Two Days of Pasta

As the title suggests, I actually split these recipes across two days. Moosewood lists “Two Quick and Simple Pasta Sauces” as one recipe, but since I had no lunch plans, I decided to space them instead of sampling both at the same time.

            Now, neither one is really a sauce. They’re more like pasta toppings. But they’re definitely a quick and simple way to jazz up some pasta and make a more interesting lunch. The first combines artichoke hearts, black pepper, and parmesan (delicious!) and the second is garlic, olive oil, crushed red pepper, and parmesan (also delicious!). I have to say that even though both were yummy, I prefer the artichoke heart one. It was a bit more exotic and flavorful than the other. Although, I feel like I maybe didn’t use enough crushed red pepper and cheese the second time, because I really could hardly taste it, unless I bit down directly on a pepper seed.

Artichoke Heart sauce

Crushed Red Pepper sauce

            But either way, these are fantastic recipes to have in your back pocket if you’re ever in a crunch for time. The crushed red pepper is particularly great, because I usually have all of the ingredients anyway. And I’d much rather eat that than just some pasta with marinara sauce from a jar. I also think the artichoke one could easily be a pasta salad type dish if served cold. You’d probably want to add some cherry tomatoes or something though, to give it a bit more substance.

            8 recipes down! I feel great about the progress I’ve made so far!