C'est la Vie Cuisine

Bonjour my Friends,

What a busy couple of weeks! I had so many things to do that blogging got moved to the end of my “To Do list”!

Cooking is still a priority (a girl has got to eat!) but I am falling  behind on the writing part. One thing that steered me away from blogging was taxes. I consider myself a logical person, and entering a bunch of numbers, clicking through a few questions, and having  software come up with a “magical” green or red number does not qualify as logic to me! I like to understand how things work and there is nothing more frustrating than numbers not making sense. So, the stubborn person that I am started digging around to understand the mystery called American Taxes. After many hours of research, armed with my calculator, Excel and the many random forms available to me, I now have a pretty good idea on how this works, and found the pseudo-logic behind the system.

I have to say, this reminds me of the long years spent dealing with Immigration! Not one person can give you a straight answer (if you ever can reach an actual person), random fees are set and the waiting game takes years.

Probably one of the many reasons I love cooking is the logic/science behind it. And on top of it, it is also an Art. One of the few activities where you can be a science nerd and a dreamer at the same time!

Oh Evil Taxes, show me the light
So that I can understand the magnitude of my demise

And drown my sorrows in the science I like
Where logic and dreams create my paradise

Now is time to tell you about my recipe of the week. I continued my journey through the Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi and tried an amazing pasta recipe. This recipe scored points with my husband because you can make it as spicy as you want (Yes we like it spicy in New Mexico)! I hope you enjoy it too.

When Taxes meet Pasta…

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Conchiglie with yogurt, peas & chile (including a few minor changes I introduced)

For 6 persons:

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups of Greek Yogurt
• 2/3 cup of olive oil
• 4 gloves garlic, crushed
• 1 lb fresh or frozen peas
• 1 lb conchiglie pasta (I used small shell pasta)
• 2 tsp chile flakes (more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
• 1 2/3 cups of basil leaves
• 8 oz of feta cheese
• Salt and Pepper

 Put the yogurt, 6 tbsp. of olive oil, garlic, and 2/3 of peas in food processor. Blitz until it makes a light green sauce. Transfer to a large bowl.

Cook pasta. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a small pan. Add pine nuts and chile flakes  and fry for about 4 min. Cook remaining peas in boiling water, drain.

Drain cooked pasta and add slowly to the yogurt sauce. Add warm peas, basil, feta, salt and pepper. Stir slowly.

Serve in individual bowls with a spoon of pine nuts on top.

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When Taxes meet Pasta…

Secret Ingredient: Chile flakes
Radio Station: Moroccan Music Medley
Movie to watch after dinner: Taxi (1998) written by Luc Besson

So Enjoy, Bon Appétit and C’est la Vie!