Such a Pretty Fat...

Right now I'm feeling like such a pretty fat COW. Oh my let me tell you, today my friend Jess said to me and some others..."I could really go for some Olive Garden; a never ending pasta bowl and some breadsticks."

I live over an HOUR from the nearest Olive Garden but she had me thinking. Pasta Fagioli. Oh how sweet it sounds. I'm a blog hopper. I have half a billion marked in my google reader ranging to everything from politics to cooking. Of course I have my stamping blogs and a few that I find just plain hilarious.

A while back I stumbled onto Brown Eyed Baker. Chelle posts some freakin' AWESOME looking recipes and I went through them all. At that time I noted HER recipe for Pasta Fagioli and vowed to some day give it a shot.

My friends, that day is today. I gathered up MY children (not the imposters from yesterday) and we went to the store and gathered all the necessary ingredients for the soup as well as for a caesar salad and some yummy looking fresh baked garlic breadsticks from the bakery.

Here's what I ended up with (Pardon the pics, we were trying something new with the camera and didn't realize til the food was GONE that it hadn't worked out well.



The entire spread...wow it was GREAT. Did I mention all three of my kiddos ATE the salad and didn't complain? In fact Bradan and Grace devoured it! I was THRILLED. We will be having a caesar more regularly now.



Here's my bowl, my, my, my it WAS as good as it looks. I'm definitely jotting this recipe down so I don't forget it.

Here's the recipe itself. I got it directly from HERE and I am noting my changes (which were very few)

Pasta Fagioli
(Adapted from Tricia’s Kitchen)

2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 package sweet Italian sausage, casings removed (**I used regular sausage and added my own italian herbs)
½ large (or 1 medium) onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 carrots, thinly sliced (**I grabbed the matchstick carrots from the store SUPER easy)
4 stalks celery, thinly sliced
28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
64 oz. beef broth
28 oz. can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons dried parsley (I didn't measure any of the spices, just added to taste)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
4 oz. small dry pasta (I used ditalini)

1. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large stockpot over medium high heat, and brown the sausage, crumbling it as it cooks. Once brown, remove sausage from pot with a slotted spoon and discard any grease that remains in the pot.

2. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the same pot, and add the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery, and saute over medium heat until vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Add sausage back to the pot, add the can of diced tomatoes (do not drain), stir briefly, and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the beans, and add the beef broth and tomato sauce. Add in all of the seasonings, stir well, turn the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once it boils, turn down to low heat, cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

4. Add the dry pasta and continue to simmer on low for another 30 minutes. Serve with your favorite bread or crackers.


THEN...Earlier this week my friend KIM guest posted a pie over at THE REAL PIE CLUB blog. Key Lime. My request. My favorite. While at the store today I got all I need to make it and Brian and I spent an HOUR (ok mostly Brian) juicing key limes. I don't own a juicer, extractor, etc. We did it by hand. I strained it using, well...I won't tell you what but it wasn't probably what a well stocked kitchen would have used!

I haven't cut into it yet, I need to digest a little of my yummy faux Olive Garden food first, but you can guarantee we will be cutting into it tonight.

Here's her recipe and a few pictures...just to prove we really DID juice all those key limes by hand.



Key Lime Pie
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2002 (here’s the link you can use:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/key-lime-pie-
recipe/index.html)

Show: Emeril Live
Episode: Mr. Lou’s Desserts

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick butter) melted
2 (14-ounce) cans condensed milk
1 cup key lime or regular lime juice
2 whole eggs
Cool Whip
1 tablespoon lime zest

Preheat the oven to 375.

In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter with your
hands. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan, and bake until
brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to
room temperature before filling.

Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs.
Whisk until well blended and place the filling in the cooled pie shell. Bake
in the oven for 15 minutes and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least
2 hours.

Once chilled, top with Cool Whip and add a little key lime zest to the top
for presentation.