Category: Main Course Recipes

Green Curry Porridge

A green curry porridge to keep you cozy as the weather changes season. This is a great way to use up winter squash and any herbs you have on hand. Rice and coconut milk form the base, and you get a kiss of spicy from serrano chile.

Continue reading Green Curry Porridge on 101 Cookbooks

This is a boisterous green curry porridge made with pan-toasted brown rice, spicy herb-packed green coconut broth, all punctuated with winter squash and lots of green onions. It’s the kind of bowl that keeps you warm, full, and happy from the inside out.

a bowl of rice-based green curry porridge made with delicata squash and herbs

Green Curry Porridge: Variations

A good number of you have made this over the years. Here are a few stand-out riffs on the recipe from the comments. Over here, sometimes we like to serve it with a poached egg on top. Other times we work in some chickpeas and a bit of pan-fried tofu to top things off.

  • Mix it up! Drops of Jupiter swapped out the rice…”My boyfriend made this last night substituting rice with a high fibre grain mix (wheat, buckwheat, rice, chinese barley, wild rice) and it was stupendous! we didn’t even saute the rice. We used organic veg broth and in place of sorrel, baby spinach and arugula that was lying in the fridge. Eating this for lunch now too as it makes for great leftovers.”
  • Other squash: Claire notes, “ I used acorn squash, stirred in some tofu, and garnished with chopped peanuts”

a hand drizzling olive oil over a bowl of green curry porridge
The key with this recipe is to get the seasoning right. If you under salt, it’ll be bland. So, pay close attention. You also want it to have nice acidity from a generous squeeze of lime, a kick of spiciness from the chile pepper, and a jolt of green from the sorrel or spinach, cilantro, and green onions. The creamy coconut milk brings it all together. You can dial any of the variables to your liking and, of course, experiment with other toppings.

More delicata squash recipes

More Rice Recipes

Continue reading Green Curry Porridge on 101 Cookbooks

Sheet Pan Frittata

You don’t need much to make a good sheet pan frittata. This one starts with a dusting of lemon zest across a sheet pan, and uses a simple egg, cream, salt and pepper base.

Continue reading Sheet Pan Frittata on 101 Cookbooks

When you grate a lot of lemon zest onto a pan before baking a sheet pan frittata, it makes it extra special. I like to add a good amount to the eggs as well. The zest perfumes everything as the frittata cooks and wraps the whole thing in a lemony haze. Not that you need much to make a sheet pan frittata good. I mean, they’re a legitimate kitchen hero. One of those mealtime workhorses able to step up into a range of roles.

sheetpan frittata in a parchment lined baking sheet

For example. let’s say you bake one on a Sunday. You can enjoy a slice in your breakfast burrito on Monday. Pack a slab in your lunchbox on Tuesday, and then make an epic sheet pan frittata sandwich with it on Wednesday. If you’ve never baked a sheet pan frittata, let’s talk it though. There are a few things to get right.

How To Make a Sheet Pan Frittata

If you have a rimmed baking sheet, preferably the quarter pan size (13 x 9 x 1 inches), some parchment paper and a carton of eggs, you’re in business. To make a sheet pan frittata, line the pan with parchment paper, whisk a bunch of eggs together with a bit of cream, and add in whatever seasonal ingredients you like. If you love cheese and eggs, add some crumbled feta or goat cheese as well. Or grate some gruyere on top once the egg mixture is in the pan.
eggs, cream, and other ingredients in a white bowl
Just combine any well-chopped ingredients (above). Whisk until uniform (below).
eggs, cream, and other ingredients whisked together in a white bowl
Then transfer to your prepared sheet pan. Like the one pictured below.
sheetpan frittata mixture in a rimmed and parchment lined baking sheet ready to go in oven
Sheet pan frittatas are all about knowing the basic technique and then adding whatever other ingredients you’re excited about. Bake until set and enjoy. But let’s talk through how to make them great.
sheetpan frittata in a parchment lined baking sheet

A Few Important Tips

  • Line the pan: Lining your rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper allows easy removal of your sheet pan frittata once it is cooked. It’s important to get the parchment paper to seal with the pan though, so the egg doesn’t run under. The way you do this is to evenly (and thoroughly) rub the baking sheet with a bit of oil, and then press the paper into the pan. Use your hands to smooth out any bubbles across the pan and up the sides.
  • Pre-cook add-in ingredients: Similar to quiche, water is the enemy here. You want to avoid adding watery ingredients to your frittata. Go for pre-cooked or pre-roasted ingredients instead. So, for example, instead of adding sliced cherry tomatoes to your frittata, add roasted tomatoes. The flavor is more concentrated, and most of the water has been cooked out ahead of time.
  • Make ahead: If you are making a sheet pan frittata as part of your meal prep, allow the frittata to cool after baking. Slice and stack in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to 4-5 days. To reheat, warm gently in a skillet. Or, serve at room temperature as a component in a sandwich or salad bowl.

ingredients for sheetpan frittata on plate including chopped green onions, kale, and chives

The Best Add-Ins

Above you can see the add-ins and toppings I used for this frittata, but there are endless options to consider. Here are a few favorites.

