Truffled Pastitsio and Taramosalata Arugula

Photo: Lisa Fountain

Ingredients

3/4 pound ground lamb

2 tablespoons caviar

2 cups fresh arugula

caciotta al tartufo (black truffle parmesan cheese)

Pantry:

1 cup diced carrot

1 cup diced celery

2 cups diced white onion

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

3 tablespoons fresh oregano

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 cup half& half

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

2 eggs, whipped

nutmeg

cayenne pepper

2 cups rotini or penne pasta

2 tablespoons mayo

1/2 cup half& half

tarragon vinegar (or lemon juice)

sea salt and cracked black pepper

EVOO

Preparation

I start with my diced carrots, onions, and celery, and I add it – with my fennel seeds – to a few glugs of EVOO heating in my Ikea-wonder-wok. I stir for a few moments, letting all the flavors warm and melt into each other.

I also add my fresh oregano. Blend, yumminess! Blend! I command you to blend!

Lamb: the pink meat. I love its sweetness and gameyness; it tastes like nothing else I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating – regularly. I push my slightly transparent veg to the side, and add my meat-wad to the heat. Sizzle sizzle – maybe 5 minutes, medium high.

Smoosh and smash, I break up my lamb-ball and mix it with my mirepoix. I let this simmer for a few minutes.

Secret super savory quick weeknight ingredient? Ketchup. Yup – ketchup. I don’t put it on my fries, nor my burgers, nor my anything, for the most part – but I do keep it in the house. It is a necessary ingredient for several important family recipes: meatloaf, tomato/cucumber salad, quick chicken and tomato rice. Its unique blend of lemon juice, vinegar, tomato paste, and spices adds just the right kick and tang to the mix, especially when you don’t need a whole can of tomatoes. I squirt a scant 2 tablespoons into my pan, and mix well.

Then I add my half & half, and mix well. I set the whole mess to simmer on low heat, stirring every once in a while, for, well, until I’m ready to assemble the pie. Takes about 20 minutes.

Here’s my pasta, purchased at the Salumeria. We heart fun, fine, pasta shapes. I set these to boil for about 10 minutes – to al dente.

The last 5 ingredients of my list are for my arugula dressing: a quick blend of mayo, cream, tarragon vinegar (although I think lemon juice may have augmented the brine in the caviar better, even if the sweetness of the tarragon did complement the richness of the pastitsio perfectly), salt and pepper. I whisk this very well…

A true taramosalata is a caviar and whipped egg yolk emulsion, sort of a dip, with a very briny, fish egg flavor suspended in a mild, creamy base. Because of my strong (I’m at the bottom of this batch, so it is very concentrated) tarragon vinegar, and fairly mild golden roe, my creamagrette is more sweet than salty. No matter – it ended up really complementing the dinner deliciously, even if the caviar flavor was overshadowed by the herb. I blend this well and let sit until the last moment, when I hand dress my peppery fresh arugula.

Béchamel, the topping for this here Greek inspired meat and pasta pie, is made with flour, butter, egg, and milk. One of my eggs spent significantly more time in the tanning bed than his bretheren.

At the most complicated moment, I’ve got all my burners going and several bowls at the ready. From the bottom left: my eggs are whisked, my milk is simmering, my pasta is cooking, my butter is melted, my lamb is stewing, and my flour is waiting.

I add my flour to my hot, melted, still-set-over-medium-high-heat butter, and whisk well until it’s all incorporated and turning a darker shade of pale.

I add half my hot milk to the pan (now set over low heat), and the other half to my whisked eggs, whisking constantly, with both hands, like the culinary virtuoso that I am. (Note: I am still taking pictures, too. Ok… ok… so I enlisted the hubby as a hand model. Deal with it.) I let this cook for about 4 minutes.

I then whisk my egg/warm milk mixture to my thick flour/butter/milk roux, whipping like the Dickens to blend and thicken. This takes about 5 minutes.

I remove my sauce from the heat, add some sea salt, black pepper, grated nutmeg, and cayenne pepper, and stir it all up real good like.

My pasta is perfectly under-cooked – still slightly springy, since it will continue to cook while baking in the oven – so I layer half of it into a buttered dish, pour all my sublime lamb over it, and layer the other half on top. Nice!

Velvety béchamel blanketing my noodles and sheep. ‘Nuff said.

The final bit of sinful fun: my truffle parmesan, or caciotta al tartufo - a salty, earthy, nutty, rich cheese…

Shaved generously on top of my white mother. I set this baby to bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes.

After which time… whoa. There be dinner here!

But it needs to rest for a few minutes, which will make everything stick together just so. Perfect – because I need to dress my arugula with my caviar cream dressing, and a dash of fine EVOO.

A few more shavings of cheese, a handful of sweet and salty pepper greens, and my luscious hot lamb pasta white sauce baked casserole is a hearty, home-style, provincial meal that warms all the chills permeating my corpus New Englandus these cold, damp, March days. Each bite is steaming and rich, decadent and delicious. Each tiny veggie cube adds toothsome texture, the lamb is tender and tantalizing, and the topping is lush and fluffy, earthy and cheesy. I ate every bite, then a few more forkfuls from the platter, and then licked my plate clean. So luscious… so Lolita.

Oh yeah. I live for dinners like these.