When I was in high school, nearly all my best friends rowed crew. It was a grueling sport, requiring long, sometimes twice-daily workouts, heinously early hours, and shockingly unflattering spandex outfits. Yet, during the high season, every Friday night, the team would gather for pasta parties. As the name implies, they would hang out and shovel down as many carbs as their recently-pubescent metabolisms would allow. The myth of carbo-loading persists, and we *couldn’t help but wonder*… why do we need a promise of some Herculean athletic effort to throw a pasta party? Here at Sifted we need no excuse.
Neither of us ran the New York City Marathon this last weekend — in fact, a podiatrist just confirmed that the toe Gaby stubbed last week is actually broken. But if we had run 26.2 miles (plus that extra 1 they make you walk after you’ve crossed the finish line before you can exit the park), know that we would already have our pre and post-race meals planned out. Here’s our best pasta (and pizza and cake) party menu.
DINNER PLANS
Romesco Pasta Salad: What’s better than pasta? Pasta with breadcrumbs! In any form or format, pasta and bread together in one dish is bound to be a thing of glory — and we’re not talking Panera bread bowls, though they do hammer the point home. My boyfriend made this particular bread-pasta combo for my birthday potluck way back in July, but I still think about it constantly. I love it for many reasons: the smoky, creamy romesco, the bursts of fresh tomato seeds popping in your mouth, the little unexpected zip of lemon zest. But the crunchy textural contrast of freshly made-and-toasted breadcrumbs are what set this pasta salad apart. Its ability to be just as tasty hot, cold, or room temperature make it the perfect portable pasta for potlucks, parties, or post-marathon partaking.
Pan Pizza: It’s finally (barely) cool enough to turn our ovens back on, and I’m celebrating by making a batch of my favorite fast weeknight pizza dough. A few tips and tricks from my pizza making trials and tribulations: if your dough is not stretching easily, it’s too cold or not rested enough and needs more time to proof. Always use more olive oil than you think — like way more, especially on the bottom, so it essentially fries in the oven. Spread cheese all the way to the edges (duh) and use a mix of different sized pieces of cheese; I like some cubes, some shreds, some sprinkles of a pecorino or parm. Finally, if you want to turn this into more of a ‘project’ skip the quick stuff and go with Joe Beddia’s dough or Kenji’s Detroit style.
“Bumpy Cake”: The food I crave most, no matter how full I am, whether I just worked out or woke up, is cake. I know myself, and I know after running for hour after miserable hour, I’d want a big slice of sweet, rich, fudgy chocolate cake. Courtney introduced me to this recipe for “bumpy cake,” apparently beloved by the people of Detroit for its intense chocolate cake base, striped with vanilla buttercream and covered in thick, buttery fudge. My version would spike the vanilla frosting with peppermint, espresso or salty caramel.
TAKEOUT
A tale of two Taco Bells: I’ve attended not one, but two Taco Bell inspired-dinners lately and lived to tell the tale (once again, my life is brought to you by Lactaid™). The first was a dinner a few months back at Nura, hosted and cooked by Sohla and Ham. I’m still dreaming about their lamb picadillo and Frito tres leches. The second was “Taco Hell”, a fourth meal-themed Halloween night at our beloved Yellow Rose. Their vegan take on my favorite Crunchwrap Supreme was wildly delicious and somehow ended up tasting like something Superiority Burger would churn out (can you tell I’m aching for them to reopen???) Some takeaways from both: we should be putting Fritos in our desserts, making more cocktails with Baja Blast, and start giving hard shell tacos the respect they deserve. And if you see a Taco Bell-themed pop up, go to it.
Sweetgreen launched their “first” dessert, a crispy rice treat made from brown rice, quinoa and millet held together with honey date caramel. Real ones (like us) will remember the thick, tart frozen yogurt the original Sweetgreen in DC used to churn out, but if you want to make your own “crispy rice treat” that doesn’t cost $3 a piece, just make these. And if you’re craving more Sweetgreen shade beyond the froyo erasure, flip back to our open letter to the salad slinger.
Thanksgiving is just two short, unseasonably warm weeks away. We’re obviously working on something for you guys, but in the meantime, we’d suggest browsing through NYT Cooking’s gorgeous new pie recipes. Spoiler: the pecan sandie pie is absolutely making it onto at least one of our tables this year.
Do your mashed potatoes always taste like glue? Is your mind going back and forth between whether to buy a pie or make your own? Are you a victim of the national turkey shortage? Tell us what you want to see in our Thanksgiving newsletter this year!
LADIES- so happy you’re back! love a pasta party, race or not.
two ideas i’ve been kicking around for this holiday season… an apps/snacks only friendsgiving open house. dips, toasts, nuts, etc. people can stop by for as long or as little as they please. we’re all busy this time of year so this is a low-commitment event to add to your calendar.
next- for the ultimate 2022 hot girl event- feast of the 7 tinned fishes. batched martinis, open tins of mussels, sardines, a caesar in there somewhere. haven’t figured out all 7 courses yet 😉 but i’m sure you can picture it.
just wanted to share & say welcome back sifted!