Cooking
(our star ingredient)
I was quite flattered when Lis contacted me, and asked if I'd join La Festa al Fresco, which she and Ivonne were hosting.
I mean, it's always nice to be asked to come to a party!
They gave me lots and lots of time to work on a dish...just over three weeks notice.
So I should have had my dish all ready to go a week ago, right?
Ha!
I must have a talk with Alex's classmates, telling them they can not pass on their cold and flu germs to my son any longer. See, when they do, he 'shares' with me, and I find myself forgetting what my kitchen looks like!
Despite a never-ending cold, I was going to join this party (I've loaded up on Zicam, so you should be safe).
What Lis and Ivonne wanted was a dish that was clearly Italian, and used fresh summer ingredients.
There were so many possibilities! But for me, nothing could be more Italian than pasta, and what could be fresher than basil from my garden?
But rather than just tossing some basil onto your basic pasta, or preparing a pesto...how about if I put the basil in the pasta?!!
Brilliant.
A simple dough, made by pureeing lots and lots and lots of fresh basil with garlic, then adding eggs and olive oil, then salt and flour, till it turns into a firm dough. I also added a pinch of powdered vitamin C, to keep the green looking so gorgeous.
Did I mention this was my very first time making pasta?? Yay! I can finally cross 'make own pasta' off my list of foodie things to do. And seeing how easy it is, I have a feeling I'll be doing this more often.
The family that cooks together??
Alex helps, with Daddy's supervision of course, by dropping the pasta into the boiling water.
Less than two minutes later, fresh and home-made basil pasta.
Which I then tossed with some olive oil, and chopped tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.
A very good pasta, and a wonderful basil flavor.
Blog Party#14 is here, and this month we're having a Kid's Party! Fun, cute, dainty, gross, wacky and whimsical...your appetizers and drinks are for the little ones. Post your dishes no later than Thursday, 21 September...early is always good...and get your links to me either by posting in the comments, or by emailing me at thehappysorceress at gmail dot com. I'll post the party round-up Saturday, the 23rd, and I hope to see you there!
Tagged with: Food & Drink + La Festa al Fresco + Italian + Basil + Pasta + Mozzarella + Tomatoes + Events
- Spaghetti Salad: Recipe
I think you can argue that it isn't really Summer until tomatoes are juice-down-your-chin ripe. When a tomato is at it's sweet peak, I'm not alone in believing it should be eaten raw. In countries where tomatoes are grown, there are lots...
- Someone's In The Kitchen With Alex: Tortellini With Sun-dried Tomatoes
I found this one hiding in the cute little recipe box I'd picked up at Sur La Table many years ago. Something I'd written down at least seven years ago, but never made. A pasta salad, using cheese tortellini, basil, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes,...
- Pasta With Sausage, Basil And Mustard
Is it just me, or are we eating a lot of pasta lately?? Thursday, I was five inches past exhausted. After he came home from work, Matt took Alex out to do some grocery shopping, and I went to bed. Just one of those days. Just more proof of what a good...
- And Off She Goes...
I'm on another 'kick'; this time it's Nigel Slater's Real Food. I have to thank Niki for this one; her recent post on cookbooks made me drag it out and give it another look-through. First meal was Pasta with Spicy Sausage, Basil and...
- Just Buy The Book, Already!
Here's another wonderfully simple, and fast, recipe from Giada De Laurentis. Penne with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Wow. Talk about an easy meal! I even waited until Matt was home to start cooking, and we still found ourselves sitting at the table,...
Cooking
La Festa al Fresco! Basil Pasta with Mozzarella and Tomatoes
(our star ingredient)
I was quite flattered when Lis contacted me, and asked if I'd join La Festa al Fresco, which she and Ivonne were hosting.
I mean, it's always nice to be asked to come to a party!
They gave me lots and lots of time to work on a dish...just over three weeks notice.
So I should have had my dish all ready to go a week ago, right?
Ha!
I must have a talk with Alex's classmates, telling them they can not pass on their cold and flu germs to my son any longer. See, when they do, he 'shares' with me, and I find myself forgetting what my kitchen looks like!
Despite a never-ending cold, I was going to join this party (I've loaded up on Zicam, so you should be safe).
What Lis and Ivonne wanted was a dish that was clearly Italian, and used fresh summer ingredients.
There were so many possibilities! But for me, nothing could be more Italian than pasta, and what could be fresher than basil from my garden?
But rather than just tossing some basil onto your basic pasta, or preparing a pesto...how about if I put the basil in the pasta?!!
Brilliant.
A simple dough, made by pureeing lots and lots and lots of fresh basil with garlic, then adding eggs and olive oil, then salt and flour, till it turns into a firm dough. I also added a pinch of powdered vitamin C, to keep the green looking so gorgeous.
Did I mention this was my very first time making pasta?? Yay! I can finally cross 'make own pasta' off my list of foodie things to do. And seeing how easy it is, I have a feeling I'll be doing this more often.
The family that cooks together??
Alex helps, with Daddy's supervision of course, by dropping the pasta into the boiling water.
Less than two minutes later, fresh and home-made basil pasta.
Which I then tossed with some olive oil, and chopped tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.
A very good pasta, and a wonderful basil flavor.
Blog Party#14 is here, and this month we're having a Kid's Party! Fun, cute, dainty, gross, wacky and whimsical...your appetizers and drinks are for the little ones. Post your dishes no later than Thursday, 21 September...early is always good...and get your links to me either by posting in the comments, or by emailing me at thehappysorceress at gmail dot com. I'll post the party round-up Saturday, the 23rd, and I hope to see you there!
Tagged with: Food & Drink + La Festa al Fresco + Italian + Basil + Pasta + Mozzarella + Tomatoes + Events
- Spaghetti Salad: Recipe
I think you can argue that it isn't really Summer until tomatoes are juice-down-your-chin ripe. When a tomato is at it's sweet peak, I'm not alone in believing it should be eaten raw. In countries where tomatoes are grown, there are lots...
- Someone's In The Kitchen With Alex: Tortellini With Sun-dried Tomatoes
I found this one hiding in the cute little recipe box I'd picked up at Sur La Table many years ago. Something I'd written down at least seven years ago, but never made. A pasta salad, using cheese tortellini, basil, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes,...
- Pasta With Sausage, Basil And Mustard
Is it just me, or are we eating a lot of pasta lately?? Thursday, I was five inches past exhausted. After he came home from work, Matt took Alex out to do some grocery shopping, and I went to bed. Just one of those days. Just more proof of what a good...
- And Off She Goes...
I'm on another 'kick'; this time it's Nigel Slater's Real Food. I have to thank Niki for this one; her recent post on cookbooks made me drag it out and give it another look-through. First meal was Pasta with Spicy Sausage, Basil and...
- Just Buy The Book, Already!
Here's another wonderfully simple, and fast, recipe from Giada De Laurentis. Penne with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Wow. Talk about an easy meal! I even waited until Matt was home to start cooking, and we still found ourselves sitting at the table,...