Isn’t this pasta a hoot! I picked it up at Homegoods right before Christmas along with several other unique pasta shapes. Most of the specialty stores stock so much fun food during the holidays and I always look forward to it. But I do think the black-striped Farfalle is about the cutest pasta I’ve seen so far. On the package it says “black fish ink” which I’m assuming is the ink from Cephalopods or Cuttlefish which was used to dye the black stripes. I expected the black stripes to fade a bit when I cooked the pasta but it didn’t fade at all.

Aglio e Olio has always been one of my favorite ways to prepare pasta. It is so easy and so versatile to make. I know that most recipes are just olive oil, garlic, pasta and hot pepper but I add a few more ingredients just to spice it up a bit. For this dish I added sliced green onions, mini red, orange and yellow sweet peppers.

My market stocks 2 lb bags of cute mini sweet peppers for $2.49 and I buy them all the time. I like to keep them on hand because they look so pretty in just about any dish. I know I could buy the large peppers but I rarely ever use a whole pepper at time and let’s fact it, once cut sweet peppers do not keep very long and spoil within days. But with the mini peppers I can use a whole pepper with no problem and each cut is a perfect ring and adds just the right POP of color.

Tuxedo Pasta Aglio e Olio
Recipe developed by BigBlackDog

1 pound dried pasta (spaghetti, linguine, or your favorite pasta)
3-4 TBL extra-virgin olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced in halt
1/2-1 tsp Hot Hungarian Paprika or 1 tsp hot pepper flakes, crushed
3-4 green onions, sliced including tops
Sweet Pepper, red, yellow, orange sliced into rings
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Garnish with grated Parmesan Cheese

1. Meanwhile in a heavy bottomed skillet, add olive oil and heat over medium low heat.
2. Add garlic halves and sauté until golden brown on all sides. Turn off heat, remove garlic to a cutting board and mash the softened cloves with a fork. Set aside.
3. Fill a large pot with water and put in on high heat until to comes to a boil. Add pasta and cook until just barely la dente.
4. Drain pasta.
5. While the pasta is draining reheat the oil.
6. Add the mashed garlic, green onions and sweet pepper to the oil. Stir and then add the pasta. Toss to combine. Heat for about 1 minute. (I like my onions and peppers sort of crunchy so I don’t cook them very long.)
7. Garnish with Parmesan Cheese and serve hot. Enjoy.

Gadgets that Work

Kuhn Rikon 5″ Prep Knife

I picked up this little knife, Kuhn Rikon 5″ Prep Knife, about October, 2010 and I just love it. It is always the first knife I pick when prepping for dinner. The shorter but wider blade is much easier for me to handle and it makes short work of any slicing chore.

I dropped it, blade first, onto my ceramic tile floor and it survived without a scratch or nick to the blade. The knife comes with it’s own sheath not only to protect the blade but to protect your fingers when rummaging around in the utensil drawer. It is dishwasher safe.

AllRightReserved@BigBlackDog

Tagged as: Black Ink, Bow Tie, Farfalle, Garlic, Green Onions, Hot Hungarian Paprika, Hot Pepper Flakes, Kuhn Rikon 5" Prep Knife, Olive Oil, Sweet Orange Pepper, Sweet Red Pepper, Sweet Yellow Pepper