Spaghetti with Herbs and Chilis

I wish I had a clever name for this because it really was clever, you see...

Last Saturday night, Jordan and I decided to head out for dinner...  We had a destination and a plan in mind but when we got there, we found out they were closed for a private party...  

BOO...

One of the problems with having a specific plan in mind is that when things dont go right, its harder to rebound...  so we wandered around for a little while looking for alternatives and eventually ended up at Franny's.

The original plan was based on Jordan's desire to sit at a restaurant bar and eat a bowl of pasta (he has strange cravings, that one...)  So when we got to Franny's, there was little question - we were sitting at the bar and splitting a pizza and a pasta...

It worked out so well that we're frightened for our bank account when Franny's moves even closer to our apartment...  

but i digress...

The next night was our traditional pasta night, so we thought 'why not try to re-create last night's pasta???'  I'm never good at this game, but I figured why not?

Turns out we hit the nail on the head...  Squarely on the head.  I have no idea if our ingredients or methods were the same, but i can tell you this - the similarity in taste was remarkable...  Another light and easy pasta, in the books.

Don't worry Franny's - we still fear for our bank account :)

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Spaghetti with Herbs and Chilis

courtesy of us, inspired by Franny's

click here to import directly into Pepperplate

1/2 lb good quality spaghetti

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

3/4 of a small poblano pepper, minced

3 - 4 cloves of garlic, smashed and roughly chopped

~ 1 tbsp minced basil

~ 1.5 tbsp minced mint

~ 2 tbsp minced flat leaf parsley

generous 1/2 c fresh ricotta

salt & pepper (optional)

***

Cook spaghetti in accordance with directions on package for al dente spaghetti

While spaghetti is cooking, melt butter & heat olive oil in a large frying pan over low heat.

When butter is fully melted, stir in poblanos and garlic.

Saute for 2 - 3 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Add ~ 1/4 c pasta water to the pan and stir

Allow to saute another couple of minutes, again stirring once or twice.  

Add another ~ 1/4 of pasta water if desired.

Drain pasta and add to frying pan.

Toss together until spaghetti is well-coated with the oil/butter mixture.

Remove from heat.

Stir in herbs.  Toss again to combine.

Separate onto two plates and top each with half of the ricotta.  

Stir ricotta into pasta.

Salt & pepper to taste.

Serve with a baguette and a couple glasses of wine.

Creamy Caprese Pasta

Quick!  Before summer is actually gone, before the tomatoes turn anemically pink...

Make this!

I honestly don't have a ton to say about this one, but it's good!  And easy!  And doesn't make a ton of mess...

Really, what else is there in life?

Fresh basil and good tomatoes are about to become much more difficult to find, so you might as well go ahead and make this sooner rather than later, because good ingredients are key in something this simple.



Seriously, stop reading.  Go cook.

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Creamy Caprese Pasta 
courtesy of How Sweet Eats with only minor adaptation by me
click here to import directly into Pepperplate

1/2 lb whole wheat penne or other small noodle
1 c prepared pasta sauce (we used Newman's Own Roasted Garlic)
1/3 c light cream
1/3 c freshly grated Parmesan
4-5 oz fresh mozzarella, about 3 oz cut into cubes, the rest in thinly sliced rounds
3/4 pint grape tomatoes, halved
a small handful of basil, chiffonaded (no, i don't know if that's the proper way to use that word, but here's how to chiffonade - thanks to VeganYumYum!)

***

Preheat oven to 350° and lightly grease a baking dish.

Cook pasta about 2-3 minutes less than it says on the box.

Just before pasta is done, heat pasta sauce in a large pan over low heat.  Stir in the cream and Parmesan.  Allow to simmer for a few minutes.

Once pasta is ready, remove the sauce from the heat and stir in pasta.

Add mozzarella cubes (but not the rounds), the tomatoes and the basil and stir to combine.

Pour the mixture into the baking dish and top with mozzarella rounds.

Bake for ~25 minutes, until cheese is just a bit golden.

Allow to sit for a couple of minutes and then serve.

Malfadine with Lemon-Asparagus Sauce

When i started this blog - about 4 years ago - it was to not only share recipes, but also to share the stories behind them. I lost that somewhere along the way. i lost some of the story.

Keeping that in mind, you have to forgive me for posting this recipe at the absolute wrong time of the year. This is a spring dish if i ever tasted one. but i made it this week. When yes, it was warm, but its still october...

However. If you know me in real life, you know that i've seen more than my fair share of Better Than Ezra shows. You know that i have friends - real life friends - that i wouldnt even know if not for my hours on their messageboard and my travels to their shows. You know that when i start talking about someone you dont know, you have to ask 'is that a BTE person?' and you know that quite often, the answer will be yes.

So why is that relevant?  because a funny thing happened along the way. all of us BTE people? we grew up. some became real adults and had kids. some bought houses. some moved - many times. some got married. some broke up. but through the miracle of the internet, so many of us have stayed in touch. held eachothers hands through breakups. been to eachothers weddings. sent presents to those kids. and among it all, theres a number of us who emerged as being almost as obsessed with food as we were with that band - at least 3 of us have food blogs. so now, instead of trading live show tapes, we trade recipes. We send treats to those having a hard time. and not so long ago, i sent 1.5lbs of pasta all the way to california, because one of those friends mentioned that she couldnt find malfadine near her.

now, of course, if someone wants a specific shape pasta for a specific recipe that badly, you know i have to try it too, right?

So that 1.5lbs of malfadine has been sitting in my cabinet waiting for me to get around to this...

I ended up altering the original recipe a bunch, some based on reviewers suggestions, some pulled from other recipes we've known and loved (Cacio e Pepe, i'm looking at you), but the gist is the same... these long skinny lasagna-style noodles finished in an asparagus lemon sauce that just screams SPRING! (even if its October) when you bite into it...

and if you cant find malfadine near you? drop me a line - i'm an expert at shipping it ;)

---

Malfadine with Lemon-Asparagus Sauce
courtesy of me, loosely adapted from Epicurious

Click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

1/2 lb fresh asparagus, tough ends discarded, tips and remaining stems separated
1/2 tbsp salt

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp softened butter
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tbsp lemon zest
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/2 lb malfadine or other pasta of choice

1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

***

Boil a generous amount of water (you will use this water 3 times). Once boiling, add the salt to the water. Watch the volcanic eruption. its fun.

