A birthday to remember

Last Friday I woke up with a touch of a cold and the slap of a hangover. After celebrating my friend Semra's birthday the night before, dancing away the night to the sounds of Lady Gaga, I woke up late realizing I had to snap out of my dazed state and cook up her birthday dinner for 12. Instead of hopping in the shower and heading straight to the outdoor market, ready to shop for my already planned meal, I was sucked in by my ultimate vice, the food blog.

Each week I swear by a new one, in awe of the delicious treats they have to offer, I scribble down ingredients to pick up on my way home from work, ready to conquer another man's (or woman's) dish. On this particular day I had the good fortune to come across the genius that is Molly Wizenburg, the woman is a serious miracle worker. Her blog, Orangette, took my breath away, (I know this may sound strange, but I am a food junkie) the long list of recipes are to die for, plus her writing combines intellect and humor perfectly, if her words were food they would be the most lucious and divine chocolate cake.

After hours of browsing through the pages I came across one of the most fabulous looking dishes I have ever seen, Handmade Troife al Pesto. My mouth waters just thinking about it, the soft texture of the handmade troife accompanied by the perfectly creamy pesto sauce, and crisp green beans results in 100 % satisfied taste buds. Right above the recipe was another for Slow Roasted Tomatoes with Sea Slat and Ground Coriander, an ideal side dish suggestion for the pasta, which I followed with great reward.

Finally, after being pulled into the magical world of all things Molly, I jotted down the new menu for the night and headed out the door at 6pm to begin the food shopping. After running around the busy Friday night streets of Barcelona I arrived home at 7pm with exactly 3 hours to create pasta by hand, slowly cook the tomatoes for 4 hours and whip up a special marble cake for the birthday girl. The time just didn't add up, so at 10pm when the guests began to arrive I found myself just beginning to roll the mound of dough in front of me, with the help of my devoted, wonderful boyfriend (he always is but I feel I must stress the point due to all his hard work).

I figured dinner would be an hour late and picked up the speed until my friend Micah pointed out to me that troife should be small and thin not medium sized and fat, and that's when disaster stuck. All the pasta we had rolled had to be re-rolled, and there was still a huge mound of dough left. As panic ran through my body, I looked around at the happy faces, sipping wine and chatting, and decided to put the party to work. As they sat around the table rolling endless amounts of pasta I was more than gratuitous. By 12am the pasta was rolled and the people were starving and almost drunk, which worked to my advantage, as I threw the pasta in boiling water and hoped for the best.

As we sat around the table at 12.25am and took the first bite of the much awaited dinner, I realized it was all worth it. The pasta was exactly as it should have been, the tomatoes were cooked to sweet perfection. Perhaps I should have listened to Molly, she does warn that the pasta is time consuming, or perhaps I shouldn't have attempted it at a 12 person dinner party, her recipe serves 4, but needless to say the team work made it all the more worth it.

Handmade Troife al Pesto

From Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian, adapted by Molly Wizenburg and modified by myself

Serves 4

Pesto:
1 cup fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
3 heaping Tbs pine nuts
1/2-1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
Coarse salt
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, tightly packed, plus more for serving

1. Blend basil into a pulp, using a hand blender, in a tall, thick plastic glass.

2. Add pine nuts, garlic (begin with 1/2 to taste) and salt, blend together until combined, then add oil and continue to blend.

3. Stir in Parmigiano and set aside.

Troife:

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra to work with
1 tsp salt

Water

1. Clean off a counter or flat work surface, making sure it is completely dry, and sift flour and salt onto it in a mound. Make a volcano and begin to pour the water little by little into the middle, each time combing the flour mixture from the outside using your hands.

2. Continue until the flour and water are completely combined and the mound has a slightly sticky, doughy texture.

3. Knead the dough until no longer sticky and put it to one side.

4. Clean and dry the work surface and your hands, flour both again, and continue to knead the dough until it is smooth.

5. Cover with a kitchen towel and set it aside for half an hour.

6. Clean and dry the work surface and your hands, flour both again. Here comes the hard part, break off chick pea sized pieces of the dough and roll it in between your palms to form a fat toothpick, about 3 times the width of a toothpick, so still fairly thin.

7. After rolling manipulate the pieces slightly with your fingers to make them into knobbly shapes (thinner is some areas and slightly fatter in others).

8. Do not place them on top of each other when done (we learned this the hard way and had a mound of troife that had to be re-rolled for the second time). Lay each side-by-side on a floured baking sheet until all are done.

Finishing touch:
½-3/4 lb haricots verts or small green beans, trimmed

1. Cut the green beans, each piece about 2 inches long, and place them in boiling, salted water for about 5 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place them into a large bowl (big enough to fit the pasta as well) and reserve the water.

2. Boil the troife in the same water until they rise to the top, about 4 minutes, spooning out about a cupful of water to keep on the side.

3. Drain the troife, rinsing them in cold water for a few seconds, and place them in the bowl with the green beans. Immediately add pesto sauce, salt if needed, and a small amount of the reserved water, until a light sauce is made.

4. Serve with a bowl of grated Parmigano on the table.

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes with Sea Salt and Provencal Herbs

Modified by myself from Molly WIzenburg's Slow-Roasted Tomatoes with Sea Salt and Ground Coriander recipe

After drooling over Molly's recipe I remembered eating a similar side dish, with a barbecued sole, at a small Catalan restaurant in my boyfriend's town, Olot. I believe they covered their tomatoes with Provencal herbs and after the love my tastes buds felt, I modified this recipe slightly.

Serves 6 as a side dish

6 Roma tomatoes

Olive oil

Sea salt

2-3 Tbs. dried Provencal herbs

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Wash the tomatoes, pulling off the stems, and cutting them in half, lengthwise.

3. Put the tomatoes, skin side down, on a baking sheet.

4. Pour a small amount of olive oil into a bowl and with clean hands, dip your first 2 fingers into the bowl. Lightly rub the olive oil on the top of each tomato.

5. Sprinkle the salt over the tomatoes, making sure not to over do it, and then cover the top of each tomato with Provencal herbs.

6. Bake them in the oven for 4-6 hours, checking on them occasionally to make sure they are not burning.

7. Remove from the oven and serve.