Egg Pappardelle with Arugula, Leeks and Prosciutto

 This time of year, we are always on the lookout for new spring-y pasta recipes. Some of our past favorites have included Food and Wine's Spring Vegetable Farfalle, our own Scarborough Fair Pasta made with fresh herbs, our own Ginger Garlic Bok Choy Pasta, and a fabulous one from Epicurious called Spring Pasta with Prosciutto, Lettuce and Peas.

This week's is very similar to that last one in that it is also a spring pasta from Epicurious and it also includes prosciutto as an ingredient. Not to mention that it has become one of our favorites for this time of year. Frankly, it was delicious!

We followed the Epicurious recipe almost to the letter, using Trader Joe's Egg Pappardelle, which made the dish even lighter and thus, more perfect for the season. With no lemon in the fruit crisper, we substituted 1/4 teaspoon of Boyajian's Lemon Oil - a practical and valuable product to have in the pantry for exactly these situations.

Looking for something for Meatless Monday? This would be just as delish sans prosciutto, we're sure.

Egg Pappardelle with Baby Arugula, Leeks and Prosciutto

barely adapted from this recipe at Epicurious.com

Ingredients:

1/2 pound egg pappardelle

kosher salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 leeks, white and pale green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1/4 teaspoon pure lemon oil

4 cups baby arugula

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

freshly ground black pepper

3 ounces prosciutto, torn into 1" pieces

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain, reserving 2 cups pasta cooking liquid. Meanwhile, heat oil and butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring often, until softened but not browned, 5-8 minutes. Add pasta, chives, lemon oil, and 3/4 cup pasta cooking liquid. Cook, tossing and adding more cooking liquid by 1/4-cupfuls as needed, until a glossy sauce forms that coats pasta, about 4 minutes. Add arugula and 1/3 cup Parmesan, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Add prosciutto and toss again. Top pasta with more lemon zest and Parmesan.

Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake (Secret Recipe Club)

It's May's Reveal Day for Secret Recipe Club and we've once again attempted to stray out of our comfort zone and bake something. A cake, no less. Neither of us can remember ever baking a cake together, and most of our combined experiences with making cakes have involved Betty Crocker. That said, now that things are starting to grow in the garden again, we've also been wanting to cook with something homegrown. Unfortunately, since it's still early in the growing season here, the only thing we currently have growing is rhubarb. And what are the odds that our assigned blog would have a recipe with rhubarb as the ingredient?

Not too bad, as it turns out. In fact, Taryn, the author of Sweetly Serendipity had not one, not two, but three recipes with rhubarb in them. The dilemma was which one to choose. Rhubarb Buttermilk Muffins sounded pretty good, but Taryn herself admitted that "they weren't the best." Been there! So it was between Lemon Rhubarb Buttermilk Cake and Upside-Down "Strawbarb" Cake. For some reason, the strawberries sounded more appealing so that's what we made. 

It was definitely the right choice, for we are mad for this cake! Not too sweet, with a moist, silky texture and crunchy sweet "crust", this is one of the finest cakes we've ever had, nevermind that it's the only one we've ever made from scratch! We had to bring some to the neighbors for fear we'd eat the whole thing in one night. We attempted to create a basil-oil-infused cream to go with it, but it flopped. No worries, for while it may have been an interesting addition, it was completely unnecessary. This cake possesses all the characteristics we think a dessert should have, including how yummy the house smelled while it was baking. 

We highly recommend this cake, which Taryn adapted from a recipe by Martha Stewart. However, we did take advantage of Taryn's excellent suggestions, and so here is the recipe we made, as per Sweetly Serendipity.

Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:

For The Topping

• 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• Pinch Kosher salt

For The Cake

• 1 1/2 sticks salted butter, room temperature

• 1/2 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut on a diagonal
• 1/2 pound strawberries, hulled and chopped

• 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

• 
  

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the topping by stirring together the butter, flour, sugar, and salt until moist and crumbly; set aside. Butter a 9-inch pie dish, then dot it with 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of butter cut into pieces. Toss rhubarb and strawberries with 3/4 cup sugar; let stand for 2 minutes. Toss again, and spread in the pie dish. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat remaining stick of butter and cup of sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in Grand Marnier, then beat in eggs, one at a time until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl. Stir the sour cream and buttermilk together in a separate small bowl. Beat in flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream/buttermilk mixture, until smooth. Spread evenly over the rhubarb and strawberries. Crumble the topping evenly over batter. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake, and invert onto a serving plate. Let cool completely.

