Meatless Monday: Pasta with Blue Cheese and Mushrooms

I know the picture isn't the most appetising (it was taken few weeks ago late at night), and I will change it as soon as I make this dish again. But it's time for another Meatless Monday post and this simple pasta dish has been my to-go-supper ever since I was a postgraduate student in Edinburgh (read: for ages :)) My favourite mushrooms for this are fresh shiitake mushrooms - I love their slightly chewy texture. However, as these are almost impossible to source in Estonia, I've been making this with simple cultivated mushrooms (called šampinjonid in Estonian) instead.

The creamy blue cheese and mushroom sauce is actually pretty versatile. I've served it also with simple fried fish, meatballs as well as steamed vegetables.

Pasta with Blue Cheese and Mushrooms
(Sinihallitusjuustu-seenekaste)
Serves 4

400 g dried pasta

200-250 g fresh mushrooms (about half a litre/2 cups) - f.ex. shiitake, oyster, crimini, white cultivated
1 medium onion
2 Tbsp butter or oil
100-200 ml single cream
100-150 g crumbled blue cheese (Valio Aura, Dolcelatte etc)
freshly ground black pepper
finely chopped fresh parsley

Cook pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet.

To make the sauce, clean mushrooms and chop into halves or quarters or larger pieces, depending on the size. Peel and finely chop the onion.
Put mushrooms on a heavy pan and fry gently, until the "mushroom juices" evaporate.
Add the butter or oil as well as onion and fry for a few minutes, until the onion begins to soften.
Add the cream and heat until bubbling. Now add the cheese and stir until it's melted. Season to taste, stir in the parsley.
Drain the cooked pasta, and stir in the sauce.
Serve at once.

Macaroni & Cheese a la Nancy Reagan

I cannot remember where exactly I got this recipe from (the Internet is a wide, wide world), but apparently that's the way Nancy Reagan would make mac'n'cheese for her hubby. Please, please don't read any politics into this choice of recipe :) - it appealed to me because of its simplicity. It's a good mac'n'cheese recipe for those moments when you're craving something simple and comforting, but haven't got many eggs in your fridge nor bacon nor cream.

As you can see from the picture below, then I've combined it with some Georgian creamy & herby mushrooms. They worked together like a dream.

What's your favourite macaroni & cheese recipe and do you eat it as it is or as a side dish?

Nancy Reagan's Macaroni & Cheese
(Reaganite makaroni-juustuvorm)



250 g small pasta (f.ex. elbow pasta)
water & salt, for boiling pasta
1 tsp butter
1 large egg
250 ml (one cup) of milk
1 tsp mustard powder/dry mustard
1 tsp finely ground sea salt
200-250 g grated cheese

Cook pasta al dente, drain (keep a spoonful of the cooking water for later). Stir in the butter and whisked egg, then transfer into a buttered round gratin dish.
Mix mustard powder, salt and a spoonful of hot pasta-cooking water, then stir in the milk and about 3/4 of the grated cheese. Pour over the pasta in the gratin dish. Toss a little, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
Bake in a pre-heated 170 C/350 F oven for about 45 minutes, until the custard is set and cheese lovely golden.

Gnocchi Puttanesca

I've been eating quite a lot of gnocchi dishes recently. There's a nice deli at our neighbourhood that now stocks decent ready-made gnocchi, and it's been a convenient lunch or dinner option ever since. As you know, the classic potato gnocchi are rather bland on their own, so it's the sauce that makes (or not) the dish.

The bold Puttanesca sauce proved to be an excellent accompaniment to the gnocchi.

Gnocchi Puttanesca
(Gnocchi-klimbid Puttanesca-kastmega)
Serves 2 as a light meal

500 g gnocchi (store-bought)

Puttanesca sauce:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2 anchovy fillets (in oil)
2 tsp salted capers
large handful of pitted black olives
a generous pinch of dried chilli flakes
400 g can chopped tomatoes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a generous handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
grated parmesan, for serving

Chop onions, garlic and anchovy fillets. Stone the olives, cut the olives into slices. Rinse the capers, drain.
Heat oil in a saucepan, add onions and fry for about 5 minutes over moderate heat.
Add garlic, anchovies, olives, capers, chilli flakes. Give it a good stir, then add the chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Simmer over moderate heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the sauce thickens slightly.
Meanwhile bring salted water into boil in another saucepan. Add the gnocchi and boil for 2-3 minutes (or whatever time is given on the packet), until the gnocchi float to the surface.
Drain the gnocchi and stir into the Puttanesca sauce.
Serve at once, sprinkling some grated Parmesan on top.

