Red Pickled Onions

This August my baby boy turned one year old and is now a running, climbing, squealing toddler. For his first birthday we had a Polynesian themed party (his favorite movie is Moana) and because I was making lunch for a lot of friends and family I made Polynesian Pork Tacos with pineapple salsa, cabbage slaw, pickled onions, and avocado. This was the first time I made pickled onions and I was blown away by both how easy and what a delicious addition they were. Since then I’ve pretty much kept them as a condiment in my refrigerator and have put them on all kinds of things. 

My favorite ways to use them so far are on tacos and burgers, and I think they’d be great on sandwiches, salads, nachos, and in burritos. 

Red Pickled Onions

Ingredients

1 medium red onion, very thinly sliced

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoon honey (you can also use cane sugar)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional

Instructions

Slice the onion very thin and place into a 1 pint mason jar. 

Combine all other ingredients into a saucepan and heat while stirring to completely dissolve. Bring to a simmer and then pour hot liquid into the mason jar over onions, making sure all the onions are completely submerged.

Let cool, then refrigerate overnight before serving. Will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks. 

Homemade Pasta with Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese

The summer weather lingered into October this year. This is the first week that I’ve really felt like trading our summer favorites for warm, autumn flavors. My starting point was the desire to roast some butternut squash in olive oil with freshly ground nutmeg. Once I realized I wanted it over pasta the rest felt natural. Creamy goat cheese mixed with parmesan, and the last basil from my summer garden were the perfect toppings.

First of all we need to talk about fresh pasta. It is one of those recipes that I’ve never recovered from. I can’t eat store bought pasta anymore because the freshly homemade kind is so much better. Obviously it is not as easy as opening a box of the dried noodles, but it is more than worth the effort for a special weekend dinner. The catch is having the proper equipment. The Kitchen Aid attachments, consisting of a roller and cutters, for pasta make the process very simple but are really pricey. I haven’t tried it without them, but the general consensus is that you need a roller of some kind to get the pasta dough to the ideal thickness. While you couldn’t exactly make spaghetti without the cutting tool, you could cut the rolled dough into noodles for lasagna or ravioli or fettuccini. 

The pasta recipe I used is from Serious Eats and I highly recommend their recipe and instructions. My good friend, who is a bread wizard of the highest order, gave me some pointers from his experience with this basic recipe for egg noodles. Here are the ones I found to be helpful: 

1. You may substitute 25% semolina flour for a better texture,
2. It is possible to use the kitchen aid mixer with dough hook to knead your pasta dough (I did it) but your dough is more likely to come together without extra liquid when hand kneaded. 
3. The constancy of your dough is important; if it’s too soft it won’t hold together once cut into noodles. Keep adding flour until it’s the consistency of play-dough, as described in the recipe.  Also use plenty of flour when rolling out your dough. 

But even if you aren't ready to take on the adventure of pasta making you should try this delicious autumn recipe with regular pasta. The sweet roasted squash with creamy cheeses and the fresh, spicy flavor basil are really amazing. 

Homemade Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Salt to taste

Olive oil to coat

Homemade pasta

Olive oil

Salt

Black pepper

4 oz goat cheese, crumbled

4 oz parmesan cheese, grated

Fresh basil, roughly chopped

Instructions

Peel and cube butternut squash. Toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt, freshly grated nutmeg, then spread over baking sheet. Roast at 400°F for 30 minutes until tender and lightly brown. Keep warm for serving.

Prepare pasta according to Serious Eats recipe, drain well then return to pan. Add half of the goat cheese and all of the parmesan cheese a little at a time, gently tossing and stirring to combine and melt. To serve place a nest of hot, cheesy pasta of desired size on a plate and top with roasted butternut squash, crumbled goat cheese, and a generous amount of roughly chopped fresh basil.