culinary flights of fancy

Home Cooking Adventures in Berkeley Heights

Tag Archives: Spring Onions


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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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Slowly Scrambled Eggs with Spring Onions and Parmesan Reggiano over Wilted Spinach

Creamy scrambled eggs over wilted greens is a quick and easy way to have a meal that tastes great and is easy on the budget.

Creamy scrambled eggs over wilted greens is a quick and easy way to have a meal that tastes great and is easy on the budget.

People often ask me what we normally have for dinner.  We do eat some special meals at home as I experiment around in the kitchen in order to write this column, etc.  However, usually a day to day meal for us really is something simple.  Vegetables, salads, beans, lentils, roasted chicken, and simple egg dishes are all pretty common dinner components during the week.  I love making eggs and breakfast dishes in general for dinner.  It’s usually rather quick from a time perspective and if you purchase good quality eggs from the farmer’s market or the grocery store, they are also quite tasty.  Eggs are also one of the few foods that contain a complete protein.  As an extra bonus, even if you purchase pricier eggs at the farmer’s market, they are still one of the most economical sources of protein available given a dozen eggs will likely yield at least two meals for most and, even if your family is larger and a dozen only works for one meal, $6-$7 for protein is still less than almost any other meal you can make.  Further, there are literally tons of different things you can do with them.

I make eggs for dinner in a number of different ways.  Usually I will fry or poach them.  However, every once in a while, I will slowly cook the eggs, scrambling them as they slowly simmer until they are just a little underdone and still creamy.  Sometimes I leave them as is with just a touch of salt while other times I will add in cheese and other vegetables.  In this case, I added a bit of spring onion at the end of cooking and grated just a touch of parmesan reggiano over the top to finish.  I spooned the eggs over freshly wilted spinach from the farm.  If you wish, you could spoon the eggs and spinach over toasted or grilled bread.  We enjoyed this simple dinner just as pictured.  Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →


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Seared Ribeye with Polenta, Broccoli Rabe, and Spring Vegetables

Colorful spring vegetables coupled with rare, sliced ribeye and naturally creamy polenta.

Colorful spring vegetables coupled with rare, sliced ribeye and naturally creamy polenta.

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I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll say it again:  ribeye is by far my favorite cut of steak.  Here, it is rubbed with a few spices, cooked rare, and then cut into strips.  Cutting the steak into strips is a great way to enjoy beef without eating a huge amount.  Instead, you get the flavor of the beef and enhance the flavor with fresh vegetables of the season.  The extra bonus about serving beef this way is that you cut down on how much you need to purchase.  In fact, in this case, a large 16 ounce steak can serve four.  I chose a simple pan cooked broccoli rabe which has a subtle bitterness to play off the sweeter corn based polenta.  The raw tomatoes add color and some acidity and the whole thing is then simply garnished with a sprinkling of raw, thinly sliced spring onions.  I finished the dish with just a touch of heated veal stock to bring a light sauce and more meatiness to the dish.  If you don’t have veal stock, you can certainly skip it all together or if you prefer, simply drizzle just a touch of olive oil over the top.  Either way, you can’t go wrong!  Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →


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Pasta with Homemade Ricotta, Swiss Chard, Spring Onions, and Homemade Breadcrumbs

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Berkeley Heights and the surrounding area has a LOT of Italian restaurants. So, I haven’t posted a lot of pasta or Italian inspired recipes because there’s so much to try at local restaurants. This one is very easy to do and is very good…and good for you. If you haven’t made ricotta from scratch, it’s quite easy and only involves a few ingredients and steps. It’s quite tasty and if you are like me, you won’t really ever buy ricotta again. All the ingredients except the pasta were either purchased fresh at the Summit Farmer’s market or obtained through Just Farmed. You can switch the types of greens and add or subtract other veggies as you like. I really like the added homemade breadcrumbs as it adds some body to the sauce and some crunch to the texture. If you don’t happen to have day old bread, don’t substitute breadcrumbs from the grocery store. They have the wrong consistency and will make the texture soggy rather than crunchy. If you don’t have the homemade breadcrumbs, I’d suggest foregoing the breadcrumbs and either just going with the rest of the ingredients as is or adding something like toasted pine nuts. Hope you enjoy the dish!  Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →