I went to a bridal shower this weekend. Melissa is marrying Jason. They met at our church (Spring Meadows Church in Las Vegas), gradually got to know each other and fell in love. Melissa is a brand new teacher and Jason is in the Air Force stationed at Nellis AFB in North Las Vegas.
Melissa & Jason...cuddling!
Very cute together, so much in love and looking forward to creating their own home and family. So, Melissa’s shower started at four, I thought I’d be back by 5:30 max to make dinner for Vic & I. Wrong. It was 6:30 when I finally left and gifts were still being opened!
The shower was original: a Nacho Bar instead of typical shower food, fabulous cake in the shape of a basket of nachos created by the bride’s professional cake baker Mom, Darleen, unique games that were actually fun to play and lots of laughter among the guests.
Cake Art by Darleen Thomas
So by the time I got home, pasta was the quickest answer to, “What’s for dinner?”
I found a package of Baby Broccoli, also known as broccolini, which is a hybrid cross of broccoli and Chinese kale. It has a slightly sweet flavor and a faint bite, courtesy of its broccoli relatives. Every part of the plant is edible, and the skin is so soft and tender that I leave it on. I also pulled out a package of shitake mushrooms, Parmesan cheese and heavy cream.
baby broccoli almost done
I got a big pot of water boiling, salted it and dumped in the broccolini to cook until crisp/tender (maybe 5 minutes?). Keep testing the stems with a small sharp knife. Lift out and drain and replace with the pasta of your choice. I used angel hair pasta. Chop the baby broccoli into chunks.
Slice up the mushrooms and sauté over low heat in some butter. Chop up as many peeled fresh garlic cloves as you dare and add them to the mushrooms. Cook slowly until soft and season well with cayenne, s & p.
Shitake mushrooms and chopped garlic
The pasta should be done. Drain it but save a cup of your cooking water. Combine everything in a big, warmed (pour some of the cooking water in there for a minute or two and drain) bowl. Pour about a cup of heavy cream over all and toss. Sprinkle a cup of grated Parmesan over the pasta and toss some more. If it’s a little dry, pour in the cooking water that you saved about ¼ cup at a time or until the sauce is the right consistency.
Taste it. Add more salt, pepper, crushed red pepper….whatever. Ummmmmm…. A quick one-dish meal.
Wow! Looks good, huh?
Read Also:
