7 Tips For Fast And Flavorful Pastas, Including A Recipe For Conchiglie With Chard And Smoked Mozzarella

Conchiglie Pasta with Swiss Chard and Smoked Mozzarella

This dish is kind of a blast from the past for me. Not the specific ingredients, but it is so much the way I cooked for most of my adult life. Nothing complicated, just a simple pasta mixed with a bunch of flavorful and harmonious ingredients. No real sauce beyond the melting smoked mozzarella and a little sherry.

From what I've seen in Italy, this style of pasta really isn't particularly Italian, where they tend to favor simple pastas with just a few components, often as a prelude to a heartier second course. This style is more of an American take, with a thoughtfully chosen "kitchen sink" of ingredients to maximize flavor and texture, interesting enough to be a meal on its own.

This is an easy way to eat because it requires no recipe and minimal technique, comes together fast, adapts well to whatever is seasonal and what is in your pantry, and pretty much everyone likes pasta. Let me see if I can write down some of the "rules" that make this kind of dish turn out great (choices for this particular dish are in [brackets]):

1. Shaped pastas, rather than strands, tend to work better with this kind of chunky "sauce" [conchiglie]
2. Salt the water aggressively (1.5 tablespoons / gallon), have it at a rolling boil, and be sure to pull the pasta out when it is al dente - a little of bite left, not flaccid.
3. Choose at least one ingredient with big flavor [smoked mozzarella]
4. Choose at least one ingredient with some crunch [toasted green pumpkin seeds]. Use it as a final garnish so it doesn't get soggy.
5. Short on fresh stuff? Open up the pantry or freezer and grab roasted red peppers, olives, capers, frozen baby peas, [artichoke bottoms, white beans] ...
6. Try to get a range of sweet [pasta, sherry], salty [cheese], bitter [chard], sour, herbacious [sage, thyme], umami [cheese] and spicy [chili flakes] flavors, so that each bite is a varied experience. You might not hit all of those notes, but try to have some contrasts.
7. Toss the cooked pasta with the "sauce" for a minute over a moderate flame, to allow the flavors to marry. Reserve 1 cup of the boiled pasta water and add it as necessary during that mixing to loosen and achieve a good serving texture. The water is salted and slightly thick from starch, so it will allow you to moisten without diluting your flavors. If you've never tried this before, trust me - it is magic.

Conchiglie Pasta with Swiss Chard and Smoked Mozzarella
Serves 3-4 as a main course
Vegetarian; not vegan or gluten-free but adaptable

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 medium white onion, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
• 3 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped or 2 teaspoons dried
• 1 teaspoon dried chili flakes (or to your taste)
• 2 bunches of chard leaves (any variety), stemmed, cleaned, and roughly sliced or torn
• 1 can artichoke bottoms (or hearts, but bottoms are better), medium slices
• 1/2 can white beans
• 1/2 cup dry sherry
• 2/3 pound smoked mozzarella, cubed
• 1 pound conchiglie
• 1/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds (pepita, they should be green), lightly toasted
• salt and pepper

1. Put one gallon of water to boil in a large pot with 1.5 tablespoons of salt.
2. Heat a very large skillet (preferably not a non-stick one) over a medium high flame. Add the oil, then a few seconds later add the garlic and onion. Saute for 1 minute, then add the thyme, sage, and chili flakes, and saute for 10 more seconds. Add the chard and 1.5 teaspoons of salt, toss, and cover for a few minutes. You can probably drop the pasta at this point.
3. When the chard is tender, remove the lid, and add the artichokes, white beans and sherry and reduce the heat to medium low. Scrape the bottom of the pan thoroughly with your spatula so the sherry picks up lots of caramelized flavors.
4. When the pasta is just barely al dente, reserve 1 cup of the water and drain it. Return it to the pot you cooked it in, toss with a little more olive oil, then empty in the contents of the skillet, being sure to scrape out all the flavorful stuff on the bottom.
5. Return the pot to the a medium low flame, add the mozzarella cubes, and stir constantly for one minute. If it seems a little "tight", add some of the pasta water. Taste and adjust for salt.
6. To serve, divide among the bowls, top with the pumpkin seeds and a grind of fresh black pepper.

100th Post Celebration

Today marks the 100th anniversary of Herbivoracious. When I started this blog, back in nineteen-ought-seven, my pal Burnsie, looking natty as always in his sateen knickers, offered me advice that every writer would do well to remember: "Just give the great unwashed a pair of oversized breasts and a happy ending, and they'll 'oink' for more every time."

Mmm, sorry, Simpsons reverie. What I meant to say was, when I started this blog 99 posts ago, it was a real shot in the dark. I had no idea how to do it, how much time it would take, or what would make for a good or bad post. I just knew that I needed a way to share my obsession with more folks than my (incredibly patient) family and friends. I've been passionate about great vegetarian food for  20+ years, and I know that there are lots of people who feel the same way. So many of you have been kind enough to comment on the blog or email me privately with encouragment and feedback, and that really keeps me going.

Anyhow, for a 100th post I figured it would make sense to look back and highlight a few favorites. Especially since there are new visitors all the time, this list might make a good starting point. By all means comment if you think some of these are duds or other ones belong here.

