Olive and Goat Cheese Pasta Salad

I know what you're thinking - that's not a photo of pasta salad. You're right, because when I started cooking, I wasn't aiming for pasta salad. If you can't have some flexibility in the kitchen, you're in trouble.

While going through January's recipes over at Kitchen PLAY sponsored by Lindsay Olives, I wanted to cook just about all of them. I'm a big olive fan, so they all looked good to me. And since I'm also a fan of anything wrapped in puff pastry, I opted to try the olive and goat cheese turnovers from Chez Us. Don't her photos of the turnovers look amazing?!

And yes, I did make the turnovers. I loved them - pillowy bites of salty olives and tangy goat cheese. I subbed in some red onion for the shallots, because that's what I had. I loved these and the sophistication they would bring to any dinner party. In fact, I might have to bring them to the next family gathering, as I know my family loves cheese wrapped in dough as much as I do.

But I had some filling leftover (I only used one box of puff pastry instead of two), and I wasn't going to let it go to waste. I was going to just spread it on crackers, but I didn't have any. But there was pasta! I boiled up a little bit of whole wheat pasta and tossed it with the cheese mixture and a little bit of the pasta water.

Oh my, what a wonderful pasta sauce this makes! I ate some warm and enjoyed it, but when I ate some cooled, I enjoyed it even more. This would be a perfect picnic dish (I mean, our weather has been so bizarrely warm that us New Englanders could even have a picnic right now), or even great for lunch at work.

Olive and Goat Cheese Pasta Salad inspired by Chez Us

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 red onion, minced
1 can Lindsay green olives, drained and minced
1 can Lindsay black olives, drained and minced
zest of 1 lemon
handful of fresh oregano, minced
black pepper
10 ounces goat cheese
1 box small pasta (like rotini)

In a medium pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft, about 3 minutes. Add olives and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add lemon zest, oregano, and black pepper to taste. Let cool slightly, then stir in goat cheese until well combined.

Cook pasta according to box. Mix the pasta and the cheese mixture until well combined. Add a little of the pasta water if the cheese is too clumpy. Refrigerate before serving.

Summery Orange Pasta Salad

Another month, another stab at a Kitchen Play recipe. (Really, if you're not checking out the monthly Progressive Parties on Kitchen Play, you're missing out. I won a prize for making nachos last month). This month's sponsor was Dreamfields Pasta. I'd seen this brand in the store, but I eat pasta so rarely, I never bother with any of the stranger varieties on the shelf. So when it came time for me to actually buy my pasta and I took the time to look at the Dreamfields box, I was impressed - 5 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein in one serving, and yet it doesn't taste dense like whole wheat pasta! I'm definitely a fan after tasting the stuff, too.

There were so many tasty looking choices on this month's menu, but I was intrigued by Foodalogue's pasta salad with orange sauce. I just so happened to be on my way to a family gathering, and knowing us, I would need to make something that could sit on the table all afternoon while we grazed (and graze we did, for 7 hours straight - pretty typical for us). Unlike so many pasta salads, this one didn't have any mayo or, really, anything that would go bad in the summer heat. Bonus points for lots of fruit and veggies and plenty of taste in each bite.

I loved how fresh and bright the orange dressing made everything taste. I think I'm going to try it on a regular salad sometime soon.

I didn't plan on making any changes to the recipe, but then, I can never really follow a recipe to the T. I left the garlic out of the dressing and the cheese at the end by mistake, but I actually really like it like that, so I'm leaving it out of my version of the recipe. I doubled the recipe for our family gathering, but the recipe below isn't doubled. I also cut my veggies into matchsticks instead of julienned so they would be the same size as the penne - the better to eat it up, my dear!
Summery Orange Pasta Salad (from Foodalogue)
1/2 box Dreamfields penne pasta
1 large navel orange, zested and peeled
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
heaping 1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
salt to taste
dash of honey
1 zucchini, cut into matchsticks
1 red pepper, cut into matchsticks
1/2 fennel bulb, sliced thin, fronds chopped and reserved
toasted pumpkin seeds
oil cured black olives, pits removed and roughly chopped

Cook pasta according to package.

In a food processor or a blender, combine peeled orange segments, olive oil, spices, and honey, and blend to emulsify. Season with salt to taste, but remember, there will be more salt from the olives later.

In a large bowl, combine vegetable matchsticks and cooked pasta. Add orange sauce and toss to coat. Add chopped orange zest, fennel fronds, pumpkin seeds, and chopped olives and toss to combine.

