Writing prompts, recipes, and such...

I keep thinking about what I want to write about today but just can’t seem to settle on anything. So, over the next week or so I would like for you guys to post comments about what you would like to hear about. Writing prompts, if you will.

I was craving something sweet and decided last night to make cookies. I didn’t have a recipe. I just winged it and added ingredients until the consistency looked right. I’ll post that for you sometime this week. They were a hit. I may still have to tweak them a little. I didn’t have brown sugar and had to use all white. I was, at least, smart enough to write down how much of each ingredient I added. When sharing the recipe that seems to be better understood than, “Add some ___ until it looks and/or tastes right”. 

In the meantime…here’s my Lemon Pasta recipe. I adapted this from two other recipes. I combined my favorite parts of each and ended up with my own creation.  Darn, I should have taken pictures. Give me time guys.  I’ll pull it together. J

So, again I tried a recipe, liked it, and then altered it to make it my own. I served this with eggplant parmesan. Guess I should give you the recipe for that too?

Lemon Pasta

1 lb Angel Hair pasta                                       1 tsp capers

1 pint heavy cream                                          salt & pepper to taste

2 lemons (zested)                                            parsley

3 cloves of minced garlic                               parmesan

2 tbsp olive oil                                                   2 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil 1 pound of angel hair pasta; drain and set aside. I usually put the water on and when it starts to boil, add the pasta and start the sauce. You want the pasta al dente. VERY al dente…It’s going to soak up a little more liquid when you bake it and you don’t want mushy pasta.

In a non-stick skillet heat the olive oil and butter. Add the garlic and sauté about a minute. Add the lemon zest, the juice from the two lemons, and the capers. If you don’t have a lemon zester I have two things to say to you –

1: for the immediate purpose of this recipe you can use the fine grate part of your cheese grater.

2: The next time you’re in a department store buy a lemon zester or a microplane!

Let the sauce cook another minute.  Add the heavy cream and cook about 3-5 minutes to reduce it a little. Add about ¼ cup of parmesan.

Don’t use that icky powdered parmesan. You want real grated parmesan…you know, the kind actually grated from a block of cheese.

Cook another minute and salt and pepper to taste. This doesn’t mean put in salt and pepper and hope for the best. Salt and pepper it…then taste it. Add more if needed. Repeat until it’s right.

Toss pasta and sauce together and place in a lightly greased casserole dish. (I just use a little bit of cooking spray. It makes clean up easier.)

Sprinkle with a little more parmesan and fresh chopped parsley. The parsley makes it pretty. That’s about it. If you don’t want it you can leave it off.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until the top just starts to brown.  Good stuff.