My colleague Mike Vernal recently invited us to his house and we were sent off with a bag of fresh fava beans. Nothing says spring better than fresh fava beans and English peas. I have quite a few English peas recipes (Risotto with English Peas, Linguine with English peas, preserved lemons, and pancetta, Chilled English…
Category: vegetarian
Romano bean and potato curry
This dish can pass for Indian cuisine although the inspiration behind it purely Bulgarian: I just substituted the sweet paprika in the original Bulgarian recipes for curry. This is the kind of vegetarian stew that I grew up on. Beans, lentils, potatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, okra, Romano beans, were cooked in endless combinations and variations, commonly known as gyuvech (гювеч).
Quince Jam
Quince fruit is inedible raw but it makes a great preserve, and jam, and of course, membrillo. My grandmother used to make quince jam. You probably assumed she was a great cook who inspired my cooking passion. In a way she did… because she hated cooking and was an atrocious cook, so someone in the…
Linguine with English peas, preserved lemons, and pancetta
This pasta dish is a great celebration of spring
Risotto with tomatoes and leeks (сиреч, домати и праз със ориз)
As I promised in the original risotto post the possibilities are endless. The inspiration for this one were two Bulgarian classics – tomato rice (домати с ориз) and leeks rice (праз със ориз)
Linguine with tomato-cream sauce and truffles
This is another recipe that came from a cooking class with my fiends at Truffle Shuffle. You can cut the paste in different width – linguine, pappardelle.
Truffled mac & cheese
This piece of Americana gets a sophisticated upgrade with the addition of truffles. Recipe is courtesy of my friends at Truffle Shuffle. You can watch the entire cooking class on their web site. Mac & cheese may be kids food, but save this one for yourself!
Curried cauliflower
Cauliflower is one of the most under-appreciated vegetables. It is great sautéed or roasted, and is a great vehicle for pungent spices and strong flavors – like curry.
Mushroom Stew
This mushroom stew is very much the vegetarian equivalent of beef bourguignon. Gather whatever medley of mushrooms you can find + a bottle of cheap red wine = delicious dinner. I served it over creamy polenta (found in the Squab glazed with port reduction with creamy polenta recipe)
Risotto with English Peas
As I promised in the original risotto post the possibilities are endless. And English peas are one of my favorite ingredients – a great way to celebrate spring.