Penne Rigate salad

Adapted from https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/4767-penne-pasta-with-ginger-and-basil

Serves 4

Add 8 oz. penne and 1/4 t. salt to boiling water.  Bring to a boil again and cook to al dente, 10 - 12 min.  Drain and reserve 1/4 c. liquid.  If you forget to save the liquid, use 1/4 c. vermouth instead.  I used red.

In the same pan (now emptied), melt 1 T butter, add 2 T shallots and 2 t garlic, both chopt.  The NYT includes 1T minced ginger.  Cook til wilted.

Add pasta back to the pan, the liquid, 1 T. butter, 1/4 c. grated parmesan, and 4 T. chopt basil.  NYT adds 1/8 t. pepper flakes.  Mix then serve.

Rhubarb/Raspberry sauce

Yet another use for that rhubarb sour syrup, if you are not making those whiskey sours . . .

In a saucepan combine 2 c. raspberries and 1 3/4 c of the syrup.  Cook for 30 min, then strain.  Meanwhile, mix 2 T cornstarch and 1 T water.  After straining the fruit mix, add this thickener, bring to a boil, and cook 1 min.

Rhubarb pudding

This is based on the recipes for almond milk chocolate pudding and rhubarb sour from this blog, and the one for lemon almond pudding, from this blog:  http://gustia-food-finds-feasts.blogspot.com/2013/03/lemon-pudding-with-fresh-almond-milk.html

In a 2 qt. saucepan, mix

• 1/3 c. cornstarch
• 1/4 t. salt
• 2 T. + 1/2 t. lemon zest (one big lemon should suffice), which you first rub with about 1 t. sugar 
• 1 t. cinnamon

Then separately stir together

• 3/4 c. of the rhubarb/lemon syrup from the cocktail recipe 
• 1 egg yolk
• juice of 1 lemon

and whisk this into the cornstarch mixture, over low heat.  Begin adding a total of 3 c. almond milk.  It took a lot longer for this to congeal than happens with the chocolate recipe, so, concerned about the effects of the lemon and rhubarb, I abstained from adding more of these. 

When your whisk leaves marks in the mixture, remove it from the heat, let it cool a bit, add 1 t. vanilla, and pour it into 6 teacups/pinot glasses/ramekins.

It's not a dazzlingly strong taste.  I will serve it with some raspberry sauce cooked with the rhubarb sour syrup.  I am taking it to Suzanne's for a dinner with her and Michael and Meg and Dave Tenenbaum, inaugurating their new dining table.