Mark Bittman’s Vegan Mediterranean Gratin with Almond Breadcrumbs

I can’t think about anybody not liking baked pasta (if that’s you, electronic mail me, as a result of I’d love to listen to about it!). For me, it began out as actual stoner food.

Properly, not fairly. It began after I was a boy, and we went to “fancy” Italian eating places – with checked tablecloths and Chianti bottles with candles in them, sure – and you possibly can order “actual” Italian meals, which meant something that wasn’t pizza: lasagna, baked ziti, or like that. Noodles with pink sauce, meat, and mozz, baked within the oven. Sure.

However later – let’s say within the magical 12 months of 1967 — my buddy Chuck and I might stumble into the kitchen and he’d concoct his masterpiece, which was made up of a pound of pasta, a pound of mozz, and a quart of sauce. The sauce was made by his mom, Constance, an exquisite lady who was both oblivious or extraordinarily tolerant.

The tactic – and I’ll point out that Chuck was the cook dinner, not me; I knew nothing – was to cook dinner the pasta, shred the cheese, drain the pasta, toss it with the mozz and barely warmed-up sauce. (Generally we’d toss with chilly sauce; the mozz didn’t soften as effectively however we might inhale the pasta quicker.) That, mates, is 4 kilos of meals. (The pasta absorbs about its weight in water, and a quart weighs a few pound.) We’d all the time end the entire thing. In like twelve minutes. Whereas listening to “Sunshine of Your Love,” or no matter.

Sure, you can also make baked pasta with out dairy

Nowadays, I attempt to eat much less dairy, which you would possibly suppose guidelines out baked pasta in any type: It’s not true. A few years in the past, I revealed Dinner for Everyone. The guide options quite a few totally different “umbrella” meals (candy breakfast, stir-fry, scampi, one-pot pasta, and so forth.) with three variations of every: Straightforward, vegan, and “excellent for firm,” i.e., somewhat extra particular. (Enjoyable reality: The guide was going to be referred to as Three Methods. Mm-hm.)

It was a difficult activity, however a variety of enjoyable, and it produced a few of my favourite recipes. Surprisingly, within the baked pasta part, simply one of many three dishes options cheese, and maybe my favourite of the three is the vegan model: Mediterranean Gratin with Almond Breadcrumbs.

The mix of elements is a extremely good one: Bitter greens and caramelized onions, with hearty whole-wheat pasta. It’s necessary to not overcook the pasta – it ought to be pliable however not but edible while you drain it. And, you are able to do all of that prematurely. Then you definitely toast some almonds, pulse them with bread, parsley, and oil — pretty much as good a mix as exists on this planet – and that’s your topping. No cheese vital.

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Mediterranean Gratin with Almond Breadcrumbs

Makes 4 to six servings

Components

• 7 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra as wanted
• 1/2 cup uncooked almonds
• 2 pink onions, halved and sliced
• 2 thick slices of stale crusty bread, torn into items
• 1/4 cup contemporary parsley
• Pepper
• 12 ounces broccoli rabe, trimmed and reduce into bite-sized items
• 1/2 cup pitted black olives, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup dry white wine or water
• 1½ cups cooked cannellini beans or one 15-ounce can drained
• 12 ounces whole-wheat penne or different related pasta

Directions

1. Convey a big pot of water to a boil and salt it. Warmth the oven to 425°F and grease a 9-inch sq. baking dish or ovenproof 10-inch skillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Put the almonds in a big skillet over medium warmth and cook dinner, shaking the pan often, till they’re golden and aromatic, 3 to five minutes. Switch to a meals processor and wipe out the pan.
2. In the identical skillet, cook dinner the onions over medium warmth, masking the pan and stirring from time to time, till they’re dry and starting to stay to the pan, 10 to fifteen minutes. Whereas the onions cook dinner, add the bread to the meals processor together with the parsley and a pair of tablespoons oil and pulse till finely floor.
3. Uncover the onions and stir in 2 tablespoons of oil and a big pinch of salt. Decrease the warmth so the combination sizzles gently. Cook dinner, stirring often, till the onions are golden and delicate, including small quantities of oil if essential to maintain them from sticking with out getting greasy, 15 to twenty minutes. Sprinkle with pepper; style and modify the seasoning. Switch to a big bowl and return the pan to medium-high warmth.
4. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the broccoli rabe, olives, and garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook dinner, stirring typically till the broccoli is crisp-tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook dinner, stirring typically, till it darkens, 2 to three minutes. Add the wine and beans and cook dinner, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the pan, till the wine is lowered by half. Add the greens to the onions, combine, style, and modify the seasoning.
5. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook dinner, stirring often, for five minutes, then begin tasting. When the noodles change into pliable however not but edible, drain and reserve 1/4 cup cooking water. Add the penne and cooking water to the bowl with the remainder of the elements and stir to mix.
6. Switch the pasta to the ready pan and high with the breadcrumb combination. Bake till the pasta is tender however nonetheless has some chunk and the bread- crumbs are browned, 10 to fifteen minutes. Let sit for a few minutes earlier than slicing into squares or wedges and serve heat or at room temperature.