Pasta Primavera

This is one of my favourite vegetarian recipes.  I make it very frequently at the request of my guys.  And the best part is that it is very flexible.

I find that this works best with tortellini.    But I sometimes use rotini or fettuccine as well, just depending on what I have on hand.  Fresh noodles are best.

For a variety, use cheese, squash, or other vegetable-stuffed tortellini.

The best part of this recipe is versitility: you can literally put in almost any green or yellow or red vegetable you like.   But do look at vegetables grown locally in your area if possible. (Remember the “100 Mile Diet”).  Raid your garden or window boxes, and farmers markets.   Be creative!

And, invest in some high quality extra virgin olive oil.  The difference in taste is well worth it!  Also, do not be skimpy with the olive oil.  Remember,  it is good for you!

Ingredients:

-         Pasta

-         Extra virgin olive oil, cold-pressed if possible.

-         Vegetables: any several of the following as per your fancy:

• Red onions or regular onions, caramelized.
• 1/2 bulb of garlic, cloves skinned and chopped
• 4 zucchini
• 2 cups “green leafies,” i.e. shredded kale, chard, or other local green leafy vegetable (remove the stems).
• fresh herbs:  basil leaves, oregano, thyme, parsley, etc.
• sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
• red peppers
• kalamata or other black olives
• fresh mushrooms
• anything else you love (think local for your area).

-         Cheeses (good options are shredded fresh parmesan cheese, sliced water buffalo mozzarella, sliced soft Italian mozzarella, or other similar cheeses local to your area)

-         Pesto sauce (optional)

-         Nuts (walnuts, pine-nuts, etc. – optional).

Directions:

1. Start boiling the water in a big pot for your pasta.  You cannot have the pot too big.  When the water comes to a hard boil, add in some salt to taste.  To cook fresh pasta, follow the directions on the package.
2. Meanwhile, cut up the vegetables.  As I love garlic, I use about half a bulb of it when cooking for 4 people, but you may like it less.
3. Put lots of olive oil in a pan.  Put in the onions and fry on med-low heat until they are your desired level of “done-ness” (if I am doing red onions, I fry about 10 minutes until wilted. If i am starting with a standard light-green “cooking onion,” then I caramelize it to bring out the flavour)
4. Once the onions are done, remove to a bowl.  If some of the onions got stuck to the bottom of the pan, I put in some water to quickly boil and pour off the brown bits first before the next step.
5. Wipe the pan and put in more olive oil.  Put in the zucchini, garlic, mushrooms, and any other “hard” vegetable. Cook for about 3 minutes or until “done” to your liking.  The garlic should be golden at the very least.
6. Add in the green leafies, and give a stir until slightly wilted.
7. If you have too much in the fry pan, transfer to a bowl to wait.
8. Meanwhile, boil the pasta to an al dente consistency.  Drain pasta but keep it warm.  Meanwhile, put the hot and empty pasta pot back onto the stove.  Put in olive oil.  Put in pasta, then all the vegetables.   Add in the fresh or dried herbs.  Give a stir on low until warmed up and thoroughly mixed.  Drizzle on extra olive oil for flavour and to ensure it is moist.
9. If you are using the mozzarella, put on the slices on top at this point.
10. Serve. Have extra cheese, olives, tomatoes, etc at the table for people to add in if desired.

This is a recipe I have made for years, with countless variations, but only now have written down.  Example:  I made this recipe tonight using 700 g of fresh whole wheat 3-cheese tortellini.

Photos … I haven’t forgotten

… don’t worry, gentle readers, I’m planning to add photographs to accompany the receipes in this blog.     Until then, here is a hilarious little site for your entertainment:   “Food Porn Daily.”     I love how they poke fun at foodies who go “over the top,” and at the same time provide great information.   Be certain not to miss their recipes section.

(Trivia: “Food Porn” is listed in Wikipedia).

feeding my scooter

(Looks up at audience, clears throat, takes a deep breath)  Okay, I confess to it.  My name is Cedar and I’m a scooter addict.  That’s right.   I ride around on a 50 cc little bike made by an Italian company, Piaggio (yes, the folks who basically invented the modern scooter with the Vespa).

Piaggio Typhoon 50

I have the spiffy sleek little leather jacket (white with leopard print accent).  I’m happy to zip along at 70 km/h down a road with the wind blowing in my hair and a feeling of something just short of flying!  (And getting over 90 mpg while I’m at it).

