Pumpkin Gnocchi is an easy pasta to make. No eggs, no fat, nothing really but pumpkin, seasonings of choice, and flour. How simple is that? And yet..the result is a faintly pumpkin-y pasta dumpling that goes with anything. Use it as a side, or a main course …and I am thinking it would be amazing added to soup.
The thing is that I have been getting behind on grocery shopping. We have pretty much had to make do with the scraps and bits left on the empty pantry shelves. In fact, the refrigerator echoed the other day. I swear it did. …read more

First, before you ask, I have no clue why I call this Venetian Pasta and Peas. I mean, I know WHY the peas are in the title..I am just not sure where it came from. I think there was a recipe for Venetian Pasta and Peas in a cookbook I bought the year I got married but I can’t remember details.
Anyway. I have been making this for ever. And a day. It is a bog comfort food for me, and at present pasta seems to be one of the few nonliquid foods that will go down my throat.  I literally …read more

One thing that I really love about pasta is the versatility of it. In the winter it is a hearty, warming, and filling dinner while in summer it can be as light and fresh as a sun warmed heirloom tomato. You need fast? Thousands of pasta dishes can be made in under ten minutes.
Really, does it get better than that? Last week I had taken on an assignment which required a series of ten articles. I had about five days to finish them, and that was on top of my normal stuff. And…as luck would have it, there was no …read more

This is not your traditional pasta dish. You might have noticed that I have been on a Southwestern food kick. So has everyone else. Something about hot weather that gives me a taste for the spicy foods; the tangy, warm, earthy flavors of the Southwest.

This dish really does need a strong pasta to handle it. I recommend whole wheat because it has a firmer texture and the nutty flavor is perfect. The rich sauce is tangy but it cools the heat of the peppers.The cumin’s warm, earthiness pulls it all together into creamy, spicy perfection. Normally I would not serve …read more

I had to think here because, although I am a linguist, and I spoke French fluently in high school, it has been a long, long time. In fact, I am not so sure about my English at this point.
Now, you ask, why oh why would I give a pasta dish a french moniker? Simple. Classic french ingredients. Chevre, spinach, lavender buds… You can substitute more cream cheese for the chevre but it won ‘t be quite as tangy. If you can find a local dairy that makes homemade chevre then go for itl. That is what I use.
This is my …read more

Here it is.  Presto Pasta 108.  You won’t believe the visual feast you are about to experience.  We have gotten some of the most amazing dishes ever.  If you are hungry now? No worries, you will be by the bottom of the page.  Ready?

I think that Orzo has to be one of the most fun pastas ever invented.  It looks like big grains of rice,and nothing gets lost in it.  It can be frustrating, to me anyway, to create a pasta dish and have the components on the bottom of the pan when the pasta has all been served.  Orzo allows the other ingredients to cuddle right in.  Got to love that!
Spring is here.  I got fresh asparagus for 99 cents a pound and nothing says spring more than that.  When I bought it I knew that Pasta Primavera was not far behind.

In …read more

I love Presto Pasta nights, don’t you?  Ruth Daniels, Once Upon a Feast, has done an amazing job keeping it going and keeping pasta on everyone’s dinner table on a regular basis.  Besides, I have come to really like and respect her as a blogging friend.

Anyway I get to host PPN 108..Can you believe it? ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT!  One hundred eight weeks of yummy pasta.  So, put your pasta thinking caps on, and please make me look good here.  Daring Bakers, you DO have a pasta dish for PPN 108, as I recall!
I have been working on a star …read more

I love Pasta Primavera.  It is light, flavorful, and really fast.  Can you ask for more? I don’t think so!  The only thing I thought it was missing is a little “bite-cha-back.  You know what I mean.
Chipotle.

This is my entry for Presto Pasta Nights, but it may not be my only one.  It is Presto Pasta Night’s 100th posting date and I wanted to do something special..This was incredible but I am still working on a more incredible birthday surprise..which may or may not work.
Seriously.  Cajun Black Bean Fettuccine. Yum.  You have to like spice for this…and you have to go to Bacon Freaks and get the cajun bacon.
This is spicy.  And different.  And good.