As Oscar Wilde said, I can resist anything but temptation. This is particularly true of pastry. I mean, I barely glance the way of the dessert cart at a restaurant, and I rarely buy sweets of any kind when I'm out at the grocery store. However, my office hosted a lunch catered by Corner Bakery yesterday and OMG there is a plate of cookies and brownies and yummy sweet things and I can't. Stop. EATING. THEM!
As pennance, I will be eating vegetables for dinner. Last night I made risotto with 4 veggies - baby spinach, baby peas, yellow squash and cremini mushrooms (see basic recipe below). In the interim, I roasted (at 425 for about 40 minutes) several quartered (lengthwise) baby yellow squash in salt, pepper and olive oil, and separately wrapped and roasted a head of garlic. The squash came out yummy - soft and caramelized on some parts, firm on others, but with a thin, flavorful crustiness all over. Yum!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
It's Not Easy Being Green
If I were forced to live on a desert island (or in an underground bunker, or, G-d forbid, somewhere in Ohio) and could only take two kinds of food with me, the obvious choices would be bread and cheese. Once you get out of that duo, however, things get complicated. Would I rather have, for instance, fresh raspberries or fresh tomatoes? What about avocados? Sugar snap peas? Veggie sausage? Vidalia onions? Pesto!?!?
Too many choices.
One thing is certain - I like grain-derived products. (Sorry to the gluten-sensitive among you - them's the breaks). And this recipe, which I made last night, brings together bread(ish), cheese and another top-10 food, fresh baby spinach. Yummy. :0)
Spinach Quesadillas with Salsa and Sour Cream
4 10" tortillas (I use a fat-free, whole grain number from TJ's).
1 medium bag (~8 oz?) baby spinach, washed (again) and torn into pieces
~1 tbsn finely chopped sweet onion
salt and pepper
1 large ball fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2" thick sticks (best done while still cold) (kosher)
1/2 cup shredded light cheddar-jack blend (I mix a bag each of Miller's brand cheddar and Cabot's shredded monterey jack or pepper jack in a bowl, then divide amongst the original bags.
1 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1. Heat 1/2 tsp olive oil in a pan. Add the chopped onions and cook until translucent and beginning to brown.
2. Rinse the spinach and shake to remove excess water. Throw the spinach into the skillet with the onions and toss around until wilted (2 minutes). Remove from heat.
3. One at a time, take the tortillas and, dividing the spinach into quarters, spoon spinach onto tortillas. Add fresh mozzarella and sprinkle lightly with shreds, then grind some fresh pepper and add a little salt (if you use salted mozzarella or salted the spinach & onions while they were cooking, adjust accordingly).
4. Returning the skillet to the heat, add about 1/4 tsp oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high. Add one quesadilla at a time and cook until bottom is brown and cheese begins to bubble. Flip and repeat, then set to drain on paper towels.
5. Serve with salsa and sour cream. I like to mix them together in a 2:1 ratio to make a creamy, spicey sauce.
Happy Weekend!
~KG.
Too many choices.
One thing is certain - I like grain-derived products. (Sorry to the gluten-sensitive among you - them's the breaks). And this recipe, which I made last night, brings together bread(ish), cheese and another top-10 food, fresh baby spinach. Yummy. :0)
Spinach Quesadillas with Salsa and Sour Cream
4 10" tortillas (I use a fat-free, whole grain number from TJ's).
1 medium bag (~8 oz?) baby spinach, washed (again) and torn into pieces
~1 tbsn finely chopped sweet onion
salt and pepper
1 large ball fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2" thick sticks (best done while still cold) (kosher)
1/2 cup shredded light cheddar-jack blend (I mix a bag each of Miller's brand cheddar and Cabot's shredded monterey jack or pepper jack in a bowl, then divide amongst the original bags.
1 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1. Heat 1/2 tsp olive oil in a pan. Add the chopped onions and cook until translucent and beginning to brown.
2. Rinse the spinach and shake to remove excess water. Throw the spinach into the skillet with the onions and toss around until wilted (2 minutes). Remove from heat.
