hi, i’m back!
so sorry to miss this last week — it was just one of those weeks, ya know? but we’re back in action and i have some fun stuff to share, including a roundup of some of our favorite wines, a pasta recipe, a delicious salad for spring, and wil is back with a cocktail recipe!
tagliatelle with slow roasted tomatoes and sausage
the temp is warming up a bit, and i am starting to see tomatoes back at the store!! or should i say… tomatoes that actually look good, haha! especially when tomatoes aren’t at their peak, slow roasting them brings out all the flavor and sweetness. kale is in season right now, and basil may be harder to find. if you can’t find any that looks good, just omit it. this pasta is absolutely delicious and it has one of my favorite food aspects — everything in one bowl! protein, carbs, veggies, and alllll the flavor packed in one delicious pasta.
ingredients:
tagliatelle pasta (i use jovial foods brown rice tagliatelle)
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
1 yellow onion, quartered if small, cut in eighths if larger
4-6 leaves fresh oregano, diced
olive oil
sweet italian sausage (½ pound), ground
1 cup finely chopped kale
3 basil leaves, roughly sliced
coarse salt & freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp butter
freshly grated cheese to top, if you’d like (pecorino or parmesan)
make it!
in a baking dish with 1-2 in. walls, put the whole tomatoes, whole garlic cloves, onion, and oregano. drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil, and season with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.
place baking dish on middle rack of oven, then set oven to 325. roast for 40 minutes, then remove and set aside.
while the tomatoes are cooking, cook sausage on medium-high until cooked through and a little crispy.
boil heavily salted water for pasta, then cook according to package directions.
remove the sausage from the pan, leaving fat from sausage in the pan, and add the kale. salt the kale with a pinch of salt and turn down heat to medium-low. allow the kale to get soft and then drain fat from the pan and turn off the heat.
after pasta is cooked, drain but do not rinse.
return pasta to pot, then add butter and toss.
remove the tomatoes from the oven.
add all ingredients into pot and toss together. it’s ok (ideal!) for the tomatoes to burst a little as you toss everything together. you can pull out the garlic cloves if you don’t want them in your pasta, but once roasted they take on a sweet, nutty flavor that i don’t find overwhelming. but you can remove them if you’d prefer.
lastly, stir in the fresh basil and top with parmesan or pecorino romano if you’d like. enjoy!
some favorite wines
i love our (medium-sized) wine collection we have amassed at home. it’s a great mix of some higher end bottles and some tried and true Trader Joe’s faves. pretty much all the recs i have are for red wine… so if you’re a white wine drinker i can’t help you much!
a major favorite that is not shown here is the Revelation Pinot Noir from Trader Joe’s — one of our all time fav reds! just a good, slightly earthy pinot noir. yum.
some of our go tos: a nice beaujolais, Myth Syrah, Banshee Pinot Noir (yum!!), and an everyday italian red (or “vino rosso”).
put herbs on your salad!!
in my opinion, a salad is just not complete without herbs. as we move into the warmer months (woohoo!!!) fresh greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs will be at their peak! don’t let them go to waste — make something delicious with them! pictured below is one of my favorite combos:
crisp green lettuce like romaine or butter lettuce
diced tomatoes
diced cucumber
avocado
kalamata oliver
red onion
feta
dill
lemon & olive oil for dressing
lots of coarse salt and cracked pepper
cocktails with wil: whiskey sour
As things start to warm up (at least here in the south) we’re going to continue to stick to our whiskey theme, but we’re going to brighten things up a bit to match the spring season. The whiskey sour is pretty basic but it’s one of my staple drinks as temps begin to rise. Here’s how to make it:
2oz bourbon ( I reach for a high rye but use whatever you like here)
1/2 oz simple syrup
3/4 oz lemon juice
1 egg white (optional but it makes a great froth)
2 dashes aromatic bitters
add all your ingredients to a shaker tin and dry shake ( this is just for the egg white, shake for a really long time, like way longer than you think!)
Add ice and shake again to chill
Strain into a rocks glass with one rock or beat into a coupe - double strain if you have a fine cocktail strainer to make sure you maintain that froth
I garnish with a bada-bing cherry but that’s just me (I put cherries in everything).
Enjoy this classic while hanging out on the back porch watching the sun go down!