Chop asparagus stems into 1-2" segments. Cook the segments in the boiling water for 6-7 minutes or until very tender. Transfer segments to a colander, reserving cooking water in pot (a slotted spoon or small strainer works well), and rinse under cold water. Set aside.

Cook asparagus tips in same boiling water until just tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer tips to a colander, again reserving cooking water in pot and rinse under cold water and set aside,

Purée asparagus stems with oil, butter, garlic, parsley, zest, lemon juice, black pepper and 1/4 cup asparagus cooking water. (be careful, that water is hot)

Cook pasta in boiling asparagus cooking water for about 3/4 the amount of time suggested for al dente pasta. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, drain pasta and remaining water out of the pan.

Return pasta to the dry pan. Add in the asparagus tips, the pureed sauce and the reserved water and cook over high heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning and to ensure the ingredients are combining well. Allow to cook ~ 3 minutes, or until pasta is al dente, and the sauce has thickened and coats pasta well. (it will still be too 'loose' at this point - thats ok, the cheese will help...)

Remove from the heat and stir in Parmigiano-Reggiano. Stir until cheese is meltedand well combined.

Serve immediately, adding salt to taste.

Broccoli Mac & Cheese

When the weather starts to cool off, everyone's thoughts (mine included) turn to apples and pumpkin and maple syrup. However, when mother nature decided to skip the whole cooling off period a week or so ago and go straight to RAINY & COLD, I couldn't help but skip the normal cravings and move straight to comfort food.

Most people will agree that there really is no better comfort food than mac & cheese but for those who arent looking to fatten up for their winter hibernation, the comfort we seek in mac & cheese can quickly turn to distress when trying to get dressed in the morning and finding out that none of your clothes fit anymore because you've been eating a little too much comfort...

This leaves you with a dilemma - stop eating the warm comforting hug that is mac & cheese and keep that slammin' body or eat all the comfort and embrace the fatness?

I'm here to give you a 3rd option - do both.  and do it without sacrificing the stuff that makes mac & cheese the yummy goodness that it is...

Now, this recipe makes me feel a little bit like a mom who's trying to sneak vegetables into her kid's meal but really, the broccoli is a bonus, not a secret we're hiding under a layer of cheese (though that's how my mom got me to eat it as a kid...) and actually adds to the dish.

And you don't have to be on a diet to like it.  It doesn't taste like diet food!  I promise you, this mac and cheese tastes just as good as many other versions out there.  The bonus is that the vegetables are already built in, so you don't feel like you have to make a side in order to have a complete meal.

It's a pretty versatile dish.  While the recipe below uses high-fiber pasta and reduced fat cheese, that's not really the calorie-cutting key - its much more about the fact that there is equal weight of pasta and vegetable soaking up all of that cheesiness.  I highly recommend playing around with it and coming up with the version you like best.  I'm already planning its successor as we speak ;)

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Broccoli Mac & Cheese

courtesy of skinnytaste.com, with modifications by me
Click here to import to Pepperplate.com

12 oz high fiber pasta (we used Barilla Plus elbows)
12 oz fresh broccoli florets, any large pieces roughly chopped

2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tbsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves if you aren't cheating and using the pre-minced stuff)

1/4 cup flour

1 cup vegetable broth

2 cups 1% milk
1 tbsp garlic chili cholula sauce

8 oz (2 cups) shredded reduced fat mexican cheese blend
salt and fresh pepper to taste

1/8 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup bread crumbs

***

Lightly grease a large casserole dish and set aside

Preheat oven to 375°

Prepare pasta in accordance with package directions for al dente pasta.  Include the broccoli in the water with the pasta for about 7 minutes  (this was al dente cooking time for our pasta, so everything went in together.  If you are using a pasta with a longer cooking time, just throw the broccoli in when there is 7 minutes left...)

While pasta & broccoli are cooking, heat 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat.  Add onion & garlic and cook for about 2 minutes to soften.

Lower heat to medium-low and whisk in flour.  It will clump and get dry - dont panic.  Keep whisking for a minute or two until it is all incorporated and the mess looks golden.

Add broth, milk and cholula, whisking to incorporate.  Raise heat to medium-high and heat, whisking often, until mixture is bubbling and gets thick.  (This will take anywhere from about 5 - 10 minutes, depending on your definition of medium-high)

Remove from heat and stir in cheese, in batches, until it has melted and is well-incorporated.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the pasta & broccoli into the cheese sauce and mix well to combine.

Pour the whole thing into your prepared baking dish.  Top with parmesan and then breadcrumbs.

Bake ~ 20 minutes and then turn oven up to 500° and bake for an additional 3 minutes to get the top a bit golden and crispy.

Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

"Real" Fettuccine Alfredo

According to Mario Batali, us americans have totally bastardized Fettuccine Alfredo...

On May 17, he was on the Today Show - at 8:39am to be exact - making what he calls the real, original version of fettuccine alfredo.  Live, on TV, with no 'so this is what it will look like in 10 minutes' or any of that - this whole thing could be made live on tv in real time, save for the prepping of ingredients and the boiling of water...

(incidentally, if i was a good kid, i would have already been out the front door on my way to work and would have missed this.  bonuses like this dont do much to discourage my bad-kid behaviour...)

Now, as someone who really, really likes that bastardized american version of fettuccine alfredo, i wasnt so sure what i thought of this - but both Jordan and I thought it was as least worth a shot...  as we always say, whats the worst? - we order Big Nicks...

We did decide that it might be better with some garlic - most things are - but aside from that, pretty much followed mario's recipe exactly (well, the one he did on the show - the written recipe leaves a step or two out...)

Serve it with a salad, crusty bread and a little white wine and you've got a perfect low on time/high on taste midweek meal...

