Pasta with artichokes, mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes

We're back after a great trip to the US to celebrate the wedding again. It was wonderful to see friends and family and eat some food I don't usually get the chance to. Even A looks forward to some things, like really cheap Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Chick-fil-a.

The week before Easter, A tries to fast, which is something many Greek Orthodox do during Lent for various time periods. Fasting means having a vegan diet, which is cutting out most of the things A enjoys about a meal (aka meat). This is also a real trial on my dinner planning ideas. No cheese? No milk? No bacon (which may be one of the top inventions/discoveries in relation to food. On a side note, I once had a class in high school that asked us to list the top ten best developments/things that were created in the 20th century. Incredibly interesting discussion topic that's great for dinner parties. Any thoughts? I thought birth control and contacts were amazing, but I believe my 17-year-old perspective may have slanted my views at the time.) Back to the food, I wanted to try a non-traditional fasting meal for A this year and threw this together from things I had in the cupboard. Or larder, as it's called in the UK.

I sauteed garlic, mushrooms, onions and thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes in olive oil for 5-7 minutes. After quartering the canned artichoke hearts, I added those at the last minute to the sauteeing so they didn't break down too much.

I then doused everything with one cup or so of white wine. Simmer this until it boils down to about half.

I poured all of the mixture over very thin fettuccine and tossed with a drizzle more olive oil. If fasting, resist the urge to grate parmesan over this.

I will say that this dish has a tangy and slightly sharp taste but the combination of the artichoke hearts and white wine work well together and give it layers of flavour.

Yes, a light dusting of cheese may have cut through the sharpness and I recommend it if you do not want a dish that is too sharp. I really enjoyed this dinner and may be rethinking my proclamation about bacon. Although speaking of bacon, maybe a strip of pancetta in this dish would be good...

Mint

I was inspired by the recipes on the Greek cooking blogs I shared earlier and decided to try one of the recipes for peas in a mint cream sauce over pasta from the Kali Orexi blog. It was wonderful- filling but light to the taste with a refreshing mint flavour, satisfying all of my spring food desires.

Mint, like cinnamon, is a spice I do not automaically associate with savoury cooking. Mint is a taste that I know from peppermint ice cream and candy canes, peppermint tea and lots of variations in gum. Maybe Southern Living magazine would once in a while have a recipe for a cool strawberry and mint dessert in the summer months. I think we did not even have a lot of mint on hand growing up that I remember. I am sure my mom did have mint as we had a magnificent herb and spice collection, though I cannot recall ever using it.

Although mint and cinnamon are not sweet per se, because I have this association with those flavours in sweet dishes, I always find it surprising when my fiance enjoys mint and cinnamon with dinner. Somehow, I expect him to not enjoy it because he does not like sweet and savoury tastes together, though he does not have the same associations with these flavours as I do. I can see it already and it will probably increase over time that we influence each other's tastes more and more so that one day I might think a dish is missing mint and he might want syrup with his bacon. I'll let you know when that day comes.


Back to the mint cream sauce. This was a simple recipe to make although I could not find fresh mint in a pinch so I used a large amount of dried mint. The fresh mint would definitely be better, but dried mint still imparted a refreshing flavour. I wasn't sure if this would go, but I decided to cook a bit of pancetta to sprinkle on top of the pasta. The pancetta was sometimes overpowering, but a little sprinkle on top was just enough to add some saltiness and crunch, which was great with the freshness of the mint.


For full instructions and beautiful pictures, check out the Kali Orexi blog.

Pasta with Peas in a Mint Cream Sauce from Kali Orexi

1 packet pasta
lots of peas (about 1 pound)
3-4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup double (heavy) cream
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
5 leaves chopped fresh mint or 4 Tablespoons dried mint
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
pancetta (optional)

Cook the pasta and peas, drain most of the liquid, drizzle with olive oil and set aside. Heat cream until almost simmering and add lemon zest, mint and 2 tablespoons olive oil. I kept heating the mixture so the flavors would combine, stirring constantly. Add the pasta and peas back into the pot and coat with the cream sauce, thickening it as you go for a few more minutes. Serve with a sprinkle of cooked pancetta and mint if desired.

Macaroni tou Fournou

Translation: baked macaroni or macaroni of the oven

This dish was one of the first dishes I remember having at my fiance's house. It is a little bit like lasagne in that it is a layered dish with pasta and a meat sauce, but not quite. The meat is spiced with mint and cinnamon and it is all topped with a creamy, cheesy, egg mixture. I think this dish is much more of a Cypriot dish than a standard Greek dish and really quite unlike anything I have ever had. It's wonderful and really tasty and you should probably try some soon.

The recipe I used was originally from the Greek Cypriot cookbook I have, but after reviewing the recipe, I realised it really didn't follow what I know it should taste like. So what is below is a hybrid recipe of the cookbook and my fiance's mother's recipe for macaroni tou fournou.

I halved my hybrid recipe because I have a deep oval dish instead of a large, deep, square dish. If you have a normal lasagne dish, then double this recipe.

Take one pound or 500 grams of mince meat and add it to a pot with a little bit of oil until browned.

Mmmm, block o'meat.

Then dice half an onion and add it to the meat.

Add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 teaspoons mint to the meat mixture. It's a little odd for me to add these two, traditionally associated with sweet food, spices to meat but they somehow make the meat seem less heavy and gives it a refreshing taste.

Action shot!

Add 3/4 of a can of chopped tomatoes. The tomatoes should add a little bit to the meat but not enough to overpower the flavor.

Let the meat mixture cook together for about 15 minutes. You might need to add a touch of water so it doesn't stick.

While this is cooking, boil some water for the noodles. The pasta that is traditionally used for this dish are long hollow tubes which can be bought at a Greek food store. If one of those isn't handy, then penne or other hollow pasta will work.

Look, there's even a picture of macaroni tou fournou on the front!

After everything is cooked, then it is time to layer. This dish is supposed to have a layer of pasta, then the meat mixture, then the rest of the noodles.

I had to curve mine on account of the oval dish.

For the topping, it is basically a white sauce with some cheese and eggs. Melt 1/3 cup butter then add 3/4 cup of flour.

Gradually pour in 2 pints of milk, stirring constantly. (fuzzy pictures here) When the sauce has thickened, add 2 beaten eggs, stirring constantly. Finally, add 4 oz grated cheddar cheese.

This is the main bit that holds it all together and should end up being about half an inch thick. I really didn't make enough for this batch though it still had the right taste.

Pour this cream mixture over the top of the layered pasta, making sure to cover everything.

I sprinkled some mint on top for added ... design. And taste. Yeah.

Cook in a 200 degree C/400 degree F oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

You should let this dish cool considerably before cutting as it will congeal together better after cooled and make nice neat squares. However, I was hungry and so I cut into it immediately and this is what I got instead.

Oh well. It still tasted as it should, even if it didn't look too good.