Some type of ground protein (I use Impossible or crumbled tofu, but this could be literally anything) is the base, and I usually add in a healthy serving of stir-fry veggies for some fiber.
My rule of thumb is:
a handful of chilies (less if I’m cooking for my roommate),
half an onion (chopped),
a few cloves of garlic (crushed),
a handful of basil (Thai or Genovese),
and a bag of stir-fry veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, carrots)
per pound of protein.
Temper some oil with the chilies, onion, garlic and then add the protein. Once you’ve got the protein mostly, but not fully, cooked, add in light AND dark soy sauces, black pepper, and (optionally) MSG and/or fish sauce, if you’re so inclined. Mix and let stew for 5 min before adding the basil. Then, let it simmer for as long as you want. Eat it alone, with rice, or (my favorite) with an over-easy egg on top. Incredible for lunch or dinner.
Ravioli al’ Uovo (or "senza uovo")
I’ve made this recipe a few times (to varying degrees of success), but for a while, I concluded that I just suck at making pasta. NOT ANYMORE! This weekend, I figured it out.
There are 2 things I did differently - (1) I succumbed to using some egg yolks instead of just whole eggs and (2) I cooked it for much less time than felt natural (just until it floated). The result was actually good pasta. I also use a pasta machine, which I think is essential for plebs like me to get a quality result.
I used this recipe from Serious Eats for the dough and then rolled it out into thin sheets for the ravioli. I filled half of them with a mixture of ricotta, egg, pecorino, and parsley, making a well in the middle to fit an egg yolk (Food Network recipe here). The ravioli need to be pretty big to do this (I usually serve 2 per person for a light entree, along with other courses).
Before cooking the ravioli, get some butter browning in a pan (don’t be shy with the amount). Add some herbs (I like sage or rosemary) and a little white wine. Then, cook the ravioli in boiling water until they just start to surface. They should be a little undercooked - transfer them to the brown butter along with some pasta water and let the sauce emulsify. Don’t overcook - the yolks should still be runny (poke the ravioli to verify). Serve immediately with pecorino grated on top. It’s incredible and relatively simple.
If you don’t want the egg yolk, just omit it and instead of the brown butter sauce, make a standard tomato sauce. I like a ton of basil (maybe left over from the Pad Kra Pow!), garlic, and a little white wine. Add some pecorino and it’s a great meal.
