Pasta with Spring Vegetables

When spring is in the air and we're not up for a heavy night in the kitchen or on the dinner plate, this is our dish of choice. With a little bit of chopping and a whole lot of low-stress roasting, we can serve up a top notch dish that's world's away from a saucy winter pasta but just as satisfying.  

This dish borrows from a Giada DeLaurentis recipe and plays off the traditional vegetables of a pasta primavera.  We can't exactly rely on the spring vegetables growing in Chicago in early April, but we know there are spring vegetables being harvest somewhere!  We love the no-sauce toss that marries roasted veggie juice, breadcrumbs and olive oil to produce something infinitely simple but utterly delicious.  The result is light but toothsome and the deep flavors belie the modest effort involved.  

Even without meat, this pasta is robust on its own.  If you're hesitant to serve a vegetarian main course, never fear.  The hefty, cheesy goodness of the bruschetta is decidedly filling.  Served with a light but flavorsome salad, this is a satisfying meal that's hearty enough for any appetite. 


Pasta with Spring Vegetables 
36 Servings

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 head garlic, cloves smashed and sliced into extra-thin slivers
• 1 x 106oz can of Italian plum tomatoes OR the equivalent amount in 4 x 24oz cans
• 1/2 cup capers, drained
• 1 cup good quality bread crumbs
• 4 lbs good quality jarred artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed of marinade and roughly quartered (we like the XL jar available at Costco)
• 8 carrots, peeled and cut into small dice
• 4 lbs tender asparagus, bottoms trimmed and stalks cut into 1/2" pieces
• sea salt and fresh pepper to taste 
• 4 lbs whole wheat rotini, penne or tubetti pasta
• 2 lbs frozen sweet peas
• 6 cups fresh basil, stemmed and leaves julienned
• 2 cups Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 lb freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bring an XL stock pot with cold water and 2 TBS salt to a rolling boil. 

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, being careful not to burn.  Remove from heat and add the olive oil and garlic to the pan.  Set aside.  

Drain the canned tomatoes in a large colander.  (Set the colander aside for later use- no need to wash.)  Place the tomatoes in a full-size, extra-deep hotel pan, roll up your sleeves and crush into small pieces by hand.  Add half the butter mixture to the tomatoes, and toss them with the chopped carrots and capers.  Season the mixture with salt and pepper, cover with breadcrumbs and roast in the oven for 30 minutes until tomatoes have rendered their juices and lost their shape.  Remove from oven and keep warm. 

In a large bowl, toss the asparagus and artichoke hearts with the remaining butter mixture.  Season with salt and pepper and arrange vegetables in a single layer on several sheet pans.  Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until vegetables have lightly browned.   Once cooked, add the vegetables to the hotel pan with the roasted tomatoes and gently stir to combine. 

While vegetables are cooking, chop the fresh herbs and set aside. 

About 10 minutes before vegetables have finished cooking, add the dried pasta to the boiling water.  Cook per the package directions until just under done.  Add the frozen peas to the pasta water and cook for one to two minutes more until peas have heated through and pasta is al dente.  Drain the pasta and peas in the colander, leaving some water still clinging to the pasta.   Add the wet pasta to the roasted vegetables and gently mix handfuls of Parmesan and chopped herbs until everything has been incorporated.  Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese at the table. 

BRUSCHETTA with MOZZARELLA and ROASTED RED PEPPER

36 Servings

• 2 loaves rustic Italian bread, about 40 slices (we like the ciabatta loaves available at Stanley's)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil for brushing
• 2 lbs fresh mozzarella logs, thinly sliced into rounds
• 16 oz good-quality jarred roasted red peppers (not marinated), thinly sliced into long strips
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Arrange sliced bread in a single layer on two XL sheet pans. 

Brush top sides of bread with a light layer of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Divide sliced mozzarella and slices of roasted red pepper evenly between the bread.  

Toast breads in oven for about 7-10 minutes just before serving so that cheese is melted and ciabatta is lightly toasted.  Remove from the oven, sprinkle with basil and serve immediately. 

