I am so proud of myself! A few weeks ago, a saw a reel on Instagram stories by “Pasta Grannies.” Pasta Grannies is a team headed by Vicky Bennison that captures Italian Nonna’s (grandmas) and occasionally Nonno’s (grandpa’s) as they prepare pasta from scratch). In a recent episode, Nonna Laura was preparing Tortellini Mantovani with Pumpkin. I was intrigued as I had all this pumpkin puree and was in the market for some new recipes. Luckily for me in the video, Laura gave the ingredients and quantity as she prepared the pasta dough and filling. I was able to pause the videos on YouTube to capture every detail.
 
For the pasta dough you’ll need 350 grams of 00 flour, 3 eggs whisked and a few drops of water to bring the dough together. The dough is kneaded for 5 minutes then rests for an hour. I used my KitchenAide Mixer to just bring the dough together, then kneaded by hand until the dough was supple and smooth. I used my manual pasta machine to roll the dough into sheets. ​

Poof, summer is just about over. This week, I popped over to Matts Farm Market in Belmar and picked up a few ears of sweet white corn to prepare Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Corn and Shallots, from Pierre Franey’s “60-Minute Gourmet” column in The New York Times from August 1985. You’ll also need skinless and boneless chicken breasts, salt, freshly ground black pepper, butter, finely chopped shallots, dry white wine, Dijon mustard, heavy cream and either fresh chervil or parsley.
 
The recipe begins by seasoning both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. The kernels of corn are removed from the cob and set aside.

Can you believe it, it’s already September. Forget pumpkins, I was at Costco and they have their holiday lawn decorations out. That said, what did I cook those last few weeks of August.
 
I had a few stalks of leeks left from another recipe I prepared. In the cook book “5 Ingredient Fix,” by Claire Robinson, I found a recipe for Potato Bar Soup. I’ve made a few of her recipes and they have been quite good. For this recipe you’ll need strips of smoky bacon, leeks, Yukon Gold potatoes, chicken stock, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and cheddar cheese for garnishing.
 
The bacon is cooked in a large Dutch oven until crispy; it’s removed to a paper towel lined dish to drain. Sliced leeks are added to the bacon fat and cooked until softened and golden. They too are removed and set aside. ​

Where did spring go, it was here for just a short time. Nevertheless, Memorial Day weekend is early this year. I have my granddaughters coming to stay for a night so Nana better get the red velvet or lemon ricotta pancake batter going.
 
In the meantime, spring sport season continues. I recently made a recipe by Claire Robinson, Asian Beef Roll-Ups from her book “5 Ingredient Fix.” This delicious recipe was a snap to make perfect for weeknight meals when there’s an after-school practice or Mommy “just had a day.” For the recipe you’ll need the juice of two limes, 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 to 2 tablespoons chili sauce, or to taste (sriracha is recommended, which I used) and one pound of flank steak.

Perhaps you’ve decided to celebrate mom at home this year. I’ll also be at home as I’ll let my son and daughter enjoy the day with their own families. If you’re someone that will be hosting mom and others, here are some suggestions to make the day enjoyable for you too.
 
Brunch is a great option for celebrating. Here are my suggestions for Mother’s Day.
 
If blood oranges are still available, Blood Orange and Grapefruit Juice makes for a wonderful switch from the normal orange juice. ​

​My son-in-law enjoys sending me IG videos and recently he sent one of chef Christian Petroni preparing lemon pasta. In watching the video you’ll see him cook spaghetti in salted water. Next, he fills a large sauté pan with a ladle of pasta water followed by par cooked spaghetti. To the pan, he squeezes the juice of two lemon then adds them to the pan. A good amount of cheese (Parmesan?) followed by a knob of butter. Toss, toss, done! I couldn’t be that adventurous so I found a similar recipe, Pasta al Limone, on the website “Serious Eats” by Daniel Gritzer.
 
For his recipe you’ll need unsalted butter, finely grated zest of a lemon plus its juice, minced garlic, kosher salt, spaghetti, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and freshly grated black pepper.
 
Mr. Gritzer recommends cooking the pasta in less water so it becomes starchier and he recommends fresh pasta with this lemon sauce. I dove with both into this recipe by whipping up fresh spaghetti.

I’ve discovered my love for all things cacio e pepe, from pizza to pasta and recently with gnocchi. During a mindless search on the internet for recipes, I came upon “Food & Wine’s” webpage for Cacio e Pepe Gnocchi. It’s a thirty-minute meal and you use shelf stable gnocchi. Though the recipe serves four, I made half the recipe for my husband and I.
 
For the recipe you’ll need olive oil, refrigerated gnocchi (I used Wegmans shelf stable gnocchi), black pepper, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, pecorino Romano Cheese and fresh flat leafed parsley for garnish. Using an oven-safe skillet, the gnocchi is sautéed in olive oil until a golden brown. The gnocchi is removed and set aside.  In a clean dry skillet, olive oil is added to the pan along with black pepper. The pepper is toasted which will intensify the flavor making it more fragrant and complex. Next, the cream is added and brought to a simmer.  Off heat the cheeses are added and stirred with the cream until melted and silky. Add the gnocchi and stirred until covered with the sauce. Transfer to a preheated oven and broil until the top of the gnocchi is browned in spots and the sauce is thickened. 

Some recipes are easier than others when scaling down for two people. Other times, I’m asking Siri for conversions or using my calculator to get the measurements just right. A sheet pan recipe by Ali Slagle of The New York Times made it easy for me with her recipe for Sheet-Pan Chicken with Artichokes and Herbs.
 
For this recipe you’ll need fennel bulbs, a can of artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, minced garlic, ground fennel, fresh rosemary, fresh sage, chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on), pitted green olives, fresh lemon juice and red pepper flakes.
 
The fennel is cut into wedges and placed on a rimmed baking sheet along with the artichokes, tomatoes and dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper. In a small bowl garlic, ground fennel, rosemary, salt and olive oil are whisked together. The chicken is seasoned with salt and pepper and rubbed with the spice mixture. The chicken goes on top of the vegetables skin-side up. ​

​Lately, my days have been so busy, that I am only able to catch up on my blogging once a week. I prefer my posts to be brief (about a 3–5-minute read), give a short overview of the recipe and its process and finally my review.  For now, it’s time to catch up on last week’s culinary adventures.
 
I first made fresh pasta last May using a recipe by Lidia Bastianich. Her recipe used flour, eggs, extra virgin olive oil and ice water. The dough was made in a food processor which made prep easy. The pasta was easy to handle and worked beautifully in my manual pasta machine. This time, I wanted to try Marcella Hazan’s recipe from her book, “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.” Ms. Hazan’s recipe is simply flour and eggs and you can use either Italian 00 “doppio zero,” which is a soft white flour or American unbleached all-purpose flour. If you’re tempted to use semolina, Ms. Hazan says it’s only suitable for industrially produced pasta as it is difficult to work with. She also dislikes machines that make extruded pasta and, in her opinion, makes an awful product with a machine that is a pain to clean.