Nearly every Sunday night, I have my “dinner with Ari”. It sounds like a television show, and perhaps one day, the Medford TV channel will air our kitchen shenanigans. Ari is one of my good friends from school, who shares my passion and tastes about food – it also helps that he’s an Ottolenghi fan, too. Below, I’ve compiled a collection of the college-friendly dishes we’ve made over the semester to celebrate another week down.
Ottolenghi’s Veg Paella (GF + V)
What’s there not to love about paella? It’s fun, celebratory, and a one-pot dish. It was the perfect dish to jumpstart the semester. Ottolenghi’s paella was the obvious choice. It uses cupboard ingredients, with saffron being the only oddity; you can dismiss the saffron, but including it does offer a more by-the-sea aroma. Similar to risotto, paella uses a particular short grain rice. What arborio rice is to risotto, bomba rice is too paella. Since I didn’t have bomba rice at home, I used arborio rice. Arborio rice has a creamier texture due to higher amylopectin content. While I’ve previously claimed that this paella suits four, we scarfed down the paella between the two of us with much joy. We might as well have been in Spain!
Ottolenghi’s Cauliflower Steaks and Purée with Walnut-Caper Salsa (GF + V)
Surprise, surprise. Our next recipe was another Ottolenghi one. Typically I stray away from the whole “cauliflower steak” trend, but naturally, one must make exceptions for Ottolenghi. This was one of our favorite recipes. It was bold, with a nutty herby salsa, on top of a crispy cauliflower that laid serenely in a bed of creamed cauliflower. Ari perfectly seared and roasted the cauliflower, giving it a tender bite and flavor reminiscent of barbecue. I preserved some of the salsa, and used it on my chickpea spaghetti the next day, elevating the pasta to a whole other level. This salsa can alternatively be put on a fish like branzino or swordfish, or on some white beans. The opportunities are endless.
Ottolenghi’s Confit Tandoori Chickpeas (GF + V)
Oops. Another Ottolenghi recipe here! This is the ultimate makeover for canned chickpeas – never in their wildest dreams could they realize that they could be this lucious. This dish is slightly spicy, slightly smokey, and comforting at the same time. We topped this on top of fragrant white basmati rice, which soaks up the flavored oil. You don’t really need all the ingredients here, and on second thought, you don’t really need a recipe. Just imagine a bath of olive oil, tinned chickpeas, tomato paste, harissa paste, cumin, red pepper – have fun! This even works being worked into a kale salad, as I did the next day with leftovers. With the other leftovers, I put it into my linguine and it amounted to a marvelous dinner. Alternatively, this can be a nice tapas style dish served with some homemade focaccia bread.
Slagle’s Crisp Gnocchi with Brussel Sprouts and Brown Butter (Made GF + V)
Okay … we cheated on Ottolenghi here. For one of our week’s culinary adventures, we went with Slagle’s crisp gnocchi recipe from the New York Times. Ari is also a fellow NYT fan, fluent in the worlds of Mark Bittman and Melissa Clark flairs. For this recipe, you can use any shelf stable or fresh gnocchi, my favorite being Simply Wise which you can often find loads of at Marshall’s. I didn’t use vegan butter here, and instead substituted with extra olive oil. This pasta intermission, while delicious, was not really a WOW recipe. It works though and it’s hearty, especially if you add in some form of legumes, like chickpeas.
Our own primavera pasta (GF + V)
We don’t get too many sunny days in Medford, Mass. So when the sun is shining, we’ll take any excuse to promote the Spring season! This pasta primavera combined finely (and expertisely) chopped asparagus by Ari, edamame, extra virgin olive oil, some garlic, parsley, and mint… Oh and lots of black pepper, lemon zest, and lemon juice. It was the perfect way to conclude our show.
Thank you for tuning into this season of Dinners with Ari. Catch us next September in an all-new season!