2 Favorites are sometimes better than One.
Life has been pretty heavy the past few days. So I require two Italian childhood favorites...with a little twist of course. Cath used to make the most awesome lentil and pasta dinner. The dish inevitably came out as a stew but it definitely flirted with sauce status as well. So here is my recreation of that dish. I haven't asked her exactly what the recipe was, but when we are talking lentils...it can never be that complicated. Key to cooking=grain plus water/broth plus vegetable plus seasoning= totally acceptable meal.
I can't tell you how many times I've eaten pastina in my life. Seriously, it is probably a part of me now...my heart is actually made up of a million tiny little pasta stars. Usually I would just have it with butter, parmesan, salt, pepper and milk. Now I use earth balance, nooch, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, flax seed and grain/legume milk. As far as tiny pasta goes, this is my favorite. But I do not discriminate against acini, ditalini, or even alphabets. Previously I mentioned the isolated carrot in the produce drawer...well the box of alphabet pasta stands alone. Alas, delightful meals from bare cupboards are very charming. See below.
My Little Lentil:
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced finely
olive oil
3/4 cup of lentils
generous splashes of italian white wine
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary
pinch of nutmeg
dash of cayenne
1/2 tsp oregano
3 cups of broth/water (if you'd like a more soup-like result, add a tad more liquid)
1 cup of diced fresh tomatoes
3 TB tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
handful of fresh basil, chopped
Sautee your carrots, celery and onion until softened and onions are translucent. Add your garlic and cook for a minute or two. Then pour in the lentils, let them soak up the oil and veggie juice then deglaze the saucepan with the wine. Throw in the dried herbs and distribute. Add the water, tomatoes and dissolve the tomato paste in as you bring it to a boil. Simmer for a half hour or so, until the moment the lentils are plump, fully cooked, yet still slightly crunchy....not crunchy....but you know. Not mush. Salt and pepper to taste. At this point, if you want a thicker sauce feel free to use your immersion blender or transfer 1 cup of the lentils to a regular blender and roughly puree. Serve over pasta. Or add your tiny pastas to serve. I do not cook pasta in with soups or stews. You can agree if you like your macs al dente. You don't? Weirdo. Top it all off with fresh basil. *Orgasmic 'YES!!'*
Okay now I will enjoy this while watching a very depressing VANGUARD documentary about homosexuality in Uganda when I'm supposed to be practicing self care and recovering from talking about child sexual abuse all day. Somehow I'm happy.
Do something nice for your self today.
Love,
Jen
I can't tell you how many times I've eaten pastina in my life. Seriously, it is probably a part of me now...my heart is actually made up of a million tiny little pasta stars. Usually I would just have it with butter, parmesan, salt, pepper and milk. Now I use earth balance, nooch, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, flax seed and grain/legume milk. As far as tiny pasta goes, this is my favorite. But I do not discriminate against acini, ditalini, or even alphabets. Previously I mentioned the isolated carrot in the produce drawer...well the box of alphabet pasta stands alone. Alas, delightful meals from bare cupboards are very charming. See below.
My Little Lentil:
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced finely
olive oil
3/4 cup of lentils
generous splashes of italian white wine
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary
pinch of nutmeg
dash of cayenne
1/2 tsp oregano
3 cups of broth/water (if you'd like a more soup-like result, add a tad more liquid)
1 cup of diced fresh tomatoes
3 TB tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
handful of fresh basil, chopped
Sautee your carrots, celery and onion until softened and onions are translucent. Add your garlic and cook for a minute or two. Then pour in the lentils, let them soak up the oil and veggie juice then deglaze the saucepan with the wine. Throw in the dried herbs and distribute. Add the water, tomatoes and dissolve the tomato paste in as you bring it to a boil. Simmer for a half hour or so, until the moment the lentils are plump, fully cooked, yet still slightly crunchy....not crunchy....but you know. Not mush. Salt and pepper to taste. At this point, if you want a thicker sauce feel free to use your immersion blender or transfer 1 cup of the lentils to a regular blender and roughly puree. Serve over pasta. Or add your tiny pastas to serve. I do not cook pasta in with soups or stews. You can agree if you like your macs al dente. You don't? Weirdo. Top it all off with fresh basil. *Orgasmic 'YES!!'*
Okay now I will enjoy this while watching a very depressing VANGUARD documentary about homosexuality in Uganda when I'm supposed to be practicing self care and recovering from talking about child sexual abuse all day. Somehow I'm happy.
Do something nice for your self today.
Love,
Jen
Comments
Post a Comment