3. One at a time, take the tortillas and, dividing the spinach into quarters, spoon spinach onto tortillas. Add fresh mozzarella and sprinkle lightly with shreds, then grind some fresh pepper and add a little salt (if you use salted mozzarella or salted the spinach & onions while they were cooking, adjust accordingly).
4. Returning the skillet to the heat, add about 1/4 tsp oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high. Add one quesadilla at a time and cook until bottom is brown and cheese begins to bubble. Flip and repeat, then set to drain on paper towels.
5. Serve with salsa and sour cream. I like to mix them together in a 2:1 ratio to make a creamy, spicey sauce.
Happy Weekend!
~KG.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Food Section Day, Comfort Food II
It is Wednesday and, as many of my friends know, Wednesday is my favorite weekday. Why, you might ask? No, it's not because it is hump day. It's because Wednesday is the day that major national newspapers publish their food sections. Today's sampling includes an article about the growing concern over Chinese food products and the role of China in garlic production. Another article discusses the rise of dessert-centric restaurants. And, of course, I took the opportunity to add some yummy recipes to my burgeoning collection (for that cookbook I'll write one day when I'm a famous blogger).
However, it is a gray and cold(er) day outside, and while the prospect of creamy roasted garlic dressing is enticing, what I'm really in the mood for is something warm and easy on my (slightly queasy? must have been the three glasses of wine last night) stomach. So, I've included Meryl Junik's fabulous noodle kugel recipe below. I am not a raisin person - I see them as a necessary evil in some recipes, but avoidable in most. This recipe makes a nice smooth kugel that tastes great hot or cold.
Warning: this recipe makes a LOT of kugel.
Meryl's Delicious Noodle Kugel
1/2 lb medium egg noodles
1 bar regular or reduced fat cream cheese, cut into small cubes
1/4 c. sour cream (light works well)
1/2 c. butter or margarine, cut into cubes
3 large eggs, beaten
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 9 or 8 x 11 deep glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a boil and cook noodles.
3. Drain noodles and return to pot.
4. Add cream cheese and butter and stir until melted and distributed throughout.
5. Add remaining ingredients, stirring, and pour into baking dish.
6. Bake 45 minutes until bubbling and lightly browned.
7. Serve warm or cold (actually a great cold dessert with a dairy shabbat lunch - excellent use for leftovers).
However, it is a gray and cold(er) day outside, and while the prospect of creamy roasted garlic dressing is enticing, what I'm really in the mood for is something warm and easy on my (slightly queasy? must have been the three glasses of wine last night) stomach. So, I've included Meryl Junik's fabulous noodle kugel recipe below. I am not a raisin person - I see them as a necessary evil in some recipes, but avoidable in most. This recipe makes a nice smooth kugel that tastes great hot or cold.
Warning: this recipe makes a LOT of kugel.
Meryl's Delicious Noodle Kugel
1/2 lb medium egg noodles
1 bar regular or reduced fat cream cheese, cut into small cubes
1/4 c. sour cream (light works well)
1/2 c. butter or margarine, cut into cubes
3 large eggs, beaten
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 9 or 8 x 11 deep glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a boil and cook noodles.
3. Drain noodles and return to pot.
4. Add cream cheese and butter and stir until melted and distributed throughout.
5. Add remaining ingredients, stirring, and pour into baking dish.
6. Bake 45 minutes until bubbling and lightly browned.
7. Serve warm or cold (actually a great cold dessert with a dairy shabbat lunch - excellent use for leftovers).
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Comfort Food
It is hard to go back to school after you have been out in the workplace. First of all, there is the money; going from having quite a bit of income and little debt to quite a bit of debt and little income is a hard adjustment. Especially when you have a weakness for organic raspberries and Lodge cast iron pans. But I digress.
Second, there are the grades. When I first graduated from college and went to work at a business research firm, it came as something of a shock that I wasn't going to get specific, concrete feedback on every project I completed. Sometimes, I would send off a report or a brief off into the ether, never to be heard from again.
After a while, I realized that sometimes the work itself was testiment enough - or the "thank you thank you!" emails that I got back from clients. Whether I got good feedback or bad feedback or no feedback at all, I never equated my performance with a sense of self-worth or with my ability to do the job. And, if I got negative feedback, there was almost always an opportunity to fix the project or please the client in another way because the relationships were iterated - it was never a one-shot deal.