Citrus-Braised Endive Pasta

I had so much fun creating a recipe for December's Kitchen Play event that I thought I should try my hand at a recipe from this month's gathering, sponsored by California Endive. Frankly, I don't know if I've ever had endive before, but this seemed like as good a reason as any, so I jumped right in.

Wicked Good Dinner's recipe for citrus-braised endive (the amuse bouche entry on Kitchen Play) immediately intrigued me, and I thought it was perfect for this time of year. As I read through the recipe, though, I thought that the flavors would make a great pasta sauce as well, so I changed the recipe around to become a whole meal.

I'm so happy with how this dish turned out. The flavor combination is unique and unexpected but so harmonious. The final dish is sweet and salty, bitter and unctuous, soft and crispy - there are just so many good things going on! This dish serves 2, but could easily be doubled.

Citrus-Braised Endive Pasta (adapted from Wicked Good Dinner)

2 Tbsp honey
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small grapefruit, zested and juiced
1 Tbsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 white endives
1/2 cup (3-4 slices) minced bacon
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 oz of penne (or other pasta shapes) (about 1/3 of a box)
1 orange or grapefruit, supremed (I used a blood orange)
1 avocado, cubed

Whisk together the honey, garlic, grapefruit zest and juice, ginger, and vinegar and set aside.

In a medium pot, bring salted water to a boil and add endive. Cook for 4 minutes, then remove from pot and cool slightly; chop into 1/2-inch pieces (I discarded some of the tips of the outer leaves that had turned brown while boiling). Set aside. Discard water (it will be bitter) and refill pot. Bring water to a boil for pasta.

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium-high until crispy. Remove bacon pieces and drain on a paper towel. Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package. Add olive oil to the remaining bacon fat in the pan, then add endive and spread it across the bottom of the pan. Allow to cook 3 minutes or so until it begins to caramelize, then toss the whole mixture and allow to caramelize on the other side for another 3 minutes or so. Remove endive from pan. Add honey mixture to the pan and bring to a boil, whisking up all the little bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat and cook 3 minutes, until reduced. Add endive, bacon, orange wedges, avocado, and cooked pasta and toss to coat (you can add a few tablespoons of the pasta water to create a little more sauce). Salt and pepper to taste.

Blue Moon Bistro, Dennis

I spent the week of my birthday on Cape Cod, which has become something of a tradition. On the weekends, we don't leave our neighborhood - it's not worth fighting the traffic - but during the week, we explore a bit afield. One day, we drove up 6A to the Cape Cod Museum of Art and a visit to my cousin's restaurant, Blue Moon Bistro.

Blue Moon Bistro has been open for a few years now, but I get to spend so little time down the Cape, I hadn't been able to stop by (although I have sent my blogging friends before). I'm glad we finally took the time, though, because it was an amazing meal that we're still talking about a couple of weeks later.

Note: My cousin Lisa usually does front of the house stuff, and her husband Peter is the chef, so I'm reviewing family here. But really, if I didn't like my meal, I just wouldn't write about it. While we were eating, the tables on both sides of us talked about how much they enjoyed the restaurant, and they were all repeat customers.

As we perused the menu, the bread basket was brought out. If I were to rank restaurants by how good their bread basket was (why don't I? This may be my new rating system), this would definitely be in the top five. Crispy breadsticks, crunchy cheese-topped crostini, and soft rosemary focaccia was served with a white bean dip and a duck liver pate with wine gelee. This and a cocktail alone would have equaled a pretty perfect dinner for me. But no, we made our choices and ordered our meals.

I started with a half order of lobster ravioli and would have eaten another whole order for my entree. I've ordered lobster ravioli at a lot of places, and I often find the actual lobster flavor lacking - not so here. I'm not sure what else was inside the pasta, but it tasted like lobster without anything getting in the way. It certainly didn't taste like filler. The pasta was lightly dressed in a lemony butter sauce that complimented the filling and that I sopped up with more bread.

My mother went with a goat cheese and beet salad, topped with candied walnuts, that she couldn't say enough good things about, and my dad ordered off the pre-theater menu, which is a great deal, and got a tomato soup.

Since we were on the Cape and Peter focuses on local ingredients as much as possible, I figured fish would be a good bet. I went with the local haddock, topped with olive tapenade and giant capers, and served with veggies and risotto-style wild rice. The fish itself was mild, so the olives gave it an unctuousness that would otherwise be missing. The vegetables were perfectly cooked and still had some body to them, and the rice - oh the rice. I'm not a big fan of rice (ask my mother how many times I've made pilaf, like the good Armenian girl I should be), but apparently cook it risotto-style and I'm in love. I scraped the plate clean. (My parents went with the sea bass and the beef tenderloin, but I was a little too focused on my own meal to pay much attention to theirs.)

