Mamaliga

Pesto Rigatoni

In hot and humid Chicago summer days, when the AC is almost always on, (don’t remind me of the electricity bill), the last thing I want to do is spend the afternoon in the kitchen having the oven or stove on. I admit, I need an effort to become creative at whipping out dishes (decent ones, mind you) under one hour. I usually take refuge doing something on the grill, but there are days when I couldn’t bear the sight or smell of barbecued meat (as much as I love it!). So then, what do I do? Start by opening the fridge veggie bins for some inspiration. That quickly turns me off since sometimes all I find are some pathetic wilted scallions or forgotten half bell peppers. I am a very clumsy meal planner, so most of the time I have to improvise with what’s at hand. And oh look! What’s on our counter!! A beautiful bouquet of fresh basil that my brother in law brought over from his garden! My creative wheels start to turn. I open the freezer, there lies a package of walnuts. A jar of sun dried tomatoes in the fridge. Enough garlic to feed an army. I look at the clock – it’s 5:15 p.m. Heck, I might be able to pull it off too feed them for our religious 6 o’clock-dinner-on-the-table time. It’s Pesto!

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Popularity: 5% [?]

No, that’s not a name of an obscure pasta dish, or anything near – just the title for my blog post on how to make pasta from scratch.

I enjoy cooking with store bought pasta (Barilla) but for certain dishes I like having home made fresh pasta (Pasta Fresca), since it adds a whole new dimension to the equation.

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Popularity: 50% [?]

I decided to take on NPR’s How Low Can You Go – $10 Meals challenge and post here a recipe that will bring you and your family through (at least for a day) the recession!

The recipe I will post is nothing new for me,  my Grandma would make it once a week, and almost everyone in East Europe eats it. And get this! If Potato Pasta brought many people through a Communist-wrecked economy in Romania, it will bring you through for sure here in the West!

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Popularity: 12% [?]

In days when the inspiration muse doesn’t strike, it is always helpful to fall back on some good old recipes you know and tried before. One of them is my mushroom sauce.
A humble sauce but not with a humble attitude, my universal mushroom sauce makes many dishes happy, such as pastas (linguine in my case), stuffing, etc.
The one discussed here is a fresh linguine pasta I made with Semolina (Durum) flour.

Mushroom Sauce

It has a sublime texture, aroma and taste using simple but excellent ingredients such as garlic, plum tomatoes, mushroom and olives.
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Popularity: 5% [?]