Whole Wheat Penne and Cauliflower alla Puttanesca

This is my kind of pasta dish. Contrary to the Penne Pasta with Multicolored Cauliflower and Gorgonzola recipe I posted a while back, this pasta contains no cream or cheese, and uses whole wheat pasta instead of semolina. About once a year I will make a pasta containing cream and cheese, usually for my husbands satisfaction, otherwise, I prefer tomato or vegetable based sauces and whole wheat pasta.

Alla Puttanesca is one of my favorite tomato based sauces. This sauce is an aromatic, intense mixture of plum tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, kalamata olives, capers, and oregano. Both whole wheat pasta and cauliflower stand up well to this pungent sauce. Anyone reading know the orgins of the name Alla Puttanesca? I will tell you, but please, no one be offended, this is food and cultural history. The word puttanesca derives from the Italian word puttana, which means "whore". It is believed that Italian ladies of the night used this pungent and fragrant sauce to entice customers. Interesting food history isn't it?

Whether you like the meaning or not, this sauce is delicious, and it can be made any time of the year. The original version contains anchovies,but of course, I left this out. You can use any kind of salty black olive, and if you like a little heat, add a pinch of red chili flakes right at the end.

Whole Wheat Pasta and Cauliflower Alla Puttanesca
Serves 4 as an entrée
Autumn, Winter in some areas, Spring

-12 ounces dry whole wheat Penne
-2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ yellow onion, diced
-1 medium carrot, diced small
-2 large shallot lobes, minced
-3 cloves garlic, minced

-2 cups small cauliflower florets

-2 1/2 cups diced canned plum tomatoes with juice

-1 cup reserved pasta water

-1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano

-1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved

-3 tablespoons capers

-Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water. Set the pasta aside.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a very large sauté pan over medium high heat. When hot, add in the diced onion and carrot. Cook, stirring often, until the onions and carrot begin to soften around the edges, about 4 minutes. Add in the shallots, garlic, and cauliflower. Sauté until the cauliflower begins to slightly brown and soften, 4-5 minutes more.

Add the diced tomatoes with their juice, the 1 cup of reserved pasta water, and the oregano. Cook at a simmer until the sauce becomes thick, and the cauliflower is tender. Add in the pasta, olives, capers, and season to taste with salt and fresh ground white pepper. Heat through and serve hot.

Penne Pasta with Multi-Colored Cauliflower and Gorgonzola

One of my favorite produce items to show up at the Spring market is multi-colored cauliflower. Purple, orange, light green, and white, these cauliflowers are stunning to look at, leaving you baffled by Mother Nature's ability to make food naturally beautiful.

Cauliflower in general is considered royalty in my cooking repertoire. When truly farmers market fresh (I have never met a large chain grocery store cauliflower I liked), this sweet and slightly nutty vegetable can be served raw in a crudites spread, with pasta, gratin style, sauteed, and anything else you can imagine. The trick is to not over cook it! I think boiling is bad for almost any vegetable, but especially cruciferous ones that tend to let off that unpleasant, old cabbage smell. So steam or blanch quickly.

Cauliflower loves the company of strong, salty flavors such as black olives, gorgonzola, capers, curry, and red chili flakes. I decided to go with rich and creamy gorgonzola cheese, which, when mix with a little cream, makes a terrific sauce, filling each little penne tube and perfectly covering each cauliflower floret. Make sure to cut the cauliflower about the same size as the pasta. I taught this pasta at my Mediterranean Harvest cooking class at Edna Valley Vineyards. Someone suggested a little tarragon as a garnish to this pasta. I tried it tonight, along with parsley and chives, and it was fantastic!

Penne Pasta with Multi-Colored Cauliflower and Gorgonzola

Serves 4

-8oz dry, short style pasta such as Pipe Rigate, Fusilli, or even orzo
-2-3 cups chopped multi-colored cauliflower
-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ yellow onion, diced
-1 large clove garlic, minced
- ½ cup heavy cream
-3 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
-Salt and fresh ground white pepper to taste
-Chopped flat leaf parsley, chives, and a little tarragon to garnish

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta to al dente. Remove the pasta from the water with a slotted spoon (save the boiling water), toss with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to prevent sticking, and set aside. Bring the pot of water back up to a boil and blanch the cauliflower until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain, rinse under cold water, and set aside.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. When hot, add in the diced onion. Sauté the onion until it begins to soften around the edges, about 3-4 minutes. Add in the garlic and sauté one minute more. Pour in the cream and bring to a simmer. Let simmer about 1-2 minutes to slightly reduce. Whisk in the gorgonzola to create a smooth sauce. Add in the cooked pasta, and cauliflower. Heat through and season to taste with salt and fresh ground white pepper. Garnish with minced fresh Italian parsley, chives, and a small amount of fresh minced tarragon.

Spaghetti with Heirloom Tomatoes, Leeks, and Olives

Here is a quick recipe to try. It screams summer, is quite fantastic, and really easy to make. Make sure to add the heirloom tomatoes right at the end so they do not get overcooked. You just want to warm them through. I used a large variety of heirlooms including Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, and Pineapple. If you live in the Central Coast area, there is a man who sells all of these beautiful tomatoes at both the Morro Bay market (Thursdays, 3-5 p.m., Spencer's shopping center), and the Los Osos market (Monday, 2-4:30 p.m., Baywood).

