13 January 2008

homemade semolina pata with lemon sauce and parmesan

lemon pasta

The sauce for this is so simple. Melt 2 tbsp butter with 2 tbsp olive oil. Once the butter has melted, add 2 medium cloves of minced garlic. Saute for about 1 minute. Add the zest and juice of 2 lemons and cook until slightly reduced. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with parmesan.

mini piadini with cucumber salad

mini piadini

Recently, we've found out that making the piadinis with King Arthur's White Wheat flour is the best. It adds some complexity (and nutrients!) to the flavor of the bread, but without taking away from the taste of the tomato mixture like when using whole wheat flour. Plus, the wheat dough is much easier to handle when rolling them out. We've also started making them smaller. They fit better in the pan this way, making them easier to cook. Plus, they're just cute. For a side, we had cucumber salad.

cucumber salad

For the cucumber salad, cut a very thin slice of onion and separate the rings. Place them in a bowl with white vinegar and fresh ground black pepper. Add to that the cucumber slices and marinate for about 1 hour, stirring once or twice. The onions infuse into the vinegar and then into cucumbers, giving it a more complex flavor without it tasting too strongly of onion. I take the onions out, but you can eat them with the salad if you want :)