  • Herbs: Load up on the chopped herbs. It’s hard to go wrong. Chives, cilantro, dill, parsley, basil – really go for it.
  • Lemon zest: This one is incorporated into the recipe below. You can also experiment with orange zest and even different types of lime.
  • Potatoes: Hard to go wrong with potatoes here. You can roast sliced potatoes in a bit of olive oil, let them cool, and add to the frittata before baking. Room temperature hash browns torn and scattered across the frittata mixture is also good move.

a square piece of sheetpan frittata on a plate with a fork

A Few Seasonal Variations

A frittata like this is the perfect vehicle for whatever is in season, or whatever you have around the kitchen.

  • Late summer: roasted cherry tomatoes, roasted corn, caramelized onions, serrano chile
  • Fall: black olives, roasted winter squash, crumbled feta, dill
  • Spring: crumbled Boursin cheese, sautéed artichoke hearts, lemon zest, roasted asparagus, roasted new potato slices

Let me know your favorite combinations in the comments, I’m always looking for inspiration!

More Egg Recipes

 

Continue reading Sheet Pan Frittata on 101 Cookbooks

Heather’s Quinoa

A one-skillet quinoa recipe – quinoa, corn, chopped kale and pan-toasted tofu tossed with a big dollop of pesto and finished off with a few roasted cherry tomatoes.

Continue reading Heather’s Quinoa on 101 Cookbooks

This quinoa recipe is an odd bird of sorts, but it was so well received that I thought I’d share it with you. Heather, my sister was on her way over for lunch. Wanting to avoid a trip to the store, I committed myself to throwing lunch together using whatever I had on hand. 
Big plate of quinoa with tomatoes, pesto, and pepitas
Now, I rarely combine tofu with Italian-style sauces, but this (and a few other questionable culinary moves) came into play as I reached for ingredients from both fridge and freezer. Working toward a nutritious, somewhat balanced, in-the-realm-of-healthy main course here’s where I ended up. In a sentence – a skillet of quinoa, corn, chopped lacinato kale and pan-toasted tofu tossed with a big dollop of pesto and finished off with a few roasted cherry tomatoes.
Roasted cherry tomatoes on a baking sheet
I’ve cooked this many times in the years since, and it’s a great late-summer recipe that comes together quickly, especially if you keep a few of the components on hand. For example, I like to keep big jars of roasted tomatoes at the ready. Toasted pepitas are often in a bowl on the counter. And at some point during any given week there is leftover quinoa.
pepitas toasted on a baking sheet

Heather’s Quinoa: Variations

There are infinite ways to switch this up. If I have paneer cheese on hand, I like to swap that in for the tofu. You brown the paneer in a skillet, the same way you would tofu, and it gets nice and sizzly. So good.

And while you can certainly swap in a wide range of grains here – rice, millet, etc. – I love it with quinoa. You see it pictured here with tri-color quinoa, but I often make it with the white variety. Th recipe calls for three cups of cooked quinoa, if you’re not sure how to make it, here’s a page with my preferred method of how to cook quinoa.

Pepitas are my go to for crunch. Seconds choice is toasted cashews (chopped  just a bit).

Big plate of quinoa with tomatoes, pesto, and pepitas
If you want to make this even more substantial, you can add in a couple hard boiled eggs, sliced into quarters, around the perimeter. 
Big plate of quinoa with tomatoes, pesto, and pepitas

I hope you enjoy this one as much as we did. The first time I made this was in 2008, and we still make it regularly. Especially when it is peak pesto season and cherry tomatoes are abundant. 

More Quinoa Recipes

Continue reading Heather’s Quinoa on 101 Cookbooks

Hand-Rolled Pici Pasta

Pici is one of the most charming pasta shapes. It is a quirky favorite requiring a short list of simple ingredients hand-rolled into long, slightly irregular strands. Pici love forever.

Continue reading Hand-Rolled Pici Pasta on 101 Cookbooks

Pici is a Tuscan form of spaghetti-style pasta typically made from flour and water. Arguably one of the most charming shapes in the pasta kingdom, it is shaped by hand and is quirky, irregular and purposefully imperfect. Three of my favorite qualities in both people and cooking. If you’re intimidated by the thought of making fresh pasta, it’s a great shape to start with.

Strands of pici pasta on an baking sheet
How it works. To make pici you combine flour(s), warm water and salt, mix it in tough a dough, and knead it into a smooth ball of pasta dough over the course of a few minutes. Let the dough rest for 45 minutes or so, lob off a hunk of it and then section that into little strips of dough to be rolled into long strands using your hands. There are process photos below to demonstrate the shaping process. But, if you can make a skinny snake shape with Play-Doh, you can make pici.
Pici on a white plate with garlic, tomatoes, breadcrumbs and chives

