150 Best American Recipes | 20something cupcakes

Rare: A dish so simple, you could eat it for dinner once a week, but also elegant and memorable enough to serve at a dinner party.

Rare, but it exists. That cookbook I was telling you about the other day? That cookbook is full of cases like this.

I could eat this pasta every week. I could probably eat it more than every week. It’s just *so* easy to make. Roast mushrooms, make pasta, purée chives in olive oil. A perfect example of how food doesn’t have to be complicated to be impressively delicious.

It’s also incredibly versatile. Serve it as a main, serve it as a side. Serve it room temperature, serve it hot. Oh, and I didn’t mention that it’s vegetarian?

Cremini Mushrooms with Chive Pasta

From High Heat by Wendy Malouf and Melissa Clark

Coarse sea salt or kosher salt
1 pound cremini mushrooms, wiped clean
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup roughly snipped fresh chives (2-3 bunches)
1 pound spaghetti or angel hair pasta
Freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese for serving

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Toss the mushrooms in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and generous pinches of salt and pepper. Spread the mushrooms in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast, turning once, until tender and browned, about 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut the mushrooms into quarters. In a food processor or blender, combine the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil, the chives, and generous pinches of salt and pepper. Process until pureéd.

Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of the cooking water if you plan to serve the pasta hot. In a larger serving bowl, toss the pasta with the mushrooms and chive oil. If serving immediately, toss with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the reserved cooking water. Otherwise, let the pasta cool to room temperature. Serve with the cheese on the side.

Serves 3 or 4 as a main, 6 as a side.

I’m pretty excited to share this recipe with you.

For a couple of reasons. First of all, this salad is one you’ll be making again and again. Or at least I will. It’s my ideal starter salad for summer. It’s also from Jaime Oliver, so that’s where the fun begins. I love his food, and I love the way he writes his recipes – like he’s talking to you.

I’m also super-excited to tell you about the cookbook from which I got this recipe. It’s called, “The 150 Best American Recipes: Indispensable Recipes from Legendary Chefs and Undiscovered Cooks.” I swear by this book, so much so that I’ll be posting a separate review on it.

One of the reasons I love this book is that the authors have tested and re-tested every recipe – not only do they let you know what they discovered along the way, but they also provide great tips every cook should know. Such as: Never refrigerate tomatoes. This will destroy their flavor and turn them mealy. Who would’ve thunk it?

Now, I already told you the fun started with the carefree way Jamie writes the recipe, but the real fun is in physically making this salad. That’s right – this is physical. You crush the tomatoes with your very own hands, and you use pitted olives (because they have more flavor!), which you get to smash and de-pit yourself, too. It couldn’t be easier to make in a pinch, no recipe required: All you need to remember is 4 parts cherry tomatoes, to 1 part olives – add a splash of vinegar and olive oil, and toss in handfuls of fresh arugula and basil.

Rustic. Simple. Perfect.

Cherry Tomato Salad with Olives

From The Naked Chef Takes Off by Jamie Oliver

2 pints cherry tomatoes (preferably different colors)
1/2 cup unpitted olives (any kind)
Red wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 handful of torn fresh basil leaves
1 handful of torn arugula leaves

In a large serving bowl, squash the cherry tomatoes with one hand while holding the other over them so they don’t splatter all over everything. Put the olives on a cutting board and gently smash them with a rolling pin, a cup, or even your thumb. Remove the pits and add the olives to the salad bowl.

Drizzle in a little vinegar and grind some pepper on top. Add the oil and toss. Just before serving, “rip in,” as Oliver says, the basil and arugula and toss well.

Serves 6.