Fresh Herb Pasta

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I first sampled the easy way that Italians cook their pasta when I was fortunate enough to house sit for friends in Florence, Italy. When they would prepare a simple dinner, they would pick some herbs, dice a fresh tomato, combine them with some olive oil and butter. Sometimes they would heat the mixture and sometimes not, and toss it with pasta. Since I’m addicted to chile, I always add it to their basic recipe. In fact it, this is so easy to prepare it can hardly be called a recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cup chopped assorted fresh herbs, such as basil, cilantro, chives, marjoram, oregano, parsley, summer savory, tarragon, and thyme

  • 2 shallots, finely chopped

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

  • 1 tablespoon crushed red chile

  • Salt

  • 2 tomatoes, finely diced

  • Freshly grated Romano or Pecorino Romano cheese

Instructions

Combine the herbs, shallots, olive oil, butter, chile, and a little salt in a serving bowl and mix well.

Cook the pasta until done and drain. Add the pasta to the bowl, toss to coat. Top with the tomatoes and grated cheese and serve.

Salsa di Pomadoro Crudo (Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce)

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This is a very basic sauce that can be easily changed to create a variety of different pasta dishes. For example, substitute feta cheese for the mozzarella, oregano for the basil, add some kalamata olives and chopped capers and you have Greek pasta. This dish can be served hot or at room temperature making it great for summer entertaining.

Ingredients

  • 4 tomatoes, chopped

  • ½ cup chopped fresh basil

  • 2 to 3 jalapeño or serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced

  • 2 tablespoons minced red onion

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 6 oz. fresh mozzarella, asiago, or ricotta cheese, diced small

  • 1/4 cup olive oil

  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • Chopped walnuts for garnish

Instructions

Combine the tomatoes, basil, chiles, onion, and garlic in a large serving bowl. Stir in the cheese, olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Let the sauce stand for 30 minutes to blend the flavors. Cook the pasta until the done and drain. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Garnish with the walnuts and serve.

Sun Dried Tomato and Chipotle Pesto

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Ancho or pasilla chiles can be substituted for the fiery chipotles if you desire a milder sauce. I’ve even used this pesto on pizza in place of the more traditional tomato sauce for a hot, south of the border taste.

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained reserving the oil

  • 3/4 cup fresh parsley

  • ½ cup pine nuts

  • 2 shallots, coarsely chopped

  • 2 cloves garlic

  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

  • 2 canned chipotles in adobo sauce, rinsed

  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh preferred

  • Olive oil

  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • Garnish: Sliced black olives

Sun Dried Tomatoes, Parsley, Pine Nuts, Shallots, Vinegar, Chipotle Peppers, Lemon Juice

Instructions

Put the parsley and tomatoes in a food processor or blender and pulse to finely chop. Add the pine nuts, shallots, garlic, vinegar, chipoltes, and lemon juice and continue to pulse.

Measure the reserved oil and add olive oil to make 1/4 cup. With the machine running, slowly add just enough of the oil to make a smooth sauce. If the pesto is too dry, add a little more oil and season with salt and pepper.

Cook the pasta until done. Reserve a 1/4 cup of the cooking water and add to the pesto to thin the sauce and make it more creamy.

Put the pasta in a large serving bowl. Add the pesto and toss to coat. Garnish with the olives and serve.

 

Keshi Yena (Stuffed Cheese)

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Numerous variations on this dish appear throughout the ABC islands, but this is the one most commonly served on Curaçao.

Ingredients

  • 1 small Edam cheese

  • 3 tomatoes, chopped and peeled

  • 2 onions, sliced

  • 1 clove garlic, minced

  • 1 bell pepper, chopped

  • 1/4 cup sliced olives

  • 1 tablespoon capers

  • 1 tablespoon parsley

  • ½ habanero chile, seeds and stem removed, minced (or more to taste)

  • ½ cup raisins

  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste

  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

  •  tablespoons ketchup

  • 2 tablespoons mustard

  • 2 pounds. shredded chicken or ground meat

  • ½ cup vegetable oil

  • 5 eggs

  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Slice the top of the cheese and preserve. Gently scoop out the inside, leaving a 1/4 to ½ inch shell. The cheese should resemble a hollowed out pumpkin.

In a large skillet, saute the vegetables, seasonings and meat in the vegetable oil; simmer for about 20 minutes. Beat 4 eggs and stir into the mixture. Spoon into the cheese shell, replace the top and spread remaining beaten egg on top to seal. Grease a shallow baking dish and fill it with about 1 inch of water. Set the cheese in the dish and bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours at 350 degrees F. The cheese will expand and flatten slightly but keep its basic shape. Serve hot, cut into wedges.

Stoba di Cabrito (Curacao-Style Lamb or Kid Stew)

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This stew recipe includes a small amount of salted beef, another holdover from “the old days,” when that was the only way to ship beef, and it is an ingredient found in almost all the recipes for this stew. The usual meat for the Stoba is kid (goat or cabrito), but we have substituted lamb. If you have a source for goat, try it because it is delicious. The annatto oil is commonly called ruku.

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces salt beef, covered with water and soaked overnight in refrigerator

  • 4 cups fresh water

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

  • 2 pounds young kid (cabrito) or lamb, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces

  • 2 cups diced onion

  • 2 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1 medium green pepper, seeded and chopped

  • 1 habanero chile, stems and seeds removed, minced

  • 2 cups tomatoes, peeled and diced

  • 1 teaspoon sugar

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

  • 2 tablespoons annatto oil (see Note)

  • 3 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

Instructions

Drain the soaked beef and place it in a heavy casserole with the 4 cups of water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 1 hour. Remove the beef from the pot, cube, and reserve; strain the broth and reserve.

Heat the vegetable oil in the heavy casserole, add the lamb, and brown it. Add the onion, garlic, green pepper, habanero pepper and saute the mixture until the onion is wilted – about 3 to 4 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, lime juice, nutmeg, annatto oil, the reserved cubed beef, and simmer the mixture for 20 minutes.

Add the reserved beef stock and the potatoes and bring the mixture to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.