New Year's Celebration

Our New Year's Celebration was pretty staid this year. We celebrated early by having some very good friends over for dinner and board games on the 30th. Our friends brought salad and sparkling wine ("J"). We made the following goodies and served the pasta with 2 bottles of Sacreterre. Needless to say, a good time was had by all.

I prepared most of the pasta dish ahead of time, so all I had to do when our friends arrived was boil the pasta and combine everything together. The recipes are from Cook's Illustrated Magazine.

Mexicali Cheese Ball

Ingredients:

• 2 C pepper jack cheese, shredded
• 1 block of cream cheese, softened
  
• 3 heaping Tbl of Salsa
• Handful of minced fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 C blue corn chips, crushed

Directions:

• Process all ingredients except tortilla chips in the food processor until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.
• Transfer cheese mixture to the center of a large sheet of plastic.
• Holding the corners of wrap in one hand, twist cheese with other hand to seal and shape into a rough ball.
• Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours
• Reshape as necessary into a smooth sphere
• Unwrap cheese ball and roll in tortilla chips
• Let sit at room temperate for 15 minutes before serving.
  

Pasta With Roasted Broccoli, Garlic and Almonds

Ingredients

• 2 heads of garlic, paper skins removed and top quarter of heads cut off and discarded
• 6 Tbl + 1 tsp of olive oil
• 1 head of broccoli (1 1/2 lbs)
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1 lb tortellini pasta
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1 tbl frsh basil
• 1 C shredded manchego cheese
• 1/4 c Slivered almonds, toasted
  

Directions:

• Place large rimmed baking sheet on the middle rack in the oven. Heat to 500 degrees
• Cut a large sheet of foil.
• Place garlic heads, cut side up, in center of foil
• Drizzle 1/2 tsp of oil over each head and seal as a packet.
• Place packet in oven and roast until garlic tender, approximate 40 minutes. Open packet and set aside to cool
• Meanwhile, cut the broccoli at the juncture of the crowns and stems. Remove peel from stems and cut stems into 2 to 3 inch lengths, about 1/2 inches thick.
• Cut crowns into 4 or 6 wedges.
• Place broccoli in a large bown and toss with 3 Tbl of oil, 1 tsp salt, pepper to taste, and sugar
• Remove baking sheet from oven
• Place broccoli on baking sheet, cut side down.
• Return baking sheet to oven and roast for 10-15 minutes.
• When cooled, transfer broccoli to cutting board and chop into rough 1/2in pieces.
• Cook pasta according to directions, reserving 1 cup of cooking water.
• Squeeze roasted garlic cloves from their skin into a small bowl.
  
• Using a fork, mash garlic into a smooth paste, stir in red pepper flakes and 2 Tbl of lemon juice.
• Whisk in remaining 1/4 C of oil
• After draining pasta, return to pot. Add chopped broccoli and stir in garlic sauce, 1/4 C cooking water, basil and 1/2 C of cheese.
• Adjust consistency with cooking water and season with salt, pepper and additional lemon juice
• Top with the remaining cheese and toasted nuts; serve immediately.