After two and a half years of that, I am now back in an environment where everything gets feedback and the feedback that matters most is a set of little letters that say very little about what, if anything, one could do better. To top off the absurdity of the situation, the grades are on a curve, which means it doesn't matter how well I did on my own - it matters how well I did compared to other people, compared to my friends and colleagues against whom I would really rather not compete. And, while I've done just fine (knock on wood - one grade still to come!) in my classes, I've certainly talked to friends who are now questioning their decision to go to law school and/or whether they "deserve" to be at the law school we attend (a relatively prestigious one, as these things go). And that, my friends, is crap. How well you did on a 3-hour, open-book exam has practically no correlation to how well you will practice law.
All this by way of saying that I need a little comfort food at the moment. And, when I'm talking comfort food, I want (a) starch and (b) cheese. Now, when I was younger, that meant Ledo's pizza or a grilled cheese sandwich. However, as my foodie-ness has evolved, so has my comfort food.
My latest comfort food is risotto. I love the way it requires a bit of patience - if you try and make it fast, it doesn't turn out right. And, I love the way that it can have different personalities depending on the veggies one adds. So, here is my basic recipe with three veggie variations.
P.S. I promise that, true to the blog name, I will eventually write an entry that involves kosher meat. I just don't eat much of it - so I have to come up with something great.
Comfort Food Risotto
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsn olive oil (or 1 tbsn olive oil and 1 tbsn butter)
1 cup Arborio or Carnolini rice
2 cubes vegetarian bouillon or 1 20-oz container vegetable stock
Pinch saffron threads, gently crumbled
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1/3 cup kosher Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/2 cup kosher dry white wine
Add-ins as discussed below.
1. In a medium saucepan, and following the directions on the package, dissolve bouillon cubes in water (or pour broth into saucepan) and bring to a simmer.
2. Meanwhile, over medium-high heat, saute onions in oil (or oil and butter) until fragrant and beginning to brown. Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds. Add rice and toss to coat rice with oil-onion mixture. Stir around for 1-2 minutes.
3. Pour in wine and cook, stirring regularly (once every minute or so), until wine is absorbed. Reduce heat slightly to medium.
4. Ladle in about 1 1/2 cups stock and, stirring regularly until broth is absorbed. Repeat. Test the rice to check how done it is. Continue adding broth and stirring until rice is tender but still slightly toothy. Ladle in about 1/2 cup more broth (remember, the rice will continue to cook and absorb for a bit after you take it off the heat) and add most of the cheese, reserving a small amount for garnish. Add salt and pepper to taste (remember, both broth and cheese are salty - do not add salt before tasting!).
5. Serve warm, topped with remaining cheese.
Add-in Combo 1: 1/3 cup dried mushrooms OR 1 1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms, such as cremini, AND 1 cup frozen green peas. If using dried mushrooms, break them up slightly and add to broth as it's heating. When the mushrooms are soft, add them to onions/garlic when sauteeing and proceeding with recipe. When the risotto is almost done, stir in the peas (can even be done after the risotto is finished cooking, so long as you do not serve it that very second).
Add-in Combo 2: 1 large bunch asparagus, divided, washed and cut into 2" pieces (or, if cheating, 1 cup frozen asparagus pieces, such as those from TJ's). Saute half of asparagus with the onions. Add remaining half when ladling in the second cup of stock. The first half of the asparagus should sort of fall apart into the sauce, whereas the second half should be crisp-tender.
Add-in Combo 3: 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced into 1/2" pieces (again, if cheating, 1 pkg pre-diced butternut squash pieces), 1 pkg fresh sage leaves, washed and finely chopped, and a tsp brown sugar. Add squash, sugar and sage in with the onions and cook as directed.
Second, there are the grades. When I first graduated from college and went to work at a business research firm, it came as something of a shock that I wasn't going to get specific, concrete feedback on every project I completed. Sometimes, I would send off a report or a brief off into the ether, never to be heard from again.
