Thursday, August 30, 2007

Presto Pasta Nights - Pineapple Basil Noodles

I've been doing lots of sorting and organizing lately, and the other night I spent some time going through some of my cooking notebooks. I started Sara's Cookbook #1 when I was 18 years old. I copied recipes from my Mom, my friends Moms, even my boyfriends Mom who was a bad cook. I pasted in recipes from Gourmet, Bon Appetit and Vegetarian Times. And then I started to add my own creations and ideas. I'm having so much fun looking through the early books. I can see the beginnings of my vegetarian time; when my roommate and I went through our bread making phase; which cookbooks and authors I was obsessed with at the time. And then when I had regular access to the internet? Holy Cow. I would spend entire evenings searching for recipes on the internet, and then copy them into my books. I am such a party animal!


The original recipe for this dish comes out of Cookbook #3 and looks like I cut it out of Gourmet magazine. The magazine version had veggies in it, but I was really just interested in the pineapple and basil. The cooking fairies (??) must have been smiling down on me when I came across this recipe again the other day. There were cellophane noodles in the pantry, a fresh pineapple on the counter, and basil outside in the garden.

I am crazy about this dish. The pineapple and basil are amazing together, and this is the perfect recipe to use up some of the cellophane noodles that seem to multiply in my cupboard.

And luckily for me Ruth considers any sort of noodle fair game for Presto Pasta Nights!

Pineapple Basil Noodles

3 oz cellophane noodles

1 tsp cornstarch
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 cup chopped pineapple
1 tb finely chopped basil

Place the noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit at least 10 minutes, or longer, until the noodles are soft. Drain well and set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Stir the cornstarch into the pineapple juice and pour into the pan. Add the soy sauce and simmer until the sauces start to thicken, just a minute or two. Add the pineapple and cook until the pineapple is hot. Add the noodles and toss to coat. Stir in the basil, and remove from the stove.


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love cellophane noodles! I am so there for this!

Ruth Daniels said...

Cool combo. Normally I only like pineapple fresh and juicy and all by itself or maybe with some other fruit in a salad...but I'll give this one a try - You're a good salesman! Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

Janet said...

That recipe looks amazing, I can see why you clipped it. I have a little cookbook from when I was young too... mine looks like a scrapbook and it has plastic sleeves for pages. I pasted pictures and wrote commentaries. It was sort of like a blog, before there was such a thing as blogs...(or internet).

Deborah said...

I have never heard of a pasta like this - it is so intriguing to me!! I actually went through a notebook of mine that I had found from about 12 years ago - it's kind of crazy how my taste in foods has changed. There were still MANY recipes in there I want to still try, though!

Anonymous said...

I saw this picture on Ruth's Presto Pasta Night. The flavor combination sounds absolutely fabulous. Thanks for sharing!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Oh, please can I come for dinner!

Peabody said...

How cute are those notebooks. It was just like when I found my 7th grade home ec cookbook.
What fun.

Anonymous said...

sounds delicious and so easy...i know pineapple and basil are a great combo. i write my recipes in a little hardcover book that looks like a diary. when my parents came for a visit in april, i had it lying around, and my mum made some comment about it one day. she's very nosey, so i'm sure she thought it was actually a diary when she felt free to look inside!

Lis said...

I've actually had a pineapple/basil daquiri before (did I spell that right?) and it was fanfarkingtastic!! I can just imagine how good these noodles are.. I can't wait to try!!

xoxo