"linguine" news and stories

Everyone loves pasta. To satisfy your pasta cravings and find the best pasta, take this pasta shape identification quiz from Slashfood.

The dark side of cantaloupe. Photo: oskay, Flickr

• A sure-fire list of tips for picking the perfect cantaloupe.
• Want baked potatoes but don't feel like dealing with the hassle? Think ahead, bake 'em once, and then discover the lure of the twice-baked tater.
  
• San Diego's selection of slushy drinks might be slim, but here are the recipes for some of the best adult versions in watering holes around town.
• Brandy and nutmeg or Cognac and espresso milkshake, anyone? Spirited renditions of the classic milkshake.
• When a diet restricts, here's how to indulge in a creamy linguine without the heavy cream.
• Three ways to delight in your tomato love: oven-roasted, in a vinaigrette or folded into sorbet.

It's Meyer lemon season and I am delighting in their tangy flavor (the appearance of these lemons makes the onset of winter a little more palatable). My grandmother had a Meyer lemon tree in the backyard of her house in Woodland Hills, CA and the first whiff of their signature scent (a little more floral and sweet than a conventional lemon) always takes me back to her kitchen.

Friday night, I was home alone and in need of some dinner. I considered heading down the street for some takeout Thai but having eaten out a whole lot last week, I determined to do something at home with ingredients already in the fridge. Surveying my options, I came upon a bag of Meyer lemons, a third of a package of linguine, some ancient creme fraiche, some already-grated Parmesan cheese (I realize it's a foodie sin to buy it pre-grated, but sometimes it's just so much easier) and a bag of must-be-used arugula.

Those ingredients started a bell in the back of my mind jingling and I dredged up a memory of a recipe that used those components in Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte. Finding the book in a stack in the bedroom, I cooked up what became a delicious and easy solo dinner. The recipe is after the jump.

In the New York Times Magazine, chef Daniel Patterson, owner of Coi in San Francisco, admits to a massive kitchen taboo - he doesn't like garlic. Well, he doesn't like eye-stinging, cutting-board ruining radioactive garlic, that is. What he does like is green garlic, the young stalks of the garlic plant plucked before they reach maturity. Also known as spring or new garlic, it goes perfectly with springtime dishes like lamb, peas and fava beans. Patterson likes to turn it into a aioli-like sauce by pureeing it with egg, oil and vinegar and using it as a sandwich spread and an artichoke dip.

The story includes a great-looking recipe for linguine with green garlic sauce, which I'll have to try next time I get my hands on four pounds of Manila clams. If you try it, please let me know how it is!

Source

I've been cutting down on carbs lately and looking for an excuse to have a big plate of spaghetti topped with sauce and grated parmesan cheese. Hello National Pasta Day!

I could spend the entire day just doing posts for pasta, it's such a versatile food, but I can't do that. Instead, here are several pasta recipes from various sites, including Epicurious, AllRecipes, RecipeZaar, Food Network, The Reluctant Gourmet and The National Pasta Association.

And don't forget the sauce! Here are several recipes from About.com and this one from MealsMatter.org for Southwestern Pasta Sauce.