GREENS with SCALLIONS and FRESH CHEESE

36 Servings

• 1 lb mesculin lettuce, also known as mixed baby greens
• 2 bunches scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
• 1 lb ricotta, queso fresco or other mild fresh cheese, drained and crumbled into small bits
• 8 oz good-quality prepared vinaigrette  (we like the Greek vinaigrettes available at Stanley')

In an XL serving bowl, toss lettuce with scallions and crumbled cheese until well mixed.  Season with salt and pepper.   Toss salad with dressing immediately before serving.

Easter Morn French Toast Bread Pudding

While we always enjoy the prospect of serving at the men's shelter, we don't always enjoy the dawn wake-up that accompanies breakfast for dozens of people.  This is a special meal, however, and a sunrise worth witnessing.  It's Easter Morn, and to see the sunrise is to be reminded of the Son that rose triumphantly after bearing our cross, destroying the power of sin and death forever.   

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?   

A morning like this deserves our observation in all its early glory.  But, to quote Pastor Bob at Grace, we will be brewing up a cauldron of strong coffee for medicinal purposes.

If your childhood includes memories of church basement pancake breakfasts that scented your entire family with griddle for the remainder of the day, you may be wary to revisit the scene.  Don't worry; breakfast has come a long way since then.  Team Grace is Gen X and we'll openly accept the claim that we "forever redefined workplace attitudes to embrace a healthy work/life balance".  In other words, we will not be flipping pancakes for 90 minutes at dawn on Easter Sunday.  We assume there is a better way.  Enter the Barefoot Contessa, a chef who believes you should never work so hard in the kitchen that you don't enjoy your own party.  When we ask, "What will keep us relaxed enough to quietly savor the sweet early hours of Easter but still feed the souls of men who aren't enjoying much home cooking these days?" Ina replies, "Why, French Toast Bread Pudding, of course."

We LOVE this recipe.  It's everything you adore about French toast and nothing that you don't.  Ina has a few renditions out there calling for brioche or croissant, but we concur with the adage, "Eat as if there were a tomorrow" and so make ours with a heart-healthier whole-grain bread.  It's not the fastest breakfast out there due to the long baking time, but it can be prepped the night before and baked the morning-of while groggy.  The water bath that keeps the custard so creamy is easily accomplished by nesting half- and full-size roasting pans.  (We use disposable knowing our shelter kitchen does not stock eight half-size hotel pans.)  It pairs perfectly with sweet breakfast sausage, real maple syrup, berries and a dollop of plain yogurt to cut the sweetness.   Basically, it rocks.  Happy Easter.

 `


French Toast Bread Pudding
48 servings (2 slices of bread each)

• 3 cartons of 18 large eggs, cage-free if possible
• 2 gallons, less 2 cups, whole milk  (reserve and gently warm remaining 2 cups for coffee creamer)
• 3 cups honey
• 3 TBS cinnamon (+ 2 tsp each clove and nutmeg if you so desire)
• 3 TBS pure vanilla extract
• 6 TBS orange zest, about 12 oranges (reserve and thinly slice zested oranges for garnish)  OR 2 tsp orange extract
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 12 lbs thick-sliced hearty whole-grain bread (we use 4 XL loves of Innkeepers 8 Grain Bread from Costco, ends reserved for breadcrumbs)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.   For water bath, warm 3 gallons of tap water in an XL stock pot over high heat. 


Arrange eight half-size disposable roasting pans in an assembly line.  Tear eight pieces of foil to cover each pan and lightly oil one side.  Fill pans with two layers of bread pieced tightly together.  You should be able to fit 12 slices per pan.

In an XL mixing bowl (or better yet, a commercial mixer), whisk together the eggs, milk, honey, vanilla, orange zest, and salt.  If you don't have a gynormous mixing bowl at your disposal, we'd suggest dividing the wet ingredients in half and mixing up two batches of the pudding; a single batch could get unruly. 

When bread is in place, divide the pudding evenly between the pans and press down gently to be sure the bread is saturated.  Cover the pudding with the oiled foil, tenting the foil so it doesn't rest on the pudding and piercing it two or three times to allow steam to escape.

Prepare the water baths by placing four full-size roasters on top of four full-size sheet pans. The sheet pans will catch any drips from the puddings and will stabilize the water baths, important if you're using disposable pans.  Fill each full-size pan with 6 cups hot water from the stovetop.  Position two puddings (sideways) inside each water bath and carefully transfer to hot oven.

