PANDEMIC DIARY - How I Spent My Sequester - Pt. 4 - Pasta!!!

PANDEMIC DIARY

How I Spent My Sequester - Pt. 4

PASTA!!!

In my last pandemic diary entry I told you how I've thankfully gained only five pounds with all the cocktails, wine and amazing dinners Richard has made - and I probably wouldn't have even gained that if it wasn't for the outrageously good pasta dinners he's made between his low carb feasts.

Then the other night I woke up w/ the full moon shining through the bedroom window hearing a trolley clanging in my head and singing "Rice A Roni, the San Francisco Treat" over and over in my half-asleep brain, a commercial I remembered as a kid.  As far as I recall, my mother never actually made Rice A Roni, and back then I'd never been to San Francisco, but the jingle was catchy and since one couldn't mute commercials in those ancient TV days or DVR shows in advance so you could fast-forward them, I was a captive audience. I couldn't get rice out of my brain (and I'm not a big lover of rice) - but, I had to have some pasta and there just happened to be leftover orzo in the fridge.  The sun hadn't risen when I found myself in the kitchen microwaving the leftover orzo and wolfing it down in a frenzy like an addict shooting up a dose of heroin.  The craving was satisfied.  And, like an addict, I went into a hazy euphoria trance when I finished my little cup of orzo.  Not a good look.  Carbs!  White carbs!  I had just fallen off the wagon.

Confession:  I hate to say that I'm on the Keto diet - it sounds so tres trendy (and really is just basically the NuAtkins diet w/ a hipster name) - but that is how I've been eating for over a year - losing 20 pounds and mostly maintaining.  It's not that I don't have bread (I'm a sandwich junkie, so yeh!) - I just don't have it often... WELL, unless someone drops off homemade sourdough (which happens now and again and I cannot resist) or Richard bakes his no knead bread (ditto the sourdough parenthesis) ... AND, it's not that I don't have a baked potato now and again - when I make one for Richard, it's usually a huge one and I indulge by cutting off an end then loading it up with butter and salt... or I've been known to have a bit of mashed potatoes.  But, when I do have a major craving for mashed potatoes and know I'd eat a bowl full if Richard makes it - he keeps me on track and makes mashed cauliflower, a pretty good substitute (and you must try mac & cheese made w/ cauliflower instead of macaroni - to die for) - but I digress...  we're talking about pasta, and if you put a plate or bowl of pasta in front of me, I'm a goner, especially when Richard makes one of his delicious concoctions.

There's his mushroom w/ shrimp fettuccine...

His pappardelle pasta noodle with asparagus, ham (sometimes mild sausage) EVOO and freshly grated parm.

Or his shrimp (sometimes chicken) linguini w/ EVOO, rosemary, garlic and spinach (sometimes peas)...

 ... shrimp scampi orzo w/ spinach.  Spinach is a great addition - you can just fold it in the pasta at the end just so it wilts.  Yum.  AND it adds a real healthful element to any pasta dish.

His traditional spaghetti and meatball dinner. Homemade tomato sauce... his own meatballs... Eating doesn't get much better. 

Ah, but then there's his spaghetti and meat sauce.

And last, but not least, Richard's version of Wolfgang Puck's mushroom pasta.  One of the joys of my foodie life.

Now if only I could get that Rice A Roni jingle out of my head so I can next write about all the marvelous low carb meals we've been feasting on since we've been sequestered.

During this 'stay at home' period, some people have repainted rooms and rearranged furniture - others are cleaning out their closets or garages - folks are taking online aerobic or yoga classes - others are binge watching television series (well, have to admit we're doing that, too) and many others are engaged in video home schooling of their kids or conducting their businesses online...

We write - we read - we watch TV.... AND I get to eat at the only indoor fine-dining restaurant for two in town.

Bon appetit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN ODE TO PIZZA

 AN ODE TO PIZZA!!

