Tag Archives: peas

Rice

Summer Rice Salad

My mom always made this colorful rice salad when entertaining guests in the summer, and for family meals when it got too hot to cook. It is the traditional northern Italian rice salad served by families all across Lombardy and Piedmont, with a few personal twists added (Kosher pickles for extra acidity, and Kielbasa instead of frankfurters for deeper flavor). While the ingredient list looks long, the preparation time is minimal. Leftovers are wonderful for days, as long as you return the salad to room temperature before serving, or else the rice will be dry and chewy.

That said, I prefer serving the salad before it has seen the inside of the refrigerator: the texture of the rice and the brightness of the flavors will be far superior. To make a vegetarian version, omit the Kielbasa and tuna, and add 1/4 pound of cubed Fontina from Val d’Aosta. And if you would like a jolt of bold color and extra sweetness, add some diced roasted red pepper strips.

Serves 8 as part of a multi-course meal, or 4 as a main course

  • 1 cup parboiled rice (preferably Uncle Ben’s)
  • 1 cup frozen petite peas, thawed
  • 1/2 pound Kielbasa, cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, plus extra if needed
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 1/4 pound artichoke hearts marinated in olive oil, drained and finely chopped
  • 1 can (7 ounces) tuna packed in olive oil, drained and crumbled
  • 1/4 cup capers in brine, drained, chopped if large
  • 2 Kosher dill pickles, cut into 1/4-inch dice

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add the rice and cook until almost al dente, about 11 minutes. Add the peas and Kielbasa, and cook 3 more minutes, or until the rice is al dente. The rice should not be mushy. Drain the rice thoroughly and place in a large bowl.

Stir in the vinegar, then stir in the olive oil, salt, pepper, and cayenne. (It is important to stir in the vinegar first, because adding the olive oil first would coat the rice with fat and prevent the vinegar from properly flavoring the salad, making for a heavy-tasting dish.)

Add the artichoke hearts, tuna, capers, and pickles. Stir well. Taste for seasoning and add more vinegar and/or salt if the flavors seem flat. Serve at room temperature, within 2 hours, or refrigerate up to 4 days.

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Main Course: Vegetarian

Ricotta-Quinoa Cakes with Summery Tomato-Corn Salsa

I don’t eat quinoa because it is healthy.   I eat it because I like it, and because it is versatile, and has a fun, popping texture. The fact that it is healthy is a plus. I would never eat something that was good for me if I didn’t truly enjoy it; I think most good food is healthy anyway, and becomes even better for you if you draw pleasure from eating it.

I usually start off any quinoa recipe by rinsing my quinoa thoroughly to get rid of the bitter saponins that coat it (I prefer the red for its nuttier taste, my husband the white for its lighter flavor) . Then I drain it, plop it in a saucepan with double the amount of water, throw in a  crushed garlic clove, a bay leaf, a sprinkle of salt, and a bit of freshly ground black pepper. When the water comes to a boil, I cover the pan and simmer the quinoa until the grains are swollen and all the water is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Then the quinoa can be eaten hot, instead of rice or potatoes or any other starch; cooled and transformed into a salad with bits of feta cheese, diced tomatoes, charred peppers, and olive oil; flavored with plenty of herbs and folded into lettuce leaves for a refreshing bite; or bound with a bit of egg as below and pan-fried into delectable little cakes, so good with a fresh salsa of summer corn and ripe tomatoes.

Since I especially love quinoa with peas (they add such a sweet note and vibrant color), I often add about 1 cup of thawed petite peas to the quinoa in the last 3 minutes of simmering, as I did for the recipe below. The recipe here yields enough quinoa for several dishes; you only need one-quarter of the total amount for the quinoa cakes, so experiment with the rest.

Try swapping these quinoa cakes for the meat patties in your burgers at your next barbecue. I think even the carnivores would enjoy them; my husband did!

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer

For the quinoa:

  • 1 cup red quinoa, rinsed several times and drained
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 crushed garlic clove
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra if needed
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup thawed petite peas

For the cakes:

  • one-quarter of the cooked quinoa (see above)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup fresh whole-milk Ricotta
  • 1 teaspoon minced marjoram, mint, or sage (I prefer marjoram)
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra to taste
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa:

  • 1 ear fresh corn, shucked, silk removed
  • 1 ripe tomato, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra to taste
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To cook and serve:

  • 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Make the quinoa: Place the rinsed and drained quinoa, the water, bay leaf, garlic, salt, and pepper in a 1-quart pot. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat to simmer, and cook 15 minutes, then add the peas and cover again. Cook another 3 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and keep covered for 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and adjust the salt if needed.

