ricotta and apple spaghetti.

On the farm I stayed at in Italy, I worked everyday from 8 until 12, eating a simple breakfast of bread + jam + fruit + tea in the morning, and coming home to a filling spaghetti dish for lunch.

Maria made ricotta and apple spaghetti a couple of times, and I loved it. She used olive oil from the farm and a variety of spices that neither of us could translate. Giuseppe loved putting paprika on it (well, everything really...), so I thought that I would recreate the dish using paprika instead of throwing random spices in.

I chopped up some apple (gala, I believe) while the spaghetti water boiled. Threw in salt (the more the better!), the spaghetti, and when the noodles were almost al dente, I tossed in the apple bits to boil a little. Strained everything, mixed in some ricotta with the spaghetti/apple bits, drizzled some olive oil and sprinkled on some paprika.




I promptly brought this to the studio to eat during lunch. It was really good! I think that it would have tasted a little stronger if I had used really good olive oil (or perhaps a very very small amount of garlic? no, onions!). The ricotta made the spaghetti just rich enough to be very filling. I'll have to try to make it with my own ricotta, now that I know how to make it (wait until I put up photos from my 21st birthday weekend...)!

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butternut squash spread.

And sadly, the same night as the granola and salad/roasted potatoes dinner, I made one more thing...butternut squash spread.

On the farm, Maria made this delicious pumpkin jam-spread. I used to have it almost everyday for breakfast, with pieces of her bread. It. Was. Phenomenal. I don't think I've ever enjoyed pumpkin that much (aside from pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread and...okay, so I enjoy pumpkin). I went to the store but they didn't have pumpkins (or I couldn't find it...Saino's can get pretty confusing sometimes), so I bought butternut squash. I've made butternut squash muffins before, so I figured that if that came out fabulous, this shouldn't be too bad.

I boiled the butternut squash into oblivion (Maria said she baked the pumpkin) and made a huge pot of mush. I boiled some apple along with it. Some cinnamon, brown sugar, honey, salt, lots of mashing, and TADAAAAA.



Pretty darn good on bread with butter; it's still a bit too savory though. Honestly, the pumpkin would've worked better.
AND THEN I THOUGHT WHY NOT PUT IT IN A TART?
(this post to come later)


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spring break food part 1: paris.

I just came back from a three week easter break (SO LONG!). As I uploaded my photos onto my computer, I realized that most of them were of food...I think this food obsession is getting serious.

I started my break with two nights in Paris, France. I stayed with my dear friend Anna. She is spending the semester there, attending various schools (so I understand?) and living by herself in a cute little apartment in the eleventh arrondisement. I wish I had taken photos of it, but obviously I was a bit more focused on food.

After I dropped her off at school the next morning, I went off to explore the Marais (third) district with an almond croissant in hand (that was WAY too sweet!). Last time I was in Paris, I ran around doing all the very touristy things, so this time around I felt less pressured to do that. I'm really glad I explored the Marais, because I hadn't before, and one full day was perfect for it! My morning started with an espresso and map reading. I still don't think I enjoy Lavazza espresso. It's a bit too bitter for me.



I met up with Anna and we decided to track down some lunch. Walking through the Marais, we decided to hit up this falafel place that had a huge line with lots of Japanese people. We Japanese do hardcore research before going anywhere, so I knew it would be fabulous. Oh, and it was. Best falafel of my LIFE. There was a perfect balance of creamy, spicy, sweet, and crunchy. AND there was no funky aftertaste, which is a HUGE plus.



Although the falafel had no terrible aftertaste, we had to get some dessert. Neither of us had ever eaten at Ladurée, so we decided to splurge and get ourselves one of those famous double-decker macarons.



We thought the price was a bit outrageous, but once we took a bite we realized why...they were perfect! I got the vanilla and Anna got violet. I could totally taste the vanilla (and not just that crappy vanilla flavoring, but the real stuff) and the consistency of the meringuey top with the marzipany middle together was the perfect soft crunch.

The next day Anna took me to a quaint vegan café.



Anna got the pumpkin one, with what I think were azuki beans on the bottom. I got the slice of satsuma potatoes with carrot shavings on top. Both were in a (kind of dry...) whole wheat crust. The fillings were perfect though! I might have thrown on a bit of sesame salt, but I love salt, so I think otherwise it would have been fine.

And of course, dessert follows lunch! So we bought a slice of apple pie-ish thing. I was expecting something sweet (I feel like all apple pies are overly sweet), but this one was just right! And that's coming from someone who was kind of sick at the time. I think we agreed that a little dash of cinnamon or nutmeg on top would've given it a little extra something, but what we got was pretty damn good. I think there was a layer of oats below the apple. I just wished the crust weren't the same as the other savory slices we got earlier.



All of that with unlimited anise tea (which, surprisingly, I enjoyed). x