I know, i know, I’ve been gone and didn’t even post this past week’s foodblog-a-round. Can I use the excuse that I was too busy stuffing my face with Singaporean / Malaysian specialities during a whirlwind trip to Singapore? I was and I’ll see if I can dig up any pics of that for later this week.

In the meantime, we’ve been trying to get back to cooking more at home in the cJ household. Tonight we’re headed out to dinner (I <3 Camino) but I thought I’d throw in a quick bonus post on a lusciously lovely pasta we ate yesterday.

This pasta has hearty flavor and even perhaps a touch of creaminess to it despite no cream. I think it’s the light sprinkling of cheese that gives it a little more depth, plus the lingering essence the vodka that brightens the flavor. It might taste a little like autumn as described here, but it could be dressed up for springtime easily by adding freshly shelled peas or some nice asparagus and a squeeze of lemon. It would make a good main course or side dish (we ate it next grilled rack of lamb and sauteed broccoli rabe… Yum).

Take a healthy portion of fresh mushrooms — I used about a pound but I’d probably recommended closer to 1 1/2 to 2 lbs, remember they will cook down a bit — and slice. Slice several cloves of garlic and a shallot. Heat oil over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and shallots and stir until slightly soft (don’t let them burn) and add the mushrooms. Allow the mushrooms to brown in the pan, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground pepper over the mushrooms. When the mushrooms are nicely browned, pour in some vodka. Use your own judgement but at least 1/4 cup… Allow vodka to mostly boil off. Taste the mushrooms and add more vodka if desired to up the flavor in the mushrooms. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Add 3 tbs of olive oil (or more) and heat through.

In the meantime, bring a pot of water to a boil to cook the pasta. Grate fresh parmagiano reggiano, roughly 1 cup. Cook the noodles — I chose pappardelle because it is so beautiful and wide and has a lovely drape to it. Pappardelle takes about 5-7 minutes to cook. Drain the noodles and return to pan.

Pour the olive oil, mushroom, garlic and shallot mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle some of the grated cheese on top and toss to combine… Continue adding cheese and tossing to spread the cheese throughout the noodles. Squeeze lemon on top if you like.

Here we go, continuing our quest to cook our way through Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express with Winter recipe #89. The colors are really beautiful, and the combination of the beans, the meat and the toothsome pasta give it some heft as well. Not to mention the addition of the greens, which pretty much means nearly all the food groups are included. Multiple sources of protein and the potential to include whole grains? Healthy, tasty, and fast? (Don’t lecture me on whether the Italian sausage is healthy… substitute your sausage of choice, chicken or even fake sausage, as long as it’s flavorful).

Put some water on to boil with a pinch or two of salt. Cook the pasta. We’re trying to eat more interesting grains and less wheat, so we went with a farro penne, but you can use any pasta you want. I like the short shaped pasta for this dish because it’s easier to grab a forkful off all the stuff together but if you like long noodles, why not? Anyway, cook till done (my farro pasta about 10 minutes), drain and reserve some of the cooking liquid.

While the pasta is cooking, fry up some Italian sausage meat, breaking into small pieces and browning / cooking through. You can either get the meat loose or in sausages and just remove the casings. Bittman recommends “a couple of sweet Italian sausages” — I used approximately a pound of sausage meat. Drain a large can of diced tomatoes as well as a can of chickpeas, and add both to the pan. Add in a tablespoon of crushed fennel seeds and a pinch of red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. The fennel and red pepper help bring the “sauce” to life and give what it really a very simple combination some depth and complexity.

Toss the pasta with a couple of handfuls of greens and let the greens wilt. The recipe says arugula but really any tender green will do, and I used a mix of baby spinach, arugula and radicchio (one of those organic salad mixes). Add the pasta into the sausage mixture, and if you want it a little moister, this is where to use the reserved pasta water. I didn’t use any.

Eat up. It’s hearty. And next time, I would grate some fresh parmigiano on top. What’s not to love about cheese? Plus, adding the dairy food group to make this truly a well-rounded meal.

On Sunday it was rainy and dreary and we just didn't feel like heading out for lunch. All the fresh ingredients in the house were destined for other meals this week. So I decided to put my "semi-homemade" hat on and see what I could whip up just from what was in the pantry.

The result was farro spaghetti tossed in brown-butter-sage-butter-fried white beans and butternut squash sauce. It was luscious, rich and hearty… with a touch of sweetness from the squash, and nuttiness from the brown butter. Actually, it tasted sort of like inside-out butternut squash ravioli. Yum. Quick yet satisfying and it was completely unnoticeable that it was nearly all from pre-prepared food.

And yes, we have a weird pantry. If you don't have this stuff on hand swap any other kind of pasta in and any other kind of white bean. If you don't have butternut squash sauce in a bottle, run out and get some (or make it from scratch, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the from-the-pantry meal).

• Handful of spaghetti (we used farro pasta)
• Oil (olive oil if you like – we used hazelnut oil for tiniest hint of nuttiness) – optional
• Dave's Gourmet Butternut Squash sauce
• Can of White Northern beans
• A couple tablespoons of butter
• Fresh sage leaves (ideally – you can use dried for flavor if necessary)

Put the water on to boil with a pinch of salt. When it boils, put the pasta into the pot. If desired, add a little hit of oil to the water to help keep the noodles from sticking together. While the pasta is boiling away, heat the butter over medium-high heat. As it's melting, throw in the fresh sage leaves to infuse their flavor into the butter. In the meantime, open the can of beans and rinse with fresh water. When the butter begins to turn a golden color and brown flecks begin to appear (and the smell of the sage combined with the nutty butter flavor begins to make your mouth water), add the beans to the pan and saute. After the beans are warmed through and (if desired) have a little brown crust on them for crunchiness, add the butternut squash sauce to heat. After 8-10 minutes (for farro pasta, your mileage may vary), strain the pasta and add the pasta to the pan with the sauce. Allow the pasta to cook in the sauce for a few minutes.

Serve the pasta as a whole meal-in-a-bowl. Slurp as necessary but careful not to splash orange sauce all over your clothes. Enjoy!

On our anniversary this year we had dinner @ Pizzaiolo in Oakland – our first visit after I heard lots about them. We actually really like that neighborhood, which also has the great yarn store Article Pract, Dona Tomas, etc. I’ve been teasing Gus that we should have bought a house over in Oakland since so many of our favorites seem to be over there (e.g., Camino, Dona, adesso, Wood Tavern).

And Pizzaiolo did not disappoint – serving up the kind of daily menu and fresh ingredients we love. We will go again soon. Just look at the crust on that pizza. And I loved the tagliatelle with the pork ragu. That may have been my favorite. And did I mention the avocado toasts with pancetta? Did I show you a photo? We will be back. Soon.

Early dinner tonight at Corso (skipped lunch). The Bellini al Corso was great, quite sweet though, so avoid if sweet is not your thing. Mozzarella burrata was creamy — the filling was different than I expected, not the best I have ever had, but went well with the pinenuts and oil on the plate. The t-bone steak (they didn't have the fried rabbit, which is what I was dying for) was expensive, large, and overcooked. Menu said medium rare, but it was definitely more like medium or even medium well except for close to the bone where it was ok. I did bring the extras home, but it's too bad Bellodawg can't eat them anymore. The polenta with marscapone was great though… not even really heavy at all, light fluffy airy and creamy somehow all at once. I still like Corso, thumbs up, but I'll be passing on the steak next time in favor of a pasta, a pizza, or maybe the rabbit, if it's there.