Although, right now I’m typing at this computer, and my pretty little bike (pictured on the right) is out on the road being borrowed by my eldest son (who also looks pretty cool on it as well, with his armour, piercings, beard, and long pony-tail).

This post has nothing to do with food … well, almost nothing.  You see, there is a company that is producing industrial oils from beef tallow.   Yes, you heard it:   A bi-product (and waste product) of the cattle industry.   This company,  called “Green Earth Technologies,” has invented a 2-stroke oil that can be used in lawn mowers, motorcycles, and other small engines.  They also have a wider line of products … for cars, marine transport, etc.

So, my nifty little scooter is going to be the subject of a lab experiment.   Being a little air-cooled 2-stroke engine, it burns a mixture of gasoline and oil.   So far, I have been using the “Yamalube 2″ oil that my scooter dealer recommended.   You can tell my bike by the cloud of blue it exhales.   Well, being the devout Greenie that I am, I have been trying to find a cleaner alternative.   I may have found one.

Having spiked the curiosity of my service guy, I am planning to pick up some of this “G-Oil” and see how it goes.    My techie wants me to tell him in advance of when I will be switching over.  I will then run my bike on “G-Oil” for a while and let him take a look at my engine.   I had a good tune-up done only a month ago, so it should be fit as a fiddle.

Who knows, it may gum things up, but then again it may work.

A fellow scooterphile told me:   “I was first shown this oil by the head of Piaggio USA tech services, and he said he had been using it in his SR50 for a while, with great results! It apparently doesn’t smoke as much as traditional oil either.”

So, I am optimistic.   I’ll let you know how it goes.

Carmalized Onions … the right way

Carmelized onions … a staple in so many recipes I make:  soups, guacamole, pastas, curries  … the list goes on.   Many people know how to fry onions, but how to get them that deep rich colour and that exact degree of sweetness?

As this is my blog, I admit to my opinions on the subject:    Adding sugar is genuinely cringe-worthy.   Olive oil will cause the onions to need too high a temperature to fry and they won’t achieve that brown through-and-through colour.  And you have to be bold with the butter.  (Do I have to add that margarine just won’t do?).

Give yourself at least an hour of cooking time to make these.  They are a sloooow food!

Ingredients:

• 1 large fry-pan
• 5-8 onions (enough chopped onions to fill the pan)
• 1 cup butter (you won’t be using all of it, but you will be adding it in as required).

Directions:

1. Chop the onions into small pieces (1 cm squared, at most ).
2. On a medium flame, heat up the fry pan.
3. Melt about 1/3 c. butter and add in the chopped onions.
4. Fry the onions on a medium-low heat, keeping a lid on the fry-pan.  Stir frequently.
   
5. Add in more butter as required to keep from sticking.
   

Low heat and a long cooking time: those are the secrets.   It may take up to an hour or more for them to cook.

First off the onions will begin to get transparent, and then they will release the water from inside.   They will look very “watery.”  Keep frying, stirring every few minutes to keep them from sticking.    The water will boil off.    As the onions begin to turn golden and then brown, keep stirring to keep them from sticking and burning.  If they do begin to stick, add in another 2 tbsp or so of butter and stir again.

About the 30-45 minute point, they will begin to slowly turn brown.  Keep going.  Add in more butter if they begin to stick.  Stir frequently to ensure they don’t burn.

What you will end up with is dark brown, sinfully delicious, extremely concentrated in flavour, and about 1/10th the volume of the  onions you started with.   Even onion-haters have been known to change their minds.

Food … just food!

This is my third blog, and those of you who know my other two may not even find it.  But if you live to eat (not eat to live), then I hope you find this to be a welcome place to visit.

This is a blog about my special passion:  food.   I am likely what is called a “foodie.”  I love food, good food.

The image of a “foodie” that comes to most people’s minds of a person who loves food is one of someone who is rather obese.   But one does not have to forgo the pleasure of eating in order to remain at a healthy weight.  Even after having borne four delightful children,  I am also happily rather slender (remember:  diet alone does not do it –  exercise, exercise, exercise!).  Food should be appreciated, NOT shovelled in.  And if you are eating too much or are overweight (and do not have a thyroid condition or are on medications that can cause weight gain), it is likely that you are either eating the wrong foods, or eating so quickly that you are not sufficiently enjoying your food.

So, having said that, welcome to my blog.  I want people to be able to appreciate food, and eat healthily.   I want to share recipes and cooking tips with you, and also give you the chance to share your own, in the “comments” section of each post.