A Taste of Summer During This Weird Semi-Heatwave in November

Ok. I promise I'll stop posting only pasta recipes. Someday. Maybe...

I know artichokes aren't exactly "in season", but hey. It was 65 the other day. Also, I happened to have frozen artichokes. So there.

Artichokes, for most of us, come in the form of the "Spinach &" dip so popular in restaurants requiring servers to have "flair", and while it's delicious most of those recipes are weighed down with sour cream and cheese (delicious delicious cheese). Actually, though, artichokes are extremely good for you - especially for your liver. Artichokes are an excellent source of dietary fiber, magnesium, vitamin C, folic acid, vitamin A, biotin, niacin, and a bunch of other "-ins". Yay artichokes.

I made this the other day when I was home alone (dinner for one...womp womp) and I was very glad I did, but as a result, the ratios might be a bit wonky. So, as with anything in the kitchen, I must ask for some patience.

Artichoke and Lemon Linguini
Serves about 3

2 leeks, trimmed, rinsed and patted dry
2 cloves of garlic
1 bag of frozen artichokes (thawed)
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups of white wine
1 cup of arugula

Linguini

Grilled chicken (optional)

Start with the leeks - I bought them already trimmed and washed at Trader Joe's (ah, laziness), but if you can't find them already cleaned for you just cut off the tough dark green part and cut them down the middle length-wise (hot-dog style for those who still think in terms of elementary-school crafts). Run them under the sink and make sure you really get in there and get all the sand and dirt out of there. Sand is great at the beach, but has no place in your linguini. None at all. Pat them dry and chop em up.


(Oh, p.s. start boiling up some salted water for your linguini. Cook that according to the boxes directions....You get the idea. It's pasta!) Heat up your sautee pan over medium heat. Sautee your leeks with about 3 cloves of finely minced garlic. Salt and pepper those babies up and let them cook until soft.


At this point you're going to want to throw in your thawed artichokes, lemon zest, lemon juice and wine. Cover and let simmer for a while and let all those yummy ingredients get all friendly-like. After a few minutes or so throw in the arugula and let that get wilted and delicious. Once your linguini is cooked to your liking just toss it in the pan that you've been cooking your sauce in.


Ta-Da! You now have Summer in Almost-Winter-But-Really-It's-Fall in a bowl. Enjoy!

First Real Post! Whole Wheat Gnocchi with Pumpkin Sage Sauce

Salutations my fellow culinary explorers! Welcome to Meals in Heels - a travelogue of sorts. Except instead of far reaching and pocket-draining world travels (which, trust me, I'd rather be doing), I'm recording my own epicurian adventures for (hopefully) your benefit!

But before we get into tonight's first post - a little bit of background for those who don't know me. I'm from right outside of Boston but went to college in Connecticut. Up until about the age of...well, waaay too old...I was THE pickiest eater in the world. But once I hit a certain age, though, I became obsessed with cooking and I haven't looked back. I grew up on my Dad's Italian cooking (yes, I have a little Italian grandma) and studying abroad for a semester in Siena, Tuscany only strengthened my love of all things Italian. Food-wise, I'd have to say my most favorite cuisines have to be Italian and French - not only for the flavors and textures, but for the attitudes that those two cultures have towards their food - that it is something to be shared and celebrated and savored. Food should be a joyous occasion, something simple and easy yet challenging and engaging. I think, at least.

For my first post I've made for you all

Whole-Wheat Gnocchi with Pumpkin and Sage Sauce
Serves about 3

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Sauce
1 Medium Onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 large sage leaves, fresh
3 sprigs fresh thyme
The juice and zest of 1/2 an orange
1/2 c white wine
1 can of pumpkin puree

Brown Butter with Fried Sage
1 tbsp butter
5 small sage leaves, fresh

1 Package of Whole Wheat Gnocchi

Method:

Cut the onion in half and cut into thin slices (I used a mandolin to get them super thin...and also cause it's faster). Sautee in a large pan with about 4 tbsp on low heat. Salt and pepper the onions. Salting the onions at this point is so important - it draws out a lot of the moisture and helps them get to that caramelized point faster. And more deliciouslier. Peel and mince the garlic and add it to the onions in pan along with the orange zest, thyme, and chiffonaded sage leaves (pile the leaves on top of each other, roll into a little cigar and cut into strips). Continue to cook on low heat until the onions are nice and caramelized.


Now here comes my favorite part. The Deglazing. This may seem unnecessary but, trust me, it imparts flavor + gets all the little tasty brown caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan + make the dishes easier to do :)
Once your little onions have practically melted they're so brown and caramelized, splash into the pan the orange juice and the wine and, with a wooden spoon, scrape the bottom and sides of your pan to make sure you get all those yummy bits. Now it is time to add your pumpkin puree (NOT PUMPKIN PIE MIX! Pumpkin Puree. Available at your friendly Trader Joe's...or probably anywhere else). Mix up and set aside.

Now tis time to cook up your gnocchis according to your directions.

In another tinier pan, git your butter and sage together for your brown butter and whatnot. Brown butter sounds ever so fancy, but it's ever so simple and ever so delicious. Basically you're just toasting melted butter. How in the world could that be bad? You just want to melt the butter until all the milk solids have toasted up to a nice golden color

Like so.

Throw those little sage leaves in towards the end so that they crisp up nicely.

Yay! Now it's time to combine everything! Hooraay!

So I just threw all those piping hot little gnocchi into the pumpkin puree. Add a few ladle-fulls of the water the gnocchi cooked in. I know it sounds weird but, yet again, I must ask you to trust me. It takes the pumpkin sauce from super thick puree to nice, velvety pumpkiny sauce.

The most important part of the whole process: don't let cute, fluffy dogs in silly sweaters steal your food. No matter how effectively they plea.

I had some roasted chicken that I threw on top of all that yummie stuff as well as a nice knob of ricotta cheese. Oh. And I crisped up some prosciutto. More is more, right? Drizzle your brown butter and fried sage over that and voila you have some deliciousness. Your friends will think you're absurdly talented (and hey, you are). Enjoy!