Rotini and Asparagus with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This pasta dish is incredibly colorful and flavorful, and also really quick to pull together--just my style! Roasted red peppers and just a little cream combine to make an unusual and delicious sauce, and the asparagus adds even more color and some textural contrast to the the pasta.

Of course you can roast the peppers yourself, but I just got mine from the olive bar at the supermarket and it worked out perfectly. (I've only roasted peppers myself once, and it didn't go very well--perhaps someday I'll tackle it again!) If you do roast your own peppers, you might want to reduce the number as I think they'd end up larger than the type you typically get at the store. The jarred variety would probably also work well.

I used pencil asparagus as my other veggie in this dish, both because it was on sale and because I knew it would roast quickly (i.e. in the time it took to make the sauce!). You could definitely use larger asparagus; just peel it and leave more time to roast. I think other veggies like broccolini would also be great--anything that you think would taste good with roasted red pepper.

Rotini and Asparagus with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks, original recipe here)

4-5 roasted red peppers
2 T pine nuts, lightly toasted
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 - 1 pound rotini or another medium-sized pasta
1 large bunch pencil asparagus
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Freshly grated hard cheese (such as Parmesan, Asiago, etc.), to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the roasted peppers, pine nuts, and heavy cream in a blender or food processor. Puree until very smooth. Reserve for later.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook the rotini until just shy of al dente.
4. Meanwhile, wash and trim the asparagus. Cut into 1-inch segments. Toss with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until crisp-tender and slightly caramelized. Be sure to check the asparagus often, as this thinner variety cooks very quicky.
5. Heat some olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until it just begins to soften. Add the garlic, and continue to saute until everything is nicely browned.
6. Reduce the heat to low, and add the roasted red pepper sauce and drained pasta. Toss until the pasta is al dente. Then toss in the asparagus and heat for just one minute more until everything is nicely heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with a light sprinkling of grated cheese.

I'm submitting this post to this week's Presto Pasta Nights. Be sure to check out the other entries at Once Upon a Feast on May 1.

April Daring Bakers: Meyer Lemon-Coconut Cheesecake

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. We were given total freedom over playing around with flavors, and so I went with Meyer lemon and coconut. These seemed like the perfect flavors for Easter, plus our lemon tree was overflowing with lemons.

Let me tell you, this was one amazing cheesecake! I used crispy lemon cookies in the crust, lemon juice and lemon zest in the filling, and lemon curd spread on top, so the lemon flavor came through really well. The coconut flavor was much more subtle, although I used toasted coconut in the crust and coconut milk in the filling. Nonetheless, I did think that the coconut milk mellowed things out and balanced the filling. I'd like to try an all-coconut cheesecake sometime, as I think all the lemon may have just overpowered the coconut.

Meyer Lemon-Coconut Cheesecake

Crust:
90 g crispy lemon cookies (about 1 cup crumbs)
1 cup toasted unsweetened coconut
1/2 stick butter, melted
2 T sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped

Filling:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup coconut milk (shake well before measuring)
3 T Meyer lemon juice
2 T Meyer lemon zest
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped

Topping:
Store-bought or homemade lemon curd

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan (I used a 9-inch springform pan). You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add coconut milk, vanilla, lemon juice, and zest and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour hot water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, top with lemon curd and serve.

Please make sure to check out all the other fantastic cheesecakes at The Daring Kitchen. You can find the original recipe for the cheesecake at Jenny Bakes. Here are a few of my favorites:

Raspberry Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes
Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cheesecake (plus two others)
Cheesecake with Coconut Crust
Pineapple Upside Down Cheesecake
White Chocolate and Blackberry Cheesecake
Fresh Mango Cheesecake
Pear Cardamom Cheesecake
Margarita Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust (plus three others)
Cheesecake made in the food processor
Bulls Eye Cheesecake
Peanut Butter-Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake
Pina Colada Cheesecake
Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Savory Camembert and Blue Cheese Cheesecakes

Strawberry Cupcakes

I've been meaning to make strawberry cupcakes for a long time, but never actually managed to make it happen until Easter. The cupcakes were tender and moist, and had an excellent strawberry flavor--perfect for spring! They use a different creaming method than most cakes, which made them a bit more dense but also more tender. Next time I might beat the egg whites separately and fold them in at the end to add a little lift. The only disappointment was that they sunk quite a bit after coming out of the oven, but of course frosting covers all faults.

