Tag: Pasta

Roasted Tomato & Pancetta Pasta

Roasted Tomato & Pancetta Pasta | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Roasted Tomato & Pancetta Pasta | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Roasted Tomato & Pancetta Pasta | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Roasted Tomato & Pancetta Pasta | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Roasted Tomato & Pancetta Pasta | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Roasted Tomato & Pancetta Pasta | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Roasted Tomato & Pancetta Pasta | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I love my garden. Even this year, when it hasn’t been that productive (I blame the early heat waves and the incredibly dry summer), I love going out to check on my plants every morning. It’s hard to put into words the way my garden makes me feel, but I figure other people feel the same way. Although it happens over and over again, I am simply dumbfounded that I can put a tiny fleck of seed into the ground and get a big, productive plant that will feed me delicious fruit or vegetables. Isn’t that just amazing?

Anyway, I thought my dad was the big gardener in my family (he was an agriculture major in college, is very active in his local p-patch, and can answer my “what is this plant?” text messages about 80% of the time), but it turns out my mom is pretty great at it too. She just put in a bunch of garden beds at her house and she has nearly 20 tomato plants. She has been sending me lots of pictures of all her produce, so I feel like I’ve been watching things grow alongside her. But I am in Seattle staying with her this week and when I see how excited she gets to show me her big prize tomato or her amazing cucumbers the size of my arm, I see where I get my wide-eyed awe from.

To celebrate tomato season (and you really should, at this point, be eating as many tomatoes as you can) and the fact that you can now turn on your oven without wanting to immediately die, make this pasta. Savory, rich, and bright, it captures some of my favorite flavors of the season.

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Weekend Finds 4:17:14: Recipes

It has been an awfully long time since I’ve written a weekend finds post, and I’d like to get back in the game. Mostly because I’ve been finding some recipes lately that are either a) really good or b) look really good and I haven’t made them yet but I plan on doing so soon, and I’d like to share these recipes with you.

1. Pasta Recipes from Bon Appetit

Pasta Recipes from Bon Appetit | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Photo credit: Bon Appetit

I have found two pasta recipes from Bon Appetit lately that I am itching to make, but we just don’t make a lot of pasta these days. One is a meaty Bolognese (with chicken livers – I mean come on) and the other is a rigatoni with lemon-chili pesto and grated egg. Doesn’t that sound interesting?

2. Caramelized Fennel and Farro Salad from Not Without Salt

Caramelized Fennel and Farro Salad Recipe from Not Without Salt | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Photo credit: Not Without Salt

This salad is cool, spicy, fruity, crunchy, sweet, and all around delicious. Jonah made it one night, and it has me hooked on farro. Next time I make it, I’d try going a little lighter on the harissa (depending on the desired spice level and how spicy your harissa is) and maybe substitute apricots for the dates.

3. Matcha Black Sesame Babka

Matcha Black Sesame Babka Recipe from Fix Feast Flair | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Photo credit: Fix Feast Flair

Ever since I found this recipe for matcha black sesame babka, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. It’s mostly a matter of finding the time to make this bad boy, but holy smokes, does that look beautiful (and tasty) or what?

4. Most Recipes on Food52

Food52 Recipes | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Photo credit: Food52

You guys, I knew I liked Food52, but they are KILLING it lately. Things I want to make: pecorino romano cake with candied tomatoes, this fennel salad with burrata and mint, chicken salad with pickled grapes (but mostly those pickled grapes), and this chocolate mochi snack cake. Things I have made that are so good: miso and honey roasted chicken, many iterations of soba noodles including these, and this crazy good asparagus that I could eat for every meal. And I’ll be honest, I’ve yet to make something from Food52 that crashed and burned, so they’re pretty trustworthy.

5. It’s rhubarb season! All the rhubarb recipes!

Rhubarb Season! | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Photo credit: Bon Appetit

Things that will be happening in my near future: rhubarb simple syrup to put in all the cocktails (I highly recommend the mojito from Not Without Salt), and this beautiful rhubarb almond cake. I also like the savory rhubarb recipes like the ones that follow that have been popping up all over the place: skillet chicken with rhubarb, beetroot and rhubarb salad, roasted pork belly with rhubarb ginger compote, and shrimp fried rice topped with pickled rhubarb.

Weekend Finds 7:6:14

I don’t know about you all, but I had a truly lovely July 4th. I ate possibly one of the most delicious summer holiday meals every – perfectly grilled steak, BBQ chicken, grilled veggies, and that green rice salad I’ve been going on about. Now I’m at the coast with family, and couldn’t be happier that I get to spend this holiday weekend with people I really love. With that, on to the weekend finds.

1. Corn, Tomato, and Garlic Confit Pasta

Past with roasted tomatoes, corn, and garlic confit from Food52 // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
Doesn’t that look like a bowl of summer?

