One of my favorite television food personalities of all time is Sara Moulton. She's pleasant and cheerful without being PERKY (Rachael fucking Ray), knowledgeable without being SMUG (Bobby Flay, Mario Batali), and demonstrates without being CONDESCENDING like some kind of Psychotic Kindergarten Teacher (Sandra Lee, Paula Deen).
Anyway, several years ago I watched one of her shows on starting a tradition in her family of serving pasta primavera on the first day of spring. Despite the fact that this happened in college and therefore I was likely drunk or hungover, I managed to retain those particular brain cells, and I've been doing it ever since. The pasta primavera thing, that is. FOCUS! (Gah, there is NO HOPE for this paragraph! Go towards the light!)
Horrifying syntax aside, I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this, which is RECIPE CITY. God, I hope you people like FOOD, because you don't seem to be getting much else out of me lately.
Spring Pasta Primavera
1/2 lb. uncooked pasta (I like spaghetti or angel hair with this)
2 cups diagonally cut thin asparagus (I use one pkg of frozen)
1/2 cup peas
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small yellow bell pepper, julienned (GAH! DISGUST! I omit this, OBV)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced (or 1/2 large onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced (I use 3)
1 cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes
2/3 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (could omit for kids, but really adds to the taste)
1/4 - 1/2 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
Cook pasta, adding asparagus and peas during last minute or two of cooking. Drain and place in large bowl. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, onion, and garlic; saute 5 min. Add tomatoes; saute 1 min. Stir in broth, cream, salt, and red pepper; cook 2 minutes or until heated through. Add tomato mixture to pasta mixture; toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese and basil.
ATTENTION FUSSYPANTSES: I know TOMORROW is the first day of spring, not TODAY, I just thought it through for once and thought you might want to PREPARE and shit.
Edited to add Bonus Boring Food Anecdote: Yesterday I got a Google hit for "baggie guilt", which may be the most AWESOME search phrase EVER.
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28 comments:
Thanks for the recipe, it looks yummy. Also I totally agree with your assessment on the food network peeps but I also happen to find Paula Deen to be a NASTY OLD WOMAN. Seriously. She's dirty. I can not watch her show with my husband around. He points out every innuendo, LIKE I DIDN'T HEAR IT THE FIRST FUCKING TIME OR KNOW WHAT IT MEANS THANK YOU, GAH STFU! SCRUBBING MY BRAIN NOW! ICK!
Sorry. It's a nerve.
Um, not to be all FussyPants about it, but do we even have Spring in Texas? I thought we went from ice to tornados and hail to 100 degrees.
"Fussypantses" Heh.
Paula Deen is a screeching harpy.
Mmm. Sounds delicious. Too bad I'm on a self-imposed Heavy Cream Ban.
Sarah Moulton does in fact seem normal. She might be the only one, which is probably why she's not as famous as the other crazies. You know who annoys me? The Barefoot Contessa. I don't know why, except she's completely bland and boring and the way she interacts with her husband/man creeps me out. At least P. Dean has actually admitted to being crazy.
"Go towards the light!" HA!
Mmmm, I am in favor of all pasta dishes. I even subscribe to their newsletter.
I CANNOT STAND Bobby Flay. Have you see Throwdown with Bobby Flay? That is, like, the EPITOME of a SMUG, COCKY asshole. UGH.
ANYWAY, recipe sounds delicious. Thanks!
Flib, I find Ina Garten vaguely...creepy too, and I can't put my finger on why. She reminds me of the robots in The Stepford Wives.
I think you guys get different Food Network people than we do. I don't even recognize some of those names!
My favourite here is Anna Olsen. Do you get her? Sounds the same as Sara Moulden - not at all pretentious, nice to listen to.
Good recipe - it even looks healthy!
By the way, did you catch any of "I Can Make You Thin" with Paul McKenna on the weekend (TLC, I think). It's like a giant infomercial without the flashing 1-800 number, but so far I love his advice.
Lori, I don't know Anna Olsen, although that sounds like a fine Minnesotan name! We MUST have different show, which is WEIRD.
And I haven't seen "I Can Make You Thin" either, although it sounds right up my alley.
Who is Paul McKenna?
I did a little research (because I am a loser) and he's a British self-help guru who uses hypnosis techniques. I KNOW! It sounds very gimmicky, but in the first episode he pronounced his Golden Rules that included:
-> If you're hungry eat.
-> Eat what you want.
-> Savour every bite (or something like that - basically eat slower and more thoughtfully)
-> Stop when you're full.
I like Sara Moulten too - Rachel makes me want to stick skewers in my ears. THAT LAUGH UGH! I can't put my finger on why Ina makes me want to break my TV - maybe because she lives in a world of make believe where your best friend the world famous florist comes to decorate your backyard picnic table with $2000 worth of flowers for your friends wedding anniversary (Why are your friends spending their wedding anniversary with you and not BY THEMSELVES?) sorry. got carried away there.
I really just wanted to say I'm going to try and make my husband make this for me. Thanks for the recipe!
I do like Sarah Moulton, but there is an episode where she is preparing a tailgate and prepares her own (from scratch) football-shaped marshamallows for the hot chocolate. That might be a little too fussypants, even for me.
I also love Sara Moulton and hate that she's been relegated to early Saturday mornings (or weekday mornings?) on FoodTV. Paula and Sandra and Rachael are amateurs comparatively.
This recipe looks good and what a bonny idea! First day of Spring! Thanks for sharing that one!
Oh, I LOVE that idea! Now I have to go buy stuff. Believe me, the Fussypantses thank you for the warning. We Fussypantses like to be prepared.
Scott and I were talking recently about how you never see Sara Moulton on the Food Network anymore and that we miss her. Yes, we're just that interesting.
Oh my God, Paula Deen and that cackle of hers.....She is crazy, and quite possibly a WITCH!! Hub and I were just talking about Bobby Flay being an arrogant a-hole.
The primavera sounds DELISH. And look at you, being prepared like a boy scout!
Oh...and is BR aware or at all suspicious of the heavy cream?
Oh, he's aces with the heavy cream, it's only SOUR cream he (inexplicably) disapproves of. And cream cheese, even though he loves cheesecake (???!!!)
i'm totally making this tonight. first day of spring be damned!
I used to be on this big pasta primavera kick for awhile when I absolutely hated red sauce. For some reason though I'd forgotten all about it in the last few years. Thanks for reminding me of my old buddy primavera. We just might get back together.
Now I am seriously curious about what the person searching "baggie guilt" has going on. . .
Not boring to me at all- I've been obsessivly reading food blogs since I discovered the magic of google reader. I will in fact make this recipe. and probably tomorrow on the first official day of spring.
That's looks so good. No SOWAH cream? HA HA HA!
And, for the record, I dig the horrifying syntax.
BG feels the same way about Rachel Ray! That made me laugh outloud by the way!
I loved Cooking Live with Sara Moulton. I didn't really like her show after that. Thanks for the recipe. It looks pretty good and springy.
Jesus, spring is here already? (not that I'm complaining)
I love your synopsis of the Food Network people ... I would like to know what you think of Barefoot Contessa???!!!!!!
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