December 2020, Ell Tee's Recipes

Serves 4 to 6. Total time 30-40 minutes.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons minced garlic (about 12 cloves)
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Juice from one lemon (or 2 TSP lemon juice)
Zest from one lemon
3/4 TSP red pepper flakes
8oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts in oil
1 pound spaghetti (or fettucine / linguini)
Grated Parmesan cheese

Note – I cook the pasta in one large pot and use a dutch oven for the rest and to mix everything together. You can also use a skillet in lieu of the dutch oven and mix everything back into the pasta pot after you’ve dumped out the cooking water.

Instructions

Cook olive oil, 3 TBS garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a dutch oven (or skillet) over low heat, stirring often, until garlic foams and is sticky and stray-colored, about 10 minutes. Off heat stir in lemon juice, pepper flakes, lemon zest, parsley, and remaining 1TBS garlic. Transfer to a small bowl.

Increase heat to medium-high for the dutch oven (skillet). Add artichokes with marinade / oil and a pinch of salt. Grill artichokes until lightly browned and tender. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile bring 4 quarts water to boil in a large pot. Add pasta and 1TBS salt. Cook until almost al dente. Strain pasta and reserve some of the cooking water.

Add garlic-lemon-oil back to dutch oven with the grilled artichokes. Add a little reserved cooking water if necessary and stir to combine. Add pasta to mixture and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add remaining reserved cooking water as needed to adjust consistency. Serve with Parmesan.

Note: If you have frozen artichokes, just pat them dry and grill them with an additional 2TBS of olive oil. Or you can leave out the artichokes altogether, as well as the lemon zest if you’re going for a more “pure” recipe of ‘Aglio e Olio’.

Prep Time – 20 minutes

Cook Time – 65 minutes

Makes two loaves

Ingredients

4 cups (500g) all purpose flour (spoon and leveled)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks or 230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cup (300g) packed light or dark brown sugar
4 large eggs well mixed, at room temperature
2/3 cup (160g) plain yogurt or sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 large ripe bananas)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup strong coffee
Optional – 1 1/2 cups (200g) chipped pecans or walnuts or chocolate chips)

Instructions

Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans or coat with non-stick spray. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle blade, add the bananas and coffee. Mix until mostly smooth, then use a spatula to transfer to a bowl. It’s ok if there is a little residue left in the mixer.

In the stand mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat in the yogurt, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract on medium speed until combined.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no flour pockets remain. Do not overmix. Fold in the nuts (or chocolate chips) if using.

Split the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 60-65 minutes. Loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil after 30 minutes to help prevent the top and sides from getting too brown. A toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf will come out clean when the bread is done. Remove from the oven ad allow the bread to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack

Cover and store banana bread at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Adapted from “Best Ever Banana Bread” and “Coffee-spiked Banana Bread”

Pasta with Garlic and Oil (and artichokes)

Best Ever Coffee Spiked Banana Bread