Garlic confit sounds intimidating to me. It really does. But let me say this – it was so easy to make. Like painfully easy. And it added immensely to this dish from Food52 (by Dash and Bella). This dish screams summer, and was so creamy and flavor packed. Just start roasting those tomatoes early! They need 2-3 hours in a low oven.

2. Easy Marinades

Easy Marinades // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
Marinate everything!

I love summer because it means marinating meats and throwing them on the grill. I’ve got a couple good marinade recipes in my back pocket, but more can never hurt, nor can the ability to throw one together no matter what you’ve got on hand. This little tidbit from Bon Appetit offers some great ideas, as well as a general equation to make your marinades perfect.

3. Apricots!

All things apricots // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
My favorite apricot recipe.

If I’m being honest, I think apricots are kind of an undervalued stone fruit. I love their small size (the perfect snack), their soft skin, and their mild/sweet/tart flavor. Perhaps my favorite thing to do with apricots is halve them, fill the hole where the pit was with a spoonful of honey, and throw them under the broiler for a few minutes. Top with Greek yogurt, mascarpone, or freshly whipped cream, and some chopped pistachios. Other bites of apricots that look delicious are these crostinis, a different roasted apricot technique with butter and brown sugar, this couscous with apricot (sub fresh for dried apricots please), and this apricot miso jam (I know the recipe calls for dried apricots, but still, two of my favorite things in a jar together, yes please right now thank you).

4. Peas, peas, peas

Summer Peas // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
A little ingredient education never hurt anybody.

I love ingredient education, and various kinds of peas are something that I confuse sometimes. It’s actually pretty important to know the different between your peas, particularly shelling peas and snap peas. Read here about which are best for what.

5. Vibrant Table by Kimberly Hasselbrink

Vibrant Food by Kimberly Hasselbrink // Weekend Finds on Serious Crust
Doesn’t that cover make you want to cook? Photo from The Vanilla Bean Blog.

This is the cookbook that the green rice salad with nectarines and corn is from (the one I haven’t been able to stop talking about and made for the 4th of July), and that recipe was so freaking good, now I really want this cookbook. I love when books are organized seasonally – I feel like it makes it easier to flip through. And taking a look at some of the recipes in the table of contents, I feel like this book is something I’d reach for again and again. Wish list!

Weekend Finds 1:18:14

What a week it has been. I spent my “weekend” on the coast with my mom and baby sister while Jonah was in Vegas (blech) for work. The coast, Cannon Beach specifically, is one of my favorite places in the world, any time of year. I am guaranteed to breathe deeper, be more reflective, and relax. I am also guaranteed to get teased by my little sister (endlessly), do some knitting with my mom, and visit all our favorite spots. And last night my dad and Darla arrived for a little weekend in Portland, so we’ve been hanging around and eating when I haven’t been at work. Let’s get on with weekend finds, shall we?

1. Noodles and Sauce

Matching Pasta and Sauces on Weekend Finds // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Matching pasta and sauces

Ever get to the store, wanting to make pasta, and you see all those cool noodle shapes and think, well I guess I’ll just put tomato sauce on it? Don’t think that. Check out this list of what noodles go best with what sauces. Speaking of pasta and sauces, these are some neat little tricks to add a little pizazz to any bowl of pasta.

2. Crest Bottle Opener

Beautiful bottle opener on Weekend Finds // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
This beautiful bottle opener would make functional art in the kitchen.

I’ve seen a few variations of this bottle opener (including one made locally, which is what I’d prefer to buy, but I can’t remember where I saw it). This is a bottle opener that I would totally hang on a hook in my kitchen, because it is simply pretty enough to be a functional decoration. I love that.

3. Need help eating more vegetables? Try reorganizing your fridge.

Eat more vegetables! on Weekend Finds // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Tips to eat more fruits and vegetables.

It’s now well into January, and the resolutions are becoming more like distant memories… But we can do it! Let’s all go to the gym together! I’m kidding. But this is a great idea to get yourself to eat more vegetables. It’s hard when they’re all hidden and covered in that crisper drawer. I like their idea of getting some clear tubs to use on those shelves so the apples don’t go rolling around and the big leafy greens are still wrangle-able.

4. Cooking Slow by Andrew Schloss

Cooking Slow on Weekend Finds // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Cooking Slow by Andrew Schloss

Uhhhh yes please. It’s that point in the winter when I am getting tired of root vegetables and roasted chicken… this book sounds like everything I want to eat, but am not eating. Want.

5. DIY Sour Mix

DIY Sour Mix on Weekend Finds // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
DIY Sour Mix from A Beautiful Mess

There’s really no reason not to make your own sour mix. I like a pretty dang sour whiskey sour, and this way I can a) always have it as sour as I want and b) not have to do nearly as much work for a whiskey sour, because there will be a beautiful bottle of sour mix waiting for me whenever I want. And really, should drinking always be that easy? (Ugh, I’m starting to sound like I drink a lot, aren’t I?)