Sunday, August 12, 2012

Butta la Pasta!

My mom’s side of the family is Italian.  My great grand parents both took a boat from Sicily to get to America and this is where they raised their family.  My Mawmaw {great grandma} was the most amazing cook.  Man, I miss her.  She would make pasta by hand…BY HAND, people!!!  Everything she made was from scratch.  She was a phenom in the kitchen.  She started the tradition of family pasta on Sundays.  My grandma has continued that tradition for years.  I usually can’t wait for Sundays to eat pasta.  Truth be told, I could eat pasta every.single.night.  Mr. Spouse?!?!  Notsomuch.  I have to get creative with my pasta dishes so he doesn’t feel like he’s having “the same pasta” dish every time we dine on noodles.  Thankfully, he’s a pretty good sport about it, but what man isn’t when he’s being fed a home-cooked meal?!?!  This pasta dish was a HIT.  It reminded me of Mawmaw.  Tasted like it was made from scratch…and it kinda was :) 

ROASTED PEPPER and BASIL PASTA

adapted from Menu Musings of a Modern American Woman

1 lb. penne pasta

4 cloves garlic

1/3 cup grated Parmesan

1 cup {jarred} roasted red bell peppers, drained

1 cup fresh basil leaves

salt & pepper

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup heavy cream {optional}

roasted rotisserie chicken {optional}

 

Go ahead and get your ingredients ready.

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You might be noticing my chicken omission.  I REALLY like meatless pasta dishes, so I opted to leave out the poultry.

Cook pasta according to package directions.  While the pasta is cooking, pour the olive oil into a medium sized skillet and add in the garlic cloves.  Cook on medium heat until the garlic is golden and fragrant.

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Oh how I LOVE the smell of garlic.  Rest assured, I am NO vampire.  But that reminds me.  My sister used to date this guy that Mr. Spouse SWORE was a vampire.  I really hope he was kidding.  Anyway…once it’s golden and fragrant, and both garlic & oil to your food processor and pulse.  If you lost parts of your food processor in a recent move, use your blender instead. Pulse until the garlic/oil makes a little paste.  Then toss in the basil, roasted red pepper, parmesan cheese, and salt & pepper {to taste}.  Pulse again until it forms a thick paste/pesto sauce.  I forgot the “after” pictures.  I was too consumed with the amazing smell.  Ooops.

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Now, once the pasty pesto is prepped, you can add the cream and pulse some more.  I completely forgot this step so I didn’t include any in mine and it was just perfect.  However, if you like a creamier sauce, you might want to add the cream now.

Pour the pesto over the pasta and mix until well combined.

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If you’re so inclined, toss some shaved parmesan on top and add a few sliced cherry tomatoes to finish it all off.  Stand back and swoon.

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I feel like I’m cheating on Mawmaw when I say this, but this just *might* rank as my favorite pasta dish to date.  You must remember that I love every.single.flavor in this dish…red bell pepper, basil, garlic…it’s like a marriage of all my favorites.  How could I NOT be in love?!?!?

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Rotisserie chicken would’ve been a GREAT addition, but I wasn’t in the mood for meat in my pasta.  I mean, y’all.  This was SOOOOOOO good.  SO good.  It’s not often that a meal leaves me speechless…ummm, well that’s not ENTIRELY true…but this one did!  And I might have been extra speechless because I kept shoving the pasta into my mouth before I could swallow the first bite ;)  Seriously people…if you like pasta…and the rest of the aforementioned flavors…do yourself a favor and put this on your menu TONIGHT.

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Butta la pasta!  It’s time for dinner!!!!

9 comments:

  1. Looks like a wonderful pasta dish! I will have to try this! My family also comes from Sicily, my grandma made pasta from hand, and we still eat pasta every Sunday night! I love this tradition! My family did it growing up and now my brother and I have our own families and still carry on the tradition. Thankfully Mr. loves pasta and could eat regular spaghetti & meatballs every Sunday! Love this post it warmed my heart today to know that others do this too!

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  2. This sounds wonderful! I have some leftover pesto already that I can just add the roasted peppers and cream to. Since my Mr. Spouse doesn't believe in meatless dinners, I will be adding the chicken :)

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  3. Hi! I really like your recipes and pictures! Can I make a suggestion? Put a picture of the finished dish up near the top of each post so we can see how delicious it is right away!

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  4. Ok! That's what I am making for dinner! Thanks!

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  5. This looks amazing! I just got back from Italy about a month ago and this just brings back so many memories of delicious meals. Can't wait to try it!

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  6. This looks so good!!!

    Countingourcupcakes.blogspot.com

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  7. This looks amazing! I can't wait to try it next week! Thank you!

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