Recipe Zest

Ingredients 1 box spinach 1/4 cup milk 1 bay leaf 1/4 tsp ground pepper 1 slice onion 3 tbsp cream 1 tbsp butter 1/2 tsp flour Nutmeg Method Put milk in a saucepan with the onion, bay leaf and ground pepper.  Bring to a boil, then decrease heat to low and cook for 10 minutes for the aromatics to do their stuff Cook the spinach in a wok with a film of water until wilted.  Remove from wok and squeeze out excess water.  Chop finely Melt the butter in the wok with the flour.  Add in the warm milk (strain out the aromatics). When the sauce starts to thicken, lower heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes Stir in the cream and chopped spinach, add a dash of nutmeg and serve Notes This was inspired from a Serious Eats recipe but it's no longer posted on their site.  It was part of their 'Cook the Book' features, originally by Nigel Slater Goes really well with a grilled steak and baked potatoes

Ingredients 150 g fresh pasta 60 g frozen peas 90 ml pesto Method Bring pot of water to boil Measure out pesto into a large bowl Add pasta and cook until done Use a slotted spoon to remove pasta and add to bowl Add peas to remaining water for one minute Remove peas using slotted spoon and add to bowl Stir and serve Notes Pasta that can catch the peas and pesto is best.  We used campanelle, but orecchiette would work as well Fresh pasta takes about 3-4 minutes to cook, it floats to the top when done Removing peas using a slotted spoon is probably the least effective way to remove peas from boiling water.  I only used the slotted spoon in case the pasta turned out too dry; but with all the water caught in the pasta this was not an issue Worked really well with a Rosso di Montalcino, including with the second course of grilled lamb chops with grilled radicchio drizzled with balsamic This is almost too simple to be called a recipe, but I wrote it down cause we liked it so much and wanted t

Ingredients 100g fregola 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes 1 stalk thinly sliced green onion 2 tablespoons lemon juice 8 kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped 2 medium branzino fillets 4 sprigs thyme Olive oil Side salad 1 fennel 1 tangerine 6 kalamata olives Lemon juice Olive oil Method Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the fregola, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of the fregola. Drain thoroughly Place the cooked fregola in a medium bowl and toss olive oil. Add the tomatoes, green onion, lemon juice, olives and lemon juice. Toss together and set aside Preheat the oven to 400°F. Season the fish fillets generously on both sides with salt and pepper Cut parchment paper so that it is 2x the size of the branzino, with a border of about 2".  Spoon half the fregola mixture onto one-half of each piece of parchment paper Lay the fish fillets on top of the fregola, skin side up. Drizzle 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil over each pi

 Ingredients 1 lb boneless pork shoulder cut into 1-inch chunks 2 tbsp red pepper paste 1/2 cup dry white wine Olive oil 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes Salt and pepper 1 1/2 pounds clams Small bunch cilantro, chopped Method Working in batches, add the pork and olive oil to a medium pot cook until browned on all sides, about 5 - 7 minutes.  Remove from pot Add the garlic and onion, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes Return the pork to the pot, add wine and red pepper paste Simmer on low heat for 2 hours.  Add water as needed  Preheat oven to 400F Toss potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper Bake until browned, turning once or twice, about 45 minutes Bring pork to medium high heat and add washed clams Cook until clams have opened and cooked.   Place potatoes in plate and top with pork, shelled clams, and broth Sprinkle cilantro and serve Notes We use tomato paste instead of red pepper paste Porco Alente