I tried to make a meringue frosting for these cupcakes, but it came out way too drippy, so I ended up just whipping up some cream with a bit of sugar. I used superfine sugar, but if you don't have that you can easily substitute confectioner's sugar or regular sugar. Just taste along the way to get it to the proper sweetness. Although the whipped cream frosting was tasty and super easy, I think these cupcakes might be better with a heftier frosting like an American buttercream.

Strawberry Cupcakes (adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes and Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 36 cupcakes

4 1/2 cups cake flour
3 cups sugar
5 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups pureed frozen strawberries
8 egg whites
2/3 cup milk
1 to 2 drops red food dye, optional
1 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp superfine sugar, more to taste
Sprinkles, to decorate (optional

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line three cupcake pans with paper wrappers.

2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. Add the butter and strawberry puree and mix to blend the ingredients (be sure to cover your mixer bowl with a towel during this step). Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes; the batter will resemble strawberry ice cream at this point.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk and red food coloring. Add the whites to the batter in two or three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition. Divide the batter among the cupcake pans.

4. Bake until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (about 20 minutes?).

5. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely. Then whip the heavy cream along with the sugar until stiff peaks form. Add more sugar to taste. Frost the cupcakes and top with sprinkles, if desired.

Note these adorable Easter cupcake papers from my Mom!

Raspberry Gelato

This raspberry gelato is dead easy and totally addictive. Plus, with only a half cup of cream, it's actually not too bad for you! The gelato is pretty tart, so add more sugar if you want a sweeter dessert; I liked it with a little edge. It does freeze a bit hard, so make sure to take it out of the freezer a few minutes before you plan to serve dessert, or pop the gelato in the microwave for about ten seconds before digging in.

Raspberry Gelato (adapted from My First Kitchen)

10-12 oz. bag of frozen, unsweetened raspberries, fully thawed
1/3 cup sugar, or more to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream

Place all the ingredients in a blender (or a food processor). Blend until very smooth. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a 2-cup measuring cup, and chill until cold. Freeze in your ice cream maker. Pop the gelato in the freezer for a couple of hours to firm up, and then enjoy!

Foodie Fight #1: Gnocchetti with Meyer Lemon Cream Sauce and Crispy Sage

This post is my entry for the first ever Foodie Fight! This battle pits six food blogs against each other in a contest to cook up a special dish featuring two secret ingredients. The battle is over, but you can see the results at the Foodie Fight website: I got third place! :)

The secret ingredients for this battle were potatoes and lemons. I had a baked good all planned out, but then our oven broke! However, I think I ended up with something even better that didn't need the oven. I chose to make potato gnocchetti (mini gnocchi) with a creamy Meyer lemon sauce. I'm not going to lie--the gnocchetti were a huge pain to make, and I'm not one for fussy preparation. I made about one serving of the mini gnocchi, and then made the rest normal sized! However, if you're more patient than me, the gnocchetti were absolutely delicious...delicate, full of potato flavor, and absolutely amazing with the cream sauce.

The Meyer lemon cream sauce was very easy to make, and so yummy. I was a little worried about the cream curdling because of the lemon, but either the gin or the heat must have prevented that because the sauce was absolutely perfect. I would definitely try it again with either normal-sized gnocchi or pasta. It's very rich, though, so this dish is best in small portions as a first course.

Gnocchetti (adapted from Gourmet, original recipe here)
Makes 4 appetizer servings

3/4 lb yellow-fleshed potatoes such as Yukon Gold
3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
1/2 tsp salt
Butter, to saute

1. Cover potatoes with salted cold water by 2 inches in a large pot, then simmer, uncovered, until very tender, about 25 minutes. Drain in a colander and, when cool enough to handle, peel.

2. Force warm potatoes through ricer or fine sieve into a large bowl. Add flour and salt and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture begins to come together. Gently form dough into a ball.

3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth, about 1 minute (if dough sticks to surface, dust lightly with additional flour). Cut evenly into 10 pieces. Roll 1 piece into a 14-inch-long rope (1/2 inch thick)rope 1/2 inch thick, keeping the remaining pieces covered with a kitchen towel. Cut the rope crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces and toss the pieces lightly with flour on work surface.

4. Press a piece of dough against tines of a floured fork and push in a forward rolling motion toward end of the tines, letting gnocchetti fall from the fork into a well-floured shallow baking pan. Make more gnocchetti in same manner.