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"Real" Fettuccine Alfredo
courtesy of Mario Batali on the Today Show with minor modifications by us

1/2 pound fresh spinach fettuccine (boxed would be fine as well)
3.5 tablespoons (scant ½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound medium asparagus, tough ends snapped off (yields about 1/3 lb of usable asparagus)
¼ c freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

***

Using a mandoline (or other vegetable slicer, or a vegetable peeler), thinly shave the stalk of your asparagus into little discs.  Leave the 'trees' whole.

Bring 2-3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, and add 1 tablespoons salt.

Cook the fettuccine in the boiling water, just slightly shorter than the package directions, as it will cook a little bit with the sauce. Drain, reserving about 1/8 cup of the pasta water, and set aside.

In a large saute pan, heat the butter over medium heat until melted. Add the garlic and allow to sauté for a minute or so, then add the asparagus. Toss to coat & allow to cook a couple of minutes.

Add the reserved pasta water & stir to combine.

Add pasta to the saute pan & toss until the pasta is coated with the butter mix.

Allow to cook about 30 seconds, then add the cheese and toss well.

Once cheese has mostly melted in, remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper (to taste) and serve immediately.

Lazy Lasagna

This is one of those times where i'm going to go on record saying that its really easy to make something that other people find difficult...

That thing is lasagna.  it seriously takes no brain power - just a bit of time.  and one day, i'll even get around to blogging about how easy it is...

but today is not that day.  because, ravioli lasagna?  its even easier...  like, i'm going to out on a limb and say that i think that, with a little help, even my 2.5 year old nephew could put this one together. (If i was in NC right now, i'd test it out, but i'm not so, um, sister, mom, dad?  someone get on that.  take pictures and video please because its going to be a legendary mess but i bet it will still taste good in the end...)  which is why i've dubbed it lazy - because the amount of effort required is so minimal that even the least motivated version of yourself can pull this one off.

In fact, I'm pretty sure this is one of those dinners where preheating the oven takes longer than actually assembling the dish - perfect for a weeknight, a sunday night or really any other time you can think of...

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Lazy Lasagna
courtesy of Real Simple - modified by me

1 tbsp olive oil

5 - 6 c fresh baby spinach*

~20 oz roasted garlic spaghetti sauce
2 packages large fresh ravioli - uncooked - (13 to 15 oz each package)
1.5 c shredded mozzarella
1/3 c of your favorite grated cheese - we used a combo of pecorino romano & parmesan

crushed red pepper, salt, black pepper (all optional depending on your taste and how spiced up your sauce already is)

***

Preheat oven to 350°

lightly grease 2.5 qt casserole dish if you are afraid of stickage.  Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat and add the spinach in.  Stir around until just wilted and remove from heat. *

place ~ 1/3 of your tomato sauce in the bottom of the casserole dish

layer in half of your ravioli - make sure the bottoms of all of the ravioli are touching plenty of sauce (this is what allows them to cook in the oven)

top with all of your spinach

sprinkle with 1/2 of your grated cheese

sprinkle with 1/2 of your shredded mozzarella

place a few spoonfuls of sauce over the cheeses and spread as best as you can without making a mess of the cheese

sprinkle with crushed red pepper, salt & black pepper, if desired

layer in the rest of your ravioli

top with remaining tomato sauce.  Again, make sure that all ravioli are well-coated with sauce and that there are no naked edges showing.

top with remaining grated cheese

top with remaining shredded cheese

cover (either with your fancy casserole cover or with tin foil) and bake ~ 25 minutes.

Remove cover and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes until the cheese gets a little bit bubbly and maybe even a bit brown around the edges

Allow to cool for 5 minutes & then cut as you would normal lasagna and serve.

Serves 3 - 4 for dinner, depending on what you serve it with ;)

*note: for the 2.5 year old making it version, feel free to use frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed out

Pasta e Fagioli

growing up, the italian side of my family was pretty influential...  a few generations removed from italy, i was quite american, as my my dad married a non-italian girl making him pretty american (and obviously, that girl he married wasnt italian), but then there were my grandparents...  neither was born in italy, but i believe their parents were, so they'd grown up pretty italian.  and marrying eachother, they carried some of that into their own household.  which means once i was old enough to spell, they would speak italian around me so that i didnt understand...  (in hindsight, this excluded my mom as well...  hmmm...)

anyway, despite my lack of any semblance of fluency in italian, there are certain words that i learned quite differently than you probably did...

we all know what mut-za-rell (mozzarella) is, but do you know what a ri-gut is?  how about mana-gut?  how about Jordan's favorite - gan-ool?

No?  well, thats how my italian grandmother says ricotta (though, actually, we mostly called it pot cheese, which is apparently a cousin of ricotta...), manicotti and, jordan's favorite - cannoli...

and thats how i said all of those things until probably some time in high school when i discovered the Olive Garden or something...

anyway, whats my point?  Oh, i'm getting there - i promise...  anyway, when i was in high school, my father used to make us pastavazool...  and just like manicotti and canolli before it, i had no earthly idea that it was not spelled the way it sounded.  in fact, i dont think that i knew that it was something that anyone other than my family ate.  i mean, it was called pastavazool for chrissake - my dad must have made that up, right?  that word cant be real, can it?

So imagine my non-italian high-school boyfriends amusement when we were at his house one day, raiding the pantry, and i pulled out a can and asked him what 'pasta E fag-e-oli' was...  he's all - 'are you kidding?  your dad makes it all the time!'  and i'm all like, 'HUH?  thats how you spell that???  for real???  how in the world is pasta e fagioli possibly pastavazool???'

anyway, i dont know that i'd had pasta e fagioli since high school but during this past week, when it was snowing - YET AGAIN - i wanted something warm and hearty...  and i got pasta e fagioli in my head and went recipe searching...  yet nothing i found was really right.  pasta e fagioli translates to 'pasta with beans', so why was i finding so many recipes with MEAT in them?  or weird spices?  or no tomatoes?  or - the weirdest one of all - pureed beans?  wha-?  none of them lived up to my memory, so i set out to create my own...  a little from here, a little from there and a lot from my memory...

In the end, i dont know how close i was to what my dad used to make, but what i came up with is definitely "pasta with beans", heartier than a soup, 100% vegetarian (and would be vegan if you skip the parmesan on top) and exactly what a cold, snowy night calls for.

