RCP: Fusion cooking: Two Boots pasta!

[Robin Garr]

Fusion cooking: Two Boots pasta!

When I lived, briefly, on New York City's then barely gentrifying "Alphabet City" for a time when I moved to the city to take a job with a national non-profit, one of the great joys of this adventure was discovering the wealth of good cheap ethnic eats that abounded in the East Village and environs.

A favorite was a little bistro called "Two Boots" for its creative fusion of flavors from the boot-shaped lands of Louisiana and Italy. Since I love both Cajun-Creole and Italian cuisine and can cook both flavors reasonably well, this was a natural mashup for me.

Tonight, faced with a bunch of fresh okra and skinny white Asian eggplant from the garden, but uncertain whether I wanted a pasta dish or a rice dish, Indian or Asian or Italian or ... hey, Cajun! Two Boots it would be!

I cut up and quick-roasted the eggplant, and while they were roasting (400ºF for about a half-hour) and pasta water was coming to a boil, I fashioned a quick roux-and-okra gumbo. When the gumbo and pasta were just about done, I stirred the reserved roasted eggplant and onions into the gumbo and used the mix as a spicy, hearty pasta topping.

I realize that this isn't a very specific recipe, but those who cook by instinct and practice as I do will probably find all the info they need from this description, the picture, and the ingredients that I'll list in the post tage. If you'd like more details on procedure, post a comment and I'll be happy to respond.

Yum is all I can say...... I would love this.

"Two Boots" for its creative fusion of flavors from the boot-shaped lands of Louisiana and Italy..

So that's where the name comes from. Makes perfect sense!

I'm going to try this recipe. It looks good.

I wonder if Two Boots is still there. When I had my wine shop in the East Village I used to eat at Two Boots later in the night after closing--Italian-Louisiana pizza!

[Jenise]

Looks great, Robin. Does the white eggplant turn purple when cooked? The eggplant I think I see looks a bit darker.

[Robin Garr]

Looks great, Robin. Does the white eggplant turn purple when cooked? The eggplant I think I see looks a bit darker.

Jenise, it doesn't turn dark purple - some of what you see may be caramelization from roasting. But it does seem to turn from pure white to a darker color when it's cooked.

[Robin Garr]

I wonder if Two Boots is still there. When I had my wine shop in the East Village I used to eat at Two Boots later in the night after closing--Italian-Louisiana pizza!

I Googled and found about a dozen Two Boots pizzerias around lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, maybe. It seemed similar to the one I remember, but it was a one-off with a different logo, and none of the current crop is quite where I remember this being. I want to say it was on First Avenue around Second Street, but it's been over 20 years now (!) so memory may be failing me.

I also remember it as more of a bistro with pasta dishes and such and possibly pizza as a sideline, rather than being a pizzeria; but again, it's been a while, and while it was a fun thing, I was really more focused on a very challenging (and exciting) new program I was building at work at the time.

I wonder if Two Boots is still there. When I had my wine shop in the East Village I used to eat at Two Boots later in the night after closing--Italian-Louisiana pizza!

I Googled and found about a dozen Two Boots pizzerias around lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, maybe. It seemed similar to the one I remember, but it was a one-off with a different logo, and none of the current crop is quite where I remember this being. I want to say it was on First Avenue around Second Street, but it's been over 20 years now (!) so memory may be failing me.

I also remember it as more of a bistro with pasta dishes and such and possibly pizza as a sideline, rather than being a pizzeria; but again, it's been a while, and while it was a fun thing, I was really more focused on a very challenging (and exciting) new program I was building at work at the time.

Yeah, First Avenue but I think it was at Houston. I didn't know it had gone into circulation throughout the city.

It was primarily a pasta bistro at the time, but they offered pizza with a partly cornbread crust and a mix of Italian-Southern toppings.

[Robin Garr]

[Yeah, First Avenue but I think it was at Houston. I didn't know it had gone into circulation throughout the city.

It was primarily a pasta bistro at the time, but they offered pizza with a partly cornbread crust and a mix of Italian-Southern toppings.

I'm pretty sure it was farther south around 1990, because I lived (briefly) on Avenue B a block south of Tompkins Square Park, so between ... Second and Third Street? I'm pretty sure Two Boots was only two or three blocks away, on First Avenue around First, Second or Third. No big deal, though Your description sounds exactly like what I remember, though! Mostly pasta with a variety of Cajun or Italian or blended sauces, but with that wacky fusion pizza as well.