My phone is out in my car - so this lovely picture is courtesy my webcam. Why yes, my stove is from 1973. Why do you ask? You should see the front - it's actually not all white. It's white AND black. Classy. But it's got a double oven instead of a microwave over the stove, and it works great - so it's mine until it dies. Function over form.
What you're viewing above is the aftermath of dinner. I didn't think to take a photo until we started eating and I thought "this is good - I should blog about it!"
This recipe is relatively easy and very tasty, but I found it too salty (this is becoming a trend with recipes I find on line). Found the recipe here. There are also much better pictures there!
I loved all the flavor combos, but here's how I'd make it, if I were to make it again.
1. Boil a big pot of water, and add a box of twisty noodles. I like smart pasta. It's white but high fiber, so healthy but the husband will eat it too. The recipe called for salting the water, but I'd skip that step since you're going to be using some of the pasta water in the recipe.
2. Set a colander over a bowl that can handle boiled water. Next to the stove, place another heat resistant small bowl. When the pasta is al dente - drain it, but save the water.
3. Soak 1/2 cup of sun dried tomatoes in warm water, and place to the side.
4. In a large pan, heat 2 Tbs of Olive Oil (original recipe called for 3 Tbs, but it's just too much) with 1/2 Tsp of crushed cayenne pepper flakes (the original recipe said 1/4 tsp but it wasn't hot enough for me), and 1 Tbs minced garlic. Heat until the garlic is sizzling, but don't let it get brown. You're infusing the oil with the flavor of the garlic and pepper. When finished, empty into the small heat resistant bowl you put next to the stove mentioned in step 2.
5. Quickly clean out the pan with a little water and a rag or paper towel. Heat it back up with 2 Tbs olive oil and add 3-4 heads of chopped broccoli (bite sized pieces). Sprinkle with a little sea salt or kosher salt. Original recipe called for 1 Tsp. I think it was a little bit much (if you look further down you're adding parmesan, olives, and goat cheese - which are all salty). Cook the broccoli until it's shrunk down to a single layer in the pan and is bright green. Stir it every so often. Don't short change it because it'll get a really nice toasty flavor if you cook it long enough.
6. Drain the half cup of sun dried tomatoes from step 2. Chop the tomatoes. Add the chopped sun dried tomatoes to the pan, along with 1/3 cup of pasta water. The original recipe called for sun dried tomatoes in oil. I used them, but there is so much oil in this recipe that it's unnecessary). Put a lid on the pan and cook until most of the water has boiled out. If your pan isn't huge, you may want to dump everything into a large bowl at this point so you can mix in the rest of the ingredients.
7. Add the cooked pasta and the infused oil (I kept the garlic and pepper flakes in there), stir. Add another 1-2 Tbs of pasta water, 2-3 oz of crumbled goat cheese, and 1/3 cup of parmesan. Stir again until the goat cheese is melted. Add 15 chopped kalamata olives and juice from 1/2 of a lemon. If it seems dry add a little more pasta water or a little more olive oil if you dig that much oil.
8. Possible additions: spinach, chickpeas, arugula, more pasta (the flavor goes a long way in the original recipe), shredded and sautéed brussel sprouts, chopped chicken, etc. Endless possibilities.
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