Tonight’s dinner was supposed to be vegetable risotto. I was still just going to throw it together, but I had PLANS.
However, Bill worked late and is about to go work some more. So risotto wasn’t going to happen, because it was going to take too damn long.
So, on the train ride home, I started trying to figure out some faster meal. The worst case scenario, in my head, was that we ate out. We have too many veggies in the house for that to work for me at all. We’ve been inundated by tomatoes, you see.
My train thought process went about like this (truly – all crazy thoughts included):
“We’ve GOT to use up some of those tomatoes. And didn’t we get like a pound of basil in the last share? Tomato and basil – that’s kind of like caprese salad. Fresh tomato & fresh basil, good start. I could just throw them in the food processor with some olive oil and call it pasta sauce…”
When we got home, I was briefly stymied by the lack of whole wheat pasta in the house (except lasagna noodles). However, we had some normal pasta in the house, as well as smoked mozzarella tortellini and butternut squash ravioli. I asked Bill his preference, stating I really didn’t think the squash was a good choice. He didn’t want the tortellini either, and the box of mini “tubes” was open, so I pulled that out.
Threw a pot of water on to boil, asked Bill to do some last few dishes while I made dinner. Then I grabbed about 8 of the mini tomatoes1 we have, a couple of stalks of basil, some olive oil & the food processor and came up for air.
Looking around, I remembered I’d bought some pine nuts (not shown, ’cause they were toasting) for baba ghanoush, and then used walnuts instead and thought, “Pine nuts go in pesto. That’s probably a good choice.” Then, as I was thinking about salt, I remembered the lovely gift Bill’s mother gave us, of some Fleur de Sel with “Mediterranean” herbs mixed in. Realizing I always forget to add salt to my food, I grabbed that too.
I cooked the pasta while toasting the pine nuts. I whizzed together the tomatoes & basil with about 1/4 tsp Fleur de Sel. Once I liked the consistency of that, then I added a solid “glug” of oil. I let the pine nuts cool some, and then tossed in the full half cup. Those I only whizzed in a little, accidentally, but it was a wise choice, as it lent some texture.
Man, it was SO GOOD. I felt like a total winner! I never throw together really awesome meals. I do some okay ones these days, but I have never, ever, not even once, managed to throw together some food in a near panic and have it be even good, much less have me and Bill drooling for more.
I win.
Actually, I double win. 1) An amazingly delicious meal, just thrown together, in a near panic. 2) I remembered to take pictures for you guys to follow along at home.
fn1. I don’t know what kind. They’re bigger than cherry or grape tomatoes, but smaller than anything else. They look like tiny, more elliptical Romas.