culinary flights of fancy

Home Cooking Adventures in Berkeley Heights

Category Archives: Pasta


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Tagliatelle Pasta with Squash Blossom, Spring Onion, and Ricotta

Delicate squash blossoms are tossed in raw at the very end allowing the residual heat from the cooked pasta to lightly wilt them.

Delicate squash blossoms are tossed in raw at the very end allowing the residual heat from the cooked pasta to lightly wilt them.

Gently toss the squash blossoms into the pasta as they will tear and break very easily.

Gently toss the squash blossoms into the pasta as they will tear and break very easily.

It’s been a while…I hope you are well.  I’m kicking things off with this very summery pasta dish that happens to be both beautiful and simple to make.  It’s pretty delicious as well!  Stay tuned as there’s lots more ahead…I’ve been cooking a lot and am way behind on writing the recipes up for publishing.  I hope to correct that very soon with a slew of new things to keep you busy!  I apologize for the delay.

Squash blossoms are available in markets and farmer’s markets but you have to look for them.  If you go to a farmer’s market, you will likely have to arrive early to find them as they usually go quickly.  As implied by the name, they are simply blossoms found on the plants of summer squash.  They have a delicate squash flavor and are really beautiful.  Unfortunately, as they are delicate, they have a tendency to go bad rather quickly so it’s best to use them the same day you buy them.  Since they do have a more subtle flavor they can take on various flavors rather quickly and can easily be overpowered.  Traditionally, they are often served stuffed with ricotta and delicate, lightly flavored herbs such as parsley and chives.  Sometimes they are steamed or flash sautéed with just a touch of olive oil.  Another very popular thing to do is stuff them as above but then lightly bread them and serve them fried.  I love stuffed squash blossoms but sometimes they are small and since they are delicate, they can fall apart rather easily while attempting to stuff them.  So this is a great recipe to use if you find yourself with small blossoms.  Further, if you are like me, and you just want to make it easy on yourself sometimes, skip stuffing them and simply toss them in some pasta with the same flavor profiles used when stuffing.  This is a fast and easy pasta dish that is great either for a weekday meal or for a more special occasion because no matter how you serve them, they really are striking in their presentation.  Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →


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Linguini with Green Onions, Lemon, and Pecorino Cheese

Green onions take center stage in this simple pasta dish that celebrates the bounty of spring.

Green onions take center stage in this simple pasta dish that celebrates the bounty of spring.

We don’t eat a whole lot of pasta at our house.  It’s not that we don’t care for it or anything.  In fact, I really like it.  I think my wife is probably a little more ambivalent about it than me but she still likes it fairly well too.  However, the fact remains, we just don’t eat it that often.  I’ve posted a few pasta recipes here and there over the past year but I often feel sort of guilty about it as pasta is really so common, is it really necessary to give yet another pasta recipe?  I don’t know…I go back and forth but here we are discussing a new pasta recipe.  The great thing about pasta is that there are so many approaches and the flavor profiles of individual dishes can range from very complex with lots of ingredients to very simple with just a few.  This dish definitely falls into the latter category and really has just a few ingredients.  I chose linguini because that’s what we had at home, so feel free to adapt and change the type of pasta to suit your tastes and what you have on hand.  I do think that the general linguini, spaghetti, angel hair pasta shape works well with this dish.  I used very large green onions.  In fact, they almost bordered more on the spring onion size.  If you can find spring onions, definitely use those!  However, if you can’t, try to find the largest green onions/scallions that you can for this recipe.  Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →


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Chestnut Flour Pasta with Mixed Mushrooms in Light Cream Sauce

ChestnutFlourPasta.4 (2)

Making fresh pasta can be a daunting task and one I have to admit I was a bit intimidated about tackling several years ago.  Luckily, though, it really isn’t very difficult and, like bread making, can be a very hand-on and rewarding experience.  Unfortunately, like bread making, there is also a bit of an art to making pasta and recipes for the dough can be a little off each time…a little too dry or too wet, etc.  Over time, you develop a sense for those sorts of variances and can adjust.  So, if you haven’t attempted making pasta before, it may take a few attempts for you to really get the hang of it.  Otherwise, it’s a very simple process usually involving a dough with just a couple of ingredients.

When my wife and I visited Italy recently, there were chestnuts everywhere.  Roasting on the street during festivals, the smell was pretty incredible.  Chestnut flour, though not commonly found or used here in the US, is pretty regularly used in Italy.  The chestnuts, dried and ground, flavor the pasta with a deep nutty and earthy flavor.  The moment you crack open the chestnut flour the smell envelops you. The darker flour it creates also colors the pasta in a unique way when compared to pastas made with semolina or white flours.

Chestnut pasta can be used in a variety of ways but classically it’s paired with mushrooms as the nutty earthiness of the pasta is enhanced by the earthiness of the mushrooms.  The light cream sauce helps cut through some of the overpowering earthiness to bring a nice balance of flavor.  Here, I used both dried (porcini) and fresh (crimini) mushrooms.  Feel free to use all fresh or all dried or a combination of both.  Also, fresh peas and other fresh vegetables are great to add to the mix.  However, given the unique flavor of the chestnut pasta itself, I think everyone owes it to themselves to make a simple dish at first with just a few flavors and ingredients so that you can really savor the flavor and texture of this pasta and allow it to stand on its own.  From there, go where your imagination takes you!  Recipe and notes follow after the jump… Continue reading →