 I grew up in the pizza capital of America.  New York City.  OK - "arguably" the pizza capital of America, since Newark, Hoboken and Chicago make some fine pies.  But none of those cities had Rocky Lee Chu-Cho Bianca on Second Avenue near 52nd Street, the originator of thin crust pizzas with a special olive oil that made their slices a gift from God/dess.  Then we had Ray's Original Pizza parlor.  Well, parlors, plural, since there were a zillion Ray's around Manhattan - east side, west side, all sides.  My favorite was on First Avenue around 58th Street, just a few blocks from my apartment where I could walk over and get a pizza "fix" even in a blizzard.  But go to any pizza joint in NYC or NJ and you'll understand our devotion to these pies.  Maybe it's the water.

My first taste of this heavenly food was in Bayside, Queens, Long Island, New York, where I grew up.  Sal's was our local Italian restaurant and served hot, bubbly cheesey, traditional NY pizza.  I fell in love at first bite.  I think I was seven.  Is there a more perfect combination of flavors?  I don't think so.  But, full disclosure:  My name is ilona saari, and I'm a cheeseaholic.

I've had pizza in Boston when in college.  Not bad, but no NY slice.  Devoured deep dish in Chicago when I lived there for a year.  Very good, but not real "pizza" for a New Yorker.  Though, I did find the semi-deep dish pies from Goldberg's truly memorable.  Hey, Chicagoans, does Goldberg's still exist?  I've eaten pizza in Las Vegas, Miami, Hartford, and in San Francisco and Sacramento.  All good, but...  

Then there's Los Angeles where I lived for years and where the Wolfgang Puck gourmet pizza revolution that swept the nation began.  Sitting in Spago and biting into my first BBQ chicken pizza or the wild mushrooms olives, sun dried tomatoes w/ Pecorino Romano cheese pizza was a food revelation.  But was it "pizza?"  I love the Margherita pizza, the smoked salmon pizza... even the veggie varieties... the list of tasty gourmet pies is endless.  BUT, as delicious as these all are, they are not NY pies... the classic cheese, at times topped with mushrooms or pepperoni or sausage... sometimes all of the above.  They just aren't!!! 

But my days of eating pizza whenever I want are waning as the nation has become more conscious of making healthier food choices.  Lots of us are eating less carbs - ie: less bread!  Many people are going gluten free.  The burger, yes - the roll, no.  We're designing more and more salads with protein and veggies, and we're exercising more.  Baby boomers are fighting the bulge, cholesterol, and encroaching old age with a vengeance.  But, we lapse.  If I was back in Manhattan I would not be able to resist having a slice (often), so I'm thankful that my Ojai pizza joint, though good, doesn't make me fall to temptation.

Which brings me to cauliflower.

When I must have - absolutely MUST have some semblance of pizza, Richard will make me one (what would I do without him?).  No, not thin crust.  Not deep dish crust.  Not doughy crust.  BUT, healthy, often maligned cauliflower crust.  Yup, cauliflower crust!  Is it NY pizza?  Not even close.  Is it a Wolfgang Puck-style gourmet pizza?  Closer. Put your favorite toppings on it.  I like the
Margherita tomato, cheese and basil toppings. Though we've done others.  What it has going for it is the hot, bubbly cheese, olive oil, tomato, even tomato sauce if you desire.  And it pleasantly stifles the craving.

Here's how you, too, can sate that pizza craving with a healthful substitution.  It ain't real pizza, but then only NYC has real pizza.  

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

Florets from one cauliflower head

3/4 cup ground almonds

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

Salt and pepper

3 eggs beaten

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Line a baking sheet w/ parchment paper

Coarsely chop the cauliflower and blend in a food processor to a nice texture

Put in mixing bowl w/ almonds, oregano and seasoning - mix w/ your hands

Make a well in the center and add the eggs

Shape into a ball

Put on baking sheet and roll/spread out, edges high

Bake 25 minutes

Take out of the oven and cover with toppings

 
 and bake again for 5-10 minutes.

Mangia!!!