Spring Vegetable Ragout With Fresh Pasta Food

SPRING VEGETABLE RAGOûT WITH BROWN BUTTER COUSCOUS

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, bring 2 1/2 cups water to a rapid boil. Add salt and couscous, stirring as water returns to boil. Turn down heat to a bare simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and leave covered for 10 minutes. Dump couscous on a baking sheet or large platter, and spread out. Taste for salt and add more if necessary. Fluff, smash any large clumps and leave to cool, uncovered.
• Set up a steamer with a fine mesh basket, with water simmering on low heat, for eventual steaming of couscous. About 30 minutes before serving, put couscous in the steamer basket and raise heat to maintain a rapid simmer. Do not cover. (This extra steaming step produces lighter, fluffier couscous.)
• Make the green sauce: Put cilantro, salt, Serrano chile and olive oil in a blender or food processor. Pulse briefly, then purée into a paste. Add 1/4 cup water, and purée again. Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in lime juice.
• Make the ragoût: Put 2 tablespoons olive oil in a deep, wide skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add coriander and cumin. Let sizzle for a few seconds, then onions and cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.
• Add leeks and season well with salt and pepper. Stir and cook onion-leek mixture until leeks are soft but still bright green, about 5 minutes.
• Add zucchini, season with salt and stir to coat. Add 3 cups water, raise heat to a boil, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Add asparagus and peas, cover and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Add favas, if using, and spinach, cover and cook 1 minute. Turn off heat. (Spinach will continue to cook.)
• Finish the couscous: Set a wide skillet over high heat. When pan is hot, add cold butter and let it sizzle and foam, turning rust-brown but no darker. Add preserved lemon and the saffron and its water to stop the browning. Turn off heat. Add hot couscous to pan and stir to incorporate all elements. Transfer to a warm serving bowl.
• Gently fold vegetables together, then lift from pot and transfer to a deep serving platter, using tongs or slotted spoon. Stir 2 tablespoons green sauce into liquid remaining in pot, then spoon liquid over vegetables. Garnish with cilantro sprigs. Pass remaining green sauce at the table.

EASY SPRING VEGETABLE RAGOUT

Steps:

• Soak leeks in cold water for 5 minutes; lift out and drain. Repeat until no grit remains on bottom of bowl. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-highheat. Add leeks and salt and sauteuntil leeks are tender, about 2 minutes. Stirin asparagus, then water. Simmer coveredfor 2 minutes. Add snap peas and radishes,cover, and simmer for 2 minutes more.
• Stir in mustard until well combined, then swirl in butter and herbs. Serve immediately.

SPRING VEGETABLE RAGOûT

Steps:

• Chop white and pale-green parts of leeks and wash well in a bowl of cold water. Lift leeks from water with a slotted spoon and transfer to a colander to drain. Trim fennel stalks flush with bulb and remove any discolored areas of bulb. Halve bulb lengthwise and cut each half crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices, discarding cores. Halve or quarter larger morels lengthwise, leaving smaller ones whole.
• Cook turnips in a 6-quart heavy pot of salted boiling water until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer turnips with slotted spoon to a large bowl of ice water to stop cooking. (Keep water boiling.) Boil carrots until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes, and transfer with slotted spoon to ice water. Boil fava beans until crisp-tender, about 2‚ minutes, and transfer with slotted spoon to ice water. Gently boil potatoes until almost tender, about 15 minutes, and drain in colander. Rinse under cold running water. Drain blanched vegetables and gently peel outer skins from fava beans. Halve potatoes.
• Cook shallots, leeks, and salt and pepper to taste in 3 tablespoons butter in pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add broth, zest, and 1/4 cup herbs and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Pour mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids. Discard solids and reserve broth.
• Cook morels in remaining 3 tablespoons butter in cleaned pot over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add wine and simmer until reduced to about 1 tablespoon, about 3 minutes. Add fennel, asparagus, bell peppers, and reserved broth, then simmer, covered, until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Gently stir in blanched vegetables and simmer until all vegetables are just tender, about 4 minutes.
• Serve ragout sprinkled with remaining 1/4 cup herbs.

