Pasta e Ceci

Looking for a good vegetarian recipe?  This one is fabulous.  I made this after reading a recipe on Williams-Sonoma's website.  I mostly followed their recipe, but they have a few steps where they really maximize the number of dishes you're going to have to do later, and I don't know why.  (Except that they make money on bowls and pots and things...wait a minute.)  Anyway, I streamlined the steps a little bit, and modified some of the fussier instructions.  (Can you finely dice?  I sure can't.)  They also call it a soup, which doesn't seem quite right to me.  Soupy pasta, maybe, but not pasta soup.

Note that you need to start the night before by putting the dried chickpeas in a bowl with plenty of cool water to soak.


INGREDIENTS:

- 3 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/3 cup diced tomato (last time I used fresh, this time I'm using canned, I'll let you know if I can tell the difference)
- 1 1/4 cups dried chickpeas, soaked in water overnight, drained and rinsed
- 6 cups water
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 fresh rosemary sprigs, cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
- Kosher salt, to taste
- 1/2 lb. tubetti pasta, cooked until al dente and drained.  I used orecchetti, because that's what they have at Trader Joe's.
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving


METHOD:

In a 3 1/2-quart Dutch oven over medium heat,  3 Tbs. olive oil. Add the carrots and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute. Add the chickpeas, water and thyme sprigs, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the chickpeas are tender, about 1.5 hours. Remove and discard the thyme sprigs.

In a small sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm the 1/4 c. olive oil. Add the rosemary and fry, 
stirring occasionally, until crisp, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and season lightly with salt.

Remove 2 cups of chickpea mixture and blend with a stick blender until it is almost smooth.  Return to the pot with the rest of the chickpea mixture.  Add the pasta and the 1/2 cup olive oil and stir until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into warmed bowls, and garnish with the fried rosemary and cheese shavings.
SERVINGS: 6

Easiest Impressive Dinner ever

If you don't make roast chicken regularly, you really should.  Unless you're a vegetarian (you know who you are, blondie.)  It is delicious, and the leftovers are great tossed in salad or enchiladas or on sandwiches.

Many of you are squeamish about dead animals, and so maybe you're concerned about touching this thing that can look a little creepy.  I know that raw chicken isn't appetizing, but get over it.  You didn't have to kill it yourself, did you?  No plucking?  So count yourself lucky and get to work.  I promise your contact with raw chicken will be less than 5 minutes long.

I haven't posted this recipe (although it seems like an exaggeration to call it that) because it is so ridiculously easy, but every time I make roast chicken, I get compliments and people act impressed.  This is the perfect thing to make when people are coming over for dinner because you spend 15 minutes on it, throw it in the oven and then forget about it for an hour while you get ready for your guests and toss a salad together.

Step 1 is to buy a halfway decent chicken.  Money you spend on the chicken will pay off in terms of flavor and appearance.  As luck would have it, higher quality chicken scores lower on the creepy scale, too.  Really great chicken has no smell, did you know that?

Step 2 is to get a nice big pot (the one you cook pasta in will work well) and fill it with 4 quarts of water and 1 c. of kosher salt.  Yes, I said 1 cup of kosher salt.  Do not substitute table salt if you plan to eat the chicken -- it would be so salty you'd keel over.  And don't chicken out (sorry) and go with less salt.  The salt is absolutely the magic ingredient here.  Stir the water and salt together.  This is the brine, and it is what will distinguish your fabulous roast chicken from all the pale imitations out there.

Step 3 is to unwrap the chicken (or chickens, you can double and triple this with no trouble.)  If you're squeamish about chicken, this is where you move fast.  Grab the little bag of organs from the cavity and throw it away.  (No bag?  See step 1.)  Now throw the chicken in the pot, put the lid on, and put the whole pot in the fridge.  See?  That wasn't too hard, was it?

Step 4 is to go about your business for about 24 hours.

Step 5 is to preheat the oven to 400.  Get out two lengths of kitchen twine (available at Ace Hardware, among other places), a chopped up lemon or two, salt, pepper, and your handy dandy half sheet.  I know, you thought I'd suggest a roasting pan, right?  If you've got one, by all means, go ahead.  I had one once and I hated it, so I use a half sheet with a cooling rack on top.  It works great, and the grease drips down and stays away from the chicken, which is nice.

Now you're all ready to face that raw chicken again.  Set your watches, this will take about 2 minutes.  Take the pot out of the fridge.  Remove the chicken, let the water drip off for a second into the pot, then put the chicken on the cooling rack that is on top of the half sheet.  Stuff the lemon wedges into the cavity, tie the legs together with twine, and sprinkle on some salt and pepper.  The chicken should be positioned so that those tied-together legs are pointing up in the air.  DONE.  Yeah, seriously, that's all it takes.  Wash your hands really well.  Now put the whole thing in the oven and take the next hour off.  You just roasted a chicken.

After an hour, when the skin is nice and brown, take the chicken out.  If you're concerned that it might not be done, go ahead and either cut into the breast or use an instant-read thermometer.  The breast meat should be 160 degrees.  You can definitely give it a little longer if you want, though.  You brined the chicken with all that salt, and so it can take it.

Let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes while you toss together a salad or set the table.  Then carve it up and enjoy.

Curried Butternut Squash Dip

I got a book called Skinny Dips for Christmas, and I'm hoping to try one new dip each week in January.  This week I ostensibly tried a recipe called Butternut Squash Bharit, but since I didn't follow the recipe, I'll share with you what I did make.

Afternoon tends to be a tough time for healthy eating.  We're usually in a rush, and I struggle to find something for myself that follows my eating principles.  (I don't want to call them rules, because they aren't rules.  Guides, maybe?)  They are (in order):

1.  As little processed food as possible
2.  More fruits and vegetables
3.  More whole grains
4.  Kick in a little extra protein whenever you can

This dip fits in nicely.  I hope you enjoy it, too!  This doesn't make very much dip, so I may double the recipe next time I make it.



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Curried Butternut Squash Dip

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 12 oz bag butternut squash (thanks, Trader Joe's)
- 1 T. olive oil
- 1 T. unsalted butter
- 1 T. curry powder
- 1/2 jalapeño chile
- 3/4 c plain yogurt
- 1 t sea salt


METHOD:

First, toss the butternut squash pieces with the olive oil and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes, until it is tender.  Let it sit until it is cool enough to handle.

Cut the jalapeño chile in half and remove the seeds.  Heat a small skilled and cook the jalapeño pepper for a few minutes, until some black spots appear on the skin.  with 1 T. of butter.  Add 1 T. of curry powder and cook for about a minute.  Turn off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes.

Put the butternut squash and the jalapeño and the butter curry mixture into the food processor and blend.  Add salt and yogurt, and blend some more.  If you like it spicier, you can certainly use the whole chile.




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