Pici: Let’s talk Flour Types

You can find pici made with semolina flour, 00 flour, all-purpose flour or a blend of all of these. Over the years I’ve made it with all of the above, experimenting with different ratios, typically coming back to the recipe I’ll share today. It combines equal *weights* of semolina flour and either “00” (or all-purpose flour). This dough is a pleasure to work with. Rolling it out is a breeze. You end up with delightful strands of hearty, tender, slurp-able, sunny-shaded yellow pasta noodles. 
A single strand of pici on a marble countertop
Pici made with 00 flour results in a much softer, looser, tender pasta dough (pictured below). The noodles picture below were made using 350g “00” and 175g warm, salted water. They are pale in color, lacking the yellow of the semolina flour. They can be a bit fussier to roll out. If you go this route, keep extra flour at the ready to counter any stickiness. Alternately, use spritzes from a spray bottle of water if you need to add moisture to your dough a bit at a time.
Pici pasta tangled on a marble countertop
Generally speaking, my advice? Once you get a feel for the dough play around with the ratio of flours. More semolina is going to give you more heartiness and structure. More 00 or unbleached all-purpose flour will deliver a softer, more refined dough. I like a good amount of semolina in my pici dough, especially if the weather is cooler and I’m pairing it with a hearty sauce. The ratio I use most often, and the one reflected in the recipe below is equal *weights* of the following: semolina flour, 00 or all-purpose flour, and salted water. And I just want to emphasize that we’re talking equal weight, not volume.
A hand holding strands of pici pasta

Pici is traditionally made without egg, but many people make it with egg dough too. For reference, 93 year old Giuseppina Spiganti’s pici is featured in Pasta Grannies. She uses 00 flour and one egg in her pici dough. Missy Robbins references an egg dough for the pici in Pasta, also made with 00 flour. Paul Bertolli makes pici eggless in Cooking By Hand. And Jodi Williams and Rita Sodi use a blend of 00 and semolina flour with no egg in Via Carota. The pici I encountered in Siena was most often made from flour and water only. I most often go the no-egg route for pici. But, there are definitely times when I have some straight-forward pasta dough on hand, made with egg, and decide to shape some pici. Guess what? It’s all wonderful.

How To Make Pici: Step by Step in Photos

The great thing about pici is you don’t need any special equipment to make it. It’s a fantastic family activity – everyone loves to hand-roll this pasta. Precision isn’t what it’s about – the charm of pici is that they are perfectly imperfect. The one thing I would be mindful of is this. Err on the side of thinner versus thick pici. They will swell a bit when cooking, and when they are too thick the texture is off and timing can be tricky when cooking. Also, broadly attempt to make them the same-ish thickness. Don’t obsess over it, but you want them to cook in the same amount of time.
pasta dough on a marble countertop
Above: pici dough rolled out about 1/4-inch thick and cut into strips.
Hands rolling a strand of pici pasta
Use hands to roll pici. Start in the center and work outward.
Hands rolling a strand of pici pasta
If your dough is being cranky, i.e. not wanting to stretch, set that noodle aside for a few minutes to rest while you move on to another. Come back to it.
Hands holding pici
How long? I tend to make my pici on the longer side. My intention is to be able to arrange them across my largest baking sheets (dust well with flour to prevent sticking), but more often than not they hang over.
Many strands of pici pasta on an baking sheet
If you’re not going to cook the pici right away, coax any overhanging noodles back onto the pan, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to one day. You can dust pici well with flour, and arrange into nests, but arranging pici like this is a safer bet if you’re concerned about your pasta nest clumping together when you go to cook. 
Hands holding up a piece of piece pasta before cooking

Pici: Sauce Pairings

I love pici with this mushroom ragu. Especially in the winter and fall. You see it served traditionally with meaty ragu-style sauces and mushrooms. I don’t do the meat side of things, but lean in hard on the mushrooms. In summer, I’ll lighten things up a bit with whatever looks great and in-season at the farmers’ market. Here are a few recent pici sauce pairings we’ve enjoyed. I’ll add more over time. Some, not at all traditional, but super tasty nonetheless!
Pici on a white plate with garlic, tomatoes, breadcrumbs and chives

  • Pici with Oven-Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Breadcrumbs (pictured above): Toss halved cherry tomatoes in some olive oil and roast in a 375F oven until blistered. Rip some good sourdough into tiny shreds, toss with some garlic and olive oil, and bake until crisp as well (while you’re doing the tomatoes) – crush these with something heavy, and make them your breadcrumbs. Gently saute 4-5 cloves of chopped garlic in 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium low heat in your largest skillet. Just to soften, not to brown. Remove from heat and stir in some crushed red pepper flakes, good black pepper, and zest of one lemon. Cook the pici until tender and add to skillet along with a ladle full of pasta water and some freshly grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese. Stir until well coated and then turn out onto a platter. Top with roasted tomatoes, breadcrumbs, and whatever herbs you have – in this case I snipped some chives from the garden.
  • Pici with Chopped Mushrooms and So Much Garlic: Sauté sliced mushrooms in a skillet over high heat in some olive oil + butter and salt. Once deeply browned stir in 5 cloves of chopped garlic and remove from heat after 20 seconds or so. Remove just the peel from a (Meyer) lemon and slice into thin slivers, add this to the hot pan with tons of freshly ground black pepper, and a handful of freshly grated Pecorino cheese. Add pici to skillet along with a ladle of pasta water, stir well until pici is coated and serve topped with chives.

Pici tangled on a flour-dusted counter

More Pasta Recipes

Favorite Pasta Sauces

Other Favorite Italian Recipes

 

Continue reading Hand-Rolled Pici Pasta on 101 Cookbooks

Turmeric Chickpeas with Garlic Tahini

A quick lunch. And a compelling reason to always keep turmeric chickpeas on hand!