SPRING VEGETABLE RAGOUT

Steps:

• Break off the stem ends of the sugar snap peas, and pull off the strings. Set aside.
• Rinse the asparagus, and snap off the ends where they break naturally. Cut the stalks in thirds. Set aside.
• Squeeze the lemon into a bowl of water large enough to hold the artichokes, and put the squeezed halves in the bowl. Trim the stem ends of the artichokes, and slice about 1/4 inch off the tops. Pull off one or two layers of the outer leaves, slice the artichokes in half lengthwise and drop them into the bowl of acidulated water.
• Place a large, heavy saute pan or skillet over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and half the scallions. Saute until they soften, then add the peas and stir-fry until they begin to turn bright green. Add the asparagus, and continue to stir-fry about 3 minutes, until asparagus turns bright green. Remove vegetables from pan.
• Add another tablespoon of the oil, the remaining scallions and the artichokes. Stir-fry over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until the artichokes barely start to brown. Add the chicken stock and thyme, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the artichokes are tender, about 20 minutes. Return the peas and asparagus to the pan, and cook, uncovered, over medium heat until the peas and the artichokes are also tender, about 5 minutes longer. There should be enough liquid in the pan to moisten the vegetables. If not, add a little more stock.
• Stir in the remaining oil, season to taste with salt and pepper, dust with parsley and serve.

TAGLIATELLE WITH VEGETABLE RAGU

Steps:

• Tip the onion, celery and carrots into a large non-stick saucepan and add 2-3 tbsp water or stock, if you have some. Cook gently, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft.
• Add the garlic, tomato purée and balsamic vinegar, cook on a high heat for 1 min more, add the diced veg, lentils, tomatoes, then bring up to the boil.
• Turn to a simmer, then cook for about 20 mins. Meanwhile, cook the pasta following pack instructions, then drain. Season the ragu and serve with pasta and Parmesan on top, if you like.

PASTA PRIMAVERA WITH ASPARAGUS AND PEAS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over medium-high heat.
• While the water is coming to a boil, slice snap peas and asparagus stems into 1/4-inch-thick pieces; leave asparagus tips whole.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add snap peas, asparagus, English peas and onion. Cook until vegetables are barely tender (but not too soft or mushy), 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute more. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.
• Drop pasta into boiling water and cook until al dente (1 to 3 minutes for fresh pasta, more for dried pasta). Drain well and transfer pasta to a large bowl. Immediately toss pasta with vegetables, Parmigiano-Reggiano, crème fraîche and herbs. Season generously with salt and pepper, if needed.

SPRING VEGETABLE RAGOûT

Steps:

• In a kettle of boiling salted water boil the fiddleheads for 4 minutes, or until they are crisp-tender, transfer them with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water to stop the cooking, and transfer them to paper towels to drain. In the kettle boil the squash and the carrots for 3 minutes, or until they are crisp-tender, transfer the vegetables with the slotted spoon to the bowl of ice and cold water to stop the cooking, and transfer them to paper towels to drain. In the kettle boil the peas for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they are just tender, and drain them.
• In a large heavy skillet combine 2 tablespoons of the butter, the onions, the thyme, the bay leaf, 1/4 cup of the broth, and salt and pepper to taste and simmer the mixture, covered, for 5 minutes. Add the morels, halved lengthwise or sliced crosswise, and 1/2 cup of the remaining broth and simmer the mixture, covered, for 10 minutes, or until the morels are tender. Add the fiddleheads, the squash, the carrots, and the remaining 1/4 cup broth and simmer the mixture, covered, for 1 minute. Add the peas, the parsley, the mint, and the garlic, simmer the ragout, covered, for 1 minute, and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, cut into bits, stirring until the butter is just melted. Discard the bay leaf and season the ragout with salt and pepper.
• To clean fresh-picked fiddleheads:
• Snap off the crisp, bright green fiddlehead tops from ostrich ferns, leaving about 2 inches of stem attached. Rub off the dry brown casings by hand or put the fiddleheads in a wire salad basket and whirl the basket outdoors to remove the casings. Let the fiddleheads soak in a sink half full of cold water, changing the water several times to remove any grit or casing particles, and drain them. The fiddleheads keep, covered and chilled, for 1 week.

SPRING VEGETABLE RAGOUT

Steps:

• Place 3 tablespoons butter in 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. When melted, add carrots, onions, potatoes, fennel and a generous pinch of salt. Cover and cook 5 minutes.
• Add vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. Add a little more salt, peas, fava beans and asparagus and simmer 5 minutes covered.
• Add remaining butter in bits, then chives and parsley. Check seasoning and serve in shallow soup plates.