Spaghetti with Heirloom Tomatoes, Leeks, and Olives

-8 oz dry spaghetti (whole wheat or regular)
-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
-1 large or 2 small leeks, white and light green parts only
thinly sliced into half moons
-3 large cloves garlic, sliced thin
- ½ cup dry white wine

-Zest of 1 small lemon

-1/4 cup kalamata olives, quartered

-2 cups roughly chopped heirloom tomatoes

-1/4 cup thinly sliced basil

-Salt, black pepper, and a pinch of chili flakes to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. When hot, add in the leeks and a pinch of salt. Sweat the leeks until they become soft and tender, stirring frequently, about 7-10 minutes. Adjust the heat if necessary to avoid too much browning. Add in the sliced garlic and sweat 2 minutes more.

While the leeks are cooking, add the spaghetti to the boiling water. Cook the spaghetti according to package directions, or until the spaghetti is tender but al dente. Strain, reserving ¼ cup of the pasta water. Place the hot pasta in a large bowl.

Add the white wine, lemon zest, and kalamata olives to the leeks. Cook about 3 minutes, or until the juices in the pan have reduced by about half. Add in the tomatoes and the reserved pasta water. Cook just until the tomatoes become warm and the sauce is slightly thick. Season with salt, black pepper, and a small pinch of chili flakes to taste. Pour the hot sauce over the pasta, add in the basil, and toss to distribute. Serve hot.

Lime and Peanut Bathed Soba Noodles

This dish is actually a soba noodle salad filled with crunchy vegetables, cooling herbs, and a tangy lime-peanut dressing. I just think it sounds nice to be bathed in lime and peanut! I have been making soba noodle salads for a long time, and there are so many ways to vary this one recipe. Use calcium packed almond butter or tahini in place of the peanut butter, and change the vegetables and herbs according to the seasons. Replacing part of the nut butter with a light or dark miso will give the dressing a more dynamic Japanese flavor, while leaving it as is keeps the dish on the South East Asian side.

Soba noodles are a terrific, versatile ingredient. They are Japanese in orgin, and are made from a mixture of buckwheat flour and wheat flour. Sometimes wild yam is also added. Soba noodles have a darker color and heartier flavor than traditional wheat and rice noodles, which also work perfectly in this dish. Using a thin rice noodle would be more traditional to the South East Asian flavors of the other ingredients in the recipe, but I like the additional nutrition and flavor that soba noodles offer.

Buckwheat itself is native to Russia, and the so called grain is actually the seed to the buckwheat plant which is weed like and related to rhubarb. Buckwheat is grown all over as a crop cover to replenish lost nutrients in soil. It thrives is cold climates. The sprouted greens are quite nutritious as well and make a great addition to any salad. They have a very mild, earthy flavor. The grain is very substantial and will fill you up fast. It also digests slowly, so is wonderful for anyone suffering from blood sugar imbalances. Buckwheat is particularly high thiamine, riboflavin, and other B-complex vitamins. It is also high in calcium and phosphorus, as well as other minerals, and boasts quite a high lysine content (6.1%), which is greater than any other cereal grain. Buckwheat is also considered a good blood builder, removes toxic wastes from the body, and is good for the kidneys.

Soba noodles can be used in many different preparations other than this salad. They are great anywhere that a rice noodle or wheat noodle would be used in any Asian inspired dish. I particularly love them in a hot broth with fresh basil, cilantro, and jalapeno slivers added right at the end, finished with a squirt of lime. Very tasty! For the salad, make sure your mung bean sprouts and herbs are as fresh as possible. I love mint and cilantro, but any kind of basil would also be fantastic in this dish. I use shoyu in this recipe, which is an unpasteurized, naturally fermented soy sauce, but you can use low-sodium soy sauce if you like. I also use agave nectar (a syrup made from the same plant as tequila) because of its neutral flavor and low impact on blood sugar levels. Agave can be found in any health food store or Trader Joe's, is an excellent substitute for sugar, and is much more of a whole food.

Lime and Peanut Bathed Soba Noodles

For this salad, slicing the raw vegetables thinly is very important. I suggest using a Benrinner mandolin, but a sharp knife will work just as well. I slice the carrots into thin planks on my mandolin, and them cut them into very fine strips with a sharp knife. You could also grate the carrots on a box grater, or even peel them into long strips with a wide peeler.

Salad:

-6 oz dry soba noodles cooked according to package directions and cooled

-2 small cucumbers, sliced thinly into half moons

-2 small to medium sized carrots, peeled and cut into fine strips on a mandolin

-1 1/2 cups very fresh mung bean sprouts

-6 leaves crunchy lettuce such as romaine, sliced into thin strips

-1/2 cup cilantro leaves

-1/4 cup thinly sliced mint leaves

-1/4 cup toasted and chopped peanuts (optional)

Dressing:
-1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

-1/2 teaspoon chili paste, or more to taste (I personally like more)

-3 tablespoons agave nectar

-2 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)

-1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root

-1 clove garlic, minced fine

-3 to 4 tablespoons smooth, organic, natural peanut butter (use more if you like a thicker, fattier dressing).

To Make the Salad:

Combine the cooked and cooled soba noodles with all of the vegetables, but not the herbs. Combine well in a large bowl and set aside. To make the dressing, whisk together all ingredients until completely smooth. Taste to adjust seasoning with agave syrup, shoyu, and chili paste if desired. More shoyu means more saltiness, and agave more sweetness. Pour the dressing over the noodles and vegetables and toss to completely coat. Add in the fresh herbs. Remove the salad with tongs from the large bowl to a serving dish or tray. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts. Any dressing leftover in the bowl can be used on any other salad.