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Pasta e Fagioli
courtesy of me
click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

~ 2/3 of a box of ditalini pasta

1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
3/4 of a vidalia onion, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 small celery heart, diced
4 cloves garlic, smashed & roughly chopped

1.5 tsp minced fresh sage (or .5 tsp dried sage)
1.5 tsp minced fresh oregano (or .5 tsp dried oregano)
1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried thyme.  dried rosemary isnt so great...)
1 tsp dried basil (or 1 tbsp fresh basil)

1 can stewed tomatoes (not drained)
2 c vegetable broth, divided (feel free to use chicken or beef broth if you are not vegetarian)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can cannelini beans
1 can red kidney beans

~ 12 turns of a pepper grinder - probably about 1/2 tsp if you do not have freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
2 - 3 dashes tabasco (optional)

***

These directions are incredibly flexible.  Below i'm giving you approximate cooking times, but all were determined by how long it took me to get to the next step...

Prepare pasta - cooking ~ 3 minutes less than the time indicated on the box for al dente pasta.  Set aside.

In a large, heavy pot (i used this one) heat oil over medium - medium-high heat until it shimmers

dump in the onion, stir briefly to coat all with oil and let it cook while you chop up your carrot, celery and garlic.  (for me, this was about 5 minutes...)

Add the carrots, celery and garlic & stir to combine.  let it cook while you start chopping herbs - again, probably about 5 minutes.  The veggies will be soft and might start to brown every so slightly.

Add the chopped herbs.  I used the fresh/dried combination shown above because its what i had on hand...  see my notes above about exchanges you can do between fresh & dried herbs...

mix and cook ~ 1 minute

Add the stewed tomatoes & their juices along with 1 c of the broth.  Break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon and allow to cook ~ 5 minutes.

Briefly remove from heat and puree ~ 1/3 - 1/2 of what is in the pot.  You want to break up any large chunks of anything but not reduce it to mush...  You can do this in a blender, food processor, with an immersion blender - whatever works for you - just be careful as the liquid is hot!

return the entire thing to the pot and return the pot to medium heat...

simmer 2 - 3 minutes.

add the drained diced tomatoes, the remaining cup of broth & both cans of beans (dont forget to rinse them)
along with ~ 12 turns of the pepper grinder (in a cooking class we took at Miette Culinary Studio we learned that fresh pepper should be used in a ratio of 3 turns of the grinder per serving as this is what most people will ask for in a restaurant.  I always like to leave a little room, so i dialed it back to the equivalent of 4 servings worth of pepper because you can always add more later...  and jordan did...)

add the crushed red pepper & tabasco, if desired.  stir to combine and allow to simmer another few minutes.

Add the not-quite-cooked pasta, stir to combine and allow to simmer ~ 5 more minutes.  Taste the pasta to ensure that it is cooked through and once it is, remove from heat.

Serve with freshly shaved parmigiano reggiano (if you have it or any other grated cheese if you dont) and crusty bread.

reheating note:  this reheats fantastically.  I packed some up for lunch - added a generous amount of parmesan cheese to it while it was still cold - and reheated it in the microwave at work for about 2 minutes, stirring once.

Roasted Corn, Tomato & Garlic Pasta

As we reach the 2 months-to-the-wedding mark, the meat-eater and i are increasingly on the lookout for quick, healthy dinners.  With an abundance of CSA produce in our teeny-tiny fridge (i bet people who dont live in NYC didnt know that fridges come in 2/3 and 3/4 sizes...  they do and it SUCKS) we're always looking for ways to use that rather than run out to Fairway.  (dont get me wrong, i love fairway.  but its patrons?  not so much...)

When i saw a post on markbittman.com for Pasta with Grilled Corn & Roasted Garlic, i thought to myself - 'ok, fine, more pasta...  but hey, we're getting corn from csa this week...'  (in case you couldnt tell, i've wholly embraced pasta-as-a-vehicle-for-veggies this year...)  and this looks different - we've had the spicy tomato squash pasta about 5854 weeks in a row and as good as it is, i needed a break...

In the past, the corn from our CSA hasnt been their best output...  i'd always blamed it on the fact that i grew up on jersey corn (probably the only thing we ever got from farm stands when i was a kid) and there just was no way that the upstate stuff could compete...  That meant that using the corn as a secondary ingredient was generally a decent way to go...

however, this year proved different...  we had 3 ears of corn this week so friday night, we busted one open to use in fish tacos (our official beach meal) and realized that it was some seriously excellent corn...  which made me even more excited for the roasted corn pasta...  which was good, because the meat-eater needed a bit of convincing...

We made a couple of slight changes - added some roasted tomatoes (as we feared they wouldnt last much longer in our overly-warm apartment) and cut a bit of the butter down (wedding dress diets and all...) and ended up with something awesome... This wasnt a savory pasta - the sweetness of the corn and the roasted garlic were fairly awesome with the butter & oil and the parsley - as a general rule, i dont even like parsley but it totally finished this dish off perfectly...

Can you believe we ever doubted Mark Bittman???

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Roasted Corn, Tomato & Garlic Pasta

courtesy of markbittman.com with adaptations by me

2 ears corn, husks and silks removed, washed
5 garlic cloves, skins on

4 small tomatoes, seeds and gel removed, cut into pieces
1 generous tablespoon sweet butter, divided

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 box (or pound) pasta
1 cup pasta water
1/2 cup Italian parsley, leaves only, washed, finely chopped

Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

***

Preheat the oven to 350°

Place the ears of corn, garlic cloves & chopped tomatoes on a baking sheet or roasting pan.  Keep separated, as they will all be incorporated into the final dish differently.  Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the entire pan to coat. Season with sea salt and pepper. 

Oven roast about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool. 

Remove the corn kernels from the cobs and discard the cobs.

Cut off the garlic skins & discard the skins.  Roughly chop the roasted garlic and set aside.

Prepare pasta in accordance with directions for al dente pasta. 

When draining, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. 

Return the pasta to the still hot pot. 

