A Milder All-Purpose Pesto: Spinach-Walnut Pesto

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I actually made this pesto last fall with the last of the basil, but I froze it in ice cube trays and have found many uses for it since. Since this recipe replaces half the basil with spinach, it has a milder taste and can be used in greater quantities than classic pesto. Because the spinach flavor doesn’t overwhelm, this is a good recipe for sneaking a healthy vegetable in unexpectedly. I like this pesto best as a sauce for fresh tortellini or ravioli, but as we discovered last night, it makes a great pizza sauce, particularly if the pizza also features fresh spinach. (I also added crumbled bacon, fresh mozzarella and tomato to the pizza.)

Spinach-Walnut Pesto

Time to make: ~10 minutes
Yields: 2 cups

• 1 cup basil leaves
• 1 cup fresh spinach, stems removed
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup walnuts, toasted
• ½ cup Parmesan, grated

Combine everything in a food processor and process until pureed.

This pesto freezes very well. Freeze 1 tablespoon portions in ice cube trays. Once the pesto is frozen, transfer the cubes to a large freezer bag. Then you can just remove and defrost what you need for the dish.

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Pasta with Broccoli & Mozzarella

Pasta with garlic and oil is one of the most basic pasta dishes, which I imagine most people can make without even consulting a recipe. Because it is so simple, it lends itself well to variations. This is one of my favorites.

Although I make pasta about once a week, I do not like the time and energy it takes to boil all that water. Usually, I try to make that pot of water do as much as work as possible. I like this recipe because it uses the big pot of boiling water for double duty: to cook both the broccoli and the pasta.

Another reason I like this recipe is because I usually have all the ingredients on hand, so it serves as a quick but healthy meal when the pantry is empty. And it’s a vegetarian offering that’s also really satisfying.

Pasta with Broccoli & Mozzarella

Yields: 2-3 servings, depending on appetite
Time to make: ~30 minutes

• 1 bunch broccoli, florets cut off, stems peeled and chopped
• ½ lb. chunky pasta, such as penne or rotini
• 2 lg. garlic cloves, minced
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 oz. mozzarella, cubed
• salt and red pepper flakes to taste
• grated Parmesan for garnish

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rapid boil. Add the broccoli stems and cook about 5 minutes. Add the broccoli florets and cook 2 minutes more, until they are bright green and tender. Remove the broccoli with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool a bit. When it’s cool enough, chop the broccoli roughly.

Start cooking the pasta in the same pot as you cooked the broccoli.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until it turns golden. Add the broccoli and mozzarella cubes, plus salt and red pepper flakes to taste. Stir to combine and melt the cheese a bit. Remove from the heat.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving about ½ cup of pasta cooking water. Add the pasta to the broccoli mixture and stir to combine well, adding the pasta cooking water as needed to help the sauce and pasta cohere (you may not need all of the reserved water). Garnish with Parmesan to serve.

Spaghetti with Spinach and Garlic

Spaghetti with Spinach and Garlic

Sometime it’s a real challenge getting dinner on the table at a reasonable hour (by which I mean, not just before bedtime). Between having to work and take care of a baby whose bedtime ritual falls right in the middle of the 7:00 dining hour, cooking dinner has been stretching me to my limit. Even 30-minute recipes take too long when you start cooking at 8:00p.m.

That’s why I welcome a recipe like Spaghetti with Spinach and Garlic. As long as you start heating the water ahead of time, you can have this meal done and plated in 10-15 minutes. This is a good choice when you have no time to cook but can’t face scrambled eggs for dinner, particularly if you already had a heavy lunch that day and want something light.

You’ll probably recognize this classic recipe — especially if you omit the spinach and make pasta aglio e olio — but this is one of the better versions of it that I’ve had. The secret is taking a little time to saute the garlic slowly over a relatively low heat. The basic recipe will pair nicely with many different cooked vegetables other than spinach. Broccoli is a classic choice, but I imagine that green beans, artichoke hearts, zucchini and fresh tomatoes would all be excellent as well.

