Roasted Almonds with Smoked Paprika, Lavender and Thyme

I've been nibbling on raw almonds lately, trying to kick my craving for tortilla chips and pretzels. Almonds have been satisfying — and are certainly more healthful — but I like my nibbly snacks salty. Really salty.

Roasting and salting the almonds is a simple enough solution, but then I'm back to munching mindlessly. I needed something in there to make me slow down and take notice.

The answer is one of my favorite cure-alls: smoked paprika. It's sultry and seductive, the kind of spice that makes me completely lose my train of thought. I tossed in a little lavender and thyme, and ended up with the kind of snack I can enjoy without overdoing it.

The paprika might make this too spicy for some kids — as always, adjust the seasoning to suit your own taste.

Roasted Almonds with Smoked Paprika, Lavender and Thyme

Be sure to use culinary lavender, available in specialty markets and natural food stores like Whole Foods. You can also snip some off a plant if you're sure it hasn't been treated with pesticides.

8 ounces raw almonds
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon culinary lavender, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/8 teaspoon sugar

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well to combine. Spread almonds on a baking sheet and roast at 300 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste, and if you want to adjust the seasoning, toss the almonds in a bowl, add seasoning, and stir.

Let cool and store in an air-tight container.

Lemongrass Chicken Meatballs

I hate to admit this, but I should declare it up front: The kids didn't care much for these light, lemony meatballs. I'm not sure why, but I didn't put much effort into figuring it out – because the grownups liked them just fine. A bright lemongrass pesto with garlic, ginger, and herbs makes this a nice warm-season appetizer or main dish. If you have leftover pesto, stir it into pasta to serve on the side.

If you love lemongrass, you might want to try growing your own – it's surprisingly easy! Lemongrass is fairly common in markets here, but too often the stalks are dry and ... sad. Find a good-looking stalk at the market (bonus points if there are any bits of roots on the stem end). Plunk it in a jar of water and set it somewhere it can get a fair amount of indirect sunlight. Watch and wait: You should soon see roots growing. When they're two inches long or so, plant your lemongrass in a pot or a sunny patch outside and watch it take off. I coaxed roots out of a particularly humble-looking stalk in the fall and now have a foot-wide plant – and that's after carving out several chunks to share with friends.

Lemongrass Chicken Meatballs

Use fresh lemongrass if you can find it (try well-stocked stores or Asian markets): Cut off the bottom stem and top leaves so you have only 4 or 5 inches of stalk, then peel off and discard the tough outer layers. I use lemon balm in the pesto as well, but you can substitute whatever herbs you like – cilantro or mint would be great variations. Try serving with satay sauce and/or chopped peanuts.

Meatballs:
1 pound chicken, cut into large chunks (or store-bought ground chicken)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 onion, minced
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup Lemongrass Pesto

Lemongrass Pesto:
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
2 stalks fresh lemongrass, minced (see note)
zest and juice from 1 lemon
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup lemon balm leaves (or mint, cilantro, parsley, or basil)
1 cup parsley leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

To make pesto, combine all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor and puree. While machine is running, pour in olive oil in a thin stream and continue processing until well combined. (Alternatively, you can make the pesto with a mortar and pestle.) Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

To make meatballs, pulse chicken in the food processor (no need to clean out the pesto bits) until minced – don’t overdo it or you’ll end up with mush. (Skip this step if you're using ground chicken.) Transfer chicken to a large bowl and add remaining ingredients. Stir well until thoroughly combined.

With your hands, form chicken mixture into meatballs about the size of golf balls and set themthe on prepared baking sheet. Spoon remaining pesto over the tops of the meatballs. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through, then move baking sheet to broiler position and broil for 3 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Semolina and Farro Homemade Tagliolini

Lots of flour, raw eggs, rolling pins and pasta machines. About 24 kids ready to prepare the meal. Sounds like a party...  Or a huge mess? I would say that ... this is a delicious messy party!

This is the final week of Cooking Club at my son's school, and to celebrate a great year we are making pasta from scratch with the kindergartners and first-graders. Yes, it might sound ambitious and maybe exhausting. But the result has been awesome as we already tested it with two groups of kids. They just loved it.

The first time we made it was a few weeks ago with our boys — the photos here are all from this private rehearsal.

Darienne is so good at kneading we even went for a second batch using the fashionable farro flour. The boys were, by that time, more interested on making ice cream. But they finally surrendered to the wonders of the machine, and of course couldn't stop eating when the pasta was ready — some used red sauce and others homemade pesto.

At school, kids were excited about the whole process. Kneading the dough was a great way of keeping them busy — they compared it to playing with playdough, and using the rolling pin was even more entertaining. When they finally got to use the pasta machine, they were mostly anxious, and somehow ready to eat.

While waiting for the pasta to be ready, they listened to the very amusing story of Spaghetti Eddy by Ryan Sanangelo and Jackie Urbanovic.

When they had their bowls in front of them, they were proud to know how pasta is made — and how it takes so much energy to be ready. The reviews were mostly wordless:  There was an unusual silence while they were eating, and empty bowls of pasta were left behind as there were lots of smiles imprinted on my memory.

Farro and Semolina Pasta

Both recipes follow the basic recipe that is on packaged of Bob's Red Mill, the brand I use for the semolina flour. I bought farro, imported from Italy, in a local store. Both are awesome, although we used the semolina recipe at school, which was a great hit. 

1 cup semolina flour (Bob's Red Mill) or farro flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
2 medium free-range eggs
2 tablespoons of olive oil, plus more if necessary
2 tablespoons water, plus more if dough becomes too dry
Salt to taste

Bring a large pot filled of water and with a bit of olive oil to boil. Leave it at low flame.

In a very large bowl, combine the flours and salt in it, mixing well. Make a hole — or a well — in the center of the bowl. Add the eggs carefully and slowly beat them with a wooden spoon, gradually incorporating the flour.

Carry on mixing until all is incorporated. Start dropping in water and olive oil slowly while mixing. This will look like a coarse meal. Start kneading to form a ball of dough. If it is still too dry, add drops of water and oil up until a ball is formed and the dough is elastic and slightly stiff. Work on the dough for about 10 minutes. Push, stretch, pull and what else you feel like — it's a good kneading therapy. Or ask for the help of the kids, as this takes a lot of energy!

When the ball of dough feels elastic and able to stretch, sprinkle semolina flour on the work surface. Then, divide the ball into four parts. Stretch each one with a rolling pin until very thin. Then cut in rectangular shapes, making sure that the edge that will enter the pasta machine is very even. Insert that end into the machine. And now, off to turn up the heat on the stove to get rolling boiling water.

Start cranking the machine and the pasta will turn into nice strands of fettuccine or tagliolini. I have a Norpro machine, and it works just fine — although it does not make spaghetti, it does nice tagliolini. When all is ready, cook pasta in the boiling water for about 5 minutes to have a nice al dente texture. Remove and put on a colander. Serve it while still hot with your favorite sauce.