Risotto-style pasta. I'm a little put out that this had never occurred to me. We are usually taught that pasta should be cooked in lots of boiling water until just done. I recently learned that you can also do pasta risotto-style, i.e. saute the dry pasta with garlic and onion, and add ladlefulls of stock and wine a little at a time while stirring it until each is absorbed. Like risotto, as you stir it the starch washes off and helps create a creamy sauce with the stock and the wine. It doesn't take that long to cook, and so it does not become too starchy. One nice thing about this technique is that you can do it at a fairly low temperature, which lets you hold the pasta while you do other things; just give it a stir from time to time while you make the rest of the dinner. Once the pasta is done but still firm, you can finish it with parmesan, maybe a little butter or cream, and herbs, just as you would a risotto. This technique is really great because the pasta absorbs all the flavor as it cooks.
Summer salsas. I make a lot of quick little salsas in the summer out of colored peppers. They are really somewhere between a salsa, a vinaigrette, and a quick pickle. The basic technique is to finely dice peppers and red onion, and then season them aggressively with salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar, and olive oil. Herbs are a great addition, too. Then, let it sit on the counter while you make dinner, so that some of the juices are released, providing a nice light pepper and onion flavor. Be sure to taste it before using it; because of the released juices, it may need a little extra seasoning. The salsa can be quite different depending on how much vinegar and oil you use:
- For a simple salsa, the oil and vinegar act as seasonings, and you use enough to just coat the peppers.
- For fattier meat, like salmon or pork, you can omit all or most of the olive oil, and then you have something more like a quick pickle.
- For lean meat, like the chicken breast here, you can add more oil and vinegar, which becomes the sauce for the meat, essentially a chunky vinaigrette.
This one. The chicken was grilled chicken breast, nothing special. The salsa was orange pepper with red onion and parsley, in the vinaigrette style. I finished the pasta with fried shallots. This was a nice light and tasty summer dinner.