Pasta on the Fly

Its cold, rainy and about to snow here. I had 15mins today to eat. I could have eaten more pre-made stew. But I was starving! And what happens when I'm a hungry monster? I crave all things bad. I badly wanted pasta. So I made myself pasta! I used Spinach and tomato Semolina penne which is comparable to whole wheat. I my pasta really aldente. Sometimes even on the slightly chewy side. This again is a one pot wonder recipe that seriously took me 12 mins from start to finish.

Ok I cheated everything was pre cut already, its all the left over bell peppers and asparagus chopped. The main ingredient is the pasta, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. In each dish you make. Pick a star ingredient. Keep it simple so that ingredient really shines. In this case I really craved the chewy starch from the pasta and the salty of the parm.

This recipe is so simple yet very satisfying! Oh and whats better then pasta for one? Pasta for two, so this recipe makes enough for two.

Super simple penne pasta in pasta water sauce (totally made this up on the fly)

Ingredients:

• 2 handfuls of semolina penne pasta (I love penne because when its aldente its chewy and dense)

• a small scoop of butter

• chopped veggies such as asparagus and bell peppers

• salt/pepper

• minced garlic

• 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano)
• sliced up cured meat of choice (I used french salami and Italian speck, fatty yummy chewy goodness!)

Directions:

• Bring a small pot of salty water to a boil, drop in your penne
• prep all your veggies and protein
• once the pasta is aldente (about 8-12 mins) pull off the stove and pour out most of the water, keep about 1/4 cup of the starchy pasta water
• pour the penne and water into a bowl
• in the same pot, the butter and olive oil garlic and veggies (season with salt and pepper)
• stir in half the cheese
• once everything is warmed up (not overly cooked) about 2 mins, pour back in the pasta and the rest of the cheese. season very lightly and add in the meat
• give it a few toss until the cheese is melted, and serve immediately. pasta is best served HOT!

The starchy pasta water provides the bind you need to give the dish a slight sauce. The cheese and meat will be salty so you want to under season. Let your pallet pick up the sweet from the pasta against the salt of the meat and cheese and the fresh of the veggies.

I could easily make this gluten free by using corn and quinoa pasta. However today was one of those days I needed real carbs! So if you need them to, just do it smart use whole pasta and eat slow and you'll realize how little you need. Tomorrow I'm giving it all up and I'm back to my strictly veggie routine, need to shock my body back to health and keep my eye on the prize, 8% body fat to lose and I ain't givin up the fight!

So whats for dinner? Its grapefruit season! I could inhale a box of them! yum! Yup my dinner was 2 grapefruits! It was glorious!