Pasta with Walnuts, Sage, and Fresh Ricotta--Flavors of Autumn

Even though I do not post pasta recipes every week, in my kitchen I make it at least once a week, often even twice when kids ask for it. We all love it! I cannot imagine my life without pasta. Whenever I give a choice to my kids what to eat for dinner the answer is always pasta.

I always make my own fresh sauce and if possible I try to make it from seasonal ingredients. So during the course of the year my pasta could be topped with mushrooms, herbs, fresh tomatoes, creamy lemon sauce, but most often it would be with our favorite sauce made with roasted red bell peppers. Sometimes I do it with salmon but hardly ever with meat. I often serve it with fresh cheese and always with glass of wine (for grown-ups). And nothing tastes better or more comforting than pasta, and there is no home-made dish that is easier to make in no time.

Last week, I bought a bag of walnuts in shells, mostly to put them on a wooden plate as a seasonal decoration. But they reminded me of a pasta dish that I usually make only in the fall--pasta with walnuts. And I don't even remember where I got this recipe from.

I toast walnuts and sage leaves in butter. When toasted, walnuts become even more aromatic and crunchy. If I have them, I use black walnuts, which are more aromatic than the regular ones and remind me more of those I used to eat in Poland. Then I mix them with hot pasta and fresh creamy ricotta cheese. It is important to use fresh ricotta--pasta does not taste half that good made with the regular supermarket ricotta, which is too dry and chewy. I buy mine at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, or at the Italian delicatessen. I love this contrast of the almost sweet, smooth cheese and spicy, very flavored taste of nuts and herbs that all come from a fall harvest and smell like autumn. To spice it all up a bit it is good to add a few hot pepper flakes. But also it takes hardly ten minutes to have a wonderful dinner.

Pasta with Walnuts, Sage, and Fresh Ricotta
(Serves four)

Ingredients:
1 box (1 lb) penne pasta,
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts,
1 large bunch of sage leaves, chopped crosswise,
15 oz (425 g) fresh ricotta cheese,
6 tbsp butter,
4 garlic cloves, chopped,
1 tsp red hot pepper flakes,
salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Preparation:
1. In a large pot bring water to boil with one tablespoon of salt. Add pasta, bring it to boiling, turn down the heat and boil until al dente for about 8-11 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan. Melt butter and add garlic. Fry them for about 2 minutes, then stir in the walnuts and sage. Fry them for about 5 minutes, until the nuts are toasted and sage leaves get darker and crispy.

3. Drain pasta and add to the frying pan. Mix well. Turn off the heat and add fresh ricotta. Season with hot pepper flakes, extra salt--if you need to--and generously with freshly ground black pepper.

Serve immediately and enjoy.

Cesar Salad Dressing--Home-Made

The other day I received an "emergency call" from my friend. Her daughter wanted Cesar salad for lunch, but she liked only the dressing I made and my friend forgot how to make it.

On the day when I started this blog, in my "mission statement" I declared that this blog is dedicated to all who ask about my recipes, so I had to rise to the task and respond to this emergency. Besides, it felt great that someone liked my dressing above any other.

I always make my own dressing. This way I can use the highest quality ingredients, adjust the proportions to find the exact taste I like, and do without all the preservatives that all the ready-to-use dressings are full of. However, I do not make my own mayonnaise because I am not sure if it would be safe to use raw eggs, even if they are organic, but I buy organic mayonnaise and lighten it up with oil and yogurt.

It is always best to make the amount of dressing that can be consumed at once, but even if you do too much of it, this dressing can stay refrigerated in a tightly closed container for at least a week.

When I gave this recipe to my friend I had to improvise a bit, trying to imagine how much of which ingredient I add. I never measure ingredients, especially while making dressings. Instead I just try it when I make it and decide what else to add and in what quantity. She did not call with a follow-up question, so I assume the proportions I gave were right. But on the next day I bought some romaine lettuce hearts and, when I made my own dressing, I measured exactly each ingredient just in case I needed to give it to her again.

By the way, I almost never add chicken to my Cesar salad, but just use romaine hearts, baguette, or croutons. That is how my son likes it best.

Cesar Salad Dressing
(For one head of romaine lettuce)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise preferably organic,
2 tsp finely ground mustard,
2 tsp sugar,
3 tbsp yogurt (Greek or European style work best),
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil,
1 tbsp lemon juice,
1 tsp dried basil leaves,
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese,
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce,
2 garlic cloves minced,
salt and freshly ground pepper.

Preparation:
1. In a medium bowl mix mustard, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
2. Add mayonnaise, yogurt and oil. Mix well.

3. Mix in basil, garlic and Parmesan cheese.

4. Let it all infuse for about 10 minutes and serve on salad.

Cranberries and Mascarpone Puff Pastry--French Classic with an American Twist

There is always puff pastry in my freezer. I keep just in case I have unexpected guests or a new idea of what to make from it. I never make my own. I think it takes too much work and I rather spend that time preparing cakes that are not available at stores or taste much better when made at home, as for example all tarts, which are best soon after they cool down and their smell still fills up the kitchen.

When I lived in Switzerland, I tried all kinds of cakes based on puff pastry, which are very popular there. They were made early in the morning waiting to be served with the breakfast coffee. On the way to my French classes I often visited one boulangerie to have a cup of coffee with a croissant or a puff pastry cake. When we met after school it was espresso and something more fancy. I remember something similar to Danish pastry, which is popular in the US, but much less sweet and more subtle in taste. It was filled with soft cheese and sometimes also with delicate fruits. Pears were too mild for my taste but I loved it with wild blueberries or raspberries inside.

The other day, after I made cranberry sauce, I was wondering what to do with the leftover fruits, and all of a sudden I recalled these puff pastry cakes. What came out was a very easy seasonal dessert, and also quite original in taste. A French cake with an American twist.

Puff Pastry with Mascarpone and Cranberries
(For two mid-size cakes)

Ingredients:
1 pack puff pastry (two sheets)--I use Pepperidge Farm pastry,
8 oz of mascarpone cheese,
1/2 cup sugar plus extra couple spoons for the finish,
1 cup cranberries,
1 small egg or leftover white.

Preparation:
1. Defrost pastry. Cut the first sheet in half and spread both parts on a lightly buttered baking tin. Put the second sheet aside on a flour-dusted surface.
2. Preheat oven to 400F.
3. Wash and dry cranberries on the colander.

4. Mix mascarpone with sugar. Spread half of the mascarpone on each of the pastry leaving around a half-inch margin. Spread half of the cranberries. Cover it with the second half of puff pastry. Using a fork press edges around the each piece to close the cake. Make on top of the cake a few cuts--this will help vaporise excess moisture.

5. Brush the top of each cake with a beaten egg or egg's white and dust it with two tablespoons of sugar.
6. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until pastry rises and the top becomes gold.