Seafood Pasta

In lieu of a family vacation this summer, my sister and I traveled back home to Hershey, PA for a long weekend. My mom enjoys making copious amounts of food for us. One night, she made this seafood pasta with fettucine, clams, squid, jumbo shrimp, herbs, garlic, and white wine:We ate it with corn on the cob, green beans, crusty broiled Parmesan French bread rounds, and watermelon:

Wagamama

This summer, I've formed a weekly dinner club of sorts with my friends Brendan and Kyle. Really, it's more of an "eating club:" we go out to restaurants in the greater Boston area instead of actually preparing our meals!

Tonight, we ventured to Wagamama in Harvard Square. The cuisine is a fusion of Japanese, Chinese and Southeast Asian dishes. It's kind of an upscale ramen noodle bar. As noted above, the Wagamama chain has spread across the globe. The interior of the restaurant is that of a sleek noodle bar/canteen-style restaurant--somewhere between a pho noodle dive and David Chang's Momofuku in New York. All of the dishes are made-to-order, so entrees often arrive to the table at different times. Servers write on your paper placement to keep track of your order.Brendan had Yaki udon, or teppan-fried udon noodles with curry oil, shiitake mushrooms, egg, leeks , shrimp, chicken, yaki chikuwa, bean sprouts, green and red peppers, black and white sesame seeds, fried shallots, pickled red ginger, and a spicy cilantro vinaigrette.Kyle had the Yasai Katsu curry, which consisted of deep-fried slices of sweet potato, eggplant and butternut squash coated in panko breadcrumbs. The dish was served with a light curry sauce, rice, mixed leaves, and red pickles.For a starter, I had duck gyoza, which I have ordered in the past. They were filled with duck and leeks, deep-fried, and served with cherry hoisin sauce. Basically, some of my all-time favorite ingredients...deep-fried!I also had teriyaki salmon. It was grilled and served with rice and steamed baby bok choy. The dish was garnished with mixed sesame seeds, nori, and teriyaki sauce.

Spaghetti with Asparagus, Smoked Mozzarella and Prosciutto

I made this Giada De Laurentiis recipe today, although I halved the amount of asparagus. The cherrywood-smoked mozzarella complements the cured prosciutto, and the pasta is chock full of add-ins, so there's no need for a sauce.

SPAGHETTI WITH ASPARAGUS, SMOKED MOZZARELLA AND PROSCIUTTO

serves 6 to 8

2 lbs asparagus, trimmed
3/4 lb spaghetti
4 tbs olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, cut crosswise into strips
6 oz smoked mozzarella cheese, diced (about 1 cup)
6 tbs thinly sliced fresh basil leavesCook the asparagus in a large pot of boiling water until crisp and tender, about 2 to 3 minutes. With a spider or slotted spoon, remove asparagus from boiling water to a bowl of ice water to cool and stop the cooking.When cool, strain, cut asparagus into 1" pieces, and set aside.

Return the water in the pot to a boil, adding additional water, if necessary. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes.
Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add asparagus to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the pasta, and if needed, some of the reserved cooking liquid. Toss to coat. Add the prosciutto, mozzarella, and basil, and toss to combine.Turn off the heat. Season with salt and pepper and serve.