Mark Bittman's Pasta With Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower, about 1 pound
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound penne, fusilli or other cut pasta
1 cup coarse bread crumbs.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Trim the cauliflower, and divide it into florets. Add about a tablespoon of salt to the water, and boil the cauliflower in it until it is tender but not mushy. Using a slotted spoon or strainer, remove the cauliflower and set it aside. When it is cool enough to handle, chop it roughly into small pieces.

2. Meanwhile, in a large deep skillet over medium-low heat, saute garlic in olive oil, stirring occasionally, until garlic is golden. Be careful with the garlic: it should not brown in the oil but just begin to color (to ''blond,'' as the Italians say). Start cooking pasta in same pot and same water as was used for the cauliflower.

3. When the garlic is ready, add the cauliflower and bread crumbs to skillet, and turn heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally. When pasta is just about done -- it should be two or three minutes short of the way you like it -- drain it, reserving about a cup of cooking liquid.

4. Add pasta to skillet containing the cauliflower, and toss with a large spoon until they are well combined. Add salt and pepper to taste, along with just enough pasta water to keep the mixture moist but not soupy. When the mixture is hot and the pasta is tender and nicely glazed, serve.

Yield: 3 or 4 servings.


Optional variations:
1. Substitute broccoli, kale or collards for the cauliflower.
2. When you're simmering the garlic, add anchovies, capers, pine nuts or dried red pepper flakes -- some or all of them.
3. Toss crumbled cooked sausage meat or chopped shrimp into the garlic mixture along with the bread crumbs.
4. Garnish with chopped parsley, basil or grated Parmesan.

http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F40914FE39540C708EDDAB0894D8404482

Pasta With Spicy Broccoli Rabe and Raisins

The farmer who sold me a huge bunch of broccoli rabe at the Greenmarket knew only one way to cook it -- sauté it using lots and lots of oil. No thanks! I found this recipe in SOAR: Searchable Online Archive of Recipes (which has since changed its name to RecipeSource). It is delicious, sweet, spicy, filling and fast. I think it would be just as good with any other strongly flavored, leafy, dark green vegetable. Try using spinach or collard greens instead of the broccoli rabe.

2 bunches broccoli rabe (1 lbs. each) ends stripped off and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 lb. penne, ziti or other whole wheat pasta
4 teaspoons vegetable stock
6 Tablespoons raisins
8 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)
4 Tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
freshly ground pepper

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the broccoli and blanch for 1 minute. Drain and pat dry. Bring another large pot of salted water to the boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat 2 teaspoons of the veggie stock in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the raisins and cook, tossing frequently, until lightly "toasted." Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Add the broccoli, the water and the red pepper and cook until tender (about 5 minutes).

Drain the pasta and add the broccoli, the remaining veggie stock, the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Toss to combine. Yield: 4 servings

NOTE: The recipe posted on SOAR was adapted from an article by Molly O'Neill in the New York Times Magazine, March 20 1994.

http://www.recipesource.com/main-dishes/pasta/spicy-broccoli-pasta.html

Spaghetti With Fried Eggs

This is an old Neapolitan dish, cheap, fast and very easy - perfect on nights when it seems as though there is nothing in the house to eat. The eggs and oil produce a creamy sauce, sort of like a carbonara sauce.

Salt
1/2 pound thin spaghetti
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and split in half
4 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese (optional)

Boil a large pot of salted water and add the pasta. A few minutes before the pasta is done, start working on the sauce. Put the garlic and 4 tablespoons of the oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Sauté the garlic until it is lightly colored but not yet brown, pressing it into the oil to release its flavor. Discard the garlic and add the remaining two tablespoons of oil.

Fry the eggs gently in the oil until the eggs are just about set and the yolks are still runny. Drain the pasta and toss with the eggs and oil, completely breaking up the egg whites as you mix it with the pasta. The heat of the pasta will continue to cook the eggs and form the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste and top with grated cheese.

Nigella Lawson's Favorite Pastas #1: With Potatoes, Green Beans and Pesto

British food goddess Nigella Lawson calls this one of her two favorite pasta recipes. Nigella says that although "I have indicated that the serving is for one or two ... I find it all too easy to polish off on my own."

Pasta With Potatoes, Green Beans and Pesto
Time: 35 minutes

Salt
2 cups (8 ounces) potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
8 ounces dried linguine
1 cup (2 ounces) green beans, trimmed and cut into short lengths
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
2/3 cup grated pecorino cheese
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil.

1. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water. Add potatoes, place over high heat, and bring to a boil. Cook potatoes until tender, about 20 minutes. Add linguine to pot and, a few minutes later, the beans. Cook pasta to taste.

2. While pasta cooks, prepare pesto: In a food processor, combine basil, garlic and cheese. Process until mixture is finely chopped. With motor running, pour oil down feed tube to make a coarse purée. (If you are pressed for time or ingredients -- or lazy -- you'll still achieve good results by substituting a jar of pesto sauce.)

3. Remove about a cup of cooking water from pasta pot, then drain pasta, potatoes and beans. With food processor running, add 1/4 cup cooking water to pesto. Dry pasta pan, and return potatoes, beans and pasta to it. Add pesto to ingredients in pan. If desired, add enough reserved cooking water to thin sauce so that it coats strands of pasta as it is tossed with a fork. Serve immediately.

Yield: 2 servings.

Nigella Lawson's Favorite Pastas #2: Pasta au Gratin

Pasta au Gratin
Time: 30 minutes

Salt
Butter for greasing baking dish
4 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 3/8 cups (14 ounces) diced canned tomatoes
4 ounces small macaroni or other short pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup fresh soft breadcrumbs.

1. Place a baking sheet in oven, and heat oven to 450 degrees. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Butter a gratin dish 8 by 6 by 1 3/8 inches deep, and set aside.

2. Place a deep skillet over medium heat, and sauté bacon until it begins to release its fat. Add onion, and sauté until onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Add pepper flakes, tomatoes (with their liquid) and 1/4 cup water. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

3. While tomato mixture simmers, add macaroni to boiling water, and cook until tender with a bit of a bite. Meanwhile place a small skillet over medium heat. Add oil and garlic and sauté until garlic begins to color. Add breadcrumbs and stir until they have absorbed oil and are golden.

4. Drain cooked macaroni and add it to tomato sauce. Pour mixture into buttered gratin dish. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top, and place on baking sheet in oven. Bake until sauce bubbles and top of gratin is browned, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Yield: 1 to 2 servings.

Best-Ever Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup cottage cheese (not lowfat)
2 cups milk (not skim)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch cayenne
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
½ pound elbow pasta, uncooked.

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees and position an oven rack in upper third of oven. Use 1 tablespoon butter to butter a 9-inch round or square baking pan.

2. In a blender, purée cottage cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg and salt and pepper together. Reserve ¼ cup grated cheese for topping. In a large bowl, combine remaining grated cheese, milk mixture and uncooked pasta. Pour into prepared pan, cover tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes.

3. Uncover pan, stir gently, sprinkle with reserved cheese and dot with remaining tablespoon butter. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes more, until browned. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Best-Ever Crusty Macaroni and Cheese

3 tablespoons butter
12 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
12 ounces American cheese or cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
1 pound elbow pasta, boiled in salted water until just tender, drained, and rinsed under cold water
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
Salt
2/3 cup whole milk.

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Use one tablespoon butter to thickly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Combine grated cheeses and set aside two heaping cups for topping.

2. In a large bowl, toss together the pasta, cheeses, cayenne (if using) and salt to taste. Place in prepared pan and evenly pour milk over surface. Sprinkle reserved cheese on top, dot with remaining butter and bake, uncovered, 45 minutes. Raise heat to 400 degrees and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until crusty on top and bottom.

Mark Bittman's Baked Ziti

According to Mark Bittman, "This is not a real Italian Dish, but consider it more Italian-American."

Salt and pepper
1 pound Italian sausage, ground
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic, optional
1 28-ounce can tomatoes, chopped, with liquid
1 pound ziti or other large cut pasta
1 pound mozzarella, chopped
Olive oil or butter as needed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Bring large pot of water to boil; salt it. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Distribute meat in large skillet over medium high heat and cook, undisturbed, until browned on one side, about 5 minutes. Stir, cook another 2 minutes undisturbed, then add the onion and garlic, if using. Lower heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft; add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer while cooking pasta, stirring and seasoning with salt and pepper to taste; do not let sauce become too thick.

Cook pasta until just tender; it should still be too hard to eat. Drain it (do not shake the colander; allow some water to cling to the noodles) and toss it with the sauce and half the mozzarella. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and spoon mixture into it. Top with remaining mozzarella and the Parmesan if using. Bake until top is browned and cheese bubbly, 20 to 30 minutes.

Yield: 6 servings.