Tuesday, Mar 15, 2022 • 9min

2: Leanne Brown’s Spicy Umami Pasta

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This week we’re talking to Leanne Brown about the joy of cooking for yourself, what makes a good fantasy novel, and her One, a spicy, umami pantry pasta https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2022/03/15/my-spicy-umami-pasta Leanne is the author of four cookbooks, including Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4 a day, and Good Enough: A Cookbook: Embracing the Joys of Imperfection and Practicing Self Care In the Kitchen. You can follow her on Instagram @leanneebrown or on Twitter @leelb. Help support The One Recipe, and shows from APM Studios that bring people together, with a donation of any amount today http://theonerecipe.org/donate We want to hear what you think about The One Recipe! You can help us out by filling out a short audience survey: theonerecipe.org/survey http://theonerecipe.org/survey

Talking about

Speakers

(2)

Leanne Brown

Jesse Sparks

Transcript

Verified

Break

Leanne Brown

00:20

Hi, I'm Leanne Brown and I am a

cookbook

author. I wrote "Good And Cheap" and "Good Enough" and I'm also a voracious reader of fantasy. The last one I read was

The Bear And The Nightingale

, which I loved. It was all about sort of russian folklore and really weird and wonderful.

00:38

And the one just before that, which I think I loved even more was called "The House In The Cerulean Sea" by

TJ Klune

. And yeah, that one kept me going for a long time. Just so beautiful and sweet and everyone in it eventually really does the right thing, which I think is sort of the ultimate escape from reality these days.

Jesse Sparks

01:07

Hey y'all, it's Jesse Sparks and this is "The One

Recipe"

podcast all about that one

Recipe

that pro chefs and great cooks turn to again and again.

Break

Jesse Sparks

01:56

Okay, it's time for this week's

Recipe

with Leanne Brown. Leanne is the author of multiple

Cookbooks

, the award winning "Good And Cheap, Eat Well On $4/day", which has been downloaded more than 15 million times and her latest "Good Enough". Leanne is also a food writer, a mom and that she said at the top of the pod, a fantasy novel aficionado.

02:21

Hey Leanne, how are you doing?

Leanne Brown

02:23

I'm good, how are you?

Jesse Sparks

02:25

I'm good. Thank you so much for making time. So let's get right into it. Tell me all about your one

Recipe

Leanne Brown

02:33

So the

Recipe

I wanted to talk to you about is called "My Spicy

Umami

Pasta"

and it's really a pantry

Pasta

. You know, I live with my partner and my daughter and they have certain things they don't really like and everybody has that, that's okay. But there's certain things that I really like that I sometimes want to have for myself. And I think there's something so life-affirming and delightful about really making something just for yourself. Sometimes, like we do so much cooking for others.

03:05

I don't know, there's something for me really liberating, because nobody's gonna care but just me. And so I think there's something really fun about that and this is my attempt to sort of share that. Because I think the reality is that I have my way of making this, but I think everyone would have sort of, their version that really amps up whatever it is that they particularly like. That's really what I want to share is like that sort of permission to be you and be like whatever you're ridiculous or not ridiculous. You've wonderful, unique tastes, you know.

Jesse Sparks

03:35

So one of my favorite things is like, as you were saying that, the fists were clinched, that there was a like, ear to ear beaming grin. So can you tell me a little bit more about the process of making it?

Leanne Brown

03:46

Sure, Yeah! So, usually I use a bunch of stuff that I tend to just have around, like small amounts of two. And there's something really satisfying about that as well. I usually have like an annoying amount of

pasta

left.

Jesse Sparks

03:59

And it's never like an even amount. It's always like, oh yes, a third, quarter, half.

Leanne Brown

04:04

Yeah, it's just the wrong amount. And so I'll have that kicking around and then, so I'll use that sort of just enough for me or slightly more than I need. So I have garlic and shallot. I mean it could be any type of onion, it doesn't really matter.

04:17

And then a little bit of some type of

chili paste

. I always have

sambal oelek

which is Indonesian and it's pretty accessible, you can get almost anywhere. And I also loved

gochujang

, which is korean. It's a lot thicker though, and so it just kind of gives it this beautiful, I hate to use this word, but like the mouthfeel, like that particular, like feeling of like, a surface tension that is really wonderful.

Jesse Sparks

04:41

It's not super liquidy, it's not just gonna like fall off the spoon or splatter everywhere.

Leanne Brown

04:46

Exactly. So yes, spicy, onioney and then I add honey and then I often will have like, again an annoying amount of wine around, like just a half or a quarter bottle of of wine around.

04:59

And so I use all of that to sort of make a sauce and then even the process of making the sauce is so fun. Because like I said, there's all these different textures that you're working with, like you start with butter in the pan and it gets sizzly and then you add like really fine, I really like to fine my diced onions and the garlic.

05:17

So that like every tiny little piece has bubbles around it, and it just begins to get translucent, and it just feels like, I don't know, there's something so gorgeous about that moment when you're looking at the bottom of the pan and everything is bubbling. And then, you add your

tomato paste

which is really thick and sort of feels like how is this going to add to it, but it just starts to melt from all that heat and then you have your

chili paste

and honey which of course it just gets thick.

05:43

And yet it's just because the heat changes all the consistencies, so that it's just a little runny. And then you pour your wine or you can add

pasta

water as well. And that will have sort of a different experience, because there's the acid from wine that you won't get from

pasta

water, but the

pasta

water will also make it thick and give it this really lovely smooth texture. And when something is really, really hot and it's just hot everywhere and then you add a big bunch of something liquid, it just goes like, you know, "Kschuw"!

Jesse Sparks

06:15

Just like a little applause, a stovetop-like standing ovation already for you.

Leanne Brown

06:20

And then as the steam dissipates and you can actually see again. It's become a sauce and it's just like, yes, like it's just so magical. It's such a magical experience. And then you add your

pasta

. I always like to cook it just a little less than

Al Dente

so that I can get it into the sauce and have it spent some time there without it getting mushy.

06:40

And so you add that in and you just toss it a few times and it coats everything just gorgeously and at some point you add in like olives and parmesan and scallion or herbs or whatever else you want to do or that's what I did.

Jesse Sparks

06:53

I mean it sounds like you're already about to put

Strega Nona

out of a job, like this sounds incredible. So can you tell me a little bit more about what you find so magical about pantry

pastas

? So often we think of like, just these ingredients that were not excited about, but you speak with so much joy and enthusiasm for it. Can you tell me a little bit about how you found that?

Leanne Brown