This is inspired by a Roman recipe called pasta e piselli. As is the case with so many Italian dishes, it is deceptively simple but packed full of flavour and is sure to please diners of all ages. Brodo – Italian for broth – is often made with meat stock, so do use a chicken stock here, unless you’re serving to vegetarians. This is a recipe that will welcome a spare Parmesan rind: it will impart so much flavour. Just add it to the liquid as it cooks and discard before serving.
I won’t try to say this is anything like eating pasta cacio e pepe or that it will satisfy your craving for it—because it isn’t, and it won’t. But there is something ethereal about this salad that really speaks to the season. Shaved vegetables are so elegant and fresh. You could also add some raw zucchini noodles in place of cucumber if you wanted to, serve it on top of thin, crispy or grilled chicken cutlets, or you could pile it on top of baked pizza crust (I might add a little burrata if I was doing that).
Indian cheese, known as paneer or chenna, is a delicacy that all Indians- particularly northerners-love. Its use in the preparation of savory dishes is limited, but the few dishes created with it are absolute masterpieces. The most popular, without doubt, is Matar Paneer--moist pieces of sautéed cheese with sweet green peas wrapped in a luscious red sauce bursting with the fragrance of spices and fresh coriander leaves. Matar Paneer, a classic North Indian dish, is popular with vegetarians and nonvegetarians alike. The flavor and texture of the paneer are of prime importance here. The cheese should be sweet and fresh-smelling; it should feel firm to the touch but not hard; it should be moist but not wet; and finally, its texture should be close and compact, not porous. (If the paneer is dry and too solid, the cheese pieces will taste hard and rubbery, and the sauce will not penetrate the paneer, leaving it with a bland taste. If the paneer is too wet and loose-textured, it will not hold its shape, but will fall apart while it is being fried, disintegrating into the oil.)
Consisting of fresh green pea puree topped with crunchy and flavorful corn, peas, pea tendrils, radicchio, and herbs, dressed in oil and grainy mustard and topped with crumbled ricotta salata cheese, this salad is creamy, cool, crunchy, salty, sweet, and fresh-tasting all at once—a sort of concentrated dose of summertime. Thanks to its crisp textures and summery flavors, it makes a super accompaniment to grilled steak, chicken, sausage, or seafood, and it tends to go over like gangbusters at a barbecue—just brace yourself for enthusiastic praise and recipe requests.
Tofu is a brilliant blank canvas for adding flavour to, and the firm variety holds really well when fried. Here I’ve coated it in fiery wasabi paste and sesame seeds before cooking it until crunchy, yet still soft in the middle. This delicate Japanese-inspired salad is simply delicious and works brilliantly with tofu.
Ingredients
Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil. Add salt until it tastes briny like the ocean. When the water returns to a rolling boil, add the couscous and boil until al dente, about 7 minutes. Add the peas and cook for 1 minute longer. Drain the couscous and peas in a colander and run under a stream of cold water to stop the cooking process.
Sprinkle with chives or scallions, and serve.
There's still a little chill in the air when the first peas are ready for picking. This soup is perfect in the spring when young lettuces are around.
Omu raisu (rice omelet) is one of the most popular dishes in Japan, both at home and in restaurants. To Western ears it doesn't sound immediately compelling -- lightly fried rice laced with ketchup and covered with a sheet of runny eggs. It's slathered with more ketchup to finish, which is probably why I jumped on the bandwagon almost immediately and have never looked back. My childhood recollections don't include any warm and fuzzy comfort dishes, so when I feel down and out or just need some food love, this is the dish I invariably turn to.