Category: Extra Easy

Easy Garden Frittata

by Maria

Late August is a cook’s favorite time of year. Especially if you happen to know a gardener with an overflowing veggie patch.

We’re out on the farm this week, and we were so lucky to get baskets and baskets of gorgeous produce from a neighbor. We had insanely delicious heirloom tomatoes, corn, every color and shape of pepper, leeks, fresh dug potatoes, cantaloupes, lacinato kale, curly kale, purple beans, and cukes. Man, it is good to be in with a gardener.

photo (78)

But the best part of all was the farm fresh eggs. Oddly shaped, blueish, orange-yolked eggs.  I dream about these eggs all year. No matter how much I spend on cage-free, organic, humanely raised, pampered and petted eggs from the store, they never come close to these. You just can’t buy this kind of freshness.

afterlight

The only thing to do with a bounty like that? Garden frittata! We sautéed the peppers, leeks, and tomatoes in butter with s&p, added some store-bought chopped portobellos, and then covered the veggies in beaten egg with a splash of half and half. I like to cover the pan so the top can cook, or you can just pop it under the broiler for a few minutes to cook the top.

I meant to take a picture, but Jarrett ate the whole thing too quickly. That’s how most of our meals end.

Hope you have delicious meals and relaxing days ahead of you over the long weekend! I’ll be back next week with more book news and thoughts on publishing.

Lemon Pepper Pasta

by Maria

Maria Pasta

This is my very favorite minimalist recipe. It’s a spin on an Italian cacio e pepe recipe, but it’s so much more than the sum of its parts.

It’s also the easiest recipe I have ever made. And one of the most delicious. You’ll be surprised by how these humble ingredients work together to make such a luscious, rewarding pasta. And did I mention that you’ll have dinner on the table in under 10 minutes? This recipe is that perfect mix of insanely easy + crazy delicious + so very affordable that will make it an instant weeknight staple.

As Mario Batali says: “Food, like most things, is best when left to its own simple beauty.”

Lemon Pepper Pasta Recipe
aka cacio e pepe con limone

Maria Pasta 1

Serves 4

1 package of spaghetti (I use whole wheat)
Extra virgin olive oil
2 large lemons
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
Parmesan (ideally Parmigiano Reggiano)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta for 1 minute less than the package indicates. Strain the pasta, return it to the pot, and place over very low heat. Drizzle olive oil over the pasta until thoroughly coated (you’ll need at least a ¼ cup and likely more) then juice the lemons into the pot. Grind a lot of black pepper onto the pasta—you’ll want each strand of spaghetti to have multiple flecks of pepper on it. Sprinkle a hearty pinch of salt and grate as much cheese as you like over the pasta.

Serve onto four plates and top with an extra drizzle of olive oil, another grind of pepper, and more cheese at the table.

Healthy Pantry Pasta Salad

by Maria

Pantry Pasta Salad004

Lately, life’s been busy. So I’ve been reaching into my stack of homemade meals in the freezer or into the pantry for ingredients for a quick pasta. We all have those days, weeks, even months, when you don’t have the time for a big grocery store trip, or you want to pinch a few extra pennies at the end of the month.

Read More

Crackpeas (a.k.a. Crispy Chickpeas)

by Maria

Crackpeas002

These chickpeas are beyond addictive. Jarrett and I first had them at AS220 in Providence, a nonprofit restaurant/bar/music venue/art galley/hipster kind of place. One of the book designers at work recommended it after I asked her for a place with cheap, but high quality and innovative, food and drinks and a fun vibe (i.e. The Perfect Restaurant).

Jarrett and I walked in and immediately Did. Not. Fit. In. It was like a bad sitcom where there’s a loud record scratch, everyone stops talking, and turns to look at the intruders. Jarrett was in a dorky plaid flannel shirt and his trademark Winchester hat, and I was wearing a dress, heels, and pearls. We were the only un-inked, un-pierced, un-down-with-that squares on the premises.

We kind of scuttled over to a table and tried to look like we were being ironically nerdy as some sort of social statement. I try this move a lot. It never works.

So we decided to fix it by ordering EVERYTHING.

Crispy Chickpeas

We ordered an outstanding pulled pork pasta, a butternut squash soup, an intensely cheesy and massive bowl of mac and cheese, a side dish of roasted Brussels sprouts, and these chickpeas.

You know these chickpeas are what’s up when I say they were better than mac and cheese. The mac and cheese was darn good, but I kept going back to these chickpeas and having my mind blown with each bite. They are ultra crispy, have amazing garlic flavor, and just take on such a rich, hearty crunch that you won’t even recognize them as chickpeas.

Read More