Dinner and A Birthday Cake

After hitting up the local farmers market and scoring some zucchini, onions, tomatoes, eggplant and greens I decided to make a little fry up with some of my favorite shaped pasta. Gemelli pasta are these little twisty knots reminiscent of a dumpling or thick noodle that holds sauce really well. Especially when the sauce is garlic and olive oil. The pasta part of this dish is good on its own, but with the addition of a ratatouille it really begins to transform into a hearty meal, instead of eating these things separately as Italians usually would. I am not claiming to be an expert on Italian food culture but I am pretty sure its sacrilegious to mix the pasta and anti-pasta into one. Thats alright by me though because I dont like religion anyways.

Gemelli Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Homemade Seitan Sausage

1/2 lb gemelli pasta
1 bunch brocolli rabe, rough chop
3-4 Seitan sausages, based on Julie Hasson's recipe
6 cloves garlic, sliced thin
good glug of olive oil
salt + pepper
vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast, optional

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water for about 7 minutes, then add brocolli rabe to blanch for about 2 minutes. Meanwhile, get a large pan on medium heat and add olive oil and garlic. Cook the garlic slowly, then add seitan sausages to get them nice and brown. When the pasta and brocolli rabe finish cooking remove them from the boiling water with a spider or slotted spoon and add to the pan with sausages. You want about a half a cup of that pasta water mixed in to make a sauce. Cook pasta in pan for 2 more minutes until all coated in the olive oil sauce. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil on top and some vegan parmesan.



Ratatouille

Get out all them farmers market goods....

1 medium onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, smashed

2 medium japanese eggplant, diced

1 can tomatoes in puree, preferably San Marzano

1-2 fresh tomatoes

2 medium zucchini, diced into large chunks

small bunch basil, chiffonade

olive oil

salt + pepper to taste

Sauté the onion and garlic until tender. Add eggplant and tomatoes, bring to simmer. Simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Add zucchini. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes un-covered to allow concentration of flavors and to thicken sauce. Remove from heat. Stir in the herbs, season to taste.

Based on this.


And here is an awesome cake. Compliments to the pastry chef kelsey with sous chef morimoto.

What is Fulton doing on that cake?