This recipe for Spanish Fideos, a toasted pasta dish, comes from the new cookbook by the Editors at America’s Test Kitchen, Just Add Sauce.
I mentioned that inspiration has been a little low in the kitchen lately. I don’t think I’m alone, if I can believe what my social media feeds are telling me. Everyone seems to be in a bit of a creativity drought.
To help solve it, I’ve been turning to my cookbook shelf. It’s not quite as heavy as it once was. I am a lot better at keeping around only the ones that inspire me and that I at least plan to cook from in the very near future.
While I’m a little more selective these days, if a book offers me something that I’m not yet familar with or a special look at food that can change the way I cook, I’ll dig in.
This time around, that something was sauces.
A little while ago, I was offered a review copy of Just Add Sauce: A Revolutionary Guide to Boosting the Flavor of Everything You Cook by the Editors at America’s Test Kitchen. Sauces are not my specialty and seeing that the book is focused on making meals more exciting with sauces, I was sold.
Excitement is exactly what I’ve been needing.
I was expecting a cookbook of sauces. I mean, the title is pretty self-explanatory.
To my pleasant surprise, it ended up being much more than that.
This book offers savory and sweet sauces, dressings, salsas, marinades, pestos, and wine reductions, yes. But it also offers recipes for delicious meals that use those sauces. The meals are also inspired by special dishes around the world. I was pretty well sold at first flip-through.
I didn’t get too far into it before I had already bookmarked exactly what I wanted to make. A vegetarian meal that was a twist on something that was new to me, the Spanish dish, Fideos, a toasted pasta. It was paired with the aioli from the book which is a variation of a mayonnaise base.
I used whole wheat pasta because I was in a whole grain mood. It worked nicely with the hearty veggies and rich tomato. The crunchy edges to the pasta, due to toasting it and then broiling the whole dish before serving, gives it just enough of a twist that it feels like you are adding something new and different to your menu. And the creamy aioli adds the best touch.
There are so many other sauces and meals I want to try from this book from salads, to pastas, to glazes for grilled meats and vegetables. The book is much more diverse than I was expecting. It will be making my cookbook shelf a little heavier in a very good way. I’ll be keeping this one around for sure.
- 8 ounces spaghettini or thin spaghetti, broken into 1- to 2-inch lengths
- 2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 12 ounces kale, stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 fennel bulb, 2 tablespoons fronds minced, stalks discarded, bulb halved, cored, and sliced thin
- 1 onion, chopped fine
- Salt and pepper
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained and chopped fine, juice reserved
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2¾ cups water
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 recipe Aïoli (below)
- Lemon wedges
- Toss pasta and 2 teaspoons oil in 12-inch broiler-safe skillet until pasta is evenly coated. Toast pasta over medium-high heat, stirring often, until browned and releases nutty aroma (pasta should be color of peanut butter), 6 to 10 minutes; transfer to bowl.
- Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to now-empty skillet and heat over medium heat until shimmering. Add kale, 1 handful at a time, sliced fennel, onion, and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and cook until mixture is thick, dry, and slightly darkened in color, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in garlic and paprika and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in toasted pasta until thoroughly combined. Stir in water, chickpeas, wine, reserved tomato juice, ½ teaspoon pepper, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid is slightly thickened and pasta is just tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler.
- Transfer skillet to oven and broil until surface of pasta is dry, with crisped, browned spots, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove skillet from oven and let fideos cool for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with fennel fronds and serve with aïoli and lemon wedges.
- Aïoli
- 2 large egg yolks (1/4 cup pasteurized egg beaters can be substituted)
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 4 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon water, plus extra as needed
- 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon sugar
- Salt and pepper
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- Process egg yolks, garlic, lemon juice, water, mustard, sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a blender until combined, about 10 seconds, scraping down the sides of the blender jar as needed. With blender running, slowly add oil and process until mayonnaise is emulsified, about 2 minutes. Adjust consistency with extra water as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (It can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
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This book was sent to me for review purposes.
This looks absolutely delicious, Lori! I’ve only had fideos in a particular soup and that was a long time ago! I admit I hadn’t thought of them again until this post! Thanks for the refresher!
It was totally new to me! I’m not quite sure why I’ve never encountered it. The soup sounds like it would be great!