Last week, I was talking about “early summer” fruits and veggies, so here I made something with some of my favorites: asparagus, peas and snow peas. Added a light pesto sauce (my fallback when I don’t know what else to make), and voila! A great little lunch or dinner and a really simple, straight forward recipe. What are you making with those fresh fruits and veggies out there?
Pasta
This is perhaps the epitome of comfort food for me : Kasespätzle! I guess you could consider it Southern German “Mac & Cheese”, except with homemade pasta, Swiss cheese instead of cheddar and onions. It’s the first and last thing that I eat when I go home to Germany, and while I don’t make it all that often at home (mainly because the carbs and cheese add up to lots of calories!), it is the thing that I crave when I need a foodie “hug”. It’s delicious, it’s comforting and it instantly puts a smile on my face.
January is made for comfort food. It’s chilly and snowing just a bit which made it the perfect time to make these Cheesy Shells with Meatballs. Full disclosure: this is one of those times that you can bought store bought parts of this meal. I included directions on how to make meatballs, but you can also go buy some pre-cooked frozen meatballs. And I didn’t make the marinara or pesto sauces either — store bought is just fine. While people have this perception that it is hard to stuff shells (or manicotti, for that matter), if you cook the pasta al dente, it isn’t much of an issue. Enjoy!
Pea Pesto Parpadelle … if nothing else, it’s kinda of funny to say. And turns out, it’s yummy, summery and really quick to make — like this took no more that 20 minutes from fridge and pantry to plate. You can make this with frozen peas any time of year, but I happen to find fresh ones at the market (for those precious few weeks in the summer).