Christmas Pasta

I know it's happened to you. Folks invited for a drink stretch cocktails into the dinner hour, leaving you to puzzle how a meatloaf will feed ten people. I'm a pro in the "loaves and fishes" department. I might deconstruct the meatloaf and turn it into chili mac, but I'd be even more likely to make a dish we call Christmas pasta. My pantry and refrigerator are stocked with the few staples required to pull this off because unplanned dinner guests are no strangers at our table - especially at Christmas time. The pasta is simple to make and the colors give it a holiday feeling. It's a great addition to a buffet table or covered dish supper. There's only so much that can be said about peppers, peas and cream, so, rather than embroider something so basic, I'll simply say it's delicious and move on. I'm sending my recipe to Mary of Baking Delights who is hosting this week's Presto Pasta Nights a blogging event sponsored by Ruth at Once Upon A Feast. This is a nice recipe to have on file.

Christmas Pasta

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 large onion, sliced
2 large red bell peppers, julienned
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 cups half-and-half or light cream
3 large eggs, beaten
1 pound penne pasta
1 to 2 cups frozen petite peas, thawed
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 to 1 cup grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1) Bring 6-quarts of well-salted water to a rolling boil.
2) Heat olive oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add onions and peppers and saute until tender. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat. Stir in parsley. Set aside.
3) Heat half-and-half in a microwave on HIGH power for 1 minute. Whisking constantly, add to eggs. Set aside.
4) Cook pasta in boiling, salted water per package instructions. Drain in a colander. Add pasta, peas and basil to sauteed vegetables. Toss to combine. Add egg-cream mixture and Parmesan cheese. Toss and serve immediately. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Dessert Tagliatelle with Caramelized Oranges and Almonds

I stumbled on this recipe several weeks ago. I was so intrigued that I kept returning to The Splendid Table to take another look at Lynne Rossetto Kasper's recipe for sweet pasta. I reasoned that if noodle kugel could be served for dessert, this might also work. I decided to try it and send it on to Ruth Daniels at Once Upon A Feast who is hosting this week's Presto Pasta Night. This version of tagliatelle was served as an accompaniment to poultry and meat in the 16th century and Lynne suggests it would make a good, and surprising, dessert. She's right. Once the brain adjusts to the novelty, the palate takes over and the play of flavors is, indeed, quite pleasant. It's a bit of a fuss to put together, but it's so unique I urge you to try it at least once. I'll be making this again.

Tagliatelle with Caramelized Oranges and Almonds

Ingredients:
Shredded zest of 3 large Valencia or navel oranges
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
2/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 quarts salted water
1 pound imported dried tagliatelle
3 to 4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup (5 ounces) freshly grated Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 cup whole blanched almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

Directions:
1) To make sauce: Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Use a wooden spoon to stir in 1/4 cup of orange juice and 2/3 cup of sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring in spoonfuls of orange juice to keep sauce from crystallizing (reserve about 1/3 cup orange juice for finishing sauce). Once sugar is dissolved, heat can be turned up to medium-high or high. Stir occasionally. When mixture turns a deep golden amber, stir in pepper and two-thirds of orange zest. Cook only a second or two to protect rind from burning. Then step back from skillet and pour in reserved 1/3 cup of orange juice at arm's length. It will bubble up and possibly spatter, before thinning sauce to ideal consistency. Turn off the heat. If making ahead, remove pan from heat, cool and cover.
2) To cook pasta: Warm dessert dishes in a 250 degree oven. Bring pasta water to a rolling boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook until just tender. Drain in a colander. Bring sauce to a boil in a large skillet. Add pasta and toss to coat thoroughly. Sprinkle with remaining sugar, cinnamon, cheese, almonds, and reserved orange rind. Mound small portions on warm plates and serve hot. Yield: 10 to 12 dessert servings.

Shanghai Noodles

This dish is best made with a thick chewy noodle and finished with a generous sprinkling of white pepper. You can watch your noodles being made in the restaurants and kiosks of Shanghai - it's considered entertainment. Shanghai, an old city systematically leveled and then rebuilt to look old again, was especially welcoming to us this past May. We were in China during the May earthquake - let me quickly add that we were never in any danger and inconvenience was the only consequence we had to deal with. When the quake began we were on a train about 140 miles from the epicenter in Chengdu and, while we felt the tremor, we thought a bad patch of track had caused the violent shaking and brought the train to a stop. It wasn't until the army and local militia swarmed onto the rail beds that we had any idea that something was seriously wrong. We sat on the train for about six hours while they checked the tracks before allowing us to proceed to Xi'an. We continued our adventure but the almost European sophistication of Shanghai, the luxury of a bubble bath and a bowl of these steaming noodles was truly welcome when finally got there. These noodles are found everywhere in Shanghai. They have a warm, stick to your ribs quality that make them as comforting as Mom's chicken soup. They lack the heat of pepper and chile found in so many Chinese noodle dishes; the flavor comes, instead, from a perfect blend of oyster and soy sauce that binds tender pork and cabbage into an amalgam that warms the stomach and the heart. Chinese chefs have a unique way of cooking noodles. Water is brought to a boil, noodles are added, then cold water is added and the mixture is brought to a boil again. The procedure is repeated until the noodles are barely tender. The whole procedure takes about 3 minutes when using freshly prepared noodles. I'm not sure it improves the noodles but it's sure interesting to watch. I really shouldn't say that - anyone who has ever worked with fresh noodles knows how quickly they become paste; the addition of the cold water prevents that from happening. This is a great recipe - I hesitate to add that there as many recipes for Shanghai noodles as there are for Mom's chicken soup, so my rendering is just one of many in the pot. It's not expensive and it's easy to do.

Shanghai Noodles - Shanghai Mian

Ingredients:
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
12 ounces pork tenderloin, thinly sliced in strips
1 pound fresh Chinese style noodles or 1/2 pound dry pasta
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 green onions cut into 2-inch pieces then julienned
3 cups sliced Napa cabbage, white and green kept separate
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
White pepper to taste

Directions:
1) In a 1-quart bowl combine tamari, oyster sauce, sugar, ginger and pork. Toss to combine. Let sit for 10 minutes. Drain saving marinade.
2) Cook noodles per package instructions. Drain and set aside.
3) Heat vegetable oil in a wok or deep frying pan over high heat. Add pork and stir fry until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Transfer to a plate.
4) Add half the garlic slices and all the green onion and the white part of the cabbage. Stir fry until softened, about 30 seconds. Add the pork, reserved marinade and green portion of cabbage; stir fry until cabbage wilts, about 30 seconds.
5) Add noodles. Toss. Dissolve cornstarch in chicken stock and pour over noodles. Toss to coat noodles. Transfer to a serving platter.
6) Warm sesame oil in a small saucepan until smoking. Add reserved garlic and cook till fragrant. Pour over noodles. Season to taste with pepper. Yield: 4 servings.

I'm sending this recipe to Vanielje Kitchen who is hosting Presto Pasta Nights # 89.