Almond Basil Tomato Pasta

Today I sing the praises of the food processor. It's so useful...pestos, hummus, mmhhmm. For real, this is the third day in a row that I've lugged it out of the cupboard. Today's use was to puree some of the pasta sauce which instantly makes the sauce thicker & creamier (without cream). For all of the cooking I've done, I don't usually make traditional-ish pasta sauces like the kind with tomatoes in them. But this recipe is a keeper, & I'm eager to try the leftovers tomorrow after the sauce has had time to sink into the pasta.

Almond Basil Tomato Pasta
Adapted (slightly) from Cookwise by Shirley O. Corriher

3/4 cup sliced almonds
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 2 teaspoons dried)
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
28oz can whole tomatoes, roughly cut tomatoes with kitchen shears
1 pound dried penne pasta
3 tablespoons vodka
zest of 1 lemon
bunch of basil leaves, cut into slivers
salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread sliced almonds on baking sheet, & toast until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. (Be careful! They can burn quick!)

2. Stir toasted almonds & butter together to coat. After the almonds have cooled, grind them in a food processor until almost paste-y. Leave in food processor for later step.

3. Heat olive oil on medium heat in large sauce pan. Saute onion, thyme, bay leaf, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, salt, & pepper until onions are soft. Add garlic, & cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes, & simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf.

4. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, but do not rinse.

5. Add 1/2 cup of tomato sauce to food processor with almonds in it, & blend for several seconds. Add another 1/2 cup, & blend until smooth. Return puree to sauce pan, & stir to combine.

6. Add vodka & lemon zest to sauce, & bring to boil. Turn off heat, & add basil.

7. Combine pasta & sauce. Let sit at least 1 minute before serving. Top with parmesan cheese (of course).

Makes at least 4 servings.

Smaller Spaces

In a break from our (rarely) regular food posts, I thought I would share about the new home of Worth the Mess. Two weeks ago, we moved into a 1 bedroom-1 bath duplex a few blocks from my old place. Now, I REALLY liked my old house. I had lived there for 2 years, & everyone knows that moving is not the most fun you can have on a Saturday (or any day).





But we moved for 2 main reasons:
1) After we got married, we wanted to move into a house that was ours. Not ours in the sense that we own it (because we definitely do not), but ours in that we picked it out together & will set up our home in it together.
2) Washer & Dryer...do not underestimate the convenience of having your own.

Not to mention, the lower rent that comes with a smaller house is definitely a plus. We realized that we just didn't need 2 bedrooms, especially as newlyweds. It's not cramped; we like being close together! But the smaller space did prompt us to go through all of our stuff & evaluate if something earned a spot in the new house. Turns out this was actually a good time to do this as we were trying to combine 2 lives together.

Now, with things pared down, I'm having fun organizing the new space & making sure that there's enough places to sit when people come over. I'll be attempting some DIY projects to make this place ours, & if the results are worth the mess, this seems like the place to share them. And even though the space overall is smaller, the kitchen is a decently good size, & there's lots of counter space. So stayed tuned for more (hopefully) delicious food from the new location.



In the mean time, I can't have a blog post without a recipe. Our Saturday routine consists of sleeping in & then making brunch. My absolute favorite brunch recipe is baked eggs with greens courtesy of Smitten Kitchen (who else?) Make it on a lazy Saturday; it's super easy for how good it is.

Vegetable Stir Fry

When the CSA share gives us lots of random produce, the dish we most often cook that produce into is a stir fry. Stir fry is awesome. Lots of vegetables equals lots of servings which means that not only do we get leftovers but lots of veggies means that they're even healthy leftovers. And I would much rather eat dinner leftovers than PB&J for lunch. (Although, on a side note, thanks to the CSA share, we've been eating salad after salad after salad for lunch recently. As a result of the salad lunch invasion, David discovered that he can make homemade french salad dressing using our shiny, new, wedding gift...the food processor. Maybe I can convince him to post that recipe next.)

Another great thing about stir fry is that there's no specific combination of vegetables that you have to use. I would recommend at least some type of greens & something crunchy. The recipe below lists what I used when I made stir fry this time, shown in the picture above. We even happened to have edible flowers (marigolds) from the CSA so this stir fry seemed extra fancy.

Vegetable Stir Fry
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bunch of greens, washed with stems removed (I used kale)
~15 basil leaves, washed with stems removed
1 cup vegetable stock
2 eggs
half of a cucumber, sliced lengthwise
petals from 4 edible flowers
soy sauce, to taste
2 cups cooked rice or soba noodles

1. Cook rice or soba noodes according to package directions.

2. Heat sesame oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add garlic, onion, ginger, & red pepper flakes. Cook about 3 minutes until garlic is just starting to brown.

(If you are using broccoli or asparagus or another hard vegetable, add it here before the greens & cook it a few extra minutes.)

3. Add greens & basil & about half of the stock. Cook until greens soften, stirring regularly. When the liquid has cooked off, add the remaining stock & continue to cook & stir.

4. When all of the liquid has cooked off, turn up the heat to high & add both eggs, stirring constantly until the eggs are cooked.

5. Remove from heat. Serve on top of rice or noodles. Add soy sauce to taste. Top with cucumbers & flower petals.

Makes 4 servings.