I had planned on ordering dessert even though I was getting pretty full, because hey, it was my birthday! My father's prix fixe meal came with two little chocolate tarts. But just as we were discussing dessert, Peter sent out a cheese plate for us. I don't usually think of cheese as a dessert (unless we're talking about Fiore di Nonno's fig burrata, which is totally a dessert), but this was completely satisfying. As with most of the meal, many of the ingredients were local. The aged cheddar (back) and the goat cheese (black rind next to the flowers) were not too challenging, as cheeses go, but were just perfect. I loved the gooseberries (still in their husks) and the honeycomb that served as garnishes. This cheese plate was a main topic of conversation for two days after this meal. I don't know if there is normally a cheese plate on the menu, but there should be - the presentation was gorgeous and allowed the local ingredients to shine.

If Blue Moon Bistro were in Boston, they'd be getting their fair share of buzz, especially in the use of local ingredients and work with local farms, but the food scene on the Cape is much quieter. If you find yourself mid-Cape anytime (they're open year round), definitely make a stop for dinner.

Spring Lemon Ricotta Pasta

I have lived in Boston my entire life, and yet, I still can't get used to the weather. Ninety-plus degrees and sunny during the Aquapocalypse, now so rainy and cold that I all I want to do is set up camp on my couch, crawl under a blanket, and wait for the 5+ hours of Lost-related television on Sunday night. It's days like these that leave me wanting pasta.

But I'm tired of the heavy pasta dishes that get me through the winter. Lasagna and meat sauces aren't very spring-y. But herbs (albeit not from my own garden yet) and lemon combine with creamy ricotta cheese in a dish that lets me remember that better weather is yet to come.

I threw this dish together on a whim and couldn't be happier with how it turned out. The herbs and lemon are what give the exciting Spring-y flavor, while the creaminess from the cheese is what you want from a comforting pasta bake. I used gemelli for the pasta, but you can use any short shape that is twisty or has a hole, so it can grab the sauce. The recipe is a bit loose on exact amounts because it's so easy to make exactly how you want - want it less creamy? Use less ricotta. More herbs? Go for it. No meat? It's tasty without it (I made it both ways).

Lemon Ricotta Pasta Bake
1 pound gemelli pasta
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/4 cup finely chopped basil
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
2 ounces prosciutto, torn into small pieces
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°. Cook pasta according to package.

While pasta is cooking, combine ricotta, lemon zest, basil, parsley, prosciutto, and salt and pepper (to taste) in a large bowl. Mix well until incorporated. When pasta is done cooking, drain and immediately add to ricotta mixture and toss to coat. Pour mixture into a baking dish, top with a good layer of grated parmesan cheese, and pour lemon juice over the top. Bake 15-20 minutes. If the top doesn't brown while cooking, turn the broiler on for a few minutes at the end until it turns a golden brown.

Blogger Dinner at Tavolo, Dorchester

High ceilings, large windows letting in plenty of light, long red curtains, cool swirly globe lamps, and one of the coolest wall murals I've seen in a long time all set the stage for a fantastic meal at Tavolo in Dorchester. The restaurant, which mostly has a name as a pizza place, hosted a dinner for ten bloggers last night, and they really took the chance to showcase some of their dishes that stray away from pizza and pasta.

I took a seat facing the wall, and usually I wouldn't spend so much time avoiding my dining companions, but the wall murals by local artist Kiki Ikura were just tremendous - it looked like chalk on a blackboard, but was smudgeless, and was whimsical and lighthearted without being silly or childish. She painted two walls like this, using a cherry picker to get all the way up to the ceiling, and they murals give a lot of life to the room and the restaurant.

We started off with a light salad of watermelon, feta, lemon, olive oil, mint, and basil. Watermelon and feta are really an amazing combination, and this version of the dish was a perfect balance of sweet and salty and tart. I even sopped up the leftover juices with a slice of bread.

Next was gnocchi alla Gricia, little puffs of potato with pancetta, pecorino, and local fava beans. I guess I've had too many bad renditions of gnocchi - hard, dense, gummy, or just gross - but these were fantastic. They were light and fluffy, didn't stick to my teeth, and soaked up just enough of the sauce to take on the flavors without becoming too sticky. The pancetta and pecorino added salt and umami, and the fava beans were a nice surprise of bright, fresh flavor. I would have been content to just eat a big bowl of this and call it a night...