Spaghetti with Spinach and Garlic

Yields: 2 servings
Time to make: ~15 minutes plus time to heat the pasta cooking water

What you need:

• ½ lb. spaghetti
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 4-5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• coarse salt to taste
• 1½ tbsp. parsley, minced
• ½ tbsp. lemon juice
• red pepper flakes to taste
• 1 lb. spinach
• Parmesan for garnish

1. Cook the spaghetti, reserving the pasta cooking water when draining.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat.
3. Add the garlic and coarse salt, and saute, stirring frequently, until the garlic turns golden and starts to foam, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the spinach to the pan and saute, stirring, until it wilts, about 1 minute.
5. Toss the garlic-spinach mixture with the cooked spaghetti plus the additional olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, red pepper flakes and enough reserved cooking water to help everything stick together (about 2-3 tablespoons).
6. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan to serve.

Note: If you omit the spaghetti and just make the spinach, you’ll have a very tasty side dish.

This is my entry this week for Presto Pasta Nights, which is hosted at Vanielje Kitchen.

How to Make a Vinaigrette

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The vinaigrette is probably the most useful basic recipe in a cook’s repertoire. Once you learn how to make a tasty vinaigrette, you’ll never buy bottled salad dressing again. (If you have a bottle of salad dressing in your refrigerator, go read the ingredients list–I’ll bet it’s mostly sugar of some form or another!) But vinaigrettes go way beyond dressing salads. I use them as marinades, to dress simply cooked vegetables and as a sauce for fish as well.

At its simplest, a vinaigrette is nothing more than oil and vinegar (usually salt and pepper, too). First, the oil. I am nuts for olive oil (which is pretty ironic, since I loathe olives). I use it for almost everything. I’ve read in cookbooks that the strong taste can be too overpowering, but I never find that to be true. So my first choice is always going to be olive oil. I don’t like to use vegetable or canola oil for a vinaigrette, because I don’t think they contribute much in the way of flavor, and flavor is the whole point, as far as I’m concerned.

Other useful oils to have on hand are nut oils like walnut oil and almond oil, which have a sweeter, stronger flavor. They should be kept in the refrigerator or they will go rancid. Infused oils–oils infused with another flavor, such as basil, garlic or chiles–are a fun alternative. Sesame oil is also a good choice, but since it’s so strong, I usually mix it with a neutral oil like canola.

The other component is the vinegar. Stocking a variety of vinegars is the key to always having a lively salad. For a simple salad of mixed greens, I prefer balsamic vinegar, which packs the greatest flavor punch. I also keep on hand red and white wine vinegars, sherry vinegar and apple cider vinegar. There are many, many other flavors, so go crazy. For instance, I’ve had a bottle of raspberry vinegar for a while that comes in really handy for fruit salads. My father once gave me a bottle of lemon-thyme-infused vinegar that was heavenly on greens.

The alternative to vinegar is citrus. Lemon and lime juice contribute bright, sunny flavors to the vinaigrette. I particularly enjoy them on simply cooked vegetables and fish.

The basic formula to making vinaigrette is: 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. (I’ve seen cookbooks advocate 4 parts oil, but in my opinion, that just makes the salad taste oily.) So if you’re making a lot, use ¾ cup oil and ¼ cup vinegar. If you’re just making enough for two salads, use 3 tbsp. oil and 1 tbsp. vinegar.

You do have to make some adjustments to this formula depending on your ingredients. If you’re using a strongly flavored oil, such as a nut oil, use a ratio of 2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. If you’re using lemon or lime juice, which is not as acidic as vinegar, also use a ratio of 2 parts oil to 1 part juice, and mix in some of the zest for extra flavor.

What else can you add to your vinaigrette to jazz it up? The standards are, in any combination (per 1 cup vinaigrette):

• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 minced shallot
• 1 tbsp. mustard
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 tbsp. minced capers or pickles
• 1 tbsp. seasoning mix
• 2 tbsp. or more fresh herbs, minced

I hate to keep touting Penzey’s, but they sell a number of mixes that will add instant flavor to any vinaigrette. My husband particularly loves their Italian dressing mix, which is pretty zesty.

