CONSIDER THE WARM WEATHER PASTA GAUNTLET THROWN.
Ok to be fair, it wasn't exactly warm yesterday. To be totally fair, I was cold when I woke up, cold during my workout (you know when you're freezing AND sweating at the same time? Yeah. Sucks.), cold during my hot shower, cold as we poked around a used book store, and cold as we bought soap we didn't need and shoes we did.
I was even cold as I drove. Now, I have italicised drove like that not because it is so unusual to be cold when you're driving, but because the act of driving in and of itself, when you are a Warrior Beetle like me, is highly significant and worthy of italics. I got my license when I was 19. Late, yes, but so was everyone who went to boarding school. I drove for one summer, then went to college, then moved to New York. Before getting behind the wheel last week, it had been a whopping eleven years since I'd steered anything more complicated than a GoKart, and if I'm honest, that final time had not been without incident. I had just gotten back from my year abroad in England, and after pulling out onto a small highway began serenely driving down the left side of the road. Needless to say, it was a short trip.
And once you're in New York, duh, what's the point. The trade off there is that I got to used to being in the backseat of a taxi cab that I became a horrible front seat passenger. Everything seemed WAY too close and I spent a lot of time scrabbling at the door and hissing in panic as we, in my mind, careered straight for a guard rail or car in front of us. I see now that this was kind of annoying. Actually, it was totally obnoxious (an after-the-fact apology can be found here). And so Mum was technically justified in her voluble pronouncements that she had been driving for almost 50 years and if I was going to be such a freak I could stay at home with a pillow over my head (I believe the phrase "worse than Gramma" was used more than once).
ANYWAY. Point being. I drove. To New Hampshire. (We live 5 miles from the border . . . totally not as epic as it sounds.) And I was cold the entire day. At one point I turned Mum and said "Am I dying or is it actually this freaking cold right now?" and she, bless her heart, said "No I'm freezing too this sucks get back in the car let's go home I want to take another shower and use my new soap."
Where was I.
Ah yes. Green Pasta. Martha Rose Schulman. GAUNTLETS.
We hit the health food store on the way home and they had olives. Olives, dear reader, OLIVES. Always a good choice. And I was sulking because I wanted to be in Santa Barbara somewhere eating fava bean and garden pea pasta in the late afternoon sunshine and engaging in witty banter with my attractive dinner guests, gazing out over my expansive estate as warm night fell and tea lights magically lit themselves around me.
So I bought olives. GREEN ONES. And decided to go for it.
GAUNTLET PASTA
or
EDAMAME, CAULIFLOWER, AND GREEN OLIVES WITH WHOLE WHEAT PASTA
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 pound whole wheat linguine
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 head of cauliflower, floretted (yes, it's a word. no, I don't care what you think.)
- 7 oz. green olives
- 15 oz. Edamame, shelled
- Olive Oil
- Fresh Rosemary
- Goat cheese (optional)
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add the linguine. (TOP TIP: If you break the linguine strands in half they will all fit in a saucepan and you can cook it in a smaller pot. It's also easier to eat if the strands aren't as long.) Cook until al dente. (please for the love of all that is holy do not overcook your pasta, everyone does and it tastes like glue) Cook about 10 minutes, drain, return to pot and stir in enough olive oil to coat the strands and keep them from glomming together.
Heat oil in large frying pan, add onion and cook about 5 minutes. Add rosemary and cauliflower.
Stirring frequently, cook cauliflower about 10 minutes until tender and beginning to brown on the sides. Add more olive oil as needed if it begins to stick to the bottom.
Add edamame and stir, cook a few minutes more. Add olives, cook a few minutes more.
Timing wise, I started boiling the water when I put the onion in the frying pan. That seemed to work out pretty well. Both were done and piping hot at almost the same time.
Dish out the pasta, top with the Edamame/Cauliflower/Olive deliciousness, and sprinkle with goat cheese if that's your thing.
Sit by the phone and wait for Martha Rose Schulman to ring you up and say OH IT'S ON.
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