Bake puddings for 45 minutes, then remove foil and bake for an additional 45 minutes until the top has browned and pudding is set.  Remove pudding from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.  Cut each pudding into six pieces and serve hot.  




ON THE SIDE
Fixings for 40

• 60 full-size sweet chicken sausages (we like Amy's Chicken Apple Gouda)
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 64 oz real maple syrup
• (4) XL cans OJ concentrate 
• 1 qt plain, low-fat yogurt
• 4 lbs fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 350. 

Lightly oil a full-size sheet pan and arrange sausages in a single layer.  Bake per the directions until lightly browned, flipping sausages half way through the cooking time.  Keep warm until ready to serve.  (Note:  Plan on more than one sausage per person; a few men will even come back for thirds.)


Pour maple syrup into a small sauce pan and gently warm through over low heat.  Keep warm until ready to serve. 


Mix OJ per instructions and chill until ready to serve.


At mealtime, serve each piece of pudding with a ladle of warm syrup and a link of sausage.


Offer a handful of berries on top and a scoopful of yogurt on the side.  

Leek & Potato Soup with Asparagus

We didn't intend to start out the month of April with a potato dish, but we couldn't help ourselves.  We emptied out our winter pantry and found the last of the russets, a big batch of potato soup mix and, well...  you know the rest.  But don't think that we forgot it was spring!  Leeks and asparagus are everywhere and we scooped up both from the veggie market for a savory potato leek soup. We replaced half the potato with roasted asparagus and freshened it up with handfuls of herbs.  The result was hearty without being heavy and very veggie centric.  We served the soup with savory cornbread, a simple green salad and a big scoop of honey-lime strawberries. 

Objectively speaking (really), this menu is delectable.  There were lots of second helpings and happy ladies.  But, it's also labor-intensive with loads of veggies, herbs and fruit to wash and chop.  Nothing is complicated, just be sure to take this on with a full roster of cooks.  Our team of five served up the meal in about 90 minutes with a starter platter of baby carrots, celery stalks and yogurt-ranch dressing (from last Thursday's salad) to ward off hunger.  This recipe calls for a favorite trade secret-- a good quality potato soup mix + a salt-free veggie bouillon + gallon jugs of spring water.  A soup mix provides the creamy base usually achieved by blending the soup and returning it to the pot (challenging in a time-sensitive shelter kitchen).  A salt-free bouillon provides loads of flavor and offsets the high sodium content of the soup mix.  And jugs of spring water make for great flavor with no measuring.  The end result is smooth, flavorful and fast.

There are a few staging tips to give with this meal:  Get the bacon in the oven right away as you may want to use the rendered fat to grease the cornbread pan and saute the leeks.  This is certainly optional if you'd like to keep the meal lighter or vegetarian-friendly, but a little bacon fat goes a long way and adds just the right amount of richness to an otherwise light soup.  Roast your asparagus alongside your bacon as they cook for nearly the same amount of time. Scallions play triple duty today, flavoring the cornbread, garnishing the soup and gracing the salad.  Have your scallion chopper thinly slice about 5-6 bunches, separate the whites from the greens and put both out in prep bowls for all to use.  Do the same with the parsley which flavors both the soup and the salad.  Finally, if your head chef (or grocery porter) arrives 15 minutes early, you can have the ovens warming, the soup water heating and the veggies and fruit soaking to get things moving.

Happy Cooking and Happy Spring!




Leek & Potato Soup with Asparagus
Serves 50

• 3 gallons spring water
• 36 oz good quality Potato Soup mix
• 7 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed and cubed into 1/2" pieces
• 6 lbs spring asparagus, bottoms trimmed and stalks cut into 1" segments
• 36 oz bacon, nitrate-free
• 3/4 cup olive oil, divided (OR 1/2 cup olive oil plus1/4 cup bacon fat if desired)
• 7 lbs leeks, (about 9 large) trimmed of green tops and sliced into very thin rounds
• 6 cloves garlic, minced 
• 6 bay leaves
• 3 oz (about 8 cubes) of salt-free vegetable bouillon (we like Rapunzel brand)
• 1 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 bunch fresh chives, finely minced
• 2 cups thinly sliced scallions, green parts only
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Pour 3 gallons of spring water into a covered XL stock pot and begin warming over high heat.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Scrub potatoes clean and remove any blemishes with a small knife.  Dice potatoes into bite sized pieces.  When water reaches a roiling boil, stir in soup mix, bouillon cubes and diced potatoes. Reduce heat and allow soup to cook at a gentle boil for 15 minutes.

