Mommy has been gone on her visit to Bombay for 4 days now, and Daddy and I are getting by fine, though I do miss her and I'm realizing just how much she keeps everything together. Up till today Daddy and I have been getting by on all the leftover Indian food she cooked up to make sure we don't starve (my favorite yellow daal, cabbage subzi, methi...) but seeing as today was Thursday and so I would actually have nothing to do after school, I decided to make pasta. I looked at recipes for some guidelines and ideas but in the end I decided to just throw together a bunch of ingredients and trust it would taste good.
While I boiled some whole wheat penne (about 250g), I heated some olive oil (1-2 tbsp) on low heat, threw in some minced garlic and chopped onions, sprinkled in some red pepper flakes, and plopped down a spoon (1 or 2 tsp) of sun-dried tomato paste just as the onions began turning translucent. By then it was all giving off such a lovely smell (in my opinion, the smell of frying onions and garlic is simply irresistible) and I tossed in some frozen spinach (about 8 "nuggets"). I mushed and mixed when the spinach got soft, then added 1 can chopped tomatoes (next time I'd go for fresh- canned tomatoes taste awfully acidic and tinny), a few splashes of balsamic vinegar, and some salt & pepper. I stirred in the pasta not long after (I don't like the taste of over-cooked-down tomato), plopped some in a bowl, grated some fresh parmigiano-reggiano (bought from Spinney's after school- I spent nearly an hour there and only bought about 5 things) on top, then topped with salt and plenty of pepper. Made about 3 servings.
