curried pasta? yeah, yeah, i know what you’re thinking but listen up…

it starts with ina garten, but doesn’t it always? ina garten is my go-to chef for recipes that won’t make me tear my hair out, and trust me, i’ve had breakdowns over roasts and three-layer cakes and oh, there was that episode with the tartin…but we really needn’t go there. really.

Although this recipe is for a curried cous cous, I have to be honest and say the cous cous doesn’t work for me. The grains are too tiny and don’t really hold up best to the vigorous dressing. I prefer orzo (which is a rice-shaped pasta) and I’ve used mini penne for this itieration, which elevates this dish from an appetizer to a main course. Although you’re seeing the veggie version here, for leftovers, I tossed in some cold chicken breasts with a little more olive oil and it was divine. And honestly, I’ve only just become comfortable with tinkering with the original recipe because I’ve cooked this recipe over 20 times. And it’s always, ALWAYS been a hit. Minimal effort for maximum pleasure, as Nigella Lawson says. You can view the original recipe here, but below is my version.

Notice, I do use all organic/local ingredients. This is just how I roll and I find the food simply tastes better. But if you don’t have all organic, don’t fret, I would just opt to use local/organic for the veggies. First off, start boiling the water for your pasta. You’ll come back to this when the water comes to a boil.

On to the dressing. Your main ingredients for the dressing: 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil (the good stuff, not just cooking oil), 1/4 cup plain yogurt (i use lowfat), 1 tea of curry powder, 1/4 tea of cumin (the recipe calls for tumeric, but who has that? forget it, man. and cumin gives this dish, i find, a smokier flavor), 1 1/2 tea of salt (i use coarse or kosher salt, and trust me there is a difference between this and table salt), 1 tea of ground fresh pepper, 1 tea of white wine vinegar (you could use champagne vinegar if you want to get all fancy about it). Now that you’ve got all your wet ingredients well-combined (there is no magic to how they all should be added, i just lump them all in a large mixing bowl, because ultimately, this is where the pasta will go. I always find bringing the pasta into the dressing in this fashion makes it, for some reason, infinitely more flavorful), set the mix aside.

You might notice the water is boiling. Add the pasta, salt the water (this is the ONLY time you get to season the pasta, so do it now. It makes a HUGE difference.) and stir the pasta so it doesn’t cling. Some chefs advise putting olive oil in the pot. Ina got this tip from Martha Stewart and while I think they both speak the gospel, I think this is crap and you’ll waste good olive oil. Just stir the pasta every once in a while and you’re fine.

While the pasta is cooking (al dente, or “to the tooth”) and the dressing is set to the side, get rocking on your veggies. On my bamboo cutting board, I cut up 1/2 cup of fresh flat leafed parsley (none of this curly business), 1/4 cup of red onion (yellow onions are way too acrid for the salad and will ruin the dressing), 2 scallions diced thin, and although the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of shredded carrots, it’s rare that I have shredded carrots on hand, so I either opt out or drop in another veggie (zucchini has worked).

But honestly, if I worried about exact measurements, I’d have a nervous breakdown. While precise measurements are crucial in baking (as there is chemistry involved), it’s not required here. I love parsley, use a lot more of it and I keep it lean on the onion side. I also have 1/2 cup of dried cranberries (I use them more than currants, which are more expensive) and 1/4 cup of sliced, blanced almonds. I think the almonds are crucial for crunch - a nice texture variation to the softer pasta and greens.

Ah, the pasta is done! Drain the pasta, but don’t overdrain as I always love mixing in some of the pasta water. stir the pasta into the dressing so it’s coated and then I toss in the veggies, cranberries and almonds. I keep mixing until all the ingredients are well incorporated and then I set to cool (although this is so damn good I’ve eaten it warm). And the coolest thing? This keeps for a week and I’ve added tofu and chicken to spice it for brown-bagged lunches.

Enjoy!

This entry was posted on Monday, May 28th, 2007 at 10:14 am and is filed under foodie gal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.