delicious.

--

my mom's friend, judy, hosts

us and a couple other families

for a gathering every september.

it's a night based on tradition:

my mom always brings the chicken,

judy always make brisket,

someone always brings a platter

of homemade chocolates from his shop

and another is responsible for the

kugel and creamed herring.

it goes on.

over the years, i had played around,

making dessert,

trying different appetizers,

but nothing stuck.

that year, i decided to test the

olive spread with another group.

it was quite well received and i

felt relieved that i finally had my thing.

it's nice.

i'm always so concerned with

finding the perfect recipe

for the situation.

i spend hours - if not days -

on the internet,

reading through my cookbooks

and weighing out my options.

it's more than a relief to have

one thing that is on auto pilot.

but more than that,

this is a recipe worth making

over and over. it is quite

simple, especially with two

new additions:

1) i have upgraded from a

mini food processor

to a standard so that i can now

make everything in

one batch instead

of three.

2) two years ago, i finally gave in

and purchased pitted olives

instead of pitting my own.

so worth it.

but even with those original

handicaps, this recipe was nothing

to get nervous about.

thanks to the walnuts and spices,

it will always be very good and simple.

the crunch of the nuts

give the otherwise smooth dish,

welcome texture and obviously, a nuttiness

that plays well against

the briny olives.

over the years, i've taken to adding

more mustard and herbs, which

i think is worth it to make the

whole thing pop.

oh, a couple things about the herbs.

i've switched to dried because as

much as i'm a fan of fresh, it's hard

to rationalize buying a huge bunch

for 1 teaspoon-worth -

and, i'm the kind of person

who typically keeps away

from anything marked herbed

out of fear of intense herbiness.

but in this case, they are still

a background note -

and one that works beautifully.

i've also upped the cayenne because

i like the idea of a very slight

gentle heat at the end of each bite.

ultimately, this really is

a very simple food processor recipe,

so nothing is stopping you from

tweaking here and there until

it's adjusted to suit you perfectly.

i secretly always wish for leftovers

because the spread is perfect

with tomatoes on bread

and more recently, i've used it to mimic

a very memorable dish

that i enjoyed in charleston a few years ago:

hot pasta, tossed with tapenade,

goat cheese and a few splashes of pasta water.

once, i mixed all three together before adding

to the pasta, but i realized that the restaurant

had been right, there's something delicious

about an occasional bite having only

goat cheese or only the olives.

so now, i add dollops of each to the pasta,

then mix. it makes the whole thing

taste hand-crafted.

last week, i made the spread

for the sixth time and i absolutely

like it as much now as i did the

first time i served it.

everyone else seems to, too.

oh, and when larry and i moved

in together, i felt instantly

spoiled with space.

we put a table in our dining room

(i had a dining room!)

and the mixer on the kitchen counter.

we got a bookshelf.

it's amazing what you can be grateful for.

we invited the same couple back,

made neutral appetizers,

and ate dinner and dessert -

which everyone seemed to enjoy -

at that treasured table

and that night, we gave them their

very own room to sleep in.

they even had a door.

herbed olive and walnut spread

adapted from pane caldo in chicago, via bon appetit magazine

by all means, buy the pitted olives, but do yourself two huge favors. first, make sure you buy beautiful purple olives and not the greenish-brown ones - the color makes this dish. also, even if you buy the pitted, take the time to check each before they go in the food processor. the process is never perfect and a pit could slip by (sorry, alan!). i always double the recipe, so that's what i'm giving you here, but it can obviously, be easily halved. also, as always, make it, taste and adjust. personally, i like flavors prominent, so i've increased the quantities of everything.

3 1/2 cups pitted kalamata olives (about 1 pound), rinsed and drained well

3/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted and divided

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons coarse-grained mustard

3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and halved

2 teaspoons dried thyme

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

in bowl of food processor, finely chop olives and 6 tablespoons toasted walnuts. add olive oil, mustard, garlic, thyme oregano, sage and cayenne pepper; blend to combine. taste and adjust. transfer olive mixture to bowl; stir in remaining walnuts. cover and chill until serving.

i like to serve this with pita triangles, grape tomatoes and sliced zucchini and squash. the original recipe called for slices of a baguette.

my camera's back!

and it's better than ever,

if i do say so myself.

we drove to fed ex 

in the rain

to pick it up

after a faulty

attempt at delivery

and...well,

i'm very happy.

so happy

to have an lcd screen

again, 

that i had to take

pictures of

my favorite

things 

in 

the

fridge at the moment-

all three of 

which happen to

taste much

better if you actually

eat them at

room temperature.

medjool dates. i plucked them from their vines just before this picture. they were very pretty that way. i'm not sure why i did it. 

yummy fleshy, firm and garlic-stuffed olives (i'm bummed we ate the red cerignolas before this picture.)

amazing pink muscat grapes. if you see them at the market, buy them. please don't eat them cold - you'll think i was all talk.