Sure, I recognize that Cinco de Mayo is coming up, and maybe you were expecting a taco or fajita recipe. I'm figuring... No, I'd bet the farm that there are a gazillion other sites that will provide you with oodles of Mexican celebratory dishes. I like Mexican food but I'm Italian (well, as we all know now with 1/4 Polish, shhh). Plus, you're gonna need a dish for Sunday.

What can I tell you? I'm a creature of habit and I love me some pasta on a Sunday. Well, any day really, but Sundays are a must. And it's usually the kind of pasta dish where I'm just throwing together things that I unearth from the back of the fridge or from a pantry rummage. As my grandmother, who didn't quite understand my need for experimentation, used to call it, Mescolanza. Roughly translated; 'mixed up mess' which doesn't sound very appealing, right? Consequently, the need for another title was apparent. Thus the renaming of these types of creations to Something from Nothing Specials was born. Although not super sexy, it does sounds more creative and less like a mistake. I have to admit, with some pride, that I can't recall a time when I experimented with pasta and it didn't taste good. Could bias play a role by sheer virtue that I crave pasta like a smoker craves nicotine? Sure, but I have confirmation from others that they like my creations, too.

So this past Sunday began a bit slow and lazy. When I woke up I had in the back of my mind that it was a pasta day. Although Spring had been trying to eek its pretty little neck out, this particular day was quite chilly, and even a bit nasty. Pasta always warms my soul and my belly. Heck, who am I kidding? It's Sunday. I don't need any other excuse to make pasta. So, after doing some Spring cleaning, my reward was to whip me up some comfort and serve it up like a trophy for my work. (I think I might have a serious pasta problem.)

Sure, I had fresh tomatoes. I even had mushrooms. But that big, hunking jar of sun-dried tomatoes was staring me down as I opened the refrigerator door. Those jewel colored, intensely flavored bites reminded me of how often I cooked with them in Miami. I was immediately transported back with memory waves of the other ingredients that were my favs: artichoke hearts, capers and olives. Always trying to keep some solid staples on hand, of course I had capers and olives at the ready. But with artichokes in attendance, it seemed imperative that I resurrect an old dish. Also making an appearance, but as a new addition were some baby Italian eggplant. Throw in a few aromatics and we have a pasta dish, y'all.

Ingredients

1 lb pasta (I used gluten free Tinkyada ziti but use whatever you like)
3 small Italian eggplant, cut in 1/2" strips (approx. 4 c)
1 c artichoke hearts, quarters
1/4 c sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, sliced (approx. 1.5c)
2 T Kalamata Olives
3 large garlic cloves, sliced
1.5 T capers
3 T olive oil
1/2 -1 t salt
1/2 t red pepper flakes
2 c basil, chiffonade
Goat or Feta cheese, or Pesto, optional

Instructions

Put a pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. Sauté the onions in oil, adding 1/2 t salt and red pepper over low heat. Let soften while you slice the eggplant and garlic.

Add the eggplant and slightly raise the flame to medium low. You want to brown the eggplant a bit. While the eggplant is cooking, prep all the remaining ingredients, and add the pasta to the boiling pot. Once the eggplant has browned, add a tad more oil in the middle of the pan to cook the garlic. Then add the capers, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. Lower the heat and let warm through. At this point, give it a taste for seasoning. Capers, olives and sun-dried tomatoes can be salty which is why I only started with 1/2 t salt to start, and then added another 1/2 t before adding the pasta.

It's important to not overcook the garlic, so only add that once the onions and eggplant are browned.

The aromatic line up: Sun-dried tomatoes, capers, Kalamata olives, artichoke hearts.(Notice I only had a few olives, so that's the amount I used.)

Add them all to the pan so they cozy up together.

By this time the pasta should be ready. Reserve some of the pasta water, then drain the rest. Add the pasta to sauce pot, stir together. Add the pasta water as needed to loosen up. Turn off the heat and add the basil. Serve immediately.

Add the pasta to the mix and stir together. Now is the time to add the pasta water to your liking.

Add the basil at the end to keep it from cooking all the way through.

Grate some cheese over top. This dish would also be delicious with chunks of feta or goat cheese stirred in. I didn't have either but can completely imagine and taste it in my mind.

Since I had so much basil, I made walnut pesto which I used to warm up the leftover pasta. Let me tell you that was a winning combination.

Happy Sunday or any day.

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So yeah, I have a food and entertaining blog which means I cook a lot. I also like to experiment, so that keeps me in the kitchen cooking things up. But I fully realize that not everyone has time to dedicate to home cooked meals all the time. Indeed, it does take time and energy. For some, making a meal at home can be as much of a treat as going out to dinner. It just depends on your perspective. Sometimes going out is the salvation and sometimes vice a versa. And so it was a couple of weeks ago when I was down visiting my dear friends Emily and Lorne. Emily had just watched some videos about grilling and she was excited to test drive some ideas. The goal was to grill and fill the dinner table with a variety of selections, from cauliflower to sweet potato slabs to hamburgers. It was a delicious meal, with the best part being that everyone got involved in either cutting, flipping or tending to the grill. Plus the big treat; eating a healthy, good meal at home. And as any good 'vice versa' goes, the next evening was dinner out. They took the family, and me, for a delicious dinner at restaurant near their home in Maryland. Two treats; one in, one out, two different ways.

On our restaurant adventure, Emily made a healthy but yummy choice of roasted butternut squash soup and salad. As did Lorne, who ordered a seared scallop dish. The boys had chicken dishes and grilled pizza. I, on the other hand, went for the full indulgence of a Butternut Squash Pasta dish. Decadent and delicious is the only way to describe this piece d'resistance.

There were so many layers of earthy flavors in this dish, all co-mingling in luscious harmony. I can still taste it. So why not try to bring that harmony back.

