Gluten Free Spaghetti with Mushroom Bolognese

Every month I look forward to the arrival of my new Food & Wine magazine.  The covers are always tantalizing.  The celebrity Q&A surprises me most months as I assume all celebrities never actually do anything as mundane for themselves as cooking.  (So and So can do what?) And the Editors' Top 10 Objects. There are usually at least one or two items I'm not sure how I ever lived with out.  Really. Seriously! I DO need the "Chicken Shaped"  Food jewelry.  See March 2016 pg 18.  (A blatant hint for my dear husband)

Page 86 of the March issue.  Mushroom Bolognese!  The photo of the dish in the magazine made me warm and fuzzy and sent me back.  Transported back to a comfortable, safe haven.  Saturday dinners with Dad.  As a teen, I remember Dad and I making Kraft Italian Style Spaghetti from a box.  We always doctored up the the recipe, adding meat and more mushrooms and more spices. It was a fun bonding time of father and daughter.  Page 86 reminded me of my comfort food but without the beef.

The next best thing about this recipe is it required very little altering to fit our dietary restrictions (elimination of the sugar ingredient and the use of gluten free pasta) and some of its ingredients could, in some form, come from my very own garden!  Fresh carrots, baby eggplant and tomatoes, tomatoes. tomatoes!  Doesn't it taste better when you've grown it yourself!

Stubby raised bed carrots.  They are meant to be this short and aren't they cute!

INGREDIENTS

·         1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms

·         6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

·         1 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

·         2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice

·         1 baby eggplant (8 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice

·         1 pound cremini mushrooms, one-fourth sliced, the rest cut into 1/4-inch dice (FYI, Cremini and Baby Bellas are the same thing.  I NEVER knew!)

·         8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps cut into 1/4-inch dice

·         Kosher salt

·         Pepper

·         5 garlic cloves, minced

·         2 tablespoons tomato paste

·         1 tablespoon white miso

·         One 2-inch chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus grated cheese for serving

·         One 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed

·         1 thyme sprig

·         12 ounces brown rice spaghetti

·         2 tablespoons chopped parsley

HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE

1.     In a small bowl, cover the porcini with 1 cup of boiling water; soak until softened, about 30 minutes. Finely chop the porcini, discarding any tough bits. Pour off and reserve 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid.

Shitakes, creminis, porcinis, garlic, onion and carrot from my own garden

2.     In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the onion and carrots and cook over moderate heat until light golden, about 8 minutes. Add the eggplant and 2 tablespoons of the oil and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 8 minutes. Stir in the cremini, shiitake, chopped porcini and the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste and miso and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chunk of cheese, the tomatoes and their juices, the thyme, sugar and reserved mushroom soaking liquid and bring to a simmer.


3. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is very thick, about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Discard the thyme sprig; season the sauce with salt and pepper. 


Hearty and flavorful.  One would never know it was vegetarian!

4.In a pot of salted boiling water, cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta water.

5.     Add the pasta, pasta water and parsley to the sauce; toss to coat. Serve in bowls, topped with grated cheese.

MAKE AHEAD

The mushroom Bolognese can be refrigerated for 2 days.

Delicious

Garlic & Greens Spaghetti - Because Garlic Fest is just around the corner

GARLIC!!!!!!GARLIC!!!!!!!!GARLIC!!!!!!!!

Last year, by virtue of a glitch is the cosmos, I was asked to fill in as a guest judge at the Delray Beach Garlic Festival.  I suspect is was the universe pointing to one of the true lovers of all things garlic because clearly it was not pointing to a public speaker.  This year, another judge must have fallen into a black hole, as I was asked, again. to participate as a Judge.  (Someone seriously needs to do a better vetting process if I'm asked to speak with a microphone in hand)

In any event, to ready myself for the challenge I have re-invented Garlic & Greens Spaghetti from the Food Network Magazine Cookbook, Great Easy Meals. (Page 277 for those who want the original recipe)

This dish has everything my husband and I love.  GARLIC in abundance.  Fresh greens.  And, Pasta.

The modifications to this recipe were minimal.  We, of course, added more garlic than required and less EVOO.  We found adding two onions to the dish made it too sweet and lessened the recipe it to just one.  If you have followed us before, the standard pasta is replaced with brown rice pasta. (An FYI, we also tried it with linguine but much preferred the spaghetti version)

We attempted this recipe twice.  Once with grilled pork and the second time with blackened shrimp on top.  Both were delicious.  Both would be made again.

The original recipe suggests par boiling the greens, however we omitted that step.  I preferred to saute the greens in the onion/EVOO.  I hate to lose any nutritional value in the water bath and we both love sauted greens.

Ingredients
20 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onions, halved and sliced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
Kosher salt
12 cups torn winter greens, such as kale, chard, escarole or mustard greens (about 2 1/2 pounds)
12 ounces brown rice spaghetti 
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese


Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, cook the garlic in the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. (Be careful not to over-brown the garlic or it will taste bitter.) Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic chips to a paper-towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons oil into a small bowl to use as a dip for crusty bread, if desired. 

Is there any better smell than a saute pan full of garlic?

When the water is boiling, Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente.  Our brand of pasta takes about 15 min.

Brown Rice Pasta has a different cooking method than traditional pasta.  Be sure to follow the instructions

Add the onions and red pepper flakes to the oil in the pan; cook, stirring, until the onions are light brown, about 10 minutes. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt. When the onions are almost done, add the greens and cook, uncovered, until just tender,stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Greens and onion mixture with Garlic waiting in the background.

When the pasta is done, remove and reserve about 1 cup cooking water; drain the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the cheese and toss. Add the greens and some of the reserved pasta water and toss, adding more water as necessary to keep the pasta from clumping. Top with the garlic chips and protein of choice.

Almost ready to serve

Garlic & Greens with Blackened Shrimp

Garlic & Greens with grilled pork