While soup is cooking, arrange bacon in a single layer on sheet pans.  Bake for 10 minutes until most of the bacon fat has been rendered.  Remove pans from oven and carefully pour off fat into a metal bowl, reserving to grease the cornbread pan and saute the leeks.  Flip bacon strips over and bake for an additional 5 minutes until extremely crisp.  Remove from oven and pour off any remaining fat. Allow strips to cool completely before breaking into bits to garnish the soup.

While bacon is cooking, toss asparagus in a large bowl with 1/4 cup olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for 15 minutes until crisp tender and set aside.

While asparagus is roasting and soup base is cooking, warm remaining 1/4 cup olive oil plus 1/4 cup bacon fat over medium heat in an XL saute pan, being careful not to burn. Add leeks to pan and saute until translucent, about 12-15 minutes.  Add garlic to pan and saute for an additional 2 minutes.

To finish soup, transfer cooked leeks and asparagus to soup pot.  Stir in parsley and chives and taste for flavor, seasoning with salt and pepper as necessary. Turn off heat and allow soup to sit for about 5 minutes.  Serve hot and garnish bowls with bacon bits and scallions. 








Cheddar Scallion Cornbread
Makes (2) 8x13 pans or one full-size hotel pan, about 40 slices

• 3 cups unbleached white flour
• 3 cups yellow cornmeal
• 3 TBS baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 6 eggs
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup olive oil (or melted butter)
• 1/3 cup agave syrup (or 1/2 cup honey)
• 3 cups aged sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4" cubes
• 2 cups thinly sliced scallions, white parts only
• 1 cup thinly sliced scallions, green parts only
• 2 TBS reserved bacon fat or olive oil for greasing pan

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees. 

Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and sea salt in an XL mixing bowl.  Push dry ingredients to the sides of the bowl and create a crater in the center of the mixture.  In the crater, combine the eggs, milk, olive oil and honey.  With a large wooden spoon slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, being careful not to overwork the mixture as this will toughen the bread.  Once mixed, gently fold in cheese and white scallions.

With a basting brush, lightly grease (2) 8x13 baking pans (or a single shallow hotel pan) with the reserved bacon fat (or olive oil).  Preheat the greased pans in the oven for about 5 minutes before adding the cornbread mixture.  This will ensure a good crust.

Carefully remove the preheated pans from the oven.  Immediately pour batter into the hot pans and top with remaining green scallions.  Return to oven to bake for 25-30 minutes or until crusty brown and cooked through.








Simple Greens with Lemon and Olive Oil
Serves 40 as a side salad

• 1 lb mixed baby salad greens, organic if possible
• 1 cup thinly sliced scallions, green parts only
• 1 cup thinly sliced scallions, white parts only
• 1/2" cup minced fresh parsley
• 4 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 4 lemons, juiced
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese (optional)
• sea salt and freshly grated pepper to taste

Toss greens, scallions and parsley in an XL bowl to combine.

To make the dressing, whisk together olive oil and lemon juice in a small bowl until combined.

About ten minutes before serving dinner, lightly dress greens, toss with the grated cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve along side soup and cornbread and enjoy!








Strawberries with Honey and Lime
Serves 40 as a light dessert

• 8 lbs whole fresh strawberries
• 6 limes, juiced
• 1/2 cup honey

Soak strawberries for ten minutes in cold water to loosen dirt.  Pick over and remove any berries with mold.

Trim the tops from the berries and cut the berries in half.  Place cut berries in an XL mixing bowl.

Gently toss berries with lime juice and honey and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes to marinate (and as long as an hour).  Chill while berries are resting.  Serve alone or a la mode.

Thoughts for Food: Spring