Miss Pips and I are packed, have said our good-byes, and are headin' down the road. Who knows where this adventure will lead us? And, since Pipi insists on driving the first leg, I'm going to get a little shut-eye (Gee, I hope she remembered to bring a map!). Here's a tasty recipe to tide you over while we're gone......... I used Acini di Pepe, a very small tubular pasta, to make this delicious side dish. If you are unable to find it in your grocery, substitute orzo. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Ancini di Pepe with Tomatoes and Corn loosely adapted from a recipe in Food & Wine | June 2001 • 3 tablespoons olive oil • 1 cup Acini di Pepe or Orzo • 1/4 cup finely diced onion • 2 large garlic cloves, minced • 1 1/4 cup organic chicken broth • salt and freshly ground pepper • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered if large • 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed • 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped basil leaves • Salt and freshly grated pepper to taste 1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the small pasta and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until lightly browned. Add the onion and cook, stirring for about 1 minute. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring for half a minute. Add the chicken broth, cover pan, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 12 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. 2. Stir the tomatoes and corn into the pasta mixture and season with salt and pepper; cook over low heat momentarily to warm the just-added ingredients. Gently stir the chopped basil and parmesan cheese into the pasta. Serve immediately.
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The Cherokee Purple, Aunt Ruby's German Green, and Red Siberian heirloom tomatoes in my garden are practically a memory (thanks in part to the drought conditions in Minnesota and my lack of desire to water any longer on a daily basis). But nothing seems to slow the yield of my lingering Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes. They just keep on comin', which is fine by me. If you are still being inundated with cherry tomatoes, you should consider making this pasta dish. The combination of fresh tomatoes, minced garlic, and olive oil create a luscious aroma while the linguine is boiling. Cherry Tomato, Arugula, and Pecorino Linguine adapted from a recipe in O, the Oprah Magazine | September 2007 • 2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • 2 cups fresh baby arugula • 2 cloves of garlic, minced • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper • 1 pound linguine • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces • 1/2 cup shaved Pecorino Romano cheese • 1/3 cup basil, shredded 1. In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, olive oil, arugula, garlic, salt, and pepper. Set aside. 2. Prepare linguine according to package directions. Strain, reserving a bit of cooking water. Transfer pasta to the tomato-arugula mixture and add butter, tossing until arugula is wilted and butter is melted. Add some of the reserved water if the pasta seems too dry. Transfer to a serving platter; garnish with cheese and basil. Well, here I am. I'm back and caught up, or maybe I should say, more caught up... and over the next several days I will be showing you photos of things I have done and recipes I have made. I spent my days visiting friends, sitting on the patio with friends, baking, cooking, and working in the garden (photos of the garden and patio will be posted this week along with an answer to Julia of Mélanger's question, "Wow, what were you doing for 9 hours?"). I celebrated my 56th birthday on Friday, and dined on the patio alone at noon (Really, it was fine... I don't mind being alone. I usually have a stack of magazines in hand and can spend hours pouring over the pages. And, I was later joined by two very close friends for a celebratory glass of wine.) It was a very tastey lunch. This is a recipe for a pasta salad I clipped from somewhere about 25 years ago. It makes a big bowlful, so consider this salad if you're feeding a lot of people (or, if you like eating the same meal over and over and over for several days). Don't be put off by all of the olive oil that is called for in this recipe. You will not use all of the vinaigrette.
TORTELLINI SALAD with RED WINE VINAIGRETTE source...? Red Wine Vinaigrette: • 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar • salt and freshly ground black pepper • 1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and lightly crushed Tortellini Salad: • 6 quarts water • 1 1/2 tablespoon salt • 1 1/2 pounds cheese-filled tortellini • 1/2 cup chopped red onion • 3/4 cup chopped Italian parsley • 1 red bell pepper, diced • 1 cup large black olives, sliced • 1/4 pound thinly sliced salami, julienned 1. To make the vinaigrette, whisk mustard and vinegar in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Slowly add olive oil while whisking. Add the garlic and let vinaigrette stand at room temperature at least an hour. Remove the garlic, adjust seasoning, and whisk again before using. 2. To make the salad, bring the water to a boil. Stir in salt and tortellini and cook until tender. Pour into a colander to drain, shaking well to remove all of the water. 3. In a large bowl, combine hot tortellini, onion, parsley and 1 cup of the vinaigrette. When cool, add the additional ingredients and more vinaigrette if necessary. Toss before serving. What a great salad this is! I will be making it often this summer when the green beans from my garden are ready. Be sure to use tuna that is canned in olive oil. Also, the recipe calls for orzo, but I substituted Acini Di Pepe. It's a tiny, tiny, tubular pasta. If you can find it (I purchased the DaVinci brand), use it in this recipe. It's spring, I'm outdoors working in my formal vegetable garden, and I'm making pasta salads.
Needless to say, after three days of hauling bricks home from the brickyard, digging up the original bricks, and laying the old and new, I wanted something simple for dinner last night. Along with a grilled flank steak, I served this Tortellini Salad with Snow Peas. All I can say is, "man, did I ever screw up!" LIVING TASTEFULLY is in big trouble when I start messing around on the computer, which is exactly what I was doing yesterday. Hopefully, everything is back to where it should be this morning... If you run across anything that makes absolutely no sense to you, please let me know so I can correct it. In the meantime, here is a recipe for Cincinnati Chili I made the other night. It was very good. Nothing wrong with this. CINCINNATI CHILI PASTA with PROSCIUTTO and PARMESAN SEVEN FLAVOR PRECIOUS CHICKEN Above: One for the oven and one for the freezer. FARFALLE with SAUSAGE and SWEET PEPPERS |
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