Drizzle with a bit of olive oil, add 1/2 tablespoon sweet butter, season with sea salt and black pepper, stir well, and cover

In a large pan over medium heat,  melt together the remaining 1/2 tbsp of sweet butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Add the roasted garlic to the butter-olive oil mixture. Add 1/2 cup pasta water. Stir well to combine. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally..

Add the corn kernels to the garlic, butter & oil.  Stir to combine.

Add the cooked pasta to the sauce. Toss to coat. 

Incorporate the roasted tomatoes & parsley.  Add the remaining pasta water if you want a thinner sauce. 

Serve with freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese and a crusty baguette.

Tuna Pasta Salad

One night last week, we were at a loss.  No really money to go out, no desire to cook...  Neither of us could decide what we wanted to eat so we sat there, fridge & cupboard open, rattling off everything we saw...

At some point, i turned to the meat eater and said 'tuna pasta salad?' and he was all like, 'ok, whats in it?' and when i mentioned mayo, his response was, 'um, EW?'

and then i realized that tuna pasta salad - one of my favorite things - must be another one of those single behaviours that i didnt even know was strange...

to me, its perfectly logical...  tuna salad = good.  pasta salad = good.  tuna pasta salad = good!

he couldnt think of anything better, so tuna pasta salad it was.  ha!  forget food pictures, i should have taken a video of his expressions as i was putting it all together...  'wait, you're putting MUSTARD in it?'  'um, what else do we have in the house if this is gross?'  'maybe i should just order something now?'

That first night (oh, because, spoiler alert:  we made it twice last week) i made it two ways... His with tomatos and parmesan and mine with celery and feta.  I tried both and realized that the feta - not so much...  it was fine, but not particularly interesting...  kinda just tuna salad with feta and pasta - not so much anything that made it seem cohesive at all...

but the tomatoes & parmesan - now we were talking....

I'll have you all know, the reason we had it twice?  oh, cause the skeptical meat-eater? he requested it the second time...

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Tuna Pasta Salad
courtesy of me
Click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

5 oz pasta of your choice (we made campanelle once and orecchiette the second time.  Shells work too.)

2 5oz cans solid white albacore tuna in water, drained
1/4 c light mayo
1 - 2 tsp spicy brown mustard
salt
pepper
garlic powder
onion powder

1 14.5 oz can zesty diced tomatoes, drained

1/4 c grated parmesan

***

Prepare pasta according to directions on pacakge.  cool under cold water to stop cooking & cool pasta down.  Set aside

Prepare tuna salad - combine tuna, light mayo and spicy brown mustard first.  then add salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to taste.  (I like a decent amount of each - a few shakes -  but i always start slow and build up because nothing ruins this faster than too much garlic or onion powder...)

Once tuna salad is to your liking (it will most likely be a bit dryer than you usually would eat it), add in the tomatoes & parmesan.

Once all is combined, check the taste again and adjust accordingly.  You may find that you still want a bit more mayo or maybe a bit more spice.  I generally add a bit more onion and pepper at this point but it all depends on how heavy handed i was to begin with...

Linguine, roasted squash & spicy garlic tomatoes

This summer i've been all about the thin pastas...  historically, i really couldnt stand spaghetti, linguine, vermicelli or anything else like it.  Angel hair had its place cause it was so quick, but aside from that, i was all about the shapes.

for some reason, this summer, all i want is the long, thin stuff...

After a weekend at the beach (a weekend in which i failed to repair tan lines and instead just shifted to new ones...) and a long ride home, we were tempted to order in, but i was thinking of the 3lbs of squash sitting in the crisper and it just seemed silly to not use it...  and since sunday is pasta night in this jewish-italian household, the squash & pasta fallback was a natural fit.

In addition to the thin spaghettis, we've also been all about oil & butter-based sauces instead of traditional red sauces this summer - another natural fit for the squash, as i see no need to drown the taste in a ton of traditional red sauce.

This meal was about 10-15 minutes hands on - exactly what we needed on a hot, lazy sunday night.

---

Linguine, Roasted Squash & Spicy Garlic Tomatoes
courtesy of me & the meat-eater
Click here to import directly into Pepperplate

~1lb assorted squash (we used zucchini & patty pan)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
garlic powder
black pepper

1/3 box thin pasta of your choice

3/4 tbsp olive oil
3/4 tbsp butter
3-4 cloves of garlic
1/2 can of zesty diced tomatoes
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

ricotta (optional)
parmesan (optional)

***

Preheat oven to 375

Cut squash into bite size pieces.  Place on cookie sheet & toss with a bit of olive oil, salt, garlic powder & a generous amount of black pepper.

Roast for ~20 minutes, tossing again once.

Just after the squash goes into the oven, begin the water boiling for the pasta.
Cook pasta al dente, according to directions on box.

Just as you throw the pasta in to cook, put olive oil & butter in a pan over medium heat.  While its heating, chop the garlic into small pieces.

Once butter is melted, throw garlic into the pan & cook until a bit browned.
Lower the heat slightly and stir in tomatoes.
Simmer for about 5 minutes or until most of the liquid has cooked down, but just before you turn it off, shake in a little bit of crushed red pepper, mix it around and then turn it off.

Just as the sauce is finishing, the squash should be roasted and the pasta should be drained and waiting.

Plate pasta, put squash over top of pasta and top with tomatoes.

Add a spoonful of ricotta, a sprinkling of parmesan, a hunk of crusty baguette & a glass of white wine and you've got yourself a sunday night :)

(serves 2)

Orecchiette with Scallops, Favas & Spring Peas

the ongoing quest to use up as much of our CSA share as possible is doing fairly well, given who you're looking at here... there's been tons of salads, an experiment with my least-favorite thing - chard - that i actually liked, mint-gingerade, etc etc. Not everything is a winner, nor are the recipes all mind-blowing but some are and also? i'm going to assume that its no coincidence that i've lost a few lbs since CSA began this year...

Its been HOTTER than hell in NYC this week, so when i polled my twitter friends to see what i should eat for dinner on tuesday, my friend roopa mentioned that she was making orecchiette, favas & peas from her own CSA share.

do you know how excellent it is to have a friend who is a good cook AND is one day ahead of you on CSA pickup?

