Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Aarti Paarti Episode 10!


This week's episode is up! I riffed on Muhammara, the Syrian dip made from roasted red peppers, walnuts and pomegranate molasses... turning it into an easy, no-cook pasta sauce. Take a look and forward it to anyone you know who likes to cook! Or who's scared of cooking! Or who likes the ukulele! Or who likes Johnny Cash! Huh? Confused? Watch and it'll make sense. Make sure to hit the "hq" in the bottom left-hand corner to watch it in high quality!




Muhammara Pasta

2 cups dry whole wheat rotini pasta
6 roasted red peppers
3/4 cup toasted walnuts
2 tsp pomegranate molasses
2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
Juice of half a juicy lemon
4 garlic cloves, peeled
3 zucchini, sliced in half, then sliced into 1/2" half moons

1) Get a big pot o' water boiling. Make sure you salt it once it's at a roiling boil

2) Dump pasta in the water. Set your timer for about 2 minutes less than the instructions. In my case, about 8 minutes

3) In a food processor, grind red peppers, walnuts, spices, lemon juice, molasses, salt and pepper until mostly smooth. Taste and season.

4) Add zucchini and garlic cloves to the boiling pasta. Cook another 2 minutes until zucchini and pasta are cooked.

5) Drain. Add garlic cloves to the red pepper mixture and whiz up again until as smooth as you like it.

6) Toss pasta, zucchini and sauce. Sprinkle some chopped parsley over the top. Taste, season and serve!



-x-

aarti

5 comments:

http://www.facebook/stacimcqueen said...

cute. ya'll like Cash? i just filmed his son John Jr. @ the Cash Cabin. it was surreal. i just love these Arti Paarti's.

aartilla the fun said...

oh cool! what did you shoot with him? is he a musician? what do you do?

Lonely Foodie said...

It is unfortunate that I live in the Midwest and must travel great distances to large cities in order to be able to procure things like pom molasses, aleppo pepper and the like. *sigh*

But, I'm going to the twin cities next weekend, and I will hunt all those goodies down and make your muhammara pasta. I cannot wait.

Lonely Foodie said...

I went! I am now the proud owner of pom molasses and hing. In addition, I also picked up naan (indian pizza!), tamarind paste (wannabe cod!), chat masala, chana masala, black onion seeds and amchur powder. Oh so excited. And the shopkeeper was very impressed when I asked for hing ("You even knew to ask for it the right way") and then she asked me how I'd learned to cook Indian food. :)
Thanks Aarti!!

aartilla the fun said...

wow! good for you! i am so impressed. i don't think i'd journey that far for foodstuffs. actually, who am i kidding -- i totally would!! i hope that it pays off. if you don't like my take on muhammara, look online -- america's test kitchen has a recipe that my friend made and it was delicious. also, pom molasses is lovely as a basting on grilled meats, and it's great over plain yogurt!

good for you!!!!!

 
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