Balsamic Glazed Pasta Primavera

This dish brings back fond memories of the two months I managed to survive living in Brooklyn without a job or income!  During the summer of 2007, my friend Alex and I decided we were moving to New York City.  Luckily for him, he was able to transfer his job, but I was coming out of a contract at the college I was working at and was struggling with the NYC job market.  We decided to stick to our guns with the hope that I would find work when we got there.  No such luck!

Alex and I circa December 2006 at Elmira College's Relay For Life!

In need of cheap meals so we could spend our money on more important things (like bar hoping and Broadway shows hehe), I started to get a little creative in the kitchen.  There is nothing like a trip to a bodega or city grocery store to heighten one's creative and money saving senses!  Vegetables were beyond cheap, and a box of pasta cost pennies!  The apartment we were subletting came with a stocked kitchen that the owners told us was fair game while they were away.  Fortunately for Alex and me, they were both artistic, and that seemed to translate in their kitchen.  There were spices I had never even heard of before then, fresh garlic, wines, vinegars, and lots of basics like salt, flour, and pepper. 

So, unto us, Balsamic Glazed Pasta Primavera was born! I know this is a somewhat loose interpretation of primavera, especially since it is sans any cream or cheese.  It is, though, much lower in calories, and much cheaper to make!  Dairy products rack up some serious cash at the register!

Balsamic Glazed Pasta Primavera
Yields 6 servings


To Prepare the Primavera
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet to cook your tomatoes.  You will see in the picture below why a little parchment will go a long way.  I used approximately 15 cherry tomatoes.  Cut them in half and spread them out on the cookie sheet.  Sprinkle them with some sea salt and put them in the oven to cook!

I was out of parchment - and am now out a baking sheet. Sigh.

3. Put on a pot of salt water to boil, which will later be used to cook the pasta.   I usually use a tablespoonish amount of salt. 
4. In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over low heat.
5. While your oil is heating, start breaking spinach leaves off of their stems right at the base of the leaf.  You will need approximately 1 pound of spinach.  This will look like a lot when you get it at the store, but it will cook down quite a bit!
6. Add your spinach to the saute pan and stir it occasionally while it continues to cook. 
7. Cut approximately 1 pound of asparagus into 1 to 1 1/2 inch long pieces.  Be sure to not use the very base of the asparagus.  In most cases this will be trash, as it was exposed and has started to dry out a little during its trip to the grocery store and your fridge!
8. Add your asparagus to the saute pan. 

9. Roughly chop 4 cloves of garlic and add it to the mixture.
10. Throw your pasta into the boiling water!  I used 1 pound of whole wheat rotini. 
11. Add 1 jar of drained artichoke hearts to the saute pan and give it a good stir! 

12. In a small sauce pan, heat a 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons of sugar over medium heat.  Be sure to stir this fairly often!
13. Continue to cook the vinegar and sugar until it seems like it is thickening just a bit.  When it reaches that stage, pour it into the saute pan with the veggies and stir.  Make sure everything gets coated well!

14. When your pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the saute pan.

15. Pull your tomatoes out of the oven and add them directly to the saute pan, and stir everything together!

Artichokes with Tomme de Savoie Cheese Sauce

Oh Trader Joe's...you never let my culinary whims down!  After making the trek to Trader Joe's (a 30 minute drive from hell), I returned home with the impulse purchase of 2 artichokes (69 cents each), and a 1 pound block of Tomme de Savoie cheese.  What to do?  What to do?  My family quickly reminded me to check my copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking to see what Julia Child would do...Eureeka!  The artichokes were boiled, and I turned the cheese into a sauce for dipping.  It doesn't sound like a lot to eat, but my brother and I were stuffed to the gills and beyond satisfied with our makeshift meal!  I also had a whole new appreciation as to why artichoke hearts are so freakin' expensive!

To Prepare the Artichokes
1. Break off the stem at the base of the artichoke and even out the base of the artichoke with a knife so it will sit flat on a counter or plate.
2. Trim off approximately 3/4 inch off the tip of the artichoke.
3. Cut off the remaining visible leaf tips with a pair of clean scissors.
4. Boil the artichokes in salted water with a cover on the pan for 45 minutes to an hour.  Stir them occasionally so they cook evenly, but for the most part you can pretty much forget about them until the hour is up! 

To Prepare the Sauce
1. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter over low heat and mix in 1 tablespoon of flour.
2. Once the flour has dissolved into the butter add 1 cup of milk (whole milk is best).  This is a french cheese sauce base known as Bechamel Sauce.  As soon as you add the cheese in the next step it becomes what is known in French and Italian cuisine as a Mornay Sauce!
3. While you are waiting for your milk to come to a boil, cut approximately 1 pound of cheese into small pieces or grate it so it will melt easily.  I chose to use Tomme de Savoie cheese, but you can use any cheese you like!  Tomme de Savoie has a dark rind and the cheese itself has a brown tone to it.  It has an earthy flavor that I would compare to mushrooms. 
4. Once the milk sauce comes to a boil, slowly add the cheese in small amounts, being sure it is melted before adding more. 
5. After all of the cheese is added and melted cook it for a few minutes longer to be sure everything is incorporated well.

To Serve
1. All you will need to do is place the artichoke on a plate
2. Pour the sauce into a bowl for communal dipping, or individual bowls if you don't like to share!

To Eat
Artichokes are not one of those foods many people discuss, especially how to eat it!
1. Starting from the outside of the artichoke, you will peel off a leaf (which will come off easily after cooking), dip it into the sauce, and then use your teeth to pull the meat of the artichoke off of the leaf.  You will not actually eat the entire leaf, but merely pull the leaf meat off.
2. As you get closer to the center of the artichoke you will find the leaves are much more tender, and you can eat the whole leaf.  This is part of what you will find jarred in the pickle aisle of your grocery store and labeled as artichoke hearts!
3. Once you have worked your way through the center you will be left with the round base of the artichoke.  There will be a thickly packed hairy layer that will easily peel apart from the base of the artichoke...don't eat this hairy layer, but the layer under it (the base of the artichoke) is absolutely DELECTABLE!!!