Transfer one-quarter of the cooked quinoa to a bowl. Reserve the rest for another use (see introductory notes for additional ideas).

Make the cakes: Add the egg, Ricotta, marjoram, salt, and pepper to the measured quinoa. Stir well.

Make the salsa: Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Drop in the corn. Cook 3 minutes, then drain, cool, and cut the kernels off the cob. Toss with the tomato, salt, and pepper, and taste for seasoning; adjust as needed.

Cook the cakes: Warm a 10-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes, or until hot but not smoking. Brush with 2 teaspoons of the olive oil.

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Divide the quinoa cake mixture into 4 equal parts and drop into the hot skillet, shaping it into 4 even pancakes. Cook 3 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom and starting to set on the top. Brush the tops with the remaining 2 teaspoons of the olive oil. Flip and cook until golden brown on the other side.

Place on a platter. Sprinkle with the salt. Serve hot, topped with the salsa.

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Pasta: Seafood

Spaghetti with Squid, Sweet Peas, and Fresh Chives

Along the Adriatic Sea, Friulian cooks combine fresh offerings from the water with unusual fresh herbs and spices; parsley is commonplace across Italy as a partner to fish and seafood, but in Friuli, fresh chives are favorites as well. The result is particularly beguiling when peas are added. When it comes to squid, you can either flash-cook it (1 minute or less) or stew it low and slow. Either will result in tender squid, but anything in between is likely

to yield rubbery squid. Here the chosen method is low and slow.  Don’t be

alarmed at the large quantity of squid called for in the recipe below: once they hit the pan, the squid lose so much moisture that they shrink considerably.

Ingredient notes: In Grado and other towns along the coast, cooks use cuttlefish for this recipe as often as squid; feel free to use cuttlefish if you find some at your local fish market. But remember: the smaller the squid (or cuttlefish), the sweeter the taste and the more tender the flesh.

Squid and sweet pea sauce with chives

Serves 4

For the sauce:

  • 1 pound ripe plum tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons minced Italian parsley
  • 2 pounds cleaned squid, tentacles chopped if large, tubes cut into thin rings (weight after cleaning; about 4 pounds prior to cleaning)
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 and ½ teaspoons salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Cool water as needed
  • ½ pound (2 cups) frozen petite peas, thawed

For the pasta and to serve:

  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 1 pound spaghetti
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons snipped chives

Make the sauce: Make a cross-hatch on the bottom of each tomato and cut out the stem end on each tomato. Bring 1 quart of water to a boil and drop in the tomatoes; cook until the skins begin to loosen, about 30 seconds for ripe tomatoes and 2 minutes for firmer tomatoes. Drain and cool. Slip off the skins. Cut in half along the width (the Equator) and scoop out the seeds. Dice finely and set aside.  (I actually like the seeds so I do not remove them, but most classic Italian recipes call for seeding the tomatoes; this is your call. Seeds contain a lot of flavor as well as vitamins.)

Warm the olive oil with the garlic and parsley over a medium flame in a deep, wide saucepan large enough to accommodate the pasta later. When the garlic is just fragrant, but before it takes on any color, add the squid. Cook 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the wine and cook until the wine nearly evaporates, about 2 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes, season with the salt and pepper, and cover. Cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, adding water as needed to maintain about ½ cup of liquid in the pan at all times. Stir in the peas and, if needed, some water to keep the sauce nice and moist. Cover again and cook 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning and keep warm.

Make the pasta: Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil. Add the salt and the pasta. Cook until al dente, then drain, reserving 2 cups of the pasta cooking water.

Transfer the drained pasta to the saucepan and sauté 1 minute over high heat to meld the flavors. Add some of the reserved pasta cooking water as needed to thin out the sauce; it should coat the pasta nicely. Stir in the olive oil. Adjust the seasoning and serve hot, sprinkled with the chives.

Micol Negrin