Yellow Curry Shrimp, and Musings on the Weather in New England

We know that sometimes it seems we make a big deal of the so-called "changing of the seasons." Our readers in, say, Florida or, perhaps, California, may wonder why we make such a big to-do about our "crocus forests" or the fact that it has finally, on April 8th, reached 70 degrees. We suppose it has to do with the wide range of weather that we experience in New England on any given year. Let's take this particular school year for example (we are teachers in "real" life after all): we were hit with a hurricane (you read that right) in October. A hurricane which, according to Wikipedia (yes, we know it's not the most reliable, but admit it - you use it all the time), was  "the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclone of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, as well as the second-costliest hurricane in United States history." Once we got over that mess, we faced one of the snowiest years we can remember, which included a blizzard that dropped close to 3 feet of snow mid-February (see Nemo Gras). And seeing as the two of us (both in our 40's) can't really remember 3 feet of snow in our snow-measuring history? Well, that'something! While the uber-winter mix seemed to dissipate after that, it was cold, gray and rainy for so long that people were starting to mutiny against that crazy groundhog Punxatawny Phil who predicted an early spring: That damn TV rodent. He really must be taken care of, if you know what we mean...

Fast forward to today. We are tired. We are sun- and, hence, vitamin-D-deprived and we just want to enjoy some warm rays and non-blisteringly-cold winds. Is it really so much to ask? Sure we're a little excited about our crocus. Yeah, we are posting pictures of our spring onions. So sue us. We just can't help it. And when we texted each other about dinner today - something along the lines of, "let's do something lite (sic)" - "okay how bout (sic) yellow curry shrimp n veggies," a plan was quickly hatched. We even used a tool from our fancy garnishing kit (thank you, Turners!) to cut our carrots so they'd be prettier than usual. And, really, aren't they????

This recipe may not be the typical Californian's or Floridian's version of "light" but it was perfect for us New Englanders. Bright, colorful, cheery, and most importantly (for this time of year), quick and easy, we are adding this to our weeknight repertoire because we loved it's cheery springiness and the way it made us feel about the change of seasons. We enjoyed this served over basmati rice - and we even cheated a little bit by using Success Rice Boil-in-a-Bag, which takes 10 minutes, not-coincidentally about the time it takes to make the shrimp. How perfect is that?

Yellow Curry Shrimp

Ingredients:

1 15-ounce can light coconut milk

3 tablespoons yellow curry sauce (we like Trader Joe's)

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1/2 pound green beans, chopped

1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon fish sauce 

2-3 leaves basil, chopped

1 teaspoon sugar

In a large skillet, bring coconut milk to a simmer. Stir in curry sauce and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add carrots and green beans and simmer about five minutes until vegetables begin to soften. Add shrimp and cook until shrimp turn pink, about 2 minutes. Add lime juice, fish sauce, basil and sugar, and stir to combine. Simmer an additional minute to incorporate all ingredients. Serve over prepared rice, pasta, or simply with crusty bread for dipping.

Spring Vegetable Farfalle for Meatless Monday

It is officially spring in Connecticut. It's 70 degrees out, the sun is high in the sky even at 5:00 p.m., and we have mini-forests of crocus all along our driveway. Oh look! Our spring onions and chives are coming in! At last, at last, it's spring at last!

And it's Monday, so what better meal to make for this beautiful spring day than something for Meatless Monday? This Food and Wine recipe seemed like the perfect gift when it arrived in our email box last week and we saved it for a day just like this one. As usual, we made some adjustments based our tastes and what we had on hand.

What we loved about this recipe was the wonderful fresh taste it gets from the green vegetables, seasonal herbs and tangy lemon. While we enjoyed it hot, we could see gracing our summer picnic table as a pasta salad alongside some barbecue. Mmmm...mmmm.

