Finally, that BEST pasta recipe

Allora (Italian for "well,")...it will soon be Friday night and once I'm done playing on my (late-afternoon-when-I-can) guilty pleasure FaceBook, and more hours have gone by, and once again I did not practice yoga...I'll be hungry and inclined to raid my own refrigerator.

Now today in there I have some amazing applewood-smoked bacon and (roasted; leftover) hot Italian sausages, from those guys I love at Huntington Meats at the Farmers Market. And some more fresh broccoli from Farm Boy, plus a couple Roma tomatoes from Farm Fresh Produce (those last 2 produce stores at the market). All of these are stops of sorts on our tours.

Now, you add some chopped onion garlic, some white or even Marsala wine + a little lemon juice, freshly grated Parmesan cheese and black pepper and a bit of butter...have some pasta cooking (I loved spaghetti with this), and here is what you do:

Cook diced bacon or Italian sausage, with diced onion/minced garlic, in medium-large skillet until bacon is cooked or sausage is well heated through. (Add a little olive oil if pan is too dry.) Add some diced tomato and heat through for a couple minutes. Add some wine to pan, enough to make a light sauce now, splash in a little lemon juice, and simmer sauce while pasta finishes cooking. I also added some of the pasta water to the pan, to make more sauce, it's perfect for this!

Place your cut up broccoli in the bottom of colander. When pasta is cooked al dente, pour pasta from stockpot over broccoli to drain; this will cook the broccoli perfectly.

Add a swirl of butter to the sauce that is getting ready to 'receive' the pasta!

"Sauce" the pasta and broccoli in the pan, stirring gently until completely coated and heated through. Transfer to serving bowl(s) and sprinkle with grated Parmesan, season with freshly ground black pepper.

In true modo di Toscano (Tuscan fashion), you may wish to drizzle the pasta with a extra-virgin olive oil as a fine finish! When I took a cooking course in Tuscany, our lovely instructor Sandra constantly reminded of the "extra-virgin" and how necessary it is, to complete the prep of just about everything placed on the table.

Those of us who are extra-ambitious will add a salad to this on the side, and I strongly recommend some fresh bread of sorts too. What's left in the bowl or on the plate is sublime with a mop of bread, I promise!

Buon appetito!

And all the best from your faithful tour maestra,
Diane Scalia

PS- Next up: Lisa's and my "experience" in Westwood and Beverly Hills last night!

Nachos with a Euro Twist!

One of my favorite things to offer on our tours is how to cook - if you are so inclined - with some of the ingredients we introduce and chat up, when visiting our merchants. Having wished for years that we could grocery shop there regularly, Lisa and I now love doing some of our weekly grocery shopping at the Farmers Market. After our tour(s) end, you might just find us still there milling around, trying to make decisions with that combined creative genius of ours!

In my fridge yesterday, I had these treasures:

Grape tomatoes (purchased at Farm Boy for $1.29) - I had roasted these, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil; 400 oven, 20 mins, and they keep about 1 week refrigerated
Leftover pinto beans
French Cantalet cheese (purchased at Monsieur Marcel, $10.28/lb) - we sample this on tour

I had tri-color tortilla chips on the counter.

Hmmm. This collection sounded kind of-sort of sounded like it could become nachos.

With half Euro ingredients?

Oh why not. I was starving!

Have no real ingredients for nachos on hand? No problem! You too, can make these! Place tortilla chips on bottom of oven-proof dish, top with some roasted tomatoes and pinto beans, dice or thinly slice the cheese and place evenly - or, haphazardly - on top.

I baked this in a 400 oven for about 8-10 minutes - you may do as you please in the microwave (I don't own a microwave) and it will yield similar results!

Ripe Avocado* (purchased at Farm Boy for $.99) - was also in the fridge!

I mashed 1/4 of it and topped the warm nachos with that. You MUST have avocado with your Euro Nachos. Of course.

I ate it with a fork but, fingers are also effective utensils.

You know, this was delicous! Or at least I thought so, which is why I'm sharing this ingenious recipe with you. I invite you to try them and enjoy!

Got a question or comment? I would love to hear from you!

Until next time, Buon appetito! from
your faithful Tour Maestra,
Diane Scalia

*When choosing avocados, they are ripe when slightly soft. Choose those which have an 'outie' stem at the top; these will yield fresher, cleaner flesh. If you purchase unripe avocados, they will ripen faster placed in a paper bag with a red apple. Seal loosely and check daily; usually in 1-2 days they'll be ready to eat!