We also enjoyed a taste of the house's meatballs, which were amazing. They were homey and evenly spiced, and the tomato sauce they came in was something that the chef had obviously spent a long time cooking. On the regular menu, the meatballs feature prominently - they can be added to many of the pasta dishes, or can be front-and-center in a panini. Definitely a dish to take advantage of.

After the gnocchi and meatballs, we moved on to a swordfish involtini. This was one of the many things that were on our menu that I would never order, but yet greatly enjoyed the way it was cooked at Tavolo. I'm just not a fan of swordfish - but after eating this, I think it may be because it is usually served in thick steaks without much seasoning, which brings out the fishy flavor to me. The involtini was a thin slice of fish, wrapped around a mash of fontina, garlic, and parsley. It was so tasty, in fact, that I cleaned the plate. (Note for my parents, who are undoubtedly going to read this and think swordfish is now my favorite fish: Unless you wrap it around cheese and garlic, I don't want it.)

Next up was a roast duck breast, served over faro and fresh string beans, with a little bit of red currant jam. Duck is another thing I don't like, but this rendition was nicely cooked and had a delightful crispy skin. The beans were perfectly cooked - still crispy, but not raw, and with enough salt to really bring out their flavor.

By then, we were all stuffed, but still felt the need for something sweet to wrap up the meal. We were served a blueberry "Genetti" cake - toasted blueberry pound caked with a touch of whipped cream and a light blueberry sauce. (For those of you keeping track at home, blueberries are another food I can't stand, but were very actually quite tasty in this form.) I absolutely loved that the cake was toasted - the edges were crisp and almost caramelized, which took something simple like pound cake to a whole different level.

Looking more closely at my menu and the restaurant's regular menu, I see that almost all of what we ate is not on the regular menu. That being said, each and every bite was delicious, and I'm sure the regular offerings are just as good. Tavolo is really trying to get away from their image as "just" a pizza place, and if the dishes I tried were any indication, they are definitely doing a great job of it.

Sou Boreg

Sou Boreg, like so many Armenian dishes, is this mythical creature that many people talk about eating when they were younger, but would never attempt to make themselves. You can sometimes find it at Armenian markets, usually in the freezer section, and I was amazed to find it available every day on the menu at Brookline Family Restaurant, the Turkish place down the street from me.

The biggest reason why you don’t see this more often is because it’s such a time intensive process. This is one of those dishes that, in the old days, the ladies would have gathered together to make in mass quantities, helping each other and gossiping at the same time. While we were making this, my brother hypothesized that such complex dishes were created back in the day to cure boredom and enable gossip time; I favor the idea that they were a way to show off talent (and show off that you had the time to invest in the process) instead. When my mother complained that the process was taking too long, I said that we were at least getting in some bonding time. “Can’t we do something else to bond?” she asked.

Anyway, my mother tried making sou boreg from scratch years ago, and she found it to be more of a hassle than anything. Rolling out the dough took forever because it has to be so thin and even. Then, someone suggested using packaged eggroll wrappers instead, cutting out the steps of making and rolling out the dough. Each individual eggroll wrapper must still be boiled for a moment, shocked in ice water, then arranged on a towel to dry, meaning that the shortcut does not make this a quick dish to throw together. But if you have the time, the patience, and an extra set of hands, the reward is a crunchy, cheesy, buttery treat that will make you forget the effort that went into it.

The picture below shows the set up for boiling the noodles, with the pots for hot water (in the back), ice water (in the front), and the noodles on the towel.


Sou Boreg
2 lbs Muenster cheese, rind removed, grated
8 oz. cottage cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 cup parsley, minced
36 eggroll wrappers
1 ½ sticks butter, melted

Butter the bottom and sides of an 11x15 inch baking pan.

Combine Muenster cheese, cottage cheese, egg, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Fill another pot or bowl with ice water, and lay a large towel on the counter top next to the stove. Working one at a time, boil the first 18 eggroll wrappers in boiling water for about a minute, until just cooked through (they will fall apart if cooked too long). Transfer to ice water to cool the noodle, then lay flat on the towel to dry. Arrange the 18 noodles in the tray – for this size pan, three noodles per layer (2 whole and one cut in half) – and brush each layer with butter. After six layers, arrange cheese filling in an even layer. Boil and dry the rest of the noodles, then repeat layering over the cheese filling. Cover and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Preheat oven to 400°. Remove tray from fridge and cut into squares. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden. Serve hot.

