A Little Garlic E-scape-ism

I'm coming down from a whirlwind 10 days of vacation time and instead of planting my feet firmly back in reality, I spent yesterday looking for a little at-home escapism.

My in-laws from Ireland have been in town and I took some time off to hang with them. I love having visitors - there is no better excuse for taking vacation time, other than an actual out-of-town vacation. 

We tried our best to shuttle around to all of the NYC sights, although, that seems an impossible task. It only took one day of sightseeing before we realized that the list of things to see and do in NYC is never-ending, but I think we got in most of the good stuff. 

Then, just as the sweltering NYC humidity and heat was setting in, we fled to Rhode Island, where we hung out by the water and truly got to kick back. Having not had a getaway from the city for a good few months, I got a reminder of what fresh air smells like and I remembered how much I like it. Fresh air, that is.

Yesterday was my first day having to face getting fully back in touch with reality and, I gotta say, it didn't go over well. I stared at all of the regular post-vacation piles that sat in front of me - laundry, emails, voicemails, writing that had to be done. I sulked. I needed coffee. I realized we were out of half and half which meant that, obviously, I HAD to go to the store - milk would not suffice. But, it was warm and sunny and the near-empty Sunday-morning streets were begging to be walked on, so it took me a little bit longer to meander my way to and from the store than originally planned.

An hour later, I sat down with coffee cup in hand - now I was ready.

But then, it struck me that I hadn't really checked in with any of my favorite online reading, so, that had to be done. {There might have been a little online shopping as well.}

And then, my stomach grumbled and I realized it was well into the afternoon. All that caffeine on an empty stomach had left me rather starving. No one works well on an empty stomach. I had to cook something. HAD to.

Fortunately, even though our post-vacation fridge was void of the usual staples, I had come home from the greenmarket weighed down with lots of seasonal goodies, but I was most enraptured by the garlic scapes. Garlic scapes are the curly stalks that grow from the top of garlic and their season is fleeting. They look like something well suited to the dinner table at Hogwarts. I use them in the same ways that I use garlic cloves, but since their garlic flavor is more subtle, I sub in three or four scapes to achieve the same garlic-ness that comes from one clove.

Looking at my snake-like mess of scapes got me started on a whimsical path and so I decided to use a couple of the blood-red beets I scored at the market to make a colorful beet pasta. It could have been the playfulness inspired by the scapes, or the choice could have been swayed by the fact that making fresh beet pasta was one of the more time consuming tasks I could conjure. The logic might have been: the more time cooking, the less time to do laundry.

Although the beet pasta does take a bit of time and patience, the sauce I chose to pair it with requires just the opposite. I did a play on a classic aglio, olio e peperoncino {garlic, oil and chili peppers}, but used the scapes instead of garlic cloves. Cutting the scapes into 2 inch lengths gets them to work double-time - they infuse the sauce with garlic flavor, but also work as a crunchy, vegetable-like addition to the pasta.

While the beets were roasting, I probably could have started to return emails, but instead, I finished a book. While the pasta dough rested, I probably could have started some writing, but instead, I went running. By the time I came back, showered and rolled and cut the pasta, it was the evening and Damien was home and the day was gone.

Ah well. A little cooking escapism is a rather productive way to procrastinate. At least I had dinner to show for it. There's always tomorrow.

What you'll need:

For 1 lb of beet pasta dough 

Red beets, 2 large - enough to yield roughly 1/2 cup beet puree

Kosher salt, 2 tsp

Black pepper, 1 tsp

Olive Oil, 1 tsp.

All purpose flour, 2 cups

Semolina flour, 1 cup

Eggs, 3 large

For the sauce - 

Extra virgin olive oil, 1/3 cup

Garlic scapes, 12 scapes, cut into 2 inch lengths

Red chili flakes, 1-2 tsp

Salted butter, 1 Tbsp.

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 375ºF

Coat the beets in olive oil, and a generous pinch of both salt and pepper.

Tightly wrap the beets in aluminum foil, so no steam escapes while cooking. Place in the middle of the oven. Roast for roughly 45 minutes, or until they are fork tender.

Allow the beets to cool and then peel them. 

Dice the peeled beets and place in the bowl of a food processor. Puree until smooth. 

Combine the beet puree, 3 eggs and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a stand-mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat until combined and smooth. 

Switch to the dough hook attachment and add the flour. 

Turn on low speed, and allow the dough to just combine. 

Once it has come away from the sides of the bowl, turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5-6 minutes.

Once the dough is smooth, pat into a round disc and cover with plastic wrap. Set to the side to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Once the dough has rested, cut it into 6 equal pieces. 

Using your hands, shape one piece into a rectangle and roll it through the widest setting on your pasta machine. Fold it in half and pass it through the widest setting again. 

Gradually, you will make the sheet of dough thinner by making the pasta roller more narrow- working your way through the settings, one notch at a time. At each setting, pass the dough through twice. 

Dust the sheet of pasta with semolina or flour as you go, to ensure it does not stick to the machine.

Once you have achieved the thin dough you'd like, switch to the pasta cutter attachment. I used fettuccine, but you can feel free to use whichever shape you would like. 

Dust the cut pasta with flour or semolina and hang it over a pasta drying rack, or, like me, you can create a pasta drying rack by using a round knife steel or rolling pin. Alternatively, if you have the counter space, you can lay the pasta out flat on well floured sheet pans.

Go through the same process with each of the 6 portions of dough. 

To cook the pasta - bring a large pot of well salted water to the boil. Drop the pasta in. Remember, fresh pasta cooks far more quickly than dried pasta - so it should only need 3 or 4 minutes at most. 

In a pan wide enough to hold the pasta, start your sauce by combining the olive oil, chili flakes, scapes, and a pinch of salt and pepper. 

Let the sauce cook over low heat for 10 minutes. The low heat is important, so you don't burn the sauce. Gently heating give the chili and scapes time to infuse the oil with their flavors. 

Using tongs, grab the cooked pasta from the water and drop it into the warm oil. Tongs are preferred as opposed to draining through a colander because the action allows you to bring along just enough of the starchy pasta water to add body and flavor to the sauce. 

Once all of the pasta is in the oil, add the tablespoon of butter and allow it to melt. 

Gently stir to combine all of the flavors and coat the pasta with the sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning.