Weeknight Pasta My birthday is in winter, in 3 days in fact. But I hate winter. There I ve said it. I m not proud of hating winter, there is no virtue in it. And I don t loathe the cold like some people I know. But everything is so dirty, so dreary and gray outside that I sometimes start to feel like I m living inside the Matrix simulation program before it gets turned on. You know, the one Morpheus uses to get Neo to understand that the Matrix is a computer simulation, at the beginning, when the two of them are standing in the electronic void that seems never-ending. What s worse, at least from my vantage, is the way in which this dreariness seems to kind of leach into the inside of everything: our homes, our brains, the cores of our very beings. The emotional grayness gets tracked in along with all the dirty snow and mud, boots leaving salt streaks on the wood floors and streaks of quiet despair all around. Ok, so I m being dramatic, maybe a little. Or maybe a lot, as my husband, Dale, who is from the Midwest and hence much more stoic than I am, would say. And whiny. I get that way sometimes if the weather is too monochrome for too long. Also it s that time of the year when everything feels like a slog not close enough to the start to feel enthusiastic but too far away from the finish line to feel genuinely hopeful. We re about halfway through the kids school year now, when they start to chafe at the routine of constant early mornings and homework. It s the start of the second semester for me at Earlham my last and I don t really know where I ll be going afterward. It s the start of Dale s second semester too, and he s about halfway through his Master s degree. Everything feels like it s ending or stuck in the middle somewhere. The dreaded, difficult Second Act. Desperate times, as they say, call for desperate measures. And clearly these times call for some certainty in my life. Like a quick, dependable pasta dish I can make with almost anything I
find in my fridge, that can even be made with any leftover vegetables lurking in that dreaded back-of-the-fridge Tupperware container. The one everyone is scared to look in. Weeknight Pasta can be put together using the basic recipe below in about 45 minutes. It can be as hearty or delicate as that day s tastebuds desire. And will make you feel like you re feeding your family a nutritious, balanced meal. Because you are. On those days when adulting seems like a daunting task, even something as seemingly insignificant as getting a tasty dinner on the table can feel like a victory. Trust me on this one. Weeknight Pasta Ingredients 2 lbs cherry or other small tomatoes 1-1.5 lb Italian sausage (or approximately 8 oz prosciutto, pancetta or good smoky bacon. Or soy chorizo. Or no meat at all) 1 large onion handful of peeled garlic cloves 1 large or 2 medium bunches greens or other veggies here I used broccoli rabe but really any veggies would work. In other versions I ve used spinach, chard, collards, broccoli, roasted cauliflower or butternut squash, or raw or roasted bell peppers. Any raw or plain precooked vegetables you have lurking around your fridge would work; you ll just have to balance the flavors in the dish to account for any very assertive-tasting ones like bell pepper (optional) 2 cans of chickpeas (or white beans) 1 bunch flatleaf Italian parsley (or scallion or cilantro or arugula) 1 pound dried pasta, any shape you like 1 cup+ of finely grated parmesan, plus more for the table
good olive oil salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian dried herb blend or dried thyme (optional) Step 1 Preheat oven to 450. Step 2. Drizzle some of the olive oil to coat a large, foil-lined sheet pan. Put the tomatoes in the pan if any of them are much larger than the rest, make sure you halve them. Salt, pepper and garlic powder the tomatoes dried Italian herb seasoning or thyme is also good if you like an herby flavor component, which I do. If you want, add the garlic cloves, cut in half cross wise. Drizzle everything in the pan with enough olive oil to generously coat and toss with your hands. Make sure everything is arranged in a single layer. Roast for 20 minutes or until the tomatoes have begun to significantly collapse and char in places. Set aside. Step 3 Put the pasta water on to boil Step 4 Cut sausage into bite size pieces. Or chop the prosciutto, pancetta or bacon into small slices or cubes. Set aside. Roughly chop onion. Set aside. Mince garlic if using. Set aside. Roughly chop raw vegetable, if using or cut the cooked vegetable into small chunks. Set aside. Open cans of chickpeas
or beans, if using, drain and rinse them. Set aside. Finely chop parsley, scallion, cilantro or arugula. Set aside. QuackHack: what you re doing here (as I m sure most of you know) is putting together your mise-en-place. Though I don t always do this, everything in this recipe is much easier if all the slicing and dicing is done before anything goes on the fire. Step 5 Preheat large sauté pan with tall sides for 2-3 minutes. Put in a glug or two of olive oil the bottom should be lightly coated and heat another 1-2 minutes. If using sausage or other meat, brown well, then remove from the pan. Step 6 In the same pan you used to sauté the sausage, sauté the garlic for a minute until it starts to smell toasty, then put
in the onion. Salt lightly and cook the garlic and onion until soft-ish, about 5-7 minutes. If using chickpeas or beans, put them in the pan, cook for an additional 5 minutes until the beans start to turn a bit creamy and tender to the bite. Put in the raw vegetables (if using) and sauté until just soft, about 5-7 minutes. Step 7 When the pasta water is boiling, add a small handful of sea or kosher salt and stir. When the water comes up to a full boil again, put in the pasta, stir, bring up to a boil and cook according to package directions, minus about a minute. Step 8 When the vegetables are soft but not too mushy, season everything to taste meaning, it should taste delicious to you put the sausage or other meat back in the pan, then put in the tomatoes with their oil and juices and any precooked vegetables (if using), give everything a good stir. Taste once more for salt and seasoning, correct if necessary. Step 9 When the pasta is cooked, reserve a cup or so of the starchy pasta water. Then, drain the pasta and put into the pan with the rest of the ingredients. Top with parsley (and/or scallion/cilantro/arugula). Add the cup of grated parmesan and gently stir. Now, taste if the mixture is too dry, add some of the pasta water, staring with ¼ cup. If it isn t savory
enough, add some more parmesan or salt. If it isn t creamy enough, add a bit more olive oil. Keep adding and tasting until the pasta has formed a sauce that is to your liking. Place the pan on the table and listen to sounds of silence as your family eats. You have survived another weekday.