Bean and basil pesto pasta with prawns

Gosh, that picture came out pretty well if I do say so myself. I am always in a hurry to get to the table – I snap and run. Basil pesto is easy to make (if you want a recipe, see “Guest Peter makes pesto with gusto” on this site from 8/23/10). Our garden basil has come through in bumper crop fashion and we’ve got multiple tubs of pesto in the freezer (it freezes very well).

So – last night we wanted an easy, inexpensive, all in one bowl meal. If you look closely you’ll see some yellow and green beans in and among the pasta and shrimp. We’re fond of using ramen noodles in various dishes and mostly save the flavor packets to use, for example, in a poaching liquid for shrimp.

Various pasta shapes lend themselves well to various concoctions. In this case, the farfalle (bow-tie) were perfect in size so that we could eat the whole dish with large spoons. Farfalle actually means “butterflies”. Curiously enough, “farfallino” is Italian for bow-tie. Lesson over.

A word about the shrimp: these are 31-35’s, just because I got a 2-pound bag of them (frozen) for a really good price. Two pounds of shrimp will give us four meals generally. Cook your shrimp in whatever way you prefer. As mentioned above, I simply boiled 2 cups of water, stirred in a packet of chicken flavoring from a ramen package, dropped in the shrimp, took them off the heat and let them steep for 2 minutes or so.

Ok, ok, they aren’t actual prawns, but they lend an alliterative quality to the recipe title. Indulge me.

Bean and basil pesto pasta with prawns
1 box farfalle pasta, cooked according to package directions
2 cups mixed green and yellow beans, cut into 2” pieces
1 batch basil pesto
8 oz. cooked shrimp

Peter tossed the beans in with the pasta and cooked them simultaneously. Convenient, huh? Loosen the pesto with some pasta water, toss the pasta and beans in the pesto. Put in bowls and top with shrimp. (And you call THIS a recipe?)

Pacific rockfish in packets

It’s blurry picture Tuesday. I just declared it so.

Had a hankering for fish last night. Bought a piece of Pacific rockfish (never heard of it before) at a good price. Decided to follow Jenn’s lead and make packets to put into the oven. Didn’t have any very interesting ingredients to flavor it with, so I just stayed with a splash of Shaoxing wine, lemon slices and olive oil.

Also made fried green tomatoes. Found the tom’s at our favorite farm stand (named Heinie’s, a name I would have changed long ago!). These were the best I've ever had, prepared just like milanesa - dredged in flour (with s and p), egg and homemade bread crumbs. The other delight was yellow wax beans, steamed 8 minutes and then poached in butter for 4.

Here’s the recipe (it’s almost cocktail hour).

Pacific rockfish in packets
10 oz. rockfish filet (or other fish)
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine (or dry white)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch each of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Divide the fish into 2 equal-size pieces. Marinate in the wine, lemon oil, s and p for 30 minutes. Make foil packets for each. Place the packets on a baking pan and bake for 12-14 minutes.

Wax beans with cherry tomatoes

I was so in a hurry to sit down and eat these freshly picked beans and tomatoes (right out of our very own garden) that I didn't even take the time to photograph them. I'll be making it again very soon, so will try to discipline my appetite to allow for a quick snap.

I did not measure any of the ingredients. They can be adjusted to your taste. Just note that what follows is for 2 servings.

Wax beans with cherry tomatoes
2 cups wax beans, washed, trimmed and cut into 1" to 1 1/2" pieces
1/4 cup chicken broth or water
1 tbsp butter
fresh herbs to taste (thyme or oregano or basil sprigs - or all 3)
salt and white (or black) pepper to taste
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

Put everything but the tomatoes into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Lower the heat and simmer slowly for exactly 10 minutes. Remove from heat, remove herb sprigs and discard, toss in tomatoes and serve. Be sure to sip up all the liquid too.