Pantry Pasta

What do you make when your fridge breaks down and you leave town for a week? Nothing. You order in, duh. Or you make the most random pasta ever.

Raw onions can be polarizing, but caramelized onions are ah-maz-ing. Add them to sandwiches, salads, dips, pizza, eggs...Why not make them the main ingredient in a pasta? There's no reason not to. Unless it happens to be the first day of spring and you can actually find something green!

Caramelized Onion Pantry Pasta

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 medium onions, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pasta 
Toasted pine nuts
Parmesan Cheese

1. Melt the butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and ½ teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring occasionally to loosen any onions that may be stuck to the bottom of the pan, until the onions are deep golden brown, about 30 minutes more.  

2. Meanwhile, cook your preferred pasta according to package directions. Drain and add to the skillet, along with a few tablespoons of pasta cooking liquid, and toss with the onions to coat. Add more butter if desired, season to taste, and serve with toasted pine nuts and Parmesan cheese.

French Onion Dip

Just because you enjoy Champagne you don't have to stick to oysters and caviar as your only snack, though it's a pretty effing fab combo. Thing is, I'm pretty sure that I would shuck my thumb right out of its socket if I attempted to prep my own oysters, and I'm also pretty sure that there are better ways for me to spend my caviar money. Like on Champagne. And potato chips.
Hold the phone. Did I just say potato chips?? Why, yes, I did. Fatty, salty snacks are way better with an extra brut or brut style sparkler (which contain a very, very little amount of sugar) than...say...wedding cake. Trust. Have a cup of coffee with that cake and have some Champs with your snacks! And furthermore, by Champagne I mean, THE sparkling wine from the Champagne region in France. Similar style sparkling wines from anywhere else in the world, including France, are simply: sparkling wine. By law. Whether a cava from Spain or a sparkler from Cali or a Franciacorta from Italy, it's all sparkling wine, people. Not that there's anything wrong with that. My budget is more Prosecco than Champagne anyway.
But I digress. Back to my dip. As much as I hate sour cream and similarly gloppy substances, I've always been a sucker for that dried onion soup mix stirred into sour cream and scooped up onto a nice salty chip. Oh. Yeah. That screams summer BBQ to me. Lately the rage has been to make the dip using caramelized onions (if making a dip can be called a rage). And let me tell you, it's worth the hour spent cooking those babies down to their essence because the result is super fantabulous. Coupled with a glass of bubbly, that's a memorable Wednesday night (along with good friends like Wendy, Stacy, Jen, and Alyssa)! Stop saving your Champagne for special occasions, peeps. It becomes a special occasion when you pop open that bottle (watch your eye!). And a bag of chips.

Caramelized Onion Dip
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 medium onions, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (8-ounce) container sour cream (1 cup)
4-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
Potato chips, for serving
1. Melt the butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and ½ teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring occasionally to loosen any onions that may be stuck to the bottom of the pan, until the onions are deep golden brown, about 30 minutes more. Remove from the heat and let cool. 

2. In a medium bowl mix together the cream cheese, sour cream, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper until smooth. Stir in the cooked onions, reserving a tablespoon for garnish, if desired. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with the chips. Makes about 2 cups.

Steak-Umm!

Perhaps you spent the long weekend grillin' and chillin'. Perhaps you cooked up a bunch of meat. Perhaps you have (had) some leftovers. Perhaps I had some leftover strip steak... What's a girl to do?

I think cold, leftover meat is gross, but reheating it tends to overcook it. I thought about cutting up my strip steak to put on (yet another) salad (lame!), or throwing it into a quesadilla (closer...) but then realized that a panino (panini) was the only way to go. Fortunately I spied a languishing onion and my brilliant plan was hatched. I would make a caramelized onion and steak panino!

Although a sandwich is always a super easy meal to prepare, I, of course, had to mess things up by caramelizing the onion. It's a really easy step, but it just takes an extra 45 minutes of waiting for your sandwich. So start making it before you're actually hungry! (Or just cook a couple of onions ahead of time.)

Caramelized Onion and Steak Panino

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 slices rustic bread

Dijon mustard

Blue cheese (semi-soft such as a Gorgonzola), at room temperature

Sliced steak

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is a deep golden color (see the photo below), about 45 minutes. Set aside.

2. Place the bread slices on a work surface and spread the mustard (to taste) completely over the bread slices. Follow by topping with the blue cheese (to taste). Finish by layering the onions and the sliced steak on one slice of the bread. Top with the remaining slice of prepared bread.

3. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining oil and allow it to coat the skillet. Add the sandwich and then top with a heavy pot to weight it down. Cook for 5 minutes and then, using a spatula, carefully flip the sandwich over. Again top with the heavy pot and press down (to compress the ingredients). Cook for 5 minutes more.

4. Remove the sandwich to a cutting board and slice in half. Serve immediately. Makes one sandwich.