Continue reading Turmeric Chickpeas with Garlic Tahini on 101 Cookbooks

This was a quick, clean out the refrigerator lunch, and a compelling reason to always keep some of these turmeric chickpeas on hand. Turmeric Chickpeas with Garlic Tahini – simple, filling, and all-around good.

Turmeric Chickpeas with Garlic Tahini in a Bowl

With the tahini under-dressing and the broccoli situation, we’re not that far from this Curried Sheet Pan Broccoli. But here there’s no oven involved, and there’s the special chickpeas, and then whatever other green things you might have at the ready in your refrigerator. The whole thing is pretty loose, I mean you can toss pretty much anything on top of the tahini sauce, and it’s a yes.

More Chickpea Recipes

Continue reading Turmeric Chickpeas with Garlic Tahini on 101 Cookbooks

Otsu

You have to try this one! Soba noodles are tossed with a fiery ginger-sesame dressing and a generous amount of cucumbers, scallions, and pan-seared tofu. For over twenty years this has been a desert island recipe in our house.

Continue reading Otsu on 101 Cookbooks

The last time I worked on this page was the day it was published here – July 19, 2004! We still make Otsu regularly, especially as the weather warms, and I thought this favorite deserved some fresh photos and a little update. I originally sold this recipe hard and asked you to “listen up close, because I am going to tell you about the best recipe I’ve come across all year.” Lol. Bold! Twenty years on though, I stand by this sentiment. It’s a great recipe, and here’s the story behind it.

otsu noodle bowl with soba, cucumbers and tofu

July, 2004 – A couple weeks back Wayne came home, pulled a page ripped from a magazine out of his pocket, unfolded it, and placed it on my desk. It was a recipe for a dish named Otsu, and was from a neat little restaurant nearby called Pomelo. Pomelo is tiny — and when I say tiny, I mean it is smaller than my kitchen here at home, the kind of place where you feel as if you can almost reach out and touch all four walls. The food there is delicious, and unless you are sitting at one of two tables, you will get to see your food prepared to order on a four burner stove as you sit at a stylish little counter overlooking the kitchen. We go to the Pomelo on Judah, there is another one on Church Street, and I think that one may be bigger.
ingredients on counter including soba, cucumber, dressing, cilantro, green onions

Otsu in Japanese can mean something is strange; quaint; stylish; chic; spicy; witty; tasty; romantic. In line with its namesake, this buckwheat noodle salad has a few distinctive sides to it. It is amazingly flavorful. It is substantial. And it has a feisty kick to it while being cool and refreshing at the same time. The noodles are tossed with a cayenne-spiked ginger-sesame dressing plus lots of cucumbers, scallions, and pan-seared tofu.

close-up photo of soba noodles

Otsu is great in so many scenarios! Lunch, dinner, potluck, picnic, warm or cold — this salad is going to be a hit. After you eat a serving of Otsu, you feel full but not sluggish, and you are ready to get on with your day.

plate of otsu on table with soba, cucumbers and tofu
The recipe was published in a publication called Culture & Cuisine. I wanted to share the recipe with you all so I emailed Rolf Bachmann at Pomelo and he was generous enough to give me permission. Enjoy!
otsu noodle bowl with soba, cucumbers and tofu

More Noodle Recipes

Continue reading Otsu on 101 Cookbooks

Shredded Un-Chicken Salad

A vegetarian take on the Chinese chicken salad of my youth. Toss shredded lettuces and cabbage, lots of cilantro, green onions, and the protein of your choice with a strong sesame-soy dressing punctuated with the bite of hot mustard. Forever one of my favorite salads.

Continue reading Shredded Un-Chicken Salad on 101 Cookbooks

This has been an evolving recipe over the past twenty years and I think it *finally* nails all the notes I love in a great Chinese chicken salad. Specifically, it’s a vegetarian take on what I think of as the amazing Chinese chicken salads of my youth, circa the 1980s. This version includes all my favorite components – the awesome super-strong hot mustard & sesame-soy dressing, the pile-it-on approach to cilantro, the scallions and toasted nuts. Then, with this version, you introduce some sort of alternate protein (or plant-based chicken). The whole situation is compiled into a feathery, light mountain of deliciousness.
vegetarian version of chinese chicken salad recipe - salad served in a large, wide bowl

Protein: You Have Options

In place of shredded chicken, in the traditional version, you have options. I’ll be honest and say, I’m not a huge fan of the highly-processed plant-based meats available, but there is one brand of plant-based chicken Wayne buys on occasion. This one – green bag, original (*not sponsored). I occasionally reach for it, especially in a recipe like this one, when I’m really chasing the nostalgia. Anyway, it’s the best I’ve tasted. Alternately, if you’re willing to let go of the chicken angle – a hard-boiled egg, or a bit of pan-fried tofu is all you need to make a one bowl meal of things.
ingredients for shredded un-chicken salad arranged on a countertop

