gourmet veggie meal #3

each time my friend jenny is in town, she requests a gourmet vegetarian meal from me. jenny is a friend i met at ucla over a decade ago and is now living in beijing doing good things for the environment in red china. being vegetarian, her entree selections can be a bit more limited when patronizing a fine establishment. so over the years, i've tried to do my part and treat her to a gourmet veggie meal prepared especially for her. the last two gourmet veggie meals were big hits so i wanted to make sure i didn't disappoint.

but as a carnivore, it takes some creativity to come up with a delicious meatless menu but still be hearty enough for the 4 other meat eaters at the table. i decided the best compromise was to stick with a themed cuisine and combine fresh vegetables with heavier starches and dairy. i pulled out one of my favorite cookbooks, jamie oliver's "jamie's italy," and penned this menu.

1st course: ricotta fritta con piccola insalata di pomodori
(fried ricotta with a little tomato salad)


the ricotta is a mixture of fresh ricotta, parmesan, flour, egg to bind, and salt and pepper, pan fried with a little olive oil. the pan-frying part was a little stressful as the delicate cakes fell apart as i tried to flip them after browning one side. half of mine looked more like scrambled messes. so the tomato salad did a great job of hiding the flaws. farmer's market fresh and organic heirloom tomatoes are tossed with chopped basil stems, a red chili, and evoo and red wine vinegar. the result was a perfect blend of creaminess, char, green and acidity.

2nd course: insalata di radicchio e rughetta
(radicchio and arugula salad)


i wanted a way to contrast the creaminess of the 1st course with the richness of the main course with something acidic and fresh, so this salad was a great choice. the bitterness of radicchio and peppery bite of the arugula worked surprisingly well against the licorice-y shaved fennel, salty parmesan, sweet balsamic vinegar and grassy extra virgin olive oil. the key to this salad is the ingredient ratio, especially the radicchio and the arugula. too much radicchio lends an overpowering bitter note so be careful.

3rd course: tagliatelle alla trapanese
(fresh tagliatelle pasta trapani style)


for the main course, i picked up some super fresh tagliatelle pasta from a.g. ferrari foods, an italian delicatessen, and tossed it with a made from scratch pesto sauce. apparently this is the Trapanese way of making pesto sauce and instead of pine nuts, it uses almonds and adds ripe, crushed tomatoes to the mixture. i first chopped raw almonds in the food processor and then add a couple cloves of garlic, fresh grated pecorino and handfuls of fresh basil. that was then processed with a lot of extra virgin olive oil and some salt and pepper to taste. i then crushed some grape tomatoes by hand into the pesto and tossed the pasta and sauce in a large bowl. the result was a very unique green flavor, especially with the almonds. many pestos can be overpowering and while this was definitely rich, the tomatoes provided a nice acidic contrast. oh and fresh pasta is the only way to go. yum.

judging by the clean plates, it looked like jenny and company thoroughly enjoyed their gourmet veggie meal #3. amazing how vegetables can actually make one full. maybe i could actually try vegetarianism... well, maybe not. until the next one!