Cooking in Pajamas

There is nothing more comforting than a big bowl of pasta.  This recipe, courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis, is creamy, nutty, and makes a wonderful vegetarian dinner.  I call it 'Upscale', because it can easily be made for guests, who will be very impressed by this dish, and they will think you were in the kitchen all afternoon (believe me....you won't be!).

Rigatoni with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

1 # rigatoni (I substituted rotini..any tube like shape pasta will work)

2 T. EVOO

2 shallots, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1 # assorted mushrooms (such as cremini, shitake, portabello, button), cleaned and sliced

1/2 c. white wine

1/2 c. vegetable stock

1 c. (8oz.) mascarpone cheese (at room temp.)

1/2 c. grated Parmesan

1/4 c. fresh chives, chopped

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add pasta and cook to al dente.

While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat.  Add shallots and garlic to the pan.   Season with salt and pepper.  Cook until soft, about 2 min.  Add mushrooms and season again with salt and pepper.  Cook until mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally for 5 - 7 minutes.  Turn heat to high, and add wine.  Cook for 3 minutes until all of the liquid evaporates.  Add stock and simmer until liquid is slightly reduced.  Remove heat from pan.  Add mascarpone cheese and stir until creamy.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 c. of the cooking water, and place the pasta in a serving bowl.  Add the mushroom mixture and Parmesan.  Season with salt and pepper.  Toss well to coat pasta, adding reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta.  Garnish with chopped chives and serve right away.

Dinner tonight was supposed to be "Herb Butter-and-Goat Cheese Linguine with Fresh Tomatoes".  Doesn't that sound delicious?  Well, never send a man out to do a woman's work.  I sent Phil out to get the ingredients to make this pasta dish.  I thought it was a well known fact that we never buy produce at grocery store "K".  Everyone knows that....right?  We only buy produce at Whole Foods or Publix.  Doesn't everyone know that?  We have been married over 17 years...have we never discussed this?  Apparently not, because my darling husband, purchased several bags of produce from grocery store "K".  Sometimes you can get away with "K"s produce, but tomatoes?!?!?  Not just tomatoes....I sent him out for heirloom tomatoes.  Phil is a brilliant gardener, and grows the most amazing vegetables and herbs...including heirloom tomatoes that he grew from seeds one year!  This man knows heirloom tomatoes!

I open the grocery bag, and see five pale, yellow tomatoes, on a vine.  I smell them, and smell nada.  No fresh, garden tomato smell, you expect in a fresh tomato.  Then I see the sticker...."Imported From Canada".  Canada?!?!?! Since when is Canada know for growing any type of fresh produce?  Now I am very worried.  My whole pasta dish is depending on fresh tomatoes!  I give them a quick wash, and begin to chop them up.  I am actually afraid to taste them, because as I am chopping, they don't even smell like tomatoes...they smell like nothing.  I finally decide that I cannot put these in my pasta dish without tasting them, so I pop one in my mouth.  GROSS!!!!  It tastes terrible!  They are mushy and mealy, and makes me want to gag.  I asked Phil to taste it, and he immediately tells me to throw them all away, because they are terrible.  No kidding!  Who buys tomatoes from Canada?  My gardener husband should have known better!

In all fairness to him, he saved the day with his ingredient substitution suggestion.  I was just going to prepare the pasta dish, without any vegetable.  He started thinking of suitable substitutions, that we already had in the house.  First he suggested canned tomatoes, but I thought that would take away from the delicate herbs in the sauce.  Then he suggested cannelinni beans.  Maybe...but I still thought it was too heavy for this dish.  Then, he can up with the perfect solution.....canned artichokes!  I thought about it for a minute, and started to think that it would not only work, but would be good.  Phil went to the pantry, found a can of artichoke hearts, and the rest is recipe history.

As our tomatoes ripen, and are ready to be picked, I will make this recipe with our home grown tomatoes.  I may even make it with tomatoes AND artichokes!  In the meantime, one of the most important things to remember in cooking is to be willing to be creative and improvise.  Sometimes, you end up with a new dish, even better than the original!

Herb Butter-and-Goat Cheese Spaghetti with Artichokes

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1 # thin spaghetti

8 oz. crumbled goat cheese

6 T. butter

2 shallots, finely chopped

1/2 c. white wine

1/4 c. flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

1/4 c. fresh dill, finely chopped

2 T. fresh basil or tarragon, finely chopped

2 T. fresh thyme, finely chopped

2 cans of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (or 2 c. chopped heirloom tomatoes)

Cook the pasta in salted water to al dente.  Drain, and reserve a ladleful of the pasta cooking water.

While pasta is cooking, add the goat cheese to a large serving bowl.  In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat.  Add shallots and cook for 5 minutes.  Stir in wine and cook until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Add in all fresh herbs.  Stir in reserved pasta cooking water.

This is what the herb sauce will look like.

Add the pasta to the goat cheese.  Pour the herb sauce on top, season with pepper and toss for 1 minute.  Add the artichokes (or tomatoes) and toss gently for another minute;  season with salt and pepper.

This month's first Barefoot Blogger recipe was chosen by Cat of Delta Whiskey.  It is from Barefoot Contessa's Family Style cookbook, and is a light, refreshing summer pasta salad.   Pasta With Sundried Tomatoes is an easy, simple recipe.  It can be made ahead of time (love that!), and can be served warm, cold or at room temperature.  This recipe says it serves 6 - 8, but in my opinion, it could easily serve a dozen or more, people as a side dish.  This would be the perfect side dish to bring to a BBQ or picnic.  You can find the recipe here, at Food Network's website.

Here is the dressing before adding it to the pasta.  You just know this is a flavorful dressing by looking at it!

Look at the huge amount of pasta salad this makes!  This is my pasta pot!  This photo was taken before I added in the fresh basil and Parmesan, because Ina said to add those ingredients just before serving.

I seasoned the final salad with a bit of extra kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to really bring out the flavors of everything.

Some options for this dish:  add some Italian seasoned grilled chicken breast to make it a more complete meal; substitute feta for the mozzarella and/ or add some grilled shrimp to the dish.  This dish was yummy, filling, inexpensive, easy to make, pleasing to the eye and I will definitely be making it again!