On The Go: Shredded Un-chicken Salad in a Jar

This makes a great on-the-go salad. Here’s the plan. Place the lettuce / cabbage mixture in a large jar, with the plant-based chicken, egg or tofu tucked into that jar as well. The dressing should go in a separate jar, and a little side container is the way to keep the nuts crunchy. Deploy a little ice pack. Then when you’re ready, a quick toss, and you’ve got a beautiful, vibrant salad. It’s a good one for work, or picnic, or potluck.

ingredients for shredded un-chicken salad arranged on a countertop


One More (optional) Component

There was always a crunchy component to the chicken salads I love most as a kid. It was either tons of strips of fried wonton wrappers or fried thin rice noodles (vermicelli). I don’t love deep frying, so I normally skip this component when I make this salad at home, but you can certainly add it if you like.
vegetarian version of chinese chicken salad recipe - salad served in a large, wide bowl
The photo above is the version I made yesterday using plant-based chicken, apples, and cashews along with shredded cabbage, arugula, and little gem lettuces. And the version below is from a few years back. You can see there’s a bit of radicchio, sprouts, peanuts, and some watermelon radishes. This is a long way of saying, you can play around with different components of this salad based on what you have on hand. The dressing really brings is all together!
vegetarian version of chinese chicken salad recipe - salad served in a large, wide bowl

More Salad Recipes

Few people love a shredded salad or slaw more than me. So, if you’re ready to show off your knife skills here are a few favorites.

vegetarian version of chinese chicken salad recipe
Enjoy and let me know in the comments if you land on any adaptation that you like in particular!

Continue reading Shredded Un-Chicken Salad on 101 Cookbooks

Ten+ Most Popular Noodle Recipes

I’ve posted a lot of noodle recipes in the past decade. This is an ongoing list of the most popular.

Continue reading Ten+ Most Popular Noodle Recipes on 101 Cookbooks

1. Walnut Miso Noodles – This is so good! Whole grain noodles and asparagus are tossed with a creamy, walnut-miso dressing plus a dollop of chile paste. A hearty noodle bowl recipe. Get the recipe here.

Walnut Miso Noodles served in a bowl

2. Sriracha Rainbow Noodle Salad – This is a salad you’ll crave every day. A radiant, color-flecked tangle of noodles, cabbage, shredded carrots, pickled sushi ginger, and an abundance of cilantro, basil, and scallions. It has tofu and peanuts, coconut, ginger, avocado, and hemp seeds. The dressing(!) – it’s simple but strong, and steps in with an assertive spicy sriracha-lime punch. Get the recipe here.

Sriracha Rainbow Noodle Salad on a plate - one of Ten Most Popular Noodle Recipes

3. My Favorite Vegan Ramen – My attempt at tackling a great veg ramen. Introduce your favorite noodles to a rich, miso-scallion nut-milk broth. Add a blitz of seasonal toppings, and spicy turmeric oil to finish. Also included – lots of suggestions for seasonal adaptations. Get the recipe here.

Ten Most Popular Noodle Recipes

4. Spicy Tahini Noodles with Roasted Vegetables – This is my favorite kind of weeknight meal. Noodles tossed with a quick sauce, topped with an abundance of vegetables, and kissed with chile feistiness courtesy of the condiment shelf. Get the recipe here.

Spicy Tahini Noodles

5. Sunshine Pad Thai – My favorite pad Thai to make at home. This version combines a Thai heart with a California spirit. Hot water is traditionally used to soften the rice noodles. I boost that water with lots of turmeric and the noodles drink it up until they glow a hot yellow. Get the recipe here.

Ten Most Popular Noodle Recipes - including this Pad Thai

6. Slurp-tastic Herb Noodles – A big, slurpy bowl of whisper-thin spinach noodles draped in a spicy curry and herb broth – inspired by a beautiful box of noodles I picked up in Mill Valley, Ca. Get the recipe here.

Ten Most Popular Noodle Recipes

7. Spicy Coconut Curry Noodles – Just add water and a splash of coconut milk to make this fragrant curry noodle pot. A dynamic and feisty broth is bolstered with cayenne, ginger, cinnamon, and turmeric enveloping egg noodles and whatever seasonal vegetables you have on hand. This meal in a jar is perfect for camping or easy weeknight meals. Get the recipe here.

Ten Most Popular Noodle Recipes

8. Black Sesame Otsu – This is a forever favorite – a Black Sesame Otsu recipe from Super Natural Every Day. Soba noodles and tofu slathered in a thinned-out, salty-sweet black sesame paste, then topped with lots of sliced green onions. Get the recipe here.

Black Sesame Otsu - Ten Most Popular Noodle Recipes

9. New Year Noodle Soup – Ash-e-Reshteh – An amazing Persian New Year Noodle Soup from Greg & Lucy Malouf’s beautiful book, Saraban. It’s a bean and noodle soup at its core featuring thin egg noodles swimming in a fragrant broth spiced with turmeric, cumin, chiles, and black pepper. You use a medley of lentils, chickpeas, and borlotti beans which makes the soup heart and filling without being heavy. You add spinach, dill, and cilantro. You add lime juice for a bit of sour at the end. And then you’ve got a number of toppings to add when you serve the soup – chopped walnuts, caramelized onions, and sour cream. It’s amazing. Get the recipe here.