After a while, I realized that sometimes the work itself was testiment enough - or the "thank you thank you!" emails that I got back from clients. Whether I got good feedback or bad feedback or no feedback at all, I never equated my performance with a sense of self-worth or with my ability to do the job. And, if I got negative feedback, there was almost always an opportunity to fix the project or please the client in another way because the relationships were iterated - it was never a one-shot deal.
After two and a half years of that, I am now back in an environment where everything gets feedback and the feedback that matters most is a set of little letters that say very little about what, if anything, one could do better. To top off the absurdity of the situation, the grades are on a curve, which means it doesn't matter how well I did on my own - it matters how well I did compared to other people, compared to my friends and colleagues against whom I would really rather not compete. And, while I've done just fine (knock on wood - one grade still to come!) in my classes, I've certainly talked to friends who are now questioning their decision to go to law school and/or whether they "deserve" to be at the law school we attend (a relatively prestigious one, as these things go). And that, my friends, is crap. How well you did on a 3-hour, open-book exam has practically no correlation to how well you will practice law.
All this by way of saying that I need a little comfort food at the moment. And, when I'm talking comfort food, I want (a) starch and (b) cheese. Now, when I was younger, that meant Ledo's pizza or a grilled cheese sandwich. However, as my foodie-ness has evolved, so has my comfort food.
My latest comfort food is risotto. I love the way it requires a bit of patience - if you try and make it fast, it doesn't turn out right. And, I love the way that it can have different personalities depending on the veggies one adds. So, here is my basic recipe with three veggie variations.
P.S. I promise that, true to the blog name, I will eventually write an entry that involves kosher meat. I just don't eat much of it - so I have to come up with something great.
Comfort Food Risotto
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsn olive oil (or 1 tbsn olive oil and 1 tbsn butter)
1 cup Arborio or Carnolini rice
2 cubes vegetarian bouillon or 1 20-oz container vegetable stock
Pinch saffron threads, gently crumbled
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1/3 cup kosher Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/2 cup kosher dry white wine
Add-ins as discussed below.
1. In a medium saucepan, and following the directions on the package, dissolve bouillon cubes in water (or pour broth into saucepan) and bring to a simmer.
2. Meanwhile, over medium-high heat, saute onions in oil (or oil and butter) until fragrant and beginning to brown. Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds. Add rice and toss to coat rice with oil-onion mixture. Stir around for 1-2 minutes.
3. Pour in wine and cook, stirring regularly (once every minute or so), until wine is absorbed. Reduce heat slightly to medium.
4. Ladle in about 1 1/2 cups stock and, stirring regularly until broth is absorbed. Repeat. Test the rice to check how done it is. Continue adding broth and stirring until rice is tender but still slightly toothy. Ladle in about 1/2 cup more broth (remember, the rice will continue to cook and absorb for a bit after you take it off the heat) and add most of the cheese, reserving a small amount for garnish. Add salt and pepper to taste (remember, both broth and cheese are salty - do not add salt before tasting!).
5. Serve warm, topped with remaining cheese.
Add-in Combo 1: 1/3 cup dried mushrooms OR 1 1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms, such as cremini, AND 1 cup frozen green peas. If using dried mushrooms, break them up slightly and add to broth as it's heating. When the mushrooms are soft, add them to onions/garlic when sauteeing and proceeding with recipe. When the risotto is almost done, stir in the peas (can even be done after the risotto is finished cooking, so long as you do not serve it that very second).
Add-in Combo 2: 1 large bunch asparagus, divided, washed and cut into 2" pieces (or, if cheating, 1 cup frozen asparagus pieces, such as those from TJ's). Saute half of asparagus with the onions. Add remaining half when ladling in the second cup of stock. The first half of the asparagus should sort of fall apart into the sauce, whereas the second half should be crisp-tender.
Add-in Combo 3: 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced into 1/2" pieces (again, if cheating, 1 pkg pre-diced butternut squash pieces), 1 pkg fresh sage leaves, washed and finely chopped, and a tsp brown sugar. Add squash, sugar and sage in with the onions and cook as directed.
