Simply Delicious

Happy Spring! According to Sue it was time for pasta, and in this case it’s easy being green. We are not sure how long we have had this recipe. The page came from an “Everyday Food” magazine and was in Meg’s “want to fix” binder. (She really does have a recipe binder.)  The pasta sounded so simple and fresh.

Lemony Pasta with Goat Cheese and Spinach

Source: Everyday Food
Serves: 4
Total time: 20 minutes

Salt and pepper
¾ lb spaghettini or spaghetti
4 oz fresh goat cheese
10 oz baby spinach (10 cups)
3 c fresh parsley, chopped
2 c fresh cilantro, chopped
1 T grated lemon zest plus 1 T juice
½ c toasted walnuts, chopped

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions.  Reserve 2 cups pasta water, then drain.

In a pot, stir together goat cheese and 1 c pasta water over medium.  Add pasta, spinach, parsley, cilantro, lemon zest and juice, and more pasta water if necessary to create a light sauce that coats pasta; season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with walnuts and serve.

Instead of a salad, (too much green), we opted for roasting and marinating red, yellow and orange peppers. We made the marinade with Sue’s current favorite olive oil, Barbera Aglio Peperoncino, that she gets from Bella Italia on Plumb Lane in Reno.

She has been enjoying it since December on anything and everything. It was her holiday gift of choice for Meg and all of her other cooking friends. If you are not local, Lorena and Marco will ship this and any other products from their Bella Italia store. 

Aglio Peperoncino and Italian White Balsamic Vinegar

Marinated Peppers
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials  03/22/14

3 bell peppers, roasted and cleaned
1 Tbsp. Barbera Aglio Peperoncino (hot pepper olive oil)
2 Tbsp. Italian extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. Italian white balsamic vinegar
Salt & coarsely ground pepper to taste

Roast the peppers under the broiler or on top of a gas burner until charred all over. Put peppers into a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. When cool, remove skin, stem and seeds, and slice into strips.

Place peppers in a shallow bowl or container. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over peppers. Let sit at room temperature at least an hour or longer.

Eat.

 

Luscious Roasted and Marinated Peppers

Meg recently found this wine at Raley’s, tried it, turned Sue on to it and now we are scouring the shelves for more of it. We wanted a strong red to go with the full flavors of the pasta.



Campo Viejo Rioja 2008 Tempranillo Reserva, Raley’s about $12

 

Meg has been obsessed with making these cookies since the latest Raley’s Extra magazine was available. Her preferred Raley’s has not had the “Just Raspberries” product. She conned Sue into contacting Raley’s customer service and finding it locally. Sue only had to drive 2.6 miles to an alternate Raley’s. Meg’s mileage would have been 32 miles. What are friends for? 

 

 

Lemon Raspberry Macaroons

Source: Raley’s.com, “Extra magazine
Makes: 24 macaroons
Prep: 20 minutes
Chill: at least 2 hours
Cook: 20 minutes

4 egg whites
½ c sugar
2 c powdered sugar
1 (16 oz) package Bob’s red Mill finely ground almond meal
2 T Meyer lemon juice
1 t lemon extract
Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
¼ c “Just Raspberries”, crushed

Beat egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form.  Beat in sugar, then turn mixer to low.  Add powdered sugar, one large spoonful at a time.

Add almond meal, lemon juice, extract and lemon zest, stirring until well blended.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 300’ F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Lightly mix in crushed rasp berries and roll dough into 1 ½ inch balls.  Place on baking sheets and bake for 20 minutes.

Macaroons ready for baking

Yum!

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

Meg remembers the picture of this dish  having more green coating the pasta. Although we followed the recipe, there were only islands of green and the pasta was not completely coated. Meg is going to make it again and use an immersion blender on the sauce and then add the pasta. We both agree that we would double the goat cheese and double the lemon zest. Maybe even a little more lemon juice. We cooked a pound of pasta instead of the ¾ pound called for in the recipe.  More is better . . . you heard it here again.

We couldn’t taste the cilantro. We are thinking of next time omitting the cilantro and throwing in a handful of fresh basil.

All this critiquing aside, we liked the pasta and are looking forward to the leftovers.

When marinating vegetables or making salad dressing, we think it is important to use the “best” and most flavorful oils and vinegars you can find. It is time to pull out the good stuff, not what you use to sauté.

The “Just Raspberries” product is freeze dried raspberries, which are available online or in other grocery stores, perhaps by a different name.

These cookies are delicately crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. We are at high altitude and found the baking time to be accurate (surprise). We set the timer for 15 minutes and turned the baking sheets around for the last 5 minutes. Perfection!! We served them with a cup of espresso.


Celebrate Spring!