Pasta: more than a tomato sauce courier
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
This Friday is the Sacred Heart Mexican Supper fundraiser. Let someone else do the cooking! Call 343-7394 to get two tacos, rice, chips and cheese and a dessert. Tickets are $7 at the door; $6 in advanced. They serve from 4:30 to 7:30.
Also, don’t forget the Flint Hills Technical College cooking classes. There are four left, all in October, so get signed up early. Call Rachael LeClear at 343-4600 for more information or pick up a catalog around town.
Pasta has it’s origins in the Far East — it’s fascinating to see a Chinese cook “pull” noodles from a giant ball of dough. It was evidently introduced into Europe through the Middle East, with types of pasta being documented in Syria in the 2nd century and in Israel in the 5th century C.E. The Arab invasions of the 8th century brought pasta into Sicily and it spread throughout the country from there.
A majority of pasta is made from semolina flour, which is ground from durum wheat. Semolina pasta is able to be cooked al dente (with a bit of strength, or “bite” left in it.) Other flours can be used to make pasta, but will cook all the way through and have a much softer, sometimes mushy texture.
I love stuffed pastas, like tortellini and ravioli. There are a lot of regional variations on size, shape and stuffings, but what you see most often in the stores are ravioli, tortellini (or the larger tortelloni), and cannelloni (also called manicotti).
Cannelloni works like enchiladas. You take rectangular sheets of pasta, boil al dente in lightly salted water, then fill with stuffing, roll up and place seam-side down in a casserole dish. Some dried pastas are already shaped like a big tube and you can spoon in the stuffing. Cover your stuffed cannelloni with pasta sauce and bake until done for a great casserole.
Everyone knows spaghetti noodles, and variations of macaroni noodles, and the corkscrew noodles. Each pasta is designed to hold onto specific styles of sauce. If you want to get technical about it, you should pick up a copy of the fabulous, comprehensive cookbook “The Silver Spoon” (Phaidon Press, 2005). It’s on my Christmas list!
Here are some recipes that aren’t especially Italian, but draw upon pasta to make a filling, tasty meal.
MEXICAN PASTA SALAD
4-1/2 cups (12 oz.) corkscrew pasta, uncooked
2 cans (14.5 oz. ea.) Mexican style stewed tomatoes
1-1/2 cups Mexican pasteurized process cheese spread, cubed
1-1/2 cups (15.5-oz. can) red kidney beans, drained
1 cup green peppers, sliced and seeded
1/2 cup ripe olives, sliced
1/3 cup green onion, sliced
Strain tomatoes, reserving the liquid; chop them into pieces. Cook the pasta according to package directions and drain. Rinse with cold water to keep it from overcooking and drain well.
In large microwave-safe bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the tomato liquid with the cubed cheese. Microwave at high 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cheese melts and mixture is smooth. Gradually blend in 1/3 cup more of the tomato liquid.
Toss the cheese sauce with the pasta, tomatoes and remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate, stirring occasionally to meld the flavors. Serve cold on a bed of lettuce, perhaps garnished with chunks of avocado.
Tortellini look like lopsided tires. They’re usually about an inch across, and can be dried, frozen or in the “fresh pasta” refrigerated aisle. They can have almost anything inside, but the most popular ingredients seem to be cheese, meat or spinach.
Tortellini are just fine with a light tomato sauce or pesto, but they can be a special part of a larger dish, too. Here is a fairly exotic recipe, very flavorful and easy to make.
AFRICAN CHICKEN AND TORTELLINI CASSEROLE
1/3 cups fresh orange juice, strained
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. dry white wine
2 to 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. orange zest
1 Tbsp. ginger root, peeled and grated
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 1/2 lb. boneless chicken thighs, skinned
1/2 lb. cheese or spinach stuffed tortellini
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
In a shallow dish, mix the orange juice, soy sauce, wine, oil, honey, zest, ginger root, and cayenne. Add the chicken and turn the pieces to coat. Cover and refrigerate about two hours, turning the chicken once or twice while marinating.
Preheat the broiler or fire up the grill. Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade in a small saucepan. Broil or grill the chicken, brushing twice with the marinade, until the inside is no longer pink, about four minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta, stirring occasionally, according to the package’s directions. Add the frozen peas and heat until separated (if you choose to use fresh, then you don’t need to pre-cook them). Drain well, rinse with cold water, and transfer to a large bowl.
Cut the chicken into strips. Bring the reserved marinade to a simmer, pour over the pasta and mix well. Add the chicken strips, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour into a 10-cup casserole. Cover and bake 30 minutes, serve hot with flat bread and olive oil.
For this next recipe, cook up a half-pound of the meat of your choice, and toss in some steamed vegetables like bok choy, carrot, broccoli or snow peas to supplement the dish.
ASIAN PASTA
1 (8-oz.) package thin spaghetti
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 dash soy sauce
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for eight to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.
Place pasta in a large bowl and toss with the sesame oil, soy sauce, and cayenne pepper. Add the red bell pepper, cilantro and any cooked items you like and toss again until well mixed. Cover and refrigerate for one hour. Serve chilled.
Next week the focus is on tortillas, and the week after that we’ll visit with some British guests of Emporia. Blake Eyman brought in a cookbook that had a series of fascinating homemade salad dressings. What about you? Do you have a recipe for a salad dressing you would like to share?
Send it in to murphysmenu@yahoo.com, or 517 Merchant St., Emporia, 66801. The deadline is September 22. Let’s Get Cooking!