Pasta alla FANTASTIC

Did you know that you can cook dried, uncooked pasta IN THE OVEN? I must have missed that message somewhere along my culinary road in life. That's why when I saw Giada De Laurentiis make it last September, I was over the moon!

It's so simple. And totally fun.

AND VEGAN. {if you use Earth Balance}

So I had to try it, natch.

Pasta alla Formiana. Recipe here!

Basically, you line a pan with tomato slices. It took about 5 medium organic tomatoes for me. Then mix dried pasta with a quick sauce that you make from garlic and a can of organic diced tomatoes, along with a shat-ton of oregano (I didn't add quite as much), olive oil (I needed to cut back on this but didn't), and S&P. I also added a separate can of organic tomato sauce. Then you dump the mixture into the tomato-lined dish and spread around.

Cover with more tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil to seal it up, and pop into the oven to bake for about an hour.

TA-DA! Roasted tomatoes blanketing a bed of moist pasta and tangy tomato sauce. I die.

Seriously, if I was like a tomato about to be cooked in some manner of my own choosing, this would be the dish of my choice. I would happily perish and go to Tomato Heaven, for reals.

You have to try it. NOW.

Jes

Capellini with Garlic & Olive Oil, Yum!

That's right. Two posts in one day...still going strong, and there's sooooo much more to do!

Ok, so Sunday I was a bit on the "I don't want to cook very much" wagon (i.e. see my "Easy Peasy Chili" and Biscuits post...). For lunch that day, I made another REALLY easy recipe, also from Beverly Lynn Bennett's awesome cookbook, Vegan Bites, which is great when you are the only one in the house eating totally vegan.

Her recipe was for "Spaghetti with Garlic and Olive Oil," but since I think Spag. takes too dang long to cook (and kids, I was FAMISHED.), I decided to use the box of capellini noodles hanging around my little pantry cabinet. Capellini are a version of angel hair pasta. The brand of capellini I buy is even thinner than the Barilla angel hair I used to get.

Yup, capellini = feeding Jes' face faster!

I cooked the capellini, and in another small pan I sautéed about 2 cloves of minced garlic in 1 TBSP olive oil (being careful not to burn it). I then added 3 sliced mushrooms to the oil, along with the recommended crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Dried oregano also found its merry way in, too, and was joined by freshly-squeezed lemon juice as the very last ingredient.

This was followed by draining the pasta, tossing it with the oil sauce, plating, and topping with a shake of nooch.

Holy smokes, folks! This was so easy and yummy. Probably not the best for my waist line, but what the hay...

I ate this at about 3:30ish, and it put me in a coma-nap until 6:00pm! What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday. Screw Ambien and over-the-counter sleep meds. You should try this recipe!!

Do you have a recipe that brings on a blissful nap after you eat?

Jes

Baked Chickpeas, 2 Ways

Hey MoFos,

Hope you're all having a ball with the posting. I know I sure am!

I wanted to take a minute to tell about the importance of experimentation with food. I've had yummy recipes and horrible, gag-inducing recipes (pesto gone WAYYY bad, still have nightmares). And sometimes, when it's 9:00pm one night when you're bored out of your ever-lovin' mind, experimenting with food is what it takes to keep you from repeatedly bashing your face on the coffee table. Right, so...

Last night, I resumed my obsession with chickpeas and made baked them two ways.

Left side: Spicy Chickpeas with Paprika, Cumin, and Cayenne (they ended up needing more of each)

Right side: Nooch-tastic Chickpeas with Garlic Powder, Oregano, and NOOCH.

I made a little foil divider to keep the spicy and "cheesy" sides separate. Like my zombie baker cookie cutter? Nothing to do with this recipe, he was just hanging out on the counter and wanted to pop in to say, "Nunnnmmmgggg..."

I digress.

I baked the chicks at like 400 or 425, I forget (I've slept since then) for about 30 minutes. Just have to keep an eye on them to make sure they get crunchy but don't burn.

One other thing: probably not the best idea to store them in plastic baggies. I brought some to work today, and they were a right mushy mess towards the end of the day when I wanted to nosh on something while driving home from work (I've been getting carsick like every time I drive this week...hmmm...)

In other news...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've DREAMED of this thing for YEARS. Y-E-A-R-SSsssssssss...

Thanks to Robert and Anne, two of my new parents-in-law, it's a reality!

When I took it out of the box tonight, I LITERALLY made the "angelic noise." You know, **"ahhhhhh..."**sparkle**tears in eyes**. Yeah, I totally dorked out.

But who wouldn't????????????

And here it is next to the lovely Giada food processor. My old Black and Decker (old, as in like 4-5 years?) needs a loving, new home. Hello, garage sale!

Got some great ideas coming up...Don't miss it!!

Jes