Grilled Miso Eggplant
& a FAST zucchini pasta
Good Morning everyone! Hot enough for you? I think that’s an applicable question no matter where you’re located. This weekend I picked up a massive farmers market haul: zucchini, eggplants, jalapeños, Kirby cucumbers, elderberries (made immunity syrup!), sugar plums, basil, zucchini flowers, and berries. It’s all so gorgeous right now, it’s hard to not over do it. I have a great way for you to use up any variety of eggplant that you have. I didn’t invent miso eggplant, not even close. There’s a very traditional Japanese recipe for miso glazed eggplant that is one of my favorite things to order at a restaurant when I see it. That dish is typically broiled, where as mine if grilled for summertime cooking. You can find the recipe at the bottom of this email.
Pasta with Zucchini
Zucchini loves pasta, pasta loves olive oil, olive oil loves garlic, garlic loves anchovy, anchovy loves pasta, and on and on. This is just an evolution of my favorite simple pasta: Pasta aglio e oilio. Which I always make with the addition of anchovy. Because if you don’t know yet, anchovy makes EVERYTHING better. I’m giving you a little section called “substitutions” in case you don’t have some of these ingredients. Head over to my instagram “Reels” section, to watch me make this in action.
Spaghetti - I like less pasta and more zucchini so I use half a pound but feel free to increase to 1 pound if you have a few people.
2 medium zucchini, shredded on a mandoline or box grater
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, sliced
4 anchovy filets
1 teaspoon of calabrian chili paste
6-8 zucchini flowers, stamen removed and flower torn up (optional)
Grated parmigiano reggiano
Torn up fresh basil leaves
Substitutions:
Pine nuts - you can leave these out or use some finely chopped walnuts
Anchovy filets - you can use anchovy paste. But don’t leave it out - it’s magic.
Calabrian Chili Paste - you can use crushed red pepper instead
Zucchini Flowers- you can buy these at farmers markets right now, but they really are only for the beauty and not really any flavor so leave them out if you wish.
Bring a big pot of well salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti for 9 minutes, or until al dente.
Meanwhile, place the pine nuts in a large skillet and turn the heat to medium high. WATCH THEM. Toast for about 4 minutes, stirring often, until they are golden brown. Immediately transfer them to a bowl.
In the same pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Once hot, add the garlic, anchovy and chili paste. Cook for 2 minutes until the garlic is soft and just turning golden brown. Turn the heat OFF. Add in the zucchini. Season generously with salt and toss.
Add the still hot, drained pasta to the pan and toss with the zucchini. Tear in the zucchini flowers if using. The heat from the pasta will gently cook the zucchini.
Top the pasta with the pine nuts, plenty of parmigiano and lots of torn up basil. Serve immediately.
Tip: Don’t drain the pasta that well. You want some of the pasta water still clinging to the spaghetti so it creates a sauce. You can even use your tongs to transfer the pasta out of the water and into the pan, skipping the colander all together!
What I’m Loving This Week:
Reusable Baby Food Pouches: My younger son is now 6 months old and eating food like it’s going out of style. I used these reusable pouches with my older son and fell in love with them. It allows you to make your own baby food but still have the convenience and ease of a pouch. I don’t recommend putting them in the dishwasher because the plastic is thin. They clean up easily with the baby bottle brush and some soapy warm water.
Congee: I wasn't feeling well this week and my neighbor brought over homemade chicken congee. Which, if you're not familiar, is the Chinese equivalent of chicken soup when you’re sick. It’s rice and in this case chicken, ginger and mushrooms that are cooked for a very long time until it turns into a porridge. It’s deeply savory and deeply comforting. As toppings, she packed up chopped cilantro, scallions and chopped peanuts. Not only did I enjoy bowlfuls all week, Dean had that, happily, for dinner three nights in a row. I promise you’ll be seeing an issue of the newsletter dedicated to Tiffany's congee once she teaches me how to make it
Serves 4 as a side dish