Butternut/Hazelnut Lasagna

It started when my friend Ann told me about a butternut squash lasagna that she had made - very tasty, but it had no structure. The squash was too loose, basically forming a mush that the noodles floated around in. Definitely not up to lasagna criteria. She was still craving the dish, though, so we went about trying to find a better recipe.

When I eventually stumbled across this recipe on Epicurious, I was intrigued. The hazelnuts, it seemed, would give the filling enough substance to stand up on its own, and I also tend to favor lasagnas that use bechamel, so I was sold. I did have to tweak the recipe anyway, though, because their rendition of bechamel - well, it just didn't work. We had to get out a strainer and there was lost garlic and - yeah, not worth it. I've subbed in a better (and easier) version of bechamel below.

We served with with some pan-fried kielbasa, and I think it was almost needed. The saltiness of the meat cut the sweetness of the lasagna and made for a more balanced flavor.

Also, my cheese measurements are approximate. I'm not one to cook with definite quantities (especially of things like cheese), so really, feel free to put in as much or as little cheese as you see fit (although, if you see fit to add less, we can no longer be friends).

Butternut/Hazelnut Lasagna

For the filling:
1 large onion, chopped
3 Tbsp butter
3 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, loose skins removed, and finely chopped

For the bechamel:
5 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
5 cups milk
1 bay leaf
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp salt

For layering:
2 cups coarsely grated mozzarella
1 cup finely grated pecorino Romano
1 lb fresh lasagna noodles, uncooked (you can use 12 sheets of no-boil lasagna noodles if you can't make or buy fresh pasta)

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes. Add squash, garlic, salt, and white pepper, and continue to cook until the squash is tender, 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, sage, and half of the hazelnuts. Let cool slightly, then puree in a blender until smooth (if you like it a little chunkier, puree with an immersion blender). Set aside.

For the bechamel, using a small sauce pot on medium-low, heat butter until melted. Add flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture is golden, stiring constantly, about 6 minutes. In a separate pot, heat milk until almost boiling. Add milk to butter, 1 cup at a time, whisking until smooth. Bring to a boil, add bay leaf and garlic, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add salt and nutmeg; remove bay leaf.

To assemble the lasagna, spread about 1/2 cup of the sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 glass baking dish. Lay down pasta sheets to cover the bottom of the pan, making sure they do not overlap. Spread with 2/3 cup of the sauce, then a third of the squash filling, then a half cup of mozzarella. Sprinkle with pecorino and remaining hazelnuts. Repeat layering process two more times, going from pasta to cheese and nuts. Finish with a layer of pasta topped with the remaining bechamel and cheese.

To bake, preheat oven to 425°. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbly. Let lasagna sit for 15 minutes before serving.

True Comfort Food Mac and Cheese

There's nothing better than something hot and cheesy when you're not feeling well. My friend Ann had surgery last week, and since her husband is proficient in the kitchen but not great, I've volunteered to help with the cooking when I can. As I was headed to her house the other night, I asked what she wanted for dinner. She immediately said mac and cheese.

I've told her about my Squash Mac and Cheese a few times, and she seemed interested in it, but when I brought it up while we were on the phone, she vetoed it for a more standard recipe. Which was a bit of a problem, as I had never successfully made a more typical mac and cheese before - something gooey and creamy. I've tried all kinds of recipes, including plenty of custardy ones, but those always just end up too eggy. When I'm feeling especially lazy, I just toss pasta with shredded cheddar and bake to brown a bit.

So naturally, when Ann asked for regular mac and cheese, I was a little worried. I knew I didn't want any eggs, and I knew that I wanted a roux to act as thickener. With a little research and recipe comparison online, I cobbled together a few ideas and prayed for the best. I'm very happy with how this turned out (and that I was able to find a recipe that replicated the "real" thing). But really, how can you go wrong with so much cheese?

Simple Mac and Cheese
16 oz small pasta in your favorite shape (I used mezza penne)
3 cups whole milk
6 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
6 cups shredded cheese, divided (I used 2 parts sharp cheddar, 1 part mild cheddar/jack mix)
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 stick butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°. Cook pasta according to package, drain well, and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine milk, flour, and garlic salt, and whisk until well combined. Add in the pasta and 4 cups of cheese and stir to combine. Pour mixture into a lightly greased baking dish (13x9 would be best). Sprinkle the rest of the cheese and the breadcrumbs over the top of the pasta, then drizzle with the melted butter. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbly.