Wild Garlic Pesto Recipe

It's the brief season for wild garlic (aka ramsons or bear's garlic, Allium ursinum), and I'm excited. I only discovered wild garlic a year ago (see post here), and have been looking forward to them again.

There's a plentiful supply of wild garlic near our house, and early last week I picked some* to make some wild garlic recipes I had spotted elsewhere or 'created' myself. So far I've made the same cucumber and wild garlic salad mentioned last year; a delicious cold tzatziki sauce (wild garlic, cucumber, sour cream, salt); one cold sauce to accompany simple boiled potatoes (wild garlic, cornichons, kefir milk); and this delicious pesto recipe.

The idea behind the pesto is simple. If your usual Pesto Genovese is basil + garlic + parmesan cheese + pine nuts, then instead of basil and garlic I decided to use mild-tasting wild garlic instead. It was a very successful substitution indeed, and I'll be certainly making it again next year.

Have you tried wild garlic before? And what's your favourite use for this delicious wild food?

* Karulauk on Eestis III kategooria kaitsealune taim. Karulaugu korjamine isiklikuks kasutamiseks määral, mis ei ohusta liigi säilimist antud elupaigas, on lubatud; rangelt on keelatud looduslikust kasvukohast korjatud karulauguga kauplemine.

Wild Garlic Pesto
(Karulaugupesto)
Makes 200 ml



100 g wild garlic, rinsed, drained and chopped
50 g toasted pine nuts
150 ml extra virgin olive oil
50 g parmesan cheese, grated
Maldon sea salt, to taste

Place chopped wild garlic and toasted pine nuts into a blender, add about 1/3 of the olive oil and puree until smooth. Stir in the rest of the oil and the grated cheese, season to taste with salt.

Serve with pasta (see above) or stir into your risotto. Keeps covered in the fridge for about a week.

* Toasting pine nuts: heat pinenuts of a hot dry frying pan for a few minutes, shaking the pan regularly, until the nuts are golden brown and aromatic. Cool before use.

WHB: This is also my entry to the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Anh of Food Lover's Journey. Click on the logo below for more information about this foodblogging event started by Kalyn.

A Delicious Beetroot Pesto Recipe

If there's somebody who is into beetroot as much as I am, then it's Alanna of A Veggie Venture blog. Alanna has got an impressive 41 beetroot posts on her blog already, which is way more than I've got (11 at the last count). But then, you see, Alanna has been blogging for 2,5 months more than I have, so I've still got time to catch up :) Another fellow beetroot admirer is Bea of La Tartine Gourmande, who's also got 11 beetroot recipes on her blog. If there was a Beetroot Appreciation Society, then we three should be honorary members from the beginning. (If you'd like to join, then give us a shout - we'll consider everybody's beetroot credentials!)

Last month Alanna posted a recipe for beetroot pesto that I adapted for last week's movie night. I had lots of leftover odd beetroot pieces after making those cute beetroot and blue cheese mini tartlets, so this recipe was brilliant. It was a tasty and gutsy and hearty vegetable dip that was very well received, especially by my dear friend Kadri, so this post is dedicated for her :)

And thank you, Alanna, for another keeper beetroot recipe!!

Beetroot Pesto
(Peedipesto)
Makes about 1,5 cups


(Photo updated in September 2008)

500 grams roasted beetroot , peeled
2 fat garlic cloves, peeled
a small bunch of fresh coriander/cilantro
50 grams pinenuts, toasted
1 Tbsp sherry vinegar
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
grated parmesan cheese, optional
sea salt

Grind beetroot, garlic, toasted pinenuts and coriander in a food processor (I used my Kitchen Aid's food grinder) until you've got a coarse puree. Add some olive oil for a smoother texture, and grated parmesan cheese, if you wish. Season with salt and vinegar.

Use as a side salad (middle photo), spread of toasted rye bread (below) or stir into cooked pasta (above photo). Although I liked all the uses, the pasta sauce was my favourite - it coloured the pasta instantly into a beautiful shade of beetroot purple, and certainly brightened up simple boiled farfalle that night.

Keeps well for a few days in the fridge, covered.



BLAST FROM THE PAST
A year ago I made Johanna's wonderful cantucci with almonds, ginger and pink peppercorns. I think it's about time I made them again :)