P is for Pasta!

If it's Thursday, it must be time for Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday! I can't believe we're already on the letter P.  Time flies! I'm also sharing this with Michael & friends over at Designs by Gollum.  Pay us a visit - it's always a good time!

I've known for a week what this post would center around.

But...

I absolutely cannot believe this.

Here I am, a pasta lover.  Addict.  Fiend, even.

And I hardly have any pictures of it.

You'd think...YOU'D THINK...that seeing as how I have posted about bolognese, finger-licking meatballs and sauce, and bolognese AGAIN, I'd have pictures of the pasta they went over.

You'd think.  But you'd be wrong.

I had to scour my collection for even a small handful of pasta pictures.

I am ashamed.

Okay, now that the self-flagellation is over:

I love pasta.  It is my favorite, favorite food.  I would eat it every day, and have in the past. 

I don't know what it is about it.  My mom instilled within me a great love for pasta when I was young.  But honestly, I think you have to have a certain predisposition towards something for it to become a part of who you are.  I mean, making me noodles or macaroni for lunch was hardly enough to make me the mad pasta lover I am today.

I think it was born in me, that's what I think.

Red sauce, white sauce, pink sauce, oil and garlic, cold in salad, baked with cheese...I'll eat it all.

Here's a favorite recipe of mine which I've used many times over the years.  I came up with it at least 15 years ago and it's still my favorite.  It's "to my own taste", meaning you could change it up however you want to.

Generous swirl of olive oil
2 tbs butter or margarine
1 pressed garlic clove (or more if you like it! I know I do!)
Dried basil and parsley
Handful of chopped tomatoes or halved grape tomatoes (fresh of course!)
Handful of thinly sliced mushrooms
Large handful of fresh spinach, or 1/4 cup drained canned spinach (I love canned spinach!)
Lemon juice

Heat olive oil and butter in large pan.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Add dried herbs (crush them between your fingers as you sprinkle them - it releases their flavor!).  Toss in mushrooms and allow to soften and begin to brown.  Add tomatoes and allow to cook down a bit and make the whole pan juicy.  Add spinach and lemon juice and cook for another minute or so.  Pour over cooked pasta, add lots of cheese and enjoy the heck out of it!

I'll take the base recipe there and switch out all sorts of things - I'll take out the spinach and add olives at the end, or just use the tomatoes and maybe some capers, or just spinach and lots of garlic, or just mushrooms and a splash of red wine instead of lemon juice.  Whatever mood I'm in and whatever I have on hand.

No matter how I toss it, pasta is home to me.  I love nothing more than settling in with a big bowl of it.  Maybe it takes me back to my childhood - who knows?

Tell me: How do YOU like your pasta?

And by the way...my giveaway ends tomorrow night! It's for a $60 CSN Stores giftcard! Between 200+ stores, you're bound to find something you love! So check it out!