And most of all, thanks for reading, cooking, eating, and sharing!

	This recipe for Mujadara has been consistently one of the most popular on the site. The simple pilaf of rice and lentils with lots of caramelized onions is easy and nutritious, uses ingredients that are available year round, and has such an earthy, satisfying flavor.
	Edamame in an Edible Tofu Bowl is one of my personal favorites because it looks dramatic but goes together in just a few minutes. Oh, and I'm crazy about using circle cutters to present food. Don't ask me why, it just makes me happy.
	If I could eat one thing right this minute, it would be a bowl of real Middle Eastern hummus. This was from our big trip to Israel and Italy earlier this fall.
	One of the things that restaurants do which most home cooks don't consider is simple reduced sauces. Almost any wine, juice, vinegar, broth, cream, or any flavorful liquid you can think of can be quickly boiled down to intensify flavor and a thicker consistency so it can be served as a sauce. The Ginger Beer reduction in this recipe is a good example of something a little out of the box but very tasty.
	My theory is that the only folks who don't love eggplant parmesan are the ones that haven't had a good one. Gooey cheese, crispy breadcrumbs, well roasted eggplant, and a lively tomato sauce, what is not to love?
	These Caramelized Pear Cupcakes with Blue Cheese Frosting probably raised more eyebrows than most posts.
	Without a doubt, making the leap to take six months off from my regular job to intern at Cafe Flora has been one of the best things I've ever done. I can't even begin to write down everything I've learned. It has been terrific to work with the amazing and talented people there, and see what it would take to open my own place farther down the road.
	Couscous is a favorite because it is a snap to make, and this simple trick makes it come out much more fluffy and delicious.
	That looks more like cornmeal pancakes than Spicy Angel Hair Pasta to me, but you'll have to read the post to see the connection.
	Otsu Noodles have the subtle flavor of buckwheat soba and sesame paste balanced with refreshing cukes and green onions.

How To Clean a Kitchen - Fast!

As you might have guessed, my home cooking tends to somewhat ambitious meals, even on "school nights", and that sometimes leads to pretty substantial messes. Working at Cafe Flora confirms what I've often thought, I tend to work more like a restaurant cook even though I'm at home. The only tiny little problem with that is that I don't have a professional staff of stewards manning the dish pit to wash everything, sweep the floor and hose down the mats. I can dream!

In the meantime, I've developed a lot of theories over the years about how to clean up as quickly as possible after dinner. I can handle a normal mess by myself in 20 minutes, stem to stern. Here's how I go about it. Please comment and add what works for you, I'd always like to learn more!

1. Have a general plan of attack that you use each time, so you don't have to waste time deciding what to do. For me, I like to:
   
   • put away leftovers
   • get everything off the table and counters, move it towards the sink
   • load the dishwasher
   • wash pots and anything else not going in the dishwasher
   • wipe and dry the table and counters
   • heat up my cast iron skillets and oil them
   • vacuum the floor
   • clean the sink
   • take a last look around for anything I missed
2. Whatever system you use, work top to bottom. Do your table and countertops, then any mess on vertical surfaces, and finally the floor. That way you don't end up cleaning the floor twice, and you don't have to worry if you push some crumbs off while wiping the counters.
3. Save cleaning out the sink for the very last so that if if you rinse out a towel and drop some stuff in there, no effort was wasted.
4. While working within your plan, don't waste any steps. For example if you go to drop a load off at the sink, maybe you can come back with something from the drainboard that you can put away. Likewise, if you are going to get a storage container, stop and notice how many and what size you need so you can grab them all at once.
5. Go ahead and use some towels. Especially if you have a washer and dryer and can do laundry regularly, don't be shy about using 3 or 4 rags or towels to get the job done. Always have a dry one over your shoulder or on your belt or apron string so you don't have to search for it to dry off a knife or a counter. 
6. Bring some intensity to the process. Not that cleaning can't be fun itself, but presumably you have other things you want to get to. So clean it like you mean it! Just be conscious to put a little vigor into each move you make and actively try to pick up the pace. That doesn't mean you have to be running around in a panic, just with some focus and intensity.
7. Use the rinse cycle of your dishwasher. Just shove all the large scraps in the garbage, load everything in there, and press rinse (assuming it isn't time to actually run it). You'll save time and actually use less water than if you rinse each dish by hand.
8. If you are working with a partner, lay out a clear division of labor so that you aren't bumping in to each other or wasting time. When my brother and I clean, he takes the sink area and I do the rest of the kitchen, bringing everything to him so that he can totally focus on loading the dishwasher and washing pots. We frickin' kill it and the place is spotless in no time.
9. Finally, just because you are working with intensity doesn't mean it can't be fun! Put on some high energy music and enjoy the process of trying to do the work both fast and well. Believe me, it sounds like a dance club at work when the customers are gone and we are cleaning up after a full day of serving a few hundred folks. We all want to go home but that doesn't mean we won't have a good time finishing the job.

So what works for you? How do you get your kitchen deeply clean and have time left for Threes Company reruns?