Monday, June 18, 2007
A Shore Weekend Primer
To paraphrase an old nursery rhyme, when I am good, I am very, very good, and when I am bad I am horrid.
That was the general theme of this weekend's Shore excursion - at least from a culinary perspective. My "moderation and portion control" mantra went flying out the window.
My parents and sisters, G-d bless them, are on vacation in Greece and I am working and taking care of the new puppy. On the bright side, I get the summer house in St. Michaels all to my self until they get back. Thus, I had about 8 people out to the Shore this weekend - a mix of law school folks and former co-workers. It was a great group and I think everyone had fun (people? fun?).
I fall into the category of host(esse)s who are always afraid of running out of food. This means that, when planning for 8, I cook for 12 (what if someone brings a friend? or three?). And when I say 12, what I mean is 12, if 4 of them played tackle in the NFL. Needless to say, I had a lot of leftovers, though not as many as I could have. My friends took one for the team and ate lots. Thanks friends!
On the menu: the caprese pasta salad in my last post; various baked goods; grilled meats/veggie burgers; and an excellent Shabbat-friendly berry tiramisu (recipe below). Lesson learned: do not assume that the grocery store carries ladyfingers (kosher or otherwise).
We'll be repeating this endeavor in a couple weeks, so we'll have to see if additional experimentations yields similar positive results.
Berry Tiramisu
1/2 pint fresh blueberries
1 pints fresh raspberries
2 8 oz tubs mascarpone cheese at room temperature
1 pint heavy whipping cream, chilled
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 box Nilla wafers (told you I couldn't find lady fingers)
1 jar Bon Maman red raspeberry preserves (hechshered)
1/2 c. sugar, divided
1 10-oz bag frozen red raspberries, thawed
1 tsp. lemon juice
1. Wash the berries and set them aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the whipping cream (by hand, in my case) and 1/4 c. sugar, until soft peaks form. Fold in the cinnamon and vanilla, then gradually fold in the mascarpone.
3. Combine the preserves, previously frozen raspberries, lemon juice and sugar and stir until well-blended.
4. In a shallow 9 x 13 baking dish, spoon a thin layer of the preserve mixture to coat the bottom. Place wafers in a single layer on top of the preserves (I found that it took about 8 rows of 5 cookies each to cover the bottom.
5. Carefully spoon 1/3 of the cream/cheese mixture in small drops over the wafers. Using your clean fingers, gently spread the cream/cheese mixture over the wafers until even. Sprinkle with half of fresh berries.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5.
7. Utilize the last 1/3 of the cream/cheese mixture and spread over the last fresh berries/preserve layer.
8. Take the cookie pieces/crumbs at the bottom of the wafer box and crush them into crumbs, then sprinkle the crumbs on top.
9. Chill overnight and serve cold (you can sprinkle with fresh berries immediately before serving, should you be so inclined).
Enjoy. :-)
That was the general theme of this weekend's Shore excursion - at least from a culinary perspective. My "moderation and portion control" mantra went flying out the window.
My parents and sisters, G-d bless them, are on vacation in Greece and I am working and taking care of the new puppy. On the bright side, I get the summer house in St. Michaels all to my self until they get back. Thus, I had about 8 people out to the Shore this weekend - a mix of law school folks and former co-workers. It was a great group and I think everyone had fun (people? fun?).
I fall into the category of host(esse)s who are always afraid of running out of food. This means that, when planning for 8, I cook for 12 (what if someone brings a friend? or three?). And when I say 12, what I mean is 12, if 4 of them played tackle in the NFL. Needless to say, I had a lot of leftovers, though not as many as I could have. My friends took one for the team and ate lots. Thanks friends!
On the menu: the caprese pasta salad in my last post; various baked goods; grilled meats/veggie burgers; and an excellent Shabbat-friendly berry tiramisu (recipe below). Lesson learned: do not assume that the grocery store carries ladyfingers (kosher or otherwise).
We'll be repeating this endeavor in a couple weeks, so we'll have to see if additional experimentations yields similar positive results.
