As I sit having my morning coffee, the sky is blue, the windows are wide open and the birds are chirping. Yet, the soft clicking cicada buzz signals the inevitable change ahead. I always have mixed emotions at this time of year. I love embracing the carefree days of summer, and the blessing of togetherness. This makes the thought of the family dispersing again touchingly bittersweet. Change is a given at this point in our family’s lives, but “back to school” has taken on a whole new meaning in our house, this year.
Next week, our lazy summer days officially come to an end. Lily, our youngest, heads back for her junior year of high school, and our college boy leaves for his sophomore year, at Boulder (and his first in-person classes). Meanwhile, Emma, our new graduate, is fully immersed in the job hunt – and has her compass pointed South. Last but not least, there’s Tess, my kitchen companion. Having just landed her dream job in New York City (whoot), she is realizing the stress levels of apartment hunting, in Manhattan (ughh). Stay tuned, because Moments Cookbook is taking part of the show on the road.
All this said, although at times we may resist – we know change is a good thing! So, when Ina Garten switched up one of our favorite summer pasta recipes, we embraced it! The original recipe is a no-cook tomato sauce that marinates for several hours. Quick and delicious, the new version incorporates the best of the original with garden fresh cherry tomatoes and lots of garlic, basil, and parmesan cheese. The difference lies in the method – which is pan sauteing, and adding lots more bright, green herbs. The result is loads of flavor without lots of fuss. This recipe couldn’t have come to us at a better time. Cheers to change!
Capellini with Tomatoes and Basil
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 1/2 cup good olive oil, plus extra for the pot
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)
- 4 pints small cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes
- 18 large basil leaves, julienned
- 2 tablespoons fresh curly parsley, chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (we are generous with this)
- 3/4 pound dried cappellini, or gluten free spaghetti
- 1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
- extra chopped basil and grated parmesan, for serving
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of salt and a splash of oil to the pot.
- Meanwhile, heat the 1/2 cup of olive oil in a large (12-inch) saute pan. Add the garlic to the oil and cook over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, the pepper, and red pepper flakes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to soften but don't break up.
- While the tomatoes are cooking, add the capellini to the pot of boiling water and cook for 2 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water.
- Place the pasta in a large serving bowl, add the tomatoes and Parmesan and toss well. Add some of the pasta water if the pasta seems too dry. Serve large bowls of pasta with extra basil sprinkled on top and a big bowl of extra Parmesan on the side.
Gluten-Free Pasta Dough
Equipment
- 1 KitchenAid Stand Mixer & pasta attachments optional, but really helps!
Ingredients
- 2 cups Cup4Cup gluten-free flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Place the 2 cups flour on a plate and create a well in the center. Add the eggs and egg yolk into the well. Using a fork break up the eggs and slowly start to mix the flour into the eggs a little at a time. When the mixture forms a rough dough, pour the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed in rounded, folding motions to bring it together. Cut into 4 pieces and wrap three of them tightly with plastic wrap.
- Dust the the first piece of dough with gluten free flour and flatten slightly with the heel of your hand, making sure the dough is flat and not overly sticky (be generous with the flour). Using the pasta roller attachment on setting 1, feed one end of the pasta into the machine. This will begin to flatten it into a sheet. After each pass through the machine, fold the sheet in half and sprinkle both sides with generous amounts of flour, spreading it evenly across the dough until there aren't any sticky parts. Continue feeding, folding, flouring, and putting it through the roller again until the sheet stretches to the width of the machine. Be patient, the more you fold it and put it through the roller dusted with flour, the smoother it will get! As soon as the pasta reaches the end-to-end width, change the setting of the attachment to 2. Repeat the folding, flouring and feeding process once through. Then do another pass on setting 3 (our preference). For thinner pasta, continue to setting 4. Repeat this step with the other sheets of dough from the ball.
- Once your sheets are all flattened, switch the current attachment on the stand mixer to the attachment that reflects the pasta shape you're looking to create. Feed your sheets through the attachment one by one, and you should have a finalized pasta shape ready to go!
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Season generously with salt. Add the pasta and cook for 1 ½ to 2 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.
- Note: Fresh pasta cooks extremely quickly, so keep an eye on it!
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