Baked Rigatoni with Brussels Sprouts, Figs, and Blue Cheese (FM)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan
• Salt
• 8 ounces rigatoni, preferably whole wheat
• 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, roughly chopped
• 4 ounces Gorgonzola or other blue cheese, crumbled [use some Danish blue]
• 6 to 8 fresh figs, or 1 cup dried, chopped [Used dried since fresh are out-of-seaon.  1 cup is a whole lot of dried figs.]
• Black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds, for garnish

Mise en place.

I guess technically you're supposed to blanch the sprouts after removing the pasta from the cooking water, but I flaked on this and figured that steaming them would be good enough.  Also, I didn't think to save any of the cooking water to use later on.  Ohz well.

Stir everything together except for the almonds and add a splash of the cooking water. (Eh, I used heavy cream instead since I had an open container of it.)  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at 400 degrees until mixture is bubbling.

Oh, I also had a little leftover prosciutto which I thought fit well with the rest of the ingredients, but it wasn't really enough to be altogether noticeable.

The almonds were just supposed to be a garnish, but part of the way through the baking process I tried to top the practically overflowing dish with the almonds and tried to toast them along the way.  I didn't really achieve too much of that before pulling this out of the oven.

This dish was fine.  Not incredible but not borderline gross like the cannellini and zucchini dish.

Brussels sprouts and tofu (Plenty)

• 2 tbsp sweet chile sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 5 oz firm tofu
• 1 lb Brussels sprouts
• about 3/4 cup sunflower oil
• salt
• 1 cup sliced green onions
• 1/2 small fresh red chile, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups shiitake mushrooms, halved or quartered
• 1 cup cilantro leaves
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

I once bought a stalk of these from Trader Joe's with no specific recipe in mine. It basically occupied space in my fridge until I had to throw it out.

This time I was shopping for brussels sprouts and even though it probably still living in the fridge for about a week I still was able to actually use it.

I left the mushrooms out at room temperature in a sealed bag for a couple days.  Unsurprisingly much of it went bad on me.  I inevitably wish there had been more shiitakes in the dish.

Mise en place.

Browning the sprouts.

Saute the onions, chile, and mushrooms for 1 to 2 minutes.

Browning the marinated tofu.

Toasting sesame seeds.

Honestly I don't think this dish that Ottolenghi created references any specific Asian cuisine.  There's there's the Chinese-ish glaze that the marinated is reduced down to, but the cilantro is hella Southeast Asia but such a natural pairing with with the flavors in the dish.  And where in Asia exactly do they use maple syrup in their stir-fries.

If I ever make it out to London, I clearly have to eat somewhere Ottolenghi.  And St. Johns as well I guess.