Creamy pasta with asparagus and smoked trout

We headed to Duluth for a few days of day drinking recently (aka sampling the town's plethora of breweries). That means we came home with lots of brewvenirs (Earth Rider's medal-winning coffee pale ale!), and tasty smoked things from Northern Waters Smokehaus. A fillet of smoked trout worked nicely in this fast, easy supper.

Creamy pasta with asparagus and smoked fish

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens July 2019

Incredients

12 ounces bucatini or other sturdy pasta

8 ounces asparagus, tough ends snapped off and broken into 2-inch pieces

1 cup heavy cream

6- to 8-ounce fillet smoked fish

2 lemons, zested and juiced

Parmesan cheese, grated

Method

Heat pasta water to a boil in a large stock pot. Salt liberally. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. With about 5 minutes to go on the cooking time, add asparagus to pot.

Meanwhile, heat cream in a large saute pan. Add smoked fish, lemon zest and juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

When pasta is al dente, drain pasta and asparagus and add it to the cream mixture along with pasta cooking water as needed to make a sauce. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Rating: Super fast and tasty. But really, how can you go wrong with good smoked fish and memories of a really fun beer run?

Pickled bell peppers

Our farmers market got rained out Saturday, a big disappointment in a month where we're in full stock-up mode. But it did give me a rainy day in which to catch up on some of the produce we bought last weekend that needed attention. 

I turned to this recipe I first made several years ago. This time I just opted for the refrigerator method, but I've made it before with the full-blown canning method. The colors fade a bit if you heat the jars, but they last longer, so it's a trade-off.

Italian-style pickled peppers

Adapted from the Farmers’ Market Cookbook publication by Vegetarian Times. although I can't find it on their website to link to. It was one of those magazine stand publications that I've long since recycled. I'm not sure what makes these allegedly Italian style, so I'll take their word for it, not being remotely Italian except in terms of cuisine preferences. The only adaptation I did was to use pint jars instead of two quarter-size jars and I had to up the amount of brine ingredients (proportionately) to have enough liquid to cover all four pints.

Ingredients

3 pounds bell peppers, cored and sliced (a mix of colors makes it pretty)

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

4 bay leaves

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2½ cups distilled white vinegar

1¼ cup sugar

2½ tablespoons kosher salt

4 garlic cloves, peeled

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Method

Sterilize four 1-pint jars and lids. If you're using the refrigerator method, just take the jars straight out of a hot dishwasher cycle so they're good and hot before you pour boiling liquid in.

Toss bell peppers with onions in a large bowl. Fill jars with peppers and onions. Tuck in a bay leaf and thyme sprig in each jar.

Bring vinegar, sugar, salt, garlic and peppercorns to a boil in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook 1 minute.

Pour vinegar mixture over bell pepper mixture, leaving a ¼-inch headspace. (Try to get a garlic clove and some peppercorns in each jar.) Wipe off the jar’s rim before putting on lids to seal. Either let cool before refrigerating, or process in a boiling water bath.

For hot water bath method: In a large canning or stock pot, bring enough water to a boil to cover jars by at least 1 inch. Boil jars for 10 minutes. Carefully remove jars from pot with tongs and let cool before storing them. Make sure lids have “popped” and are actually sealed. If you have any doubts, store the jar in the refrigerator. Always label jars so you’ll know when you put them up and what recipe you used if you want to make them again.

Rating: These are wonderful on turkey or beef sandwiches, both for flavor and color. I've tossed them in with sauteed fresh bell peppers and red onions for a pasta sauce. Very versatile, and really quite simple, especially if you just use the refrigerator method. Late summer captured in a jar.