Late last week, my friend Leslie, who writes the Green Fork Blog for the Eat Well Guide, came over with her camera-toting friend and colleague Karen to film a lesson in teaching children to cook with local, fresh ingredients.
Honestly, in the City, I’m not sure how much more local these ingredients could have been. We grew them, some from seed, some from adopted baby plants, in our own window garden. Remember that basil my daughter planted a few weeks ago at the Duane Park Planting Day? That was added into our dish along with so many other fragrant, beautiful herbs that have been burgeoning in our window sills.
We had our friend Ben over to help, and he and M, as expected, completely stole the show. The two have been friends since early babyhood and are like an old married couple by now. They fight. They negotiate. They make up. Mostly, though, they crack each other up. And all the while they cleaned the herbs, added a pinch of this and a slosh of that to make a very tasty dish.
Both Leslie and Karen kept smiling and eating, so I think that the dish was a hit. This pasta dish was originally a response to the tangle of mint growing wild out on the hill behind my parents’ house in Cali. Surveying it, one wondered but what will we do with it all. It seems upon further investigation that there are quite a few of you out there in similar situations with the mint in your lives.
As Leslie put it as she slung some pasta into her mouth, “I never would have thought of the mint.” Surprise!
To find out how to hook yourself up with local, organic, and delicious food in your area, go and visit The Eat Well Guide. Leslie’s blog is one of my go-to’s for the politics of food and food news. When the Green Fork posts the video on the blog, you’ll be the first to know.
Herb Pasta with Meyer Lemon
*1 3/4-2 1/2 c. fresh herbs***
*1 large clove of garlic, peeled
*1/2 of a sweet or “salad” onion (shallots, scallions, green onions also work well)***
*1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
*1/4 c. good olive oil
*1/2 t. sea salt + more for the pasta water
*black pepper, to taste
* 1 lb. of fresh angel hair or fettucine pasta
* 1 lb. of fresh angel hair or fettucine pasta
*the juice of 1/2 of a meyer lemon (a regular lemon is very good but not quite as tasty)
With your mini-chef, fill a large stockpot with water. Sprinkle in enough salt to make the water taste like “acqua di mare,” sea water, and cover the pot. Have your mini-chef stand well away from the stove as your light the flame and bring the salt water to a boil.
Now wash your herbs together and place them on a clean kitchen towel to dry off. Next, show your Yummy how to strip the leaves of the herbs from the stems. We like to have one bowl for the leaves and another discard bowl for all the stems and woody bits. This will be a long process if you have a little chef. No worries. Just keep plugging along nicely and realize that you are teaching your Yummy a skill set, and that takes time. You’ll most likely end up doing quite a lot of this yourself.
Once you have gathered your herbs, throw them into the bowl of an unplugged food processor along with the olive oil, parmesan, salt and pepper, garlic, and the onion. Secure the top, plug the processor in, and have your mini-chef press the “on” button. Talk about what is happening in there. Are things getting bigger or smaller? Are things getting darker or lighter? When you have a paste, turn off the food processor, unplug it from the wall, and open it up.
Big Person: Meanwhile, with the water in the pasta pot boiling, add your pasta, stir once, and then boil for one minute. Lift the pasta out of the water with tongs and place it into a large serving bowl. Scrape the herb paste on top of the pasta for your mini-chef so that they don’t come near the blade of the food processor.
Together Again: Squeeze the lemon over the pasta and toss using tongs. Serve warm of chilled. This is an incredible leftover.
***We always use a lot of mint, basil, thyme, and flat leaf parsley and fill in other herbs around those central flavors: tarragon, oregano, sage, chervil, even chives will round things out.