Cheap Eats: Bottega Fiorentina

Fall and the accompanying cooler weather mean apples, pumpkins... and comfort food like pasta. Luckily, Bottega Fiorentina (both on Newbury Street and the original location in Coolidge Corner) offers a multitude of fresh and fantastic pasta dishes daily to fill that need.

You could eat at Bottega Fiorentina every day for weeks and never have the same thing twice. There are five specials a day (like Tuesday's lasagna with meat and bechamel or Friday's pumpkin tortellini in a butter sage sauce), plus a made-to-order option with your choice of pasta and sauce. The penne with Fedora sauce (tomato, red pepper, garlic, rosemary, and cream), pictured above, is both sweet and spicy, and the pasta is cooked to a perfect al dente. The majority of the pasta dishes are under $10 and are available for dine-in or take-out.

Bottega Fiorentina is located at 264 Newbury Street in Boston (open daily 10am-10pm) and 313 Harvard Street in Brookline (open Monday through Saturday 11am-8:30pm).

Originally posted on Bostonist.

Brookline
Boston

Obscene Amounts of Food at Maggiano's

Dinner at Maggiano’s has become a roughly once a year tradition with my friends. We always do the family style meal – all you can eat for $26 – and because there’s so much food, it’s no surprise that we only manage it once in a blue moon. For a chain restaurant with such a low price point for the whole meal, it’s amazing that the food is any good at all… but it is surprisingly tasty (oh, and did I mention plentiful?). In fact, I think the quality is better than many of the more touristy places in the North End.

With the family style meal, you pick two appetizers, two salads, two pastas, two entrees, and two desserts, and they’ll bring refills of whatever you want – plus wrap up whatever you haven’t finished so you can take it home. With so many choices, it leaves plenty of room for everyone to get something that they want.

On this outing, we ordered the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, Mozzarella Marinara, Caesar salad, Chopped salad, Gnocchi in Vodka Sauce, Chicken and Spinach Manicotti, Lemon Salmon, Chicken Saltimbocca, Chocolate Zuccotto Cake, and the Profiteroles. The Apple Crostada was given to us as well to make up for some bad service – I don’t know if it was a timing issue with the kitchen or what, but the second half of our meal was mired by longer than normal waits and inattentive service. The food, though, was all delicious. We had to keep reminding each other that more food was coming so we wouldn’t fill up on any one dish. I don’t think I would order the mozzarella (fairly mundane) or the salmon (boring, and more fishy-tasting than I expected) again, but everything else was great – the manicotti and desserts stand out in particular.

Kale Lasagna with Bechamel

Lasgna is not a difficult thing to make, and there are so many variations that it can be a completely different meal every time. I've always made lasagna with a tomato sauce and lots of ricotta, subbing in whatever veggies I have on hand. Lasagna made with bechamel, which I order whenever I see it on a menu, always seemed difficult and time-consuming. It wasn't until I actually tried making bechamel that I discovered just how easy it is.

Replacing tomato sauce and ricotta in a lasagna with bechamel makes the final product seem lighter and springier (even if the milk has more fat than the ricotta would have). The pasta doesn't need to be cooked beforehand as long as it it completely covered with sauce; the heat, moisture, and steam will cook it through.

Kale Lasagna with Bechamel
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6-8 large leaves of kale, chopped and stems removed
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
5 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
4 cups milk (I used 2%)
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, chopped
1 pound fresh pasta, rolled out as thin as possible

Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add oil and cook until fragrant. Add kale and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, until kale is wilted down and carrots are tender. Set aside to cool.

For the bechamel, using a small sauce pot on medium-low, heat butter until melted. Add flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture is golden, stiring constantly, about 6 minutes. In a separate pot, heat milk until almost boiling. Add milk to butter, 1 cup at a time, whisking until smooth. Bring to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add salt, nutmeg, and parsley.

To assemble, cover the bottom of a glass baking dish with a layer of sauce. Lay down a layer of pasta. For each layer, add bechamel, making sure the pasta is completely covered by the sauce so it will cook through. Alternate layers of the kale mixture and the chopped mozzarella, finishing with mozzarella on the top.

Preheat oven to 350°. Bake lasagna for 30-50 minutes, until cheese on top begins to brown. Cut a few holes through the layers to allow steam out.

Cheap Eats: Dave's Fresh Pasta

At first glance, Dave's Fresh Pasta in Davis Square may just look like a tiny market - there's a display case filled with ready-to-take-home meals, bottles of wine and beer, and freezers filled with assorted appetizers, pastas, and ice cream. Take a look at the wall above the cash register, though, and you'll see that there are plenty of options for eating right away.

