I Will Feed You Pasta

I'm not going to lie. It's been a tough week. I have been writing Antigone in Munich about Sophie Scholl and The White Rose Society. Sophie practiced and preached passive resistance in Germany in the early 1940's. It's a play for young audiences and it is filled with heart and heartbreaking. I find it interesting that I started this play the day I got home from Germany. Maybe there are no coincidences.

I have spent a few years fighting carbs. This week, I caved in. These are dishes that feed everyone - everyone and bring comfort. It's right up there with warm blankets and purring cats. (From Bon Appetit, October 2016) Need some comfort? Here we go.

Ingredients (4 servings)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 ounces prosciutto (about six slices)
1 pound mixed mushrooms, sliced
2 medium shallots, finely chopped
1 teaspoon thyme leaves plus more for serving
Kosher salt, ground pepper
1 cup chicken broth
12 ounces pappardelle or fettuccine
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter

Heat 1/4 olive oil in heavy pot (a Dutch Oven works) over medium heat.
Cook prosciutto in a single layer, turning till crisp.
Transfer to paper towels and drain.
Heat remaining two tablespoons of oil in same pot. Cook mushrooms 5-8 minutes until brown and tender. Turn heat to lmedium-low, add shallots and 1 teaspoon of thyme, a little salt and pepper and cook (constantly stirring) until shallots are translucent. Turn heat to low. Add chicken broth and simmer until there is only a thin layer left.
Cook pasta in another pot until very al dente - about three minutes less than recommended cooking time.  Using tongs, transfer pasta to to pot with mushrooms. Add 1 cup (I added less) of cooking liquid. Crumble half of prosciutto into pot. Increase heat to medium, cook stirring until pasta is finished (mine talk one minute, Bon Appetit says 2 minutes). Add cream, simmer and cook until pasta is coated. Remove from heat, add butter. Adjust seasonings. Put pasta in dishes (or one big dish dish), crumble the rest of the prosciutto on top and serve. Garnish with thyme. I always serve with Parmiggiano-Reggiano.

From start to finish, I was at the stove about twenty minutes. Fast, easy, fresh.

Food is nurture.  want to nurture. The body. And the soul.

This is first and foremost a food blog but I should let you know who I am.

I am the granddaughter of Italian immigrants. Grandma and Grandpa were from southern Italy so were marked "brown" at Ellis Island while northern Italians were marked "white."

All are welcome at my table. All. Every race, every religion, those with no religion, LGBT, immigrants. There are no walls. There never will be.

From Leonard Cohen, who has provided solace for me through the years.

"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering,
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

Peace.

Goat Cheese Timbales in a Sea of Change

Seattle was the perfect place to be as my world changed. I am a "water baby." And like to contemplate looking at bodies of water. Seattle provides water contemplation.

And if bits of my being seemed scattered upon rocks or washed out to sea, the movement soothed me, heightened my feelings and gave way ...

... to quiet thoughts. And appreciation of what is.

I've changed my life before. After an unfortunate "bus incident," I packed my bags and moved from NYC to MN within a week. But not without a plan. I knew the neighborhood I would live in, the theatres I would audition for, the climate... and the lack of food (which has happily improved over - the decades). In fact, my cooking obsession can be directly tied to the fact that I could not find my New York traditional Italian and food-finds and so had to recreate them!

And if you're life is changing, eating crab at Pike's Market can stimulate the brain cells. I know.

I had it all. And then some.

Crab cocktail.

Crab roll.

And at Saltys - with a view of the Seattle skyline - a supper club - but - most importantly - they served -

Crab legs!

And then I came home and had crab for three days. (Yes, I am obsessive - have you ever done this after a vacation?)

I visited the children's garden at the Seattle Children's Theatre. Are you surprised? My life change has to do with youth theatre.

"To know is nothing at all. To imagine is everything." - Anatole France

Yes, there's a waterfall inside the city limits of Seattle.

"Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them, listen to them. They are alive poems." - Joe Harjo

And Seattle was filled with alive poems. I will show more later, but before I make you impatient - I will get to the loveliest of recipes. Easy and elegant - as a life change should be but is not.  After contemplating the new - within the new - I came home and after my crabfest, needed a tried and true. Something that has sustained Paul and I throughout part of our marriage. Something that is a smile, a grin, a luxurious taste, a memory.

Ten years ago, my mother made this for Paul and I for our anniversary - it's from Bon Appetit. And tonight, I surprised Paul with it for his birthday. (He may have been relieved to see he wasn't having crab.)

Goat Cheese Timbales Wrapped in Prosciutto

Ingredients: (makes 3)
6 slices of prosciutto (not shaved paper thin)
5 ounces plain goat cheese
2-3 ounces cream cheese (or mascarpone)
4 scallions, chopped thin
fresh pepper - to taste
olive oil or Pam olive oil
mixed baby greens
Champagne vinaigrette (your favorite or bottled)

Preparation
With goat cheese and cream cheese at room temperature, beat together until smooth. Cut in thin slices of green scallions and pepper generously. Stir to combine all equally. In 3 4-5 ounce ramekins, lay proscicutto in a X-pattern in the ramekins. Divide goat cheese mixture equally in the 3 ramekins. Layer the overlapped prosciutto on top.

Cover, weight down with a can and let sit 6-8 hours or over night.

In a small saute pan lightly sprayed or brushed with olive oil, heat the timbales 3-4 minutes per side - until just about to ooze, (and if does ooze, enjoy - it's not a bad thing!)

Put aside for 20-30 minutes, so the cheese can "set." Bon Appetit has you serve it with haricot verts on the side which is grand - but I usually opt for baby spring greens in a champagne vinaigrette.

It looks so innocent and it is.

But them you cut into it -
.

And it welcomes you by spreading its creamy goodness around the salad. Which is just what you want. Just what you need. Just what you counted on when all is changing. Some things are certain. The goat cheese timbales are a sure thing. They succeed every time. Have you ever made a life change? But brought the past with you - to ensure - a happy, new beginning?