planetdanika

I’ve made this recipe twice now. It’s delicious and best made with good quality ingredients. I recommend trying it now, before all the good tomatoes disappear for the next few months.

Pasta Ida Lucia Pezzino
Source: Joe Gray – Chicago Tribune, modified by my friend Deb

Ingredients
4 large beefsteak tomatoes, cored
4 cloves garlic, peeled, pressed or minced
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced into ribbons
4 tsps olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound capellini (angel hair pasta)
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the tomatoes on a lightly oiled baking sheet; divide the garlic and basil among the tomatoes. Drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil in each; sprinkle with the salt. Cook until tomatoes soften and begin to shrivel but still hold their shape, about 30 minutes. (Mine took 22 minutes.)

Meanwhile, heat a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat; add the capellini. Cook until al dente, according to package directions; drain.

While pasta is cooking, heat the remaining olive oil in a large, heavy skillet; stir in the bread crumbs. Cook, stirring, until crumbs brown and become crispy, about 4 minutes.

Toss the pasta with the bread crumbs; divide evenly among 4 pasta bowls. Nestle a tomato carefully in each bowl. Top with cheese. Serve, allowing diners to break up their own tomato and eat with the pasta.

I have surprisingly been back in the kitchen of late. There are a few recipes I’m planning to pass along to you and all of them are pretty simple. With current limitations, recipes have to be very easy or I won’t attempt them at all. This one for mussels is one of G’s favorite combos- coconut milk and curry. I think the broth would make an excellent base for soup as well. With all that ginger, it’s great for cold season. I made the recipe as written but next time, I’ll increase the coconut milk for a richer flavor.

Mussels in Spicy Coconut Broth
Source: Cooking Light, January 2003

Ingredients
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons red curry powder (such as McCormick)
Dash of salt
1 (14.5-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Preparation
Combine first 7 ingredients in a Dutch oven, and bring to a boil. Add mussels; cover and cook 5 minutes or until shells open.

Remove from heat; discard any unopened shells. Spoon 1 1/2 cups broth mixture into each of 2 soup bowls. Divide mussels evenly among each soup bowl. Garnish with chopped basil.

Yield
2 servings

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 241(27% from fat); FAT 7.1g (sat 2.8g,mono 1g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 22.9g; CHOLESTEROL 46mg; CALCIUM 66mg; SODIUM 940mg; FIBER 1g; IRON 7.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 20.3g

Just 8 more days until my race! I always think an event feels more real when you can see the extended weather forecast for it (usually 10 days out). Although I’m not thrilled with the long range forecast, which predicts rain. Either way, we’re in the final days. There’s nothing more I can do to prepare for the event- except maybe get a lot of sleep. If you’re local, feel free to come out to Cougar Mountain to cheer me on next Saturday. Otherwise, I’ll have to fill you in after the race and some serious resting/eating/tub-soaking occur.