Ten Most Popular Noodle Recipes

10. Last Minute Everything Bagel Noodle Bowl – A perfect one-pot meal. Noodles, tofu, and broccoli boiled in one pot, drained, tossed with splashes of olive oil and ponzu, plus a generous showering of everything bagel seasoning to finish it all off. Get the recipe here.

Everything bagel noodle bowl

11. Fire Broth Noodle Soup – Loaded with good things like beans, greens, and pasta , this is amazing. The broth is spicy and invigorating with lots of pepper, garlic, ginger, and chiles. Get the recipe here.

fire broth noodle soup

12. Rice Noodle Stir-fry – A favorite noodle-based stir fry with silky rice noodles, bright and crunchy broccoli, toasted cashews, quick-marinated crumbled tofu, and pan-seared onions tossed in a feisty chile-boosted soy sauce. Get the recipe here.

fire broth noodle soup

13. Ottolenghi Soba Noodles with Aubergine and Mango – Spicy brown sugar and lime-sauced soba noodles with tofu, eggplant, mango and lots of herbs. Inspired by a rare mango find, and a recipe in Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook, Plenty. Get the recipe here.

Ottolenghi soba noodle recipe

14. Winter Green Miso Noodles – A sloppy, delicious noodle bowl made with an herbaceous, green miso paste. It has some garlic bite, rounded out with lots of scallions, cilantro, ginger, and rosemary. This page shows you how to make the miso paste and then ten ways to use it, including this noodle bowl. Get the recipe here.

winter green miso noodles - ten popular noodle recipes
If this looks good to you, have a look at these 20+ fantastic noodle soups!

Continue reading Ten+ Most Popular Noodle Recipes on 101 Cookbooks

Big List of Pizza Topping Ideas

Need pizza topping inspiration? The best pizza topping ideas focus on using fresh, flavor-packed ingredients. Combine a few to create your own signature combinations!

Continue reading Big List of Pizza Topping Ideas on 101 Cookbooks

When you combine a good homemade pizza dough with a handful fresh and flavorful pizza toppings, pizza night is on! The key is using flavor-packed, fast cooking ingredients that have a tendency to melt (or cook) quickly for your toppings. Second thing? Don’t go overboard, thoughtfully curate each pizza so the flavors of each ingredient have room to speak.
Tray filled with pizza topping ideas like mozzarella, pine nuts, corn and parmesan cheese
In this post you’ll find a range of favorite pizza topping ideas. They’re organized into sauces, cheese, vegetable toppings, finishing flavors, and a long list of favorite pizza topping combinations from years of pizza making. Enjoy! And I highly recommend keeping a pizza journal to keep track of all your favorite topping combinations!

Pizza with red sauce and arugula as pizza toppings

The Cheeses

Along with your sauce, cheese is often a defining pizza topping. Correspondingly, it’s important to get right. I avoid pre-shredded cheeses. They can have anti-caking agents and mold-inhibitors. Generally speaking, you want your cheese to be…cheese. My favorites? I love to tear up balls of fresh mozzarella into shreds, use dollops of ricotta, and grate fresh Parmesan or pecorino for the best results. On occasion, spoonfuls of Greek yogurt scooped around the tops of a pizza sets up beautifully as well (pictured above). Crumbled feta adds a nice salty accent, and gruyere cheese grated by hand delivers that oozy, melty cheese vibe with lots of flavor.

The Foundation: Good Pizza Sauce

Aside from a good, reliable pizza dough, your sauce choice is another foundation you want to get right before moving on to the wide world of pizza toppings.

Tomato Sauce: This is a favorite simple tomato sauce, and it’s great on many red sauce pizzas. My one pro-tip is to make it ahead of time, it’s fine for up to a week refrigerated. When you go to assemble your pizza, be sure the sauce is room temperature or cooler. Make sure it’s not hot. If the sauce is still warm when you’re topping your pizza, the dough is more likely to stick.

Pesto: Pesto pizzas are a favorite, and this pesto is my go-to. Made with hand-chopped basil, garlic, Parmesan, olive oil and pine nuts, it’s the real deal. It’s a pesto recipe taught to me by my friend Francesca’s mother who came to visit from Genoa, Italy. It’s what you want as the foundation for your pesto pizza.

Mushroom Ragù: Use this mushroom ragù to double down on your favorite mushroom pizza combination. A pizza made with this sauce topped with pre-roasted sliced mushrooms, dollops of ricotta cheese, a sprinkling of rosemary, and finishing drizzle of chile oil is A-plus.
grilled pizza topped with mozzarella, corn, jalapeno, and pine nuts

Vegetable Pizza Toppings

There are so many ways to get creative about vegetable pizzas. Sometimes I’ll pre-cook vegetables, for example artichokes, other times they’ll go on a pizza raw. Some ideas.

Fresh corn, thin asparagus, roasted cherry tomatoes, peas, baked mushrooms, caramelized onions, olives, fava beans, citrus zests, grilled or pan-blistered artichokes, sautéed thinly sliced potatoes, broccoli florets, cauliflower florets.

Pictured above: A grilled pizza with mozzarella, fresh corn, quick pickled serrano chiles, and pine nuts. Finished with chive flowers.