5. Just before cooking, gently shake gnocchetti in 2 batches in a large medium-mesh sieve to knock off excess flour. Cook gnocchetti in 2 batches in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling salted water until they float, about 1 minute. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large shallow bowl.

6. Melt some butter in a large skillet. Add the gnocchetti and sautee until lightly browned. Transfer to four bowls and toss gently with the Meyer lemon cream sauce. Top with a crispy sage leaf.

One-inch pieces of dough ready to be cut into quarters.

Meyer Lemon Cream Sauce (adapted from Fine Cooking)

Kosher salt
2 Meyer lemons
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup gin
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Finely grate the zest of one of the lemons; set aside. Cut a thick slice off both ends of the zested lemon to expose the flesh. Stand the fruit upright, then cutting from the top down, remove the peel, including all the white pith. Holding the fruit over a bowl to catch the juice, use a paring knife to cut along either side of each segment to free it from the membranes; let each segment fall into the bowl as you go. Once you’ve removed all the segments, squeeze any juice from the membranes into the bowl and then discard. Remove the seeds and set the segments aside in another small dish. Measure the juice in the bowl. Cut the remaining lemon in half and squeeze to obtain 2 T juice total.

2. In a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, place the cream, gin, and lemon segments and bring just to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the cream thickens slightly, 5 to 8 min. Remove from the heat.

3. Add the lemon juice to the sauce, along with the grated lemon zest. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and then toss with the gnocchetti.

Teeny gnocchetti shaped and ready to be cooked.

Crispy Sage

Canola oil
4 sage leaves

Heat about 1 inch of oil in a small skillet. When the oil is hot enough to bounce a drop of water, very carefully add the sage leaves. Stand back in case the oil sputters! When the sage just starts to brown, turn off the heat and carefully remove the sage with a fork. Place the sage on a paper towel to drain off some of the oil.

Dried Strawberry-Lemon Thyme Shortbreads

These little shortbread cookies are very easy to make and they result in a sophisticated, tasty dessert. I brought them to church for Easter morning, because our church has a cookie potluck after the service, during coffee hour. The cookies are nice and tender, just like you'd want a shortbread cookie to be, the strawberries add a tart little punch, and the lemon thyme lends a subtle floral note. They're also quite pretty to look at, and seem just perfect for spring! If you can't find dried strawberries, you can always make your own if you click through to the original recipe at Tartelette. I used a variety that was very crunchy and broke up easily as the pieces were mixed into the dough; if you use the moister, chewier kind, you'll want to chop them up first.

Dried Strawberry-Lemon Thyme Shortbreads (adapted from Tartelette, original recipe here)

1 cup dried strawberries
1 stick butter butter at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons fresh chopped lemon thyme
pinch of salt
1/2 tablespoon of milk

1. In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour, thyme, dried strawberries, pinch of salt and the milk and beat until the ingredients are just starting to come together. Stop the mixer and finish mixing the dough with your hands on a work surface.
2. Roll the dough into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes (overnight is best).
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the cookies about 1/4 inch thick. Arrange them on a baking sheet and bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes or until just golden brown around the edges (don't overcook or the strawberries will burn).

I'm entering my photo from this post in this month's CLICK contest for food photography.  I'm also sending it off to the Cookie Party at the Secret Recipe Club.

Orange-Fennel Salad

This orange-fennel salad is super easy and has amazing flavor. Sweet oranges, crispy fennel, and just a bit of dressing make for a fantastic combination with a few ingredients. We enjoyed it as an accompaniment to this soup, but it would also be a refreshing side dish at a summer barbecue. The salad is best fresh and crispy, but it keeps relatively well to the next day and is still tasty if a bit less crunchy. Be sure to cut the fennel into very thin slices as it is served raw.

Orange-Fennel Salad (from Moosewood Cooks at Home)
Serves 4

2 fennel bulbs, washed, trimmed of any bruised leaves
4 oranges
Juice of 1 lemon
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Slice each fennel bulb in half and remove the core. Very thinly slice the fennel and place it in a salad bowl.
2. Peel and supreme the oranges, reserving any juice. Add the orange slices and any juice to the fennel.
3. Whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl, and then drizzle over the fennel and orange slices. Gently toss, and then season to taste with salt and pepper.