I highly recommend it.

Anyway, wednesday comes around and i'm still thinking of Roopa's idea and then i see that Mark Bittman's personal site has a guest post from someone also using pasta, favas & peas...

If both of my go-to sources are pimping out similar recipes, it must be the thing to make, right?

So i called up the meat-eater and asked him to take a quick inventory of our cabinets/fridge/freezer. turned out that we could make up our own version of this with minimal purchases... I'm not always so brave when it comes to that but, as the meat eater always reminds me, worst case scenario? we just order in.

In all the times he's said that, we havent had to do it yet...

---

Orecchiette with Scallops, Favas & Spring Peas
courtesy of me (inspired by Raspberry Eggplant & Mark Bittman)

Note: Many, many modifications could me made to this recipe based on what you have at home (see the inspiration links above) and i think you'd still end up with something excellent! Not the least of those being that you could eliminate the scallops and be totally vegetarian friendly... Not to mention that, if you were cooking for a veg & a non-veg, it would be super-simple to prepare it half & half...

2 c dry orecchiette

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil

1lb bay scallops

1.5 tbsp mint pesto
1.5 tbsp garlic scape pesto

1lb shelled favas (shelling tutorial)
1/2lb shelled peas (shelling tutorial)

salt
pepper
Parmesan cheese
***

Shell the favas & peas & set aside.

Prepare orecchiette according to directions on the box, leaving just slightly al dente. Reserve 1/4 c of the pasta water

Heat a olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat
Add the scallops & add pepper to taste.
Cook scallops until just about 3/4 done (cooked scallops are completely opaque, so make sure you dont let them get that far yet).
Carefully drain the liquid out of the pan so that the pan is mostly dry. (you will need to do this as the scallops will have released water and you will have more liquid in the pan than will allow for any browning)
Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the butter, and saute the scallops until you just see a tiny bit of browning on the edges. be careful to not over-cook.

Remove scallops from pan and set aside.

Lower heat to just shy of medium and add the peas & favas. Add a bit of olive oil if you dont think the pan has enough liquid left over from the scallops to prevent the favas & peas from sticking.
saute for ~2 - 3 minutes.
Lower heat to medium and put orecchiette, scallops & both kinds of pesto in the pan & toss until combined.
Add a bit of the reserved pasta water if your pesto is on the thick side (optional)

Plate & top with parmesan & more pepper, if desired.

Cacio e Pepe

(formerly titled "making up for past transgressions")

a while back, while perusing tumblr, i came across a recipe; basically pasta with pepper but if you want it to sound fancy, call it Cacio e Pepe.

it sounded different, cheesy and easy so we decided to make it one night..  However, being rule-breakers, we basically did everything that the original recipe said not to do - we didnt buy superfresh black pepper - we just used the little 4 pepper grinder that was up in the cabinet.  we didnt use two kinds of cheese - we used whatever it was that we had in the fridge...  and that month or two ago?  it was ok but WAY too hot (um, thats why the recipe didnt call for 4-color pepper, i suppose?).  and not good enough to be worth it.  i dont think i even finished mine.  and dude, i like to eat, so thats saying something.

i never criticized though - didnt post it as a recipe-gone-wrong - because really, i hate those people on recipezaar who are like "this recipe SUCKS - i made 435 substitutions of the ingredients and it didnt cook right and tasted NOTHING like cheesecake!"

however, even though it may have been our fault the first time, you can understand why i was a bit skeptical to try again...  but we agreed to follow the recipe as written this time and - ooh boy - its amazing how different something comes out when you actually FOLLOW the recipe...   made the right way with the right ingredients - this one is a winner.

someone should remind the recipezaar folks of that...

---

Cacio e Pepe
courtesy of We Are Never Full - barely any modifications by me
Click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

3/4 pound of spaghetti
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1.5 tablespoons freshly ground pepper 
a bit of the pasta cooking liquid (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup of freshly ground pecorino romano
1/2 cup freshly ground parmigiano reggiano

***

Prepare spagetti according to directions on package.  Reserve some of the liquid (about 1/4 cup)

When pasta only has a few minutes left, begin preparing the sauce.

In a separate pan, on low-medium heat, add your butter, oil and 3/4 tbps pepper.
Allow the butter to melt, swirling the pan around to help it move a bit.

When spaghetti is done, add the reserved cooking liquid to your melted butter/pepper/olive oil sauce and swirl the pot again.

Turn heat down to low. Add your spaghetti and toss once.
Add your cheeses and the rest of the pepper (3/4 tbsp) and toss the spaghetti again in the pan to combine all ingredients.

Top with a sprinkle more of pepper and cheese, if desired.
Serve with warm baguette and wine, of course

he said, she said

you know whats really fun? being a pseudo-vegetarian and dating someone who isnt..

of course, i'm one of those weird 'vegetarians' who thinks that boy vegetarians are a bit... well, not for me. i dont know why - i dont subscribe to traditional gender roles, i dont think, but somehow i truly think that there's a whole 'me man, me eat meat' thing that should be going on with a guy... therefore, as antiquated as my otherwise evolved brain may be, while its not always the easiest way to eat, it is pretty much been the standard in my life... and i'm fairly sure the current meat-eater is sticking around for, well, forever, so its going to stay the standard.

there should be some sort of guide as to how to exist in this kind of relationship without it being a case of one person eats meat and a side and the other just eats a big portion of side... (oh, sure, steal my idea...) because really, as the potential sides-only eater? not so appealing to me... so i'm always looking for another way - a way to take a meal and turn one into something that satisfies the meat eater without leaving the vegetarian with something bland...

so, changing topics, CSA started again this week... summer shares began a week earlier than expected due to the abundance of crops ready for harvesting, but, as is usual, the first week was still fairly greens-heavy while being overall light... bok choi, cooking greens, baby turnips, radishes, spring garlic and scallions. all cool, but save for the garlic and scallions (which, due to a mixup were all but gone by the time i arrived for pickup) not things i use all that much... however, i am bound and determined to not let so much go to waste this season (winter was kindof a bust for me) and wanted to get started on my reformed, non-wasting ways right away...

a number of people posted recipes for the greens and all had a similar take. the meat-eater and i discussed those recipies and modified and came up with our own idea of how to cook the greens into something we'd both like and even went so far as to figure out how to make one meat-eater-friendly while maintaing the fact that the vegetarian version was not lacking. I hope you'll find one or both versions to work for you.

