Category

Pasta/Risotto

  • The Easiest Pasta Dinner in the World

    There are certain readers of my blog–and I know they exist, I’ve met them in real life–who see the food I make as aspirational. Instead of thinking, “Oooh, that’s easy, I can make that” (as many of you think when you read my posts), they think, “Oooh, that looks tasty, I wonder if someone will…

  • Spaghetti and Meatballs

    Spaghetti and Meatballs

    There are certain dishes everyone should know how to make; Spaghetti & Meatballs is one of them. It’s funny, though, because even though I’ve been cooking consistently for the past six years, cooking my way through the staples (here’s my favorite chili, my new standard roast chicken, my go-to chocolate chip cookie) I’d never really…

  • Penne with Ramp Pesto, Asparagus & Peas

    Penne with Ramp Pesto, Asparagus & Peas

    I’ll admit, I get lazy when it comes to eating seasonally. It’s easier to pop into the grocery store across the street, where lemons, onions and garlic look the same the whole year round, than it is to march all the way up to the Union Square Greenmarket on a windy or rainy spring day.…

  • Nick and Toni’s Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola

    Nick and Toni’s Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola

    Once, long ago, I found the following statement on someone else’s food blog: “I’m sick of The Amateur Gourmet, all he cooks is pasta.” I usually let such cutting criticism roll off me, but this–like a piece of wet spaghetti thrown at the refrigerator–stuck. I haven’t stopped cooking pasta (not by any means: it’s my…

  • Heaven & Hell Cauliflower Pasta

    Heaven & Hell Cauliflower Pasta

    White food is supposedly unappetizing. Tom Colicchio, on “Top Chef,” will mark down a plate of food if everything on it is white or beige. I see his point: there’s something almost clinical about a plate of white food. That’s why parsley’s such a useful ingredient to have around; it’s an easy color-solution, the flecks…

  • Momofuku’s Ginger Scallion Noodles

    Momofuku’s Ginger Scallion Noodles

    Bow down before me, mortals, it’s time to face facts. David Chang is one of the most celebrated, important chefs in New York, right? Right. His cooking is hardcore and bad-ass isn’t it? It is. So what does it mean that a mere amateur like me, a tiny speck on the giant tapestry of New…

  • Pasta alla Norma

    Pasta alla Norma

    Eggplant is a funny vegetable. It’s not a vegetable that inspires passion, the way that asparagus or ramps do in springtime. It’s not a vegetable that anyone would put on a short list of favorite foods. If the farmer’s market held a prom, I’m pretty certain eggplant would be sitting by itself on a bench,…

  • Fresh Pasta with Spicy Tomato Sauce

    Fresh Pasta with Spicy Tomato Sauce

    Lounging around on a hot Saturday afternoon, you don’t want to think too hard about dinner. You read your book, you cheat and start the Sunday crossword puzzle a day early, you watch old episodes of “Lydia’s Italy” on Tivo. Perhaps it’s that last fact, though, that propels you–hours later–off the couch, into your kitchen,…

  • Spaghetti with Ramps (A Recipe)

    Spaghetti with Ramps (A Recipe)

    A few weeks ago, I told you about the spaghetti with ramps I ate at Franny’s in Park Slope. It may be the case that ramps have come and gone now and you’ve missed your window, but if, like me, you stumble upon them at a farmer’s market this weekend, here’s an easy way to…

  • Penne with Broccoli Rabe

    Penne with Broccoli Rabe

    Broccoli rabe is usually the first thing I buy at the farmer’s market when the weather gets warmer. It’s a transitional vegetable: something that bridges us from the dark and murky vegetables of winter to the bright and sprightly vegetables of summer. Raw, it tastes rather fresh and green, but cooked, it takes on all…