Linguine w/ Sun Dried Tomatoes

I'm a huge pasta lover. My blog probably doesn't even convey how much I love pasta and all of it's carbo-loaded goodness. And that's because since I love it so much, I have to be sparing about the frequency with which I consume it! But it occurred to me earlier this year that I was trying so hard to avoid pasta in our weekly menus, that it rarely, if ever, made an appearance. I'd make spaghetti in the Winter now and then, or smoked-salmon fettuccine for special occasions, but for the most part I left it out of my weekly plans. Which, I'm sure, any nutritionist would praise! But like all things yummy and gluttonous, pasta is fine in moderation. So with moderation in mind, I'm re-integrating an occasional pasta into our dinner repertoire. Not every week...but every other week or so. In my rediscovery of pasta dinners, I'm amazed at how quickly they're prepared! This one is 15 minutes or so, and very fresh tasting--perfect for a quick summer weeknight! Courtesy of Southern Living.

Linguine with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

1 16oz package of linguine
1 7oz jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup EVOO
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
2 Tbs thin fresh basil strips

Drain the tomatoes and reserve 2 Tbs of the oil in the jar. Cut the tomatoes into thin strips. I discovered Bobby doesn't like the texture of sun-dried tomatoes, and if that's the case for you, I recommend dicing them instead so there's less surface area to feel the texture. Prepare the pasta according to directions, and while it's boiling... Heat the pine nuts in a large nonstick skillet over med-low heat and stir often about 5 minutes or until fragrant. No oil or butter needed. Remove them from the skillet, and increase the heat to medium and saute the garlic in the reserved oil from the tomatoes and the EVOO--just about a minute until you can smell the garlic (sorry Dad) Stir in the tomato strips and remove from heat. In a large pasta bowl, toss the pasta, the tomato/oil mixture, feta, and basil. Top each serving with pine nuts and freshly ground pepper.

As you can see from my picture, there's broccoli in my version and that's just because I had some leftover that I didn't want to waste. So with that in mind, you could up your veggie intake by adding broccoli or asparagus to your boiling pasta just as it's about to finish. And of course, you could always add grilled chicken (but despite Bobby's stringent "No Meat, No Meal" rule, he ate every bite and didn't even comment on the vegetarian nature of dinner!) I fixed this the evening before Bobby went on-call, expecting to have leftovers...but I didn't have any!

In other unrelated news, we had a wonderful weekend with Bobby's parents, who came to Louisville to see Wicked for Jan's birthday. Although Bobby and I had seen it during it's first Louisville tour, the performance was breathtaking, and even better a second time! We are so fortunate to have seen so many wonderful Broadway national tours while in Louisville (Phantom, Mamma Mia, Cirque Dreams, Wicked x 2, and next year Les Mis 25th Anniversary!!! I'm doing a little happy dance).