Clam and Pesto Spaghetti with Peas and Shallots

Spring is finally starting to arrive! In my mind it is anyway. There is no snow in the 7 day forecast, and the highs are all above 5 degrees. This makes me very happy. Regardless of the weather, I can feel the winter gloominess lifting, and that is all that matters really.


I have mentioned before how much I love clam pasta. It is so simple when you use canned baby clams and is a great source of protein. I wanted to use up some leftover pesto from when I made this, and thought that pesto + pasta + clams would be a great combination. I added some peas to get in some vegetables. The resulting sauce, or shall I say green mush, turned out better than expected considering the appearance. I have been thinking about this recipe for well over a week so I was very excited to finally put it all together.

Clam and Pesto Spaghetti with Peas and Shallots

Serves 3

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large shallot
2 cloves of garlic
sprinkle of red chili flakes (whatever you can handle)
3/4 can peas (if you have fresh or frozen...use them instead)
1 can baby clams, drained
~1/4 cup pesto (depends on your taste really...)
spaghetti, cooked

1. Heat olive oil in pan on medium-high heat.
2. Saute shallot for 1 minute and add garlic. Heat until fragrant. Add chili flakes.
3. Reduce heat to medium and add peas and clams. Once warm, add pesto and stir to combine.
4. Remove from heat.
5. Top spaghetti with pesto and clam mixture.

This meal was really quick to put together. If I were to do it again (and I probably will), I wouldn't use spaghetti. I would use rotini or farfalle (bowtie) or even cheese tortellini. The chunky "sauce" does not really mix well with the long noodles and I ended up cutting up my spaghetti like a 6 year old. I would also top it with some fresh Parmesan cheese if I had it. Finally, as noted in the ingredient list, I would use fresh or frozen peas over canned peas if I had them (canned peas up the mushy factor). Now, if clams or canned seafood are not your thing, then by all means substitute chicken, small cubes of tofu, or even lentils. However, it won't make the dish look any better I suspect. While tasty, this might not be a meal you serve your friends unless you show a track record of good cooking and they trust that you are not trying to serve them baby food.

Heather's Quinoa and Wheatberries

I have a bit of spring fever. Yes, I know, I know, it's only March 3nd, and it's below zero. Regardless, I am itching for spring, and Heather's Quinoa by Heidi Swanson has contributed a bit to my spring like temperament. It all started last year in April when was on a 101cookbooks.com kick. I made Heidi's recipes all the time. It was exam time, I had just cleaned the entire house, it was a beautiful day, and I picked up some fresh pesto from a natural food store in uptown Waterloo, a store that I dearly miss. I bought the pesto to specifically use in this recipe. It was my first experience with fresh pesto, and boy was it memorable. I thought I didn't like pesto; turns out I was wrong.

To this day the thought of this dish, and particularly the combination of corn and basil brings me to that pleasant spring day when I was very, very happy in that simple moment. I had made some modifications to the recipe a year ago, and I have done it again today. The reason this time being that I have been dying to try wheatberries. I had purchased them over the Holidays and have been waiting for the perfect recipe to use them in. So in this case, instead of 3 cups of Quinoa, I used 1 cup cooked wheatberries, and 1.5 cups cooked quinoa.

You can find the recipe here and I highly recommend that you make this recipe soon. It is easy to make, quick, full of flavour and is easily modified. One note I do have however is that the quality of pesto makes all the difference. Last year, I used a fresh vegan pesto that was purchased in the refrigerated section and was in a container, not a jar (therefore not heated). I couldn't find fresh pesto at my local grocery store, and since it is the winter I do not have an excess of fresh basil to make it myself. I was not overly impressed with the jar I ended up buying. It looked good on the label (fresh basil was 1st ingredient, and didn't have anything I would not have added myself) but it just didn't suit my tastes. This pesto had Parmesan cheese in it and maybe that is what made the difference. Morale of the story: make your own fresh pesto or use a brand that you love the flavour of becuase it will make all the difference. And if you can avoid jarred pesto, then avoid it.

In other news, I have joined the twitter world. You can follow me at @ddidonat

Anyone else suffering from or experiencing premature spring fever?

Special Lamb Roast Dinner

On Friday night I made quite the dinner. I began the process at around 2:00 pm. Dinner was served around 7:00 pm. It wasn't extremely labour intensive, but a lot of waiting and planning with regards to oven time. Here is what was on the menu:

Rosemary and Garlic Focaccia
Roasted Lamb in a bed of Vegetables
Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Asparagus
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

Today I will talk about the highlight of the show, if you would call a meal a show. That would be the roasted lamb in a bed of vegetables. Upon acquiring the leg of lamb from Fortinos (1.3 kg of leg) I browsed the internet for cooking times/cooking methods. After looking at a dozen sites I settled on a protocols. It turned out really well, besides being a bit underdone for my taste.

Roasted Leg of Lamb in a Bed of Vegetables

2-3 lb leg of lamb, bone-in
1.5 lb fingerling potatoes, cut into halves or quarters
2 large shallots or small onions, cut into wedges
~20 small white mushrooms
1 can whole tomatoes, drained (liquid reserved)
~1/2 cup red wine
olive oil
rosemary
black pepper
7 garlic cloves

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place potatoes, onions, mushrooms and drained tomatoes in a large roasting pan.
3. Drizzle some olive oil, add rosemary, ground black pepper and toss to coat, breaking up whole tomatoes.
4. Place lamb on top of vegetables with the fat side up. With a sharp knife make cuts in the meat faced up. Pour the juice from the can of tomatoes on top, followed by the red wine. Sprinkle with black pepper and rosemary. Place 3 garlic cloves on top of lamb and 4 in the vegetables.

5. Heat lamb in oven for 30 minutes. Remove garlic cloves on top of lamb and stir vegetables.
6. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and roast until internal temperature is 170 degrees F (well done, about 35 minutes per pound). Stir vegetables every 30 minutes.
7. When internal temperature of 170 degrees F is reached, remove from oven and place lamb on a cutting board. Allow to rest for 20 minutes and cover veggies with foil to keep warm.

Although the thermometer read 170 degrees F, the lamb was more medium then well-done. I am unsure if the thermometer was a bit off or I didn't place it deep enough. It was cooked better at the top then at the bottom. This problem would have been solved with a wire rack over the veggies so heat could circulate the bottom, and then juices would still have dripped from the lamb into the veggies. Some basting would be required however.

The lamb was delicious even with its slight under cooked state, for my tastes. I hate (or love...not sure) to say it but the vegetables were really the star. They were so flavourful with the tomato, wine and lamb working really well together. This meal was rather pricey but definitely worth it. Can't say I will repeat this recipe any time soon for that reason but I would definitely try out the roasted vegetables sans lamb (or maybe with some less-expensive stewing lamb).

I hope to post the rest of the recipes by the end of the week, or maybe even tomorrow if we are granted with a snow day. There is a blizzard coming in Ontario. The members of this household plan to occupy our snow day (because it is happening) with snow angels, baking, movies, and tobogganing. Yes, we are 8 years old. Enjoy the snow!