iou

I really was planning on baking for you. I know i have been focused on summer produce lately and thought you would want something sweet. But some days, you just want pasta. for me, those some days are pretty much every day. And, while I admit that I’m a tomato based sauce kind of girl, because it is the summer I felt like wandering.

So about that something sweet, I will have to say iou.

We had a busy weekend errand running, dentist appointments, a wedding shower, drinks and a movie with friends and a ton of yard work to catch up on. the truth is I love busy weekends and really enjoy running errands. We open the sunroof, hook the ipod up in the car and stop for yogurt smoothies at Williams. If it were up to Ryan we would spend the entire weekend watching movies or tv, baking cookies and barely leaving the couch (don’t get me wrong I will happily gulp half a season of west wing or kitchen confidential in one sitting) but I need to get outside too.

After all the running round, we didn’t have a lot of time before meeting Sarah and Andrew for a movie, (Inception, a must see; it is now in my top five) so it had to be a quick dinner but we hadn’t eaten much all day so something tasty was needed. Then I remembered Ina Garten’s recipe had me at first glance.

Summer Pasta (adapted from Ina Garten’s Spaghetti with Shrimp and Broccoli)

4 cups broccoli florets
2 red bell peppers cut into thin strips
olive oil
2 chicken breasts – grilled
4 large garlic cloves cut into thin slivers
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ cup minced parsley
spaghetti

Preheat the oven to 400. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with a little salt. Combine the broccoli, red peppers, ¼ cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper on a baking sheet, toss well and spread out, roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile boil the pasta and set aside 1 ½ cups of the cooking water before you drain the pasta. Heat ½ cup olive oil over medium heat in a large shallow pot. Add the garlic and cook for one to two minutes, stirring frequently, until it just begins to turn golden on the edges. Add the red pepper flakes and cook for 30 more seconds. Carefully add the reserved pasta water to the garlic and oil and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for about five minutes. Add the drained pasta to the garlic oil and toss. Add the cut up chicken breasts, chopped parsley, broccoli and red peppers. Allow the pasta to rest off the heat for a few minutes for the sauce to be absorbed.

Today was another busy day -- but at least I had the leftovers waiting for me in the refrigerator!