Berry Tiramisu
1/2 pint fresh blueberries
1 pints fresh raspberries
2 8 oz tubs mascarpone cheese at room temperature
1 pint heavy whipping cream, chilled
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 box Nilla wafers (told you I couldn't find lady fingers)
1 jar Bon Maman red raspeberry preserves (hechshered)
1/2 c. sugar, divided
1 10-oz bag frozen red raspberries, thawed
1 tsp. lemon juice
1. Wash the berries and set them aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the whipping cream (by hand, in my case) and 1/4 c. sugar, until soft peaks form. Fold in the cinnamon and vanilla, then gradually fold in the mascarpone.
3. Combine the preserves, previously frozen raspberries, lemon juice and sugar and stir until well-blended.
4. In a shallow 9 x 13 baking dish, spoon a thin layer of the preserve mixture to coat the bottom. Place wafers in a single layer on top of the preserves (I found that it took about 8 rows of 5 cookies each to cover the bottom.
5. Carefully spoon 1/3 of the cream/cheese mixture in small drops over the wafers. Using your clean fingers, gently spread the cream/cheese mixture over the wafers until even. Sprinkle with half of fresh berries.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5.
7. Utilize the last 1/3 of the cream/cheese mixture and spread over the last fresh berries/preserve layer.
8. Take the cookie pieces/crumbs at the bottom of the wafer box and crush them into crumbs, then sprinkle the crumbs on top.
9. Chill overnight and serve cold (you can sprinkle with fresh berries immediately before serving, should you be so inclined).
Enjoy. :-)
Friday, June 15, 2007
First Post: A Pesto Quest(o)
Hello blogosphere!
This is my first of what I hope will be many posts. My name is Cait and I'm a recently kosher (~2 years) cook and eater. I moonlight, between cooking sessions, as a law student in the Boston area. I am currently writing from my satellite location in Washington DC, where I am working for the summer (and where I am originally from). To learn more about me, click here.
Recently, I invited a bunch of friends, including a couple MOTs (that's members of the tribe, for those of you in my non-existent viewing audience) out to my parents' shore house in St. Michaels. And, of course, when you go to the beach, what do you want to make? Pasta salad. And what is the perfect pasta salad? Cold Caprese Pasta Salad (recipe below). And what does kosher caprese salad require? Kosher mozzarella and kosher pesto.
There in lay my dilemma, gentle readers. Kosher mozzarella is actually pretty easy to come by - I use Trader Joe's, which has a Tablet-K hechsher for both its large balls of mozzarella and its medium-sized balls ("ciliegine"). So, that was easy enough.
However, the pesto proved particularly problematic. If you buy commercially-made pesto (in a jar or from the deli counter at Whole Foods or TJ's, as I discovered), it is made with regular parmesan cheese, which contains treif animal-derived rennet. Sabra makes a nice pareve pesto but none of my local grocery stores stock it.
Thus, I headed to KosherMart (WHY do they not have one of these in Boston???) in search of kosher pesto. I was brutally rebuffed (though did find a nice kosher Australian Sauvignon Blanc). So, I decided to make my own (see recipe below - both pareve/vegan and kosher-dairy variations). In addition, I've included my pasta salad recipe. Happy eating and Shabbat Shalom!
Kosher Basil Pesto
1/3 cup kosher Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup kosher Romano cheese (I used Miller's Romano - it comes pre-grated and it has more "bite" than parmesan, IMHO)
2/3 cup pignoli (pine nuts), lightly toasted (in a dry skillet over med-low heat)
3-5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and checked for bugs (can also use Sabra frozen basil cubes, about 2 packages)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper (about 5 turns of my pepper mill)
In a food processor or blender, pulse the pignoli, garlic, cheese, basil, salt and pepper until combined. Add about half the oil and blend the ingredients together until a smooth paste forms (adding more oil as necessary).
To make pareve/vegan, omit the cheese and increase the salt from 1/4 to 3/8 tsp.
Cold Caprese Pasta Salad
1 lb short pasta (I use penne or shells)
1 jar roasted red peppers
1 handful (about 1/2 cup) sundried tomatoes, chopped into 1/2" pieces
1 16-oz container fresh mozzarella (I use TJ's ciliegine, but large balls cut into pieces or smaller "perlini" would also be good)
1 cup Kosher Basil Pesto
1 tbsp kosher Extra Virgin Olive Oil
kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste.
