All right, so perhaps it’s not the most summery of culinary exploits, but last night, I had a hankering for some creamy risotto.  In fact, I’ve been craving risotto for a while, ever since having an out-of-this-world risotto experience this past winter at L’Espalier in Boston.  It takes me a while to get around to some things.  Of course, I pick the muggiest/hottest week of the year to slave over a gas stove.

My camera battery is dead, so I wasn’t able to get a good shot of the dish.  I have to admit, it’s not exactly “pretty.”  But man, was it delicious!  Slightly sweet, perfectly savory, it’s a great switch from the traditional Pumpkin Risotto.

Sweet Potato Risotto

**Note: Ingredient measurements are approximations**

3/4 tbsp olive oil

2 pats butter, unsalted

1 cup arborio rice

2 cans chicken broth

1/2 cup frozen broccoli

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 can sweet potato puree

Salt and Pepper to taste

Grated pamesan cheese for serving

1)  In a frying pan, warm 2 pats of butter and olive oil over medium-high heat, add rice and saute for roughly 2 minutes (stirring every few seconds).  Add frozen broccoli one minute in.  Stir every few seconds.

2)  Add one can chicken broth, cinnamon, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.  Stir frequently, watching the rice as it soaks up the broth.  About five minutes in, start adding in second can of chicken broth in steps, until rice is tender.

3) Fold in sweet potato puree and heat through.  Serve with grated parmesan on top.

This gorgeous specimen is the newest addition to my kitchen.  I love basil.  Italian basil, thai basil, purple basil; any kind of basil adds such flavor and freshness to a dish.  I usually enjoy making Tomato and Mozzarella Toasts or chopping up some fresh basil and adding it to some rice cooked-with-chicken-stockand parmesan cheese.  Many people believe that the use of basil is strictly an Italian invention, but au contraire!  It is an incredibly versatile plant, and I’ve been known to add it not only to curry but to burritos as well.  Once, I even stumbled upon a dessert recipe for basil: Basil-Blackberry Compote.  I can’t wait to try that one.

Tomorrow, after a quick trip to pick up some dough, I’ll be making Fresh Tomato Pesto Pizza.  I figure it’s the perfect end-of-the-day, eat-on-the-back-porch type of meal to have on a Wednesday.  Mmmmm.

Fresh Tomato Pesto Pizza

happy cooking!

It’s been a little quiet around here, lately, and I apologize for that.  This past week has been crazy between packing for my trip to Costa Rica, helping organize a bar night fundraiser for my team’s 3-day Walk for Breast Cancer (please donate here if you’re so inclined), and celebrating my impending doom entry into spinsterhood 25th birthday.  I kid, I kid.  I’m very excited to be turning a quarter-century old.  I’ve learned a lot in the past two-and-a-half decades, even more in the past 2 years, alone.  I feel 25.  I embrace 25.  I’m ready to be 25.

Am I where I thought I’d be in life at this age?  Heck, no!  And I couldn’t be happier for it.

Anyway, I wanted to give a blog shout-out to A.J. Rathbun, but this time for Amazon.com’s Al Dente blog.  AJ is a kitchen buyer at Amazon and contributes to their fabulous kitchenware/cooking blog.  He was so kind as to give my blog a shout-out on there, and linked to that gorgeous Kirsten Lepore film I’ve talked about.  Check it out!

All right, I’m off to get fabulous and drink wine and eat Italian food at Pomodoro with some of my closest friends.  Ciao bellos!

First of all, I want to take a moment to pause and thank all of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defending our nation’s freedom.  Mitte, Domine, operario in mensam tuam. Messis quidem multa, operarii autem pauci.  Thank you.

On my last book-buying rampage at my local independent bookstore, I picked up a marked-down copy of a cookbook that is quickly becoming a part of my daily ritual.  Italian Two Easy: Simple Recipes from the London River Cafe is a gorgeously photographed compilation of executive chefs Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers’ simplest Italian dishes.  The menu at the LRC focuses on freshness and simplicity: rarely does a recipe in the book contain beyond six or seven ingredients.  I pull this from my shelves on a nearly daily basis, usually just to look at the pictures.  Tonight, though I know it’s probably blashphemous to do anything but barbecue on Memorial Day, I tried my own variation of one of the recipes.  In the book, it’s called “Orcchiette, tomato, ricotta” (all recipes are named by their main ingredients), and instead of orcchiette pasta and basil, I substituted fusilli and baby arugula, respectively.  I.  Loved.  It.  The creamy cheese, tomato and arugula blend reminded me of one of the meals I ate when camping (yes, camping) in Rome during college.  The site we stayed at had a small restaurant attached to the lounge.  After a particularly exhausting day hiking back and forth across the city (we’d neglected to plot our site-seeing out and instead decided the wander method would be best.  I lost a good pair of shoes that day to the Roman cobblestones…), we plopped down at a table and ordered a tableful of pasta.  One dish that came out was a creamy ricotta or marscepone topped pappardelle with tomato sauce.  Tonight, this recipe catapulted me immediately back to that table, back to the gallon of house wine, and back to our waiter’s (Vincenzo… at least that’s what I called him) brilliant gutteral laugh.  The best meals are the ones that link you to moments of your past and bring them to live in your present.

Fusilli, Tomato, and Ricotta (serves 1)

3 small Roma tomatoes

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 small clove garlic

1/4 cup baby arugula

1/2 cup full-fat ricotta cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

3/4 cup fusilli pasta

1 tbsp freshly grated romano cheese

1)  Chunk Roma tomatoes, drain juice and seeds.  Chop baby arugula, finely mince garlic.  Combine with tomatoes in a bowl, olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.  Set aside for at least 15 minutes to marinate.

2)  Season ricotta with salt and pepper, set aside.

3)  Bring salted water to a boil and prepare fusilli according to package instructions.  Meanwhile, simmer tomato mixture over a low heat.  Combine pasta and tomatoes.  Mix in ricotta last.  Serve with freshly grated romano cheese on top.

ugh, I need new plates. Still: so. good.