Slouching Toward Winter

It has been a long week here, I'm telling you.

It began with not feeling great and hit an apex midweek when one of the actors in my play called me at 10:30 at night to say that he hadn't realized the show performed on Saturday nights and he had another gig on Saturdays.  Really?  Really?  I don't think it takes being a theatre person to know that in theatres all around the country--nay, all around the world--shows perform on Saturday nights.  But okay.

It didn't help that this was the most difficult role to recast.

Then, as I was leaving my office for a meeting on Thursday afternoon, my car wouldn't start and it had to be towed off to the shop when it became clear that it was not just a dead battery.

I'm pleased to say that things started looking up yesterday.  I'm feeling better, we found a new actor and it turns out that my car battery was cracked and needed to be replaced--sure, not great, but better than the dead alternator that all the lawyers in my office predicted it was.  (As an aside, a clump of lawyers standing in a parking lot in the middle of the afternoon prognosticating on what is wrong with a car while said car is being towed makes for great comedy.)

I even had last night off and practically didn't know what to do with myself.  Who am I kidding?  I was going to cook.

It is, amazingly enough, still fall in Alaska.  Parts of Anchorage in the upper elevations have had a dusting of snow, as has one of the suburbs.  At my house, there's been a hard frost in the morning for a couple of weeks now, but no actual snow. 

I'm calling this recipe "Yearning for Summer" pasta because it has the flavors of summer but doesn't rely on ingredients only available in summer.  If you still have access to fresh corn, knock yourself out and use that.

Yearning for Summer Pasta with Herbs and Ricotta

Adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine, June 2008

1 large head of garlic, with the top 1/2 inch removed

4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 10 oz. bag of frozen corn, thawed

4 tsp. grated lemon or lime zest

6 tbsp. fresh lemon or lime juice

12 oz. dried capellini (angel hair) pasta

1 large leek, white and pale green parts only, chopped

4 cups mixed greens (arugula, radicchio, baby spinach)

1 cup fresh part-skim ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 cup finely chopped mixed herbs (basil, chives, parsley--use whatever is in your refrigerator)

Kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Take a large piece of aluminum foil and place the garlic in the middle.  Drizzle with two tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Wrap the bulb in the foil and place in the center of the oven.

While the garlic is cooking, spread the frozen corn on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with a nonstick spray.  Set a large pot of salted water on to boil.

After the garlic has been cooking for fifteen minutes, place the baking sheet with the corn in the oven.  Bake for another fifteen minutes, then sprinkle the leeks over the corn and return to the oven for another ten minutes.



Even frozen corn tastes so much better after it's been roasted.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven.  The garlic should be soft at this point, and the corn and leeks should be lightly roasted.  Carefully (it will be hot!) squeeze the garlic out of its husks and add to a medium bowl.  Mash the garlic a bit, then add the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil, plus the zest and juice.  Stir the mixture--it will be thick.



This is so good that you might need to have a bite or two before adding it to the pasta. 
Just to test it, you know.

Cook the pasta until al dente and drain, reserving a cup of the cooking water in case it's needed to thin the sauce.  Return the pasta to the pot it was cooked in and add the greens, parmesan and garlic sauce.  Toss to coat the pasta, adding a little of the pasta cooking water if necessary to thin the mixture.

Transfer the pasta to a warmed serving bowl, season with salt and pepper and serve with additional parmesan if desired.

Serves four as a main course;  six as a pasta course.

Food/wine pairing:  Serve with a wine that will pick up the flavors of the citrus--American or South American Sauvignon Blanc or Vinho Verde.