---

Garlic Greens & Pasta
recipe courtesy of me & the meat-eater

3/4 lb pasta, any kind
1/2 lb mixed cooking greens, leaves torn into small pieces and stems seperated and chopped into 1-inch segments
4 spring garlics - bulbs and 2 inches of stems - diced
1 scallion - bulb and 2 inches of stem - diced
3 tbsp olive oil
3/4 c vegetable broth
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
salt & pepper
3 oz asiago cheese, cubed

veg:
2 tbsp hazelnuts, chopped

meat eater:
1 pre-grilled chicken breast, cut up into pieces


Prepare pasta according to directions

meanwhile, heat olive oil in frying pan over med heat

add garlic & scallions and cook ~ 5 minutes, until soft

add greens stems and a splash of the broth and cook until stems have softened a bit

add the remainder of the broth and all of the greens

cover and allow to cook ~ 5 minutes

remove cover, stir greens and check for doneness. If you would like them wiltier, cook longer.

drain excess liquid & add tomatoes

stir ~ 1 minute to heat & combine

add drained pasta to the mixture and stir to combine (& reheat the pasta if it had finished too quickly)

***
seperate into 4 serving bowls

add 1/4 of the asiago to each bowl

add 1/2 of the hazelnuts to the vegetarian bowls (above amount assumes 2)

add 1/2 of the cut up chicken breast to each of the meat-eater bowls (above amount assumes 2)

Dear Martha Stewart,

Hi Martha. How's it going?

You know, I've always been a Martha fan. own the cookie book. subscribe to some of the daily emails. even almost went to work for your company (albeit while you were *ahem* away...)

So the other day when yet another martha stewart mac & cheese recipe landed in my inbox, i thought to myself, 'self... you know all that CSA cheese you got? how you thought it was totally neccessary to order 24 oz of cheese at one time? well, self, this recipe will totally use up some of that! 12 oz of that! do it! make it!' and since i always listen to the voices in my head (when they are suggesting that i eat bad-for-me food) i printed out that recipe and headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things i didnt have. namely macaroni and panko... 3 cups of panko. even though that sounded like an awful lot of panko... but martha, you are an empire unto yourself. who am i to question?

so even as i worked - cooking the mac & making the cheese sauce - i just kept thinking - 3 cups? i must be reading that wrong... but no, i'd look at it time and again and sure enough, 3 cups. and then i'd think to myself... well she said 3 c of fresh breadcrumbs... is it possible that panko is THAT MUCH DENSER? and i'm all like, nah. just a different taste...

so anyway, i motored on and put it all together and poured that panko/butter mix over the top. over and over and over. it felt like i was my dog burying my bone in the backyard. or a kid in a sandbox. yeah, kid in a sandbox - lets stick with that one...

but martha, i had faith. faith in you and your copywriters and your commenters... it would be good. it would be fine.

and then i took it out. and lady, you need to hire new editors... because there aint NO WAY IN HELL that there should have been 3 cups of breadcrumbs - fresh, panko or otherwise - on top of that mac & cheese. NO WAY IN HELL.

i scraped off about 2 cups

and honestly, the mac & cheese was still fairly dry.

therefore martha, consider this my PSA... because now when people google 'martha stewart macaroni and cheese recipe correction' they'll end up here. instead of writing you letters telling you that you owe them $2.49 for all that wasted panko...

Sincerely,
Kristen at kitchenhell

---

Macaroni & Cheese
slightly adjusted and corrected courtesy of me with original mistake from Martha Stewart

1 pound elbo macaroni
Coarse sea salt

6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 cups shredded (12 ounces) sharp white cheddar cheese
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup panko



Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water 1 to 2 minutes less than package instructions.
Drain, rinse with cool water, and place into baking dish (I used an 8x12. You can use something bigger or make individual portions - cooking times are listed at the end).

Meanwhile, heat 4 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add flour; cook, whisking, 1 minute.
Add milk, cayenne, nutmeg, and 2 teaspoons salt; bring to a simmer.
Cook, whisking, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes.
Whisk in cheeses until smooth.

Pour over pasta; toss to coat.

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter; toss with breadcrumbs.
Sprinkle over pasta.

Cover baking dish with foil. Bake until bubbling, 60 to 70 minutes for large dishes, 40 to 50 minutes for small. (check after 35 mins for individual sized dishes)

Remove foil; continue baking until golden, 5 to 10 minutes more.

susan's revenge

last winter, i called my friend susan to get her chili recipe and had to suffer my usually-cynical friend gushing on about some guy...

fastforward a couple months and we are reminded why we are cynical and jaded...
yeah, you guessed it, he broke her heart...

to make matters worse, she was perusing my blog and ran across the entry dedicated to her gushy rants which served to only further depress... when she mentioned it, i asked her if she wanted me to take the post down, change the name, whatever... she said no, but we did need to come up with the anti-susan's-in-love recipe...

and what better comfort-breakup food than easymac with cut up hotdogs (you can decide if there's some symbolism going on there or not.)

susan's a vegetarian, so you will have to suffer thru tofu dogs, but i'm sure it would work just the same with regular hot dogs... hell, it was always good when i was a little kid!

