Pasta Al Fumo

When I was a junior in college, I spent a semester studying Art in Cortona, Italy. It was magical -- the food, the wine, the culture... it was inspiring! I painted or took classes during the week, traveled on the weekends, and spent most evenings enjoying the nightlife of a small Tuscan town. I have such fond memories of my time in Italy and would love to return someday. Until then, it's always fun to relive the memories by looking at pictures and, sometimes, trying to recreate the extended, casual dinners we enjoyed on those beautiful Italian nights.

As part of the program I attended  with UGA, we dined most evenings as a large group at a local restaurant called Tonino's. The food was always delicious, and one of my favorite meals they prepared was a Pasta al Fumo ("Smoked Pasta"). A brief internet search turned up this recipe from that very same restaurant! I'm sure the original Italian ingredients make for a better dish, but these American substitutions seemed to work pretty well.

Pasta al Fumo

Serves 4

Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 2 whole garlic cloves 
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1/2 lb. Bacon
• 1/4 cup fresh heavy cream
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup Fresh milk
• 3 T cream cheese
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1.5 oz Vodka
• Pasta of choice (we use penne or farfalle, about 8 oz)

Directions

• Add two tablespoons of olive oil to the pan with whole garlic and rosemary. Sauté until fragrant.
• Add bacon and fry until completely cooked. Drain fat.
• Return pan to stove and add vodka -- stir with caution.
• Remove garlic and rosemary from the pan
• Add cream and stir. Add tomato sauce slowly -- the sauce should be a light pink, don't add too much tomato.
• Add milk and cream cheese. Stir with a whisk to blend. Add more tomato sauce if necessary. Add red pepper flakes (you can leave these out or reduce amount if you prefer less spicy)
• Cook for several minutes to blend flavors, salt to taste.
• Serve with freshly cooked pasta, top with parmesan or pecorino cheese, and fresh basil

Enjoy!

What's for Dinner: Taco Salad

I'll admit, I'm pretty proud of this one. For several reasons. This past weekend, DH and I went grocery shopping together for the first time in... years. Not because I don't like grocery shopping (I do) -- it's simply because we discovered in the first few years of marriage that it was one of those activities we couldn't do together. Brand preferences abound, arguments ensued. But, since it is one of those domestic tasks that DH actually enjoys accomplishing (and once I got over my own case of housewifely pride), he took over all grocery shopping a couple years ago. He really gets a kick out of finding the best deal. I'm not complaining.

I also happened to clean out our refrigerator on Saturday for the first time in.... wait, I don't want to tell you that. Let's just say it had been a while since the walls of that fridge saw bleach. Either way, thanks to this new-found nesting instinct I'm getting a lot accomplished around the house these days (and on this blog, if you haven't noticed)! So our sparkly clean fridge was ready to house the small assortment of carefully planned food items I picked out for this week's dinners. DH does the shopping but I still do the meal-planning (most days) and the goal is always healthy and tasty. Sometimes it's hard to get both. But this meal really worked!

So tonight's dinner incorporated not only a healthy dose of fresh veggies, but also a little bit of leftovers magic. Last night's dinner was Grilled Sausage Hoagies with Sauteed Red Peppers & Onions and Summer Corn Salad (with a few tweaks). I used fresh corn for the recipe (how could you not in the middle of summer!) -- a quick steam in the microwave makes for fast and easy cooking. And fresh just tastes better. I chopped up onions, red peppers and celery to toss with the corn. I then stowed away half of the mixed in tupperware for what would become a portion of tonight's taco salad. The remaining mixture was the perfect amount to serve two for the Corn Salad (note: I left out the feta cheese, it really didn't need it, although it probably would have tasted good).

Tonight when I got home from work, my first task was to prepare the yummy Mexican-cuisine-inspired dressing for the salad. This is the recipe I started with, but ended up adjusting it a little bit based on my available ingredients. Here's what I ended up with:

Chipotle Lime Vinaigrette

• 3 T lime juice (about 1.5 limes)
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce + 1/2 T sauce (find it in the Hispanic food aisle at the grocery store)
• 1 1/2 tsp honey 
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder 
• 1/4 tsp onion powder 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 
• 1/3 cup water 
• 1 T sugar  
• 1 T chopped cilantro 

Mix all ingredients together in a blender and add water or sugar to taste (will tone down spiciness if it's got too much heat) 

I was hoping to have some leftover of this dressing to use another night, but we liked it so much we used it all up! My lettuce mix included chopped Romaine hearts (I cheated and bought the bagged version), my corn-onion-celery-red pepper mix from last night's dinner, fresh chopped cilantro, 1 diced tomato and half a cucumber, diced. Lots of good veggies! I also dished out a separate portion of this salad mix into a tupperware for my lunch tomorrow... aren't I great at planning ahead? ;)

For the protein, I sauteed half a pound of ground beef with a fancy taco mix DH picked up at Whole Foods. I don't remember the brand name, but you mix it with 1/3 cup of beer -- great flavor! I tossed in a can of black beans at the end to prevent overcooking. Each element of the salad was "self serve" at the table and we topped it off with a handful of crushed Trader Joe's Soy & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips. I meant to add a little shredded cheese on top as well, but forgot. It didn't really need it. You know how I know this dinner was a success? DH went for seconds. :) This recipe is definitely a keeper. And I would use this dressing on just about any salad or maybe as a marinade -- it's the perfect combination of sweet and spicy.

Enjoy!

Recipe FAIL

I wouldn't call myself a gourmet chef, and I don't really make up recipes off the top of my head... so I generally spend a little time each week perusing my small collection of cookbooks, or cooking websites for recipes that I can use for dinner. My most recent exciting discovery is The Nest website (sequel to "The Knot" for brides-to-be, prequel to "The Bump" for moms-to-be and so on... they seriously have you set up for life) filled with articles and information for newly-weds from decorating to cooking for two or buying a new home. I've had some fun searching through their recipes database and decided to try this one out last night for dinner:

Meatballs and Snowpeas

Unfortunately, it didn't work out as expected. It could have been that I'm recovering from a cold and my sense of smell (therefore, taste) is still a little off... or it could just be the recipe, but DH and I were both a little put off. I didn't even finish mine! His first comment was "Tastes like ketchup...." (and I had left the ketchup out of the recipe). I was really hoping it would be as delectable as it looks in the photo, but it was definitely a recipe FAIL. Perhaps it needs some tweaking? I'd be willing to try again with suggestions.... any takers?