It was Sunday again. Boy, do the weeks fly by fast. And Sundays have traditionally signified pasta feasting day. So it goes to stand that was what I would make. With the taste of that pasta still lingering in my mind and on my palate, I ventured to recreate it for JuanCarlos.

I do warn you that this dish is going to take a few more steps than my own recipes. I am usually a firm believer in simple preparation, few but fresh ingredients and not too fussy. But this pasta was so good that I'm willing to go the extra yards.

The restaurant offered it with bucatini, which I'm sure would have been amazing, but since I am gluten free they served me a spaghetti option fitting that need. The flavor combos were bold. Spice roasted butternut squash purée as the base. Pasta tossed with pumpkin seed pesto chive oil, wild mushrooms and wilted spinach topped with garlic confit. Oh, if only I had thought up this medley to take credit. But alas, I did not. I can only try to figure out what they did and remake to indulge once again.

Here goes. Stick with me. It will be worth it.

The line up: Spinach, wild mushrooms, butternut squash, basil, garlic, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, parmesan cheese, and pasta.

Ingredients

For Roasted Butternut Squash
1 butternut squash (8 c cubed), roasted
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 c olive oil

For Garlic Confit
1 head garlic cloves (approx. 11 large cloves)
2/3 c olive oil

For Spinach & Mushrooms
5-6 c wild mushrooms (Cremini, Shiitake, Oyster, Japanese Brown Beech)
8 c baby spinach
Magic 3 (Olive Oil, salt, pepper)

For Pesto
8 c basil leaves, loosely packed
1/2 c pumpkin seeds, roasted (reserve some to garnish)
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1-2 garlic cloves
1 1/4 c olive oil
salt, pepper to taste
1 lb pasta (I use Tinkyada brown rice linguine)
Parmesan cheese shavings (optional)

Before I embark on instructions. A quick note about multitasking. I may not highlight this point in each post I write but it's always there. It's the art of preparing items in a order so that food is cooking, marinating, chilling, etc while you are tackling another task. This recipe will definitely call for some serious multitasking.

In this recipe there are two parts that will need up to an hour of cooking time. Those are the roasted butternut squash and the garlic confit. So we will start there. (Confit just means poaching in oil slowly, slowly, slowly. Did I say it takes time? Yes, slowly. And don't let the fancy name freak you out. This method is beyond super easy.)

Instructions

Peel, remove seeds and cube the butternut squash. (You can wash and dry the seeds, then roast them for snacking... or toss them out.)

Carefully peel the hard skin off the squash. I find that a knife works best.

Coat the squash with oil, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Then roast at 400 degrees for 45 min to hour, until very soft and mashable.

Once you have the butternut squash in the oven, start on the garlic confit.

Peel garlic cloves and leave whole. In a small saucepan, add garlic and enough olive oil to cover.

Olive oil's golden goodness poured lovingly over garlic cloves.

Over low heat, poach for one hour.

While the oven is still on with the squash roasting away, place the pumpkin seeds on a separate baking sheet, roast for 7-10 minutes, or just until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool.

Pumpkin seeds add great texture to the pesto.

The next ingredient to tackle, and in order of length of cooking time is the mushrooms. Clean and cut them into bite sized pieces. Sauté them in oil, seasoning with salt and pepper. The key to cooking mushrooms is not fussing with them. Once you place them in the pan don't touch them. Let them get a good sear on them then you can turn them over. Allow them to cook and get crispy.

I used a mixture of cremini, shitake, oyster and Japanese Brown Beech mushrooms. Use whatever ones you like.

Put the pasta water up to boil. While the water is going and the mushrooms are cooking move onto making the pesto.

In a food processor, combine basil, pumpkin seeds, garlic and pulse until a fine chop. Then add in parmesan cheese and oil. (The restaurant version called for chive oil, but I didn't feel it was necessary to tack on another item.) Pulse until well blended and season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove and clean the processor, as you will need it to purée the squash.

Once the mushrooms are done, remove and use the same pan to wilt the baby spinach, add a bit of oil to help wilt the leaves.

Spinach just needs to be wilted over low heat.

By this time, the garlic should be done. The butternut squash should be roasted and ready to purée. But before that it's time to put the pasta in to cook. Place the squash cubes in the processor and plus until smooth. You may need to add some oil if too thick.

Now with all the ingredients roasted, sautéd and mixed you are ready to compose the final dish. Drain the pasta and reserve some of the water.

All the work is done. All the ingredients are ready.

In a bowl combine the pasta and pesto together until coated. Then mix in the mushrooms, spinach and garlic and gently toss together. Spread the roasted purée on the bottom of each plate and then pile the pasta on top. Finish with some roasted pumpkin seeds, shaved Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of the garlic oil and a clove or two.

I know this sounds like more work than my usual recipes. That's because it's not my recipe. But honestly, once and while it's nice to spend a bit more time creating a dish that warms your belly and your soul. It's perfect for a Sunday when you might have a bit more time to spare. And to give you some incentive to take this dish on, increase the ingredients amount. Since you are taking the time to make each of these items for this one dish, why not make a bit more and use the extra butternut squash, spinach, mushrooms in dishes for the remainder of week. You can use the squash to make a soup. Use the spinach and mushrooms to make a frittata or quiche or as side dishes for chicken. Cook once, eat twice or thrice.

As I mentioned, I use the brown rice pasta for mine but made JC's with regular wheat penne pasta. He really enjoyed this dish but in all fairness, he thought the butternut squash was too sweet for his palate. I thought it gave just the right amount to counter all the other intense flavors.

Please give this one a try. I can't take credit for any part of this dish other than tasting it and attempting to recreate it to share with you. It's nice to share.

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