Roast Spaghetti Squash Parmesan with Eggplant Cremini Sauce

Spaghetti squash dishes usually disappoint me. A surprisingly watery vegetable, spaghetti squash releases lots of juice that dilutes its usual partner of tomato sauce. The result? Bland flavor and mushy texture that is very far from what I expect from a pasta dish.

Here is my solution: make a highly concentrated sauce based on tomato paste, with lots of garlic, wine and chunky eggplant and mushroom pieces. The squash is roasted, then put into a pan with more sauteed garlic, freshly ground pepper and lots of Parmesan cheese (like cacio e pepe!). The eggplant mushroom sauce is then layered over the Parmesan squash mixture, like you would add sauce to a base of polenta. The dilution problem is gone. With all the umami flavor from Parmesan, wine and mushrooms, the blandness is gone, too. There is really nothing to be done about the mushiness, I am afraid, but treating the vegetable like a very textured polenta makes the mushiness less of a liability.

Spanish Tortilla

I have wanted to make Spanish Tortilla for a long time, and Elise’s post inspired me to finally give it a go. Basically, it is an omelet made with fried onions and fried potatoes–kind of like eggs with the hash browns cooked inside.

I liked it, but, after all that work frying the potatoes to get them nice and crisp, I would have preferred to have the potatoes and eggs as seperate items (hash browns and eggs). But, that is just me.

I am still intrigued by the Ferran Adria recipe for Spanish Tortilla made with potato chips, though . . .

Israeli Breakfast Bread: Abouelafia’s Za’atar Pita Pizza with Sunny-Side-Up Eggs

 

In The Foods of Israel, Joan Nathan provides a recipe for a flatbread baked with olive oil, za’atar, feta, and two sunny-side-up eggs. Nathan says that this is the most popular of the more than eighty different flatbreads made by the famous Abouelafia Bakery in Jaffa. Sometimes, the bread is also served with olives or tahina.
 
Nathan provides a recipe for a whole wheat dough that she says was inspired by a “pizza joint in Safed” that “serves a similar concoction,” but you can probably use any pizza or pita dough. 

Ree’s Heuvos

Pioneer Woman made some tasty looking eggs the other day. She calls them Huevos Ree-os because they are not authentic Mexican fare at all. But, man, are they good!

All you do is fry up some eggs, pour over some spicy tomato stuff (she used picante sauce) and then let cheese melt on top.  I made my eggs with some shredded cheddar/mozzarella mix and diced tomatoes. Instead of chopped cilantro, I went with chopped scallion.

After the cheese melts, the whole thing get put with a tortilla. I served my huevos with a low-carb whole wheat tortilla.

So easy, so delicious.

Palachinka, hostess for FBI (food blog investigation), is investigating Pioneer Woman this month.

Comfort Food 202: French Toast, Hash Browns & Scrambled Eggs

My husband needs comfort food right now, and there is nothing better than a diner breakfast to soothe a troubled mind. I’m talking challah french toast, hash browns, and scrambled eggs.