Egg-y Deliciousness: Summer Pasta 101

This past weekend's wedding was a resounding success! We slept soundly (and dust-free) in our cool, dark, king-sized-bed-equipped hotel room, and even found time to go swimming in the pool before the Sunday brunch! (Let's not even talk about what an 8-month pregnant me looks like in a bikini... I was a yellow-polka-dotted nightmare.) On our way home, we stopped at lots of little farm stands and picked up a bounty of beautiful summer fruits and veggies, determined that we were going to concoct some new and wonderful version of pasta primavera for our dinner last night. According to the people at google, we would be making pasta estate (apparently "estate" is Italian for summer, so there ya-go.)

This recipe was definitely a "by-the-seat-of-our-pants" affair, but with excellent end results...

Here's gist for our Delicious Egg-y Pasta Estate:

ingredients:

• 4 cloves of garlic (chop 2, quarter 2)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 20 cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered, depending on their size
• 3/4 cup of diced carrots
• 1/2 cup of fresh shelled peas
• LOTS of parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, whisked lightly together
• 2 1/2 cups of funny shaped pasta (we used strozzapreti and campanelle, which is a kind of trumpet-shaped pasta)

directions:

• Start by peeling up your 4 cloves of garlic. John chopped 2 cloves, and then quartering 2 cloves.
• Add your olive oil to a large skillet, and get it nice and hot. (Chef Greg says you're looking for the 'sound of success'. When you throw the garlic into the oil, it should make a good sizzle sound. That's the sound of success!) Next, throw in your carrots and stir the garlic, carrots, and olive oil together so everything is nicely coated. Add more oil as needed.
• Put a large pot of water onto boil (Don't forget to add a dash of salt to the water.)
• Cook your garlic/carrots for about 5 minutes, and then toss in your halved cherry tomatoes.
• Let cherry tomatoes cook for another 5 minutes, then toss in your fresh shelled peas.
• Spoon a little pasta water into the skillet, maybe 2-3 tablespoons, just to get everything nice and liquid-y. Crack salt and pepper into this concoction, and then lower the heat to the lowest setting.
• Hopefully, your water has boiled at this point, and you've added your pasta. Once the pasta is cooked (about 10 minutes for the campanelle) strain it and put it back in its big pot on the stove. Turn the burner back on medium-low, and then toss in the egg mixture (two whole eggs plus one egg yolk) and stir that into the cooked pasta. The heat from the noodles and the heat from the stove should start to cook the egg a little.
• At this point, grate in about 1 cup of parmesan cheese. Stir that all together, and then stir in the veggie mixture from the skillet.
• Everything should be pretty evenly distributed, with a fairly equal ratio of pasta to veggie. Add a little more salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese to taste, and then serve. Maybe grate another dash of parmesan cheese on top once plated, just to make it look nice.
• This recipe should serve 2-3 pretty hungry people ( or one normal person and one pregnant woman...)

Don't get me wrong-- this recipe isn't going to rock your universe or revolutionize your palette. It's just simple, good food, not too bad for you, lots of veggies represented, and easy as pie. And, it only takes about 15-20 minutes to make, which makes it a perfect week night dinner. Delish!

We made this again, for Julia, on Monday night (it's possible we went a little overboard at the farm stands) and she was equally satisfied and impressed. In fact, she even went so far as to recommend the dish to another friend, so that's saying something good!

Give it a shot!