Caprese Tagliarini

After a trip to Carraba's Italian Grill a few months ago I have been searching for a type of pasta we had.  I do this a lot, try something new then search endlessly until I can find it, and cook it at home.  I finally came across the pasta. Tagliarini.

I wanted a very thin chunky sauce to go with the pasta. I love cooking with no real recipe in mind. Just kinda shooting from the hip. The idea was to have a caprese salad in a sauce.  I sauteed some onions, mushrooms and garlic in extra virgin olive oil.  Then added a couple cans of diced tomatoes. Then into the sauce went a little salt, Italian seasoning, a bay leaf, and sugar.  To balance out the sweetness from the sugar and tomatoes I added a little crushed red pepper.  I let it simmer for about 15 minutes while we sat on the porch and enjoyed the weather.  Upon returning indoors, the smell was intoxicating.  A good sign of a great sauce in the making.

Nothing goes better with a pasta dish than garlic cheese bread.  While on our trip to the coast we stopped by  Sweet Home Cheese Farm and picked up some of their garlic gouda cheese. I sliced some Italian bread from the local Publix bakery, added some butter and the cheese.  Then into the broiler.

After the noodles were drained I put them in a bowl.  Then topped them with some fresh basil and diced mozzarella.  Then I added the sauce on top, and tossed.  I didn't want the basil to cook, just warm up.

The sauce had a great fresh taste.  The basil barely wilted, and the mozzarella slightly melted so the chunks were a great surprise every few bites.  The cheese bread was toasted on top, and soft on the bottom, just the way I like it. This was a successful attempt to get the flavors I wanted in the sauce.  I love when that happens.

Sweet Pepper Spaghetti

Since Byrd and I met she has been the spaghetti sauce maker. Although I have several sauces up my sleeve, hers is that good. When it comes to traditional spaghetti sauce it is what I crave. The only problem is she doesn't share my passion for all things noodles. So eating spaghetti is a treasured night around here for me. Tonight was that night, but I thought I would make the sauce to give her a well deserved break. If I remember correctly, I got the original recipe for this one off a food show when I was in college. This sauce begins with thinly slicing a red onion, 3 yellow peppers and 3 red peppers. Heat up 6 tablespoons of Olive Oil on medium heat until smoking. Add in the vegetables, 1 Tbsp of CRP, and 2 Tbsp of Oregano. After about 5 minutes I added 4 gloves of minced fresh garlic and a pound of sliced white button mushrooms. Cook until tender, about 20 minutes total.

Since I posted this I did go back and find the original recipe: Spaghetti with Sweet Pepper--Spaghetti con Sugo di Peperoni

After the peppers are tender add a can of tomato paste and cook until it darkens, which takes about 20 minutes stirring occasionally.Then add in a cup of red wine. Use a dry red, it seems to work better with the sweetness of the peppers. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. I let this cook for 30 minutes or so, adding a little wine and water, to keep the sauce the consistency of ragu.

You can't have spaghetti without garlic cheese bread. Lately we have been using Arnold Select Sandwich Thins, which are lower in calories and get very crispy in the oven. So here it is with a glass of the same wine used in cooking.

It takes a while to cook a great sauce, but it was worth it in the end. Don't be alarmed that this is a vegetarian dinner, it doesn't happen often around here. Over the years I have added a variety of meat, but it is never as good as the original. But for a great sausage and peppers dish, add links of Italian sausage.