Spring Vegetable Farfalle

adapted from this recipe from Food and Wine

Ingredients:

2 slices white sandwich bread, finely chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons snipped chives

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 bunch broccolini

1 pound mini-farfalle

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 fennel bulb - halved, cored and thinly sliced

juice from 1/2 lemon

2 drops lemon oil

Preheat the oven to 350. On a baking sheet, toss the bread with 1/4 cup of the oil and toast for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once, until golden. Let cool, then stir in half each of the chives and tarragon. Season the crumbs with salt and pepper and set aside. In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the broccolini until tender, 1 minute; using tongs, transfer to a cutting board and coarsely chop. Boil the pasta in the broccolini water until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. In a deep skillet or wok, melt the butter in the remaining 1/4 cup of oil. Add the garlic, fennel and broccolini and cook over moderate heat until the fennel is crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Add the pasta, lemon juice and cooking water and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat until the water is nearly absorbed. Stir in the remaining herbs and lemon oil. Sprinkle the pasta with the bread crumbs just before serving.

Is Spring Springing at Last?

Spring Pasta with Prosciutto, Lettuce and Peas

We were trolling through some old Epicurious recipes that we had saved in our "recipe box" and found a springtime pasta that sounded interesting. That recipe is here. A few tweaks for our tastebuds and we ended up with a pasta that was different and interesting in all the right ways, perfect for this time of year, and while it made a whole lot of food, it heated up nicely the next day in the microwave at work (with a little extra olive oil tossed in). And just an aside, a little BTW if you will, life has been quite crazy as of late. Our normal, happy, cooking and blogging selves should reappear soon. We promise!

Spring Pasta with Prosciutto, Lettuce and Peas

Ingredients:

1/4 stick unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil (plus additional for drizzling later)

1/4 pound green onions, sliced

2 tablespoons minced shallot

kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1/2 cup white wine (such as Pinot Grigio)

1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth

1 package (about 2 cups) frozen peas

1 pound campanelle (trumpet-shaped) pasta

1 head Boston lettuce, cored, leaves cut into 3/4-inch-wide slices

1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for sprinkling

4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, into 1/2-inch-wide strips

Melt butter with 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add green onions and shallots. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until fragrant and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add wine. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer until liquid is almost evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add broth and bring to simmer; then set aside. Cook peas according to package directions, then drain. In the meantime, put water in a large pot to boil for the pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente results. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta water. Add lettuce to onion/broth mixture and stir over low heat just until wilted, about 1 minute. Add peas, drained pasta, and 1 cup Parmesan cheese and toss together, adding reserved pasta water by 1/4 cupfuls if dry. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Fold in prosciutto, drizzle with olive oil, and serve, with additional Parmesan as desired.

Lavender and Blood Orange Olive Oil Shortbreads

Amy writes: It was April vacation - a week off from school and the weather was gorgeous. I had bought some blood oranges recently and this one never got eaten. It was sitting there staring at me, begging to be used in a recipe. Then I remembered a blood orange-infused olive oil I purchased at Boston Olive Oil Company. I started to think about cookies. I love shortbread, and shortbread cookies are so nice and light that they are perfect for the sunny springtime weather we were experiencing. I used a Bon Appetit recipe I found online here for the basis of this one, changing the flavorings and disregarding the chocolate.

The dough was extremely crumbly, I have to admit. In fact, I couldn't use about half of it because it just fell apart on me. But that was okay, since there are only two people in our household and we don't need to be eating full batches of cookies. If you can figure out how to prevent the extreme crumbliness, I'd appreciate any suggestions!

Still, both of us loved the scent of blood orange and lavender that filled the house as the shortbreads baked. The cookies were so wonderful, though! They were crisp yet light as air, and definitely full of flavor. The olive oil lightened them up, but they still had a hint of butteriness. The blood orange and lavender complemented one another nicely. Each bite tasted of spring, and they paired nicely with a glass of orange pekoe iced tea.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons blood orange-infused olive oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon orange oil

2 teaspoons dried lavender flowers

zest of 1 blood orange

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, confectioners sugar, cornstarch and salt. In a separate bowl, beat butter until creamy. While continuing to mix, slowly pour olive oil into butter until fully incorporated. Stir in sugar, vanilla extract, orange oil, lavender and zest to butter mixture. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring together until just blended. Form dough into a ball and divide in half. Roll each half into a 6'' log, wrap logs in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Preheat oven to 325. Unwrap dough logs and cut each log into 1/3''-inch thick rounds. Place rounds about 1/2'' apart on baking sheets. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire sheets and allow to cool.