Finishing Flavor

This is where you can take your pizza topping ideas from really good to great. The final accent drizzles and sprinkles are the punctuation marks on your pizza. Finishing touches I love and use all the time: lemon olive oil, tangerine olive oil, makrut lime oil, chives and chive flowers, and hot honey. Other favorites include:

  • Za’atar: Singling this out. Love the greenness and fragrance this brings to white pizza.
  • Fresh basil: Forever classic.
  • Herbs: a sprinkle of fresh herbs like oregano, thyme, fresh basil, minced chives, lemon verbena
  • Flavored olive oil: There are so many amazing oils available now, experiment!
  • Kale chips: So easy to make, and a favorite finishing pizza topping. Toss a bunch of de-stemmed curly kale leaves in a bowl with a few glugs of olive oil, a very generous sprinkling of nutritional yeast, and a pinch of salt. Bake on baking sheets at 375F until crispy, tossing once along the way.
  • Pickled Serrano chiles: Keep these on hand at all times! Slice 8 (or more!) Serrano chiles 1/8th-inch thick and place in 2 cups of white vinegar in a Mason jar. Use the chiles w/in a week or two. You can use the vinegar for weeks after that on pizza, in dressings, on lettuce wraps, and rice bowls.
  • Citrus zests: (lemon, orange, tangerine, lime, etc.)

A close-up photo of pesto

Favorite Classic Pizza Combinations

Margherita: simple tomato sauce, good mozzarella, fresh basil after baking pizza, and a finishing drizzle of olive oil.

White pizza: see the corn pizza up above. I also love a white pizza with garlic oil and mushrooms and lots of fresh herbs to finish.

An example of a favorite pizza topping idea - artichoke hearts, ricotta, lemon zest, and marinara sauce on an unbaked pizza
Artichoke pizza: Olive oil or pesto, sautéed artichoke hearts, mozzarella or ricotta cheese, and lemon zest. Pictured directly above, prior to baking.

Pesto pizza: Few things are better than a pesto pizza made with ricotta, fava beans, lemon zest and a tangle of arugula to top the pizza once it is out of the oven.
Pizza with potatoes, fava beans, ricotta, herbs and lemon

Favorite Wildcard Pizza Topping Combinations

I keep a journal of pizza topping ideas that are a hit around here. These are a bunch of recent favorites.

  • Chile Crisp Potato Pizza: I love a potato pizza. This one (above) was a chile crisp oil like the one by Fly By Jing or KariKari, thinly sliced blanched potatoes, ricotta, fava beans, and lemon zest. Finish, after baking, with a lemon olive oil drizzle and lots of chopped chives.
  • Chana Masala & Chickpea Pizza: We make this one a lot. Start with a foundation of tomato sauce made with lots of caramelized onions added along with a generous amount of chana masala spice blend (or sometimes garam masala). Top that with chickpeas and dollops of low-fat yogurt (it works better than full-fat here for some reason). When the pizza comes out of the oven top with tons of crushed nutritional yeast baked kale chips (or fresh arugula), and a drizzle of lemon or basil olive oil. So so so good. Pictured just below with some added sesame seeds.

An example of a favorite pizza topping idea - marinara, arugula, and other ingredients on a freshly baked pizza

  • Cherry Tomato Kosho Pizza: Start by smearing the pizza dough with a foundation layer of kosho or other citrus garlic paste. To that add cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, chives, and slivered basil with a drizzle of tangerine oil (or other citrus olive oil) after it comes out of the oven.
  • Meyer Lemon Pizza: Inspired by my favorite pizza ever, at Bettina in Santa Barbara, CA. Ricotta cheese dollops, pickled red onion, thinnest slivers of whole Meyer lemon, pistachios.
  • Paneer & Pea Pizza: Turmeric-marinated paneer (like the paneer I use for these veggie kebabs), scallions, chickpeas, sautéed artichoke hearts, tomato sauce, peas, a bit of crumbled goat cheese, and serrano chiles. Add lots of chopped cilantro after the pizza comes out of the oven.
  • Garlic & Pineapple Pizza: Peel a bunch of garlic cloves, sprinkle them generously with salt and then smash and chop them into a paste. Transfer to a jar and add 1/3 cup (or so) or extra virgin olive oil and stir well. For each pizza, spread some garlic oil across your dough. Then top with mozzarella, fresh pineapple, fresh jalapeño slices, and sliced black olives. When the pizza is done baking finish with fresh arugula or crushed kale chips and a finishing drizzle of good olive oil.

Pizza with red sauce and arugula as pizza toppings

More Pizza Topping Ideas

Thirteen grilled pizza ideas that go beyond classic margherita. And this post does a deep dive into how to grill pizza. Helpful as the weather heats up and it’s too hot to use your oven! Have fun making lots of pizza!





Continue reading Big List of Pizza Topping Ideas on 101 Cookbooks

Mushroom Lasagna

This freezer-friendly mushroom lasagna is all about homemade mushroom ragù, big dollops of ricotta cheese, and silky tender sheets of pasta finished with a bit of basil and some grated Parmesan cheese.

Continue reading Mushroom Lasagna on 101 Cookbooks

This is the mushroom lasagna I make when no-one is looking. The one where I cut a couple of traditional corners, add a few personal touches and, quite honestly, never look back. Sometimes I go long-form and use homemade pasta for the layers, other times it’s all about keeping the process quick — store-bought lasagna sheets and ragù from the freezer it is. Both versions are pictured here.

