Sunday, November 18, 2007

Sunday

Nigel's pasta (recipe in the comments)
Radicchio salad
Garlic bread
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This is one of the original dinners M and I made together, back when we first began cooking together. The inspiration comes from a cookbook I bought for M to help us with speedy dinner ideas, Nigel Slater's "The 30 Minute Cook". While we have some gems from this book (most notably this recipe), Nigel turned out to be a bit heavy for us. However, he marks a transition to better ingredients and an early interest in speedy, good food. The original recipe calls for anchovies, which we had never used until tonight (one extra thing to buy, maybe gross, etc). What an addition! I definitely recommend it, especially as anchovy paste is cheap, stores forever, and is a low impact food. If you're vegetarian, simply omit it - we loved it without for YEARS!

Note: Garlic bread is an unusual addition for us, but we are "carbing up" (and "fatting up"???) since two of my parents, who are on The Zone Diet, arrive tomorrow ;)

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Roasted peppers
Time: 30 minutes
Make ahead: Ok made ahead (or for lunch), but best fresh.

Reaction
J: "Brings back memories!"
M: "Brilliant, Nigel!"

1 comment:

J said...

Nigel’s Pasta – Nigel Slater and M & J
Serves 4

1 lb medium egg noodles
6 bottled roasted red peppers, rinsed and cut into strips
6 T extra virgin olive oil
½ cup lemon juice (more to taste)
2 T capers, rinsed
¼ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped (heaping ¼ cup)
1 T anchovy paste (fine without, we made it that way for years, but better with)
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
2 4 oz cans sliced black olives, drained with juice reserved (or 1 TJs can)
½ cup Italian-style panko breadcrumbs

Cook pasta.

Heat 3 T olive oil in a small skillet. Sauté peppers until sizzling hot. Pour oil from pan into a small bowl. Beat in the remaining 1.5 T olive oil and lemon juice. Add the capers, parsley, and anchovy paste. Mix well and season with pepper.

Drain pasta and return to the pan (do this quickly so some of the hot water is still clinging to the noodles - it helps melt the cheese). Add peppers, oil mixture, olives and cheese, mixing constantly to melt and evenly distribute cheese. Leave pasta pot on the stove’s lowest heat setting throughout dinner so that the cheese doesn’t congeal. Taste for lemon and olive juice (we often add some of both). Serve sprinkled with breadcrumbs.