Pasta

Showing 8 Result(s)
Sesame-Buckwheat Noodles with Fresh Green Almonds
Appetizers Asian Pasta Salads Sauces & Condiments

Sesame-Buckwheat Noodles with Fresh Green Almonds

One of our favorite spring ingredients, fresh green almonds, are just that – green (as in “unripe”) almonds, picked while the nut is immature and still in the early stages of formation. Green almonds are available only in the spring, usually beginning in late March or early April, and can continue to be harvested into May. In the earliest stages of growth, the entire almond is eaten, fuzzy green outer hull and all. The flavor is surprising; tart, almost citrusy, somewhat reminiscent …

Spaghetti with Ramp Butter and Morel Mushrooms
Mushrooms Pasta Wild Foods

Spaghetti with Ramp Butter and Morel Mushrooms

Many of our favorite wild foods seem to appear all at once in the early spring, which can make it hard to appreciate each one adequately. A practical way to enjoy the season’s abundance is to combine several of them together into a single dish. Another is to preserve the fresh flavors of the spring wild harvest so they can be enjoyed all year round. This dish does both. The flavor and texture of the morel is well known, and these unique, …

Pasta with Porcini & Artichokes
Mushrooms Pasta Vegetables Wild Foods

Bucatini con Funghi e Carciofi (Pasta with Porcini and Artichokes)

The artichoke is technically a thistle, but its prickly exterior and leathery leaves aren’t enough to deter devoted fans. Underneath that tough exterior lies a tender, delicately flavored and meaty heart. Once the artichoke is cooked, whether by steaming, boiling or roasting, the outer leaves can be stripped away, one by one, and their succulent tips devoured, revealing the hidden prize inside. The artichoke lover’s dilemma: eat the heart now or save it for another use? It’s often too much …

Porcini Stroganoff with Turkey Mini-meatballs
Mushrooms Pasta Sauces & Condiments Tips and Techniques Wild Foods

Porcini Stroganoff with Turkey Mini-meatballs

  Dried porcini mushrooms do double duty in this healthy new take on a classic recipe. Instead of the usual beef, our stroganoff features plump little mini-meatballs made with ground turkey. Making these turkey mini-meatballs is incredibly easy; instead of frying, they bake in the oven in just minutes. Since they’re made of lean turkey and baked, not fried, they’re very low in fat. Best news of all – even without all that fat, they still taste fantastic! This recipe really highlights the …

Soba Noodles with Black Lentils, Smoked Bacon and Greens
Asian Meat Pasta Vegetables

Soba Noodles with Black Lentils, Smoked Bacon and Greens

Quick-cooking lentils are probably the oldest cultivated legumes and are certainly among the earliest cultivated plants. Often planted alongside wild wheat and barley by our ancestors, lentils are both highly nutritious and good-tasting. Lentils are generally split into two broad groups: flat, large lentils and small, rounded lentils. While the large varieties are generally more common, it’s the small, varieties that are more prized. Small lentils tend to keep their shape better and have a finer, creamier texture than their …

Soba Noodles with Roasted Matsutake Mushrooms
Asian Mushrooms Pasta Salads Sauces & Condiments Wild Foods

Soba Noodles with Roasted Matsutake Mushrooms

It’s already November, well into the fall season. Depending on where you live, fresh produce from your home garden may be done until next spring. Thankfully, there are a few hardy radishes and the last scallions to be harvested from our garden which add some crisp texture, fresh flavors and tangy “bite” to this preparation. With the addition of a few foraged wild mushrooms, it’s enough to make a wonderfully earthy dish, featuring hearty Japanese soba noodles. Soba noodles are made with buckwheat, a …

Appetizers Asian Mushrooms Pasta Sauces & Condiments Soups & Stews Wild Foods

Wild Mushroom Wontons, Three Ways

Wontons are fun. They’re great party food, perfect as appetizers and for special occasions. But wontons are, at their heart, simple Asian comfort food. Wontons have been around in some form for literally thousands of years. Most basic wonton recipes are quite similar (after a thousand years or so, you should pretty much have the basic recipe perfected). Popular as street food in almost every Asian country, wontons have plenty of local variations. While fillings can vary, the basic technique remains …

Cheese Mushrooms Pasta Sauces & Condiments Wild Foods

Malfatti with Wild Mushroom & Truffle Sauce

What’s in a name? In this case, an interesting (and amusing) story lies behind the name of this close cousin to the more familiar gnocchi.  The Italian word malfatti literally means “badly made.” Whimsical names abound in Italian cookery, especially when it comes to pasta.  For example, strozzapreti means “priest choker,” fazzoletti means “little handkerchiefs,” orechiette means “little ears,” and last but not least, farfalle meaning “butterflies.” In this country, malfatti have come to refer to something akin to a …