Friday, April 22, 2011

Pasta with Carmelized Red Onions & Fresh Mozzarella


I whipped up this pasta dish for lunch the other day.  It was slim pickings in the vegetable drawer.

I was saving the broccoli for dinner.



I took inventory and came up with these ingredients.

Grape Tomatoes, Red Onions, and fresh Basil



Organic Brown Rice Spaghetti



And fresh mozzarella



I put a pot of water on to boil and cooked the pasta.

Meanwhile, I put a pat of butter in a medium saute pan and added the onions, grape tomatoes, basil, and a bit of garlic.



Stir fry till  the onions are carmelized and tender.

I like to season them with salt, pepper, paprika, and a little ground coriander.



Drain and rinse the pasta.  (You have to rinse brown rice pasta or it gets to sticky)

Lightly salt and pepper the pasta.



Dump the deliciousness onto the pasta.



Scrape those bits.  The bits are our friends.

Flavor.



Top with some more fresh jullienned basil, the fresh mozzarella cubes, and a sprinkle of pecorino romano cheese.





Dish it up.

Once again, I didn't make enough.

I just can't keep up with my growing boys.



I had a bunch of organic baby spinach left over from catering so I dished the pasta over top of the spinach.

I like to eat spinach raw as much as possible to receive the full nutrient value.

This dish took me less than 20 minutes to make. Waiting for the water to boil for the pasta consumes half of the prep time.

Remember, use what you have.  Use a different cheese, white onions, whole tomatoes...You get the picture?

Substitute.

Pasta with Carmelized Red Onions & Fresh Mozzarella
Pasta
Fresh Mozzarella, cubed
Grape tomatoes, halved
Fresh Basil, jullienned
Red Onions, sliced
Garlic, minced
Salt & Pepper
Paprika, Ground Coriander
Pecorino Romano (or Parmesan)
Baby Spinach

Cook pasta.
Meanwhile, stir fry onions, basil, tomatoes, and garlic in a bit of butter. Season.
Drain pasta and place in serving dish.
Layer cooked veggies over the top.
Add mozzarella and Pecorino Romano.
Drizzle with olive oil and Salt & Pepper.
Serve on a bed of baby spinach.

Mangia! Mangia!
The Lunch Lady

Note: I am NOT Italian.  I blame my weird Italian influences soley on the Italian Eye Surgeons that I worked with while living in New Jersey years and years ago.  Their quips and sentences remain with me for some strange reason. It could be that they said them over and over and over again. 

Note 2: All these pictues were taken with my IPhone 4! I'm so thrilled that they turned out. My younger two boys had confiscated my camera for video making purposes and I'm not one to put a damper on their movie making adventures.  Who knows? Maybe someday they'll be producers?

I did get my camera back.

I'm also taking donations for a new camera.

Just kidding.

No, not really. I DO need a new camera.  Okay, need is a strong word. I need food and shelter.

I would like a new camera.

Enough rambling already.

Make the pasta sometime, okay?

It's good.

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