Consider yourself warned, this lasagna is a big boy, and will fill all of a 13×9 pan with layers of a vibrant, hearty and creamy mushroom ragù. There are generous dollops of ricotta and ribbons of silky pasta. I’ve grated fragrant lemon zest into the bottom of every lasagna for as long as I can remember, and that’s a feature here too.
Mushroom Lasagna in a baking pan

The Vision

There are a number of different styles of mushroom lasagna. Some are white lasagnas, with no tomatoes whatsoever. They rely on creamy béchamel (butter, milk, flour) for some of the binding and creaminess desired in lasagna. My version isn’t that. I generously layer a creamy, tomato-based mushroom ragù as the primary sauce throughout. It’s rich enough that I simply skip the béchamel component you see in many lasagnas. Lemon zest lifts all the flavors up, and you can choose to use store-bought lasagna sheets or make them from homemade pasta depending on how ambitious you’re feeling.
Mushroom Lasagna in a baking pan

Quick version vs. Slow Version

Lasagna is always made with love. They can be all day affairs, but with a bit of planning, one like this can come together reasonably quick. To make the lasagna pictured above I used mushroom ragù thawed from the freezer with store-bought noodles. Had the whole thing in the oven 30 minutes after walking in the kitchen. The other lasagna picture, not so much. I made the ragù the same day, rolled out homemade pasta sheets, and when I say it was an all-day situation, no exaggeration. Either way, a lasagna is never not worth the effort.

Mushroom Lasagna: The Ingredients

The list here is short, so you want to make sure each component is on point, seasoned well and tasting good.

  • Mushroom Ragù: There’s only one sauce in this lasagna recipe and it is this mushroom ragù is it. It’s a hearty, wonderful, slow-cooked tomato and mushroom sauce featuring finely chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, and aromatics. Keep it in your freezer. Use half for pastas, the other half for this lasagna.
  • Pasta: You have options here and both are fantastic! You can use homemade pasta or store-bought lasagna sheets.
  • Cheese: The main cheese in this lasagna is ricotta. Parmesan is used more as a finishing cheese.
  • Lemon zest: Don’t skip it. It is the secret wink of goodness.
  • Basil: Use it when basil is in season – always fresh basil. But don’t let the lack of basil deter you from making this.

Mushroom Lasagna being served on a table

Dial up the Mushrooms

All of the mushrooms in this lasagna are introduced in the ragù. They’re well chopped. That said, if you want a mushroom lasagna with more defined mushrooms you have options! Stem and slice a pound of mushrooms 1/4-inch thick. Cook them in a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a hot skillet with a pinch of salt until golden. Alternately, you can also roast them after tossing with olive oil in the oven as it is pre-heating. Introduce these mushrooms to your lasagna layers.

Mushroom Lasagna: The Process

Here’s a step by step illustration of how to make this lasagna. The first thing to do is butter or oil your baking pan, and then sprinkle with some citrus zest. You see orange here, but I typically use lemon. Or a blend.
Lasagna pan prepared with butter and citrus zest
The next step is pre-cooking the lasagna sheets in boiling, salted water. You’ll dunk them in a big bowl of ice water spiked with a bit of olive oil. Then transfer to a baking sheet. See below.
Cooked Pasta on a Baking Sheet
From there, build the lasagna in layers starting with a thin layer of ragù. Next, a layer of pasta, more mushroom ragù, and then dollops of ricotta.
Mushroom Lasagna being layered in a Baking Pan with ragu, ricotta cheese and pasta noodles
Repeat until you’ve run out of ingredients. Make sure to end with a good amount of sauce. You can add ricotta, a bit of basil, and more lemon zest to the top if you like, or keep it simple with just a bit of sauce and a finishing layer of Parmesan. The lasagna below was made with homemade pasta and Parmesan to finish. Bake until golden and beautiful.
Mushroom Lasagna in pan just after baking on cooling on a counter
Once your lasagna has finished baking, allow it to sit for a few minutes before cutting into it.
Mushroom Lasagna in a baking pan being served with a spatula

Freezing Lasagna

The house rule for this mushroom lasagna is eat half, freeze half. It reheats brilliantly and makes for an easy weeknight meal alongside a quick salad or vegetable side of some sort. To freeze the lasagna, first allow it to cool completely. Slice into desired individual pieces and freeze. Store each slice in an individual container or freezer bag. It makes things easier and slices don’t freeze together. Keep frozen for up to three months.
Mushroom Lasagna in a baking pan

Reheating Lasagna

Arrange frozen slices of lasagna on a parchment-lined baking sheet, an inch or more apart. If you remember, allow it to thaw a bit ahead of time. Not a big deal if you forget, thawing just allows you to reheat it more quickly. Heat the oven to 400F, cover the baking sheet with foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until the lasagna is hot throughout. You may need to cut into a slice to make sure the center is hot.
Mushroom Lasagna in a baking pan

More Pasta Recipes

Favorite Pasta Sauces

Mushroom Lasagna in a baking pan
Other Favorite Italian Recipes

Continue reading Mushroom Lasagna on 101 Cookbooks