Sandwiches run from $6 to $8 and come in some fantastic combinations. The Mediterranean Wrap ($6.50), pictured above, is one of the most flavorful wrapped salads around - fresh lettuce, tomato, red onion, carrot, cucumber, and kalamata olive covered in creamy, garlicky, homemade tzatziki sauce. Any of the sandwiches, especially the heartier ones filled with awesome combos of meats and cheeses, can be pressed on Dave's panini grill.

For other ready-to-eat options, Dave's offers a handfull of salads (including the Spinach Salad ($6.50) topped with apples, brie, walnuts, and a sweet and tangy honey poppy seed dressing), a soup of the day, and a hot entree or two (served at lunch time until it's gone). And there's always plenty of baked goods around to quell your sweet tooth after your meal.

Another bonus? Dave's offers free wine and beer tastings on Friday from 5pm to 7pm. Dave's Fresh Pasta is on Holland Street in Somerville and is open Monday through Friday, 11am to 7:30 pm, and Saturday, 11am to 6pm.

Originally posted on Bostonist.

Ivy, Downtown Crossing

My friends and I were headed to see Eddie Izzard last night at the Orpheum and needed a bite to eat beforehand. My go-to for a pre-show dinner is Silvertone, but I wasn't up for the wait or the noise level last night. We ended up at Ivy, just a couple blocks away from the theater, for a mostly good meal.

Ivy is an attempt at Italian tapas. There is only one entree on the menu (why not just size and price it to match everything else?), a few larger dishes for sharing, and a whole bunch of small plates. They recommend ordering 2-3 per person, but if you're ordering pasta, 2 should be plenty.

For my meal, I had the sweet potato bisque with Italian sausage and grilled Tuscan bread and the gnocchi with pistachio pesto. The bisque was delightful, very smooth and creamy. The sausage was left in big chunks, which made it hard to eat, but still very good. Something like a topping of crispy pancetta might have worked better, though, to lend a textural contrast to the soup. The gnocchi was a knock-out. The pasta itself was ok, not terribly heavy but not light either, but the sauce was amazing - lots of crushed pistachios, basil, and tons of garlic, topped off with flakes of parmigiano. I would go back just for this dish... yum!

I also had some of the herbed frites, the arancini with prosciutto, and the steak frites. The fries were very tasty, although they got really soggy by the end of dinner. The portion was huge. The arancini were just fine, but nothing special. The steak, however, was disastrous - charred and crunchy on the outside, completely uncooked in the middle, and smothered in two (count 'em, two!) types of sauce. That one was definitely the loser of the group.

Overall, this place seems better suited for grabbing a drink and a snack. The plates aren't as small as you would think, making it hard to try more than one or two things. Also, if you're not a fan of salt, this restaurant isn't for you. Everything is heavily salted, and this is coming from a woman who thinks salt is its own food group!

Comfort Food for a Snow Storm

This was the view from my office at 1pm today. The Charles River should be visible on the far side of the buildings, but everything was gray instead. Besides the obvious thoughts of "when can I go home?", I was also thinking "what's for dinner?" The weather called for nothing short of comfort food - hot pasta and some oozy, gooey sauce.


Squash Mac and Cheese

1/2 pound whole wheat pasta
1 frozen block of squash
1 12-oz can fat-free evaporated milk
pinch cayenne pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
chopped fresh rosemary (to taste)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 pound low-fat cheese, shredded (I used Trader Joe's Mexican blend, but plain cheddar would be great)
bread crumbs

Cook pasta, drain, and set aside. Preheat oven to 375.

In a medium saucepot over medium heat, defrost squash. Add milk and stir until combined. Add cayenne, garlic powder, and rosemary and stir. Whisk in cornstarch to avoid lumps. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Toss pasta with sauce and pour into a glass baking dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs (as much as you'd like) and bake for 10-15 minutes, until edges are slightly brown.

Pasta with Kale and Turkey Sausage

Mark Bittman caused a bit of a stir a few weeks ago with his New York Times article about saucing pasta. Americans, he points out, were long used to oversaucing their pasta, allowing it to swim in the bowl. But when Mario Batali and other Italian chefs came on the scene and started to show people how pasta is "meant" to be served, many Americans began to cook pasta that way - cooked al dente (often a little too undercooked, but that's a different topic) with just a touch of sauce, letting the pasta shine.

