Cook Like a Rock Star - Anne Burrell [31]
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Pinch of crushed red pepper
2 cups arugula or mesclun
½ red onion, thinly sliced
Big fat finishing oil
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
FOR THE FLAN
1 Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2 Spray six 4-ounce ramekins or disposable aluminum cups with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, combine the cream, eggs, Parm, salt, and cayenne and whisk well. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Divide the mixture evenly between the ramekins.
3 Put the ramekins in a baking dish large enough to hold them all, then fill the dish with hot water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins—be careful here, you don’t want any water getting in the ramekins! Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the flans are set. Remove from the oven and let the dish cool on a rack.
FOR THE SALAD
1 Heat the oven to 400°F.
2 Toss the asparagus with olive oil until lightly coated and sprinkle with salt and red pepper. Put on a baking sheet and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until it begins to color and is pliable.
3 In a large bowl toss the arugula, asparagus, and red onion with finishing oil, lemon zest, juice, and salt. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
TO SERVE
To unmold the flans, gently run a butter knife around the outside edge of each ramekin, then flip them over onto serving plates, slightly off center. To serve, arrange the salad so it leans up against the flan.
Flan-tastic!
Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Crispy Prosciutto & Mint
SERVES: 4 • TIME: ABOUT 15 MINUTES
I love sugar snaps because they’re crispy, they’re crunchy, and they’re snappy! Just blanch, shock, and cut them into little slivers to enjoy the full sugar snappy experience. To keep things interesting, toss in some minty fresh deliciousness and some salty, crispy prosciutto! Now that’s what I call a summertime salad.
MISE EN PLACE
Kosher salt
1 pound sugar snap peas, stem ends and strings removed
Extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, smashed
Pinch of crushed red pepper
¼ pound prosciutto, sliced thin and cut crosswise into ¼-inch strips
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 cups baby arugula
½ small red onion, julienned
¼ cup Pecorino, shaved with a veggie peeler
8 to 10 fresh mint leaves, cut into a chiffonade
1 To blanch the peas, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and set up a large bowl of well-salted ice water. Toss the peas into the boiling water, let the water return to a boil, and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove the peas from the boiling water and immediately plunge them into the ice water. When the peas are cold, drain them and lay on paper towels to dry.
2 Cut the peas in half lengthwise and reserve.
3 Coat a medium sauté pan with olive oil and add the garlic and red pepper; bring the pan to medium heat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the garlic and ditch it—it has fulfilled its garlic destiny! Add the prosciutto to the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until crispy, then add the vinegar. Turn off the heat.
4 In a large bowl, combine the arugula, snap peas, and onion along with the prosciutto and any juices from the pan; toss well. Add the Pecorino and mint and TASTE it! Season with salt if needed and serve.
Sugar snap peas often have strings that run along the edge of the pod—be sure to remove them because eating sugar snaps and flossing at the same time is not a pleasant experience.
Pasta is my favorite thing to make, cook, and eat. Sure, I LOOOOOVE to cook almost anything, but I LOVE-PLUS pasta. It’s the food that really speaks to me. My passion for pasta started as a teenager when I was given one of the old-fashioned Atlas hand-crank pasta machines for Christmas—long before I ever decided to become a professional chef. I spent a lot of time playing with that machine, and back then it took me far longer than it should have to make a pound of pasta. Now, after doing it for years, I’ve got it down—I can whip right through it.
To this day there’s still nothing in cooking as thrilling to me as mixing together some flour, oil,