Okay, so today’s post is going to be a little boring. It’s not because the recipe is boring. Oh no, this Chicken Fettuccine with Pumpkin Tarragon Sauce is the tops. It’s everything you want on a blustery fall evening when you’re so tired you can’t even see straight. No, today’s post will be boring because, to be honest, there is no larger concept behind this dead simple pasta dish. It’s just carbs in a bowl with a freakin’ delicious sauce and some choice proteins. There’s no homey memory, no history lesson, just some good ol’ fashion pasta porn. And if you’re down for that, read on and if you’re not, scroll down – I’m not the boss of you.
It’s that magical time of year when tomatoes come into their own. They are so juicy, sweet and flavorful they trigger a sort of high. Well, they do in me anyway, I tend to get giddy in a ripe tomato’s presence. I think what I find so striking about in-season tomatoes is how different they are from the hothouse duds I eat the rest of the year. These vine-ripened, sunshine-rich tomatoes taste almost like a different species. They have a sweetness and a grassiness that you never find in a mid-November beefsteak. In-season tomatoes are never mealy and watery. And every inch of them screams “Tomato!” at full volume in surround sound. So what do you do with these supersonic tomatoes? As little as possible. So, allow me to introduce you to my Ricotta Gnocchi with Raw Tomato Sauce.
Today’s Fava Bean Ricotta Ravioli is the second ravioli recipe to grace this blog. Remember this sundried tomato number? Well, after I made those, um, rustic ravioli I acquired a set of ravioli stamps because I’m a very shallow person…At least as far as ravioli is concerned. The sundried tomato ravioli was delicious and those little parcels deserved to look as delicious as they tasted. But, sadly, I can’t go back in time to write this wrong and, to be honest, I don’t think I’d waste a trip on a ravioli. So, instead, I’ve decided to move forward and make beautiful ravioli today and into the future. I’m moving up in the world or at least my ravioli is.
Sunday is a strange day. On the one hand, it’s a day without work, which equals awesome. On the other hand, it’s directly adjacent to a day with work followed by four subsequent days with yet more work. So yeah, not great. This is why I struggle with the concept of Sunday night dinner. Given the work marathon that awaits the vast majority of us in the AM, is Sunday really the night to pull out all the stops and whip-up a table-cloth-worthy dinner? I mean, I get it from a scheduling standpoint. Most people have Sundays off and togetherness is important, so saving the big meal for a day when everyone can make it makes sense. But man, this is just not my reality. Most Sundays I just can’t even. And for Sundays like that there is this Cacio e Pepe with Shaved Asparagus Salad and Honey.