Pasta? For Spring? Delicious.
Tomorrow is the first day of spring, and I can see it in the snowdrops and crocuses finally poking up in green, purple and white profusion all around Prospect Park. I know the days of flowering chives and local asparagus are still many weeks away. But I'll content myself with frozen peas, which feel light and springy and will help bide the time until the fresh sugar snaps start arriving in May.
Perhaps I'll use those tiny orbs in Ali Slagle's one-pot tortellini with prosciutto, where they'll add pops of velvety sweetness next to the bits of salty cured pork in the creamy sauce. Or maybe I'll toss them with Parmesan, lemon and charred scallions to make Hana Asbrink's verdant crème fraîche pasta with peas and scallions, an elegant, 30-minute dish that's both rich and bright. Vegetable-filled pastas seem like the right move now on the cusp of springtime, and Krysten Chambrot, a senior editor, has put together more terrific ideas for you, here.
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I can daydream about spring as much as I want, but that won't make the evenings any warmer or the buds bloom any faster. So to continue to ward off the chill — and to use up those farm box root vegetables that have piled up in my pantry — I'm going to give Cybelle Tondu's baked sweet potatoes with blue cheese and bacon a go. I love the notion of the almost candied, silky potato flesh rubbing elbows with the funky, creamy blue cheese butter, all topped with crisp bacon and chopped walnuts for extra texture. It's like a steakhouse wedge salad, but even more satisfying.
Those loaded potatoes would make a fine meal all by themselves. But if you wanted to round things out, Christian Reynoso's chile crisp chicken cutlets are deeply spiced from a chile crisp marinade spiked with soy sauce and red wine vinegar, and they're coated in a wonderfully crunchy panko crust. Christian's trick for adding even more oomph is to whisk some of the excess marinade into the eggs used for coating the cutlets, which lends a pleasingly sharp kick.
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