So, how to make it? If you’re getting ready to dress the salad, just whisk together all the ingredients until well combined and toss. If you want to really emulsify the vinaigrette–in other words, combine the oil and vinegar so thoroughly that they won’t readily separate–put all the ingredients but the oil in the blender. With the blender running, slowly pour the oil in and keep mixing until the vinaigrette is thick.

Chef’s tip: To make an easy creamy vinaigrette, substitute heavy cream, sour cream or plain yogurt for 1/3 of the oil, adding it after whisking in the oil.

Store extra in the refrigerator. The oil will probably solidify, and the vinaigrette will separate. Take it out for a while before dinner to let it come to room temperature, then re-whisk before serving.

Basic Vinaigrette for Two

Whisk together:

• 1 tbsp. vinegar
• 1 tsp. mustard
• 1 clove garlic, minced, or ½ shallot, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp. olive oil

How to Make Pesto

I went to the dentist today and they didn’t find anything to get concerned about, so it was a red letter day around here. My whole goal for today was to get through my dentist appointment without feeling bad about myself, and I did it. When you set your goals to be real teeny, it is amazingly easy to accomplish them.

I am celebrating by making pesto. The basil plant out back still has tons of leaves on it, even though it is almost Halloween, and so pesto fest is upon us. Pesto is a great way to take care of all the fresh herbs at the end of the summer, if you don’t mind cleaning your food processor a bunch of times.

What can you do with pesto? Well, I’m glad you asked. I like to spread it on little toasts and eat it as a snack or toss it with some hot pasta and a little ricotta cheese. I also like to freeze it in ice cube trays. Each cube holds about 1 tbsp. of pesto (magic!). They keep in the freezer all winter, and you just throw a cube or two into some soup, rice or a stew when you want to add some potent fresh herb flavor.

Typically, pesto is made with basil and pine nuts, but with the power of substitution, you can make it with any herb-nut combination. You can also leave out the nuts altogether, and the cheese, and the garlic–and just have pure preserved herbs. The formula is simple — it’s all based on two’s:

• 2 cups basil (or any other herb or a combo of herbs)
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp. pine nuts, toasted (or any other nut)
• ½ cup Parmesan, grated

Puree all together until smooth.

But why stop there? Pesto makes a great dip if you throw in some additions. My personal favorite is adding a handful of rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes, but you could also try roasted mushrooms or roasted red peppers. Or maybe mix it with some soft cheese.

How to Make Marinades

When you have some blah boneless chicken breasts, fish steaks or even vegetables to grill, broil or roast, the marinade is a great weapon to have in your arsenal. A tasty marinade takes about 5 minutes to whip up. Then you just let the food sit in it for at least an hour before cooking and you’ve added instant flavor (except it takes an hour, but you don’t have to do anything during that time, so pour your pre-dinner glass of wine and watch a little Iron Chef while you’re waiting). Reserve a little of the marinade and pass it at the table for drizzling over the cooked food — it will make you feel fancy.

Why not buy bottled marinade? you ask. Because it’s full of corn syrup and weird things like xantham gum, and besides, pouring something out of a bottle isn’t real cooking. Now stop whining and make your marinade.

To build a basic marinade, whisk together (makes enough for 4 servings):

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp. any vinegar or 1-2 tbsp. lemon or lime juice plus ½ tsp. of the zest
• 1-2 tsp. seasoning mix or 1 tbsp. fresh herbs, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

Now experiment with adding flavor. For instance, you might add: minced ginger, onion, scallion or chile; red pepper flakes; mustard; grated Parmesan; or toasted sesame seeds. Use your imagination and clean out your pantry.

Example Recipe: Lime-Mustard Marinade

I used this marinade on broiled swordfish steaks. It was very tasty and very simple. Combine:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp. fresh basil, minced
• 1½ tbsp. lime juice plus ½ tsp. lime zest
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard