Since I read so many food blogs and watch so much food TV, I’m constantly finding recipes that I want to make.  But of course, I only get the chance to try a small percentage of them—there are only so many meals in a week! This pasta, cleverly dubbed “Penne a la Betsy,” by Ree of The Pioneer Woman for her sister, has been on my radar for a LONG time.  Somehow I’ve resisted this decadent dish, which contains a CUP of cream in the sauce, for over a year.  It just didn’t seem like something I needed, especially over the summer.

But last Friday, after a week of being sick with what I dramatically called Tuberculosis, I knew I deserved it.  The heavy cream, waiting to be added to the caramel for those Pumpkin cupcakes, was mocking me from the fridge.  I gave in, and I’m so glad I did.

There’s no frills to this pasta.  It’s made up of simple, great ingredients: Garlic, Onions, White Wine, Sauteed Shrimp, Cream, Tomato Sauce, and Basil.  But it all comes together perfectly into one of the most comforting dishes I’ve ever had.  I always felt like my tomato cream sauces were a little off, good but not perfect, and now I know why— they didn’t contain a cup of cream.

Recipe

When Keenan and I were sophomores at NYU, we were pretty broke (as most college students are).  As unfortunate as it was, we had most of our meals in the dining halls, where the food was free.  However, there were some Friday nights when all we would want was a huge bowl of pasta, a loaf of bread, and a bottle of wine to have while we watched TV in his dorm room.  Even though the pasta was usually accompanied by a store-bought jar of sauce, those were some of the best dinners we ever had.

Four years later, I still get those intense pasta cravings every once in a while.  I’m a lot better at the art of cooking now, but there’s still nothing more satisfying than a big bowl of carbs.  That’s exactly how I felt last Friday when I got home after spending a day commuting in the snow and being freezing cold in my office.  Knowing I had some free time, I broke out the Giada DeLaurentiis “Everyday Pasta” cookbook that I got for Christmas.  I flipped through the whole thing but kept coming back to the Rigatoni with Sausage, Artichokes, and Asparagus.  After a little convincing (Keenan isn’t the biggest artichoke fan) I dove into my cooking zen and came out with a masterpiece.  There are so many flavors, and the way they combine are absolutely incredible. I recommend making this next time you have YOUR pasta craving!

Oh, and I plan on making my way through the entire “Everyday Pasta’ cookbook.

Recipe

As you can tell, the past couple days were full of cooking and scrumptious food! Keenan and I had decided early on to make it a relaxing, do-nothing sort of weekend since it was supposed to snow non-stop. Fortunately the bad weather ended up missing us, but we were still very lazy.

On Friday, our only ambitious night, we had yet another dinner at Amano in Ridgewood. I just can’t stay away from that place; it’s so freaking good. Luckily Keenan agrees, so he never objects when I want to go.

On Saturday I finally got around to making one of the recipes from Rachael Ray’s Top 10 Recipes of the Year. I had posted about this list last week, but never got around to it because Keenan unexpectedly (well, I guess it’s never expected) had his appendix out. But he’s doing great now and had plenty of room for Neapolitan Baked Ziti. This recipe was FANTASTIC and everyone loved it. In fact, they got pretty angry when I left the leftovers out of the fridge all night and ruined it. Whoops! To go with it, I made chicken cutlets, a spinach salad with goat cheese and pears, and garlic bread.

For Super Bowl Sunday, I decided to celebrate the “awesome food” part of it and toss the actual football watching. Instead we hung out with the fam, watched Up, and munched on all the snacks I made: nachos, Buffalo wings, artichoke dip, sweet and sour franks, and an awesome pizza which I unfortunately didn’t get a picture of. Nothing like traditional bar food to end a weekend.

I can’t get enough of trying new recipes, and I wish I had the time to do this every weekend!

The Rachael Ray Show just released their list of Top 10 Recipes of the Year (in other words, the most frequently downloaded recipes from their website).  Since I work full-time, it’s very rare that I actually get to watch the show, so most of these recipes are new to me.  I wish I had heard of them before now- they all look ridiculously good!  I’m in the mood to cook, so I’ll probably make one tomorrow.  I’m thinking either the Neapolitan Baked Ziti or Chicken Parm Pasta Toss. Somehow I ALWAYS end up making Italian.

Neapolitan Baked ZitiChicken Parm Pasta Toss

Tonight me, my mom, and sister took advantage of Ridgewood Restaurant Week and had dinner at Amano Pizza. Always incredible! Especially my Tiramisu Gelato…

Ok, AND the Antipasto,  Artichoke Salad, and Margherita Pizza.  Heaven.