How does one not go crazy during a quarantine? I don’t know about other people, but for me cooking has been a way to cope with times like these.

This week I decided to make pasta. My favorite homemade shape is fettuccine, but at this point I think I’m over it. Instead, I wanted to play with colors and flavors. My fridge right now looks like spring - lots of green produce waiting to be consumed. My lovely neighbor also shared a bunch of spinach with me, which gave me the idea to make spinach pasta.

This was my opportunity to elevate my pasta game this time. I have to admit that filled pastas are my Achilles heel - I find it so hard to make. I’ve never done it before, and nobody really taught me how to. I relied on my cookbooks and videos to learn how to make filled pasta and the best practices for it.

Last year when I worked with Cafe Spiaggia at the US Open I met chef Joe Sasto - he’s a pasta wizard! I also had the opportunity to get to know chef Meryl Feinstein - a pasta fairy. Both of them inspired me to go after this striped technique.

Then it was time to decide the filling. Saffron is a spice that mesmerizes me. The color is unique, and although the price is absurd, it smells amazing. I haven’t had many opportunities in life to work with saffron, but I do have a small batch that I got from Burlap & Barrel. One thing that I have to remind myself of during this quarantine is to not hoard ingredients - just use it. I usually buy a special ingredient and immediately put it away, waiting for the right moment to use it.

Well, that moment is right now. It’s always now.

The final result was a very light dough with a deep green color. The filling was bright, but not overpowering - I could feel the saffron, cream cheese, and almonds flavors.

My recommendation for those who want to make amazing pasta like this is to look for chef Feinstein’s and Stasto’s classes. They are doing livestreams every week teaching how to make pasta and they are both truly experts on the subject.

Just like chef Joe says “Eat pasta, make love”.

I am committed to go as zero waste as possible during this quarantine. So yes I am making the most of whatever I have on the fridge. And that includes leftovers from take out as well.

This is not the case for these green crepes. I am calling cakes but in Brazil we call them pancakes, they are like savory crepes (there’s no sugar on the batter and no butter - or other oil). Also it’s a bit more thick than a crepe too. In Brazil we eat these as you would with enchiladas: savory filling with some sauce and cheese on the top, then you place in the oven and broil until the cheese is melted.

For this time I used Hakurei turnip tops. First you blanch the leaves (you know, the technique where you cook in boiling water for a few seconds and then move to an ice bath to stop the cooking - hit me up on my Instagram if you don’t know to do it or have questions).

Here’s the recipe for the batter:

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cup whole milk

1 cup AP flour

2 eggs

1 bunch blanched turnip tops

1 tsp salt (Himalayan pink salt) - use ½ tsp for Kosher

INSTRUCTIONS

Blend everything together until smooth and well combined. Leave the mixture on the blender cup resting for at least 20 minutes.

Ramps are an ingredient I didn’t even know existed before moving to the United States. When springtime comes around, I always see chefs going crazy for this ingredient. It’s available for just a short period of time when the snow is starting to melt and spring has just sprung.

With its mild onion-y flavor and gorgeous green tint, I decided pesto was the way to make the most of this ingredient. Instead of going for the traditional pine nuts, I added a little bit of Brazilian flavor with Brazil nuts. The pesto did not require as much olive oil because the nuts were already very fatty. The resulting flavor and color was very bright because I had blanched the ramps before pureeing (see my post on green crepes for more information about this technique).

And since I am going #zerowaste here, I used the bulbs to make fried rice using lots of leftovers from the fridge including short ribs, Japanese rice, roasted garlic, and about to go bad zucchini.

Scrambled eggs with everything seasoning is a staple at my household. This time, I served it on brown butter Demi baguette toast from Bien Cuit that came in my Farm to People basket.

Soft scrambled into small curds with lots of cheddar cheese. I like to have it on a buttered toast with a nice slab of crispy bacon. Sprinkled on top is some everything spice. Sometimes I add scallions or chives. Other times, just Maldon salt will do it.

One of my favorite breakfast sammies: turkey and cheddar cheese. I make it grilled cheese style - in the frying pan with lots of butter.

I noticed that most of my blog posts are about sweets, which is funny because I don’t consider myself inclined to sweet treats more than I do for savory food. In general I prefer savory and that’s why I chose to become a chef and not a pastry chef. But ok, maybe lately I’ve been a little addicted to sugar and I know why (hello adult life).

I don’t know anything about mixing drinks. But during this quarantine, I feel like I need a drink to start winding down the day. I’ve started to play a little bit with whatever ingredients I have around the house. This variation came out especially beautiful.

Orange juice - pomegranate seeds - fresh ginger - vodka

My dog Frida never eats kibbles. I cook for her - she has basically anything that we have.