1. Boil a large pot of lightly salted water and cook pasta. During the last 2-3 minutes of cooking, add the sundried tomatoes to soften. Drain and return to pot to cool, ~20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, drain the red peppers and mozzarella. Roughly chop the peppers into ~1" squares. If using large balls of mozzarella, chop into 1/2"-1" pieces.
3. Toss olive oil into pasta to coat slightly and season lightly with pepper (reminder: you already salted the pasta water, so don't add salt at this point). Gently blend in pesto, tossing to coat.
4. Add cheese and peppers, tossing again until thoroughly incorporated.
5. Taste, then salt if necessary.
Enjoy!
This is my first of what I hope will be many posts. My name is Cait and I'm a recently kosher (~2 years) cook and eater. I moonlight, between cooking sessions, as a law student in the Boston area. I am currently writing from my satellite location in Washington DC, where I am working for the summer (and where I am originally from). To learn more about me, click here.
Recently, I invited a bunch of friends, including a couple MOTs (that's members of the tribe, for those of you in my non-existent viewing audience) out to my parents' shore house in St. Michaels. And, of course, when you go to the beach, what do you want to make? Pasta salad. And what is the perfect pasta salad? Cold Caprese Pasta Salad (recipe below). And what does kosher caprese salad require? Kosher mozzarella and kosher pesto.
There in lay my dilemma, gentle readers. Kosher mozzarella is actually pretty easy to come by - I use Trader Joe's, which has a Tablet-K hechsher for both its large balls of mozzarella and its medium-sized balls ("ciliegine"). So, that was easy enough.
However, the pesto proved particularly problematic. If you buy commercially-made pesto (in a jar or from the deli counter at Whole Foods or TJ's, as I discovered), it is made with regular parmesan cheese, which contains treif animal-derived rennet. Sabra makes a nice pareve pesto but none of my local grocery stores stock it.
Thus, I headed to KosherMart (WHY do they not have one of these in Boston???) in search of kosher pesto. I was brutally rebuffed (though did find a nice kosher Australian Sauvignon Blanc). So, I decided to make my own (see recipe below - both pareve/vegan and kosher-dairy variations). In addition, I've included my pasta salad recipe. Happy eating and Shabbat Shalom!
Kosher Basil Pesto
1/3 cup kosher Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup kosher Romano cheese (I used Miller's Romano - it comes pre-grated and it has more "bite" than parmesan, IMHO)
2/3 cup pignoli (pine nuts), lightly toasted (in a dry skillet over med-low heat)
3-5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and checked for bugs (can also use Sabra frozen basil cubes, about 2 packages)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper (about 5 turns of my pepper mill)
In a food processor or blender, pulse the pignoli, garlic, cheese, basil, salt and pepper until combined. Add about half the oil and blend the ingredients together until a smooth paste forms (adding more oil as necessary).
To make pareve/vegan, omit the cheese and increase the salt from 1/4 to 3/8 tsp.
Cold Caprese Pasta Salad
1 lb short pasta (I use penne or shells)
1 jar roasted red peppers
1 handful (about 1/2 cup) sundried tomatoes, chopped into 1/2" pieces
1 16-oz container fresh mozzarella (I use TJ's ciliegine, but large balls cut into pieces or smaller "perlini" would also be good)
1 cup Kosher Basil Pesto
1 tbsp kosher Extra Virgin Olive Oil
kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste.
1. Boil a large pot of lightly salted water and cook pasta. During the last 2-3 minutes of cooking, add the sundried tomatoes to soften. Drain and return to pot to cool, ~20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, drain the red peppers and mozzarella. Roughly chop the peppers into ~1" squares. If using large balls of mozzarella, chop into 1/2"-1" pieces.
3. Toss olive oil into pasta to coat slightly and season lightly with pepper (reminder: you already salted the pasta water, so don't add salt at this point). Gently blend in pesto, tossing to coat.
4. Add cheese and peppers, tossing again until thoroughly incorporated.
5. Taste, then salt if necessary.
Enjoy!
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