But Bittman turns the tables on that, encouraging readers to "oversauce" again. But he's not just talking red sauce. He instead talks about using the pasta as an accompaniment to veggies. The recipes he offers look fantastic (I keep meaning to try the winter squash one), but I tried something a little different, but still in the same vein.

Pasta with Kale and Turkey Sausage (adapted from a Cooking Light recipe)

8 ounces whole wheat pasta
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
10-15 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in water and chopped
1 pound spicy turkey sausage, casings removed
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp Italian seasonings
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 14-ounce can fat-free chicken broth
1 pound fresh kale, chopped
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans
Parmesan cheese, shaved

Cook pasta according to package. Drain and keep warm.

Drain tomatoes from water. In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add oil, tomatoes, onion, and sausage. Cook 10 minutes or until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble the sausage. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add Italian seasoning, pepper flakes and broth to pan. Add kale, folding it in to help it wilt. Keep stirring until kale is all wilted down. Stir in pasta and beans. Top with Parmesan shavings.

Vapiano - Dupont Circle, DC

I was a little bummed out that I had to work the weekend before Halloween (that's two years in a row now!). The trustees of my institution met in Washington, DC. A highlight of the meetings themselves was Friday evening at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History - drinks in the Hope Diamond room and dinner in the Hall of Mammals. Pretty classy, and I'm slapping myself now for not taking pictures.

Another great part of the weekend was getting the chance to hang out with one of my high school friends. Saturday night we watched the Sox from a bar packed with Boston fans - we couldn't help but laugh as the group behind us talked about going to Sturbridge Village with their elementary school classes... yep, done that.

On Sunday we wandered around the city, shopping and dining as the spirit took us. By the time we were headed back towards my hotel from Dupont Circle, we were both a little peckish. She spotted Vapiano, a place she's been dying to try for a while, and me, well, I'm always up for Italian food, so we headed on in.


This place reminded me a lot of Marche, which used to have a huge outpost in the Prudential Building in Boston, only this was much smaller and hipper. When you enter, they give you a card which you have to swipe at each station as you order your food. At the end, they just run the card through the register, and each order is added up. Much easier and neater than those Marche paper slips and stamps. Everything is red or black or a neutral color, and there are no regular tables, just deep leather chairs with short tables or bar stools along long high tops.

For our first course, we ordered the rucula pizza, a made-when-ordered cheese pizza topped with tons of fresh arugula and loaded with shaved parmesan. Have I mentioned before that arugula is possible the best green in the world? I could eat this pizza every day and be quite happy. The crust was very thin, although a little unstable, especially with the load of salad on top. Definitely a pizza to eat with knife and fork.


Course two was from the other half of the menu, pasta. Right away, both of us were drawn to one unusual combo - lime and mint. The sauce is simple and delicious, and I'm sure I'll be copying it at home. A little olive oil, a little butter, some lime juice, some fresh mint, and garlic, topped with grated parmesan and lots of fresh black pepper. Mmmm. I think I'll add some lime zest when I try it out, it could have used just a touch more lime zing.


And of course you need a little sweet to end the meal. There are a few desserts on the menu, but we opted for the candy dish on the way out. Now, most restaurants offer mints or small chocolates. Not here. Gummi bears, baby!

So the next time I'm in the area (who knows what that'll be) and need a quick and cheap bite, I know I'll be headed for Vapiano.

Unfortunately, this international chain's only US locations are in DC. Testing the waters, I'm sure. I'd love to see this come to Boston where it would fit in well, despite the plethora of Italian food.

Pumpkins Galore!

Nothing like a day filled with pumpkin. Camp Sunshine's Pumpkin Festival took place yesterday at Government Center, and the plaza was packed - with people and pumpkins. I'm not sure what the pumpkin count ended up being, but last year, there was over 30,000 jack o'lanterns. There was pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin bowling, and, most importantly, pumpkin carving.











But of course, that wasn't enough pumpkin for me.

Penne with Pumpkin Sauce (adapted from an Everyday Food recipe)


12 ounces penne
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves taken off stem
1 can (15 ounces) pure pumpkin
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1+ tsp red pepper flakes
coarse salt

Cook pasta in salted water. Reserve 1 cup of water, then drain pasta and set aside.

In pasta pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add rosemary and fry, stirring, until it begins to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer rosemary to a paper towel, leaving oil in pot.

Add pumpkin, garlic, half-and-half, Parmesan, vinegar, red pepper flackes, and reserved pasta water to oil. Stir until heated through and cheese is melted. Add pasta and toss to coat. Season with salt and additional pepper flakes if desired, and top with rosemary.