Red Pasta

I love to cook and feed people, and I enjoy cooking challenges. For instance, what do you feed a group of people that includes someone with celiacs and another who is a pescatarian and allergic to dairy? My favorite answer so far is paella! *Warning, the recipes below are neither gluten nor dairy free. I will note when they are. * Anyways. I've created this blog to share my cooking adventures. Also, because I'm a nerd and read too much, I'll post some book or movie recommendations at the end loosely tied to whatever theme I've come up with for the food.

This week, since it's almost Valentine's Day, I wanted to cook something unusually red, but without cheating and just using food coloring. Now, I am no fan of Valentine's Day, and have been this way every year, regardless of my relationship status. There were a couple years I declared myself the Valentine's Day Grinch. Why should should we need a holiday to show that you love someone? Isn't it more romantic to be spontaneous anyway? It's stressful for couples in relationships who want to make things perfect and it's depressing to those who are single or far away from their loved ones. It's another Hallmark Holiday overly commercialized and forcing us to by chocolate. Not that I'm complaining about the chocolate. That's my favorite part. I am trying to make amends with the holiday. I don't necessarily have to like it, but I'll accept it and take from it the things I do like. One of the actresses in my show said that she likes Valentine's Day because she gets to play with the color red more. So I translated that thought into food and came up with the idea for this pasta. There's no need to have a significant other to share this meal. Get a group of friends, or hell, treat yourself. That's what I've been learning to do and after a while I've grown to love it. The pasta is a vegetarian recipe as written but please feel free to add shrimp or chicken. I originally added shrimp and cooked them with the wine, but I did not cook off the alcohol long enough, thus the dish's alternate name is affectionately, Drunken Shrimp. Also below is the recipe for my Oreo Truffles, or Oreo Balls depending on where you serve them. The more comfortable you are with the group, the more they'll remember your Oreo Balls. Make them for any occasion by decorating them with different colors and shapes such as orange spiders on dark chocolate for Halloween or green shamrocks for St. Pattys day (you can even add mint to the oreos.)

Red Linguine w/ Sun-dried tomato pesto aka Drunken Shrimp
(serves 3-4 full course meals depending on hunger)

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto (can be made ahead of time)

• 1/2 cup packaged sun-dried tomatoes (boiled to soften)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
  
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts
  
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  
• 1/2 cup olive oil

With a blender: blend all ingredients together until paste forms (it does seem chunky and homemade, but still tastes great.) If you have a food processor: add all ingredients except the oil and with machine running, gradually add olive oil and process until smooth paste forms.

Red Linguinie

• 1/2 lb linguine
• 1/2 (750-ml) bottle red wine (I used Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon from Trader Joe's since the pesto provides most of the flavor.)
• 1 teaspoon sugar

In a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water, cook linguine, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes (pasta will not be fully cooked). Drain in colander and return empty pot to stove top. Add wine and sugar to pot and boil vigorously 2 minutes. Add spaghetti and shake pot to prevent pasta from sticking. Gently stir until coated and boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 6 minutes (pasta will be al dente). Drain remaining liquid if necessary. Add pesto and serve.

Oreo Truffles (White Chocolate & Pink Heart)
makes about 20

• 1/2 package regular size Oreo cookies, crushed
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (the fat free and reduced fat cream cheeses taste great in this recipe too ... though I have not used the reduced fat oreos yet ...)
  
• 1/2 package (or more) White Chocolate Chips (almond bark also works)
  
• Red food die

Using a blender or hand held mixer, mix Oreos and cream cheese together.
Scoop out a tablespoon of the mixture and roll into a ball. Repeat until mixture is gone.
Chill balls in the fridge for an hour.
Melt approximately 1/2 package of white chocolate chips.
Stick a toothpick in an Oreo ball and dip it in the melted white white chocolate.
Allow to harden on wax paper.
While waiting for the chocolate to harden, use the remaining chocolate or melt more if necessary and add red food coloring, about 20ish drops or as dark as you like. It does darken a little when it hardens.
When Oreo balls are no longer sticky to the touch, decorate with pink chocolate. I just use a sandwich bag with a tiny hole cut in one corner to drizzle the pink chocolate.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: Bel Canto, Ann Pachet

WHY? I chose to post about Bel Canto this week because it is about finding love in unexpected places. (Edit, I just saw the New York Magazine quote "In more ways than one, Bel Canto is about finding beauty in unexpected places" and I don't want to unintentionally plagiarize.) This book is so beautifully written, and no matter how dire the situation gets, it still makes you feel good to be alive. Now, this is not a happy book. The book is about a hostage situation in an unspecified Latin country. For several days the wealthy party guests and the terrorists live together while the negotiations are in process, but the relationships that form in these circumstances are both beautiful and heartbreaking. I was tempted to think of a light-hearted and romantic book or movie to write about, but since I haven't made full amends with Valentines' Day yet, something bittersweet is the perfect choice.