---

Susan's Revenge
courtesy of me & susan

1 container easy mac
1 tofu dog


Prepare easy mac according to directions on the container

cook tofu dog in microwave for 45 seconds

while cheese sause is thickening, hack veggie dog into a million little pieces

combine all in the easy mac cup

enjoy while watching High Fidelity - our choice for ultimate breakup movie...

visiting an old standby

growing up, one of the italian traditions that my family always followed was pasta on sunday. i often wonder if my mom ever had any traditions that we ignored because the italians were louder and therefore, won out... the only one i can think of that was 'mom's side' tradition is thanksgiving. but thats fairly irrlevant right now...

anyway, i had kind of abandoned the pasta on sunday tradition in college - mostly because we ate pasta about 6 times a week due to the cheapness of it - and then after that, i was totally sick to death of pasta... then there was the whole 'white flour is bad, carbs are bad, everything you like is bad' diets that infiltrated society and made eating pasta seem like a mortal sin...

regardless, i dont have many food traditions that i follow on a weekly basis anymore, but when the pasta craving hits, i tend to save it for sundays, because it just feels right that way.

this is a whole lot of crap just to get to the half-recipe that i'm about to share, isnt it?
i dont really consider what i did last night cooking because i didnt make anything from scratch, but its a pretty good little meal anyway - and quick on top of that... unfortunately for you, i finally understand why my italian grandmother can never give me an actual recipe - because she just eyeballs things... i'm making my best attempt at telling you the proportions of what goes in here, but feel free to change based on your taste or if something just doesnt seem right, because this is hardly an exact recipe.

This could also easily be made with regular sausage or without feta (though thats half the fun) or with a different vegetable... its really just a guideline for a quick & yummy sunday night meal...

---

Gemelli with Veggie Sausage
courtesy of me

2 Boca italian sausages
1/2 lb gemelli pasta
2 c broccoli florettes
1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 jar Newman's Own Sockarooni pasta sauce
1 - 2 cloves garlic - minced
3 oz feta crumbles
1/8 c grated peccorino-romano cheese (parmesan would work as well)
1/4 c pine nuts

Place italian sausages in covered frying pan with 1/2 - 1 c of water and cook over medium heat for 10 - 12 minutes.

At the same time, bring salted water to a boil and put the pasta in when the water is boiling. (about 5 - 6 minutes after beginning the sausage). Cook pasta ~6 minutes, then place broccoli florettes in the pan with it and cook another ~6 minutes, or until pasta is al dente.

Once the sausage has cooked and is softened, drain out water and put olive oil in the pan. Lower the heat to med-low. Cut sausages into 1/4s and brown in the oil, rolling a couple of times to brown on each side, for 3 - 4 minutes, uncovered.

Once browned, lower heat to low and add the garlic. Then pour pasta sauce into the frying pan with the sausage. be careful as sauce will most likely want to splatter when it hits the oil.

Once pasta & brocolli are done cooking, drain and put it into the frying pan with the sausage. stir until pasta is coated.

Add feta, peccorino-romano and most of the pine nuts and stir.

Remove from heat and place into bowls. Garnish with a few pine nuts.

Serves 2.

yeah, my food is on YouTube. your point???

when i first moved up to NYC and was still trying to get my bearings, there were a few things that instantly became comforts in 'the big scary city' - and most of them came from Fairway... either the hot food counter or the spin dip/baguette combo...

well, it must have been cold one day last month, because for some unknown reason, i decided that i needed to make the mother of all cold weather comfort food - mac & cheese. and i decided to base it on the recipe published as Fairway's. and i decided to wait for another fall-like day to publish it here. luckily for you, its raining and 60° in NYC today... fall, finally.

i got the book, Macaroni & Cheese, a while back but at the time, had no idea that they had the recipe for the since-discontinued Fairway Mac & Cheese - one of my good friends those first few months.

It was only after noticing some yummy pasta & cheese goodness on the cover of a Vegetarian Times that i even thought to pick up the cookbook (the VT recipe was like, lo cal or something. and what the hell is the point of making mac & cheese - 2 decidedly un-diet-friendly items - if you are going to try to dietize it???) and while flipping through, came across the Fairway recipe...

(for those either in or familiar with NYC, the book also has recipes from the Soho Grand, Chat n' Chew's and the Comfort Diner - non-NYers, i think thats the diner of final scene of Devil Wears Prada fame, but i'm too lazy to put the DVD in and look it up... But perhaps most surprisingly, they also have Norma's 'Chunks of Lobster Swimming in Cheesy Macaroni')

The cool thing about mac & cheese is that its another one of those things that, even if you mess it up and its bad, its still macaroni & cheese. and therefore, its still going to be good.

That said, I'd like to pretend that i looked at the ingredient list and came up with a few tweaks that i thought may improve the flavor/texture/color/whatever but the only differences between my mac & cheese and fairway's mac & cheese is that, once again, i cant read instructions... I guess i had looked at so many recipes that day that the shopping list got muddled... i could pretend that the differences were on purpose and go on and on about how this change made it creamier or spicier or more SOMETHING and really, none of you would ever know the difference. but the fact of the matter is they werent, and i have no need to make myself seem more important or talented than i already am.

my mac & cheese kicked ass. so much ass that i gained no less than 3lbs in as many days since i ate it for dinner every night. if the true test of a recipe is whether the leftovers are eaten or thrown away a month later after they are unidentifiable, well then, kids, we have a winner.

broccoli included in an effort to cancel out the inherent unhealthiness of it all. given those 3 lbs that i mentioned, i'm going to say that it didnt work...

---

Fairway mac & cheese

96% taken from Macaroni & Cheese – Joan Schwartz

½ lb elbow or other macaroni of choice

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
½ c skim milk
½ c light cream
½ c heavy cream

½ lb shredded Wisconsin extra sharp cheddar (about 2 cups)
¼ lb shredded Comte (about 1 cup)

1 green onion, cut into small pieces
1/6th tsp nutmeg
3 – 4 dashes hot sauce

Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

1.5 tbsp plain bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350°. Generously butter 8x8 glass baking dish (don’t use the butter listed above, this is in addition)

Cook macaroni in accordance with directions, until al dente. Put in large mixing bowl.

In a medium sized sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat
Whisk in flour, eliminating any lumps
Raise heat to medium high and whisk in milk, heavy cream and light cream and allow to boil

Reduce heat back to medium and add cheeses.
Stir with wooden spoon until melted.

Mix in green onion, nutmeg and hot sauce.
Salt & pepper to taste.

Pour cheese mixture over macaroni, stirring to incorporate well.
Transfer to the baking dish, topping with bread crumbs, a sprinkle of nutmeg and a few twists of fresh pepper, if desired.

Bake 20 – 25 mins until bubbly and golden brown.

Allow to set 10 minutes before serving.